bert425

nice footage. the spotlights are super distracting. . kinda sensory overload when taken with all the lighting within the rides.

it's "meh" here in Texas. . not "hot". . but no where near snow/ice either.

^ for those of us not in that area. . what does this mean? park's not open today due to weather?

^^ I can imagine!! LOL. .those spiders are freaky huge. ^ yeah, I was thinking the same thing, especially when we were going up that trail to the lookout, and the webs were everywhere around and over us! If I weren't so certain that any follow up trip could never live up to the great day we had? I'd want to go back to experience more. . but we DID have a perfect day, so Fuji-Q checked off my bucket list. (however, I do have an itch to finally get to Magic Mountain one of these days to ride X2 now).

Fuji-Q continued - part II so with skip the line passes purchased to come back to Fujiyama in a couple of hours, we headed off towards this beauty. no, not the Carousel - tho it IS a beautiful one (even if not as pretty as the one ridden at Toshimaen), but rather that other beauty in this pic: Eejanaika oh. there's also a sorta good shot of the SBNO Mad Mouse coaster, that still looked like they could have fired it up and started running immediately if they so wanted. But nope, it was closed down (for good apparently). Same rules when looking at a sexy guy - I'm married, not dead. so yeah. . we were headed to Eejanaika. . .but I'm still gonna snap pics of a Carousel when passing by it. especially one so ornate. the carriages on this Carousel were so damn beautiful. don't worry baby. . I'll be back to spend time with you later. Panic Clock looked like fun - it's basically a Zameperla Hawk/Pendulum type ride (think of the Kennywood Aero 360), and I might have caught a pic of it running elsewhere. I LOVE the theming on it, but we were more interested in the coasters at the moment. and standing in this spot? was the perfect angle to get some pics of Eejanaika. . . and here comes Eejanaika just off the little "bump" on the lift hill, and about to go down the drop. wheeeee!! and a ton of screams. which really surprised me, since tho I had seen some of the crowd looking "scared" (in particular in the on ride photos), I hadn't really heard any screaming. not true of Eejanaika. . . LOL this looked like so hella fun! And I could not wait to get all the way around the other side to take a ride on it. walking right by Do-Dodonpa's track, we spotted the first (of MANY) gigantic spiders - that were all over this park. this freaked out some, more than others. Myself, I wasn't particularly "scared". .but they LOOKED really viscous, with bright *danger* colors. . and they were so big, and had spun very large webs. so tho I wasn't "scared" I did make sure I was aware of my surroundings thruout the rest of the day, and I will admit they made me a bit more uncomfortable than the tons of Spiders under Steel Vengeance queue line. what I thought was a nice angle of the Ferris Wheel, with a big ol tree in the center. Takabisha going up the vertical lift, thru Do-Dodonpa's track. and here comes Do-Dodonpa out of the initial - crazy-fast - launch. can I catch it? not really. . but close this time! took a few tries, and hanging out here for a moment to try and get it, but eventually. . success! this is that slightly downwards into the tunnel section, where I got a ton of airtime post launch. My butt was out of seat this whole section when we rode it. after walking thru the narrow path between coasters, we came out to a section that looked deserted. this was the area where most everything seemed to be shut down. . a dead area in the park if you will. looking up, was able to get a wonderful view of Eejanaika's 1st drop. . but it was really the only exciting thing over here in this area (at least on the day we visited). we had passed the SBNO Mad Mouse just before heading into this path..and it came out directly into the SBNO Red Tower drop ride, which the park had also shut down permanently earlier this year. (interestingly, when I looked at Fuji-Q's map to make sure I had the ride name correct, it is NOT flagged as closed - unlike the Mad Mouse is - so maybe they changed their minds? or it was just down for inspection and reopened? I mean, it looked permanently closed tho). The Sky Cycle appeared to not be operating today either - this is a bicycle powered "coaster" that was similar to what we had seen at several other parks in Japan already. Although Fuji-Q's is unique in that it was set in the middle of a tree filled "island" area. . so most of the track was hidden (tho we noticed it, because the track was close enough that we could have walked across the grass and just touched it (no fencing). . so it brought up a "never in America. . could you imagine the lawsuits??" conversation). It's possible that this one wasn't seeming to run because it just wasn't that crowded today. .but I can't recall seeing any individual cars going by as we passed it on the way to Eejanaika's "area" also shut down in this area was "Lisa and Gaspard Dairy of Sky Journey" . a family suspended coaster where you ride in a "cloud". . this featured those two "dogs", that Elissa taught me are actually rabbits. It looked fairly gentle, but watching some clips on YouTube, it does get a bit of speed, and as you are in individual cars, rather than a full train, I'm sure it gives a very different ride than Iron Dragon at Cedar Point, or XLR8 at Astroworld used to. I'm sorry we missed this one, as it seems to be fairly unique. And with the track so spread out and sprawling over this section of the park. . it made the area feel even MORE 'dead' since there were no coaster trains going overhead. and really noticeable, and I caught in the picture on the right there, Cool Jappaan, the parks' Chute the Chutes ride. . which was not operating, and had been completely drained. i really, really looked like they were getting ready to tear out this whole section and just put something new in. . it truly was like waking thru a "dead area" in the middle of the park. since I was at Fuji-Q in October, i've seen reports that Cool Jappaan is back up and running (and one of the folks I was with on the trip did say it seemed to be filling up with water again during our actual visit). . . the Sky Journey Coaster is running, and as mentioned it appears even Red Tower is back up and running. so I guess it was just timing that this whole section appeared to be down . .but nice to hear that at least the majority of the rides are back up. can't complain tho.. . I mean, I rode other drop towers, and pedal cars, and I tend not to ride chute-the-chutes anyways. Not sure if worth ever going back just for the Sky Journey Coaster. We had such a perfect day, best to never go back and be disappointed in a return visit, right? anyways. . Eejanaika. . .wow. we've rounded the drained "Cool Jappaan" ride area, and we've come to a beautiful & quaint Japanese village area. . full of street stands selling food and souveniers that leads you to Eejanaika out front were these things in little "temples" not sure if they are permanent installations, or there for October/Halloween. (they were surrounded by chickenwire . . to keep folks out? or to keep them in ???/ oooooooooooo ) My guess is they are permanent installations, as this character seems to be part of a monster themed anime called "GeGeGe No Kitaro: A timeless Yokai Story" (Yokai is the overall term for supernatural creatures or monsters.. can be good or bad). yep, just to the left of it was this wishing well with an Eyeball on it, and a place to purchase. . something. by looking on the park map, I see we're right near an attraction called: "Gegege monster by-street Monsters story" - which is a "aural sound experience" - you go into a small room, you put on headphones, the lights go down, and you hear a story and the sounds of Yokai creeping around you. I passed on this, even tho it sounded like it could be interesting, for 2 big reasons: 1) I was way more interested in getting to Eejanaika - which was just up ahead at this point. & 2) the story was all going to be in Japanese, so I wouldn't have been able to follow along very well. i mean, it sounds (ha!) as if it would have been a fun experience, but weighing that with other things I wanted to do at Fuji Q? I chose to buypass this. Not sure if this one was an upcharge or not (the other haunt - Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear (the Haunted Hospital) was not included with Free Pass), but if you look closely here there is a place to put a coin in this well, and get a ticket of some sort. So there was some sort of nominal fee to reserve a place. pretty cool tho, huh? here's a look down the main "street" of this area, with Eejanaika there at the very end. that shop on the left, called Fujisan Dumpling, sold several things (mostly dumplings, but also you can see whole fish) that were being roasted on sticks, as well as Ice Cream and sweets. you bought a ticket from a machine on the far right, then brought it across to the booth and the lady would hand you your food. and coming thru the end of the "shops" area? sits Eejanaika! (the lady bending over in the front is setting her phone up on a kiosk, that