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Easiest major coaster record to beat?

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
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This little idea just popped into my mind, and I figured it would make a neat thread.

So, as we all know, parks really like to market their coasters as being the first or biggest or most-est coaster in their general vicinity. Records are easily marketable, national records even more so, and world records are the best of all.

However, the cost of beating a record seems to scale exponentially with its impressiveness. It's easy enough to claim "tallest and longest coaster in East Hamcestershire!" or "The biggest coaster this park has built in the past ten years!", but building the tallest or fastest coaster in the world requires a serious investment.

Fortunately, there are multiple ways to break a record. For instance, claiming size records for a certain coaster type, having the most inversions, or focusing on some unique stat (e.g. steepest drop) or caveat (e.g. tallest coaster with a lifthill, steepest drop on a wooden coaster). Of course, some of those records can be so obscure and convoluted that they might as well be on the level of "tallest and longest coaster in East Hamcestershire" again. "Longest coaster with 4 cars that runs backwards for parts of the course and features at least one inversion", for instance. Sure there won't be many coasters at all that meet that definition. Likewise, inventing a "new coaster type" and claiming to have the first is a very cheap move. No, it's not a "Psychoaster", it's a family coaster you've painted black and added spooky music to. But of course, beating a "proper" record is prohibitively expensive, so what can a poor park do?

... Or is it always? Could some coaster records still be within the range of the affordable for relatively minor parks?

Occasionally, it has struck me that some world records have been standing for many years without so much as an attempt to beat them. And when somebody did, I almost wondered why nobody had done it earlier. A notable example until recently was that of the tallest and fastest inverted coaster. All Chongqing Sunac Land had to do to beat it was to order a slightly larger version of Wicked Twister from Intamin. Likewise, The Ride to Happiness quite handily beats the inversion records for spinning coasters - the number they had to beat was 3.

I don't think those records are very obscure either. Those are notable key stats of fairly major coaster types. Surely, there are more like them out there?

I'd like to nominate one quite major record that hangs quite low nowadays. If my RCDB-fu is correct, the current tallest and fastest Suspended Coaster (swinging cars) out there is Vortex at Canada's Wonderland. At 32 meters tall and going 88.5 kph it is only the fifth or so largest suspended coaster ever built, but the competitors have all retired. The longest Suspended Coaster out there is Ninja at SFMM - 823 meters long. It shouldn't be that hard to beat that, if you can find a manufacturer that offers suspended coasters out there (preferably not Doppelmayr, though).

Likewise, the record for most inversions on a wooden coaster could be within reach for an enterprising park with a decently large wallet. RMC only built three inverting woodies before they discontinued Topper Track, so the rest of their creations qualify as hybrid coasters. Wildfire and Outlaw Run currently share the record, with three inversions each. That sounds quite doable to match.

Do you have any other examples? Are there records out there you're itching to see beaten?
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
One that came to mind for me was Hyperion's claims of 'Tallest and fastest hyper coaster in Europe'. At 252ft and 88mph, it certainly is. And it's the right way of going round saying 'We have the highest/fastest non-launched roller coaster in Europe'.

There's not many parks that could try and beat it, but it's quite a notable one for me.
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Great topic idea @Pokemaniac!

I actually think that the flying coaster records (tallest, fastest and longest flying coaster) are quite low-hanging fruit compared to some other records. According to RCDB, the tallest flying coaster is currently Tatsu at 170ft, Tatsu and Flying Dinosaur are joint fastest at 62mph, and FLY is the longest at 4,055.1ft. Numerous multi-loopers and inverted coasters have been built at a scale equivalent to these stats or larger, so I reckon it would be quite easy to break all 3 records with a flying coaster, especially given that launches have now been introduced to the ride type on FLY.

I’ve always heard it rumoured that Cedar Point wanted to build the “tallest, fastest and longest flying coaster”. But that actually wouldn’t be too much of a feat compared to some of Cedar Point’s other record breakers; if they or another park built a ride a little above 170ft or so, about 65mph in speed and just over 4,000ft in length, they could beat all 3 records.
 

RcTmix

Mega Poster
Kings Island markets Orion as the "Tallest! Longest! Fastest! [Edit: 'Steel' ] Roller Coaster at the Park!"

