Stratacoaster

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A stratacoaster is a closed-circuit roller coaster with a maximum height between 400-499 feet. The first strata coaster ever built was Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point at a height of 420 feet. The roller coaster Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain was the first ride to break the 400-foot barrier, but is not considered a stratacoaster due to the fact that it is a shuttle roller coaster and its cars never actually reach 400 feet.

[edit] Existing stratacoasters

As of 2006, two stratacoasters have been built worldwide, the first being Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point, which opened in 2003. For the 2005 season, Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure opened with a record breaking height of 456 feet. Both rides were built by Intamin AG of Switzerland who adopted and attributed the term "stratacoaster."

[edit] Designs

Intamin's Accelerator Coaster design (also known as the Rocket Coaster design) uses hydraulic fluid to catapult trains down an extended portion of horizontal track before completing the rest of the ride. Unlike the reverse shuttle design which is restricted to a single launch and tower, the accelerator coaster can do any number of other maneuvers and elements after the initial launch, the most common being the top hat. There have been 9 coasters of this design built, but only two qualify as stratacoasters. As of 2005, the maximum height and speed achieved by this design is 456 feet and 128 miles per hour, both on Kingda Ka.

Roller coaster classification by Height
Hypercoaster	Gigacoaster	Stratacoaster
200-299 feet	300-399 feet	400-499 feet