No screaming on Japanese roller coasters under coronavirus guidelines
A roller coaster tradition as old as thrill rides themselves will go silent in Japan with the introduction of nationwide COVID-19 theme park guidelines that will bring an end to one of the most iconic midway sounds: Screaming.
Screaming, shouting and yelling are prohibited on Japanese roller coasters according to new COVID-19 health and safety guidelines developed by a national theme park industry group.
The East Japan and West Japan Theme Park Associations represent major theme parks such as Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan along with coaster-centric amusement parks like Fuji-Q Highland and Nagashima Spa Land.
Coaster riders are required to wear protective face masks and urged to refrain from shouting or screaming while riding, according to the trade organization’s Guidelines to Prevent the Spread of Infection of the Novel Coronavirus.
Roller coasters and screaming go together like theme parks and funnel cake. So much so that the shrieks of summer are often incorporated into the very names of the coasters: Rebel Yell at Virginia’s Kings Dominion, Scream at Valencia’s Six Flags Magic Mountain, Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Over Georgia, Hoot N’ Holler at Six Flags Darien Lake in New York and Howler at Indiana’s Holiday World.
The concern in the “new normal” world of COVID-19 is the microscopic droplets of saliva released from riders’ mouths when they let loose a heart-stopping scream just as the coaster crests over the top of the lift hill. All those airborne particles could fly onto riders in the rear seats.
The “no screaming, shouting or yelling” guidelines proposed by the Japanese theme park association also apply to indoor attractions and shows. Individual parks are not required to adopt the recommendations.
Japan is home to a stellar collection of mind-bending roller coasters designed to elicit yelps, whoops, howls, squeals and caterwauls.
Disney classics like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain can be found at Tokyo Disneyland.
Universal Studios Japan has the Hollywood Dream hypercoaster, Space Fantasy spinning coaster and the Flying Dinosaur flying coaster.
Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land is one of the tallest (318 feet), longest (8,133 feet) and fastest (95 mph) coasters in the world, according to Roller Coaster Database.
Fuji-Q Highland hosts a quartet of steel monsters: The blisteringly fast Do-Dodonpa (112 mph), epically long Fujiyama (6,708 feet), super looping Takabisha (7 inversions) and truly terrifying Eejanaika fourth dimension hypercoaster, according to RCDB.Rounding out Japan’s record-setting rides: The 262-foot-tall Thunder Dolphin at Tokyo Dome City (one of the world’s tallest steel coasters) and 5,249-foot-long Jupiter at Kijima Kogen (one of the world’s longest wooden coasters), according to RCDB.
Good luck containing your screams on those thrill machines.
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