The world has had its fair share of record breaking roller coasters; from the tallest,
to the fastest - many rides have broken records upon their debut.
Immediately after the widespread introduction of the steel roller coaster, theme parks battled
it out to produce some of the largest, fastest, and most inverting roller coasters on earth.
Fast forward to today, and record breaking rides don’t pack the same punch.
Some parks are still clinging onto this marketing method, instead with mundane records, claiming
to have built the tallest of a very specific type of ride.
Fortunately, many others have transitioned away from records, using other techniques
to create unique attractions.
Ultimately, is the era of the record breaking roller coaster over?
Chris, Screwyloops, hello?
That was a question aimed at you...
Chris: Wait, what? Me?
I'm in a Coaster Bot video!?
Am I…
Dreaming!?
Erm…
Parks across the globe seem to be squeezing records out of absolute nonsense lately.
Whether it's Steel Vengeance's fastest airtime hill of any Hybrid Coaster on the planet or
Taron's 116 intersecting moments, records just aren't having the same impact anymore.
Have roller coasters reached their penultimate limit?
Will we ever see a ride faster than Formula Rossa and taller than Kingda Ka?
The answer lies…
Within Six Flags Saudi Arabia of course!
Maybe?
Maybe not?
Help me out here Harry…
Harry: To find the answer, I think we first have to look back at what’s been built so far.
The real catalyst for building record breaking rides was the introduction of the steel roller
coaster, popularised by the introduction of the first modern looping roller coaster in 1975.
Steel roller coasters allowed theme parks to create bigger, better, and bolder rides.
Over the following decades, many parks jumped on the bandwagon, aiming to introduce a record
breaking roller coaster to their line-up of attractions.
These were fantastic marketing tools.
Who wouldn’t want to ride a world record breaking roller coaster?
Often, parks pushed four main boundaries; height, speed, length and the number of inversions.
Often, these records were linked.
The world’s tallest roller coaster stood a good chance of being the world’s fastest too.
If you pack more inversions into a single ride, you need more height to ensure the train
makes it all the way around the course.
To go bigger in one category, parks usually had to go bigger in several.
So, to understand the state of record breaking rides now, let’s take a look at their history...
Chris: Back in the day, breaking the height record was an easy feat.
And because of this, it's been beaten a grand total of 12 times since the year of 1975!
This exclusively counts only full circuit roller coasters, where the train crests the
tallest point of the ride; as opposed to shuttle coasters, in which the train climbs part of
the hill before falling back towards Planet Earth!
The race to build the world’s tallest ride was reinvigorated after the development of
modern day inverting roller coasters, with the debut of Mindbender at Galaxyland, a roller
coaster which stands 44m 145ft tall.
Two years later, Kings Island’s Vortex became the tallest, followed by Bandit at Yomiuriland,
Shockwave at Six Flags Great America, and the Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags
Great Adventure… wow!
Then, in May of 1989, Cedar Point's new Roller Coaster eclipsed the record.
Before this, most of the height increases had been incremental, with each ride being
1 or 2m taller than the last.
Cedar Point aimed to blow the competition out of the water by constructing Magnum XL-200,
the world’s very first hyper coaster, a ride measuring over 200ft 63m tall, and "OH
MY GOD" on the acrophobia scale!
This thing was HUGE!
However, it wasn't long before another park jumped in on the "HYPE".
Blackpool Pleasure Beach built the Big One in 1994, a ride less than 3m or 10ft taller
than Magnum XL-200; which was shortly followed by Fujiyama at Fuji-Q Highland becoming the
tallest in 1996.
But in May of 2000, Cedar Point were laughing as they yet again took the record, by building
the World's First Giga Coaster.
Millennium Force.
Standing at a colossal height of over 300 feet, 92m tall.
OK, now this thing is huge…
Sadly though, their aim to eclipse the competition didn’t work a second time.
