Vortex (California's Great America)
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Vortex (California's Great America)
Patriot is a floorless roller coaster located in Hometown Square at the California's Great America amusement park in Santa Clara, California, United States. The roller coaster originally opened as Vortex on March 9, 1991. It was a stand-up roller coaster designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. Vortex last operated as a stand-up coaster on September 5, 2016, and it reopened as Patriot on April 1, 2017. The ride was converted to a sit-down configuration featuring new floorless trains and a new color scheme. History Vortex (1991–2016) Vortex was a stand-up roller coaster that officially opened at California's Great America on March 9, 1991. It was the second coaster from the manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard following Iron Wolf, which was installed a year earlier at sister park Six Flags Great America. It shares a similar design with Vortex at sister park Carowinds but features a different layout. It featured purple track with yellow rails and ...
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Werner Stengel
Werner Stengel (born 22 August 1936, in Bochum) is a German roller coaster designer and engineer. Stengel is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH (or Ingenieurbuero Stengel GmbH). Stengel first worked on amusement park rides in collaboration with Anton Schwarzkopf in 1963. He established his own company, Stengel Engineering, in 1965. His collaboration with Schwarzkopf was responsible for many innovations in roller coaster design, including in 1976 the first modern "vertical" looping coaster, ''Revolution'', at Six Flags Magic Mountain. (Arrow Dynamics had debuted the first modern inversion, the corkscrew, a year earlier at Knott's Berry Farm). His Track transition curve, clothoid loop is now standard on many roller coasters, as it produces less intense forces on the human body than a circular vertical loop. In 1976 Stengel and Schwarzkopf established the first horizontal launch "Shuttle Loop". He was a pioneer in heartlining, the principle ...
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Carowinds
Carowinds is a amusement park primarily located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The park is owned and operated by Six Flags. Carowinds straddles the state line between North and South Carolina, adjacent to Interstate 77, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The park has a sign telling guests where the state line lies. The park was constructed at a cost of $70 million following a four-year planning period led by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall. Carowinds first opened to the public on March 31, 1973. The park features Carolina Harbor, a water park that is included with park admission. Annual events include the Halloween-themed SCarowinds and the Christmas-themed WinterFest. History Early history, Carowinds Corporation (1969–1974) Carowinds was announced on October 10, 1969, and originally planned on being a large resort which would include a Amusement park, theme park, hotels, a shopping center, a golf course, and an National Football Leagu ...
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Roller Coasters In California
Roller may refer to: Birds *Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae * Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon Devices * Roller, an element of a rolling-element bearing * Roller, used in rolling (metalworking) * Roller, in a roller mill, to crush or grind various materials * Roller, or training surcingle, around a horse's girth * Roller (agricultural tool), a non-powered tool for flattening ground * Roller (BEAM), a robot * Rolling pin, a compacting device used for preparing dough for cooking * Bicycle rollers, a type of bicycle trainer * Foam roller, therapeutic exercise device * Hair roller, used to curl hair * Paint roller, a paint application tool * Road roller, a vehicle for compacting ** Steamroller, a form of road roller Arts and entertainment * Bay City Rollers, or the Rollers, a Scottish pop rock band * " The Roller", a 2011 song by Beady Eye * "Roller" (Apache 207 song), 2019 * "Roller" (April Wine song), 1978 * ''Roller'' (Goblin album) ...
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Corkscrew (roller Coaster Element)
Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical operation and safety of the ride. Some are very common and appear on every roller coaster in some form, while others are unique to certain makes and models. Amusement parks often compete to build the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coasters to attract thrill seekers and boost park attendance. As coaster design evolved with the aid of computer-simulated models, newer innovations produced more intense thrills while improving overall quality and durability. Common elements Banked turn A banked turn is when the track twists from the horizontal plane into the vertical plane, tipping the train to the side in the direction of the turn. Banking is used to minimize the lateral G-forces on the riders to make the turn more comfortable. When a banked turn continu ...
