Turning Japanese - A Japanese Adventure 2024 - Park 5: Fuji Q Highland

[EmmaUK]

Konnichiwa

So this April I managed to achieve a lifelong dream and I visited Japan.

Whilst I went to 5 parks (plus Tokyo Dome for the +1) I'm going to say something that is possibly sacrilegious on a coaster site: Japan is amazing and the theme parks are not even close to the highlights. Honestly, the parks are great, and I managed 2 new Top 5 Coasters (I mean we all know which they're going to be - but I'll keep the suspense for now). Honestly Japan is the most amazing place on Earth. The people. The sights. The views. The food - oh my god the food! I visited 8 Michelin starred restaurants and had some of the best meals of my life. And the cocktails. Honestly, this place is so cheap. Some of the best drinks I've ever had all for less than 1500 Yen (around £8).

Anyway, I'm here for the Coasters. You're here for the Coasters. Let's talk Coasters.

So I started in Osaka which meant, obviously, a trip to USJ.

The tickets were organised by my agent and were just under 9000 Yen (around £50). Hearing that this park was one of the busiest in the world, I added an express package for 20000 Yen (around £105). Unlike in America where this is a full day pass, this allowed for just 4 (yes 4!) rides, together with entry in Nintendo World (worth it) and entry into Hogsmeade (not necessary and I don't know why they still package it as including it).



So here we are at around 6.45 at Universal. There are several things to note about Universal Japan:

1) This place is BUSY
2) The Japanese get here EARLY - if you don't you'll be behind everyone else in the queues
3) It is the world's worst secret that Universal opens up early. If it says it opens at 8am, in reality they let you in at around 7:20

So in I went and watched as everyone ran to Nintendo World. I, on the other hand, went to Hollywood Dream



After being pulled aside to check the tester seat (thanks guys, I'm not THAT big) I was in the single rider queue and riding the coaster in no time at all.

And you know what? It's alright. Certainly its better than Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. I mean it didn't trouble my top 50, but there's nothing wrong with it.

Over to Flying Dinosaur, and looking back despite this being so photogenic, it seems that I took no good photos of it.



Again, up the single rider queue (that could be totally abused and it says much about the Japanese people that it isn't) and I was on the back row within a few minutes, and before official opening time. And OH MY GOD this thing is intense. No other flying coaster comes close. I305 (or whatever it is now) does not come close. I love a bit of intensity but for me this was too much. And that is such a shame as I had this down as one of the rides I thought might trouble my top 10. Instead it's down in #69.

Even now Flight of the Hippogriff was far too long a queue and by 8.15 I already resigned myself to missing that +1.

So Jaws it was. I vaguely remembered this ride from Orlando in the early 90s. The problem is, as a non-Japanese speaker, this made little sense. I then dotted around the park, doing various shows until Nintendo World.



Honestly its an excellent area, but the Mario Kart ride did leave something to be desired.

By this time (lunch) the queues were immense. I mean look at these queues:









Even a bottle of water was 45 minutes!

Eventually at 4pm, after a few hours of wandering, it was Space Fantasy: The Ride. No photos as its an indoor VR Coaster.

And by now I'd had enough.

Final thoughts - its a nice park. But, despite hearing so much about how this was the best of all the other Universal Parks, I'd take IOA any day of the week. Even on a Monday the immense queues just made it so difficult to have a good time.

Next up - possible new Top 5 at Nagashima Spaland?

 

[MestnyiGeroi]

After that awesome report, I apologize for the first response being a terribly boring question, but — you have a travel agent? Is that common in the UK? It was extremely common here in the States in the 90s and earlier, but I never hear of it now … unless someone is booking something complicated. Is it just because you wanted help navigating Japan or do you use one for all your holidays?

 

[EmmaUK]

After that awesome report, I apologize for the first response being a terribly boring question, but — you have a travel agent? Is that common in the UK? It was extremely common here in the States in the 90s and earlier, but I never hear of it now … unless someone is booking something complicated. Is it just because you wanted help navigating Japan or do you use one for all your holidays?