As literally months later, Steel Dragon 2000 opened to guests at Nagashima Spaland, beating
Millennium Force by a meesely 8 feet, or 2.5m.
Crushed and devastated, Cedar Point took another swing at the record.
In 2003, they constructed the world’s first strata coaster, a ride measuring over 400
feet 122m tall, named Top Thrill Dragster.
Of course though, with everything in the industry, there’s always competition.
Just 2 years later, Six Flags Great Adventure built Kingda Ka, a ride which is 11m or 36
feet taller than Top Thrill Dragster.
Opening in 2005, Kingda Ka opened as the world’s tallest roller coaster, and still holds that
title to this day.
Harry: Initially, it was all about pushing limits.
How tall can we actually build a roller coaster?
But, as the record developed, it’s become about cost.
Kingda Ka cost a whopping 25 million USD to build.
On top of this, due to their size, Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster have become known
for their unreliability.
Simply put, building tall roller coasters is expensive, so it becomes a gamble.
Will breaking the height record justify spending many millions more?
So far, it doesn’t seem so.
Naturally, the speed record has been linked to the height record for decades.
Since 1975, the world’s speed record has been broken 12 times, starting with Screamin
Eagle at Six Flags St. Louis in 1976, a ride which travelled 100kmh 62mph.
This was followed by the Beast at Kings Island, American Eagle at Six Flags Great America
and Bandit at Yomiruiland.
Then, Cedar Point built Magnum XL-200 in 1989, which took both the height and speed records.
2 years later, Kennywood built Steel Phantom, a ride shorter than Magnum XL-200, but faster
due to having a much longer second drop.
Fujiyama then opened to the public as the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster,
similar to Magnum.
However, the speed record changed in 1997.
Prior to this, the speed record was almost an afterthought.
Rides that were taller just happened to be faster.
But, Dreamworld’s Tower of Terror changed the game.
It featured a launch to become the world’s fastest.
The ride used magnets to accelerate guests from 0 to 161kmh 100mph in several seconds,
before sending them into a large spike.
This launch trend would go on to continue with new launch methods.
Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland became the world’s fastest by a pneumatic launch system.
This was then followed by the introduction of the hydraulic launch, le ading to Top Thrill
Dragster at Cedar Point, and then Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure taking the top spots.
However, another park did go on to break the speed record once more.
In 2010, 5 years after Kingda Ka, Ferrari World constructed Formula Rossa - a ride which
accelerates guests to 240kmh 149mph in under 5 seconds.
Because of its hydraulic launch, Formula Rossa remains the world’s fastest roller coaster
to this day.
Chris: Pushing the limits of speed doesn't come without its evident drawbacks.
The faster a Roller Coaster goes, the quicker you navigate the layout, ultimately resulting
in a far shorter experience overall.
Whilst you may be breaking speed records, these come at a very expensive price, and
typically, people want more than a 5 second experience…
Most strata's are over before you can say "Linear Synchronous Motor System" for God's sake!
Formula Rossa actually tries to get around this by slowing the train down moments after
it reaches it's top speed.
Sure, call it a "cop out" but there's no denying that launch kicks all kinds of Intamin…
buttocks.
Unfortunately, the technology used to create what is currently the world’s fastest roller
coaster has mostly been retired.
And despite how powerful and exhilarating these Hydraulic launches are, they simply
aren't reliable enough, and that is so sad.
Companies now opt for more robust alternatives such as magnetic launches.
Whilst these don't quite push the envelope for record breaking speeds, they are a far
more sensible option for modern day Coasters.
The first modern roller coaster to feature inversions came in the form of Corkscrew at
Knott’s Berry Farm in 1975.
Featuring the iconic double Corkscrew, this ride pioneered the steel roller coaster revolution,
helping to kickstart the construction of taller and fastest rides.
However, since then, the record has been broken a further 10 times!
Corkscrew was quickly succeeded a single year later by Corkscrew at Cedar Point, a ride
with 3 inversions, confusing I know.
