Travel Picks Thrills, chills on the top 10 rollercoasters
The rollercoaster has come a long way since it was first patented in
1885, with the first amusement park ride of this kind appearing at New
York’s Coney Island measuring 600 feet long and 50 feet high. Travel
website Cheapflights.com (http://www.cheapflights.com) has come up with
a list of the top 10 fast, fierce and ferocious rollercoasters for this
summer. This list is not endorsed by Reuters.
1. Behemoth,
Wonderland Park, Toronto, Canada
Built in 2008, this $26 million project turned out to be the fastest
and tallest roller coaster in Canada. Starting with an 85-degree descent
and speeding up to 80 mph in 3.9 seconds, this ride has eight drops and
double-banked horizontal loops.
2. Eejanaika, Fuji-Q
Highland park, Yamanashi, Japan
Opened in 2006, this ‘fourth dimension’ ride has seats that can
rotate 360 degrees forward or backward in a controlled spin. It’s the
second of its kind on the planet, (the first lives at Six Flags in the
U.S.) but Eejanaika surpasses its predecessor in both height and speed,
rising 249 feet in the air, and zooming a quick 78.3 mph.
3. Tower of Terror,
Queensland, Australia
Shooting straight up into the sky on an L-shaped track, this magnetic
induction shuttle coaster runs on linear synchronous motors, which
propels it into a free-floating position, and then forces a drop to
retrace its route backwards. At 100 mph, it’s one of the fastest roller
coasters on the planet.
4. Steel Dragon 2000,
Nagashima Spa Land, Nagashima, Japan
Steel Dragon 2000 boasts an impressive speed of 95 mph, but what’s
most remarkable is that it gets to that speed by using only a
traditional lift hill. It rises 318 feet in the air and at a length of
8,133 feet and a time span of four minutes, this ride is the world’s
longest.
5. Furius Baco,
PortAventura, Spain
The seats on this rollercoaster are placed on either side of the
track, so passengers are totally exposed on three sides and if you’re
the one on the outer edge, you get an extra thrill of being completely
out in the open, rushing in at an average of 84 mph.
6. Megafobia, Oakwood
Coaster Country, Pembrokeshire, Wales
One of the most respected wooden roller coasters, Megafobia runs on a
twister-style layout. Coming in at 100 seconds in time, standing at 85
feet tall and running at 2,956 feet in length, Megafobia shows
passengers that its old-time wooden frame isn’t something to be scoffed
at.
7. Nemesis, Alton
Towers, England
Nemesis has bragging rights for being Europe’s first inverted roller
coaster. Dangling riders in its ski-lift-like seats, it loops and twists
without mercy. Fun fact: This ride won a world record in 2004 for having
32 passengers ride it without wearing any clothes.
8. Formula Rossa,
Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi
Scheduled to open in October 2010, this is quite literally a ride of
the future. It’s anticipated to go from 0-100 mph in less than two
seconds and peak at 149 mph making it potentially the world’s fastest
rollercoaster once it opens. It will climb 171 feet and shoot from
indoors to outside the park.
9. Kingda Ka, Six
Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey
Kingda Ka is technically the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the
world. The ride begins with a launch that rushes its passengers into 128
mph acceleration up 456 feet in the air and the descent is the 90-degree
plunge.
10. Bizarro, Six
Flags, New England, Massachusetts
Racing at 77 mph and giving as much free-falling “air time” as
possible, Bizarro also happens to offer some of the most picturesque
views of the Connecticut River. This ride stands 208 feet tall but
boasts a 221-foot dro by descending from its high point into an
underground tunnel after the first hill.
Reuters |