Eejanaika is a 4th Dimension roller coaster and only the second one of its kind in the world. Unlike a traditional roller coaster where the trains run parallel to the track, the 4th Dimension coaster pushes the design to a new level with passenger cars that can spin 360-degrees forwards or backwards. Amazing video.
Eejanaika is a "4th Dimension" coaster, a design in which the seats can rotate forward or backward 360 degrees in a controlled spin. This is achieved by having four rails on the track: two of these are running rails while the other two are for spin control. The 2 rails that control the spin of the seats move up and down relative to the track and spin the seats using a rack and pinion gear mechanism.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Eejanaika is the roller coaster with the most inversions in the world. Throughout the ride, the riders go through 14 inversions. However, most of these inversions are accomplished by spinning the seats rather than actually inverting the track.
The track itself only inverts 3 times -
- Inside raven turn (½)
- full-full/zero-g roll (1)
- half camelback twist (½)
- outside raven turn (½)
- half camelback twist (½)
This has led to some controversy in the roller coaster enthusiast community concerning the legitimacy of Eejanaika’s claim. The Roller Coaster DataBase does not acknowledge these seat inversions for the purpose of record-holding.
Eejanaika is the world’s second 4th Dimension coaster, the first being X at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. Not surprisingly, this makes Eejanaika the world’s tallest, fastest and longest 4th Dimension coaster.
Eejanaika is pronounced "Ee ja nai ka" and written in Japanese as "ええじゃないか", but the roller coaster’s official spelling turns the second "え" upside down. Eejanaika has several meanings, but "Ain’t it great" is believed to be the relevant meaning in this situation.
Video on Tech Blog
