Blue Fire is a
launched roller coaster
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains ...
at
Europa-Park
Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Paris. Europa-Park is located in Rust, Baden-Württemberg, Rust, south-western Germany, between Freiburg im Breisgau and Strasbo ...
. The coaster opened in 2009 as part of a new Iceland-themed expansion to Europa-Park. As the first launched coaster built by
Mack Rides, Blue Fire was the park's tenth roller coaster and the first to feature inversions. The ride was sponsored by Gazprom ever since, until
the invasion of Ukraine launched by Russia on 24th February 2022. The ride/park now no longer sponsor's Gazprom and had to remodel the interior with a new sponsorship Nord Stream 2 . The ride's tagline is "Discover Pure Energy".
Layout
Blue Fire is a combination of a
dark ride
A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain Animatronics, animation, sound, music and Special effect#Live special effects, special e ...
and a
launched roller coaster
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains ...
. The ride begins with a dark ride portion lasting roughly 45 seconds.
The coaster train is then accelerated to in 2.5 seconds using a
linear induction motor
A linear induction motor (LIM) is an alternating current (AC), asynchronous linear motor that works by the same general principles as other induction motors but is typically designed to directly produce motion in a straight line. Characteristic ...
launch on an -long launch track.
The launch propels the train over a turn that peaks at high.
Then, the turn leads into a
vertical loop
The generic roller coaster vertical 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 ...
high, which is the tallest loop on any launched roller coaster in Europe. One turn culminates in a mid-course brake run; and, exiting the brake run, the train completes a
twisted horseshoe roll
This list of roller coaster elements contains the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation.
Introduction
Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or t ...
that partially passes over a lake. One airtime hill follows, and the ride ends with a
heartline roll
Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements".
Com ...
and final brake run.
Blue Fire's twisted horseshoe roll was the first on any roller coaster in Europe and the first on any Mack roller coaster. The element itself had only previously appeared on one other roller coaster, making its debut on
Maverick
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Burea ...
.
Construction
Blue Fire opened as part of the first phase in a new Iceland-themed area of Europa-Park, which expanded the park's overall area from 70 to 85 hectares.
Europa-Park's directors, Roland and Jürgen Mack, broke ground on the new Iceland area in June 2008.
Europa-Park started posting teasers for Blue Fire on their website in July 2008. The teasers made reference to the coaster's acceleration, inversions, energy, and Iceland theme.
In August 2008, the park released an animated teaser, again showing the Iceland theme, along with the train traversing part of the ride's layout.
Construction of Blue Fire's track commenced in early September 2008,
and the park issued a press release about the new ride on September 18.
The press release confirmed that the park was expanding by 15 hectares and gave further details about Blue Fire's launch system and trains. It also mentioned that Blue Fire had the tallest loop of any roller coaster in Europe at 32 metres, which Screamscape blogger Lance Hart pointed out was incorrect because the first loop on
Dragon Khan
Dragon Khan is a steel sit-down roller coaster located in the PortAventura Park theme park in Salou and Vilaseca (Tarragona), Catalonia, Spain. Dragon Khan boasts eight inversions, which was a world record until the opening of the ten-inversio ...
at
PortAventura Park
PortAventura Park is a theme park located in the PortAventura World Resort, 85 km southwest of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in the municipalities of Salou and Vila-seca, on the Costa Daurada. The park opened on 1 May 1995 under the managemen ...
reaches a height of 36 metres.
The park has since clarified that Blue Fire's loop is the tallest on any launched coaster in Europe.
The builders of Blue Fire topped off the ride on October 1, 2008,
and completed the track's layout in mid-December 2008.
The construction effort required that Europa-Park cut the Fjord-Rafting river rapids ride in half to allow construction workers to access Blue Fire's site. The removed part of Fjord-Rafting was restored as a tunnel section and reopened before the 2009 season.
Trains and colour scheme
Blue Fire has five trains with five cars each. These cars accommodate two rows of two riders, for a total of 20 riders per train. However, the ride can only operate 4 trains on the circuit at any given time, with the 5th acting as a spare. With a two-minute, 20-second ride and separate loading and unloading stations, 1,450 riders can ride Blue Fire per hour.
The trains use lap bar restraints rather than the over-the-shoulder restraints employed on
Maverick
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Burea ...
and other Intamin Accelerator coasters, and stadium-style seating like that of
Millennium Force
Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the park's fourteenth roller coaster when it opened in 2000, dating back to the opening of Blue Streak in ...
. As opposed to more conventional lap bars found on most wooden roller coasters, the lap bar on a seat on Blue Fire is above the seat when the train is not occupied. However, the restraint itself rests in the rider's lap instead of across the rider's chest.
Carrying on the Iceland theme of its section of the park, Blue Fire has blue track and light gray supports. The attraction's theming was designed by
P&P Projects P&P Projects is an international company that first started as a one-man business in Asten, Netherlands making space models and that now specializes in projects for the leisure industry. The company has been constructing and decorating projects for ...
.
Sponsorships
From 2010 to 2019, Blue Fire was sponsored by the Russian
energy corporation Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
. The sponsorship saw the construction of the 1,300 square meter GAZPROM Theme World - The Wonder of Energy exhibition hall. For the 2020 season, the sponsorship was switched to
Nord Stream 2
Nord Stream 2 (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream 2, literally 'North Stream2'; russian: Северный поток — 2) is a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany running through the Baltic Sea, financed by ...
, the then-ongoing extension of the existing
Nord Stream 1
Nord Stream (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream, literally 'North Stream'; russian: Северный поток, ''Severny potok'') is a pair of offshore natural gas pipelines in Europe that run under the Baltic Sea ...
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
pipelines. The sponsorship was suspended when the
Russian Federation invaded Ukraine on the morning of February 24, 2022, and the Nord Stream 2 project was cancelled by
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz (; born ) is a German politician who has served as the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor of German ...
. All references to the sponsorship were quickly removed online and the Nord Stream exhibition hall was simply renamed to "Blue Fire Dome".
Height restriction
Europa-Park has set height and age restrictions for Blue Fire. No one under 1.30 metres (51 inches, 4 feet 3 inches) or 7 years of age may ride.
Awards
References
External links
NoLimits simulation of Blue Fire(Google Video)
{{Europa-Park
Roller coasters introduced in 2009
Roller coasters in Germany
Articles containing video clips
Rides at Europa-Park