Type of roller coaster
Winja's Fear & Force
at
Phantasialand
,
Germany
A
spinning roller coaster
is a
roller coaster
with cars that rotate on a vertical axis.
Models
[
edit
]
The first spinning roller coaster was the Tickler, built in 1908 by Henry Riehl at
Luna Park
.
[1]
Instead of trains, the ride had tubs with seats built around the perimeter facing inward. These tubs spun freely on their chassis as they travelled down the track, sitting in a trough configuration similar to that of a
side friction roller coaster
. Known as a Virginia Reel, these spinning coasters did not have big hills or drops, but instead, were designed to feature many sharp turns. Toward the end of the track layout were two helices, followed by a drop into a dark tunnel. The last full size Virginia Reel operated at
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
and closed in 1982.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Spinning wild mouse coasters
[
edit
]
Primeval Whirl
, a Reverchon spinning roller coaster
In 1997, the first
spinning wild mouse
roller coaster opened at the defunct
Dinosaur Beach
pier at
Wildwood, New Jersey
. Similar to the design of other
wild mouse
coasters, the ride features a track layout and cars similar to a Virginia Reel, except the ride is made of steel rather than wood, and the seats face in one direction instead of toward each other. The layout of the ride boasts many hairpin turns and small hops. The design, noted for its portability and small footprint, became popular at smaller amusement parks and fairs. One well-known installation of the ride was
Primeval Whirl
at
Disney's Animal Kingdom
, which closed in 2020.
The spinning wild mouse was first manufactured by
Reverchon Industries
of France. In 2003, the company merged with Italy's
Zamperla
. Both companies eventually split apart again by 2006, when each began releasing their own spinning wild mouse coasters. Italy's
Fabbri Group
introduced a spinning model in 2006, and
Maurer Sohne
has been developing and constructing spinning coaster models since the early 2000s. In China, the amusement ride company Golden Horse has also released its own version.
Dragon's Fury
, a Maurer Sohne spinning roller coaster at
Chessington World of Adventures
Other spinning roller coasters
[
edit
]
Zierer built the first modern spinning roller coaster in 1994 with the Drehgondelbahn in Freizeit-Land Geiselwind. Maurer Sohne introduced its Xtended SC spinning coasters in the late 1990s. The seat configuration is the same as Maurer Sohne's Compact Spinning Coaster, but unlike that model, the Xtended SC has large,
twisted layouts
with many vertical hairpin turns intended to spin the cars around and give each rider a different experience every ride. Examples include
Spider
at Utah's
Lagoon
,
Winjas
at Germany's
Phantasialand
,
Spinball Whizzer
at the
UK
's
Alton Towers
and
Dragon's Fury
at the
UK
's
Chessington World of Adventures
.
Pandemonium
, a Gerstlauer spinning roller coaster
A similar ride debuted in 2004 when the first two
Gerstlauer
spinning coasters opened:
Fairly Odd Coaster
(formerly
Timberland Twister
) at
Nickelodeon Universe
inside the
Mall of America
, and
Spinning Dragons
at
Worlds of Fun
. These coasters have twisted track layouts similar to Maurer Sohne's Xtended SC, but the seats on Gerstlauer Spinning Coasters face towards each other, as with the Virginia Reel.
In 1995
Intamin
debuted a spinning coaster with trains instead of individual cars:
Comet Express
at
Lotte World
in
Seoul
,
South Korea
. The trains have eight cars, with each car's two seats side by side. Like the Maurer Sohne and Gerstlauer spinning coasters, this "twist and turn coaster" features a twisted track layout. Three of these models have been built around the world.
Another spinning coaster with trains,
Euro-Mir
, was built by
MACK Rides
of
Germany
in 1997 at
Europa-Park
. The trains consist of four cars with four seats divided into two rows facing away from each other. The coaster has a twisted track layout that is built around five cylindrical towers. MACK opened a second coaster of this type,
Sierra Sidewinder
, at
Knott's Berry Farm
in 2007.
In 2018,
Silver Dollar City
opened
Time Traveler
,
the world's first "Xtreme Spinning Coaster." Also created by MACK, this ride consists of a more thrilling layout than other spinning coasters of the time, with a vertical drop directly out of the station, many bunny hills and turns, 2 LSM launches and 2 inversions. The second ride of this type was opened 3 years later in 2021. Named
The Ride to Happiness
,
it is located at
Plopsaland De Panne
in
Adinkerke, Belgium
.
Omnicoaster
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Construction material
| |
---|
Train configuration
| |
---|
Track layout
| |
---|
|
---|
|
Current roller coaster models
| |
---|
Discontinued roller coaster models
| |
---|
Other current rides
| |
---|
Other discontinued rides
| |
---|
Notable rides
| |
---|