Going to Japan - Some questions about Fuji-Q

[CrazyAlex]

Hi guys, I'm a new member here and I'm going to Japan with my girlfriend in the beginning of November. I would like to get input from someone who's been to to Fuji-Q. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

In general - are the coasters smooth? Do they shake and make your head bang against restraints? In general - is it more of a headache-inducing experience or fun experience?

 

About the fast passes - will we be able to buy them if we get there an hour or two after opening on a weekday? If we plan on only using fast passes - do we just buy the basic entrance ticket (without rides included)? Are fast passes for specific time-frames? Cost of fast passes? Location where to buy them?

 

What is a decent place to eat inside the park?

[SharkTums]

- The coasters are not smooth by any means. Not even the kiddies!

 

- Weekdays don't always matter, it could still be busy and some passes could sell out. Also, weather will be a big factor for you.

 

- You need the fast pass ticket PLUS the ride ticket, so you should buy the entrance plus freepass. They are for specific times. They cost 1000 Yen each. You buy them near the Mouse Coaster and Carousel.

 

- Food Stadium.

 

Try to do some searches, especially in ask Alvey or any FujiQ post as all of these answers have been posted before.

[CrazyAlex]

Thanks a lot for feedback

 

About the smoothness - I know it may be kind of a strange question, but you know how some coasters shake and make your head bang on restraints? Are they like that?

 

If we get there around 10-11, will there be fast passes available?

[robbalvey]

About the smoothness - I know it may be kind of a strange question, but you know how some coasters shake and make your head bang on restraints? Are they like that?

Some of the worst roller coaster rides I've ever had in my life have been on Eejanaika. The ride beat the crap out of me. Some people will try to tell you that ride is "smooth" - don't listen to them. They are just trying to justify their rides on it because they "like" 4th Dimension coasters, which is fine, but it's not smooth. Maybe smooth when compared to being in a car crash, you're in a SmartCar and the other driver is a semi-truck pulling a herd of elephants, but that ride is absolutely NOT smooth at all.

 

DoDonpa and Fujiyama don't have shoulder restraints to bang your head against, but they will rattle your insides something fierce!

 

Takabisha has shoulder restraints and is probably the "smoothest" of all the coasters there (it's actually pretty good), but I do remember getting a couple of head whacks on the sharper turns. Nothing too painful, but if you're worried at all, you do get some head banging.

 

--Robb

Edited October 6, 2013 by robbalvey

[robbalvey]

Here's my POV of Eejaniaka. It's awful. Easily the worst I've ever been beaten up on a ride.

[rctneil]

The first thing I was told about Fuji Q was not to expect or assume anything and this is true. Thankfully our day at Fuji q was made 100 times better thanks to the amazing sacrifice to the enjoyment of their day by Robb and Elissa. All credit to them.

 

I agree with Robb about eejanaika. I do like the 4d coasters but yes they do batter you about a lot! I wouldn't say eejanaika was the worst one I've ridden but that may be because I had a very bad ride on Dinoconda where I smacked my head badly. Maybe if that hadn't have happened I would say eejanaika was worse

 

The mouse coaster is brutal. Hold tight and brace for everything if it is a turn or not.

 

Fujiama has a great first half and then a terrible second half. Fujiq should build a half way station on this one!

 

Dodonpa is an awesome ride and I really enjoyed it but it does shake a lot. The hill is amazing though.

 

Overall just try to be logical, pray whole heartedly for not even a single drop of rain and don't wear a watch!

[Xcoaster]

On the plus side, your head will probably be hitting the headrest more than the restraints on Eejanaika.

 

As for food, they also have a couple Japanese fast food chains inside the park, including Pizza-La and Mos Burger. If you want to get your Japanese pizza or hamburger credits (yes, they're different enough to count as culture credits), I heard good reviews from Pizza-La, and I always like Mos Burger (it's basically a Japanese Tommy's). Plus, this Mos Burger had a Fujiyama burger, which was a double.

[robbalvey]

Pizza-La was actually pretty decent... for Japanese pizza!

[cfc]

I hated the burgers at Fuji Q's Food Stadium in 2007, but their katsu chicken was pretty good this year.

[SharkTums]

^Yeah, in Food Stadium, I would only order the Japanese food. And I forgot about Pizza LA, that would actually be my recommendation.

[rctneil]

The pizza I had from the place opposite from the fastpass building was very decent, not sure if it was Pizza La though, I was too hungry to look at the name of the place!

[robbalvey]

^ That's the place!

[CrazyAlex]

Reading this forum more and more is kind of killing my excitement for Fuji-Q. I really thought this was a world-class park along the lines of Six Flags or Busch Gardens, but this does not seem to be the case. We are staying in Tokyo so it's quite a hassle to get there too... now I'm thinking we should just go to Yokohama area (can visit Sea Paradise and Cosmo World there - which get way more praise here) instead. Really confused whether or not to make the trip there and if it will be worth it.

Edited October 7, 2013 by CrazyAlex

[gerstlaueringvar]

^ Me too, it seems like Fuji Q is a terrible park. But if I am in Japan, I would still go there for Takabisha, Dodonpa and the Haunted Hospital. Hopefully I don't have to wait for 5 hours to get on a ride.

[rctneil]

I would say, if you are a coaster/theme park enthusiast you should definitely give Fuji Q a visit. The park itself is rather nice and Thomas Land is one of the best I have seen, (next to Drayton Manor's in quality). The Thomas Land dark ride is very cute too and really nicely done.

