Rita (roller coaster)
| Rita | |
|---|---|
 As Rita: Queen of Speed (2005-2009) | |
| Alton Towers | |
| Park section | Dark Forest |
| Coordinates | 52°59′06″N 1°53′26″W / 52.985022°N 1.890515°WCoordinates: 52°59′06″N 1°53′26″W / 52.985022°N 1.890515°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | April 1, 2005 |
| Cost | £8,000,000 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel – Launched |
| Manufacturer | Intamin |
| Designer | Werner Stengel |
| Model | Accelerator Coaster |
| Track layout | Steel twister |
| Lift/launch system | Hydraulic Launch |
| Height | 68.9 ft (21.0 m) |
| Drop | 52 ft (16 m) |
| Length | 2,099.8 ft (640.0 m) |
| Speed | 61.1 mph (98.3 km/h) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 0:49 |
| Max vertical angle | 53° |
| Capacity | 1150 riders per hour |
| Acceleration |
0 − 61.1 mph in 2.5 seconds 10.92 m/s2 or 1.11 g |
| G-force | 4.7 |
| Height restriction | 55 in (140 cm) |
 Single rider line available | |
|
Rita at RCDB Pictures of Rita at RCDB | |
Rita (formerly known as Rita: Queen of Speed) is an Intamin accelerator coaster located in the Dark Forest area of Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. Open since 2005, it accelerates to 61.1 mph in 2.5 seconds. The ride is loosely based on drag racing, though this partly changed with the retheming of "Ug Land" into the "Dark Forest" in 2010. It now stands as an abandoned drag racer that is used as the escape cart to escape the Dark Forest. Riders must be over 1.4 m (55 in) tall to ride. In 2006 a similar coaster opened at Thorpe Park, called Stealth.
The ride was temporarily renamed "Camilla - Queen of Speed" on 9 April 2005 to celebrate the marriage of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles. This simply involved banner signage to notify guests of the name change.[1]
Ride experience
Rita was Alton Towers' new attraction for the 2005 season. The ride starts with the train racing forward from the station area. The train is then accelerated from 0–61.1 mp/h in 2.5 seconds, and negotiates high speed corners and hills before then reaching the brake run parallel with the station. The ride has since been partly rethemed to support the theme of nearby Thirteen which opened in March 2010. The ride control cabin and entrance have been refurbished to look 'engulfed' by the branches of the Dark Forest area. As well as the control cabin and Rita tyres being rethemed to suit the Dark Forest, the cars have been rethemed with a darker grey tint to the bottom of the cars with forest stains over the flames to make it fit. It still has the blue and purple cars with flames but with a tint of grey to make Rita look damaged by the supernatural forest.
The voiceover heard before the ride launches is also changed to incorporate a more spooky theme. As opposed to a motor racing commentary-style voice counting down to the start of a drag race, it is now a sinister, foreboding voice ordering passengers to "Keep your head back! Hold on tight! You MUST escape! Go! Go! Go!".
Incidents
On the morning of Tuesday 24 July 2012, the ride's launch cable snapped during morning testing while attached to an empty train. This also happened in 2005. No injuries were reported, but the incident was similar to the 2009 failure of the Xcelerator rollercoaster's launch cable in the United States.
The ride re-opened on Thursday 26 July, 2012.
References
- ↑ Rita renamed http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=143421
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rita (roller coaster). |
- Rita at the Roller Coaster DataBase
- Rita info and pictures at the Alton Towers Guide (Link Updated 19/06/2013)
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