When something “goes horribly wrong” on a ride through an amusement park, it often happens on purpose. Designers use this story gimmick on a regular basis to present guests a way of danger and tension.
But once in a while something goes really flawed on an amusement park ride, necessitating a significant renovation or perhaps a redesign. Ultimately, roller coasters and other theme park rides are machines, and even the very best designed and maintained machines eventually reach the top of their useful life.
Some of the theme park rides are a contemporary Theseus ship, with almost the entire original parts replaced over time. But some rides, especially progressive roller coasters, show their problems early on. Several parks around the globe are currently facing this challenge as outstanding roller coasters are within the strategy of being remodeled.
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The best-known is likely to be Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2, which barely finished its media preview before it resulted in May. This Zamperla roller coaster was an try to redesign the park's top thrill dragster, an Intamin Accelerator, which suffered a serious accident in 2021.
Knott's Berry Farm's Xcelerator is a smaller version of the Top Thrill Dragster and has suffered its own extensive downtime and modifications over time. The king of all Intamin accelerators – the Formula Rossa at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi within the United Arab Emirates, the fastest roller coaster on the earth – was shut down indefinitely earlier this yr as a consequence of its own technical difficulties.
It's an inherent mechanical challenge to push hundreds of kilos of individuals and roller coaster trains to speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour – 149 miles per hour within the case of Formula Rossa – about every minute of daily for years. But that's exactly what parks are attempting to realize with their high-speed launch attractions.
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Cedar Point can also be targeting a return of Top Thrill 2 in 2025. We haven't heard anything about Ferrari World's plans for Formula Rossa, with the park only publicly stating that the ride is “closed until further notice.”
Building a world-class roller coaster could be just as wild and unpredictable because the rides themselves. Fans of Knott's Berry Farm are still waiting for the return of Montezooma's Revenge, the classic Schwarzkopf Flywheel Launch Shuttle Coaster that closed in 2022 and is now on the lookout for a redesign and will return next yr after a renovation.
When testing the bounds of roller coaster innovation, quite a bit can go awry as designers and engineers work to make sure these coasters at all times stay on the right track.
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