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.
A steel roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its steel track, which consists of long steel tubes that are run in pairs, supported by larger steel columns or beams. Trains running along the track typically rely on wheels made of polyurethane or nylon to keep each train car anchored to the track. The introduction of tubular steel drastically changed roller coaster innovation, allowing for greater speeds, higher drops, and more intense elements such as inversions.
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.
The Beast is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio, United States. Designed and manufactured in-house for approximately $3 million, the ride opened in 1979 as the tallest, fastest, and longest wooden roller coaster in the world. Decades later, it is still the longest, spanning 7,361 feet (2,244 m) across 35 acres (14 ha) of hilly terrain. Two lift hills contribute to the ride's duration of more than four minutes, which also ranks as one of the longest among roller coasters. A refurbishment in 2022 increased the angle of the first drop and lengthened the ride by 2 feet (0.61 m).
S&S – Sansei Technologies is an American company known for its pneumatically powered amusement rides and roller coaster designing.
Son of Beast was a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, United States. Built and designed by the now-defunct Roller Coaster Corporation of America (RCCA), the ride opened as the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world on April 28, 2000. Its record-setting height of 218 feet (66 m) made it the first wooden hypercoaster – a height class of 200 feet (61 m) or more. It was also the first wooden coaster in the modern era to feature a vertical loop and reached a record-breaking maximum speed of 78 mph (126 km/h). Son of Beast was marketed and themed as a sequel to The Beast roller coaster, one of the park's signature attractions that was built in 1979.
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).
Iron Rattler is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. The ride originally opened in 1992 as Rattler, the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world. It was converted to steel in 2013 by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC), led by designer Alan Schilke, and reopened as Iron Rattler. RMC installed their patented I-Box track onto Rattler's existing wooden structure, increasing the drop height from 124 to 171 feet and the maximum speed from 65 to 70 mph. A notable addition to its layout was a zero-g roll inversion, which was a first among hybrid coasters made of wood and steel.
Premier Rides is an amusement ride manufacturer based in the United States. The company was the first to use Linear Induction Motors (LIMs) on their roller coasters. Jim Seay has been the sole owner and company president since 1996.
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.
Mr. Freeze is a launched shuttle roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas, with another installation known as Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri. The steel coasters feature a linear induction motor (LIM) launch system that accelerate riders from 0–70 mph (0–113 km/h) in 3.8 seconds. The two installations are mirror images of one another and are themed to the famous Batman villain Mr. Freeze. Originally, they were themed after the 1997 film Batman & Robin prior to a conversion in 2012 to operate backward. The Over Texas version returned to forward operation in 2022, but in July 2023, it started operating with one train launching backward and one train launching forward to offer different experiences.
This is a list of events and openings related to amusement parks that have occurred in 2012. These various lists are not exhaustive.
Curtis D. Summers was an American engineer and roller coaster designer credited for designing or providing structural engineering on 25 wooden roller coasters around the world. He earned a degree in Architectural Engineering from Kansas State University and was a registered engineer in 40 states.
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.
This is a list of events and openings related to amusement parks that occurred in 2013. These various lists are not exhaustive.
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).
Martin & Vleminckx Ltd. is a thrill ride and roller coaster manufacturing and construction company headquartered in Montreal, Québec, Canada with an affiliated office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a manufacturing facility in Orlando, Florida, United States, and two subsidiaries, including a warehouse in China.
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. Early hybrid coasters include mine train roller coasters from Arrow Development, which feature a steel track with a wooden support structure. Becoming increasingly more common are hybrids with wooden tracks and steel supports, such as The Voyage at Holiday World.
