T3 (roller coaster)

T3
Previously known as T2
Kentucky Kingdom
Coordinates 38°11′39″N 85°44′49″W / 38.194136°N 85.747009°WCoordinates: 38°11′39″N 85°44′49″W / 38.194136°N 85.747009°W
Status Testing
Opening date 1995
General statistics
Type Steel – Inverted
Manufacturer Vekoma
Model SLC (662m Prototype)
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 101.7 ft (31.0 m)
Length 2,171.9 ft (662.0 m)
Speed 49.7 mph (80.0 km/h)
Inversions 5
Duration 1:36
Capacity 900 riders per hour
Trains 3 trains with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in a single row for a total of 14 riders per train.
T3 at RCDB
Pictures of T3 at RCDB

T3 (pronounced "T-three" or "Terror to the third power") is an inverted steel roller coaster under refurbishment at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky. Previously named T2, the Suspended Looping Coaster model manufactured by Vekoma opened in 1995. In the midst of financial difficulties, the amusement park closed in 2010, and T2 has not operated since. The park partially reopened in 2014 and announced plans to renovate the roller coaster, giving it a new look and new ride experience. The refurbished ride will be named T3 and is expected to reopen in mid-May 2015.

History

The concept of an inverted roller coaster with inversions was developed by Jim Wintrode, the general manager of Six Flags Great America, in the 1990s.[1][2] To develop the idea, Wintrode worked with Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard – from Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard – and engineer Robert Mampe to develop Batman: The Ride which opened in 1992.[1][3] Dutch amusement ride manufacturer Vekoma set about developing their own Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) shortly after. El Condor debuted at Six Flags Holland (now Walibi Holland) in 1994 as the world's first Vekoma SLC.[4]

In 1995, nine parks around the world announced plans to add Vekoma SLCs,[5] with the Themeparks LLC-operated Kentucky Kingdom being one of them.[6] The ride would be identical to the original prototype installed in Six Flags Holland but would feature a red colour scheme with purple trains.[6][7][8] T2 officially opened to the public in 1995.[6]

T2‍ '​s station retains the red colour scheme originally used for the ride

At the end of 1997, the rights to operate Kentucky Kingdom were sold to Premier Parks for $64 million.[9] On April 1, 1998, Premier Parks purchased Six Flags from Time Warner, and as such, in June 1998, Kentucky Kingdom became known as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.[9] As part of the rebranding of the park, Six Flags' licensed properties of Batman and DC Comics would be added to the park in the form of a Gotham City themed area. The area would consist of a Penguin-themed river rapids ride named The Penguin's Blizzard River, a Batman stunt show, Riddler's Revenge (a renamed and rethemed Chang), and Batman: The Ride (a renamed and rethemed T2).[10][11] Prior to the 1999 season, T2 was repainted black, and Chang was repainted lime green with the support columns coloured violet.[12][13] However, the plans for The Penguin's Blizzard River were the only ones to eventuate, with the park abandoning the Gotham City themed area and only installing the second-hand rapids ride from the shuttered Opryland USA amusement park.[14]

T2 operated in its black colour scheme until the end of the 2009 season on October 31. Amid a corporate bankruptcy, on February 4, 2010, Six Flags announced the park would cease operations immediately due to the rejection of an amended lease by the Kentucky State Fair Board.[15] From May 2010, many attempted to negotiate terms to reopen the park. The former operator of Kentucky Kingdom, Ed Hart, along with several other investors formed the Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company who aimed to reopen the park as soon as possible.[16][17][18] However, after 16 months of negotiations the plans were abandoned.[19][20][21][22] The Koch Family, the owners of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, also expressed their interest in redeveloping the park.[23][24] On February 23, 2012, the Kentucky Fair Board approved a lease agreement which would see the park operate as Bluegrass Boardwalk. The plans detailed T2, along with the Twisted Twins, would be removed due to their old age and for safety reasons.[25][26] However, within the month the plans began to unravel with the Koch family eventually withdrawing.[27]

On June 27, 2013, it was announced that Ed Hart's group had negotiated an agreement and would spend $36 million to reopen the park in May 2014. They also announced plans to reopen T2 in 2015 following a complete makeover.[28] It was later announced that the renovated ride would operate under the name T3.[29][30] The refurbished ride will feature new trains and a new ride experience.[31]

Characteristics

The 2,171.9-foot-long (662.0 m) T3 stands 101.7 feet (31.0 m) tall. With a top speed of 49.7 miles per hour (80.0 km/h), the ride features five inversions including a roll over, sidewinder and a double in-line twist.[6] The ride is a clone of the first Vekoma SLC (El Condor at Six Flags Holland).[4][6]

