Montu | |
---|---|
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay | |
Location | Busch Gardens Tampa Bay |
Park section | Egypt |
Coordinates | 28°02′05″N82°25′03″W / 28.03472°N 82.41750°W |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | May 16, 1996 |
Cost | US$20,000,000 |
General statistics | |
Type | Steel – Inverted |
Manufacturer | Bolliger & Mabillard |
Designer | Werner Stengel |
Model | Inverted Coaster – Custom |
Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
Height | 150 ft (46 m) |
Drop | 128 ft (39 m) |
Length | 3,983 ft (1,214 m) |
Speed | 60 mph (97 km/h) |
Inversions | 7 |
Duration | 3 minutes |
Max vertical angle | 50° |
Capacity | 1,710 riders per hour |
G-force | 3.8 |
Height restriction | 54 in (137 cm) |
Trains | 3 trains with 8 cars. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train. |
Quick Queue available | |
Montu at RCDB |
Montu is an inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Designed by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, it is the park's second roller coaster designed by that company following the success of Kumba, which opened 3 years prior. [1] [2] When the ride opened on May 16, 1996, it was the world's tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster, a title it has since conceded to Alpengeist at sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The ride stands 150 feet (46 m) tall and reaches speeds of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
The concept of an inverted roller coaster with inversions was developed by Jim Wintrode, the general manager of Six Flags Great America, in the early 1990s. [3] [4] To develop the idea, Wintrode worked with Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard—from Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard—and engineer Robert Mampe to develop Batman: The Ride which opened in May 1992. [3] [5]
In early 1995, planning began for Montu, fourteen months prior to the ride opening to the public. [1] The owners of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Busch Entertainment (since renamed SeaWorld Entertainment), entered into an agreement with Bolliger and Mabillard which would see them add Montu to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in 1996, followed in 1997 by the additions of Alpengeist at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and The Great White at SeaWorld San Antonio. [6]
On August 23, 1995, Busch Gardens Tampa announced that they would be getting a new Egypt section. The area would cover 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land and feature a few attractions, including Tut's Tomb and the centerpiece attraction being a new Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster. It would be the first inverted roller coaster to feature seven inversions, as well as being the first roller coaster to feature an Immelmann loop. Besides this, the ride would be the first Bolliger & Mabillard coaster to feature a boomerang element, which debuted on Orient Express at Worlds of Fun in 1980. The Egypt section would be the largest and most expensive investment in Busch Gardens Tampa's history. [7] On October 30, the park announced that they would be naming their new coaster Montu. [8] On May 16, 1996, Montu officially opened to the public. [9] At the time of its opening to the public, the ride was the tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster in the world. [10] [11]
For the 2022 season, Montu was repainted with a darker navy blue track and yellow supports. [12]
The 3,983-foot-long (1,214 m) Montu stands 150 feet (46 m) tall, and has a drop of 128 feet (39 m) With a top speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), the ride features seven inversions including two vertical loops measuring 104 and 60 feet (32 and 18 m), respectively, a 90-foot (27 m) Immelmann loop, [13] a zero-g roll, a batwing and a corkscrew. [9] It has the most inversions on an inverted coaster, tied with Banshee at Kings Island. [14] Riders experience up to 3.8 times the force of gravity on the 3 minute ride. Montu operates with three steel and fiberglass trains, each containing eight cars, each sitting 4 riders in per row for a total of 32 riders per train. [9]
Montu was launched alongside Busch Gardens Tampa Bay's Egypt section of the park, which reportedly cost approximately US$20 million. [1] [15] With an overall theme around Egyptian mythology, the ride is named after the god of war Montu, a man depicted with the head of a hawk. [9] When the ride was first launched, a Nile crocodile exhibit was located underneath the first turn out of the station. [9] These animals were later relocated to the park's main animal habitat. [9]
Guests enter an Egyptian temple, where the queue takes place. The queue begins with a large outdoor area with switchbacks. There is an extended queue area with multiple pathways and a viewing area of the ride. Following this, guests navigate through a corridor. They enter another area containing Egyptian murals on the walls. Guests then enter the station where they board the ride. An extra switchback section can be occasionally used to access the front seat. [16]
