Hypercoaster: Difference between revisions
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**A height of 200–299 feet |
**A height of 200–299 feet |
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**Lacks [[Roller coaster elements#Thrill elements|inverting elements]] |
**Lacks [[Roller coaster elements#Thrill elements|inverting elements]] |
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**A lift hill, not a [[launch track|launch]] |
**A full circuit coaster with a lift hill, not a [[launch track|launch]] |
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[[Out and back roller coaster|Out and back]] [[steel roller coaster|steel coasters]] smaller than 200 feet in both height and drop such as [[Steel Eel]] at [[SeaWorld San Antonio]] have sometimes been erroneously referred to as hypercoasters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seaworld.com/sitepage.aspx?PageID=642 |title=Steel Eel |publisher=SeaWorld.com |date= |accessdate=2011-05-12}}</ref> |
[[Out and back roller coaster|Out and back]] [[steel roller coaster|steel coasters]] smaller than 200 feet in both height and drop such as [[Steel Eel]] at [[SeaWorld San Antonio]] have sometimes been erroneously referred to as hypercoasters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seaworld.com/sitepage.aspx?PageID=642 |title=Steel Eel |publisher=SeaWorld.com |date= |accessdate=2011-05-12}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 00:43, 11 August 2013
A hypercoaster or megacoaster according to Intamin can mean one of two things:
- Any continuous-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop measuring greater than 200 feet[1][2]
Or, more narrowly:
- A style or model of roller coaster with three features:[3][4][5][6]
- A height of 200–299 feet
- Lacks inverting elements
- A full circuit coaster with a lift hill, not a launch
Out and back steel coasters smaller than 200 feet in both height and drop such as Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio have sometimes been erroneously referred to as hypercoasters.[7]
History
The world's first hypercoaster was Magnum XL-200 by Cedar Point, costing $8,000,000 USD. Cedar Point chose Arrow Dynamics to design and construct Magnum XL-200. Construction on the world's tallest and fastest complete circuit roller coaster (at that time) began in 1988. By May 6, 1989, Magnum XL-200 was ready for riders. Since its debut, Magnum XL-200 has served more than 36 million guests.[8] Cedar Point's official blog states that after building the ride, "discussion was focused on just what a roller coaster such as Magnum should be called. After all, it had no loops like most of the other large steel coasters of the time and was so much bigger and faster than its non-looping brethren. After a couple of years, the name everyone agreed upon was hypercoaster."[9]
Description
Hypercoasters were originally built for speed and airtime, to counter the trend of constructing bigger and bigger looping coasters. To accomplish this the elements of a hypercoaster often include a large first drop, several additional drops of declining height, a large turn or helix and then many airtime-inducing hills. Hypercoasters are commonly designed with an out and back layout, although some hypercoasters, such as Raging Bull, are built with a twisted design.
Hypercoasters dominate the Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards. For 2006, Superman: Ride of Steel, now known as Bizarro, located at Six Flags New England was ranked highest at #1. Several hypercoasters followed such as Magnum XL-200 (#3), Nitro (#4), Apollo's Chariot (#5). The hypercoasters make up the majority of the 2006 Top 10 Steel Coasters, filling 8/10 positions.[10] By 2010, hypercoasters held all of the top 10 spots on Amusement Today's list of "Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" and 16 of the top 20.[11]
Hypercoasters were first manufactured by Arrow Dynamics in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Since then, a number of companies, including Bolliger & Mabillard, Intamin, D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Giovanola and others have designed and constructed hypercoasters.
Notably, there has only been one wooden hypercoaster built, Son of Beast at Kings Island. At the time, Son of Beast was the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster. Upon its opening, it was also the only wooden roller coaster to feature a vertical loop, thus disqualifying it from the narrower definition of "hypercoaster". However, the loop was removed in 2006 when Cedar Fair Entertainment Company purchased the park from Paramount. It was standing but not operating (SBNO) from 2009 to 2012 due to a number of problems, including guest complaints about the roughness of the ride.[12] It was announced in 2012 that the ride would be demolished.[13] Demolition was completed after the 2012 operating season, and the site where it once stood is reserved for future park expansion.
