Floorless roller coaster
Encyclopedia
A floorless roller coaster is a roller coaster
with trains that ride above the track and allow the passenger's legs to dangle. It is a fairly new concept in roller coaster design brought forth by manufacturers Bolliger & Mabillard
. The first ever floorless coaster debuted in 1999 at Six Flags Great Adventure
in Jackson, New Jersey, USA. The coaster, Medusa now named Bizarro starting the 2009 season, opened to great reviews and continues to earn its place on the Amusement Today Top 50 Steel Coasters list. Recently, B&M have incorporated floorless trains on their Diving Machine roller coasters, such as Griffon
and SheiKra
. Though they contain floorless trains, the coasters are still not considered floorless coasters. Maurer Söhne had designed their own version of the floorless coaster, a variant of their X-Car, but currently do not have any installations.
, who invented the concept, are in the business of designing and manufacturing floorless coasters. Their designs employ a multi-inversion layout (usually four to seven) and high capacity (often two to three trains). These roller coasters are becoming more common with each passing year, ranging in heights of eighty feet or so, up to 168 feet. These coasters are known for their smooth rides, excellent reliability, and usually high cost.
The inversions usually include vertical loops, dive loops, zero gravity rolls, cobra rolls, serpents, heartline rolls, and corkscrews (usually interlocking corkscrews.)
The stations
of floorless coasters brought about some new features. Riders would need to walk across the train without their feet getting into the track gutter, so the stations have bi-parting floor sections between the rows that descend and retract to the sides of the station when the train is ready to depart, and it does the opposite when another train rolls in. Another feature incorporated from inverted roller coasters is a gate at the front of the station that swings open when the train leaves, to prevent would-be riders from falling off the edge, as the train has no nose.
Note: Although SheiKra
and Griffon
are dive coasters featuring floorless trains, they are not considered floorless roller coasters http://rcdb.com/qs.htm?quicksearch=Griffon
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
with trains that ride above the track and allow the passenger's legs to dangle. It is a fairly new concept in roller coaster design brought forth by manufacturers Bolliger & Mabillard
Bolliger & Mabillard
Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, with Bolliger acting as president and Mabillard as vice-president...
. The first ever floorless coaster debuted in 1999 at Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...
in Jackson, New Jersey, USA. The coaster, Medusa now named Bizarro starting the 2009 season, opened to great reviews and continues to earn its place on the Amusement Today Top 50 Steel Coasters list. Recently, B&M have incorporated floorless trains on their Diving Machine roller coasters, such as Griffon
Griffon (roller coaster)
Griffon is a Bolliger & Mabillard diving machine roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. On opening, it was the tallest of its kind in the world at . Griffon originally had two other potential names — "IronEagle" and "Voltare" — before Busch Gardens decided on the name "Griffon". Griffon has...
and SheiKra
SheiKra
SheiKra is a Bolliger and Mabillard diving machine roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It is situated in the Stanleyville section of the park. SheiKra was the first dive machine roller coaster in North America. It is tied with Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia as the second tallest roller...
. Though they contain floorless trains, the coasters are still not considered floorless coasters. Maurer Söhne had designed their own version of the floorless coaster, a variant of their X-Car, but currently do not have any installations.
Design
As of 2007, only Bolliger & MabillardBolliger & Mabillard
Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, with Bolliger acting as president and Mabillard as vice-president...
, who invented the concept, are in the business of designing and manufacturing floorless coasters. Their designs employ a multi-inversion layout (usually four to seven) and high capacity (often two to three trains). These roller coasters are becoming more common with each passing year, ranging in heights of eighty feet or so, up to 168 feet. These coasters are known for their smooth rides, excellent reliability, and usually high cost.
The inversions usually include vertical loops, dive loops, zero gravity rolls, cobra rolls, serpents, heartline rolls, and corkscrews (usually interlocking corkscrews.)
The stations
Station (roller coaster)
A roller coaster's station is where the passengers board and alight from the trains. The station houses the coaster's control panel, and has devices for moving the trains in and out of the station and holding them in position, as well as devices for locking and unlocking the restraints and devices...
of floorless coasters brought about some new features. Riders would need to walk across the train without their feet getting into the track gutter, so the stations have bi-parting floor sections between the rows that descend and retract to the sides of the station when the train is ready to depart, and it does the opposite when another train rolls in. Another feature incorporated from inverted roller coasters is a gate at the front of the station that swings open when the train leaves, to prevent would-be riders from falling off the edge, as the train has no nose.
