Montaña Rusa is a

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. It has been in operation since 1973, except while being moved from 1997 to 1999, and has a capacity of 1,174 riders per hour.

History

At Worlds of Fun (1973–1997)

The ride originally opened as Zambezi Zinger in 1973, and operated for 25 seasons at

Worlds of Fun Worlds of Fun is an entertainment complex with more than 235 acres located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is the largest amusement park and water park in the Midwest. Founded by American businessmen Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman, the park opened in ...

, in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. At the time, it was the longest-standing coaster in the park's history (overtaken in 2014 by the Timber Wolf).

At Parque del Café (1999–present)

Between 1997 and 1999, it was moved to

Parque del Café Parque del Café () is a theme park in the department of Quindío, Colombia, 4 km south-west of the town of Montenegro and 11 km west of the departmental capital city Armenia. The park was founded by the National Federation of Coffee ...

in Montenegro, Quindio, Colombia and officially renamed Montaña Rusa (English: Russian Mountain) – however commonly called "La Broca" or "the drillbit". The name comes from the 1700s–1800s in St. Petersburg, Russia, where some of the earliest-known "roller coaster" experiences were called "

Russian Mountains Russian Mountains were a predecessor to the roller coaster in which the term is adopted by several Romance languages in other parts of Europe. The earliest roller coasters were descended from Russian winter sled rides held on specially constructe ...

". After gaining popularity throughout Europe, French amusement parks would build their own versions, calling them "les montagnes russes". Originally debuting in 1999 as

's first roller coaster, this 1,050-metre long coaster became the longest in Colombia. It is one of only two Schwarzkopf Speed Racer models still in operation today—the other being Whizzer at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois.

New version at Worlds of Fun

In 2022, Worlds of Fun announced a new

hybrid roller coaster A hybrid roller coaster is a category of roller coasters that is defined as having the track made out of steel, while the support structure is made from wood. Though less common, this can also be flipped around, with the track made of wood wi ...

for the 2023 season, inspired by and also named

Zambezi Zinger Zambezi Zinger may refer to: * Zambezi Zinger (1973) Zambezi Zinger may refer to: * Zambezi Zinger (1973), a steel roller coaster built in 1973 * Zambezi Zinger (2023), a hybrid roller coaster scheduled to open in 2023 {{Disambiguation ..., a ste ...

. However, construction delays prevented the replacement coaster from opening at the start of the park's season in April. The opening was announced to be on May 25, 2023, for season passholders, and on May 26, 2023, to the general public. However, Zambezi Zinger was delayed due to additional testing requirements. Instead, the coaster had a soft opening on June 10, 2023, the Big Slick First Rider event on June 16, 2023, the season passholder event on June 17 and 18, 2023, and fully opened on June 19, 2023.

References

External links