Momonga Standing and Loop Coaster (often referred to as Loop Coaster MOMOnGA, ja, ループコースターMOMOnGA) was a
steel roller coaster
A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...
that operated from 1979 to 2021 at
Yomiuriland
Yomiuriland (よみうりランド, ''Yomiurirando'') is an amusement park in Inagi, Tokyo, Japan that first opened in 1964. It is situated on hillsides, and features rides such as roller coasters and water flumes. It is home to Yomiuri Giants ...
in
Inagi
file:Inagi City Hall.jpg, 270px, Inagi City Hall
is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,585 in 41,592 households, and a population density of 5200 persons ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. The coaster was best known for simultaneously operating both a sit-down and
stand-up
Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...
roller coaster train, which also rendered it as one of the earliest known stand-up roller coasters.
History
![Loop Coaster MOMOnGA vertical loop - Yomiuriland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Loop_Coaster_MOMOnGA_vertical_loop_-_Yomiuriland.jpg)
The Standing and Loop Coaster first opened at Yomiuriland in 1979 as a sit-down steel coaster. In 1982,
TOGO
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
opened the ''Dangai'' coaster (then known as the ''Mary Dolphin'') at the now-defunct Thrill Valley park in
Gotemba, Shizuoka
is a city on the southeastern flank of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,370 in 36,096 households, and a population density of 450 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
Geography ...
(which at the time went by the name Odakyu Gotemba Family Land). The coaster quickly incorporated a set of Togo's then-prototype stand-up trains, and that same year Yormuiriland also bought a standup train for the Standing and Loop Coaster. Since then, the roller coaster simultaneously operated both a standup and sit-down train with a modified sliding station. The success of these quickly attracted the interest of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
-based
Kings Entertainment Company
Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) owned and/or operated six theme parks around the world. The company was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting and in 1984 was purchased for $167.5 million by senior executives and general managers of Taft's Amuse ...
, who acquired a trio of standup coasters from Togo between 1984 and 1986;
King Cobra at
Kings Island
Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expan ...
,
SkyRider at
Canada's Wonderland
Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life As ...
, and
Shockwave
In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
at
Kings Dominion
Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 ri ...
.
In August 2021, Yomuiriland announced that the Momonga Standing and Loop Coaster would permanently close after 42 years of operation. Beginning on September 4, the park launched a last riders campaign, where free souvenirs were handed out to participants and a lottery held to determine the coaster's last official riders. Momonga gave its last ride with the stand-up train on the evening of September 20, 2021.
Characteristics
Trains
The Loop Coaster MOMOnGA operated with two 20-passenger trains throughout much of its lifetime; a sit-down train and a stand-up train, where guests rode the attraction while standing up. Both trains could be queued for separately, and operated with a sliding platform; while one train was making its circuit on the track, the other was loading and unloading guests on its respective side of the station. The addition of the stand-up train in 1982 rendered it as one of the first known stand-up roller coasters, and following the ''Dangais closure in 2002 remained the oldest stand-up coaster in the world until its own closure in 2021.
Layout
Upon dispatch, the station platform slid the train sideways either to the left or right, connecting it to the coaster layout. Exiting the station, the train immediately ascended the tall chain
lift hill
A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...
. At its peak, riders made a right hand turn and descended into a curved drop, entering the coaster's sole inversion; 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 ...
wrapping around the lift hill. A counterclockwise helix followed, before riders made their final turnaround and rose into the
brake run
A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...
. The sliding track in the station then delivered the train sideways back to its respective platform. One ride on the Loop Coaster MOMOnGA lasted approximately 1 minute and 10 seconds.
Statistics
Loop Coaster MOMOnGA was tall, long, and reaches a top speed of . An exact clone of the Loop Coaster MOMOnGA was built for the 1984
Otaru
is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tou ...
Expo, but was relocated to
Rusutsu Resort
The is the largest resort in Hokkaidō, Japan, operated by Kamori Kankō. The resort is famous for its ski slopes but also offers year-round attractions including an amusement park and golf courses.
Ski resort
The ski resort extends over three ...
in 1985 and continues to operate as ''Standing Coaster''.
See also
*
Stand-up roller coaster
A stand-up roller coaster is a roller coaster designed to have the passengers stand through the course of the ride.
History
The first stand-up roller coasters in the world were originally built as sit-down roller coasters. Japanese manufacturer ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Loop Coaster MOMOnGA (archive)at
Yomiuriland
Yomiuriland (よみうりランド, ''Yomiurirando'') is an amusement park in Inagi, Tokyo, Japan that first opened in 1964. It is situated on hillsides, and features rides such as roller coasters and water flumes. It is home to Yomiuri Giants ...
Roller coasters in Japan