The next roller coaster profile we have is for the Wildfire in Branson, MO. The roller coaster is located on the west side of the park. Wildfire is Silver Dollar City's tallest and fastest ride. It is a massive steel coaster that consists of a 155 foot drop followed by an immelmann loop, a vertical loop, a cobra roll, and a corkscrew before arriving back at the station. The top speed reaches 66 mph. The track length totals 3,073 feet for a ride time of 2:16. There are 2 trains that hold 32 passengers each. The trains have a unique design. The seats are raised higher off the track, allowing rider's legs to dangle, giving them a "floorless" feel even though they have a floor and are not true floorless trains. The seats are also leaned back farther than normal. This makes every twist and turn a surprise by keeping the riders from seeing the track. This also adds to the floorless feel.
Today's coaster "Son of Beast" is located at King's Island in Mason, OH. Son of beast set 7 world records when it opened in 2000. These were;fastest wooden roller coaster, only looping wooden roller coaster (2000-2006), tallest wooden roller coaster, Tallest wooden roller coaster drop (2nd drop record now held by Colossos at Heide-Park Soltau in Germany), longest looping roller coaster (until 2006; the record is now held by California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure in California), most wooden track in one park (all of the wooden roller coasters combined at King's Island), and World's first and only wooden hypercoaster (a coaster over 200 feet high.)
Son of Beast was the first and only wooden roller coaster with a vertical loop from its opining in 2000 until the loop's removal in 2006. The reason for the loop's removal was because of an incident On July 9, 2006 at 4:45 pm. A structural failure created a bump on the track. When the train rolled over the bump 27 people were injured. Most of the injuries were to the chest and neck. None of the injuries were life-threatening. After the state of Ohio inspected the coaster, the following day the park announced that the problem was caused by a crack in the wood. The ride did not open again until the 2007 season so that the park could make repairs and alterations to ensure that the incident would not reoccur. The main alterations that were made were lighter trains and the removal of the loop. The park replaced the bulky trains with sleeker, lighter trains so that the track did not suffer as much wear and tear. The lighter trains weren't heavy enough to complete the vertical loop resulting of the removal.Son of Beast is 218 feet high with a 214 foot drop. The top speed is 78 mph. The length of the track is 7,032 feet with a ride duration of 3:00. Sadly, the Son of Beast is not currently open. It is still standing in the park, but it is not open for the public to ride. On June 16, 2009 a woman claimed to have suffered head and neck injury while riding the Son of Beast. Her visit to the park was on May 31 but the park officials didn't here about the injury until June 16. Her claim was that she suffered from a burst blood vessel in her brain, and as a result was put into intensive care. The Son of Beast was shut down for investigation. The investigation showed no problems, but the ride did not re-open as a precautionary measure. The ride was closed for the remainder of the 2009 season, as well as the 2010 season. The park also announced that the Son of Beast will remain closed for the 2011 season as well.
Today's "Coaster of the Day" is the mammoth "Kingda Ka". Kingda Ka is located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. At 456 feet, Kingda Ka is currently the tallest roller coaster on the planet! That's a whopping 45 stories tall! It is also the third fastest roller coaster on the planet (128 mph)! The length of the track totals at 3,118 feet. The total duration of the ride is 59 seconds. Once you board the Kingda Ka you move out of the station onto the launch pad. Once on the launch pad you get propelled horizontally at 128 mph by a hydraulic launch system. After that you turn a full 90 degrees and creep over the top of the hill 456 feet in the air, and what goes up must come down. You then round the top and plummet down into a 270 degree spiral. Riders, then, experience complete weightlessness as they go down into a valley and up over a 129 foot camel hump.
Special Safety Precautions:
Commonly in breezy or wet weather rollbacks occur on the Kingda Ka. Rollbacks are when the train doesn't reach the needed speed to make it over the 456 foot hill. If this should happen there are magnetic fin breaks located in the launch zone to bring the train to a stop. Many riders actually hope for a rollback because they get the rare experience of going backwards on the Kingda Ka and they are also treated to another launch. It is also possible that the train stalls and comes to a stop on top of the hill, but this is very rare because the train would have to be perfectly balanced atop the hill. If this were to happen there is an elevator at the base of the hill that employees can take to the top of the hill and manually push the train down the decent side.
Example of Rollback:
WARNING: I do try to stray away from videos that have any curse words in them due to the fact that anyone can view these at any age.Video does say the "H" word.
The very first "Coaster of the Day" is one of my favorites. It is The Voyage at Holiday World in Santa Clause, IN. The coaster has been rated #1 wooden roller coaster on the planet for 4 years in a row (Pretty impressive). One reason for that rating is the air-time total of 24.2 seconds! That's right! On The Voyage passengers will experience a whopping total of 24.2 seconds of weightlessness (That's a world record)! Another reason for the rating is the length of the ride. The track length totals to an amazing 1.2 miles long. That amounts to a ride time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds! The first three drops on the voyage are the most dramatic, measuring 154 feet (66-degree angle of descent), 107 feet (51-degree angle), and 100 feet (50.5-degree angle). The top speed is 67.4 mph. There are 5 underground tunnels on The Voyage (another record). Although there are only 5 underground tunnels, some of the tunnels are wide enough for the trains to roar through them twice so, in all, there are a total of 8 underground moments. Another awesome feature of The Voyage includes a total of three 90 degree turns.
I have been obsessed with roller coasters since I rode The Batman at Six Flags Over Mid America in Eureka, MO. I visit Six Flags St. Louis and Holiday World in Santa Clause, IN regularly. I also went to Disney World in Orlando, FL recently. It was probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me. In my spare time I watch any videos coaster related. I love learning about how they work and all of the stats. And as far as the age old question of "Steel or Wood" I'm indifferent. I love all coasters the same. I went through a period when my obsession really flourished and grew. In this time I did practically nothing but watch videos and read stories about all things coaster related. Lately I have been brushing up on all of my information. I used to be able to name at least one coaster in each of the 50 states and what theme park it was in.
Welcome to Coaster Freaks! This is my first blog I've ever made so I'm looking forward to watching it grow. As a "Coaster Freak" I intend to keep everyone up-to-date on all of the latest coaster news and depending on my availability post a "Coaster of the Day" or "Coaster of the Week". Once again welcome and enjoy.