I mean, come on. It's slower, shorter, and well, shorter than other coasters in Ohio. When you factor in the size of the lift and brake run, it doesn't even have the longest prime ride length in the park. [Edit: also the Beast exists]

I'm not trying to bash Orion. I'm looking forward to getting on it this summer, but that marketing is a bit ridiculous.
 
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Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
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These responses are what happens when people respond to a topic title without reading the post that goes with it.
... or maybe I just didn't make a very good topic title.

Anyway, on a small scale, I think any parks in Denmark would have a comparatively easy time nabbing coaster size records. The country has multiple parks that build coasters with some regularity, but the coasters are all quite small in scale. Piraten remains the tallest and fastest coaster in Denmark, at a height of 31 meters and a speed of 85 km/h. The longest coaster in the country is Juvelen at 1000 meters. Denmark has no coasters with more than three inversions. An off-the-shelf Blue Fire clone would handily beat every single one of those records at once.

Likewise, it wouldn't take that much to build Africa's tallest, fastest and longest coaster. The numbers to beat are 34 meters tall (42 for shuttle coasters), a speed of more than 95 km/h, and a length above 785 meters (not counting mountain coasters). Of course, finding a park with the financial means to do so is a bit more of a challenge, though.
 

Trax

Hyper Poster
Did I hear Taron?
- Longest multilaunched rollercoaster without inversions (beaten since Hagrids opened)
- most intense LSM launch
- most track intersections on a launched coaster

If the marketing department wants to, they can easily claim some records.
My award for the worlds most ridiculous record goes to Holiday Park - Expedition GeForce is the worlds steepest rollercoaster with a simultanous twist of 74°.
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
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I changed the thread title a bit to more accurately reflect what I was originally trying to say. Sorry for any confusion.

I'd also like to mention another example that popped into my head the other day. For all the coaster construction we see in China, there doesn't seem to be much eagerness to beat records over there.

The tallest coaster in China is Coaster Through the Clouds at Nanchang Sunac Land, at 74 meters. That is quite impressive by most standards, but it's still lower than the tallest coaster in countries like Spain, Canada, or Poland. Seven US states have taller coasters. In a country where B&M Hypers seem to pop up like toadstools, it's strange that no serious competitor to the title has arisen since CTtC was built in 2016.

At 136 km/h, Coaster Through the Clouds is also the fastest coaster in China ... and the 19th fastest in the world. Again, it's impressive, but you would think many parks would have the means to beat it. China has an impressive array of coasters faster than 100 km/h - 33 if I count correctly. It's not the easiest Chinese record to break, but certainly one that seems within the range of many parks nonetheless.

Disregarding a few mountain coasters, China's longest coaster is Python in Bamboo Forest at Nanchang Sunac Land. At 1557.8 meters, it is less than two meters longer than Coaster Through the Clouds at the same park (1556 m). Granted, that is a very long coaster, but still shorter than ones like Titan at AFOG, Orion at Kings Island, Shivering Timbers, Superman The Ride, or T Express. Many B&M Hypers are longer than that, and China builds many B&M Hypers. Why have none risen to snatch this record yet?

The Chinese records are all fairly impressive, all things considered. Coaster Through the Clouds is a BIG ride with those stats. Still, there are plenty of coasters out there that beat it, some in all three stats at once, and with the booming activity in the Chinese theme park market one would think there would be plenty of challengers. It's not "easy" to nab one of those records per se, but it still puzzles me that they haven't been beaten yet, all things considered.
 

bmac

Giga Poster
Easiest coaster record to break that isn't a region-specific or ride type specific record would be tallest vertical loop.

Plenty of coasters built with launches capable of speeds to clear a 160 foot tall loop these days, shocked no one has decided to go that extra couple of inches to break the record.
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
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Easiest coaster record to break that isn't a region-specific or ride type specific record would be tallest vertical loop.

Plenty of coasters built with launches capable of speeds to clear a 160 foot tall loop these days, shocked no one has decided to go that extra couple of inches to break the record.
I think you could find an even cheaper one: Tallest inclined loop. Should be a lot less of a hassle, seeing as you'd only have to beat, uh ... Riddler's Revenge, I think?

