Expedition GeForce is a
steel roller coaster located at
Holiday Park in
Haßloch
Haßloch (or Hassloch) is a municipality in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Unlike most municipalities in the district, it does not belong to any ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a type of collective municipality. It lies ne ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It is one of the largest roller coasters in Europe and has an 82 degree first drop. The trains travel up to through a course long with seven periods of
weightlessness
Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G.
Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...
. At its highest, the ride reaches above ground.
Until the opening of
Silver Star 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 ...
, it was the tallest roller coaster operating on the European mainland.
Ride information
The ride opened on June 18, 2001 to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Holiday Park's operation, costing approximately €10 million. It has a maximum throughput of 1,300 riders per hour, with two 28-seater trains in operation. The track rests on 209 foundations, which are up to 20 metres deep.
It was constructed by
Swiss manufacturers
Intamin, which markets this type of coaster as ''Mega Coaster'', in collaboration with
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
engineer
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 a ...
. Unlike many other coasters, the ride does not employ a conventional chain lift but a faster cable lift with a catch car, very similar to the system used for
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 ...
.
It is one of the prebuilt rides in
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
''RollerCoaster Tycoon 3'' is a 2004 construction and management simulation video game. It is the third installment in the '' RollerCoaster Tycoon'' series. ''RollerCoaster Tycoon 3'' places players in charge of managing amusement parks; rides ...
and
NoLimits
NoLimits Roller Coaster Simulation is a software package available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X designed and built by a team of programmers and artists led by German programmer Ole Lange. It was first released in November 2001. The packag ...
.
Ride layout
From the station, the trains ascend the lift hill and encounter the first drop, which at 82°, makes a 74° right-hand turn. The ride continues with several large hills, which give a sensation of
air-time
In the context of amusement rides, air time, or airtime, refers to the time during which riders of a roller coaster or other ride experience either frictionless or negative G-forces. The negative g-forces that a rider experiences is what create ...
, especially in the rear of the trains, and a number of
overbanked turn
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 turn. ...
s, before becoming more twisted as the ride runs through woods and over a lake. Just before entering the brake run, the trains negotiate a series of bunny hops, again giving riders considerable amounts of air-time.
Vehicles
The coaster has two trains of seven cars each. Each car seats two across in two rows. The trains are stainless steel with stadium-style seating. Each seat has an individual lap bar in addition to a seatbelt.
Incident
On April 28, 2010 a train full of passengers came to a sudden stop when one of the cars derailed just after completing the ride's first drop. Firefighters evacuated all riders. None were seriously injured.
Rankings
References
External links
{{Commons category, Expedition GeForce
Holiday Park ''bigFM Expedition GeForce'' Official Page(English)
Detailed Review(English)
Roller coasters in Germany
Roller coasters introduced in 2001