I mean we have plenty, but it really depends on the type of trip. I don't use one for a trip to the US, for example, as thats easy. Japan, however, is easy on some things (eg Disney Tickets) but others are a bit awkward or at least I'd rather get someone else to do it for a small fee (eg Fuji Q Highland tickets and the pre-booked bus link). As a side note, if you want to go to any nice restaurants, most ned a concierge service as they don't trust foreigners to turn up otherwise

 

[Ollie]

I've always wanted to go to Japan as it sounds amazing. However I think I'd feel defeated in the park before the gates even open with how busy it is.

 

[James F]

Those queues are insane! but at least the park is open long hours. Flying dinosaur looks incredible, but like you I think I would find the focus on positive Gs to not be my taste. Looking forward to seeing more

 

[EmmaUK]

So after several days of kaiseki, feeding bowing deer, temples and shrines and cherry blossoms I really really did not want to leave Kyoto. I mean look at it:



Honestly, I have so, so many photographs from Kyoto. But we're not here for that. Or the weird and wonderful drinks that I had there. Or how if I'd not delayed myself briefly I'd have been sitting in a bar with Jeff Bezos. No, we're here for Coasters.

Next up was Nagashima Spaland. Not this is a slightly more awkward place to get to. Firstly a quick bullet train from Kyoto to Nagoya. At this stage I tried to put my stuff into a locker at Nagoya station, but I chose the same Sunday as the Formula 1 race just down the road so they were all taken. Oh well. Next challenge finding the bus station. Not the easiest job ever. Then going to the second floor for tickets and the fourth floor for the bus. Yes, this was a multi story bus station. On the plus side, it was a direct bus to Nagashima Spaland, and that was the final stop.

I arrived at around 10.30. I knew that I was going to miss opening because my agent hadn't booked my train early enough (I don't criticise as I didn't ask him to).

So a Sunday. During Sakura. I readied myself for the worst and it was...


...dead. I mean I get this isn't the main entrance but still.

I obviously had to be careful not to bump into anyone...



A quick look at the park map on the way in....well... wasn't very helpful really



That's ok. Because I can see the main reason why I'm here. That massive white giant in the corner of the park. Hakugei.



Now this had the potential to be a top 5. There was no way it was shifting Steel Vengeance, but better than El Toro maybe? Better than Velocicoaster.

Nagashima Spaland has notoriously slow ops, so I pondered getting a fastpass. Some of the rides had single use fastpasses available at about 1000 yen (c.£5.50). I elected not to get one. That was a very wise decision. When I got into the queue this was the queue ahead of me. The fastness merge point at the front.



A Sunday in April will be busy they said:



They do, however, have a slightly convoluted system on queuing. At the merge point you're given a rubber bracelet. You then go up the stairs to the lockers. No metal on board (it is an RMC after all) and then when about to board you give the rubber bracelet back. This prevents people coming off just queuing up again and I cannot help but think there must be a better method that does not tie up two members of staff all day.

So its sit in whatever seat you're told, solo people by themselves, no single seats being filled up, and then a little song or chant or something to confirm that you're safe. And then you're off.

It starts with the pre-lift bunny hops and, from the few that I have done, these are the best out there. They're off axis and powerful and a lot of fun. Then the noisy AF chain lift, before an AMAZING first drop. Its shorter than SteVe but feels very similar, up into a vicious double up and then this amazing off axis right turn and OH MY GOD this is good. It almost inverts you in the opposite way to the turn, and I've lost track of all of the silly names that RMC call their elements, but this may well be the best I've experienced. Then its a double down into a stall and, to be honest, from this point on it becomes a blur.

This thing is AWESOME. The airtime is, of course, amazing. But its more than just an airtime machine. Is it, could it, be better than SteVe? I decided that I needed to try it again later to decide, but I did not expect it to be a question I even had to ask myself.

Off now to my 2nd main reason for being here, Steel Dragon 2000, the (for now) longest coaster in the world.



Similar deal here regarding the fastpass and lack of busyness.





And yet with 2 train ops the 2nd train was still always waiting on the break run. I cannot imagine how long the queue would be if the queue was full. Maybe the dispatch wouldn't be as tedious?





