Thrilling theme park at the foot of Mt. Fuji.
We woke up early the day before new years eve and jumped on a shuttle bus to go to Fuji-Q-Highlands.
After about a 2 hour drive through the suburbs of Tokyo and the country side, we began to climb the winding roads in our bus, reaching higher altitude.
When we rounded a corner we could suddenly see the big Mount Fuji towering in front of us. This amazing volcano which is so tall that the top is covered in snow was lying straight ahead of us, and it almost seemed like the road went straight to the mountain. After a while we were met by another towering figure - one of the crazy roller coasters of Fuji-Q-Highland amusement park!
Crazy roller coasters which hold several guinness world records
Fuji-Q-Highland has some of the craziest roller coasters in the world. The two must-try are definitely Takabisha and Fujiyama. Takabisha is the black one you can see on the picture to the right.
Featuring the steepest drop of any coaster in the world!
Takabisha features the steepest drop of any roller coaster, which as you can see on the photo drops you at a frightening angle of 121 degrees. The climb up to the drop is fully vertical and really scary as you can only see the sky as you are going higher and higher. It also has the best start we have ever experienced in any roller coaster, which we will not spoil for you. But one thing we can say is - it starts in complete darkness and what it does next is crazy.
Mount Fuji
The amusement park lies directly at the foot of Mount Fuji, and thus the towering mountain creates a breathtaking backdrop for all your thrill-riding escapades.
It is the most amazing feeling going up in a giant tall roller coaster and having Mount Fuji right at your side. The view at the top right before you take the plunge down is almost frightening!
Fuji-Q offers a wide selection of rides, especially aimed at roller coaster loving people like us. The arsenal includes 5 huge roller coasters as well as an exhaustive list of thrill rides and smaller rides.
Just next to the amusement park is an onsen-hotel, which also has the same amazing view of Mount Fuji. For those of you who don't know - onsen is a Japanese form of spa.
Fujiyama seen on the picture to the left is a traditional coaster with no loops, and therefore you are only secured by a set belt.
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It was the highest coaster boasting 79m and it also had the highest drop of any coaster at 70m. It was also the world's fastest coaster for a whole year and it reaches a speed of 130 km/h.
The 70m drop is flat-out frightening because you are only secured with a small seat belt. Your shoulders are in no way secured, so you are totally free to move from the waist and up. During the initial rainbow-colored climb which you can see on the photo to the left, we were so scared because the cart you are sitting in is so small, and the drop down is so far. The cart is so small that your torso is sticking out and you can bend over the side of the cart and look straight down into the ground. The 70m climb felt like it took ages and Mount Fuji straight in front of us seemed bigger and bigger. It felt like we could almost kiss its snowy peak.
The ride is of course totally safe and it was probably the best roller coaster both of us had ever tried.
At the time it was built it took 3 Guinness World Records!
The sheer altitude and speed got our adrenalin pumping like crazy, and the traditional construction and design was just amazing. This proves that a well built traditional coaster easily can compete with modern loop/corkscrew coasters.
The amusement park features 3 other crazy roller coasters as well.
Perhaps most noteworthy is the Do-Dodonpa which we unfortunately could not try because it was closed that day.
Do-dodonpa took 2 Guinness World records for highest speed and fastest acceleration.
It is one beast of a roller coaster, acceleration from 0-180 km/h in 1.56 seconds, it takes you 1244 metres across the whole amusement park in 55 seconds, and reaches a peak of 40 m.
The other roller coasters are also crazy in their own right, and one of them is a "suspended" roller coaster where you are lying face down and "flying" through the air.
Good to know before you go
Fuji-Q-Highlands is located about 2 hours outside of Tokyo. Your hotel will be able to help you book a shuttle ticket, and usually the shuttle departs from one of the major train stations in Tokyo.
We recommend that you go early in the morning if you only want to stay 1 day, because the park is closing at 18:00 on weekdays and 19:00 in the weekend. The shuttle will bring you back to the same station from where you departed.
We spent the whole day at the amusement park and we only managed to try 3 rides! The queues are insanely long! The longest of them are around 3 hours. We were there the day before new years eve, so the park was full. If you go outside the holidays, the queues will definitely be shorter, but this is Japan after all, so expect queues.
Was it worth it, and would we do it again? YES!
It is a combined experience. The park is beautifully located at the foot of Mount Fuji, and just strolling around the park and gazing up at the volcano is a delight. The rides are world class, and definitely worth the long queue.
We really recommend that you go here if you have a day without plans.
The price is not expensive and is the same as you would expect in the west.
They have a website in English, which you will find easily by using Google.