you could use to take a selfie with points of interest behind you. The park had several of these kiosks set up thruout the park, out front of the "big" rides. follow the signs. . . wow, there was really no one over here on this side of the park. The outside queue for Eejanaika was completely empty, and even to the point that the ramps "split" (due to the nature of the ride, the queue splits to load on both sides, similar to how Gatekeeper loads), it was walk on. once we chose a side to go to, there was maybe one ramp of folks ahead of us, so tops, we waited maybe 10 minutes for this 1st ride? from the ramp up to the loading station, we watched a train pull out and head to the giant lift hill. I hadn't realized that you go up the lift hill backwards! (not for long tho, the seats begin to flip the moment you crest the top of the drop). pick came out a little dark, so too hard to see the complicated restraints. . . but an idea of what the seated folks look like before the train pulls out of the station with everyone facing backwards. the seats are a little high up, and took some acrobatics to get over that "crotch hump" in the center of the seat, tho it was way easier to get into the seat than it was getting out. (hint: it wasn't graceful getting out. . LOL). not only was the inside of the station beautiful, with this gorgeous "stained glass" set into the roof of the station? Eejanaika *also* has it's own theme song, that two months later still occasionally pops into my head: a very strong tribal beat, and chant of Eejanaika! Eejanaika! Ee-ja-nai-ka!!!! it was wonderful. the blue train loaded in front of us, before I put my phone away in the cubby. you can kind of see the restraints here, with at least 3 separate areas of belt that you have to pull on to show the staff members that you are secure before the thumbs up is given. Eejanaika! Eejanaika! Ee-ja-nai-ka!!!! Eejanaika! Eejanaika! Ee-ja-nai-ka!!!! the ride was spectacular, and this rocketed towards the very top of my favorite coaster I've ever ridden. the "Gatekeeper" wing-flyer aspect isn't really noticeable after you get to the top of the lift hill. . as once the seats release and start rotation? you lose all sense of location. . I would have sworn there were tons of inversions on this.. but looking at the track there really isn't any. the forces are just incredible! OMG. . the seat flipping while diving down the 1st drop is possibly the most amazing thing I've ever felt on a ride. and once the initial wow factor passed? we all started clapping and laughing thruout the remainder of the ride. A++ this coaster is incredible, and I loved it. so much so that we got off it, and immediately got back in line for it - this time on the other side (so we had a view of more of the track while waiting on the ramp). This 2nd ride was also only a 10 or 12 minute wait. Eejanaika! Eejanaika! Ee-ja-nai-ka!!!! (yep, we chanted it the whole time waiting in line). Wheee. . this 2nd time, I (and I think Alex) got placed in the very back car. . so we had nothing behind us but track and air, and wow. . it was even MORE intense than the prior ride. laughing and hooting the whole time again, but my legs were kinda like jelly, and it was hard to get out of the seat once we got back to the station. so intense, but so, so good! i'll chant it again: Eejanaika! Eejanaika! Ee-ja-nai-ka!!!! I think everyone was ready to take a break from coasters for the moment (after back to back intense rides) and at least some of the group was ready to try a local beer. . so we headed back from the Eejanaika area, and back towards the "main" park. but not before I stopped at Fujisan Dumpling to try something on a stick. i had planned to try the fish,but it just smelled a little bit too fishy (so I chickened out.. tho I did try the fish on stick later, and it was good)... instead, I got these dumplings with a sweet sauce. they were OK, and I'm glad I tried them, but I didn't eat them all, and think I shared with someone. they turned out to be only dough, with nothing inside - so were very chewy. and not what I was expecting at all. the sauce on top, tasted a bit like honey, mixed with soy sauce. but not strongly. in fact, they didn't have much flavor at all. . I thought they just tasted "sticky" they certainly didn't "wow" me, and they were not something I would get again, but at least I tried them. while some went into a nearby restaurant to get a beer, I stopped at this photo op, that was in font of Cool Jappaan (which you can see behind me is sadly drained, and really did look like it hadn't been maintained and was about to be dismantled). I think the photo op is supposed to be a wave, but you can also squat to make your head be the head of a budda - so I, of course, did that. . LOL thanks to Jon for snapping the picture. . *and* for waiting to time it to catch Eejanaika going down the first drop (which I hadn't even noticed would be in the pic). headed back to the main area of the park, here's Do-dodonpa's new-ish loop, and the "Shining Flower" the park'g giant ferris wheel. you could see some of the clouds moving in, in this and the prior pics. by this time, Mt. Fuji was completely obscured by clouds, and so I was extremely happy we had gotten such great views of it earlier in the day. we had decided that it was time to eat, as most of us were hungry enough, and as we debated the options in the park (Grill Kitchen MEAT x MEAT sounded good, but also sounded very North American - burgers??), we all decided to just go to "Food Stadium", the parks major food court that's pretty much in the center of the park, and added a lot of options. as we walked back towards the center of Fuji-Q, I actually did snap a good pic of the SBNO Mad Mouse coaster. off to the left, those red supports? that's the infamous Frisbee at Fuji-Q that's themed to. . . pizza. yep, you're a pizza being spun around and tossed. . and in the center in front of the ride? a pizza restaurant. LOL. . .but I didn't come all the way to Japan to eat Pizza either (and hadn't eaten it the day before at Yomiuriland either). walking around the central lake to get to Food Stadium. Across the lake is that Grill Kitchen MEAT x MEAT place. .which is advertising Curry as well, on it's windows. . . LOL oh, that pretty lake in the center of the park? - that lake included an attraction, "Water Ace" boats (which we skipped. . only so much time in the park, even with a full day, so choices had to be made, and Water Ace didn't make the cut, even with the fun paths and islands to go around. . tho it seemed to be popular enough, there were some folks riding it thruout the day when we passed it). a poster offering direction to get to Fuji-Q's version of Soarin' - here called "Fuji Airways" (I also chose to skip this one, due to the time that would need to be invested in the pre-show, and the ride. . as well as I knew that I'd be riding "real" Soarin' at Disney later in the trip..but Trent went on it and said it was good). further along the path towards Food Stadium, a view of how stacked the attractions are in this park. back to front: Do-dodonpa's loop Tekkotsubanchou (the park's Skyscreamer, which I rode later - was hella fun, if not the tallest I'd been on) Shining Flower (Ferris Wheel) Auntie Anne's pretzel shop (they had a Starbucks here too. . it was like an airport! ) and the Water Ace boats. that rocket tower in the center of the lake is either just a lifeguard stand, or a decoration they use year round to light up the boat ride (it looked beautiful at night). looking more straight ahead at where we are headed (you can see Food Stadium at the bottom right of the picture), here's a great view of Tentekomai (the park's Air Race). This is what I rode at the end of the night, 5 minutes before closing, instead of Fuji Airways. I didn't get it to flip 60+ times, as some did. .but I did flip at least 30 before I started to get ill, and just enjoyed the rest of the cool night air, riding right-side-up. Heading into Food Stadium, we passed this sign advertising the Halloween special offerings at the park. none of these really "spoke" to me, but it's great that the parks have special Halloween offerings to make things more fun for those visiting. after a crash course in using the ordering machines (they are way more confusing than one would think they would be - since you use the ones at the front for EVERY STATION in Food Stadium. .and then it gives you tickets you have to bring to the different stations to pick up your orders). i don't really recall what this was, but I believe it had spicy pork, and of course, melted cheese on top. For something that was supposed to be spicy, I recall it being fairly mild (tho keep in mind, I like really spicy stuff). . but I did enjoy it, and ate every bite. Jon was sitting across from me, and in addition to his main, he also got Takoyaki here. I love Takoyaki, and he let me try one. . they were quite good. (not as good as the ones we would get later on the trip at the Universal Citywalk's Takoyaki Alley area. . . but these were good). We finished eating, and had about 15 minutes to let our food digest, and then it was time for. . . . Fujiyama !! with our "Zekkyo Priority Ticket" we bypassed the entire line (and it was still super long). . you