And you know what? It's alright. Sure that first drop makes 300+ feet seem meh, but it doesn't half hit some speed, and the return journey has 7 or 8 great airtime hills in a row, with great headchoppers. It reminded me a bit of Maglum XL200. It didn't hit my top 50, but it was close.

A word also for the aesthetics. People often talk about Nagashima Spaland not being particularly pretty or well themed. Who cares when the Cherry Blossoms are out? I mean I was pleasantly surprised.

Next up was Acrobat. Well, after sadly seeing that Ultra Twister was down for the day:



More empty queues:



I wonder if flying coasters no longer agree with me. I ranked this much lower than Manta. And that wasn't even due to its tedious loading. They were on one car ops. One side therefore wasn't even open. And everyone was taking their shoes off and putting them on at the ride. Tedious.

Anyway it was meh. To such an extent I spent most of my time on the ride wondering. When actually is an inversion on a flying coaster? I mean for most of us an inversion is where we're upside down, ie head down. But like an inline twist on a flying coaster is no more upside down than I am when I roll over in bed? Or like the fly to lie manoeuvre. Whereas a first drop is an inversion because you're head down? Maybe. Anyway, that's all you need to know.

Sadly Shuttle Loop was also down. And one of the Wild Mouses was also out of action (and it feels so weird saying mouses, but that is surely correct? right?).

Next up was Corkscrew.



It was pants. And painful.

Next looping star (with a lovely arty smudged photo)



Meh. It was ok.

Freefall was closed. Which is a shame as despite RMDB, its a cred. I reckon. (arty behind the cherry blossoms photo)



So then jet coaster. Duuuulllllll.

Lunchtime.

Now look at this:



1400 yen. Like £8. And it was delicious. Honestly, Japan has its food game down!

Next up, the Wild Mouse. Its a Wild Mouse. Noting more to say. Does anyone of us really go on them for any reason other than a +1?

Then Arashi



Now, I'm no lover of these things. And despite having heard this was somehow crazier than the others, it felt to me basically the same.

Being by myself I wasn't doing the kiddy coasters. So it was just a solid +8. Before re-rides.

Hakugei in the afternoon made my mind up if it beat SteVe. And it didn't. Just. For me that zero G roll into the zero G stall for SteVe is the perfect series of elements, and that beats out the perfect outer banked turn that Hakugei had. But oh my god its close. If, however, I had the choice of going on one tomorrow it would be Hakugei. Because then I'd be in Japan and Japan beats Ohio hands down.

So Nagashima Spaland. A lot better than I expected. Sure the dispatches are slow, but the lack of any crowds even on a Sunday helped. When I go back to Japan, I'm more likely to go here again than I am Universal Studios!

 

[BobaFett]

Loving these Trip reports so far. I'm flying to Japan myself on friday and can't wait to experience this beautiful country (and of course the theme parks, too ).
I hope to get a just as empty Nagashima Spa Land as you. I'm still a bit "scared" of the Japanese operations in the parks.

 

[EmmaUK]

Loving these Trip reports so far. I'm flying to Japan myself on friday and can't wait to experience this beautiful country (and of course the theme parks, too ).
I hope to get a just as empty Nagashima Spa Land as you. I'm still a bit "scared" of the Japanese operations in the parks.

Yeah the operations outside of Disney and Universal are weird. Fuji Q (which I'll come to later in the report) had us all chanting some mantra to show that we understood the health and safety. V V weird

 

[BobaFett]

Yeah the operations outside of Disney and Universal are weird. Fuji Q (which I'll come to later in the report) had us all chanting some mantra to show that we understood the health and safety. V V weird

Yeah, I've seen videos of the dispatch ceremony of Eejanaika. Not really looking forward to that

 

[MestnyiGeroi]

I mean we have plenty, but it really depends on the type of trip. I don't use one for a trip to the US, for example, as thats easy. Japan, however, is easy on some things (eg Disney Tickets) but others are a bit awkward or at least I'd rather get someone else to do it for a small fee (eg Fuji Q Highland tickets and the pre-booked bus link). As a side note, if you want to go to any nice restaurants, most ned a concierge service as they don't trust foreigners to turn up otherwise

Thanks! I haven’t yet done my Japan trip, but maybe I should get similar help when I do!