Installations
| Name | Height | Speed | Inversions | Location | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bizarro Formerly Medusa |
142 feet (43.3 m) | 61 miles per hour (98.2 km/h) | 7 | Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
1999 |
| Superman: Krypton Coaster Superman: Krypton Coaster Superman: Krypton Coaster is a roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, TX. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, it is one of four floorless coasters to open in the year 2000... |
168 feet (51.2 m) | 70 miles per hour (112.7 km/h) | 6 | Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas is a seasonally operated theme park located on approximately of land in San Antonio, Texas.Six Flags Fiesta Texas is the major entertainment component of USAA's La Cantera, a 1,600 acre master-planned development in northwest San Antonio... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2000 |
| Medusa | 150 feet (45.7 m) | 65 miles per hour (104.6 km/h) | 7 | Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, formerly Six Flags Marine World, Marine World, The New Marine World Theme Park, and Marine World Africa USA, is an animal theme park located in Vallejo, California. The park includes a variety of roller coasters and other amusement rides, along with a collection of... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2000 |
| Kraken Kraken (roller coaster) Kraken is a steel floorless roller coaster located at SeaWorld Orlando in the United States... |
149 feet (45.4 m) | 65 miles per hour (104.6 km/h) | 7 | Sea World Orlando, United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2000 |
| Insane Speed Insane Speed Insane Speed is a steel roller coaster at Janfusun Fancyworld in Taiwan. Sometimes known as Crazy Coaster on the park's website, or Floorless Coaster, as the sign in front of the ride's queue announces, the ride in Chinese is known as 衝瘋飛車... |
131 feet (39.9 m) | 53.4 miles per hour (85.9 km/h) | 4 | Janfusun Fancyworld Janfusun Fancyworld Janfusun Fancyworld is an amusement park located on the island of Taiwan, Republic of China near the city of Douliu. It features a movie theater and costume shops. There is a water park section of Janfusun where you can enjoy a Hawaiian-like stage and many water rides... , Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... |
2001 |
| Superman / la Atracción de Acero | 164 feet (50 m) | 62.1 miles per hour (99.9 km/h) | 7 | Parque Warner Madrid Parque Warner Madrid Parque Warner Madrid is a theme park located 25 km southeast of Madrid, Spain, in the municipality of San Martín de la Vega... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
2002 |
| Batman – The Dark Knight | 117 feet (35.7 m) | 55 miles per hour (88.5 km/h) | 5 | Six Flags New England Six Flags New England Six Flags New England , formerly Riverside Amusement Park, is a Six Flags theme park, named for the New England region, in which it is located. Located off of Massachusetts State Route 159, Six Flags New England is located less than from the major City of Springfield, Massachusetts, in the nearby... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2002 |
| Scream! Scream! (roller coaster) Scream! is a steel floorless roller coaster made by Bolliger & Mabillard of Switzerland. The coaster is located in the Colossus County Fair area of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, and was the park's 16th roller coaster.... |
150 feet (45.7 m) | 63 miles per hour (101.4 km/h) | 7 | Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2003 |
| Dæmonen | 92 feet (28 m) | 48 miles per hour (77.2 km/h) | 3 | Tivoli Gardens, Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
2004 |
| Hydra: The Revenge Hydra the Revenge Hydra the Revenge is a steel floorless roller coaster at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania . It was built where the wooden roller coaster Hercules stood, which was closed for demolition at the end of the park's 2003 season... |
95 feet (29 m) | 53 miles per hour (85.3 km/h) | 7 | Dorney Park Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The park features nine roller coasters, other adult and children's rides, and a waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom.... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2005 |
| Dominator Dominator (roller coaster) Dominator is a steel floorless roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard currently operating at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. The ride originally operated at Geauga Lake before Cedar Fair announced the park would no longer operate as an amusement park.Dominator is a notable floorless... Formerly Batman: Knight Flight Dominator (roller coaster) Dominator is a steel floorless roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard currently operating at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. The ride originally operated at Geauga Lake before Cedar Fair announced the park would no longer operate as an amusement park.Dominator is a notable floorless... |
157 feet (47.9 m) | 65 miles per hour (104.6 km/h) | 5 | Kings Dominion, United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... Geauga Lake, United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
2008 2000 to 2007 |
Note: Although SheiKra
SheiKra
SheiKra is a Bolliger and Mabillard diving machine roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It is situated in the Stanleyville section of the park. SheiKra was the first dive machine roller coaster in North America. It is tied with Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia as the second tallest roller...
and Griffon
Griffon (roller coaster)
Griffon is a Bolliger & Mabillard diving machine roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. On opening, it was the tallest of its kind in the world at . Griffon originally had two other potential names — "IronEagle" and "Voltare" — before Busch Gardens decided on the name "Griffon". Griffon has...
are dive coasters featuring floorless trains, they are not considered floorless roller coasters http://rcdb.com/qs.htm?quicksearch=Griffon