just walk with your ticket alongside the standby line, up all the ramps, and directly to the station, where they check your ticket, and put you in the queue for the very next train. And since Fujiyama was only running the Silver train today, that line was long. I can just imagine that if we were in the states, we'd be getting glares and comments by everyone in the line. . but here in Japan? Just some smiles and waves as we walked by! and it was a little odd, many folks just stood in the line, even tho there were plenty of priority tickets still available. (we saw this too at Tokyo Disney - folks preferred to stand in line, instead of getting a fast pass, that would have gotten them right on the ride). I suppose it's a cultural thing, but for only ~$15? I'm glad I got the option to buy one to bypass this huge line. the station was very "old school" with some wonderfully tacky color combos. .and as you can see in this pic, the free cubbies to put all your stuff into. tho this one was set up different from the other coasters in that here we had to cross over the coaster to put your stuff away, then step back into the car. All the other coasters had the cubbies on the same side of the station you loaded/unloaded from. so this was a very "Six Flags" set up. the trains were so unique looking, it was kinda like being in a parade float. and lap bars! (seatbelts too. . but really just lap bars) as with most parks we'd been to, I recall this being assigned row - especially since we were using the Zekkyo Priority ticket - so we went where they put us, which was about 3 cars back, mid train. we had all regrouped, and decided that we should ride Do-dodonpa again, so we headed over that way to check out the line. . tho not before standing by the end of the tunnel and attempting to get a pic of the launch. took a few tries, but eventually got purple train. while waiting for the picture above to be purchased (which is on the 2nd floor of the Fujiyama station building), I peeked out the windows and got a nice view of the statuary and reliefs on the Carousel, which is outside the station. Back down on the main level after purchasing the picture, I headed into the souvenir shop that was on the 1st floor next to the entrance queue for Fujiyama (in search of a magnet, which I had success finding. .and ironically? bought the Fujiyama magnet, since that was the one I liked best, even if not the coaster I liked best). While I and some shopped, others took a restroom break, as the toilets are right there in the same complex. we were waiting for everyone to finish up and meet back up, and this little trolley just pulled up out of no-where, seemingly following the lines on the ground (tho the park map indicates you should follow those lines to get to different "lands" - Red to Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear, Orange to Park Entrance #1 or #2, and Blue to Thomas Land). So I think it was just coincidence that the trolley was on these lines? The park doesn't have a train, and not even certain where the trolley stops would be. .as there was no sign indicating where it would stop. notice the "Power Rangers" type mascots for Fuji-Q on the front of the Trolley tho. Seconds after I snapped the above pic - and noted I had no idea where the trolley stop would be? the trolley stopped. . right there. no sign that this is a stop.. and I couldn't ask anyone, as there was no one actually riding on the trolley. (and I didn't see where the driver went. .but as you can see in this pic, in the time it took me to cross to the other side of the trolley to snap this pic, he disappeared). all of that info combined? yeah, I think he just stopped right there. . to go to the toilet. I mean, there really is NOT any kind of sign indicating this is a stop, and he kinda stopped right in the middle of the walking path, near the Men's room. LOL while waiting for the pic to be purchased, I perused the "store" that was there by the photo counter, and came across these "non-misogynistic" treats. .themed to the female Power Ranger-esque park logo. they appear to be pudding treats, shaped like her bewbs. . and look how shocked she is that you're looking at her bewbs! of COURSE, I had to buy a set (ha!) of these as a souvenir. - and they actually survived the entire trip and made it home in one piece, and hysterically? once you open the box, there are steps you have to take to "release" the treats.. they are held within a paper "bra" when you first open the box up. eventually (after I finish the report), I'll post pics of some souvenirs, so you'll get to see the brilliant packaging on this. Can't tell you what they taste like, unfortunately, as I didn't actually unpack them. This is a souvenir that will forever stay sealed - it's better that way after our 2nd ride on Do-dodonpa, we headed across to Takabisha, which also had a relatively short line still, tho this one too was a little longer than earlier. I believe we also waited about 20-25 minutes, but got in another great ride on Takabisha too. some of us were starting to fade a bit (including me) since we had gotten up so dang early. . even tho it was only early afternoon, and the park was open until 6pm. So we still had ~3 1/2 hours left, and we were right by the Starbucks in the park. so yep, Starbucks break! I didn't try the "masquerade" flavor they were offering for Hallowing (I did get to try it later in Shinjuku, and found it to be a raspberry flavor), but was very pleased with my white chocolate mocha that perked me right up. I believe a few others got coffees/drinks too, and then we decided that it was time to get another ride on Eejanaika. but first, a spooky/horror themed photo op right in front of the Starbucks? yep, count me in! walking back past the "wave" photo op from earlier, I noticed on the other side of the "street" were these squatting (to poop?) photo op stools! Allison was game, so she and I posed, and were "nuts 4 butts at Fuji-Q" BWAAA-HAA-HAAA so cute! the line for this 2nd ride was a little longer than it had been earlier. . about 25 minutes, but it still didn't seem too bad, so we didn't bother with Priority Tickets, and instead just got in line. this time, I went 3rd row, since I had gotten to ride in the front on our prior ride. But we ended up with an all TPR train. . one open seat, I'm not sure where Trent had gone off to (maybe he was doing the Fuji Airways ride at this time?). I found it a bit bumpier than the ride earlier had been. . so maybe the ride gets a little rougher as you go towards the back? Regardless it was still a great ride. here's the pic, I think David bought this time. going back thru the little town section, I leaned in to pose with a Yokai that was just hanging out on a bench. he/she/it confused me. . but I was intrigued by it and I had another fantastic ride on Eejanaika. Eejanaika! Eejanaika! Ee-ja-nai-ka!!!! no pics from this coaster tho -- the pics just didn't look like you were in a 4D coaster. .they looked more like you were sitting in a baby bjorn. . . . so we passed on documenting our ride. WE know we rode it! but I think Luke may have bought his pic from a ride he did earlier in the day with Trent. the pic the group purchased from Fujiyama. . and once again, the TPR folks are all with HUGE smiles, and the locals are all grimacing with fear/angst. (well, Jon is kinda grimacing. . LOL) what did i think of it? well, the 1st 2/3rds are amazing. If I'm recalling correctly the camera to take the pic is after the 2nd drop, so i'm still *loving* it at this point. Yes, you read that correctly, I was loving a Togo.. it was really fun. . the 1st drop, the turn around, the 2nd drop, more high speed turns, helix. . it's fun, and not rough at all. and then you get to the last 3rd. . . a section that would be best described as what if Maverick & Phoenix were combined, and then re-imagined by Togo. yep, it tries to kill you. . . a bunch of bunny hops, while quickly zig-zag direction changes between them. it was horrible. The only bright side is that I was laughing, because being in the 3rd car, we HEARD the folks in the cars in front of us going "ugh!!" and "oooghh" a millisecond before we hit the same reaction. It wasn't quite enough time to brace for it, but it was funny as hell. but yes, I thought this ending 3rd was awful! so awful, that when later in the day, some in the group decided to buy another pass to skip the line and ride Fujiyama again? I passed and went on the Carousel and the Naruto shooting ride instead! Fujiyama is the only "big" coaster at Fuji-Q that I only rode the 1 time. . and i'm ok with that to be fair tho, those that re-rode it, got placed in the back car, and they all said it rode much better in the back than it had in the middle of the train. There was also a photo op set up over there with one of the Gold Trains from Fujiyama - with a fan set up to turn on and blow your hair to make it look like you were riding. my hair isn't long enough to blow,and no one other than me wanted to climb up on the platform to pose for the pic. . . but here I am. wheeee! thanks to Alex for taking the pics for me/ of me headed back from our ride, the clouds are really coming in, and it's getting a little overcast. but it was still a beautiful day, and we had