The Monster is a

Gerstlauer Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GmbH is a German manufacturer of stationary and transportable amusement rides and roller coasters, located in Münsterhausen, Germany. History In 1982, Hubert Gerstlauer, a former employee of the Anton Schwarzkopf-o ...

steel

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 ...

at Adventureland in

Altoona, Iowa Altoona is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States, and is a part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. The population was 19,565 at the 2020 census. Altoona is home of the Adventureland amusement park and Prairie Meadows horse racing track ...

. It opened to the public on June 4, 2016 as the first

Infinity Coaster The Infinity Coaster is a roller coaster design by Gerstlauer. A variant of the popular Euro-Fighter model, the Infinity Coaster allows for higher capacity through longer trains. The coaster also features a magnetic rollback system on rides with l ...

in the United States.

History

The Monster was announced on Adventureland's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page on July 8, 2015. It replaced the River Rapids Log Ride, a

log flume A log flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century. Logging operations pre ...

which was removed due to maintenance issues. The park was looking for a suitable replacement for the ride. On June 4, 2016, the Monster opened to guests.

Ride experience

The ride, located in the center of the park, can be distinguished by its bright green track. The Monster features a vertical lift hill and a first drop at a 101 degree angle. At the bottom of the hill the riders reach a top speed of . The next element is a large

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. ...

, providing a significant amount of hangtime, after which the riders are redirected into a hill and then navigate the twisted drop that goes directly into a Finnish loop, before going into a dive loop that will take riders into an air time hill then an

Immelmann loop 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 ...

. The car then goes into its only set of trim brakes, an

and its final inversion, a

corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attached to a hand ...

Characteristics

The ride features of track, five inversions and takes roughly two minutes to complete. The Monster features a nighttime LED display made up of 46 ground lights and 137 track-mounted fixtures provided by KCL Engineering. The Monster lighting system originator and designer, Mike Lambert, was recognized with (2) Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Illumination Awards for Innovation in Design.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monster, The Roller coasters in Iowa Roller coasters manufactured by Gerstlauer Roller coasters introduced in 2016 Buildings and structures in Polk County, Iowa