The ride begins with the floor retracting which leads to the front gate opening. The trains leaves the station with a small dip and turnaround out of the station tracking towards the 150-foot-tall (46 m) chain lift hill. Once at the top, riders twist down a 128-foot-tall (39 m) left-handed drop and into a 104-foot-tall (32 m) vertical loop, reaching speeds of up to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Following the vertical loop, the track passes through a tunnel and zooms into a 90-foot-tall (27 m) tall Immelmann loop, providing a footchopper element with the pylon. [13] After completing the Immelmann, the train goes through a zero-g roll, where riders experience a feeling of weightlessness. Following the zero-g roll, the track hits a batwing, entering a trench at the valley between the two inversions. Leaving the batwing, the track rises up in to the mid-course brake run. Following the second brake run, the track makes a dive to the right into a trench where it hits a 60-foot-tall (18 m) vertical loop. The track then exits the trench, making a three-quarter clockwise turn. After passing under the zero-g roll, the track makes a left hand turn over the first vertical loop's exit and dives into another trench to hit a corkscrew, before making another right turn onto the final brake run. [9] [17]
Montu has generally been well received. Tom Buckingham of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune commended the ride, giving kudos to the park "for designing its monster rides so that wait times put Disney to shame". He stated "you'll generally be on the ride and screaming" before riders get a chance to change their mind. [18] Sabrina Rojas Weiss of the Lakeland Ledger stated "the way this ride twisted my body upside-down and sideways seriously confused my senses". [19] The Los Angeles Times put the ride on their "high rollers" list of new roller coasters for 1996. [20] In 2012, Montu was featured on the Travel Channel TV series Insane Coaster Wars in the "Hang 'em High" category. Although the ride lost out to Aftershock at Silverwood Theme Park, Theme Park Review's Robb Alvey believed Montu would beat the competition which also included SeaWorld Orlando's Manta and Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Alpengeist. [21]
In Amusement Today 's annual Golden Ticket Awards, Montu has consistently ranked highly. It debuted at position 3 in 1998, [22] before rising to position 2 the following year. [23]
Year | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
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Ranking | 3 [22] | 2 [23] | 4 [24] | 5 [25] | 9 [26] | 12 [27] | 9 [28] | 10 [29] | 8 [30] | 10 [31] | 10 [32] | 11 [33] | 12 [34] | 14 [35] | 14 [36] | 18 [37] | 22 [38] | 24 [39] | 22 [40] | 27 [41] | 28 [42] | 30 (tie) [43] | 22 [44] | 29 [45] | 34 [46] | 39 [47] |
An inverted roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars, letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster was pioneered by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard in the early 1990s with the development of Batman: The Ride, which opened at Six Flags Great America on May 9, 1992.
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.
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).
Apollo's Chariot is a steel roller coaster at the Busch Gardens Williamsburg amusement park in James City County, Virginia, United States. The ride was the first Hyper Coaster designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard. It officially opened to the public on March 27, 1999. This coaster is themed to the Greek and Roman god Apollo, who is the god of the sun, music, and healing. Apollo used his chariot to control the directions of the sun.
Alpengeist is an inverted roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Alpengeist has an Alpine mountain region theme and opened in 1997 as the tallest inverted coaster in the world. The name "Alpengeist" is German for "Ghost of the Alps" or "Alpine Spirit", and the ride is themed to a runaway ski lift. It has the records for the tallest complete circuit inverted coaster in the world, tallest inverted roller coaster in the United States, and the longest complete circuit coaster drop in the world.
The Riddler's Revenge is a steel stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened as the park's eleventh roller coaster on April 4, 1998, setting multiple world records among stand-up coasters. Originally located in the Movie District section of the park, which later became Metropolis in 2017, The Riddler's Revenge was also the park's single biggest investment at a cost of $14 million. It features a height of 156 feet (48 m), a maximum speed of 65 mph (105 km/h), six inversions, and a track length of 4,370 feet (1,330 m).
Nemesis Reborn, previously Nemesis, is an inverted roller coaster located at the Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, England. It was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) and designed by Werner Stengel, from a concept by park developer John Wardley. It opened in the Forbidden Valley area of the park on 19 March 1994.
Kumba is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened in 1993. It stands 143 feet (44 m) tall and has a top speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Kumba features a total of seven inversions across the 3-minute ride. It is Busch Gardens Tampa Bay's oldest roller coaster that is still operating, following the closure of Scorpion in 2024.
Superman: Krypton Coaster is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park in San Antonio. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the Floorless Coaster model opened to the public in 2000 as one of the first of its kind in the world. The well-received ride held the title for the world's tallest vertical loop from its opening until 2013. Superman: Krypton Coaster stands 168 feet (51 m) tall and reaches a maximum speed of 70 mph (110 km/h).