experienced HOURS of sun.. so couldn't complain. LTR in this pic: Tekkotsubanchou (skyscreamer), Do-dodonpa's loop, Red Tower (SBNO), Shining Flower (Ferris Wheel), Cool Jappaan (SBNO, and drained) and Eejanaika. ah. . here's a pic of folks actually riding the Sky Cycle on the green tracks. . so I guess I was mistaken earlier. .it WAS open, it just wasn't really running because the park was kind of empty. this is a good shot of that area I was talking about earlier tho, that looked closed down: behind us and to the right are Red Tower & Cool Jappaan (both not running), the blue Track is the not running Lisa & Gaspard Diary of Sky Journey (suspended coaster). there are more people here than had been earlier, but really there's not much down this way attraction wise other than a raft ride & the upcharge Haunt (Super scary Labyrinth of Fear). . maybe because it was getting later in the day there were more people over here? there certainly weren't many kids over here, and the little coin operated cars, were just sitting empty in the center of the large walkways. that white track is Do-dodonpa's turn around before the loop. we went over this way, because we saw Nagashimasuka (the raft ride) on the map.. giant lucky cats certainly got my interest piqued. .and this photo op in front of the ride - the cats vomiting water? yeah, this looked like fun. and it actually had a little bit of a line - so THIS is where most of those folks in the prior pic had been heading. More lucky cats, at the actual ride entrance. huh. . the cats don't appear to be spitting water. . tho that's in ALL the art. hmmmmm. . see? spitting water. the queue was not nearly "full", which offered an opportunity to enjoy the wonderful murals on the walls. that's a LOT of water on the mural. . . just before you got to the last row of back&forth, there were machines set up to purchase plastic ponchos. *everyone* seemed to be getting ponchos, and I noticed from the 3rd row back they were only a buck. So we discussed it, and decided that we didn't mind getting a little bit wet. Besides, it would be fun. thank goodness! not only was this way more "violent" of a rapids ride than the Splash U.F.O. yakisoba raft ride the day before at Yomiuriland - with way steeper drops, and a lot more splashing into the boat. . but the water was probably 40 degrees. It was COLD. and those cats that didn't appear to be vomiting water? oh. .they do - from the *back side* of them which also have lucky cat faces, and that side faces the rafts! Not to mention the areas of heavy mist that the rafts go thru. oh, and the rafts are teeny, tiny, as you can see from the prior picture! it was a tight squeeze getting 3 of us in there. but LOL. . look at this pic. . you can really tell, who had purchased a poncho (and remained dry and warm), and who decided to brave it without (and ended up soaked and cold). . . hehehehehe we were laughing and enjoying how much fun the raft ride had been (and deciding, no, we weren't going to get on it again. .it was too wet!), when Luke - who hadn't ridden with us - asked if we had been to the lookout point, that was in the center of Do-dodonpa's turn around. ears perked up, and we headed that way further past the raft ride, and found these horrifyingly scary "bears" (I think. . I dunno, i think it was a demon seal.. look at those red eyes and bloody mouth!) at the base of a trail leading up to a lookout point. ok, yeah, they are supposed to be bears. this other one is way more appealing. tho, of course, I prefer the bloody mouth, 1st one. . and immediately made it my FB profile pic. following the trail up to the lookout point.. many, many more HUGE spiders hanging out in the un-pruned bushes lining the trail. This guy was a bit scary, as it looked like it was about to give birth to hundreds of hungry spider babies. Or maybe it was just fat from all the tourists it had sucked dry today. I honestly wasn't sure if we were allowed up here, as the trail was kind of overgrown, and unmowed.. but it *seemed* to be open (if not on the park map), and as a couple of path split offs WERE actually chained off? the path we were on towards the top was definitely open. what looks like an abandoned attraction left to rot, I believe is part of the Winter attractions. It looked like it was going to be covered in snow, and be a snowing hill (along the bottom there were cushions attached to the walls to help stop sledders who were out of control. . at least it looked that way to me). And checking the Fuji-Q site, they DO offer a sledding hill. . so yeah, we just were there before they had started getting this area cleaned up for that. but the amazing thing about this lookout area? it's right in the middle of Do-dodonpa. .so you can track the train around and into the loop. loop de loop !!! wheeee. behind all those clouds? yeah, that's what Mt Fuji looked like for most of the day, after we had such a beautiful view of it in the morning. it was pretty impressive that the clouds rolled in so densely around it. Once again, I was so thankful that I got to see Mt. Fuji so clearly earlier that day. from the lookout, a closer look at one of the bizarre WTF rides in Thomas Land .. . this one called "Thomas' Happy Smile" I did try to get folks to ride it during our pass thru Thomas Land, as we walked the park - but no one wanted to do it, even for giggles. I prolly should have just ridden it alone, but there were still several things I wanted to ride at that point, so I didn't bother with it. I still like the WTF-ness of it tho. from up here, you get a great view of the back side of the lucky cats statue on Nagaashimasuka. . . yeah, they really do vomit water. . LOL such a fantastic view . . so much track from so many rides, in one pic! got Tekkotsubanchou starting to go up on it's cycle, and Eejanaika about to drop. . too bad that Red Tower, suspended coaster, chute-the-chutes aren't active, or that Tondemina (the Pizza Frisbee) isn't cycling.. otherwise would be a perfect picture. but I'm in it, so it's still pretty good not the highest Skyscreamer I had ever been on, but Tekkotsubanchou really gets up there. and once it started to get darker? it really felt like we were so high! as you can see here, it gets some good forces, and swings you out pretty far! here comes the Red train for Do-dodonpa. tracking it around the turnaround. . . and into the loop! wheeeeeee. again, a whole lot of tracks Tekkotsubanchou is back down on the ground, but Eejanaika is pumping out trains, and over in the distance can see Tondemina (Pizza frisbee) now cycling. enough with the view from the top of the lookout, let's continue around the park! time to walk thru Thomas Land. yay? that pumpkin was the full extent of the Halloween decorations over here (which makes sense, as this area is for kids. . but weird, since that coffin with the bloody hands is near the front gate, so kiddos would have had to pass it to get TO Thomas Land). but we had to cut thru Thomas Land 1) just to see it, and 2) because that's how you get to the bridge that lets you stand over Do-dodonpa's track (and leads you to Tekkotsubanchou (the skyscreamer) on the bridge over Do-dodonpa's track, looking towards the front entrance of the park, I actually did get a decent pic of the Panic Clock ride (or "Panic Rock" if you believe the English park map) in action. from this viewpoint, you can get a pretty spectacular view of Do-dodonpa's train as it comes out of the loop (I'd assume this used to also be where one could stand before to get pics as the train used to come down from the airtime hill). zoom-zooom !!! I believe this is where we spit off, as folks in the group I was with had the priority pass for Fujiyama, and I had not purchased another one to ride. So I went off and hit up Tekkotsubanchou (the skyscreamer) - and then the Carousel, of course, while they all went off to Fujiyama, where they had a wonderful back car ride. to be continued in part III. Speaking of the Men's room? Zach came out and showed us this amazing picture he took of the art inside the Men's room. yep, that's one of the Fuji-Q Power Rangers-esque Mascots. . on the toilet. straining. BWAAA-HAAAA-HAAAAAAA. . I love Japan! (thanks to Zach for the ok to use his pic in my TR) this is how the seating works! notice no shoes? yep, you have to take your shoes off and leave them in your designated loading area - they keep this ride moving pretty quickly despite the complicated loading required, but setting up two batches of folks per car, with two "holding pens" per car - so you take off your shoes and leave them on your marked spots (all your bags in your own cubbies there too), and when your train comes back, you just get your stuff/put your shoes on, while they load the folks that were in the next holding pen over. photo courtesy of Zach. but as we got closer to the front of the line. . . . hmmm. . . lots of folks getting on the ride are wearing ponchos. I think for $1 we maybe should invest in ponchos. a couple of us decided to stick to their guns, and go poncho-less. But myself, Jon, and Zach spent the freaking 100yen, and bought ponchos. (pic courtesy of Zach) a look at some of the "path" we took to get to this lookout point. see how overgrown it looks in places.. but it was open!

