Hypercoaster

The world's first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point

A hypercoaster is any roller coaster with a height or drop measuring greater than 200 feet (61 m).[1][2] The term was first coined by Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point with the release of the world's first hypercoaster, the Magnum XL-200, in 1989. Other roller coaster manufacturers later developed their own models: Intamin officially call theirs "Mega Coasters", and Bolliger & Mabillard refer to theirs as "Hyper Coasters". Roller coasters that broke the 300-foot-barrier (91 m) became known as "giga coasters", while those that broke the 400-foot-barrier (120 m) became known as "strata coasters".

History

The world's first hypercoaster was Magnum XL-200 by Cedar Point, costing $8,000,000 USD. Cedar Point chose Arrow Dynamics to design and construct Magnum XL-200. Construction on the world's tallest and fastest complete circuit roller coaster (at that time) began in 1988. By May 6, 1989, Magnum XL-200 was ready for riders. Since its debut, Magnum XL-200 has served more than 36 million guests.[3] Cedar Point's official blog states that after building the ride, "discussion was focused on just what a roller coaster such as Magnum should be called. After all, it had no loops like most of the other large steel coasters of the time and was so much bigger and faster than its non-looping brethren. After a couple of years, the name everyone agreed upon was hypercoaster."[4]

Description

Hypercoasters were originally built for speed and airtime, to counter the trend of constructing bigger and bigger looping coasters. To accomplish this the elements of a hypercoaster often include a large first drop, several additional drops of declining height, a large turn or helix and then many airtime-inducing hills. Hypercoasters are commonly designed with an out and back layout, although some hypercoasters, such as Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America, are built with a twisted design.

Hypercoasters dominate the Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards. For 2006, Superman: Ride of Steel, now known as Superman the Ride (formerly Bizarro), located at Six Flags New England was ranked highest at #1. Several hypercoasters followed such as Magnum XL-200 (#3), Nitro (#4), Apollo's Chariot (#5). The hypercoasters make up the majority of the 2006 Top 10 Steel Coasters, filling 8/10 positions.[5] By 2010, hypercoasters held all of the top 10 spots on Amusement Today's list of "Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" and 16 of the top 20.[6]

Hypercoasters were first manufactured by Arrow Dynamics in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Since then, a number of companies, including Bolliger & Mabillard, Intamin, D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Giovanola and others have designed and constructed hypercoasters.

Though hypercoasters are typically steel roller coasters, Son of Beast at Kings Island was the first and only wooden hypercoaster. Due to a number of issues, the ride was eventually demolished in 2012.[7][8]

Hypercoasters

The Silver Star at Europa-Park
The hypercoaster Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure
Hypercoaster Steel Force at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
An Intamin coaster that meets the requirements for a hypercoaster Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm

The following are a list of all hypercoasters sorted by opening date:

