Eejanaika at Fuji-Q Highland is an S&S 4th Dimension coaster and this ride is insane.
There really isn’t another way to describe this coaster. This behemoth of a coaster is one of
three like it in the world along with X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Dinoconda at China
Dinosaurs Park. And in this video, I will review Eejanaika and since I have also ridden X2, I will
be sure to compare the two experiences throughout this review. In short, Eejanaika is a bigger and
badder version of X2. It amplifies everything that X2 does- both the good and the bad.
Fuji-Q Highland is a park that loves breaking records. Fujiyama opened in 1996 as the world’s
tallest roller coaster. Do-dodonpa opened in 2001 as the world’s fastest roller coaster.
And then in 2006, the park opened Eejanaika, which was not only the world’s tallest, fastest,
and longest fourth dimension coaster but it also broke the record for the most inversions with 14.
And these are all records that Eejanaika has maintained to this day.
The inversion record is a point of contention, as the track itself only inverts three times,
but because of the way the seats rotate, you get an additional 11 inversions throughout the ride.
And that seat rotation is what makes Eejanaika special.
This is the main feature of a 4th dimension coaster.
Unlike the Intamin ZacSpins or the S&S free spins where the rides are free spinning,
the rotation is controlled on Eejanaika. Arrow Dynamics unveiled X at Six Flags
Magic Mountain in early 2002. Designed by Alan Schilke, this ride was praised for its intensity
and uniqueness, but it was devastating for Arrow as a company. The ride cost $45 million dollars to
build and the ride’s exorbitant price tag caused Arrow to go bankrupt. The ride also had a series
of issues that were addressed in the coaster’s $10 million update from X to X2 in 2008.
When S&S purchased the assets of Arrow, they also purchased the plans for the 4th dimension coaster.
S&S was able to use the learnings from X2 to refine the 4D coaster.
This allowed them to offer Eejanaika- a bigger and longer version of the prototype 4D coaster-
at roughly 2/3 of the price. Eejanaika cost 3.5 billion yen or $31.6 million US dollars.
The only other 4D coaster of this style is Dinoconda, which opened in 2012 at China
Dinosaurs Park. No other 4D coasters like this have been built even since,
presumably because of their price tag. Eejanaika is located in the corner of
Fuji-Q Highland. The ride doesn’t have much theming and the ride’s name literally
translates to “Ain’t It Great”. But the ride looks imposing with its massive size.
When the coaster opened, it had a bright red paint scheme but it has since been repainted black.
Now riding Eejanaika can be a time consuming endeavor. Like all the major coasters at Fuji-Q,
Eejanaika has a woeful capacity and is also extremely popular. This is a recipe for long
wait times even on a quiet day. On the day I visited, Eejanaika was sporting a 90 minute wait.
You also have to watch out for bad weather shutting this coaster down.
If you don’t ride this coaster at rope drop, you have two options to bypass the queue.
First, you can use the single rider line. Since this ride loads on both sides of the station,
there are two single rider lines. There isn’t a wait time board or a grouper directing you
to a specific side, so you may have to do some scouting to see which side has a shorter wait.
Second, you can purchase a skip-the-line pass. These are pricey, but if you’re like me and won’t
visit Fuji-Q that often, it is worth it so you have time to experience the rest of the park.
These skip-the-line passes made the coaster just a two train wait for me, but that still took roughly
15-20 minutes for reasons I’ll get into. I want to note that you cannot hop into
line for this right before closing. Like many parks in Japan, Fuji-Q closes the
queue lines for their major rides early so the last train goes out right at closing.
Eejanaika took roughly 7 to 10 minutes to dispatch a train. Eejanaika has two trains consisting of 5
rows. When it’s your turn to ride, you are assigned a row and placed in a holding pen.
If I remember correctly, there are three of these holding pens.
Japan takes loose articles seriously, but Eejanaika was arguably the strictest attraction.
You need to remove everything except your shirt, pants, and socks. I’m not kidding.
You not only need to empty all your pockets, but you also need to remove glasses even with a strap,
jewelry, and even your shoes. I have never been on another coaster that required riders
to remove their shoes. All your items are safely kept in cubbies in your specific holding pen.
Once you board the train, it takes an extremely long time
for the operators to check the restraints. This is tedious on X2 as well, but Eejanaika
has a few extra seatbelts and operational policies that really slow this process.
You have three seatbelts in total so it’s a five step process to securing your own restraint.
First, you have to secure a seatbelt across your waist. This is absent on X2.
Second, you have to adjust the height of the butterfly harness.
Third, you have to pull the butterfly harness together across your chest.
Fourth, you have to buckle the butterfly harness together.
Fifth, you have to buckle the butterfly harness into the seat itself.
Then when the attendant comes by to check your restraint, they will not only verify
each component of the restraint themselves, but they will also instruct you to do it as well. I
don’t fault the operators for the slow dispatches since they’re hustling, but the amount of time
needed to verify each component of the restraint is why it takes so long to send out a train.