I never got to do that in school - which is strange, since Astroworld was so close to me while growing up. So it would have been an easy thing to discuss, as many of my fellow students had Season Passes and were there every day over Summer (as I was). what a cool topic tho. . I wish I had gotten a similar subject when I was in school.

^ well. . I mean, yeah. but besides that. why Fujiyama?

what an awesome report. . love seeing the slightly different takes on many of the same places I saw. Tho we're on the same page a lot! I loved Half-Pipe at Joypolis too! it was so much fun. how wonderful to see the tiny pubs/restaurants/alleys. . that's such a great experience to have in Japan. keep it coming! hehe. . we're gonna have double the Fuji-Q up in here (as I'm hoping to have my parts 2 & 3 of our surprisingly awesome day there as well (!) up this weekend too).

you take some amazing pics! I always love seeing your updates.

QFT!!!!

Thanks for the comments folks! really glad people are enjoying the report as I love writing them up - even when I try to be brief they end up long, LOL. I was wondering about these too, and forgot to ask last night: anyone know the "reasoning" behind the "pole dancers" on the Fujiyama station? I noticed them, and snapped a pic, but couldn't quite figure out why they were on this specific ride.

^ where is that tho? i've been to CP twice, but both times in the last 3 years, so Paddle Wheel was way gone when I visited. guess I could google, but seems like this would be the thread to ask in

ah. .that would explain the sign behind what I called "Superdeformed Fujiyama" what is the tie to Fuji-Q Highland? any idea.. or they just decided to theme that entry section to France (with some British shops thrown in), and so used them as mascots there?

did they say where the boat ride is going to go? into the area near the chute the shoots?