Hypercoasters
The following are a list of all hypercoasters sorted by opening date:
| Name | Park | Manufacturer | Status | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnum XL-200 | Cedar Point | Arrow Dynamics | Operating | May 6, 1989 |
| Desperado | Buffalo Bill's | Arrow Dynamics | Operating | May 14, 1994 |
| Big One | Pleasure Beach, Blackpool | Arrow Dynamics | Operating | May 28, 1994 |
| Wild Thing | Valleyfair | D. H. Morgan Manufacturing | Operating | May 11, 1996 |
| Fujiyama | Fuji-Q Highland | TOGO | Operating | July 1996 |
| Manhattan Express† | New York New York Hotel & Casino | TOGO | Operating | January 3, 1997 |
| Steel Force | Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom | D. H. Morgan Manufacturing | Operating | May 30, 1997 |
| Mamba | Worlds of Fun | D. H. Morgan Manufacturing | Operating | April 18, 1998 |
| Apollo's Chariot | Busch Gardens Williamsburg | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | March 27, 1999 |
| Raging Bull | Six Flags Great America | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | May 1, 1999 |
| Ride of Steel | Darien Lake | Intamin | Operating | May 15, 1999 |
| Goliath | Six Flags Magic Mountain | Giovanola | Operating | February 11, 2000 |
| Bizarro | Six Flags New England | Intamin | Operating | May 5, 2000 |
| Superman - Ride of Steel | Six Flags America | Intamin | Operating | May 13, 2000 |
| Millennium Force* | Cedar Point | Intamin | Operating | May 13, 2000 |
| Son of Beast (Wooden) | Kings Island | Roller Coaster Corporation of America | Defunct | May 26, 2000 |
| Steel Dragon 2000* | Nagashima Spa Land | D. H. Morgan Manufacturing | Operating | August 1, 2000 |
| Nitro | Six Flags Great Adventure | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | April 7, 2001 |
| Titan | Six Flags Over Texas | Giovanola | Operating | April 27, 2001 |
| Phantom's Revenge | Kennywood | D. H. Morgan Manufacturing | Operating | May 19, 2001 |
| X2† | Six Flags Magic Mountain | Arrow Dynamics | Operating | Jan 12, 2002 |
| Silver Star | Europa Park | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | March 23, 2002 |
| Xcelerator† | Knott's Berry Farm | Intamin | Operating | June 22, 2002 |
| Thunder Dolphin | Tokyo Dome City Attractions | Intamin | Operating | May 1, 2003 |
| Top Thrill Dragster**† | Cedar Point | Intamin | Operating | May 4, 2003 |
| Superman el Último Escape | Six Flags Mexico | Chance Morgan | Operating | November 19, 2004 |
| Kingda Ka**† | Six Flags Great Adventure | Intamin | Operating | May 21, 2005 |
| Goliath | Six Flags Over Georgia | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | April 1, 2006 |
| Behemoth | Canada's Wonderland | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | May 4, 2008 |
| Diamondback | Kings Island | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | April 18, 2009 |
| Intimidator | Carowinds | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | March 27, 2010 |
| SheiKra† | Busch Gardens Tampa Bay | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | May 21, 2005 |
| Stealth† | Thorpe Park | Intamin | Operating | March 15, 2006 |
| Zaturn† | Space World | Intamin | Operating | April 29, 2006 |
| Eejanaika† | Fuji-Q Highland | S&S Worldwide | Operating | July 19, 2006 |
| Griffon† | Busch Gardens Williamsburg | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | May 18, 2007 |
| Diving Coaster† | Happy Valley Shanghai | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | August 16, 2009 |
| Intimidator 305* | Kings Dominion | Intamin | Operating | April 2, 2010 |
| Wild Eagle† | Dollywood | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | March 23, 2012 |
| Leviathan* | Canada's Wonderland | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | April 27, 2012 |
| Dinoconda† | China Dinosaurs Park | S&S Worldwide | Operating | April 29, 2012 |
| Shambhala: Expedición al Himalaya | PortAventura | Bolliger & Mabillard | Operating | May 12, 2012 |
| Skyrush | Hershey Park | Intamin | Operating | May 26, 2012 |
| Bullet Coaster† | Happy Valley Shenzhen | S&S Worldwide | Operating | July 28, 2012 |
| OCT Thrust SSC1000† | Happy Valley Wuhan | S&S Worldwide | Under Construction | 2013 |
* Denotes a hypercoaster that is also a giga coaster (any full circuit coaster over 300 ft).
** Denotes a hypercoaster that is also a strata coaster (any full circuit coaster over 400 ft).
† Denotes a coaster that fits the broad but not the narrow definition of a hypercoaster.
By height
The following are non-continuous circuit coasters that exceed 200 feet in height or drop, unlike coasters that conform to the hypercoaster "style." However, these shuttle roller coasters are not usually considered hypercoasters.
| Name | Park | Manufacturer | Status | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonsault Scramble | Fuji-Q Highland | Meisho Amusement Machines | Defunct | June 24, 1983 |
| Tower of Terror II | Dreamworld | Intamin | Operating | 1997 |
| Superman: Escape From Krypton | Six Flags Magic Mountain | Intamin | Operating | March 15, 1997 |
| unknown (formerly Batman & Robin: The Chiller) | Beto Carrero World | Premier Rides | Under Construction | 1998 |
| Mr. Freeze | Six Flags Over Texas | Premier Rides | Operating | April 1998 |
| Mr. Freeze | Six Flags St. Louis | Premier Rides | Operating | April 1998 |
| Speed - The Ride | Akita Plaza | Premier Rides | Under Construction | April 28, 2000 |
| Wicked Twister | Cedar Point | Intamin | Operating | May 5, 2002 |
| Big Air | E-DA Theme Park | Vekoma | Operating | December, 2010 |
References
- ^ "Hypercoasters". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
- ^ "Millennium Force: The Hypercoaster Rules No More". Thrillride.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
- ^ "Hyper Coaster". Coasterforce.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
- ^ "Hyper Coaster". Rcdb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
- ^ "Mega Coaster". Rcdb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
- ^ "Mega Coaster". Rcdb.com. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
- ^ "Steel Eel". SeaWorld.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
- ^ "CP Mobile". Cedarpoint.com. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
- ^ "More Thoughts on Magnum". Cedarpoint.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
- ^ "The List: 2006 Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. September 2006. p. 26. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "The List: 2010 Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. September 11, 2010. p. 34. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "What's next for Son of Beast? Future of Kings Island roller coaster unclear". Cincinnati.com. 2011-04-23. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
- ^ "Son of Beast roller coaster to be removed to make room for future park expansion". Kings Island. July 27, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
- ^ a b "Roller Coaster Database". rcdb.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.