Moonsault Scramble was a

shuttle roller coaster A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit, but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller c ...

located at

Fuji-Q Highland is an amusement park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan, owned and operated by the namesake Fuji Kyuko Co. it was opened on 2 March 1968. The theme park is near the base of Mount Fuji. It has a number of roller coasters, as well as two haun ...

amusement park in

Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,782 in 19,806 households and a population density of 400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Fujiyoshida lie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Manufactured by

Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation is a Japanese company that consists of four principal business groups and twelve affiliated companies.Sanoyas Hishino Meisho 2007, ''Groups''. The business groups are: the Ship and Steel Structure Group, the Park ...

, the ride opened to the public on June 24, 1983. According to the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'', Moonsault Scramble was the tallest roller coaster in the world at . It held the record until the opening of

Fujiyama , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highes ...

, a roller coaster that opened at the same park in 1996, reaching in height. The coaster was removed from the park in 2000 to make way for the construction of

Dodonpa , formerly known as , is a steel roller coaster located at Fuji-Q Highland in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan. Manufactured by S&S – Sansei Technologies, the launched coaster uses compressed air to propel its trains. It opened on 21 December 20 ...

, which opened in 2001.

Ride experience

Moonsault Scramble was known for producing extremely high

g-force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

s on its riders. As of 1998, it was cited by some to exert up to 6.5 gs on its riders. It was one of only three roller coasters outside the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to exert such extreme forces on its riders (the others being Mindbender and Dreier Looping Coaster). The pretzel knot element (compromising two inversions) that produced these high g-forces was the only such pretzel knot inversion ever implemented in a roller coaster until the opening of

Banshee A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is c ...

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expan ...

in 2014.RCDB listing of roller coasters using a pretzel element
/ref> The

pretzel knot A Pretzel knot may refer to: * Pretzel link: a concept in mathematics * Soft pretzel with garlic * Stafford knot The Stafford knot, more commonly known as the Staffordshire knot, is a distinctive three-looped knot that is the traditional symbol o ...

element is different from the much more common

pretzel loop Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements". Comm ...

element.

Height record

The height claims of coasters like Moonsault Scramble stirred controversy among enthusiasts. Moonsault's height was reportedly attributed to decorative towers that flanked the support structure, while the actual track height measured . According to the ''

Sun Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' in 1989, the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' recognized the height as , but the

American Coaster Enthusiasts American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) is a non-profit organization focusing on the enjoyment, knowledge, and preservation of roller coasters as well as recognition of some as architectural and engineering landmarks. Dues-paying members receive the ...

organization refused to recognize the claim, describing it as "disappointing" since riders do not approach the maximum height or "go over the top". The

Roller Coaster DataBase Roller Coaster DataBase (RCDB) is a roller coaster and amusement park database begun in 1996 by Duane Marden. It has grown to feature statistics and pictures of over 10,000 roller coasters from around the world. Publications that have mentioned ...

(RCDB) lists the overall height as .

References

{{Fuji-Q Coasters Fuji-Q Highland Roller coasters in Japan