Dual-tracked roller coaster

Riders slap hands on the Racer at Kennywood

A dual-tracked roller coaster is a roller coaster which consists of two tracks. There are three types of dual-tracked roller coasters: racing, dueling, and Möbius Loop roller coasters.

Not all parks choose to operate both sides of their dual-tracked coasters; Rolling Thunder and Colossus are two examples of this. Other parks operate one side frontwards and one side backwards.

Variants

Dragon Challenge in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a dueling inverted roller coaster.

A racing roller coaster consists of two separate roller coasters that travel along parallel or mirrored tracks to simulate a race between the trains. The coaster trains travel along tracks just a few feet apart from one another. They often get close enough for riders to reach out and slap hands with riders on the opposite train, though this is extremely dangerous and can result in ejection from the park.

A dueling roller coaster features two (or more) roller coasters, usually with a similar layout, built close to each other. The rides are designed to do just as the name indicates: to duel. The coaster's layout often consists of strategic maneuvering to produce near-misses between the two coaster trains, designed to induce a greater adrenaline rush for the rider than a stand-alone roller coaster.

A Möbius loop roller coaster can be either a racing roller coaster or a dueling roller coaster. Its unique feature is that there is one continuous track instead of two separate ones. As a result, the station that a train leaves is not the same one to which it will return. One unusual case is Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain, a Möbius Loop type coaster where there is only one station - one cycle of the ride takes the train through both sides of the "Möbius Loop."

Examples

Coaster Name Park Location Track Type Builder Year Opened Notes
American Eagle Six Flags Great America United States Gurnee, Illinois Wooden Racing Intamin 1981 Tallest, fastest racing wooden roller coaster in the world.[1]
Batman & Robin: The Chiller Six Flags Great Adventure United States Jackson, New Jersey Steel Dueling Premier Rides 1997 Closed in 2007, currently in storage
Battlestar Galactica Universal Studios Singapore Singapore Sentosa, Singapore Steel Dueling Vekoma 2010 Battlestar Galactica closed in February 2013 due to technical issues, and reopened on 27 May 2015. Tallest duelling roller coaster in the world.
Dauling Dragon Happy Valley Wuhan China Wuhan, Hubei, China Wooden Racing Martin & Vleminckx 2012 China's first racing roller coaster. Designed by The Gravity Group.
Dragon Challenge Universal's Islands of Adventure United States Orlando, Florida Steel Dueling Bolliger & Mabillard 1999 Although this ride is listed as dueling, the individual tracks do not run synchronized due to a variety of incidents. Inverted roller coaster.
Gemini Cedar Point United States Sandusky, Ohio Steel Racing Arrow Dynamics 1978 With wood structure.
Grand National Blackpool Pleasure Beach United Kingdom Blackpool, Lancashire Wooden Möbius loop Charles Paige 1935
Gwazi Busch Gardens Tampa Bay United States Tampa, Florida Wooden Dueling Great Coasters International 1999 Closed in 2015. Only the Lion side was operating as of 2012.
Joris en de Draak Efteling Netherlands Kaatsheuvel Wooden Racing Great Coasters International 2010
Lightning Racer Hersheypark United States Hershey, Pennsylvania Wooden Dueling Great Coasters International 2000
Matterhorn Bobsleds Disneyland United States Anaheim, California Steel Arrow Dynamics 1959 Weaves around and through a replica of the Matterhorn. World's first tubular steel roller coaster.
Max Adventures Master Thai Mirabilandia Italy Italy Steel Möbius loop Preston & Barbieri 2011 Riders simultaneously board on both halves of the Möbius loop.
Milky Way Mitsui Greenland Japan Arao, Kumamoto Steel Racing Senyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. 1991 Stand-up roller coaster
Le Monstre La Ronde Canada Montréal, Québec Wooden Racing William Cobb & Associates 1985/86 One track opened in 1985, the other in 1986
Montaña Rusa La Feria Chapultepec Mágico Mexico Mexico City Wooden Möbius loop National Amusement Device Company 1964
The Racer Kings Island United States Mason, Ohio Wooden Racing Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters 1972 Credited for starting the "Second Coaster Boom". One train formerly ran backwards until 2008. World's fastest racing coaster (1972–1976).
Racer Kennywood United States West Mifflin, Pennsylvania Wooden Möbius loop Charile Mach 1927
Ramses Parque de Atracciones de Zaragoza Spain Zaragoza Steel Racing Safeco 2002 Opened in 1987 at Parque de Atracciones de Montjuic, named as "Vikingo". It stayed until the park's closure in 1998, and reopened with a new theming, location and name in 2002. First half pipe roller coaster evwr built in a park.
Rebel Yell Kings Dominion United States Doswell, Virginia Wooden Racing Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters 1975 One train formerly ran backwards until 2008.
Rolling Thunder Six Flags Great Adventure United States Jackson, New Jersey Wooden Racing William Cobb & Associates 1979 Ride has two tracks in a figure 8 pattern, but the hills are arranged differently on each track. Closed in 2013 to make way for Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom.
Stampida PortAventura Park Spain Salou, Tarragona Wooden Racing Custom Coasters International 1997
Space Mountain Magic Kingdom United States Lake Buena Vista, Florida Steel Arrow Dynamics 1975 Oldest operating roller coaster in Florida.
Thunder Road Carowinds United States Charlotte, North Carolina Wooden Racing Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters 1976 Crosses the North Carolina/South Carolina state line. One train formerly ran backwards until 2008. Closed and demolished in 2015.
Twisted Colossus Six Flags Magic Mountain United States Valencia, California Steel Möbius loop Rocky Mountain Construction 1978 (as Colossus) With wood structure. Formerly known as Colossus; closed on August 16, 2014 after 36 years of operation. Opened on May 23, 2015 as Twisted Colossus. Unlike most "Möbius loop" racing/dueling coasters, Twisted Colossus has one station and trains go through both sides of the "Möbius loop" on one cycle. The original Colossus was a traditional two-track racing wooden coaster.
Vertigorama Parque de la Ciudad Argentina Buenos Aires City Steel Racing Intamin 1983 Standing but not operating. Track was completed but electrical was never finished. Thus, the coaster never opened.
Vleermuis Plopsaland De Panne Belgium De Panne, West Flanders, Belgium Steel Racing Caripro 2000 Suspended roller coaster.
Windjammer Surf Racers Knott's Berry Farm United States Buena Park, California Steel Racing TOGO 1997 Closed in 2000 due to various problems.

References

  1. "Six Flags Great America: American Eagle Coaster Goes Backwards". 2012-06-03. Archived from the original on 2012-06-03. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
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