Saturday, August 18, 2012

World's steepest, tallest, fastest, and most dangerous Roller Coasters

Tons of people know and love the reaction you get on a roller coaster - the fear, excitement, and feeling of speed all in one long rush of adrenaline. And for most the deadlier it is, the better. So for roller coaster constructors there's one golden rule: make it as dangerous and scary as it can possibly be without actually becoming mortiferous or unsafe to an extreme. While all coasters seem to fit that naseating bill, only a few have reached the top of the game. Here are the four steepest, tallest, fastest, and most dangerous rides respectively.

1. World's steepest Roller Coaster: The Takabisha





Located at the Fuji-Q Highland theme park in Fujiyoshida, Japan, it's name "Takabisha" translates to "dominant" for a good reason. It's been noted as the steepest coaster world-wide, dropping at an angle of 121 degrees. It was first opened to the public on July 16, 2011, after being exclusively ridden by special guests first. Its predecessor for the title of steepest coaster was the steele "Timber drop", located in Lorraine France, which only reached a drop of 113 degrees, falling short of 8 degrees behind the Takabisha. Though undoubtedly quite a thriller, the entire Takabisha ride only lasts roughly 2 minutes.


Unless you get the opportunity to visit Japan and ride on it in person, here's your chance at a front-seat experience, video-form...be warned though, it's not for the weak of heart, because it's very disorienting even in a video. On a side note, I can't help but admire the man who's taking it...he doesn't make a sound throughout the entire thing!

                                                                           Video:




2. World's tallest roller coaster: The Kingda Ka



The towering Kingda Ka's location is Six Flags Great Adventure Park, New Jersey US. It is currently the world's tallest roller coaster at a whopping height of 456 feet (138.989 Metres) when it reaches its peak. It's also the second Strata Coaster (a coaster with a drop of 400 ft. or more) ever built. It goes 128 Miles per hour, and at the time it was built it had not only title tallest but fastest as well (It was, of course, succeeded by the next coaster on this list). Launched on May 21, 2005, the Kingda Ka  had one major damage repair done when it was struck by lightening in August of 2009. Another incident occurred on it, while rather irrelevant to the ride itself, when a young boy was sent to the hospital after colliding with a air-borne bird; evidently riding the World's tallest roller coaster has its disadvantages.

3. World's fastest Roller Coaster: The Formula Rossa


At the Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi, The Formula Rossa is charted speediest coaster out there. It reaches a speed of 150 Miles per hour (240 km/h) at its fastest, and a height of 174 ft (53 m). The speed is so rigorous, apparently, that front-row passengers must wear safety goggles, as collisions with airborne objects such as insects can be highly uncomfortable due to the kinetic force.

                                                                          Video:





4. (Possibly) World's most dangerous Roller Coaster: The Son of Beast




The "Son of Beast" at Kings Island theme park is the tallest and fastest of wooden coasters, also making it the most dangerous. It has a drop of 214 ft (65 m), a height of 218 ft (66 m), and a speed of 78.4 mph (126.2 km/h). Being constructed almost entirely of Southern yellow pine and Douglas fir planks, The Son of Beast lacks the sturdy support and smooth ride of a Steele coaster. However, this spunky ride closed recently, and will be dismantled by the end of this Summer. Surprisingly though, it's only had two major incidents in its twelve years of business: In the first incident, the wood split in the track and caused a large bump, giving a total of twenty-seven chest and neck injuries amongst the customers riding it. The second incident didn't give as much general damage, as a Woman suffered a head injury due to the jarring, excessive  bumping caused by the track being made of wood: apparently a blood vessel had burst in her brain, though she didn't go to first aid immediately after the ride.

Again, not for the faint of heart, here's a video:







~ Sources: Wikipedia, for general and factual info (actual text is mine), and YouTube (all videos belong to their rightful owners)








4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Those videos are sooo cool! Ok, now i feel like I need to go ride a roller coaster! ;-)

Unknown said...

Heh, well I'm not really one for roller coasters, but that first one looked like it might be fun. And disorienting. :-P

Glad you like the videos!

Anonymous said...

That looks soooooooo fun! I really want to ride a roller coaster! =( =)

Unknown said...

Hmm...now I need to figure out how to physically post a roller coaster on my blog. ;-)

I still don't know how the guy taking the first video managed to be so quiet. I would have been screaming my head off! =P

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