So I ended up taking over 600 pics on "Fuji-Q Day" and although I'm not gonna include over 2/3rds of em, I couldn't bear to cut many of the "coaster train moving thru the course in succession" pics. . so this report is gonna end up being a three parter! apologies for those that are already sick of seeing pics of smiling me giving a silly thumbs up, as I seemed to do that a lot on this day. . LOL so I had to wake up insanely early - I think this pic is ~4am (as it was evening back in Texas so sent a good night wave home to the spouse). why was I up so early? A group of 7 of us were meeting up downstairs at 4:30 to head to Shinjuku. We were going to meet up with Zach (who had been in Japan for a few days doing culture stuff on his own), and we were headed to Fuji-Q for the day! Elissa helped us a TON ahead of the trip, with planning how to get to Fuji-Q (since it wasn't part of the "Official TPR" trip) - as well as tons of helpful info if the weather didn't cooperate, the crowds were terrible, or the operations were sub-standard. it was all about setting expectations, and I really appreciated all the advice. I was most excited about seeing Mt Fuji, and even if the weather was awful was excited - even tho it sounded as if the Mountain didn't often appear, and was often covered in fog/clouds/mist. but we had all pre-bought our reserved bus tickets (tho not actual park tickets, or skip the line tix yet. . just in case weather turned out to be terrible), so was up and dressed, and down in the lobby meeting up with the rest of the folks coming today: Jon, Alex, Luke, Trent, Allison & David. our bus left from the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal at 6:05 am, and got us to Fuji-Q at 7:42 (~1:20 before opening). We were a few stops away from Shinjuku, leaving from Shinagawa . . and we still had to find our way from the train station to the Bus Terminal. Luckily Zach had been staying in a hotel at Shinjuku, and had pre-scouted to find out where we needed to go for the bus. So all we had to do was to meet up with Zach at the Train Station and follow his lead. It was a Wednesday, just before 5am. This early, the stations were all pretty empty. the architecture in some of the stations continued to impress me. . and with such light crowds, was able to get some nice pics. Go Straight? no thank you. . . but I will go "gaily forward" yeah. . not many folks headed to Shinjuku this early. We found Zach, and he led us outside, and across the street to the Bus Terminal. it was maybe 5:30 or so, and the sun was starting to come up and the city coming alive. up the stairs to the 2nd level of the Express Bus terminal, and I stopped to snap this pic out the floor to ceiling windows of what was looking to be a beautiful day - at least in Tokyo. Fuji-Q Highland is in Fujiyoshida, about 1 1/2 hours away. . so weather could be different, but I crossed my fingers and we made our way into the Bus waiting area (which looked remarkably like a small airport waiting room) - grabbing coffee and a snack from the little convenience store. before too long, our bus had pulled up outside and we were called to start boarding. this was a highway express bus, with only a few stops (the 2nd of which was Fuji-Q), but as noted we had to pre-purchase seats, and they were assigned. thanks to Elissa's recommendations, we had all purchased seats weeks in advance - which worked out great as the bus had sold out. I had purchased first from our group, so I was in row 1 and had chosen a window seat. I forgot that the driver would sit on the right, so I was behind the driver's booth. but still had a pretty good view. The seat next to me was open for a good 55 minutes, and the person next to me didn't join until the 1st stop. So it was a nice, comfy ride although I look really wiped out. the bus had free Wi-Fi (as well as a bathroom). . it was way nicer than any bus one would get in the States. as we started to get on the road, I spotted this ahead thru the driver's window. I knew Mt Fuji was often behind clouds, but this looked clear. There was no snow on the peaks tho.. was this Mt. Fuji? (I snapped the pic and sent it to the group chat to ask. . and yep, it was Mt. Fuji!). So I was already happy I had seen it - albeit from way far away. . but I could say I saw it. oh yeah. . . glad we're going out of Tokyo. . just look at that traffic headed into the city! clearer shot of Mt. Fuji. .tho still thru the bus window. just some random pics as we drove thru Japan, to get to Fuji-Q highland. the landscape was just beautiful, and the sky got clearer and clearer the farther we got out of Tokyo proper. the highways go THRU the mountains. Reminded me very much of traveling we had done in the hilly areas of Pennsylvania (particularly on the way to Knoebel's).. tho this elevated highway reminded me of driving on Oahu. the the front window screens, but really loved the "fog" in the crevices of the mountains. just really cool. but why did I include this pic? On the left there, thru the screen? yup, that's a ferris wheel, and what looked like a roller coaster. it's not Fuji-Q (were too far away still), but there's an amusement park up there in the mountains. I love Japan more every day I'm there! Cemetery on the hill right alongside the highway. the sky is a beautiful shade of Blue, with occasional low clouds.. Sorry for so many pics, but these are only a dozen or so of the 40 I took. . LOL Just wanted to share the experience of the bus ride from Tokyo. So lush and beautiful. Tunnel thru the mountains Misty Mountains, low clouds, and beautiful sky. we were getting closer to our destination, the weather was looking just lovely. Rural houses, along the highway Getting closer. . a better pic of Mt. Fuji. . and much clearer. over the houses, thru the "clear" part of the window? off in the distance, is our destination.. my first view of Fuji-Q highland.. . I'm getting Giddy. Holy crap. . . still thru the bus window, but look at this amazing cloudless weather. .and holy crap - Mt. Fuji is impressive as hell! not sure where the snow is, it looks naked. .but such a clear view today! I believe this is Eejanaika 's lift hill peeking out towards the highway, as we are approaching. Yup.. almost there! and passing right in front of Eejanaika, with Fujiyama's lift hill on the right. (and in the center of the tracks, you can also make out Takabisha's vertical lift section. all with a beautiful Mt. Fuji in the background. Coaster-Japan-gasm. . . I actually felt my stomach doing flip-flops when I saw this view from the bus. Making the turn off the highway, and pulling up to the Fuji-Q Bus Station (around 7:40 am). steps away from the front gate entrance - and just next to Fujiyama. Air is crisp and clear. exiting the bus, and I got my first view that wasn't thru a window. . and I was completely blown away with how gorgeous Mt Fuji is. see? I look dumbstruck. . or just dumb. . or maybe just tired. . LOL. . but I was so amazed to be seeing this with my own eyes! and the day was so clear. . I could have never imagined we'd get such a great clear day for visiting these parks, and had prepared myself to not be too disappointed. . .that added to how blown away by it I was. those stairs behind me in the prior picture, went to an elevated bridge that allowed one to go across the highway and get closer to a "lookout point" for Mt Fuji. . and also provided a great view of Fujiyama - which was the worlds tallest coaster when it was built back in 1996 looking a bit more to the right, the lift hill and 1st drop of Fujiyama no trains cycling yet, as it's still over an hour until the park gates open. stun. ning. it's the fresh mountain air, I think. . . yep, another "thumbs up from bert" pic. going across the bridge, there's a neat little look-out area, and a lovely clocktower down there at the base. nos sure which side the infamous Suicide Forest is located at, but I suspect it's on the opposite side of Mt. Fuji from where I am looking. I had gone back down the stairs to the bus-drop off and noted to some of the TPR folks that the stairs up gave a fantastic view, and most of us went back and came across to enjoy the view. (I believe Trent & Luke had already headed over to the front gates tho). thanks to Alex for taking this picture for me. It's treasured among my favorite 5 or 10 pics that I've ever had of me. we posed for a "TPR group shot" with Mt. Fuji, and posted it to the Messenger thread, and we initially got back a two word response from Elissa. . . before she elaborated. let's just say she was happy has hell for us that we ended up with this view (and weather) and noted that in 10 trips to Fuji-Q Highland, they had never seen Mt Fuji so clear. the universe was with us on this day, and we were starting out really, really well. clockwise from front center: Allison, Alex, David, Zach, Me, Jon most of us making "giddy" faces. . . after getting our Mt. Fuji fix in (and this clarity lasted for a few hours, but by 11am, the whole mountain was obscured by clouds and fog. . so it really was a perfect start to the day that we got to see it so clearly). . we headed towards the entrance gates for Fuji Q highland. we still had about an hour until opening, but better to be lined up when they open as we didn't know what kind of crowds to expect since the day was so beautiful. Fujiyama as we're walking toward the main gate. you get quite close to Fujiyama as you approach the park. still too early for the trains to be running, but the structure itself is impressive all on it's own. and here we are, ~40 minutes prior to opening, outside the main entrance. they had some pricing info up, and hours, and interestingly some changing rooms set up (I guess because it was October, and so people want to dress for Halloween, but not come to the park in costume but rather change AT the park?). there was also a Photo op - so of COURSE I posed i was one of the "ensemble stars" - which looking into after the fact ,are a Japanese Anime, based on a CCG (collectible card game), and seems to be very popular in Japan. tho to me they looked like an anime Scouts group. Regardless it was a photo op, so I stopped and op-ped. the series seems to be pretty popular, but I don't recall seeing them anywhere in the park other than this display out front (inside the park there was tons of the "Power Rangers" type mascots that Fuji-Q uses, but no more of these characters). Park Map, with the red box showing us where we are. I didn't realize it at the time (probably because it's all in Japanese ???), but on this map, there is a greed dotted line, that shows where we ended up getting to go to: as at the 30 minute mark, the front of the "store" opened, and we were allowed into the area - which is an entire themed (to France?) section with shops, cafes, fountains, more photo ops and some amazing views of the park - along the way to the actual front gates - where they sell admission, as well as the main park entrance (noted on this map as "Park Entrance 1" so you can get pretty far into the place, before it really opens - although the only "ride" out here is a double decker Carousel, that wasn't open until the park opened (and never made it back out to ride this one, so I only rode the Carousel inside Fuji-Q's main gates). that blue dotted line, would appear to be the directions for Hotel guests to follow. .as it leads them right to the front gate as well (where they lined up in a separate queue and were allowed in about 15 minutes prior to official opening). as you can see from this map, if you're coming in Park Entrance #1 (not even sure if #2 was open, but if I had to guess it was not this day). . then you're coming immediately to 3 of the 4 "big" coasters at Fuji-Q Highland. literally steps straight ahead from the entrance is: Fujiyama if you hang a right just before Fujiyama's queue building, you immediately come upon Takabisha - and directly across the "street" from that queue is the queue for Do-Dodonpa so the only one of the big 4 that's off by itself is Eejanaika - much further back into the park from the main entrance. so it is possible to spend a bit of time just up here by the entrance and get 3/4ths of the parks' famous coasters without ever leaving this section. standing in front of the park map, just before they opened up the doors to the store, and we realized we were allowed to enter into the pre-entrance area. as noted, I hadn't realized we'd be able to get into this section so hadn't looked at the big park map too closely. .but there was a lot of stuff here, and very well themed. Almost Epcot level in some places. and some great shots of the coasters (which still weren't testing yet, as it was still ~35 minutes until park open). here's Takabisha's famous "steeper than vertical" drop at the midpoint of the ride. Looking to the left a