Carowinds then designed the first roller coaster with 4 inversions, Carolina Cyclone; which
was quickly succeeded by the 5 inversions on Viper at Six Flags Darien Lake.
Kings Island then took the record with the 6 inversions featured on Vortex, followed
by Shockwave at Six Flags Great America with 7 inversions, and Dragon Khan at PortAventura
with 8 inversions.
7 years later, Thorpe Park aimed to take the record once and for all.
They debuted Colossus in 2002, a ride featuring 10 inversions, 4 of which occurred immediately
back to back.
Since then, other parks have built clones of the ride, enabling them to co-hold the record.
Whilst Colossus had an incredible run, a record is never truly safe.
11 years later, the same company that owns Thorpe Park, Merlin Entertainments, beat their
own record with a brand new attraction at one of their other parks, Alton Towers.
In 2013, The Smiler opened to the public with a stomach smashing 14 inversions!
Not only does the ride hold the record, it also became one of the world’s most dense
roller coasters, taking up the tiniest plot of land with twisted metal track.
Harry: Understandably, the Smiler’s record hasn’t been beaten since.
It’s an engineering marvel to construct a ride so dense and inversion heavy, without
it becoming painful, boring or repetitive.
But, it’s so easy for that not to be the case.
If the inversion record was to be broken, it’s almost inevitable that a theme park
would request a ride that features the same back to back inversions as an easy way to
guarantee record breaking status.
The best roller coasters are ones which feature a diverse collection of interesting elements.
The Smiler only just about achieves this, but will a 15 inversion roller coaster manage
to pull off the same trick?
Despite being such a simple premise, the record for the world’s longest roller coaster has
only been broken 4 times since 1975.
Kings Island took the record in 1979 with the Beast, a ride measuring 2243m 7359ft long.
12 years later, The Ultimate at Lightwater Valley was born, featuring a wonderfully weird,
and long, layout.
Then, in 1999, Daidarasaurus at Expoland became the world’s longest.
Originally, the ride opened in 1970 featuring 5 different tracks.
Over time, these tracks were closed leaving only two remaining.
Then, in 1999, the park decided to combine the tracks together, creating a single super
long roller coaster.
Just a single year later, Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spaland opened to the public.
Measuring a huge 2479m 8133ft in length, Steel Dragon currently remains the world’s longest
roller coaster, and one of the tallest ever built.
It’s extremely impressive size cost a huge 52 Million USD to construct, partially due
to its location in an earthquake prone region of Japan.
Chris: But seriously, what is the point in this record?
As we mentioned before, speed has a big impact on how long a ride feels, right?
A shorter ride might have a huge duration simply because it's painfully slow.
On top of this, owning the record for the longest roller coaster is extremely costly.
Every single extra metre of track adds to the overall cost of resources, maintenance
and just think of the paint jobs, my GOD!
Why parks would want to break this record…
I will never know.
I can completely see why this has only been broken four times, and unlikely to be broken
again anytime soon.
Unless you own a small park in the middle of North Yorkshire, cough The Ultimate.
All of these record breaking Roller Coasters are applying for their pensions, because they
are getting OLD!
The height record hasn’t been broken in 15 years, speed in 10 years, inversions in
7 years, and length in 20 HEAD BANGING years, that is older than the original iPod, remember those?
Yet, theme parks still market their roller coasters as record breaking...
But what on Planet Earth are they breaking exactly?
Let's be real, theme parks are now building the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest
of said specific type of roller coasters.
Take Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point for example - the ride allegedly broke 10 records…
Ten!
It became not only the world’s tallest, but fastest and longest hybrid roller coaster,
that’s a ride which uses a combination of wood and steel - in this case, steel track
with a wooden support structure.
Yukon Striker at Canada’s Wonderland shamelessly claimed several records as well.
It became the world’s tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster - a type of ride which
suspends guests over the edge of the first drop, before allowing them to plummet vertically
towards the ground.
