A spinning roller coaster is a roller coaster with cars that rotate on a vertical axis.
A spinning roller coaster is a roller coaster with cars that rotate on a vertical axis.
The first spinning roller coaster was the Tickler, built in 1908 by Henry Riehl at Luna Park. [1] Instead of trains, the ride had tubs with seats built around the perimeter facing inward. These tubs spun freely on their chassis as they travelled down the track, sitting in a trough configuration similar to that of a side friction roller coaster. Known as a Virginia Reel, these spinning coasters did not have big hills or drops, but instead, were designed to feature many sharp turns. Toward the end of the track layout were two helices, followed by a drop into a dark tunnel. The last full size Virginia Reel operated at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and closed in 1982. [2] [3] [4]
In 1997, the first spinning wild mouse roller coaster opened at the defunct Dinosaur Beach pier at Wildwood, New Jersey. Similar to the design of other wild mouse coasters, the ride features a track layout and cars similar to a Virginia Reel, except the ride is made of steel rather than wood, and the seats face in one direction instead of toward each other. The layout of the ride boasts many hairpin turns and small hops. The design, noted for its portability and small footprint, became popular at smaller amusement parks and fairs. One well-known installation of the ride was Primeval Whirl at Disney's Animal Kingdom, which closed in 2020.
The spinning wild mouse was first manufactured by Reverchon Industries of France. In 2003, the company merged with Italy's Zamperla. Both companies eventually split apart again by 2006, when each began releasing their own spinning wild mouse coasters. Italy's Fabbri Group introduced a spinning model in 2006, and Maurer Söhne has been developing and constructing spinning coaster models since the early 2000s. In China, the amusement ride company Golden Horse has also released its own version.
Zierer built the first modern spinning roller coaster in 1994 with the Drehgondelbahn in Freizeit-Land Geiselwind. Maurer Söhne introduced its Xtended SC spinning coasters in the late 1990s. The seat configuration is the same as Maurer Söhne's Compact Spinning Coaster, but unlike that model, the Xtended SC has large, twisted layouts with many vertical hairpin turns intended to spin the cars around and give each rider a different experience every ride. Examples include Spider at Utah's Lagoon , Winjas at Germany's Phantasialand, Spinball Whizzer at the UK's Alton Towers and Dragon's Fury at the UK's Chessington World of Adventures.
A similar ride debuted in 2004 when the first two Gerstlauer spinning coasters opened: Fairly Odd Coaster (formerly Timberland Twister) at Nickelodeon Universe inside the Mall of America, and Spinning Dragons at Worlds of Fun. These coasters have twisted track layouts similar to Maurer Söhne's Xtended SC, but the seats on Gerstlauer Spinning Coasters face towards each other, as with the Virginia Reel.
In 1995 Intamin debuted a spinning coaster with trains instead of individual cars: Comet Express at Lotte World in Seoul, South Korea. The trains have eight cars, with each car's two seats side by side. Like the Maurer Söhne and Gerstlauer spinning coasters, this "twist and turn coaster" features a twisted track layout. Three of these models have been built around the world.
Another spinning coaster with trains, Euro-Mir , was built by MACK Rides of Germany in 1997 at Europa-Park. The trains consist of four cars with four seats divided into two rows facing away from each other. The coaster has a twisted track layout that is built around five cylindrical towers. MACK opened a second coaster of this type, Sierra Sidewinder , at Knott's Berry Farm in 2007.
In 2018, Silver Dollar City opened Time Traveler, the world's first "Xtreme Spinning Coaster." Also created by MACK, this ride consists of a more thrilling layout than other spinning coasters of the time, with a vertical drop directly out of the station, many bunny hills and turns, 2 LSM launches and 2 inversions. The second ride of this type was opened 3 years later in 2021. Named The Ride to Happiness, it is located at Plopsaland De Panne in Adinkerke, Belgium.
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.
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.