Name Park Manufacturer Status Opened Height
Magnum XL-200 Cedar Point Arrow Dynamics Operating 1989, May 6 205 ft (62 m)
Big One Pleasure Beach, Blackpool Arrow Dynamics Operating 1994, May 28 213 ft (65 m)
Desperado Buffalo Bill's Arrow Dynamics Operating 1994, August 11 209 ft (64 m)
Wild Thing Valleyfair D. H. Morgan Manufacturing Operating 1996, May 11 207 ft (63 m)
Fujiyama Fuji-Q Highland TOGO Operating 1996, July 259 ft (79 m)
The Roller Coaster (Manhattan Express)† New York New York Hotel & Casino TOGO Operating 1997, January 3 203 ft (62 m)
Steel Force Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom D. H. Morgan Manufacturing Operating 1997, May 30 200 ft (61 m)
Mamba Worlds of Fun D. H. Morgan Manufacturing Operating 1998, April 18 205 ft (62 m)
Apollo's Chariot Busch Gardens Williamsburg Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 1999, March 27 170 ft (52 m)
Raging Bull Six Flags Great America Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 1999, May 1 202 ft (62 m)
Ride of Steel Darien Lake Intamin Operating 1999, May 15 208 ft (60 m)
Goliath Six Flags Magic Mountain Giovanola Operating 2000, February 11 235 ft (72 m)
Superman the Ride Six Flags New England Intamin Operating 2000, May 5 208 ft (63 m)
Superman – Ride of Steel Six Flags America Intamin Operating 2000, May 13 208 ft (63m)
Millennium Force* Cedar Point Intamin Operating 2000, May 13 310 ft (94 m)
Son of Beast (Wooden) Kings Island Roller Coaster Corporation of America Defunct 2000, May 26 218 ft (66 m)
Steel Dragon 2000* Nagashima Spa Land D. H. Morgan Manufacturing Operating 2000, August 1 318 ft (97 m)
Nitro Six Flags Great Adventure Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2001, April 7 230 ft (70 m)
Titan Six Flags Over Texas Giovanola Operating 2001, April 27 245 ft (75 m)
Phantom's Revenge Kennywood D. H. Morgan Manufacturing/Arrow Dynamics Operating 2001, May 19 160 ft (49 m)
X2† Six Flags Magic Mountain Arrow Dynamics Operating 2002, Jan 12 175 ft (53 m)
Silver Star Europa-Park Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2002, March 23 239 ft (73 m)
Xcelerator† Knott's Berry Farm Intamin Operating 2002, June 22 205 ft (62 m)
Thunder Dolphin Tokyo Dome City Attractions Intamin Operating 2003, May 1 260 ft (80 m)
Top Thrill Dragster**† Cedar Point Intamin Operating 2003, May 4 420 ft (130 m)
Superman el Último Escape Six Flags México Chance Morgan Operating 2004, November 19 219 ft (67 m)
SheiKra† Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2005, May 21 200 ft (61 m)
Kingda Ka**† Six Flags Great Adventure Intamin Operating 2005, May 21 456 ft (139 m)
Stealth† Thorpe Park Intamin Operating 2006, March 15 205 ft (62 m)
Goliath Six Flags Over Georgia Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2006, April 1 200 ft (61 m)
Zaturn† Space World Intamin Operating 2006, April 29 205 ft (62 m)
Eejanaika† Fuji-Q Highland S&S Worldwide Operating 2006, July 19 249 ft (76 m)
Griffon† Busch Gardens Williamsburg Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2007, May 18 205 ft (62 m)
Behemoth Canada's Wonderland Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2008, May 4 230 ft (70 m)
Diamondback Kings Island Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2009, April 18 230 ft (70 m)
Diving Coaster† Happy Valley Shanghai Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2009, August 16 213 ft (65 m)
Intimidator Carowinds Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2010, March 27 232 ft (71 m)
Intimidator 305* Kings Dominion Intamin Operating 2010, April 2 305 ft (93 m)
Wild Eagle† Dollywood Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2012, March 23 210 ft (64 m)
Leviathan* Canada's Wonderland Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2012, April 27 306 ft (93 m)
Dinoconda† China Dinosaurs Park S&S Worldwide Operating 2012, April 29 226.4 ft (69 m)
Shambhala: Expedición al Himalaya PortAventura Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2012, May 12 249 ft (76 m)
Skyrush Hershey Park Intamin Operating 2012, May 26 212 ft (65 m)
Bullet Coaster† Happy Valley Shenzhen S&S Worldwide Operating 2012, July 28 197 ft (60 m)
OCT Thrust SSC1000† Happy Valley Wuhan S&S Worldwide Operating 2014 197 ft (60 m)
Fury 325* Carowinds Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2015, March 28 325 ft (100 m)
Cannibal† Lagoon Amusement Park Lagoon Amusement Park Operating 2015 208 ft (63 m)
Kärnan† Hansa Park Gerstlauer Operating 2015 239.5 ft (73.0 m)
Flash† Lewa Adventure Mack Rides Operating 2016 200.2 ft
Flying Aces† Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Intamin Operating 2016 206.7 ft
Mako SeaWorld Orlando Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2016 200 ft (61 m)
Valravn† Cedar Point Bolliger & Mabillard Operating 2016 223 ft
Coaster through the Clouds Nanchang Wanda Park Intamin Operating 2016，May 28 242.7 ft

[9]

* Denotes a hypercoaster that is also a giga coaster (any full circuit coaster over 300 ft).

** Denotes a hypercoaster that is also a strata coaster (any full circuit coaster over 400 ft).

† Denotes a coaster that fits the broad but not the narrow definition of a hypercoaster.

By height

The following are non-continuous circuit coasters that exceed 200 feet in height or drop, unlike coasters that conform to the hypercoaster "style." However, these shuttle roller coasters are not usually considered hypercoasters.

Name Park Manufacturer Status Opened
Moonsault Scramble Fuji-Q Highland Meisho Amusement Machines Defunct June 24, 1983
Tower of Terror II Dreamworld Intamin Operating 1997
Superman: Escape from Krypton Six Flags Magic Mountain Intamin Operating March 15, 1997
Unknown (formerly Batman & Robin: The Chiller) Beto Carrero World Premier Rides In Storage[10] 1998-2007
Mr. Freeze Six Flags Over Texas Premier Rides Operating April 1998
Mr. Freeze Six Flags St. Louis Premier Rides Operating April 1998
Speed – The Ride Akita Plaza Premier Rides In Storage[11] April 28, 2000 - 2011
Wicked Twister Cedar Point Intamin Operating May 5, 2002
Big Air E-DA Theme Park Vekoma Operating December, 2010

[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Hypercoasters". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  2. ↑ "Millennium Force: The Hypercoaster Rules No More". Thrillride.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  3. ↑ "CP Mobile". Cedarpoint.com. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
  4. ↑ "More Thoughts on Magnum". Cedarpoint.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  5. ↑ "The List: 2006 Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. September 2006. p. 26. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  6. ↑ "The List: 2010 Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. September 11, 2010. p. 34. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "What's next for Son of Beast? Future of Kings Island roller coaster unclear". Cincinnati.com. 2011-04-23. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Son of Beast roller coaster to be removed to make room for future park expansion". Kings Island. July 27, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "Roller Coaster Database". rcdb.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  10. ↑ http://rcdb.com/424.htm
  11. ↑ http://rcdb.com/593.htm

External links

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