 

[EmmaUK]

Loving these Trip reports so far. I'm flying to Japan myself on friday and can't wait to experience this beautiful country (and of course the theme parks, too ).
I hope to get a just as empty Nagashima Spa Land as you. I'm still a bit "scared" of the Japanese operations in the parks.

Good luck - I hope you enjoy - happy to help anything that you need let me know

 

[EmmaUK]

Days 3 and 4 (ok they weren't because I did lots of other Japan things in between, but you get the point) were the Disney Parks. Now from a Coaster perspective this is very much nothing to see here, move along. But from a theme park perspective, well that's a different story.

So having already seen how mad the Japanese people can be on their early morning rope drop attempts, I arrived at 7.30 for a 9am start. And it was wet. How wet:



This wet. When it rains in Japan, it REALLY rains.



They started letting people in at exactly 9am (no early entry here like Universal) and I headed straight for Journey to the Centre of the Earth. On the way I used the app to book into Soaring and Indiana Jones.

The Park is truly beautiful - easily the best theming of any park in the world.



But Journey was closed due to the rain. So 20,000 leagues under the sea it was. It's alright.

Off to Raging Spirits via the Mermaid Lagoon.



Raging Spirits is the definition of great theming, pants ride. I mean it's just not a very good coaster.

Indiana Jones was good but nothing better than the Anaheim version.

Then it was the Big Band show. Which was decent but not as good as I'd been led to expect.



And then it all started closing down due to the rain. Tower of Terror down. People hiding in shops. So it was into the lounge in the ship to ride out the storm.



Eventually the rain ended. Soaring was alright. Tower of Terror good theming but weak forces. Journey to the Centre of the Earth good but not great. So I pretty much walked around taking in the sights.



And then by around 6pm I left.

I'm not convinced this is that great a park for rides, but I suppose that is not what its about. The food and drinks that I had were good, but not great. And yet this is still probably the best theme park that I have ever been to. Every portion of this park, even when being battered by rain, was a WOW. I don't think as a solo person I really got the best of the park. I can imagine being here as a couple and slowly wandering would be absolutely immense.

Next up - Disneyland

 

[EmmaUK]

So Day 4 and it Disneyland. Arrived at around 8.15 for a 9 am start. For the first time the lovely Japanese queue gave way to just a mass of people who all edged forward bit by bit at 9am came.


The weather was great and the queues predictably massive.



I went in and tried to get a quick Space Mountain fastpass, and a priority pass for the Beauty and the Beast ride. Sadly, the group of people in front meant the first reservations were already past midday.



So I started at Star Tours. Futureland was, if anything, even more dated than the USA parks.

The Beauty and the Beast area was stunning though!



Up to Toontown for the Roger Rabbit spin ride. Good fun but basically the same as the US version.

Then Beauty and the Beast. This was, for me, the star of the show. The animatronics were great and there is a special effect part way through which, I'm going to be honest, can only be witchcraft. I cannot work out how it is done. I have seen a YouTube video on it and its just far too perfect!



See these people. Already staking out the parade. This is like at 9.30 am. For a 3pm parade. This is Japan people!

Space mountain is fine. The haunted mansion is the haunted mansion. The daytime parade actually sucked. And then....I was bored. I mean its a great park but it bored me. I did Tiki Birds, the train, walked around, saw the sights, but, meh, not for me. So around 5pm I left for a couple of hours to come back for the nighttime parade. Which was awesome.



Japan is amazing. A brilliant place. And I'm sure if you've never done Disney before then do this one as it is soooo much cheaper. But it just wasn't for me. Next up - Fuji Q Highland. Now that is more me!

 

[EmmaUK]

And now onto my bucket list park of the trip. Fuji Q. This involved firstly trying to find the bus station at Shinjuku which was surprisingly easy. You're given a specific seat on the bus and I was lucky enough to get a window seat on the left of the bus. The views would have been great but sadly the morning weather was a bit pants. Also the traffic was worse than expected and we got there about 30 minutes late. Japan's train network is second to none, everything just works and gets there on time. The bus network....not so much.