 

The majority of the rides are not bad and as said by others, the food is reasonable too, the part of the park that is bad are the operations, if you get a single drop of rain on the day of your visit, expect the majority of coasters to close instantly. When I was there, I felt less than 3 drops and Dodonpa and Eejanaika were down. Saying that, they hadn't bothered opening Eejanaika at all up to that point in anticipation of the rain! They also have the most weird of procedures and are particularly slow.

 

Some of the incidents I saw were:

 

. Shoes were to be removed from everyone before riding Eejanaika

 

- NOTHING is to be in your pockets on the coasters, not even a tissue.

 

- Watches had to be removed on Takabisha only to be placed in a locker which gave you a solid metal key on a flimsy elastic band I wore around my wrist that could do more damage if it flew off than my watch ever could do.

 

- Not being allowed to pull down and fasten your own restraints on most rides. Ops had to do it.

 

Overall, give Fuji Q a go. You'll never know if you don't go.

 

The other major thing holding people back on Fuji Q is the fact that The Tokyo Disney resort is not far away and is in total contrast to Fuji Q.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Neil

[Moose]

The operations at Fuji-Q are very unJapanese but the rides are actually pretty damned good. Just be prepared to be frustrated by very nonsensical, slow operations on rides with already low capacities.

 

I had an awesome day there thanks to the awesomeness of Robb and Elissa securing us fast passes and texting us when rides opened on a drizzly day. It could easily have turned into a horrible day with no rides had the rain not stopped.

[robbalvey]

I would say, if you are a coaster/theme park enthusiast you should definitely give Fuji Q a visit. The park itself is rather nice

 

You know, it's funny. After this last trip, Elissa and I have discussed actually NOT doing things that would allow people to see Fuji Q in a better light because I feel they don't get the full Fuji Q experience. The reality is this - the park is not that nice. But when you have people at the helm who will make sure you see the park in the best it possibly can be, it can appear to be rather nice, but in reality it's just not.

 

Fuji Q is by and large my least favorite "major" park in the world.

 

But we also spoil our tour participants so they don't see the Fuji Q that Elissa and I have seen many, many times.

 

The majority of the rides are not bad and as said by others

I would politely disagree.

 

Eejanika is one of the worst roller coaster experiences I've ever had in my life. Fujiyama beats the living hell out of you. DoDonpa, while having a really amazing launch and airtime hill, is not a "great" overall ride. Takabisha is just "ok."

 

For as amazing as each of these rides *should* be, they all four fall short. By a lot. It's totally our fault on this last trip for setting everyone's expectations so low that people actually *liked* some of the coasters there. We won't be doing this again. I think it's only fair to Fuji Q that people see the park as a normal guest should see it. Bad.

 

That being said, RCTNeil is right. If you are a "roller coaster" person, you *SHOULD* go to Fuji-Q. It's the biggest roller coaster park in the country and all roller coaster geeks should go there. If you are at "theme park" person, you should go to Tokyo Disney and avoid Fuji-Q at all costs.

 

Fuji Q is an awful park. Anyone that thinks differently only has us to thank for not seeing it's true colors.

 

--Robb

Edited October 9, 2013 by robbalvey

[Jackdude101]

How does Fuji-Q Highland compare to other big domestic parks in Japan such as Nagashima Spa Land?

[scooterdoug]

I visited Fuji-Q once back in the summer of 2007, so this was before Takabisha and Fast Passes. I actually had an overall positive experience there. Bear in mind that my expectations were set extremely low, and my day was clearly NOT a typical day...I just got lucky. I found Dodonpa to be rather rough and nothing exceptional...just a credit and nothing else. I enjoyed Fujiyama, though having a lap bar instead of OTSRs makes a huge difference for me. Eejanaika was undoubtably rougher than X2. However, I enjoyed it, though I am one of those weird people who has a soft spot for 4th Dimensional coasters. As for food, I'm don't exactly go to parks excited about eating the food, but I did have a decent bowl of ramen from a stand-alone vendor in the park. Essentially, go there expecting the absolute worst, and you either won't be disappointed, or, if you're really lucky, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[David H]

As Robb said, it's not a great theme park (or even a good one, really, outside of Thomas Land), but if you're into coasters, you should go. I actually enjoyed most of them more than he did, but we all have different tastes. They're definitely not smooth, though!

 

The biggest piece of advice I can give is to absolutely NOT arrive 1.5-2 hours after opening, like you suggested. I guess it will completely depend on the day you're going, but the park can be busy, even on unexpected days. I went on one of the last days of their Summer season, on what was not one of their busier days. I went straight to Takabisha, which was a huge mistake. I went to buy the fastpasses a little over an hour after the park opened, and they were all sold out for Eejanaika, which had a 2.5 hour wait all day, the longest in the park. Almost all of the other fastpasses sold out within the next hour.

 

And as just about everyone else said here, you do NOT want to go to Fuji-Q and not get Fastpasses. You'll spend the day in slow moving lines, getting annoyed at the horrible operations!

[larrygator]

ThomasLand was the only part of the park that didn't look run down. The place is not pretty to look at. There games area looked like something out of a third world country. This is very out of the ordinary for major a Japanese Park. I'm very grateful that Robb and Elissa put so much effort into TPR's visit.