Once secured, the operators begin clapping and hyping you up for your ride.
An alarm then sounds and the floor drops. You then crawl out of the station beginning one of
the craziest rides in the world. Now I touched on this earlier,
but you are assigned a row. Like many parks in Japan, you cannot request a row.
Fortunately this coaster is amazing anywhere, but it has a little more power in the back row.
The more important thing for me is whether you’re on the inside or outside seat. This is not
assigned by the grouper. This just comes down to where you and your riding partner choose to sit.
I much prefer the inside seat. Eejanaika is not a smooth ride. It’s rattly in the high G valleys
and it will throw you around. The ride feels bouncy. That’s especially the case if you’re
on the outside seat. X2 behaves similarly, but I thought Eejanaika was shakier. I rode Eejanaika in
June of 2018 and those with me thought the same. Although I know others who visited at other points
and thought it was a bit smoother than X2. But whoever you ask, I think everyone will agree
this ride is not what one would call smooth. The restraints are cumbersome but thankfully
don’t cause headbanging. The roughest part of the ride for me is when the bounces cause you to smack
your legs into the hard plastic seat. This was most prominent on the zero-G roll and the finale.
After you turn 180 degrees out of the station, you ascend a 249 foot or 76 meter tall lift
hill. You face towards the park and get an amazing view of all of Fuji-Q Highland. And
if you’re lucky and visiting on a clear day, you may see Mt. Fuji off to the side.
Eejanaika starts like X2. You have a short pre-drop and then one of the
best drops in the world. It’s one of the scariest moments on any coaster.
The drop is both huge and nearly vertical at 89 degrees. You start the drop going backwards
and then are rotated to face the ground. So you rapidly plunge towards the ground in a similar
fashion to Falcon’s Fury or Ikaros. It’s a neat freefall sensation augmented by that visual.
But unlike Falcon’s Fury or Ikaros where you decelerate and swing upright, Eejanaika keeps
accelerating and performs a flip at the bottom of the drop. This maneuver is wild and disorienting.
That’s especially true since the pullout pummels you with positive Gs.
And they’re sustained through the start of the next element. The magnitude and duration of
the positives remind me of a pretzel loop on a B&M flyer. The pullout is pretty rattly though,
especially if you’re on the outside. That leads into the giant raven turn.
At first it looks similar to the one on X2, except this one has a surprise. After experiencing
positive Gs on the way up, this one performs a flip at the top. This caught me off-guard.
So when you drop back towards the ground, you’re performing that flip. And if you’re towards the
back of the train, you will simultaneously get some nice floater airtime. It’s
unreal to get sustained floater airtime while simultaneously flipping. It felt like a more
extreme version of the hangtime you’d get on a zero-G roll. Instead of levitating,
it feels like you’re being pulled upwards. That’s followed by the most disorienting inversion
in the world- the zero-G roll. What makes this one special is that your seats rotate throughout it.
So while you technically stay upright, your body will struggle to process that.
And all through this element, you will get several seconds of sustained hangtime.
The slam back down into your seat can be a bit rough on your legs though, so be prepared.
Then comes the far turnaround. This is a dead spot on X2. But it’s fixed on Eejanaika. This
turn is taken with more speed, the turn itself is overbanked, and the seats rotate slightly.
That leads into the half-half. This rides similarly to the one on X2. It rides like
a zero-G roll combined with a seat flip. You enter this element forwards and exit it
backwards. And during the element you get some hangtime combined with the disorienting flip.
You then traverse the second raven turn, which is arguably the most intense part of the ride.
This element feels significantly smaller than everything else on this ride,
so you haul through it. The whip and positive Gs through this element
are off-the-charts, especially if you’re towards the back of the train.
This element can be a tad uncomfortable though between the rattling and slam into the seat.
You then have one last element, an inline twist into the brake run. You snap through this element
unbelievably quick. And then you violently slam a stop while the seats also rock you
towards the ground, so you’ll lose all sense of direction. This may be the most
uncomfortable part of the ride though, as your legs are mercilessly slammed into the seats.
So what would I rate Eejanaika? I would give this coaster a 9.5 out of 10. It’s
easily one of the most intense roller coasters in the world. I honestly can’t believe this coaster
exists because of how extreme it is. The constant flipping and strong Gs makes it an endurance test
in the best way possible. It’s just barely may favorite coaster in Japan over Flying Dinosaur
and easily one of the best coasters in the world. But I can’t quite give it a perfect score
because of the ride’s shakiness. There are some elements that were a bit uncomfortable,
but the good far outweighs the bad.
So those are my thoughts on Eejanaika, the crazy 4th dimension coaster at Fuji-Q Highland.
Have you ridden this coaster? Or have you ridden any of the other 4D coasters?
I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
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lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!