I am a roller coaster freak! And Japan offers some pretty awesome coasters. The best experience I had here was the Thunder Dolphin at Tokyo Dome City. I remember being sh*t scared during the drop...so much so that I couldn't even let out a tiny yelp..forget about the usual scream. However, this time, when we went to Tokyo Dome, the Thunder Dolphin was closed for maintenance. Then, it was during my welcome party that my boss suggested me to go to FujiQ Highlands - which is THE place for roller coasters.
Last Tuesday was a holiday for us. So me and Mustafa decided to check out FujiQ. I saw some insane videos of the coasters at FujiQ on youtube and was very excited. I woke up at 7:30 am that day with a heavy hangover thanks to the previous night's pub hopping experience. Its another story that we wanted to hop pubs but ended up staying at the first one for 3 hours and thereby the pub hopping experience ended up being more of a drinking marathon. Anyways, I dragged my body to the shower in the morning and was feeling much much better after my morning cup of coffee!
FujiQ is situated very near to Mount Fuji. So, going to FujiQ is a lengthy affair. You have to board a train to Shinjuku which takes 40 minutes from Kawasaki. Then you have 2 choices, either go via Bus to FujiQ Highlands or take the train. The bus takes 2 hours but is still faster than the train. Moreover its fun to ride in a bus in Japan and hence it was a pretty easy decision for us. But as soon as we reached the Bus station, the ticket lady told us that we have to wait for an hour since the bus was booked. We thought we would explore Shinjuku till then but as luck would have it, someone cancelled and we were pushed to an earlier slot. We reached there after 1.5 hours or so but the ride was pretty beautiful. FujiQ is very close to Mount Fuji, so the ride was full of empty fields and mountains. As soon as we reached there, we were greeted by the monstrous presence of Fujiyama - one of the awesome roller coaster this park had. Ohh boy..me and Mustafa were giggling like little girls in anticipation to ride Fujiyama. After paying a hefty 4500 Yen for an all day pass, we rushed towards Fujiyama.
Fujiyama
Fujiyama is a no nonsense roller coaster. Its a straight up scary, fast and a quite lengthy roller coaster experience! You start with a 70 m ascent. I swear after 40 m, you start thinking - its enough!..start going down already!! But it takes you to the apex and suddenly the pulley stops and there is a momentary silence when all you hear is the wind blowing. And then *WHAM*..the drop! which just keeps going on and on and on. Usually in most of the roller coasters, after the initial drop, the rest of the ride is pretty ordinary. But not this one! It just goes on and on. It would twist and turn you rather violently. I swear I was clenching my teeth most of the time. When it stops, you find your heart is pounding away, you are breathing heavily than usual and your face is flustered! Not to mention it messes up your hair-do!
Eejiyanaika
While waiting for Fujiyama, we saw this other coaster on which the riders were actually turning upside down on their seats during the ride!! It was insane. Already pretty high with the adrenaline pumping experience of Fujiyama, we rushed towards Eijiyanaika. The wait was very loong. We waited for almost 2 hours but it was sooo worth the time. You flip, you rotate, you turn on your seats while the coaster itself is doing its own thing! Man! this was scarier than Fujiyama because it was very difficult to anticipate what was about to happen. You are kind of suspended from the rails and thrown around like a toy! The best part again is the initial climb but you actually face the opposite side, so you never know how far up you will go till the descent. But when that metal clanking stops, you know the time is up. And boy when it drops, you suddenly flip on your seat and face down with nothing in between you and the earth. Jeez! was it scary. And after that you dont know whats happening. You are upside down, facing up, thrown from the sides...ohh..I had the ride of my life.
Takabisha
Next up, was Takabisha. During the wait, they show you a virtual run of the coaster explaining each segment with a mean background score. The highlight is the 90 degree ascent and the 121 degree free fall! Yes! .. a 121 degree free fall!. There is a bump in the descent which throws you out of your seats during that free fall!!!
The ride starts with pushing the rider into darkness. Its pitch black and suddenly it drops you into the darkness! You feel as if you are falling straight down to hell! Then after a heartline roll and loads of other thrilling twists and turns, you stop momentarily before you are launched at 100 kmph. And its 0-100 in like 2 seconds! Soon, you find yourself on a vertical lift. You are facing the sky and a bit worried about falling down...but its beautiful. It does not go that high though, but the drop is a seat throwing experience. Its awesome! The total ride lasts 2 minutes and by the end of it..you couldn't have asked for more.
With the huge waiting line in all the rides, unless you go really early, you wont be able to cover everything. Sadly, we missed Dodonpa..which is another coaster worth riding. Ahh..maybe next time. I am pretty sure I would visit FujiQ Highlands every chance I get to come to Japan.