Anyway so I'm there with my pre-booked ticket in hand and headed to the entrance. Only to find out that this wasn't a ticket and I had to change this ticket for another ticket at the ticket office. What a faff. They then do this thing where you enter in a little booth, it takes your photo, and you get it. Honestly this facial recognition is a faff, but it works well.

On entry to the park - its not the prettiest of parks. In fact I'm struggling to think of a single park I've been to that is less charming. But it's not about that is that?



Fuji Q is, of course, renown for its "Big 4". The big 4 always used to be Do-Dodonpa - now stating at us all just standing there. Now its Zokkon. And being the new shiny toy I thought I'd head straight there.

Having arrived at 11.30, with a 17.00 close that day, and knowing of its poor operations, and knowing Fridays can be busy, I decided to drop 1000 yen on a fast pass ticket. Having stressed about the fastpass as it seems online that they are available in advance, but only for members. But they had immediate fast passes available.



They have this really weird thing in Japan where they always warn you of the parts of the ride which may be scary. No surprise drop tracks in Japan hey!



And... erm... its not very good. The acceleration isn't great (when a park has a right literally facing Do-Dodonpa and saying that it has "rapid acceleration" you except something special. It's not. And then it hits trims. And it accelerates. And hits breaks again. Velocity at Flamingo Land is a better ride. What a disappointment.

On to Fujiyama King of Coasters.



The queue looked bad. Thought I'd get another Fastpass. I love how its taken a leaf out of Blackpool Pleasure Beach's book and advertises itself as a world record holder. Mmmm.

Anyway, being the sole person in the fast track queue I was first on. And the way that they batch and assign seats, that meant it was straight onto the front seat.

The first half of the ride is alright. Decent drops, decent speed, bit of airtime. But then the second half it decides to try a few corners. And for some reason it seems to do the corners at what seemed like right angles. A decent coaster ruined.

Things not going well I headed to Takabisha. Being only 12.30 I decided to risk no fastpass. It was a good decision. 25 minutes later I was in the station.



I'd love to know what this is all about.



I'm not a big Gerst fan.

This one gives you a full safety briefing beforehand. Not only the signs telling you head back, holding on etc. but they then stand on a platform and make you repeat it all back to them whilst doing some version of heads shoulders knees and toes.

With my neurodiversity I really did not like this. Just let me get on the ride.

And .... its rather good. I mean it's not cracking my top 10, but its a solid top 10% coaster.

The views of Mt Fuji are awesome.



And now onto the big one. Eejanaika. At the start of my trip this and Hakugai were the 2 coasters I was really looking forward to. And whilst Hakugai was a feeling of pure excitement, this one scared me a little bit. Another Fuji Q moment in saying it had the world record for inversions at 14. I mean it just doesn't on any matrix, but hey ho.



As the train crested the top of the drop, you could see the little dots of people turned to look straight down the drop. Terrifying.

On the walk there I saw Fuji Q's attempt at theming. Meh.



Going through the usual chanting routine, and getting loaded into most complicated coaster restraints I've ever seen. It was a bit like sitting in an armchair and trying to strap a scuba pack on. Even by the end of the day (spoiler alert - I rode this more) I still hadn't quite got used to the method of putting restraints on.

First ride I was on the front seat. Except as I soon came to realise, front, back, up and down mean nothing anymore on this ride. The first seat faced backwards towards the people behind. Setting off there was a little bit before the lift hill where you had some indication of what you were to expect. Looking up and backwards on the lift hill meant that you had no idea when you were at the top. As the train crossed the top and tipped me down, I hung there staring at the 250 foot drop. One of the most extreme coaster moments I've ever had. And then we were off.

Surprisingly it wasn't as extreme on the forces as I expected. But that didn't matter. Oh my god that was fun. It hurt from laughing. I expected a terrifying ride. Instead it was the most fun I've ever had. You never knew what was coming next. Whether you'd be facing forwards, backwards, upside down, sidewards. It was absolute and pure chaos.