A Floorless Coaster, commonly known as a Floorless Roller Coaster, is a type of steel roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard where riders sit with no floor underneath them, allowing their feet to swing freely just above the track. Development of the Floorless Coaster model began between 1995 and 1996 with Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure opening on April 2, 1999, making it the world's first Floorless Roller Coaster. Floorless Roller Coasters also tend to have 3 to 7 inversions incorporated in the layout of the coaster.
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.
Virginia Reel was an older style of spinning roller coaster characterized by spinning circular "tubs" that zig-zagged down a flat-bottomed track.
A fourth-dimension roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster where riders are rotated independently of the track's orientation, generally about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the track. The cars do not need to be fixed to an angle.
NoLimits Roller Coaster Simulation is a software package available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X designed and built by a team of programmers and artists led by German programmer Ole Lange. It was first released in November 2001. The package includes two separate pieces of software, the NoLimits Editor and NoLimits Simulator, with a third application of the game, the NoLimits Terraformer supported as well.
Sand Serpent was a Wild Mouse roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. The ride originally operated at sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia as Wild Izzy in 1996 and later as Wilde Maus from 1997 to 2003. When the roller coaster was relocated to Florida, it was renamed Cheetah Chase from 2004 to 2011 before receiving its last name change.
A motorbike roller coaster or motorcycle roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster designed with motorcycle type cars. Booster Bike at Toverland was the world's first motorbike roller coaster. Vekoma was the first company to design such a ride, although Intamin and Zamperla have since created similar designs.
Maurer AG, formerly known as Maurer Söhne GmbH & Co. KG, is a steel construction company and roller coaster manufacturer. Founded in 1876 in Munich, Germany, the company has built many styles of steel buildings, ranging from bridges, industrial buildings, and even art structures. While known for building a variety of wild mouse coasters, its subsidiary Maurer Rides GmbH has branched out into spinning, looping, and launching coasters. The company also produces a free-fall tower ride. On December 15, 2014, the company changed its name to Maurer AG.
Fantasilandia is a Chilean amusement park. The park opened in 1978 and is located in a corner of the O'Higgins Park in Santiago, Chile.
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.
The Leofoo Village Theme Park is a theme park and a safari located in Guanxi Township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan. It features three roller coasters, including an inverted shuttle coaster, Screaming Condor, an Intamin twist-and-turn coaster dubbed Sahara Twist, as well as a Vekoma Roller Skater (335m) in the Wild West section of the park, Little Rattler, themed to an old mining railway. There is also the Nairobi Express, a 2 ft narrow gauge railway built by Severn Lamb. The park features many other attractions of different styles and proper themed areas.
SkyLoop is a type of steel roller coaster manufactured by Maurer AG. There are currently 10 SkyLoops operating worldwide, nine of which are identical XT 150 models, and one of which is an extended XT 450 model. The first SkyLoop to open was Sky Wheel in 2004 while the sole XT 450, Abismo, opened in 2006. There are also three other models—XT 900, Custom, and Launch—which have no installations as of 2021.
El Loco is a model of steel roller coaster manufactured by S&S Worldwide. The rides are characterised by a vertical or beyond-vertical drop, tight corners and abnormal banking. As of November 2013, there are six El Locos operating around the world.
Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is a 20-hectare (49-acre) amusement park located in the Casa de Campo in Madrid, Spain. Opened in 1969, it is the third-oldest operating amusement park in Spain behind Parc d'Atraccions Tibidabo and Parque de Atracciones Monte Igueldo. It is the flagship park of Parques Reunidos, who operates the park under Madrid municipal government concession until 2039.
Wild Mouse is a steel roller coaster manufactured by Maurer Söhne currently operating at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah.
Steel Taipan is a steel launched roller coaster at Dreamworld in Coomera, Queensland, Australia. Steel Taipan is a direct replacement to the former Thunder River Rapids Ride. The roller coaster, the first triple-launched coaster in the Southern Hemisphere, is named after the deadly Taipan family of snakes native to Australia.
Tiki-Waka is a steel family roller coaster located at Walibi Belgium in Wavre, Belgium. The Polynesian-themed coaster opened for the 2018 season as the headlining attraction in the newly re-themed Exotic World area, and kickstarted a multi-year, €100,000 expansion plan.
