This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(December 2023) |
Astro Storm | |
---|---|
![]() An aerial overview shot of the Astro Storm | |
Brean Leisure Park | |
Coordinates | 51°17′10″N3°00′29″W / 51.286078°N 3.008076°W |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | 23 July 2011 |
Astro Storm at Brean Leisure Park at RCDB | |
Pleasure Beach Blackpool | |
Coordinates | 53°47′23″N3°03′15″W / 53.789738°N 3.054250°W |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | August 21, 1984 |
Closing date | September 2008 |
Astro Storm at Pleasure Beach Blackpool at RCDB | |
General statistics | |
Type | Steel – Enclosed |
Manufacturer | Zierer |
Designer | Werner Stengel |
Model | Four Man Bob |
Lift/launch system | Chain Lift Hill |
Drop | 59 ft (18 m) |
Length | 1,490 ft (450 m) |
Speed | 37 mph (60 km/h) |
Inversions | 0 |
Duration | 1:30 |
Max vertical angle | 36° |
G-force | 2.6 |
Height restriction | 48 in (122 cm) |
Astro Storm is an enclosed, sit down roller coaster at Brean Leisure Park in Brean, England, created by German amusement ride manufacturer Zierer. It used to be located at Pleasure Beach Blackpool in Blackpool, England where it was known as Space Invader 2.
Space Invader opened on 21 August 1984, and was Blackpool Pleasure Beach's fourth steel roller coaster. The ride itself was constructed by Zierer, a German ride manufacturer. The original ride was similar to the ride as it is today. In 2000, a young boy died after reportedly unbuckling his safety belt in a panic. It was refurbished in 2003 by Kumbak Coasters and reopened in 2004 as "Space Invader 2". In September 2008, the ride closed following a failed evacuation during operating hours. It was removed in June 2010 and announced to be sold to Brean Leisure Park in July 2010. The ride was refurbished and renamed 'Astro Storm' prior to its opening in 2011.
After leaving the station, the cars make a 90° turn to the right and are carried to the top of a chain-lift hill; the cars then descend a 59ft drop in the dark, at an incline angle of 36°. The ride then has several drops, banked turns and helixes, before cars reach the brake run and return to the station to be unloaded.
Astro Storm operates with single-car trains. Riders are arranged in three rows for a total of three riders per car with a T-bar restraint. When it was the Space Invader at Blackpool, the ride used cars which were able to carry 4 people and riders were restrained by a seatbelt.
![]() | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.(June 2013) |
When it was Space Invader 2, the ride was themed around a journey through space and was decorated with glow-in-the-dark pictures of stars, planets, and aliens. The queue and loading area were themed around a space station, with various signs telling riders the wait time to board their ride vehicles. Parts of the queue were themed around the Star Wars films, such as a statue of Han Solo stuck in carbonite.
Astro Storm however has a different approach with regard to theming. The outside queue area is themed and has a queue line video. A video tells you that "Astro Tours" is going to take you on a journey through space. Once the train starts, riders proceed through a set of doors followed by a screen with a man exclaiming "Abort!". The shouting continues as riders continue up the chain lift. At the apex, the rider is met with strobe lights and sirens while the rest of the ride is in pitch black, except some slight lighting effects on the trim brakes.
On 21 July 2000, 11-year-old Christopher Sharett died after he fell out of the ride vehicle. Authorities ruled his death as 'accidental' since he panicked and unbuckled his seatbelt before being hit by another cart. [1]
Matterhorn Bobsleds are a pair of intertwined steel roller coasters at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It is modeled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is the first known tubular steel track roller coaster. Located on the border between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, it employs forced perspective to seem larger.
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power, along a launch track. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest roller coasters in the world.
The Big One, formerly known as the Pepsi Max Big One, is a steel roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Designed by Ron Toomer and manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public on 28 May 1994 as the tallest and steepest roller coaster in the world, featuring a height of 213 feet (65 m) and a drop angle of 65 degrees. It held the title as the tallest until 1996 when Fujiyama opened in Japan. Construction of the ride cost £12 million. The ride was sponsored by Pepsi until 2011, at which time Pepsi Max was removed from the name.
The Grand National is a wooden roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire in the United Kingdom. It was designed and constructed by American engineer Charles Paige in 1935 and is now one of two surviving wooden Möbius Loop roller coasters in the world. Grand National is the only surviving twin-track roller coaster in Britain in which two cars race against one another. This ride has an individual lap bar and seatbelts as the restraints.
