Vortex - record breaking

I recently found out (don't know how I missed this before) that when Vortex at PKI was built, it was the tallest roller coaster in the world at 144 ft. I wondered which coaster's record it broke, and after a little surfing on the net, I think I found that it was The Beast at 135 ft. This means that, in 1987, PKI had the two tallest coasters on the planet. I thought this was hard to believe, anyone think I'm wrong here?

Before people start jumping on me, I'm not talking about speed or height of drop. Vortex didn't even beat Beast in either of these categories anyways.

Actually, Vortex is 148'. And it's quite possible you're right. I can't think of any other coaster that was taller than 148' pre-1988.

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A CoasterForum Member
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*** This post was edited by MichigansAdventureFan on 6/9/2002. ***

It held the record for the most inversions, with 6. The boomerangs were not consdidered '6' by Guniness at the time.

Yes, Boomerang coasters only have 3 inversions, each which is repeated twice.

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Sorry about that, kraxleridah, you're right, it is 148 ft.

However I am curious if any coaster besides Beast and Vortex were over 135 ft. in 1987.

Arrow's Dragon Mountain at Marineland climbs 186' and opened in 1983. Though that is tecnically taller than either, it must not have been counted since it is built on and through a mountain. Searching by height on www.rcdb.com brought up a nice list, which shows a few that were over that mark in '87. Then again, it states Beast at only 105' high.
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Beast is not really 135 tall is it? It's drop is but it goes pretty far in to the ground. But that doesnt sound right because Gemini was 125 feet tall when it was built in 78 and I know for a fact Beast took that title in 79.

Moonsault Scramble was built in 83 at 207 feet tall but it was not full circuit.

However Beast is not 135 feet tall anyway is it? Unless the second drop is. The drop may be but the drop isn't. Perhaps this has somehting to do with it.

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Here's what I thought:

The Beast's SECOND drop, at 141 feet, beat the old record set by Gemini the year before. That record stood until Vortex, which set the record for tallest coaster and, I thought, biggest drop.

I believe it was that same year, or the next year, that Shockwave at SFGAm took all records for height, speed, loops, etc.

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I don't think Vortex had the tallest drop because it stays a good 15 - 20 feet off the ground.

Bandit had the largest drop in 1988, I know that one for a fact.

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

more like 30 feet, beast

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