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News & Rumors

 

FUJI Q HIGHLAND
Japan

 

 

 

 

 

2024 - Nothing is known at this time...

 

icon_STOPDo-Dodonpa Status - (3/14/2024) Most roller coaster fans have developed something of a bucket list that consists of famous rides around the world that they would like to experience at some point during their lifetime. Unfortunately… some rides end up being shut down before the rider gets a chance to check them off their list. On that end, sad news was issued from Japan’s Fuji Q Highland theme park confirming that their world famous Do-Dodonpa roller is now closed permanently.
    The world famous S&S Thrust Air branded roller coaster first opened back in December 2001 with a claim to fame of being the fastest launched roller coaster in the world at the time, but the record that would stick with the ride forever was that it was also the coaster with the fastest acceleration in the world. It ran under the name Dodonpa from 2001 to 2016 and then shut down until 2017 when it reopened as Do-Dodonpa, replacing the rides iconic top hat with a monstrous 49 meter tall vertical loop, as well as increasing the output of the launch system from 106.9mph in 1.8 seconds, to now achieve 111.8 mph in just 1.56 seconds.
    While other roller coasters later surpassed the speed record set by Dodonpa and Do-Dodonpa, no one has been able to touch the S&S Thrust Air Coaster’s acceleration record. For comparison, currently the world’s fastest roller coaster is still Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, which hits a top speed of 149.1 mph, but it takes 4.9 seconds to do this.
    Making the matter more sad is that Do-Dodonpa closed in August 2021, after an increasing series of complaints from riders claiming strange injuries and even some broken bones were possibly caused by the intensity of the launch system. Ironically this is also the biggest reason that most coaster enthusiasts had this ride on their bucket list to begin with.
    Between the COVID pandemic that shut down access to Japan for most tourists combined with the roller coaster itself being closed for the past 32 months, there has been no way for anyone to get a ride in, and now sadly, they never will.
    For roller coaster enthusiasts in the United States probably the closest any other coaster has ever come to getting a taste of what Do-Dodonpa had to offer would have been if you were fortunate enough to have ridden Hypersonic XLC at Kings Dominion during the brief time period it operated at that park between 2001 to 2007. While Hypersonic’s top speed maxed out at just 80mph, it did so in just 1.8 seconds.
    I believe the two best currently operating roller coasters for acceleration be Xcelerator at Knott’s Berry Farm that hits 82mph in 2.3 seconds (which reopened in late 2023 after sitting closed for nearly two years) and Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure that tops out at 128mph in 3.5 seconds. (UPDATE - After some careful thought, I may have  overlooked Stealth at Thorpe Park. I believe the ride originally opened with stats very similar to Xcelerator, able to launch at 80mph in 2.3 seconds, compared to Xcelerator’s 82mph in 2.3 seconds. However... it has been said that the launch system was upgrades sometime in the past few years to really hit 80mph in 1.8 seconds, which would make it faster than Xcelerator if true. Of course, Xcelerator itself just returned from a major restoration in late 2023, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that park may have also upgraded their own launch as well...)
 
    (6/4/2023) As seen in a post on Twitter from Fuji-Q Highlands the Do-Dodonpa roller coaster is apparently STILL CLOSED. Do-Dodonpa closed in August 2021 after reports came to light about possible rider injuries suffered while riding the intense launch coaster. According to RCDB stats, when the ride first opened in 2001 as just Dodonpa, it features a 172 km/h launch achieved in just 1.8 seconds, but upon the redesign in 2017 when it was renamed Do-Dodonpa and the top hat was replaced by a giant 49m tall loop, the launch speed was also increased to achieve a 180 mk/h launch in just 1.56 seconds.
    The subject of the ride’s status arose as construction is now taking place under a section of the roller coaster, but it appears to just be a general enhancement of the ground space in that area and nothing to do with Do-Dodonpa itself.

 
    (11/24/21) In a brief update, it seems that not only is the Do-Dodonpa coaster at Fuji-Q still closed, but in their investigation it seems they are now looking into injuries suffered by guests on various other attractions in the park and not just Do-Dodonpa.
    According to this article, in addition to the six injuries with broken bones on Do-Dodonpa, there have been six others with minor injuries, and now adding reports of those injured just in general from experiences on the rides at the park. This includes a woman in her 20’s who rode several things in October who later discovered she had broken a rib, and a woman in her 40s who rode rides in November and reported a compressed lumbar fracture.
 
   (8/25/21) In a strange bit of news it seems Fuji-Q suddenly closed their infamous “Do-Dodonpa” launched roller coaster back on August 12, 2021 to perform a complete inspection. According to a notice posted by the park, this action has been taken after four different injuries have been reported by riders between Dec. 18, 2020 and Aug. 12, 2021. It isn’t known if the injury reports were a coincidence or if it might be something caused by Do-Dodonpa, so an investigation is being called for.
    According to a report on Newsweek, the number of injuries may be greater, where some reports are claiming there have been six injuries and not just four. In either case, in 4 of the injuries, it has been reported that the riders experienced broken bones in the spine, in the neck or back. Do-Dodonpa is known for having the most forceful launch on any roller coaster, going from 0 to 112 mph in 1.56 seconds. So with a launch force like that, and now riders experiencing injuries, it is no wonder that the park is taking action now to determine if there is any fault with the ride. Thus far however, initial inspections report that the ride is showing “no signs of abnormality” and everything is operating within specifications. After 20 years of operation, these are the very first reports of any riders experiencing a broken bone during the ride experience in all that time.

 

 

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2019 - Endless Mine

2018 - Attack on Titan 4D

2017 - Do-Dodonpa

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