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Loop (roller Coaster)
The generic roller coaster vertical loop, also known as a Loop-the-loop, or a Loop-de-loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, riders are completely inverted. History The vertical loop is not a recent roller coaster innovation. Its origins can be traced back to the 1850s when '' centrifugal railways'' were built in France and Great Britain. The rides relied on centripetal forces to hold the car in the loop. One early looping coaster was shut down after an accident. Later attempts to build a looping roller coaster were carried out during the late 19th century with the '' Flip Flap Railway'' at Sea Lion Park, designed by Roller coaster engineer Lina Beecher. The ride was designed with a completely circular loop (rather than the teardrop shape used by many modern looping roller coasters), and caused neck injuries due to the intense G-forces pulled with the tight radi ...
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Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Platte County, Missouri, Platte counties, with a small portion lying within Cass County, Missouri, Cass County. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090, making it the sixth-most populous city in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and List of United States cities by population, 38th-most populous city in the United States. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Terr ...
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Worlds Of Fun
Worlds of Fun is a theme park located in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, it was founded by American businessmen Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman under the ownership of Hunt's company, Mid-America Enterprises in 1973. Oceans of Fun is a water park that opened in 1982 and is next to the amusement park. Admission to Oceans of Fun is included with the price of admission to Worlds of Fun. MId-America Enterprises sold both parks to Cedar Fair (now Six Flags) in 1995 for $40 million. History Texas and Arkansas native Lamar Hunt brought the Dallas Texans NFL team, which he owned, to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1963, renaming the franchise the Kansas City Chiefs. He founded an operating company in the region called MId-America Enterprises, which focused on real estate, mining, and entertainment. Worlds of Fun was conceptualized and developed by Hunt, his business partner Jack Steadman, and theme park designer Randall ...
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Patriot (Worlds Of Fun)
Patriot is an inverted roller coaster located at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the inverted coaster opened to the public on April 8, 2006. It features four inversions, a height of , and a track length of . History Patriot was announced on September 7, 2005, and was the park's largest investment at the time. Construction started in the transfer track and station area before progressing to the lift hill in early-October 2005. Just over two weeks later, the roller coaster's lift hill was topped off. After erecting the first drop and vertical loop, loop, construction on the zero-gravity-roll was complete by mid-November. The third inversion, an Immelmann loop, was completed about a week later, followed by the placement of the inclined loop pieces. After the corkscrew and other track elements were completed, the final piece of track was placed in the morning of January 13, 2006. After testing was completed, the attraction opened to the ...
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Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounce. Prior to the merger with Six Flags in 2024, Cedar Point served as the "flagship park" of the Cedar Fair amusement park chain and hosted the corporate headquarters. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 17 roller coasters, which ranks second among amusement parks in North America behind sister park Six Flags Magic Mountain (19). Cedar Point's normal operating season runs from early May until Labor Day in September, which is followed by weekend-only operation through Halloween during an annual event known as HalloWeekends. Other amenities and attractions featured within the park include a beach, an outdoor water park named Cedar Point Shores, an indoor water park named Castaway Bay (Sandusky, Ohio), Castaway Bay, two mari ...
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Rougarou (roller Coaster)
Rougarou, formerly known as Mantis, is a Floorless Coaster, floorless roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Designed and built by Bolliger & Mabillard, the roller coaster originally opened in 1996 as a stand-up roller coaster called Mantis, which at the time was the tallest, fastest, and longest of its kind in the world. Cedar Point had planned to name the ride Banshee, but due to negative publicity following the announcement, the name was later changed to Mantis. In September 2014, Cedar Point announced the pending closure of Mantis, scheduled for the following month. The park later revealed that Mantis would not be removed but would be transformed into a floorless roller coaster design for the 2015 season. It reopened as Rougarou on May 9, 2015. History On September 8, 1995, Cedar Point announced plans to build a new roller coaster, which would open as the tallest, fastest, and longest stand-up roller coaster in the world. The ride was to be n ...
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