Millennium Force

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Millennium Force
First drop from Millennium Force

First drop from Millennium Force

Data
Location Cedar Point
( Ohio , USA )
Type Steel - seated
model Giga Coaster
Drive type Cable lift hill
Manufacturer Intamin
Designer Engineering firm Stengel
costs 25 million  US dollars
opening May 13, 2000
length 2010 m
height 95 m
Departure 91 m
Max. gradient 80 °
Max. speed 150 km / h
Max. acceleration 4.5 g
Travel time 2:20 min
capacity 1300 people per hour
Trains 3 trains, 9 cars / train, 2 rows of seats / car, 2 seats / row of seats
elements 95 m high lift
hill , 52 m high hill,
56 m high hill,
2 × tunnels
Inversions 0
Subject area Frontier Trail

Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster of the manufacturer Intamin in US amusement park Cedar Point in Sandusky , Ohio . It is the 14th roller coaster built in the park since Blue Streak in 1964 and, with an investment of 25 million US dollars, one of the most expensive facilities in the history of the park. When it was completed in 2000, Millennium Force broke several world records. It was the first of the Giga Coaster , those roller coasters that exceed a height of 300  feet (91 meters).

The railway extends over an area of ​​5.3  hectares and has a 2010 meter long track. The First Drop , which follows the 94 meter high and 45 degrees inclined lift hill, accelerates the trains to a top speed of 150 km / h. For the first time on a modern roller coaster, a cable driven by a winch was used to drive the lift hill instead of the usual circulating chain. Since cable lifts require less maintenance and are more powerful than conventional chain lifts, the concept was adopted for many other roller coasters. It was also the first roller coaster to use eddy current brakes .

history

announcement

Millennium Force was announced on July 22nd, 1999 as the world's tallest roller coaster, replacing previous record holder Fujiyama in Fuji-Q Highland , Japan . Don Miears, CEO of Cedar Point, said, " Millennium Force is taking the world to a whole new level of roller coaster riding". The train will cost $ 25 million and is the largest investment in Cedar Point's history. Millennium Force will be built in the Frontier Trail themed area and will replace the ferris wheel there , which will be rebuilt in another location in the park. The layout was designed by Cedar Point himself, Intamin and Werner Stengel .

Construction and opening

The second over-sloping curve

Construction work began in August 1999. The dismantling and rebuilding of the Ferris wheel began in October, on the last opening day of the season. The first of the 226 pillars were erected on October 11 at the later location of the final brake. 226 piles, each over 1.5 meters long, were driven into the ground; the longest stake was 17 meters long. The concrete work was carried out by Mosser Construction . The lift hill was completed in early January 2000.

Construction took seven months and involved 120 workers and engineers. The track was tested for two months. After the rails had closed, a train was manually pushed once over the entire route to ensure that the rail was properly processed. The trains were then fitted with water-filled dummies and tested. The first press conference was held on May 11, 2000, and the lift opened on May 13, 2000. In August, Cedar Point hired John Hancock and Associates and Stalker Radar to survey the altitude and speed of Millennium Force . The altitude measurement was 94.28 meters and the speed was 150 km / h. So was Millennium Force even announced by about 1.5 km / h faster than the park.

Early in the 2004 season, Millennium Force's restraint system was revised due to an incident at Bizarro in Six Flags New England . The new belts were shorter and some passengers had problems with them. During 2011, 2012 and 2013 Millennium Force received a repaint. In 2012 a new LED system was installed for lighting.

journey

Waiting area and ward

The entrance to Millennium Force is behind the station at Celebration Plaza on the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad Park Railroad . The queue runs between the last sloping curve of the layout and the station building. During the waiting time, the visitors are entertained by a disc jockey who complies with the wishes of those waiting as long as the desired music is family friendly. In 2012, the Cedar Fair Group's fast lane system was introduced, where visitors can buy a bracelet that allows them to queue in a separate, shorter queue. The system was previously tested at the group's Kings Island theme park , where it received positive feedback.

The Millennium Force station has two station platforms: one for loading and one for unloading passengers. Visitors get on and off while the third train is on the route. In the entry station there is also a separate queue for the first row of seats. In the stations, red fluorescent tubes are installed above the rails as ceiling lighting . The main theme of the Millennium Force soundtrack is also played in the station.

layout

A train is pulled up the lift hill by the cable lift

Millennium Force covers an area of ​​5.3 acres. The path runs initially parallel the shore of Lake Erie and then crosses a location in Park Island, which includes the log flume Shoot the Rapids and Dinosaurs Alive! houses. The route runs through two tunnels, three sloping curves and four airtime hills . The journey takes approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

While the passengers in the station get on the train, the towing carriage of the cable lift moves down the lift hill and locks under the middle car of the train. Once the train has been released by the station staff, the cable winch pulls the train up the 45-degree slope to a height of 94 meters at a speed of 24 km / h. The train descends the 91 meter high and 80 degrees inclined First Drop and reaches its top speed of 150 km / h. The train then negotiates the 52-meter-high bend, which is 122 degrees inclined, and goes through the first tunnel, before passing the park's border fence. Then the train drives over a 55 meter high airtime hill, on which the passengers experience weightlessness for a short time. The train then moves across a lagoon and then several times with the Dinosaurs Alive! to interact. This is followed by a 32 meter high 360-degree helix to the right, another over -sloping curve and the drive past Shoot the Rapids . After a small right turn and another airtime hill, the train leaves the island again. Then the passage takes place through the second tunnel, where the driving photo is taken. The train makes a left turn and a small hill and passes the queue. Finally, the train climbs the last, 21-meter-high, sloping curve above the queue and is then decelerated to walking speed by eddy current brakes . The passengers leave the train via the separate unloading station, after which the train can be boarded again at the second station.