I went on it a couple more times. No more than 25 minutes wait each time. And despite the 5th row / back seat being somewhat rougher, I left knowing one thing for certain. I'd come to Japan knowing that my all time top 5 would be challenged. I did not expect a new number 1 and yet here we are. I didn't think SteVe could be bettered. This was completely different in every way, but for me it was just so much fun!!

I didn't go on the other coasters. One was closed, and the other kiddy coaster didn't grab me. I couldn't in good faith waste time on it. I didn't go into the haunted house. As a solo traveller it would have cost a fortune as an upgrade. So I just stuck to the coasters.

Closing at 5pm and waiting for the 5.30 bus I crossed the road and took this photo of Mt Fuji.



I wish that the story ended there.

Sat in the bus stop with maybe 100 people all these different buses from different companies would come. I'd constantly ask if it was my bus showing them my ticket to be told no. A nice staff member who spoke English told me that he'd tell me when my bus arrived.

By 6.30 I looked around. The guy had gone. The counter was closed. There were no boards telling me when and if my bus was coming. I had a terrible realisation for the first time in this trip. I was 90 minutes from my hotel in Tokyo, the bus wasn't here. The train station was 2 miles away and no trains were due that evening. I had insufficient money on me to find a hotel. For the first time I felt lost and out of my depth. A Shinjuku bus came along. The 5.45 bus in my company. Oh crap, that's the bus after the one I'm booked on. No I couldn't get on I was told. That was full, or maybe it was just the wrong ticket. I have no idea. I suppose I had no idea but to sit. Looking up towards the snow capped Fuji I suspected it would get very cold around here. I genuinely contemplated a night on a bench in a bus station. Finally, at just past 7 o clock with the bus station otherwise empty, the 5.30 to Shinjuku arrived. A truly amazing day and I cannot wait to go back, but that end of the day did scare me.

 

[BobaFett]

Glad that you enjoyed Fuji-Q so much. I also visited the park using the bus from Shinjuku and I also wasn't sure, which bus would take me back to Shinjuku. There arrived a bus to Shinjuku at the exact time, my bus was supposed to arrive, but it was the earlier bus apparently. The Bus number was printed on the tickets and the bus had a matching number displayed somewhere in the front. Once I saw the bus numbers, I knew which bus to take, but I agree, that the whole bus station was a bit chaotic. Especially in comparison to the perfect train system in Japan.
And I kinda agree on Tokyo Disneyland. I just can not really enjoy the "Castle-Parks" as much as I want to, in parts due to the sheer amount of people. I still think it's a beautiful park, but in comparison to DisneySea, which I really, really loved, I also kinda felt "Meh" about Tokyo Disneyland.

 

[Gazza]

As a solo traveller it would have cost a fortune as an upgrade.

Yeah I got caught out by that. I thought it was just expensive, but in fact its the same amount of yen whether its 4 people or just you.
Did go for ages though, and you do get chased a few times.

 

[Gavin]

Glad that you enjoyed Fuji-Q so much. I also visited the park using the bus from Shinjuku and I also wasn't sure, which bus would take me back to Shinjuku. There arrived a bus to Shinjuku at the exact time, my bus was supposed to arrive, but it was the earlier bus apparently. The Bus number was printed on the tickets and the bus had a matching number displayed somewhere in the front. Once I saw the bus numbers, I knew which bus to take, but I agree, that the whole bus station was a bit chaotic. Especially in comparison to the perfect train system in Japan.
And I kinda agree on Tokyo Disneyland. I just can not really enjoy the "Castle-Parks" as much as I want to, in parts due to the sheer amount of people. I still think it's a beautiful park, but in comparison to DisneySea, which I really, really loved, I also kinda felt "Meh" about Tokyo Disneyland.

Yep, I'm another one who got very worried about the buses, eventually getting on the correct bus about 45 minutes late after trying to get on 4 or 5 different ones. It's a s**tshow, and will likely remain that way. Once a system is in place in Japan, however nonsensical, it rarely changes. Luckily, they got it right with the trains.