Dododonpa Review For today's review, we're gonna have to travel back in time to 2018 when I visted Fuji-Q Highlands so that we can review Dododonpa. And....this was a really good ride. A REALLY good ride. It's demise honestly is REALLY depressing. Cause this ride was freaking awesome! After getting in the seats and pulling down the big OTSRs, we were off! We rolled around a turn, and went to launch tunnel. And then just stopped. Yeah. We were just sitting here. Waiting to launch. And I have to admit. This roller coaster came the closest to causing me to get nervous. It's pretty much impossible to get scared by a roller coaster when you're a cliff jumper who jumps off 70 ft cliffs for fun. But I could easily see this scaring some more casual coaster riders who normally don't have a problem riding roller coasters. ESPECIALLY if you knew about the launch on this ride. Because let me tell you. The launch on Dododonpa was F*CKING INSANE!!! IT WAS EASILY THE BEST LAUNCH IN THE WORLD!!! You heard the air launch get ready, they spoke to us in Japanese, and I had no idea what they were saying, but why do I get a feeling that it basically translated into "You're all f*cked" lol. Then they just shouted "LAUNCH TIME!!!" and counted us down (I forgot if it was in English or Japanese). 3 2 1!!! BAM!!!! OOOOOOOOOHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!! This launch was just INSANE!!! I normally don't give stats in my coaster reviews, but this ride launched from 0 to 111.9 mph in 1.6 seconds. Well, actually, it launched from 0 to 180 km/hr in 1.6 seconds since Japan, like the rest of the world, uses the Metric System. The best way for me to describe this launch is that this launch was like crashing into a brick wall at freeway speeds. Only you're accelerating that quickly instead of deccelerating that quickly. So....if you watch a car accident in reverse, that's kind of what this launch was like. This launch makes Xcelerator (previously the strongest launch ever and a distant 2nd strongest now) feel like Pony Express in comparison (Ignoring the Pony Express is the best ride ever joke today). It was THAT good!!! Now that it's gone, Xcelerator technically regained the title of "Strongest launch on a coaster still standing" title back. But.....it just doesn't compare. Thinking of what could now hold the title of strongest launch, I've heard good things about the more modern S&S Launch Coasters. So.....I guess Maxx Force is the new record holder for strongest launch (I really need to get back to Six Flags Great America badly. Or I guess one of those S&S Chinese Bullet Coasters now holds the strongest launch record. Anyways, we quickly exited out of the launch tunnel now, and....we dipped down!!! You didn't notice the dip at all thanks to the insane launch! We went through another tunnel. TA....We're out already. This ride was fast. We then headed into a big banked turn. And....this ride was bouncy. Dododonpa bounced in some weird way. I think it's the fact that it was an S&S Thrust Air coaster. Still bummed that Hypersonic XCL closed before I got a chance to ride that. Oh well. No point fretting over that. And at least I managed to ride Dododonpa while it still existed. We went through another quick tunnel, and then we headed into the loop. Now originally, this ride opened up with a Top Hat in this place, and I heard stories of airtime so srong that it hurt. That sounds so intriguing and part of me wishes I got to ride Dodonpa in its original format . But oh well. At least I got to do it at all. Time to do the loop. This loop was big. Very big. And at the top, there was a decent amount of hangtime. It was kind of like the giant loop on Full Throttle. Not super intense like that brick wall launch, but a lot of fun. We went back down, and into another tunnel. We then went around a turn, and up what appears to be a very gradual climb that kind of acted like a giant trim brake, skimming off our insane speed before we gliding into the brake run, which was LOUD!!! Yeah. The ride was bouncy. We sort of bounced around another banked turn, getting a nice view of Takabisha, before really stopping at the final final brake run. So that was Dododonpa. That launch was SO GOOD!!! It MADE this ride. Combine that with the rest of the ride, and it was just a ton of fun. Amazing and rare, you have to give it a ride while at Fuji-Q. I truly am sad at its demise, and.....there really isn't any coaster that's gonna take its place. There is no alternative to ride Dododonpa that can give you that same kick. Making its death even more sad and tragic. ='( 9/10 Location: Fuji-Q Highlands Dodonpa opened in 2001 Dododonpa became Dododonpa and replaced the Top Hat with the Loop in 2017 Dododonpa died on August 12, 2021 Built by: S&S Power Last Ridden: November 5, 2018 Dododonpa Photos Home