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A hybrid roller coaster is a category of roller coasters where the track is made out of one material, either steel or wood, and the support structure is made from another. [1] [2] Early hybrid coasters include mine train roller coasters from Arrow Development, which feature a steel track with a wooden support structure. [3] Becoming increasingly more common are hybrids with wooden tracks and steel supports, [3] such as The Voyage at Holiday World. [4] [5]
Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is well-known for their I-Box track design, commonly used to retrofit existing wooden coasters with a new steel track. Such designs provide several benefits, offering smoother rides and reducing maintenance costs. [6] Hybrid coasters can also add inversions, similar to Mean Streak's conversion into Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point in 2018. Newer hybrids also tend to be taller, faster, and feature steeper drops over their wooden coaster counterparts.[ citation needed ]
Two main components of roller coaster design are their track and support structure. In most cases, both are made of the same material – either wood or steel. [3] Occasionally, they are designed to feature a steel track with a wooden structure, or vice versa, in what has become known as a hybrid roller coaster. [5] Hybrid roller coasters have existed for a long time, with one of the oldest being Cyclone at Luna Park, which opened in 1927. [7] Its track is made from wood, while the support structure is made of steel. [8] Arrow Development built a vast amount of mine train roller coasters beginning in the 1960s, featuring tubular steel track and wooden supports. [9] [10] [11] One of their last installations is Adventure Express at Kings Island, which opened in 1991. [12] [13]
Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) and The Gravity Group are at the forefront of modern hybrid coaster construction. [14] RMC entered the industry by refurbishing old wooden roller coasters, converting them into hybrids with steel track, beginning with New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in 2011. [3] [5] One of their most popular conversions is Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point, [15] which has been consistently ranked as one of the best steel coasters in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards. The Gravity Group designs coasters with wooden track but with a steel support structure, such as Hades 360 at Mount Olympus Theme Park. [16]
The term "hybrid roller coaster" started to be used by the coaster community when New Texas Giant opened and Six Flags classified the roller coaster as wood. Six Flags in response of the confusion classified the roller coaster as a "hybrid", which has since been used to include many other Rocky Mountain Construction Coasters of the same style. [17] Coasters are usually still classified as either "steel" or "wood", based on what their track material is. [18] The use of the phrase is controversial. [1]
Name | Park | Opened | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
New Texas Giant | Six Flags Over Texas | 2011 | United States | First RMC conversion [19] |
Hades 360 | Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park | 2013 | United States | |
Steel Vengeance | Cedar Point | 2018 | United States | First hybrid hypercoaster and longest hybrid in the world [20] |
Zadra | Energylandia | 2019 | Poland | |
Hakugei | Nagashima Spa Land | 2019 | Japan | First hybrid roller coaster in Asia [21] |
Iron Gwazi | Busch Gardens Tampa Bay | 2022 | United States | |
Wildcat's Revenge | Hersheypark | 2023 | United States | World's largest underflip inversion [22] |
A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements usually designed to produce a thrilling experience. Trains consist of open cars connected in a single line, and the rides are often found in theme parks around the world. Roller coasters first appeared in the 17th century, and LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, based on the Switchback Railway which opened a year earlier at Coney Island.
A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be made of steel lattice or truss, which has no bearing on a wooden coaster's classification. The type of wood often selected in the construction of wooden coasters worldwide is southern yellow pine, which grows abundantly in the southern United States, due to its density and adherence to different forms of pressure treatment.
Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is a syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld.
A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated wheels, the steel roller coasters can provide a taller, smoother, and faster ride with more inversions than a traditional wooden roller coaster.
Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, both of whom had worked for Giovanola.
S&S – Sansei Technologies is an American company known for its pneumatically powered amusement rides and roller coaster designing.
Great Coasters International, Inc. is a Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based roller coaster manufacturer which has created several award-winning rides since its formation in 1994. Starting in 2006 with Thunderbird at PowerPark in Finland, the company expanded beyond the United States and began building coasters in Europe and Asia. Günter Engelhardt GmbH handles the company's marketing rights in Europe. In addition to building new roller coasters, GCI also refurbishes and re-tracks existing roller coasters, regardless of manufacturer.
A hypercoaster is a roller coaster with a height or drop measuring at least 200 feet (61 m). The term was first coined by Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point in 1989 with the opening of the world's first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, which features a height of 205 feet. The next hypercoaster, Pepsi Max Big One, opened five years later at Blackpool Pleasure Beach featuring a height of 213 feet (65 m).
Steel Vengeance, formerly known as Mean Streak, is a steel roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. The roller coaster, originally constructed by Dinn Corporation as a wooden roller coaster, was rebuilt by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) and opened to the public on May 5, 2018. It is a hybrid coaster, using RMC's steel I-Box track and a significant portion of Mean Streak's former support structure. Upon completion, Steel Vengeance set 10 world records, including those for the tallest, fastest, and longest hybrid roller coaster.
Iron Rattler is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. Originally opening as a wooden coaster called Rattler in 1992, it was converted to steel and renamed Iron Rattler in 2013. Designed by Alan Schilke and built by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC), the ride features a zero-g-roll inversion, which was a first among hybrid coasters made of wood and steel.
Storm Chaser is a steel roller coaster located at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Designed by Alan Schilke and manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) at an estimated cost of $10 million, the ride opened to the public on April 30, 2016. It features three inversions, a 78-degree drop, and a maximum speed of 52 mph (84 km/h) utilizing RMC's patented I-Box track technology.
John A. Miller was an American roller coaster designer and builder, inventor, and businessman. Miller patented over 100 key roller coaster components, and is widely considered the "father of the modern high-speed roller coaster." During his lifetime, he participated in the design of approximately 150 coasters and was a key business partner and mentor to other well-known roller coaster designers, Harry C. Baker and John C. Allen.
New Texas Giant is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. It originally opened as Texas Giant, which was the tallest wooden coaster in the world when it debuted in 1990. Manufactured by Dinn Corporation and designed by Curtis D. Summers, Texas Giant operated for nearly two decades and was highly-ranked in Amusement Today magazine's annual Golden Ticket Awards. The ride's popularity declined over the years as it gained a negative reputation for increasing roughness.
Dinn Corporation was a roller coaster designing and manufacturing company established in West Chester, Ohio, in 1983 by Charles Dinn. The company is noted for moving and rebuilding several existing wooden coasters and building ten new wooden roller coasters in the United States.
Hakugei is a steel roller coaster at Nagashima Spa Land in Mie Prefecture, Japan. It was originally a wooden roller coaster known as White Cyclone manufactured by Swiss company Intamin, and it operated from 1994 to 2018. It was refurbished by American company Rocky Mountain Construction, which replaced the ride's wooden track with steel track and modified the ride layout, including the addition of three inversions. The renovated ride reopened on 28 March 2019.
Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is a manufacturing and construction company based in Hayden, Idaho, United States. It is best known for its I-Box track and Topper Track for wooden roller coasters. Founded by Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon in 2001, it has built over 20 roller coasters. In 2023, amusement ride manufacturer Larson International merged with it.
Alan Schilke is an American engineer and roller coaster designer based in Hayden, Idaho, United States. He first made his mark on the industry by designing the 4th Dimension roller coaster, X2, while working with Arrow Dynamics. Schilke now works as a design engineer at Ride Centerline LLC and occasionally works with Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC).
Roller Coaster Corporation of America (RCCA) was an amusement ride manufacturer based in the United States. The company's first major project was the Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 1992, while their most famous coaster was the Son of Beast at Kings Island, the world's tallest and second looping wooden coaster when it opened in 2000.