A stand-up roller coaster is a roller coaster designed to have the passengers stand through the course of the ride. These roller coasters are very intense, and generally carry taller height restrictions than other rides.
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The first stand-up roller coasters in the world were actually built as standard roller coasters. Japanese manufacturer TOGO built Momonga Standing & Loop Coaster in 1979 for Yomiuri Land in Tokyo, Japan.[1] Three years later, TOGO built Dangai at the former Thrill Valley amusement park in Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan.[2] Both rides added stand-up trains in 1982, with Dangai opening one day before Momonga Standing & Loop Coaster.[2]
The first stand-up roller coaster in the United States was, like the Japanese roller coasters before it, a modified attraction. Arrow Dynamics built one of its signature corkscrew roller coasters, named Screamroller, at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri in 1976.[3] In 1983, Arrow designed a stand-up train for the attraction, which was subsequently renamed Extremeroller (also known as EXT).[3] However, the track and structure were never designed for stand-up trains, and the original sit-down trains were reinstalled in 1984, remaining in place until the attraction was removed in 1988.[3]
The 1984 season saw two stand-up roller coasters open in the United States. One was, like Extremeroller, yet another retrofit. The River King Mine Train was an Arrow-built roller coaster that opened with its park, Six Flags St. Louis, in 1971. Stand-up trains were added for 1984, and the attraction's name was changed to Rail Blazer.[4] However, like Extremeroller the season before, the track wasn't intended to use stand-up trains and, prior to the start of the 1985 season, the original trains and name were restored.[4] Also in 1984, 350 miles east of Six Flags St. Louis, Kings Island at Mason, Ohio opened the TOGO-designed King Cobra as the world's first purpose-built stand-up roller coaster. The attraction operated from 1984 to 2001.
The last new stand-up roller coaster to be constructed was Georgia Scorcher at Six Flags Over Georgia in 1999. In 2005, Batman: The Escape at the now-defunct Six Flags Astroworld was disassembled and placed in storage at Darien Lake.[5]
Three manufacturers—TOGO, Intamin AG and Bolliger and Mabillard—have constructed multiple stand-up roller coasters. TOGO's stand-up models feature cars that seat four passengers in two rows of two. Models from Intamin and B&M also seat four riders per car, but in a single four-abreast row.
On a standard roller coaster, the rider is held in their seat by some form of harness, such as a lap bar or an over-the-shoulder restraint. As stand-up roller coasters, by their design, do not have "seats," the harness system must both restrain and support the rider. Typical stand-up roller coaster harnesses are mounted on vertical posts, which allow the harness to adjust to riders of different heights. At the bottom is a seat resembling that on a bicycle, while at the top is an over-the-shoulder harness. TOGO models normally use a lap bar to further secure riders, while B&M models add a seat belt to connect the bicycle seat to the shoulder harness.
With some exceptions, stand-up roller coasters normally feature at least one inversion. These inversions can include vertical loops, incline loops, dive loops and corkscrews. Only one stand-up roller coaster, Shockwave at Drayton Manor Theme Park in the United Kingdom, includes a zero-gravity roll.
Name | Park | Manufacturer | Opened | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Momonga Standing & Loop Coaster | Yomiuri Land | TOGO | 1979 Stand-up trains added 1982 |
Operating |
Dangai | Thrill Valley | TOGO | 1982 or earlier Stand-up trains added 1982 |
Closed 2002 |
Extremeroller | Worlds of Fun | Arrow Dynamics | 1976 Stand-up trains added 1983, removed by 1984 |
Closed 1988 |
Rail Blazer | Six Flags St. Louis | Arrow Dynamics | 1971 Stand-up trains added 1984, removed by 1985 |
Operating |
Star Jet | Washuzan Highland | TOGO | 1986 Stand-up train added on or before 1998 |
Operating |
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