Dæmonen is a floorless steel roller coaster at the Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen, Denmark. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, it reaches a height of 28 metres (92 ft), is 564.0 metres (1,850.4 ft) long, and reaches a maximum speed of 77 kilometres per hour (48 mph). The roller coaster features a vertical loop, an Immelmann loop, and a zero-gravity roll. Dæmonen replaced Slangen, a family roller coaster, and officially opened on 16 April 2004. A record number of guests attended the park that year, but the public has since given the ride mixed reviews.
Goliath is a steel roller coaster located at the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park in Cobb County, Georgia. The Hyper Coaster model manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard climbs to a height of 200 feet (61 m) and reaches a maximum speed of 70 mph (110 km/h). Prior to its construction, the Great Gasp and Looping Starship attractions were removed to make room for Goliath, which opened to the public on April 1, 2006. It ranked as the fourth-best new ride of 2006 in the annual Golden Ticket Awards publication from Amusement Today and the ninth-best steel roller coaster overall, with its peak ranking of fourth occurring in 2009 and 2011.
Goliath is a steel roller coaster at La Ronde amusement park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, it reaches a maximum height of 174.8 feet (53.3 m), a speed of 68.4 miles per hour (110.1 km/h) and a track length of 4,038.8 feet (1,231.0 m). Construction commenced in September 2005, and the roller coaster opened to the public on May 13, 2006. Goliath was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Canada until it was surpassed by Behemoth, at Canada's Wonderland in 2008. Six Flags announced in 2016 that Goliath would be hooked up with Virtual Reality for a New Revolution experience for the 2016 season.
Griffon is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg amusement park in James City County, Virginia, United States. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), the Dive Coaster model opened to the public on May 18, 2007. It climbs to a height of 205 feet (62 m) and reaches a maximum speed of 71 mph (114 km/h). It features two Immelmann loops, a splashdown, two vertical drops, and was the first B&M Dive Coaster to use floorless trains. Griffon was well-received by media and enthusiasts, and it placed third in 2007 in the category of Best New Ride polled by Amusement Today for their annual Golden Ticket Awards. Since its debut, it has also consistently ranked in the top 50 among steel roller coasters worldwide in the same annual publication, peaking at #19 in 2010.
The Dive Coaster is a steel roller coaster model developed and engineered by Bolliger & Mabillard. The design features one or more near-vertical drops that are approximately 90 degrees, which provide a moment of free-falling for passengers. The experience is enhanced by unique trains that seat up to ten riders per row, spanning only two or three rows total. Unlike traditional train design, this distinguishing aspect gives all passengers virtually the same experience throughout the course of the ride. Another defining characteristic of Dive Coasters is the holding brake at the top of the lift hill that holds the train momentarily right as it enters the first drop, suspending some passengers with a view looking straight down and releasing suddenly moments later.
Wildfire is a steel roller coaster located at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the $14-million ride opened to the public on April 4, 2001. It is themed as a flying machine developed by a fictional 1880s Ozark inventor.
Afterburn is an inverted roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina. After more than two years of planning and construction, the roller coaster opened on March 20, 1999. The ride previously operated as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster, before it was renamed following Cedar Fair's purchase of Paramount Parks in 2006.
SheiKra is a steel Dive Coaster roller coaster at the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay amusement park in Tampa, Florida, United States. The roller coaster was proposed by Mark Rose, vice-president of design and engineering for the park, and designed by Bolliger & Mabillard. The ride was planned to be 160 feet (49 m) high, but the park's executives rejected this and the height was changed to 200 feet (61 m). SheiKra reaches a maximum speed of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) and has a total track length of 3,188 feet (972 m). It first opened on May 21, 2005, and was converted to a floorless roller coaster on June 16, 2007, following the opening of its sister Dive Coaster Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg that year.
OzIris is a steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard operating at Parc Astérix in France since 7 April 2012. It is only one of two Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coasters in France, the other being The Monster at Walygator Parc. It is named after the Character Iris from the French comic Asterix.
Banshee is an inverted roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio, United States. Designed and manufactured by Swiss company Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened to the public on April 18, 2014, and is the longest inverted coaster in the world, featuring a track length of 4,124 feet (1,257 m). Banshee was also the most expensive project in Kings Island's history at the time, costing the park $24 million to construct. The ride includes seven inversions and travels up to a maximum speed of 68 mph (109 km/h). It operates with three trains, each with eight cars, producing an hourly capacity of 1,650 riders.