Floorless Coaster

Floorless Coaster
Status In Production
First manufactured 1999
No. of installations 14
Manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard
Vehicle type Floorless seats located above the track
Vehicles 7 or 8 car floorless coaster trains
Riders per row 4
Restraint Style Over-the-shoulder harness
Produced 1999–present
Floorless Coaster at RCDB

A Floorless Coaster is a type of steel roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard where riders sit with no floor underneath them allowing their feet to swing freely just above the track. Development of the Floorless Coaster began between 1995 and 1996 with Medusa (now known as Bizarro) at Six Flags Great Adventure opening on April 2, 1999, making it the world's first Floorless Coaster. Floorless Coasters also tend to have 3 to 7 inversions incorporated in the layout of the coaster. Recently, Bolliger & Mabillard have used floorless trains on their Dive Coasters, such as Griffon and SheiKra. Though they contain floorless trains, the coasters are still not considered Floorless Coasters as B&M classifies them as another model. Also, Maurer Söhne have designed their own version of the Floorless Coaster, a variant of their X-Car called X-Car Floorless, but currently do not have any installations.[1]

History

Bizarro's cobra roll at Six Flags Great Adventure (when the ride was known as Medusa)

According to Walter Bolliger, development of the Floorless Coaster began between 1995 and 1996.[2] In 1999, the world's first Floorless Coaster opened at Six Flags Great Adventure as Medusa. In 2009, the coaster was renamed Bizarro and re-themed. After the success of Bolliger & Mabillard's prototype Floorless Coaster, SeaWorld, Cedar Fair, Six Flags, and independent parks, Janfusun Fancyworld, Parque Warner Madrid, Tivoli Gardens, and Ocean Park Hong Kong have built other coasters of this model at their parks. There are currently 14 Floorless Coasters in operation with Dominator being the only one relocated to another park.[3]

Design

Hydra the Revenge's first drop at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

The design of a Floorless Coaster has one main difference from traditional steel roller coasters around the world: it has no floors between the seats.[4] While a train is in the station, a floor is used only for loading and unloading purposes. Because the front row has nothing in front of it to stop riders from walking over the edge of the station, a gate is placed in front of the train to prevent this from happening. Once all the over-the-shoulder restraints are locked, the floor separates into several pieces and moves underneath the station. The gate then opens, allowing the train to move forward. When the train returns to the station, the floor is brought back up and the gate is closed as the next riders board the roller coaster.[5] Aside from the station, a Floorless Coaster has several inversions similar to B&M's Sitting Coasters.[3][6]

Installations

One of Kraken's trains going through a corkscrew at Sea World Orlando

Bolliger & Mabillard has built thirteen Floorless Coasters with three additional roller coasters converted from stand-up roller coasters. The roller coasters are listed in order of opening dates.

NameParkCountryInversionsOpenedStatus
Bizarro
Formerly Medusa		Six Flags Great Adventure United States7April 2, 1999Operating[7]
Superman: Krypton CoasterSix Flags Fiesta Texas United States6March 11, 2000Operating[8]
MedusaSix Flags Discovery Kingdom United States7March 18, 2000Operating[9]
KrakenSea World Orlando United States7June 1, 2000Operating[10]
Insane SpeedJanfusun Fancyworld Taiwan42001Operating[11]
Superman: La Atracción de AceroParque Warner Madrid Spain7April 6, 2002Operating[12]
Batman: The Dark KnightSix Flags New England United States5April 20, 2002Operating[13]
ScreamSix Flags Magic Mountain United States7April 12, 2003Operating[14]
DæmonenTivoli Gardens Denmark3April 16, 2004Operating[15]
Hydra the RevengeDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom United States7May 7, 2005Operating[16]
Dominator
Formerly Batman: Knight Flight		Kings Dominion
Geauga Lake		 United States5May 24, 2008
May 5, 2000 		Operating
Closed September 16, 2007 		[17]
Hair RaiserOcean Park Hong Kong Hong Kong4December 8, 2011Operating[18]
NitroAdlabs Imagica India52013Operating[19]
Rougarou[lower-alpha 1]Cedar Point United States4May 9, 2015Operating[20]
Patriot[lower-alpha 1]California's Great America United States2March 25, 2017Operating[21]
Firebird[lower-alpha 1]Six Flags America United States22019Under Construction[22]

Note: Although some Dive Coasters (such as SheiKra and Griffon) feature floorless trains, they are not considered Floorless Coasters.[23][24]

Similar rides

Maurer Söhne, a German roller coaster and steel manufacturer, has developed their own version of the Floorless Coaster called the X-Car Floorless. The car is the same as the original X-Car with the only difference being that there is no floor during the ride.[1][25] As of 2012, no X-Car Floorless roller coasters have been manufactured.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Converted from a stand-up roller coaster to a floorless coaster

References

  1. 1 2 3 "X-Car Floorless". Maurer Söhne. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  2. ↑ "IAAPA 2011 Trade Show Part 4 Theme Park Review Fishpipe Water Ride B&M Zamperla". Theme Park Review. YouTube. November 16, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Marden, Duane. "Roller Coaster Search Results  (Floorless Coaster)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ Niles, Robert (November 14, 2002). "Scream leaves you dangling". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Dominator at Kings Dominion". woodencoasterfan (YouTube). September 4, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Roller Coaster Search Results  (Sitting Coaster)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  7. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Bizarro  (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  8. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Superman: Krypton Coaster  (Six Flags Fiesta Texas)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  9. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Medusa  (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Kraken  (Sea World Orlando)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Insane Speed  (Janfusun Fancyworld)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  12. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Superman: La Atracción de Acero  (Parque Warner Madrid)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  13. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Batman – The Dark Knight  (Six Flags New England)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  14. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Scream!  (Six Flags Magic Mountain)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Dæmonen  (Tivoli Gardens)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Hydra the Revenge  (Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  17. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Dominator  (Kings Dominion)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  18. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Hair Raiser  (Ocean Park Hong Kong)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  19. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Nitro  (Adlabs Imagica)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
  20. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Rougarou  (Cedar Point)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  21. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Patriot  (California's Great America)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  22. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Firebird  (Six Flags America)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  23. ↑ Marden, Duane. "SheiKra  (Busch Gardens Tampa Bay)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  24. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Griffon  (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  25. ↑ "X-Car". Maurer Söhne. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.