You raise an interesting question, though. I guess the reason why so few coasters launch into vertical loops is because the exit of the element is aligned with the entrance, which again has to be aligned with the launch track. The train exits the loop at approximately the same speed as it enters, meaning that a turnaround needs to take quite a lot of space too. In other words, you need a really long piece of land to build this arrangement. Then again, this could be mitigated a little with a swing launch, which is what Soaring With Dragon and Dueling Dragons do.
 

gavin

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Many B&M Hypers are longer than that, and China builds many B&M Hypers. Why have none risen to snatch this record yet?

They've only built two. One of those is SBNO and never opened, and the other, while listed as a B&M hyper is only around 150 feet tall.

Maybe you're thing of Wing Coasters? That's the model that China has really embraced.
 

Pokemaniac

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They've only built two. One of those is SBNO and never opened, and the other, while listed as a B&M hyper is only around 150 feet tall.

Maybe you're thing of Wing Coasters? That's the model that China has really embraced.
Whoops, that's a major brain fart on my end.

I guess a different question then arises, of why China doesn't seem to build Hypercoasters.
 

Trax

Hyper Poster
Steepest drop is still quite easy to beat, as this record is usually achieved using plenty of trimms during the drop. Tallest/Longest/Fastest is quite an expensive one, so I don't think we will see those broken that quickly - and no, I still don't trust the new SF project.
Most inversions is still doable, 14 is quite a number, but not something you wouldn't be able to beat with some will.

Otherwise I can really see the records getting more specific. Pantheon has now claimed the worlds fastest Multi launch coaster (even though Soaring with Dragon is still faster), the GCI at Bollywoodpark will have the most airtime moments and even Kondaa claimed the record for most airtime moments on a steel coaster*

The thing is, most classic record breakers have actually suffered from them achieving a specific record. Kingda Ka was basically designed to up TTD, but still people prefer TTD. And even TTD is objectively speaking just a Launch and a Top-Hat. And personally, a Top Hat might look great, but they ride not half as good as they look from outside.
Same goes for a coaster which is just long for the sake of it. Steel Dragon 2000 looks impressive for sure, but those giant Helices don't do much and are just there and increase the rides lenghts.

As the trend has shifted to more fast paced coasters (thanks to RMC), you don't need to have the highest, fastest, longer coaster anymore to deliver a great ride. Kondaa e.g. has quite a long stretch of track close to the ground which just serves the purpose of slowing the train down, so Intamin could go for Bunny hops instead of classical airtime hills in the end.

*with steel supports
 

Hixee

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I guess a different question then arises, of why China doesn't seem to build Hypercoasters.
Probably not the most thought-out answer from me, but - it's because not many people actually build hypers.

Since 2010 only 17 coasters in the world have been opened that are +200ft. Three of those are in China (18%). Only beaten in this period by the USA (for the record they built seven). That doesn't actually seem that crazy to me...

In fact, all three of those opened after 2015, which puts them up to nearly 25% of the total hyper coasters built in the world.

Dunno... I don't feel all that shocked by that for some reason...
 

Hyde

Matt SR
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I think you could find an even cheaper one: Tallest inclined loop. Should be a lot less of a hassle, seeing as you'd only have to beat, uh ... Riddler's Revenge, I think?

You raise an interesting question, though. I guess the reason why so few coasters launch into vertical loops is because the exit of the element is aligned with the entrance, which again has to be aligned with the launch track. The train exits the loop at approximately the same speed as it enters, meaning that a turnaround needs to take quite a lot of space too. In other words, you need a really long piece of land to build this arrangement. Then again, this could be mitigated a little with a swing launch, which is what Soaring With Dragon and Dueling Dragons do.
I’d actually just go for a straight world’s tallest inversion. Cedar point ironically got it with Gatekeeper's first dive drop, and then beat themselves with Valraven's large Immelmann. While kennywood currently has the record with Steel Curtain; any coaster above 200 only need work in a simple barrel roll to take the cake.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
^I do wonder if Thorpe/Merlin have ever considered modifying Stealth's top hat to become an inverting top hat.

I imagine from an engineering perspective it's wildly impractical and the equivalent of rebuilding the entire top hat structure, so this is slightly tongue in cheek, but to be able to lay claim to world's tallest inversion and first inversion over 200ft feels like a very Thorpe thing.


Related to that, what's Europe's tallest inversion. Could it be Hyperion's dive drop thing?
Whatever it is, feels like something which could be claimed eventually.
 
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