The Walking Dead: The Ride is an indoor roller coaster haunted attraction located at Thorpe Park, England. It was the park's first non-powered roller-coaster. It was themed around a rave and had the strapline "Ride on a wave of light and sound" — when it was titled X — but currently The Walking Dead: The Ride's slogan is "Those who ride, survive".
American Eagle is a wooden racing roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois. It was the first wooden roller coaster designed by Intamin of Switzerland and was built in 1981 by the contracting firm Figley-Wright at a cost of $10 million. While most of the records have since been broken, American Eagle had the longest drop and fastest speeds among wooden roller coasters when it debuted and is still recognized as a top racing coaster in the United States.
The Raven is a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari's Halloween section in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It began to be designed and built in 1994 by the now-defunct roller coaster manufacturer Custom Coasters International, with the help of designers Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill. The roller coaster opened on May 6, 1995. The Raven takes its name from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" and features sudden drops and turns which mimic the flight of a raven. From 2000 to 2003, The Raven was voted the world's "Best Wooden Roller Coaster" at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by Amusement Today magazine. It was named an "ACE Roller Coaster Landmark" by American Coaster Enthusiasts on June 23, 2016.
Twister III: Storm Chaser is a wooden roller coaster located at Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado.
Exterminator is a steel roller coaster located at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The coaster was manufactured by Reverchon Industries. It opened on April 18, 1999.
Bulldog Coaster, formerly named Shock Wave or Crazy Loop is a roller coaster at Brean Leisure Park in Brean, Somerset, England. The ride, which was manufactured by Italian company Pinfari, features a loop, sharp turns and near support misses.
Jaguar! is a steel family roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Built by Zierer and designed by Werner Stengel, the coaster opened to the public in 1995.
The Wild Mouse was a wooden roller coaster located in Pleasure Beach Resort which opened in 1958. It was one of only four remaining wooden Wild Mouse coasters left in the world as of the end of the 2017 season, and was held in very high regard as one of the finest and most extreme examples of Wild Mouse coasters.
The Gold Coaster is a steel roller coaster operating at Dreamworld. The roller coaster is one of the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere, after originally being the tallest when it was first built. Designed by Arrow Dynamics, built in Melbourne by Able Leisure Pty. Ltd the ride was originally installed at Luna Park Sydney in 1995 as the Big Dipper before being sold and relocated to Dreamworld on the Gold Coast in 2001. When it was brought to Dreamworld, the ride was the first roller coaster to be opened on the Gold Coast since 1997. The roller coaster was named Cyclone from 2001 until 2015 when it was refurbished and named Hot Wheels SideWinder as part of the new Motorsport Experience themed land from 2015 to 2020.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a steel roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida. With a height of 167 feet (51 m), a length of 3,800 feet (1,200 m), and a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), it is the largest X-Coaster ever built by German manufacturer Maurer Söhne. Announced on March 19, 2008, the coaster officially debuted on August 19, 2009, despite original plans to open several months earlier in the spring. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit features on-ride music LED lighting, and on-ride photos and videos captured from cameras mounted in each passenger row.
Avalanche is a steel bobsled roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England. It is the first and, as of 2022, the only bobsled roller coaster in the United Kingdom. It was designed for the park by Mack of Germany in 1988.
Verbolten is a Zierer multi-launched partially-enclosed steel roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. The concept was jointly designed by the park's creative design team and by Zierer of Germany. "Verbolten" is a play on words of the German word verboten, which translates to "forbidden" in English.
Kumbak is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturing company. In addition to manufacturing its own rides, the company primarily specialises in changing existing rides and attractions, originally made by other manufacturers.
Pleasure Beach Resort, formerly known as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. The park was founded in 1896 by A. W. G. Bean and his partner John Outhwaite. The current managing director is Amanda Thompson.
Impulse is a steel roller coaster located at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. It is manufactured by Zierer and is the first major steel coaster to open at Knoebels since Whirlwind closed in 2004. Impulse was the park's most expensive addition when it was completed in 2015.
ICON is a launched roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Manufactured by Mack Rides of Germany, the ride opened on 25 May 2018 at a total cost of £16.25 million. The ride was marketed as the first multi-launch roller coaster in the United Kingdom, and the first brand new rollercoaster at the park in 24 years. It uses a series of linear magnetic synchronous motors to propel and slow the trains along the track.