little, here's Fujiyama on the left, with Eejanaika's track in the center of the pic. the morning weather was just so perfect, only could have gotten better pics if the trains had started cycling at this point. never did figure out who the black & white dog figures are, but they apparently are Fuji-Q Highland mascots too, as they were all over this entrance section to the park. here I am in a photo-op with them. . riding a super-deformed version of Fujiyama. whee!!! some interesting artwork here - that were down nooks and cranny "side streets" off the main path. a good pic down one of the "streets" with the shops, headed towards the main gate. see? very much reminded me of Epcot theming, and those two black/white dogs (?) were everywhere out here, including in signs, as well as some Halloween versions of them at the end of the street). and yes, at this point, we TPR folks were the only ones here. a fountain/cafe area, offering a great shot of Takabisha. . . and I love how they themed the planter into a Jack O Lantern for Halloween. yep. . we're in France, that's an Eiffel tower at the end of the pond with fountains, and there were some lovely gardens off to the right. Tho it looks like Fuji-Q ran out of budget and just stopped. . so there's a blank wall up against the rear of the building at the far back. Still, its pretty nicely done, was unexpected, and to the left there is the Double Decker Carousel (which as I noted I didn't get to ride today, since we didn't come out until after park close. . tho it IS included in your park ticket if you buy the ride pass, otherwise you can pay to ride it as single ride). continuing toward the main gates, a closer shot of the "nook" area and Takabisha. looking up at Fujiyama, as we head down this "street" towards the entrance. this area looked amazing at night, and yep, those two dog (?) characters are in the lights over the shops and glittered at night. they also had a photo op, where you could sit between them on a bench in front of a Fuji-Q version of the Arc de Triomphe. so of course I did. We've now made it all the way to the front gate area - which is over there to the right. to the left is where one can buy the tickets for the park. . which it turns out you get a discount (only $1, but hey a buck is a buck) if you show your passport when purchasing. Fuji-Q has now become a "free" park - there is no separate admission fee, but instead you purchase an entrance ticket (free), or Free Pass ticket (which includes all rides). OR you could just purchase for whatever specific rides you wish to enjoy when there. (in addition, the 4 "big" coasters, all have machines in front of them that sell the Fuji-Q version of Fast Pass, which seemed to average ~$15.. but they give you an assigned time (you get to choose what timeframe), and you come back and bypass the standby queue). of course we purchased the Free Pass, as we wanted to ride everything - and we did confirm before purchasing that all the big coasters would be operating (minus the Mad Mouse which had been declared SBNO earlier in the year). they don't give you a wristband or ticket that you'll need to keep pulling out. . instead the park uses Facial Recognition! at the main gate, you pose for a picture, and then every ride (even the Carousel), you stop in the booth on the way to the ride, and smile, and it recognizes that you bought the ticket type that allows you to ride that ride (either free pass, or for that specific ride). Very cool, and a little bit "Technology is taking over" freaky. it worked really well tho, and I think the only time we even hit a small snag was when Allison put her hair up, and the booth didn't recognize her, until she took it back down for the green approval from the technology overlord. anyways, as you can see from this pic? the park was preparing to open! (and a cut out of the female "power ranger" type mascot of the park). a good look at the entrance gates, and the facial recognition booths where they snap your photo upon entering the park. also Eejanaika way back over there. no one in line, yet, as it was still about 20 minutes to opening, tho that would change as the Hotel guests started to show up shortly after for early admission. I absolutely adored this. the park name, as Vending Machines. LOVED it. even better? all Coke product, no nasty Pepsi to be found anywhere better look at the entrance facial recognition booths, and some of the Halloween Decorations the park had put up. less than 20 minutes until park opens, and the Hotel guests started to arrive in droves, and lined up at the special queues to let them into the early admission. (i think that maybe those that pre-bought tickets online got 15 minute early admission too). a few other non-early admission folks had shown up, and joined the line in front of us, but it wasn't much of a line. . the day was beautiful, but opening didn't seem too crowded (although the early admission line was growing and growing). still can't really believe I'm here, and the day is so beautiful. just after I snapped this pic, they opened up the park for the early admission, and folks just streamed in. . .and went directly ahead to join the Fujiyama queue. The Ride wasn't open yet, but that's right where everyone went. . we looked at each other and were a bit surprised that no one was heading to the right (for Do-Dodonpa or Takabisha) ,but it seemed almost every person went to get in line for Fujiyama. less than 10 minutes to "general" open, and Fujiyama has started testing (only Silver train tho, no Gold. . which never ran all day, but this was the only major coaster that was running 1 train). these set of pics are from just outside the main gates. and while Fujiyama was cycling, we started hearing the jet-engine take off sound of Do-Dodonpa tearing out of the launch, while they readied that. and then moments later? the gates opened for everyone, and into the park we went - a place I never in a million years thought I'd ever set foot in (same thoughts I'd have every day on this trip! especially once we got to Disney) thru the gates, and I/we followed the advice Elissa had given me to prepare us for a "not-perfect" day so we would still enjoy Fuji-Q: at open, head to the coaster I MOST wanted to ride, and get a ride on it standby. THEN go hit the skip the line machines to buy further passes if needed. for me, and for most of those on the TPR trip at Fuji-Q with me today, the #1 ride I MUST do was Do-Dodonpa, so we made a bee-line for it. a quick glance at Fujiyama as we walked by, confirmed what we thought we saw - everyone did seem to go there. The queue was full all the way down every ramp, and into the back&forths at entrance level. I knew from research, if the ramps were full? that's a 2+ hour wait. So we headed to the right, and were shocked to find Do-Dodonpa with a queue that wasn't even 1/2 way down the 2nd ramp. We're talking ~15 minute wait. . so we hopped right in line. looking across the walkway, Takabisha's queue wasn't even past the entrance door out into the back&forth queue area. . so we knew we'd be hitting that next. But from our wait on the Do-Dodonpa ramps, we got some nice visuals of Takabisha running, with multiple empty rows! wow, we picked a great day to go. . maybe the Typhoon kept people away? Maybe because it was a Wednesday? Or maybe just pure luck? but we had managed to hit Fuji-Q Highland on a perfect morning (great weather + light crowds). . HOLY. . the back portion of Takabisha's course So. many. inversions. . . and zooming into the frame? Do-Dodonpa train on the return to the station, still just FLYING. they were running two trains on Do-Dodonpa today, Purple and Red.. this is Purple. and they were running it with lots of empty seats - which seemed odd, but I think these were still some of the first trains with riders today. Selfie from the queue (and some serious side eye from the girl in front of me who is watching the speed of the train returning. she seemed to be wary about riding but was being egged on to ride by her boyfriend). this is really the only ramp full of folks between us and the ride - the load station is at the top of the ramp, on the left. and you can see on the right, that no one really filled in the queue behind us either, the remaining ramps are pretty empty! a peek across the "street" at the completely empty outside queue for Takabisha ! (and the empty ramps behind us on Do-Dodonpa) Silver Train of Fujiyama climbing the lift hill .. behind the return track from Do-Dodonpa (and thru the tunnel is the "out" track from Do-Dodonpa and across the park? Eejanaika has started to cycle. OMG. . never been on X2, didn't know what to expect. . but OMG. . this looks amazing. Do-Dodonpa's red train returning after the loop. we were going to be on this real soon. I believe we ended up riding purple, and myself and Allison got front row. Absolutely incredible launch - I had heard it described as feeling like you got hit by a truck. . and that's pretty much what it feels like, with a surprise pop of airtime as you enter the tunnel (the track does a little bunny-drop, and your ass just keeps lifted out of the seat). This is all about the speed, and boy does it deliver. i obviously never got to ride it with the "ejector airtime hill of death".. but I can imagine I would have HATED that. .but I really liked the replacement loop - which had quite the hang time as you went thru the giant loop. it's over pretty quickly and really doesn't do all that much. . but wow, that speed. so impressive. and the theme song playing in the station, and the launch tunnel (not to mention the LED display on the walls of the station.. which i didn't notice on our morning ride - so I think they weren't on - but certainly noticed on our afternoon ride? that's a wow moment as well. Very good. . so good, i was tempted to get right back in the short line for it. . but with Takabisha right across the way, with also a shortish line? yeah, common sense kicked in, and we exited and got in line for that. in line for Takabisha - it was ~ two ramps, and this wait was maybe ~20 minutes, but it went by really fast. we were all talking about how much we had enjoyed Do-Dodonpa, so the time flew, and we were at the station before we knew it. but before we got to the station, the ramps going to Takabisha's station offer some more great views of Fujiyama. . . and while taking that pic? Do-Dodonpa decided to photo bomb. some of my photo taking skills are ninja like! Still can't believe I got this shot, considering how fast Do-Dodonpa's train is moving at this point. although you have to put your stuff in cubbies (all provided free), after our ride on Takabisha, I hung out in the station for a moment to snap a pic of the mural that I loved. honestly, most all the stations on the big coasters were pretty spectacular, with either painted murals (Takabisha, Eejanaika), digital displays (Do-Dodonpa), or just some amazing classic Japanese architecture (Fujiyama). I didn't realize this mural would also be on the outside of the photo frame of any pictures purchased. . so I made sure to get a snap of it. I even like the checkerboard floors. . tho the top stripe is really nice. here's the pic i bought. SO. MUCH. FUN. and this "beyond vertical drop" is at the 1/2 way point of the ride! there's a bunch of inversions and a launch before you even get to this point. Tho it didn't end up being my favorite ride at Fuji-Q, Takabisha is top 3 for sure (and in the #2 spot if only counting Coasters) Jon, Allison, Me in back row screaming locals, Zach, and Alex in front row. Funny how the TPR folks are smiling. . LOL it turned out that with every "print" one buys, you get a digital copy too.. so what those of us who spent the day hanging out together did, was take turns buying them, then Alex would download the digital pic and share to the TPR messenger thread so we all got copies. i'm the only nerd who likes hard copies, so I really appreciated that everyone gifted me the hard copies of pics we bought. they make wonderful souvenirs for me. leaving Takabisha, and noting how light the crowds were, we as a group decided to hit up the remaining coasters first, to check them off our bucket lists. one look at Fujiyama confirmed that yes, not only was it still completely full on the ramps, but the queue had spilled out into the ground level queue as well. as I noted, it turned out it was because they were only running one train. So we all ended up going to the machine and purchasing a fast pass for Fujiyama (for later in the morning), as with 1 train, the line simply wasn't going to get any shorter, regardless of how light the crowd might be. pass purchased to come back to ride this in a little bit, we set our eyes on the remaining big coaster in the park, and headed towards Eejanaika. to be continued in part II

