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A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from the peak by gravity and is usually allowed to coast throughout the rest of the roller coaster ride's circuit on its own momentum, including most or all of the remaining uphill sections. The initial upward-sloping section of a roller coaster track is usually a lift hill, as the train typically begins a ride with little speed, though some coasters have raised stations that permit an initial drop without a lift hill. Although uncommon, some tracks also contain multiple lift hills.
A suspended roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the car hangs from the bottom of the rolling stock by a pivoting fulcrum or hinge assembly. This allows the car and riders to swing side to side as the train races along the track. Due to the swing designs, these roller coasters cannot invert riders.
A drop tower or big drop is a type of amusement ride incorporating a central structure or tower. Drop towers vary in height, passenger capacity, lift type, and brake type. Many are custom-made, although there are some mass-produced designs. The most widely sold drop towers have been manufactured by Intamin and S&S Sansei, however Larson International and Funtime have their own drop tower models available as well. Riders initially experience free fall, followed by rapid heavy deceleration.
A rollback occurs on a launched roller coaster when the train is not launched fast enough to reach the top of the tower or hill. It will roll backwards down the tower, and will be stopped by brakes on the launch track. Any roller coaster on which it is possible for a rollback to occur will have these brakes. Intamin, a manufacturer of roller-coasters, refers to the "rollback" as a "short shot".
Rolling Thunder was a racing roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Designed by William Cobb, it opened in 1979 as the park's first wooden coaster during its fifth operating season. Rolling Thunder closed permanently in 2013 to make room for Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, which opened in 2014.
Viper is a steel roller coaster located in the Baja Ridge area of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. Viper is the last operating roller coaster with seven inversions to be built by American manufacturer Arrow Dynamics. The other two, Shockwave at Six Flags Great America and the Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Great Adventure, were demolished in 2002 and 2010, respectively. The roller coaster replaced a HUSS ride type named Condor.
Demon Drop is a drop tower amusement ride at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Designed by Intamin, it is a Freefall model that was originally located at Cedar Point when it first opened to the public in 1983. It was relocated to Dorney Park following the 2009 season and reopened in 2010. It is one of the oldest of its kind still in operation.
Shockwave was a roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Standing 170 feet (52 m) tall and reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), it opened in 1988 as the world's tallest and fastest looping roller coaster with a record-breaking seven inversions: three vertical loops, a boomerang, and two regular corkscrews. Shockwave was closed in 2002 and has been dismantled.
The Enterprise is an amusement ride, manufactured primarily by HUSS Park Attractions and Anton Schwarzkopf beginning in 1972. The HUSS ride was an adaptation and improvement of a design produced earlier that year by Schwarzkopf, with an increased passenger capacity. Despite not owning the original incarnation of the ride, HUSS was issued the patent.
The Freefall is an amusement ride developed by Giovanola and marketed throughout the world by Swiss company, Intamin.
Acrophobia is a free-fall tower ride located at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, Georgia. The attraction was designed by Intamin of Switzerland, and is marketed by Intamin's Liechtenstein-based subsidiary Ride Trade. When Acrophobia opened to the public on May 12, 2001, it became the first free-fall attraction of its kind in the world.
Drop Tower, formerly known as Drop Zone: Stunt Tower, is the name of five drop tower amusement rides located at Cedar Fair amusement parks in the United States and Canada. Each installation varies in size and capacity.
Superman: Tower of Power is a drop tower ride currently located at two Six Flags parks, and two former installments at Kentucky Kingdom and Six Flags St. Louis. Two of the four drop towers were manufactured by Intamin, while the Six Flags Over Georgia version was made by Zamperla, and the Six Flags Over Texas version was made by S&S. The installment at Kentucky Kingdom was demolished after an accident that maimed a teenage girl while the ride at Six Flags St Louis was removed from the park's website in early 2021. Two additional drop towers of the same model are installed at other Six Flags parks, each known as Scream.
Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements".
Eurostar is the world's largest portable inverted roller coaster. Eurostar was designed by Oscar Bruch, who had created and/or operated many portable coasters including Alpina Bahn, Looping Star and Thriller. The inverted coaster was becoming increasingly popular in the mid-1990s, having been introduced to the theme park market by Bolliger & Mabillard. However, B&M were reluctant to attempt a travelling model and so Eurostar was designed by Werner Stengel from a rough layout designed by Bruch. Aspects of the ride were built by many companies from across Europe, under the directorship of the Swiss ride firm Intamin.
Ednör – L'Attaque is a steel inverted roller coaster at La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built by Vekoma, it is a standard 689-meter Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC). It debuted in 1999 as Serial Thriller at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas. Following the closure of AstroWorld in 2005, Serial Thriller was dismantled and moved to Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor in Queensbury, New York. After sitting idle in New York for four years, it was relocated to La Ronde and opened for the 2010 season.
SkyScreamer is an amusement ride located at several Six Flags theme parks in North America. Designed by Funtime, an Austrian ride manufacturer, the attraction is one of their "Star Flyer" models. Since 2011, Six Flags has installed SkyScreamers in ten of their parks.
Mäch Tower is a drop tower design amusement ride, located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, in James City County, Virginia.
Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom is an amusement ride located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. The 415 ft (126 m) attraction is attached to the Kingda Ka roller coaster and opened as the tallest drop tower ride in the world in 2014.
Excalibur was a mine train roller coaster at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas. Built by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened in 1972 as Dexter Frebish's Electric Roller Ride, until the name was changed in 1980. At the time of its closure, it was the 2nd oldest roller coaster at the park after Serpent.
References
- ↑ Hahn, Valerie Schremp. "Six Flags St. Louis to drop mask requirement, nix social distancing and reservations". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
- ↑ www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2021/04/22/skycoaster-inventor-bill-kitchen.html . Retrieved 2021-06-11.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Six Flags Astroworld History". www.coasterphotos.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ↑ Gonzales, J. R. on (2013-05-11). "30 years later: Did you fall for Sky Screamer at AstroWorld?". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
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