Great News Article

Hey, I dont know if anyone saw the major, 9 page article on Millenium Force in Sundays Plain Dealer, but it had some interesting things to say. It said that MF will be the tallest coaster for 12 weeks until and unnamed coaster in Japan takes the record. Also a quote from the paper "AN IMMEDIATE PROBLEM WAS SPACE" sorry Jeff. "Cedar Point was running out of room" "Early on park officials played a lighthearted cat-and-mouse game with these hard-core coaster fans: Spreading false rumors and tantalizing misinformation, trying to keep the ride under wraps" those little.... :-) One more tidbit "One concept quickly rejected, however, was use of the new linear-induction motors" looks like we wont be seeing one of those. One question, how tall is that coaster in Japan going to be? My teachers brother said that when you are sitting in the back seat, it feels like the car is going to flip up over the front. I got this information from The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine May 7, 2000.

Yes, I read that. The "space problem" only had to do with finding room for the pullout on a 310-foot coaster. That problem was caused by using the over-banked turn.

I've said it a hundred times... there is no space problem.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Park visits May 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, etc...

HeHe yes I know, I just had to bring it up. Sorry. The paper said something about the pull out of a high rollercoaster has to be large, and that was a problem. However, I'd say they handled it quite well.

Jeff, did you meant to say the problem was "caused" by the overbanked turn, or "solved" by the overbanked turn?

-- Harley

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CP fan since 68.

I was thinking solved myself.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but they haven't even started construction on the Nagashimi Coaster, have they? Originally, it was supposed to open in August, but latest rumors are that it won't open 'till 2001. Also, there's no confirmation on the height of it yet. It's just "over 300 ft."

Jman

I'm beginning to think the coaster in Japan may be about the same hieght and speed of MF. That's why they haven't released the information. They don't want to be embarassed.

They could redesign some of it in two years couldn't they?

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Millennium Force will be the next to sink!

The ride in Japan can't be nuch taller than MF because if they were to go any farther it would be too intense for the body. That brings up the fact that roller coasters can only be so intense, unless they figure something out to prevent it.

I'll say that I think it's just a hair shorter than MF, purely because they havn't said anything yet. Wouldn't they want to steal some of the thunder from CP and get some attention themselves?
Also, how is it that in the last 10 years since Magnum, coasters have only gone up about 50 feet or so. Now all of a sudden, in the same year 2 coasters bump up 50 feet?

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"the Force of the new Millennium will be felt by those who choose to seek it."

If they put brakes on a hill(like they did on Mean Streak) over MF's height it would be safe. Another way is to have it very high but two hills to make it less intense(such as the first hill of mine ride).

I'm sorry, but the forces exerted by a ride have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with either the height or the top speed. It's all in the profile. You could go up 1,000 feet which in an ideal world would get you about 170 mph if you wanted to. The challenge is to make the pull-out large enough that you can keep the forces under control when you go through the curve. The problem with that is that you end up with a pull-out curve radius so big that you don't have room for it. Well, Michigan's Adventure might have enough space (just look at Shivering Timbers...) but most parks don't have a corridor long enough for a *huge* pull-out.
For reference, I believe the pull-out curve on Superman: The Escape at Magic Mountain has a radius of about 350 feet, so as to limit the forces applied at 100 mph. That means a pull-out and rise to a second hill at 100 mph would need about 700 linear feet of run-out space...

I think Millennium Force is close to that, isn't it? Someone measure that with an odometer when driving around the Perimeter Road; see if it's longer than 528 feet (0.1 mile) from the start of the pull-out to the top of the second hill...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.