US Thrill Rides is an entertainment design and consulting company in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. It is best known for creating

thrill rides Thrill may refer to: Music * ''Thrill'', a 2000 album by Eleni Mandell * "Thrill", a 1995 song by Tomoyasu Hotei * "Thrill", a song by Band-Maid from the 2015 album '' New Beginning'' Other uses * Thrill (TV channel), a Southeast Asian movie cha ...

in several US locations.

History

In 1992, William Kitchen and Ken Bird invented the SkyCoaster. Kitchen founded Sky Fun I Inc. that same year to sell the product to amusement parks. Canadian firm ThrillTime Entertainment International purchased the company for $12 million in mid-1998, renaming it SkyCoaster Inc. All 12 employees kept their jobs, with Kitchen remaining linked to the company as a consultant. Kitchen's next invention was that of the SkyVenture, sold under SkyVenture, LLC. The first installation opened across from Wet 'n Wild Orlando on International Drive in July 1998. The attraction received a visit by

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

. Kitchen next founded US Thrill Rides. US Thrill Rides has since developed the UniCoaster flat rides and SkyQuest transport rides, as well as the SkySpire and Polercoaster (in collaboration with

Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement ins ...

). On December 21, 2022, US Thrill Rides filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Products and technologies

US Thrill Rides specializes in amusement rides and attractions.

Polercoaster

Polercoaster was an amusement ride offered as a joint venture by US Thrill Rides and

. An installation consists of a large tower structure which featured glass elevators to an observation deck, as well as an El Loco

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 ...

wrapping around the tower. The model was first introduced in 2012. US Thrill Rides' Bill and Michael Kitchen invented the concept to allow

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

s with little available space to be able to design a full-size roller coaster. By November, 2014 Kitchen had licensed the Florida rights for his invention to

Skyplex Skyplex is a proposed and planned entertainment complex, It would be located on a lot at the northeast corner of Sand Lake Road and International Drive in Orlando, Florida. Plans for the complex include a tower which would feature the world' ...

where it was announced the first Polercoaster would’ve been the tallest rollercoaster in the world, (called the "Skyscraper") and would be built by 2017. The Skyplex project was still claimed to be moving forward but had not broken ground and has not opened in 2020 as previously claimed by the developer.

SkyQuest

SkyQuest is a people mover introduced in 2010. The cable-car style ride utilizes covered platforms and gondolas to move rides either around the track or from one platform to another.

SkySpire

SkySpire is an amusement ride offered by US Thrill Rides. An installation consists of a large tower structure which features glass elevators to an observation deck, as well as a ride featuring fully enclosed gondolas wrapping around the tower in the shape of a double helix. Skyspire was chosen as one of the five finalists to anchor the San Diego Bay revitalization project. Skyspire won the contract with 1HWY1 who took primary ownership of redesigning the initial concept and implementation, but encountered numerous obstacles that have hindered development to the present day.

SkyView

SkyView is a proposed concept for lightweight Ferris wheel designs with heights between and and able to withstand strong winds. The wheel itself does not turn like a conventional Ferris wheel, instead a chain-like mechanism is used to move the gondolas around the structure, which could be constructed in shapes other than the traditional circle. In 2009, ''Park World Online'' reported that US Thrill Rides planned to erect and operate tall SkyView rides in Orlando and Las Vegas, however the Orlando Eye and High Roller giant wheels have since been constructed in those cities. No SkyView rides have yet been built.

UniCoaster

UniCoaster is an amusement ride with a small footprint designed to mimic the experience of a looping roller coaster. The design was licensed exclusively to

Chance Rides Chance Rides Manufacturing is a roller coaster and amusement ride manufacturer. The company was formed on May 16, 2002, when the former Chance Industries Inc. emerged from bankruptcy. The main office and manufacturing facility are located in Wic ...

until 2020 when Kitchen cancelled the exclusivity and began marketing variations such as "Unicoaster Roulette" to casinos in an attempt to mitigate the financial impact of the COVID-19 theme park shutdown.

Notable installations

References

External links

* {{Roller coaster manufacturers Amusement ride manufacturers Roller coaster manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Florida Companies based in Orlando, Florida Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022