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The original was posted on /r/hobbydrama by /u/doihavemakeanewword on 2024-11-30 09:32:47+00:00.
There's a bit of drama that is just wrapping up in the world of Roller Coasters, but this will feel like a hobby history post while I set the stage.
1880 to 1960: The First Roller Coasters
In the early history of amusement parks, while roller coasters were a popular and common inclusion, they were rarely ever the star attractions that drew crowds. Coney Island style parks billed themselves around more carnival-like attractions, like light shows, live animals, and circus performers. Also common were Trolley Parks, usually owned by local trolley companies to create business on the weekends, that commonly featured gardens, dance halls, and live music in addition to their assortment of rides. The few coasters that did gain attention usually did so with a reputation for shody construction, uncomfortable rides, and unsafe operation rather than any positive metric. (A prime example of this is the Flip Flap Railway from 1888, whose first-ever vertical loop caused more whiplash than cheers. At a whopping 12gs, that's four times more forceful than a space shuttle launch.) This was the state of amusement parks up until the opening of DisneyLand in 1953, which focused heavily on putting the "theme" in the newly coined "theme park". However, one of the construction companies involved in the construction of DisneyLand would go on to have a different, but equally monumental impact on American amusement.
1960 to 2005: Arrow Dynamics and the Coaster Wars
While designing the Matterhorn at Disney Land, rides manufacturer Arrow Dynamics had an idea. If you heat a steel tube you can bend it evenly around a turn with mathematical precision. This precision, combined with new insights into [how not to break someone's neck going through a vertical loop[(), radically increased the safety, smoothness, and reliability of roller coasters. To this day, while wooden roller coasters remain popular for their rumble and jank, steel coasters remain much more versatile in height, speed, and complexity. The current record for number of inversions (the part where you go upside down) on a steel coaster is The Smiler at Alton Towers at 14. As of 2024 the most number of inversions on a wooden coaster is 3, found on Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City. Both The Smiler and Outlaw Run were huge deals when they first opened. The Smiler even got its own themed hotel room. Throughout the last few decades, even non-record-breaking coasters are considered the major draw to a number of amusement parks around the country. So what changed?
In 1989, Arrow Dynamics designed and built Magnum XL200 at Cedar Point. At 205ft tall, and 72 miles per hour, it was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time. Marketers coined the term "Hypercoaster" for coasters over 200ft tall, and for the next 5 years Magnum XL200 was the only Hypercoaster in the world. Cedar Point set record attendance numbers in 1989. Park execs and guests the world over had one question: Holy SHIT how can I get one of those?
Arrow Dynamics was more than happy to oblige. Steel Phantom at Kennywood got up to 80mph with the help of dramatic landscape and The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach creeped up the height record to 213ft. Soon, though, other roller coaster companies (with better math) also started to push what coasters could do. In 1997 Swiss manufacturer Intamin would hold the height record on a technicality with the 416ft tall Superman: the Escape, which would use electromagnets to launch a coaster car up a vertical tower at 100mph....and then let it fall back down again. Many coaster records list "complete circuits" separately, as Superman:The Escape famously doesn't actually reach the full height. (The title of the linked post is what we call "subtle foreshadowing"). Major franchise rivalries also added fuel to the fire, in the US between Cedar Fair (headlined by Cedar Point) and Six Flags, and between Fuji-Q Highlands and Nagashima Spa Land in Japan. Each of these park companies would hold the height record at one point or another between 1995 and 2000, which when you consider that building a coaster can be as complicated and time consuming as making a movie, really shows you the speed at which the competition was going. Another important benchmark along the way was Millenium Force, built at Ceader Point in 2000 by Intamin. Coming in at 310ft tall for a full circut, Millenium Force was given extra attention with the invention of the phrase "Gigacoaster" for coasters over 300ft tall. Tall enough that normal chain lifts wouldn't be able to support their own weight and maintenance takes an elevator to the top of the lift hill. This record would last all of 3 years before it was beaten by another coaster in the same park, Top Thrill Dragster. With an Intamin-designed hydraulic launch, Dragster captured the overall height record at 420ft while also allowing guests down the other side of the tower. Marketing once again tripped over themselves to invent new words, this time calling it a "Stratocoaster". Now roller coasters are expensive [citation needed], and while the bump in attention was still strong, that bump would only last until someone else took the crown. And with Dragster only holding the crown for 2 years, and the designs getting more and more ridiculous to make records possible, most companies were running out of steam by 2005. However, Six Flags bet their future on one last giant green middle finger.
2005 to 2020: The Reign of Kingda Ka
456ft, 128mph
Opened at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005
Basically the same layout as Top Thrill Dragster
Six Flags files for bankruptcy in 2009
Needless to say the game did not pay off financially, but hey, the thing was built. The coaster wars are over and Kingda Ka won. Cedar Fair never tries to top it, and instead pivots for smaller, cheaper, more forceful experiences. Maverick opened in 2007 to much critical acclaim (and my personal preference), and much of the excitement around roller coasters since then focused around Rocky Mountain Construction's Hybrid Re-designs. The height and speed records were neglected, but never forgotten. Kingda Ka remained a pilgrimage in the community, a bucket list item to some, an initiation of sorts to others. People would tag their posts with "The King" and we would all know what they were talking about. The years pass, and the giants age. A few latecomers to the party include Red Force at Ferrari Land in Spain, but at 315ft it's viewed more of a younger sibling then a claimant to the throne. Time was rolling on as normal in the traditional "1st world" areas of the world.
Now, quick side tangent, but if you know anything about land development in the UAE you may be aware that in the Middle East are some very rich people that like to prop up their very big egos with very big, very expensive feats of engineering that in all fairness look very cool if you don't look into the labor conditions.
HOLY SHIT
The roller coaster community is floored. Flabbergasted. Perhaps a little in denial. Falcon's Flight isn't real, Falcon's Flight can't hurt you.
Falcon's Flight will probably be down for maintenance a lot....wait what? And what's that about "Intamin Hydraulic Moment"?
The Kings Are Dead
Around the same time as the announcement of ...
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