T3 originally featured three trains. Each of these trains would seat 20 riders in ten rows of two. Despite this, the ride only ever operated with two trains at any one time, with the third train stored in the maintenance bay. This gave the ride a theoretical hourly capacity of 900 riders per hour. All of the trains were later shorted from ten rows down to seven rows, reducing each trains capacity to 14 riders. The third train was later removed from the ride with its ultimate fate unknown.[6]

Ride experience

One of T2‍ '​s trains going through the sidewinder element

Once the train is loaded and secured, it departs the station directly onto the 101.7-foot-tall (31.0 m) chain lift hill. Once at the top, the train goes down a steep, banked turn to the right where it enters the first inversion element, a roll over.[6][32] A roll over (also known as a Sea serpent roll) inverts riders twice by featuring an Immelmann loop quickly followed by a Dive Loop.[33] Upon exit from this element, the train goes up a hill which features some banking at the top before descending and approaching the ride's next inversion, a sidewinder.[6][32] A sidewinder is similar to an Immelmann loop however it features a half loop followed by a half corkscrew (rather than an inline twist).[34] From the exit of this sidewinder, the train goes into a sharp helix before entering the ride's final two inversions in the form of a double inline twist.[6][32] A banked curve to the right turns the train back around to face towards the station with a slight hill leading into the brake run.[32]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Coaster Landmark Award - Batman: The Ride". American Coaster Enthusiasts. June 20, 2005. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ O'Brien, Tim (March 24, 2003). "In my office: Jim Wintrode". Amusement Business 115 (12).
  3. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Batman The Ride  (Six Flags Great America)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Marden, Duane. "El Condor  (770)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  5. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Roller Coaster Search Results  (Model Line = SLC)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Marden, Duane. "T2  (Kentucky Kingdom)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ "T2, Kentucky Kingdom 1995". YouTube. March 15, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ Marden, Duane; Nocito, James M. "T2 - Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom (Louisville, Kentucky, USA)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Kleber, John E. (2000). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. p. 32. ISBN 0-8131-2100-0.
  10. ↑ O'Brien, Tim (November 2, 1998). "Premier Converts More To Six Flags". Amusement Business 110 (44): 3, 44.
  11. ↑ Cowen, Chris. "1999". Theme Park Timelines. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  12. ↑ Marden, Duane; Valt, Martin (June 16, 2008). "T2 - Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom (Louisville, Kentucky, USA)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Chang – Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom". CoasterGallery.com. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Kentucky Kingdom". Coaster-Net. March 1, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Kentucky Kingdom Rejects Lease Park to Close". RCDB. February 4, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Kentucky Kingdom will not re-open until 2012". WDRB. October 28, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Kentucky Kingdom gets a new boss". Fox 41. May 28, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  18. ↑ "New Owner Approved For Kentucky Kingdom". News Channel 5. Associated Press. May 28, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  19. ↑ Karman, John R. (July 26, 2010). "Fair board strikes deal for Kentucky Kingdom property". Business First. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  20. ↑ Shafer, Sheldon S. (July 25, 2010). "Kentucky fair board OKs deal to get Six Flags land, rides". Courier Journal. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  21. ↑ Shafer, Sheldon (August 24, 2011). "Kentucky Kingdom gets boost". Courier-Journal. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  22. ↑ Karman, John (November 4, 2011). "Company sues state to recoup Kentucky Kingdom investment". Business First. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  23. ↑ Gazaway, Charles (January 16, 2012). "Holiday World owners involved in Kentucky Kingdom talks". Wave 3 News. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  24. ↑ Smith, Heather (February 7, 2012). "Holiday World family forms new company to explore Kentucky Kingdom options". Wave 3 News. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  25. ↑ Brown, Joey (February 23, 2012). "Kentucky Kingdom reopening as Bluegrass Boardwalk in May 2013". Wave 3 News. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  26. ↑ Gazaway, Charles. "Tentative opening date for Bluegrass Boardwalk". Wave3.com. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  27. ↑ Green, Marcus (June 15, 2012). "Bluegrass Boardwalk drops plan to reopen Kentucky Kingdom". Courier Journal (Gannett Company). Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Kentucky Kingdom operators announce expansion plans for amusement park reopening in 2014". Washington Post (The Washington Post Company). Associated Press. June 28, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  29. ↑ Macdonald, B., Bedraggled Kentucky Kingdom theme park gets a multimillion dollar redo, Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2014.
  30. ↑ Finley, Marty (September 25, 2014). "Kentucky Kingdom to expand rides, hours in 2015". Louisville Business First. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Kentucky Kingdom announces plans for 2015". Amusement Today. October 1, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 "T2 Front Row Seat on-ride POV Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom". Coaster Force. YouTube. February 9, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  33. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Roll Over". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  34. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Sidewinder". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved December 14, 2010.

External links