Terrain coasters
Where are they? I know boulder dash is terrain, but the art of the terrain coaster seems largely losy with the demise (somewhat) of the suspended.
The Beast is somewhat of a terrain coaster. It drops into some ravines and cuts into the hillside, and very rearely exceeds the height of the trees in the forest that it resides in.
BBW at BGW is a great example as the only thing visible is the final drop down to the "river", as is pretty much everything else at the park. Only Two lift hills are visible from outside that park, and those are, fittingly, Alpengheist and Apollo's Chariot right along the acess roads. Kennywood also has some great terrain coasters, as does Holiday World.
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Six Flags America IS a Six Flags park!
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Six Flags America IS a Six Flags park!
All of BGW's coasters other than Wilde Mause are terrain coasters, and all very effective. Look at Apollo's Chariot, it has more drop feet than any other coaster (so they say). I think it's true... it seems that every drop is huge, start to finish.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Jeff --
There are like four coasters I'm sure have more droppage than Apollo's Chariot.
*Fujiyama(not sure on height of the drops, but the damn thing has so many hills...)
*Raging Bull(208+~159+~144+~128+~100+~80+~60+~50+~20)
*Millennium Force(300+~169+~182+~100+~80+~20+~87)
*Steel Dragon 2000 (306+~250+~210+8 bunny hills)
That said, AC uses its terrain very effectively. The third drop view is one of the best on any coaster I've ever done.
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"Legend 1 looks too intense for me."
There are like four coasters I'm sure have more droppage than Apollo's Chariot.
*Fujiyama(not sure on height of the drops, but the damn thing has so many hills...)
*Raging Bull(208+~159+~144+~128+~100+~80+~60+~50+~20)
*Millennium Force(300+~169+~182+~100+~80+~20+~87)
*Steel Dragon 2000 (306+~250+~210+8 bunny hills)
That said, AC uses its terrain very effectively. The third drop view is one of the best on any coaster I've ever done.
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"Legend 1 looks too intense for me."
Terrain coasters were a specialty of John Miller's. The Jackrabbit and Pippen at Kennywood were his as was the legendary one at the now defunct Puritas Springs Park in Cleveland. Double dips and mega air time!
I should have said before this year! ;) I've got the shot glass that says the total number (at home). I do remember that it is more drop feet than Bull, and it's likely more than The Force, since even Bull has more. However, as of now, Steel Dragon must be the winner with that many hills.
That said, Apollo has a ton of long drops. Alpengeist has some nice "short support" areas, but Big Bad Wolf certainly takes the prize there.
The best fit to the terrain that I've been on is easily PKI's Top Gun. Wow, does that get close to everything! Now it even gets close to SOB, since its footers are set right under the path of Top Gun. Almost the entire ride is set between two hills.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
That said, Apollo has a ton of long drops. Alpengeist has some nice "short support" areas, but Big Bad Wolf certainly takes the prize there.
The best fit to the terrain that I've been on is easily PKI's Top Gun. Wow, does that get close to everything! Now it even gets close to SOB, since its footers are set right under the path of Top Gun. Almost the entire ride is set between two hills.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Hercules at Dorney used the Terrain to get the 157' drop. I think Idlewild's Rollo Coaster could be considered a terrain as well since thats built on a hillside as well. I'm sure there's alot others.
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Parks Hit For 2000! PKD, BGW,DP,HP,PKI,HW,SFKK,SFA,GAdv,SFNE,LC,GE,QP,CDP,LP,KG,SFO,WG,GE,KW,IW,WL,
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Parks Hit For 2000! PKD, BGW,DP,HP,PKI,HW,SFKK,SFA,GAdv,SFNE,LC,GE,QP,CDP,LP,KG,SFO,WG,GE,KW,IW,WL,
Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce is definitely a terrain coaster. If you look at the supports, they never get very high off the ground, it follows the contours of the mountainside very well. That's why it's called the Mountain Coaster lol.
-Natalie
CP Ride Operations '99-'00
Dashing through the Boulders...
-Natalie
CP Ride Operations '99-'00
Dashing through the Boulders...
Jeff --
Apollo's Chariot drops a total of 825 feet. If you add up all of Bull's drops, you get well over 825'. AC never held the record, BGW just "assumed" it did, I guess. Just like Raging Bull was never the worlds first hyper-twister (but at least that's a more subjective title). Also, Fujiyama most certainly has more droppage and that was built well before AC.
Oh, and, uh, The Beast is a terrain coaster. :)
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"Legend 1 looks too intense for me."
Apollo's Chariot drops a total of 825 feet. If you add up all of Bull's drops, you get well over 825'. AC never held the record, BGW just "assumed" it did, I guess. Just like Raging Bull was never the worlds first hyper-twister (but at least that's a more subjective title). Also, Fujiyama most certainly has more droppage and that was built well before AC.
Oh, and, uh, The Beast is a terrain coaster. :)
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"Legend 1 looks too intense for me."
Legendary: I dont at all dis-believe you but I would like to know what was the first hyper coaster with a twister-style layout. Was it Fujiyama? I thought that was 'terrain'. It cant be desparado, that's more freeform than twister. All the others I can think of (e.g. the Morgans) are all out and back.
I think the best example of a terrain coaster is the Thunderbolt. All but one of the drops dive right into the ravine, making you think you're about to plunge into the Mon. If you're looking for examples of terrain coasters, go no further than Kennywood!
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Fear the Wrath of the Phantom!
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Fear the Wrath of the Phantom!
Yes, I believe Fujiyama was the first hyper-twister. Like I said though, it's all subjective, and that's why I think SFGAm can get away with calling Bull a hyper-twister. If you've ever seen a layout of Fujiyama, you'd notice an abundance of turning, twisting hills. I believe this counts as a hyper-twister. I'm pretty sure it's basically on flat land, so it's not a terrain coaster.
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"Legend 1 looks too intense for me."
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"Legend 1 looks too intense for me."
The Jackrabbit at Seabreeze Park (Rochester NY) uses the surronding terrian to add to its first drop although most of this coaster resembles an out and back. By the way this an old coaster that is in great shape and is alot of fun, especially in the dark. I would reccomend stopping in if you are in the Rochester area.
Nemesis has to be the king of terrain coasters. If it's impossible (and illegal) for you build a coaster UNLESS you have the ride as close to the ground as possible, then it's pretty much a sure-fire terrain coaster.
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