glad to see y'all had such a good visit, and those are some fantastic pics you have posted. thanks for sharing.

it just might be. Tony on Twitter hashtagged his post about the announcement with: #notpolerhypergigaaquahyperetc bwaaaa-haaaaa-haaaaa here's the full post from last night: Tony Clark It’s not a coaster. It’s a collection of things. A party. Fun for all ages. A celebration of our past and a look to the future. Sleep well. See you at 11 am.

best of luck on Freeze - it took me over 10 years of visits to the park for us to get a visit when it was running (and during that two day visit, it broke down BOTH DAYS we were there, and both times while I was in line). luckily, I did manage to get a ride on it, after waiting out the 1st break down, since I was so close to the station, I elected to wait out the downtime, which was about 40 minutes). at SFStl, it was only running 1 side, but it was running the entire time I was there on our 1 visit (tho I did need Flash Pass for it, even on a "slow" day, since only running one side. it's a great coaster, so really. . best of luck with it!

the return of the giant ball ornaments (I think we have only 1 here at Fiesta), they really are super photogenic. great pics, thanks for sharing - the event looks great.

we eyeballed those crepes. that booth was right next to the food court on the upper level and we actually had a discussion over "eat light and stay here" or "let's go into the mall and get a real meal" since I had wiped myself out on the Transformers spinning thing? I had no problem going into the mall to eat. unfortunately, we finished too late to get back into Joypolis, or would have hit the souvenir shop, and likely, the crepes! yet another reason to go back to Japan, I suppose.

you're in the next update with me, since it's Fuji-Q ! been uploading pics for a bit now, and really fingers crossed, will have it up by end of day tomorrow. (it might end up being a 2 part, since was a very full day once we met up with you at the Bus Terminal).

what a wonderful update, and brought back a flood of fantastic memories for me! i honestly don't even recall seeing the Gadget coaster - tho I did go to Toontown twice! (once for Roger Rabbit spin, and once on the hunt for a Haunted Mansion candy carrier). So thanks so much for sharing those. . your pics are spectacular. I too experienced this version of Haunted Mansion Nightmare as my first time ever seeing the overlay. I was stunned how it appeared 90% of the experience is "new". . it was less an overlay, and more a brand new ride to me. I loved it, as you did too. the Mt. Fuji pics are incredible, because although we got a perfect day at Fuji-Q with views of it ? Even tho I was only there a couple of weeks before you, my views of Mt Fuji had *zero* snow on the cap! It was majestic, tho your pics with the snow, are just stunning. I guess there was some snowfall in the period between when we visited and you were there. great report, and I'm loving reading along (and geeking out at your Godzilla set-stops).

we don't have our Hanukkah bush up yet - that's a task for at some point this week. but we did get our Holiday lights up! Hanukkah blue/white, in the front, and red/yellow/green for Nick on back patio.

^^ holy. . . . that's gorgeous!

I mean. . .