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| Mellenuim Force |
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| We knew Cedar Point would do something outrageous for the new millennium, but this... this, my fellow Thrillseekers, is positively absurd. In 1989, Cedar Point blew us away with the Magnum XL-200, the first coaster to break the 200-foot height barrier. With its 205-foot-tall lift hill, Magnum was soon dubbed a "hypercoaster," a term that now designates any rail-rider with a max. height or drop of 200 feet or larger. Though still somewhat rare, hypercoasters can be found at parks around the world. Arrow Dynamics, the folks who gave us Magnum, went on to build Kennywood's Steel Phantom, Buffalo Bill's Desperado in Nevada, and the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England. Morgan Manufacturing is well-known for its hypercoaster trio: Valleyfair's Wild Thing, Dorney Park's Steel Force and Worlds of Fun's Mamba. Bolliger & Mabillard got into the act with their two new "Speed" hypercoasters, Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America and Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Togo whipped up its Manhattan Express "Heartline Spin" hypercoaster for the New York, New York Hotel in Las Vegas, and the current continuous-circuit coaster record-holder, the 259-foot-tall Fujiyama, for Fujikyu Highlands in Japan. Finally, Intamin just crashed the hypercoaster party with Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags Darien Lake. Come next May, though, "hypercoaster" will no longer suffice to describe the largest of such thrill rides. Just eleven years after Magnum's debut, Cedar Point will introduce the world's first "giga-coaster," a steel behemoth they've called Millennium Force. Ask yourself this question: Do I have the nerve to ride a coaster that stands 310 feet tall? And before you answer, further consider that the Force's initial plunge will be 300 feet, at a maximum angle of 80 degrees. That's just ten degrees shy of a completely vertical fall. After mentioning these details to several non-enthusiasts, they've openly questioned my sanity for even considering a trip on this monster. Engineered by Intamin AG, Millennium Force will be in a class all its own. We'll ride in a new, specially-designed two-row vehicle, with rear rows elevated "stadium-seating" style, so that passengers aft of the front row will have a better view of the terrors that lie ahead. And we'll be smoothly conveyed up the first 45-degree incline by a unique elevator cable system, rather than by a traditional chain lift. Even the mammoth silver support structure, incorporating more than 400 columns, is being designed from scratch. Once we've made that first stomach-clenching descent, we'll be traveling at 92 miles per hour, another first for a full-circuit coaster. The Force's 36-passenger train will then climb back to a height of 169 feet and careen through an "overbanked" 122-degree twist. If you're trying to imagine what that will feel like, tip your head over sideways until it's at a 90 degree angle to your computer screen. Now lean over even further, another 32 degrees... and picture that happening almost 170 feet off the ground... After surviving that element, we'll hurtle back down into a tunneled curve and make like a cruise missile back up to a 182-foot-tall pinnacle over a small creek. Plummeting down onto a wooded island, we'll spin around an 87-foot-high curve and plow back up for another 122-degree, overbanked curve, this time 100 feet above the terrain. Hopping back over the creek, the Force finishes us off with a second tunnel, an air-time producing rise, a final overbanked turn and a magnetically-activated brake run (a system also found on Superman: Ride of Steel). All told, the 6,595 feet of blue steel rails will take about 2 minutes and 45 seconds to navigate. To clear the 13-acre landmass this monumental contraption requires, the park's Giant Wheel is being reassembled on the other side of the park, next to the Disaster Transport enclosed bobsled coaster. And to better comprehend how Millennium Force will forever alter the Point's skyline, dig this height comparison chart below: Yes, both the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. and the Statue of Liberty can't match the vertical stature of this new landmark. Awesome, ain't it? And if you thought the Power Tower was as much as you could take, man, this puppy is bad news, indeed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Along with breaking several coaster records, Millennium Force, the single largest investment in the park's history, allows Cedar Point to claim even more leader-of-the-pack numbers: 1. The park will own more steel coasters, 12, than any other park in the world. 2. The total coaster tally will rise to 14, again, more than any other park can claim. 3. Last, the combined track length of all its coasters will measure up at 44,013 feet. Here's a nifty bit of trivia: If you wanted to build your own 310-foot-tall minaret out of soda cans, you'd need to scrounge up 744 of them to do so. Gulp! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . It's going to be a long winter, friends, but once the ground thaws and the next century's Season of Screams hits full swing, this barbaric delight will be waiting. Prepare to experience the Dark Side of the Force. www.thrillride.com |
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