In both cases, these records were miles from the real world records, yet their respective
theme parks market them as record breakers to attract more guests.
It isn’t just Cedar Point and Canada’s Wonderland doing this though.
It's become quite the norm across the entire world to throw in these kinds of buzz words
and selling points.
Many theme parks across the globe now aim to beat the records of the specific type of
ride they’re building, giving them an additional tool to market the new attraction with.
Anyone for a World's tallest Big Apple Coaster?
Anyone!?
Harry: I think that’s a no go Chris.
Fortunately, there’s a whole host of other theme parks that don’t do this anymore.
Many have come up with different ways to sell their new attractions to guests by adding
additional layers to the experience.
European theme parks have been creating themes and storylines for their roller coasters for
many years.
These rides often place guests in the centre of the story, allowing them to engage with
the attraction more.
A unique theme for a less than unique roller coaster can certainly help it stand out against
the crowd.
Take Alton Towers’ Wicker Man for example, a ride themed to a cult like group that wants
to sacrifice riders to their effigy, the Wicker Man.
At face value, it’s a less cthan impressive small scale wooden roller coaster.
With the theme and storyline, it becomes a spectacle and a journey.
Guests witness the ride burst into flames as the train flies through the effigy structure
multiple times.
They also experience a pre show before boarding, and listen to a multi-stage soundtrack in
the queue.
Together, these details help to make Wicker Man a roller coaster that grabs people’s
attention and attracts new guests to the park.
There’s now countless rides like this across Europe and the rest of the world.
Copperhead Strike at Carowinds in the US also has a storyline and theme which helps to enhance
the ride; at a theme park owned by the same company that operates Cedar Point and Canada’s Wonderland.
By giving guests a sense of purpose, a reason to be boarding the roller coaster, they instantly
become more interested.
Creating a theme isn’t always cheap though.
Many parks spend just as much on theming a roller coaster as they do on the ride system
itself; all to help create an immersive attraction.
These theme parks might not have the space, or money, to create a single huge record breaking
roller coaster.
Many, if not all roller coaster world records require large funds to beat, making them very
risky investments.
Chris: But…
This doesn’t stop companies from wanting to break records though.
Anyone remember back In 2011?
US Thrill Rides and S&S worldwide unveiled that ridiculous new ride concept they called
the polercoaster; a tall towering tower with a roller coaster wrapped around the outside.
Sounds like a Roller Burrito…
No?
Several of these polercoasters were planned for construction, one of which, if built,
would have become the tallest roller coaster on Earth!
Standing at a dizzying height of 170m 570ft high!
More recently, a brand new theme park slated to debut in 2023 announced their plans to
construct the world’s tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster…
Which again, looks a little ridiculous.
Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia would be home to this stupidly ambitious record breaking
attraction… just take a look at the park’s concept video and see for yourself, it makes
NoLimits fantasy Coasters look vaguely realistic…
Naturally, many are skeptical about both of these projects.
Not a single polercoaster has been built since 2011, while Six Flags’ revolutionary ride
looks like it'll murder everybody on board.
Harry: Ultimately, from what we’ve seen, it does seem that the era of the record breaking roller
coaster is over - perhaps that’s a good thing if Chris is right about the muder coaster.
However, many theme parks are continuously trying their best to market new rides as record
breaking to attract the eye of the public.
Some of these parks have produced a series of wonderfully meaningless records just for
the extra attention.
Chris: World’s most intense ride experience.
World's smallest full circuit Roller Coaster.
World’s number 1 Wooden Roller Coaster, although you're not technically made of wood
Zadra, so err… stop telling porkies!
Harry: We explore these wacky records, and so, so, so many more over on Chris’ channel, ScrewyLoops.
Why not follow us over there right now by clicking the video on screen, or the i button,
or the link in the description!
Thanks for watching this one, and we'll see you very shortly.
Chris: You've been watching Coaster Bot, Ta-rah a bit!