Skycoaster(Cedar Fair Parks)

Cedar Fair owns and operates many Skycoaster’s. They are (known as Xtreme Skyflyer at Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Canadas Wonderland and Californias Great America), (known as RipCord at Carowinds,Worlds of Fun, Valleyfair and Michigan's Adventure[1] ), (known as Professor Delbert’s Frontier Fling at Cedar Point), and also (known as SkyCoaster at Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort in New Braunfels, Texas). The Carowinds and Kings Island models opened in 1995, followed by the Canadas Wonderland, Valleyfair, Cedar Point, Worlds of Fun and Kings Dominion models in 1996, followed by California's Great America which opened their model in 1997, and followed by Michigan's Adventure and Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas which opened their models in 2002.[2][3] In order to ride the attraction, guests must pay an extra fee. As of 2020, this attraction changed from its 48" height restriction to 42" across all parks.

Skycoaster(Cedar Fair Parks)
The "arch" in 2011 at Canada's Wonderland
Canada's Wonderland
AreaGrande World Exposition of 1890
StatusOperating
Opening date1996
California's Great America
AreaHometown Square
StatusOperating
Opening date1997
Carowinds
AreaCelebration Plaza
StatusOperating
Opening date1995
Kings Dominion
AreaCandy Apple Grove
StatusOperating
Opening date1996
Kings Island
AreaAction Zone
StatusOperating
Opening date1995
Cedar Point
AreaFrontier Trail
StatusOperating
Opening date1996
ReplacedShoot the Rapids
Worlds of Fun
AreaAmericana
StatusOperating
Opening date1996
Michigan's Adventure
StatusOperating
Opening date2002
Valleyfair
StatusOperating
Opening date1996
General statistics
ManufacturerSkycoaster
ModelDual Swing
Participants per group1 - 3
DurationVaries (Anywhere around 3-5 minutes)
Height restriction42 in (107 cm)
CapacityTotal capacity varies
Single rider line available

The one at Geauga Lake was 100 ft(30.48 m) tall.

The ones at Kings Island, California’s Great America, Kings Dominion, Cedar Point and Carowinds are 153 ft(46.6 m) tall.

The one at Canada’s Wonderland is 173 ft(52.7 m) tall.

The one at Valleyfair is 180 ft(54.9 m) tall.

The ones at Michigan’s Adventure and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort in New Braunfels, Texas are 183 ft(55.8 m) tall.

The one at Worlds of Fun is 189 ft(57.6 m) tall.

Schlitterbahn New Braunfels

The Schlitterbahn New Braunfels version is located in the Blastenhoff Section of the park. FYI, it is not in the list to the right because there is no space.

Former

Geauga Lake in Aurora, Ohio had a SkyCoaster named "Ripcord" that operated from (1999-2007). It closed with the park and was sold for scrap. It was 100 ft(30.48 m) tall.

Structure

A Skycoaster is mainly made up of 5 parts. The first part is the "arch". This is where the cables holding the riders are attached to. The second parts are the two towers which hold the lift cables. When riders are ready to release the cable, they are at the top of either tower. The third part is the scissor lift which brings up and down riders from the cables. The fourth parts are the cables that hold the riders during the entire cycle. The final part is the lift cable which brings riders to the top of the ride giving riders the maximum experience.[4]

Ride experience

Riders first step onto a scissor lift, where they are raised into the loading position. Operators then hook the riders onto a cable that brings the riders to the top of the tower and a cable that holds the riders during the free-fall. Once the riders are securely attached to the cable and the operators say it is safe to operate, the scissor lift is brought down and the riders are pulled to the top of the tower. Once the riders reach the top, they must wait until the operator at the bottom says to "pull the cord". The operator will usually say "tower one / two: 3, 2, 1, fly." At this point, the rider at the far right (unless there is a single rider) must pull the cord releasing them from the lift cable. During the first drop, riders experience about 3 to 4 seconds of free-falling. After about 10 swings, an operator will lift a hydraulic cable with a loop at the top which then a rider will have to grab and hold on to. After grabbing the cable, the riders will come to a stop just above the scissor lift. The next riders will step onto the lift where the previous riders will be unloaded and they will be attached to the lift cable where the cycle begins again. One cycle can last anywhere between 3 and 5 minutes.[5][6]

References

  1. Herlad, Rock Hill (March 29, 2014). "2014 Carowinds season opens today". The State. Archived from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  2. "Carowinds Xtreme Skyflyer". Carowinds. Archived from the original on November 7, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  3. "Kings Island Xtreme Skyflyer". Kings Island. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  4. "Canada's Wonderland Xtreme Skyflyer Photo". JunSuk (Panoramio). Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  5. "Canada's Wonderland Xtreme Skyflyer POV". adpxbluff (Youtube). June 8, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  6. "Canada's Wonderland Xtreme Skyflyer POV 2". kemchho2003 (YouTube). August 8, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
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