technology

Trains

The last airtime hill

On the Millennium Force , three stainless steel trains in the colors red, blue and yellow are used. Each of the 19-ton trains has nine cars for four people each. The theoretical capacity is 1300 people per hour. The seats are arranged as stadium seating, which means that each seat is slightly higher than the seat in front of it. Hydraulic lap bars act as a restraint system with an additional seat belt that extends over the passenger's lap.

rail

Millennium Force's steel track is 2010 meters long and 94 meters high at its highest point, the top of the lift hill. The 229 pieces of rail, each weighing between 5 and 7.7 tons, are colored blue; the supports are silver. In order to save material and weight, the processed beams are hollow in all rail sections and supports. On the Millennium Force , two, three and four belt rails are used depending on the load.

lighting

The lift hill at night

Since its opening in 2000, the steel structure of the Millennium Force has been illuminated by a computer-controlled floodlight system in the evenings, depending on the time of year, between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm and 12:00 am to 1:00 am . Until 2012 the system consisted of 30 spotlights with 575 W metal halide lamps , which were positioned around the six towers of the lift hill and ran through a repeating 43-minute color sequence. In 2012, these were replaced by 46 powerful LED-based units, each with 90 to 180 colored 5 W light-emitting diodes .

Safety regulations

Due to the altitude and high speed, the Millennium Force is closed in bad weather such as rain, thunderstorm or storm. However, if there is only light rain, driving can continue.

The passengers must be between 1.20 and 2.00 meters tall to be allowed to ride; a minimum age is not required. Obese visitors are only allowed to ride if they can close the lap bar and put on the seat belt. Loose objects are not allowed on the train and passengers are required to wear outer clothing and shoes. Headphones must be removed before driving. The roller coaster ride is not recommended for pregnant women, recently operated on or visitors with other complaints.

Records

The two hills that lead over the lagoon and the island

At the time of its opening, Millennium Force broke several world records. It was the first roller coaster to use eddy current brakes instead of mechanical friction brakes and a cable lift instead of an ordinary chain lift. However, Millennium Force did not hold the record for the highest and fastest closed-track roller coaster for long, as it was replaced by Steel Dragon 2000 in Nagashima Spa Land , Japan, just four months after it opened . A little longer it was the highest and fastest roller coaster in Cedar Point: In 2003 the Top Thrill Dragster opened, which was also the highest and fastest roller coaster in the world.

In 2013, Millennium Force had the sixth highest lift hill, the seventh highest speed, the fourth longest track and the fifth highest descent on a steel rollercoaster in the world. It is also the longest steel roller coaster in North America.

Millennium Force broke the following records when it opened on May 13, 2000:

  • first roller coaster with a closed track that is over 91 meters (300 feet) high (thus first Giga Coaster )
  • highest roller coaster with closed track (94 meters)
  • longest descent of a roller coaster with a closed route (91 meters)
  • fastest roller coaster with closed track (150 km / h)
  • steepest element of a roller coaster that is not an inversion (122 °)
  • first roller coaster with cable lift
  • first roller coaster with eddy current brakes

influence

A train leaves the second tunnel

Millennium Force set new standards in roller coaster construction. Many more roller coasters with cable lifts were built after it, which requires less maintenance than a conventional chain lift, can carry higher loads and runs faster. After the Millennium Force , more roller coasters were also built that exceeded 91 meters (300 feet). Four years later the Top Thrill Dragster was opened in Cedar Point , which exceeded the height of 120 meters (400 feet) for the first time and was also built by Intamin AG , which only built the next Giga Coaster in 2010 with Intimidator 305 in Kings Dominion . Intimidator 305 has many similarities to Millennium Force : It also has a cable lift and a similar layout, instead of a lap bar but a shoulder bar.

reception

Millennium Force has one of the longest waiting areas in the park. Shortly after the opening, it was not uncommon for visitors to have to wait over four hours for the ride. The railway received mostly positive reviews from passengers. For many, the track is quiet and offers a lot of comfort. Others say, "It will scare you to death". In its first six years of operation, Millennium Force carried over ten million passengers. By August 2012 it had 21 million visitors. Werner Stengel has stated that of over 500 roller coasters that he has designed, Millennium Force is his favorite. Robb Alvey, founder of the Theme Park Review website , called the ride a "milestone in the history of roller coasters". Since 2001, Millennium Force has been voted the best steel roller coaster in the world ten times in the Golden Ticket Awards of Amusement Today magazine .

Web links

Commons : Millennium Force  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

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  3. ^ A b Susan Mitchell: Amusement Park Rides . Gareth Stevens Publishing, Pleasantville, New York 2009, ISBN 978-1-4339-2210-7 , pp. 8 .
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  5. ↑ Kim Bates: Coaster to toast record. Toledo Blade, July 23, 1999; accessed September 18, 2013 .
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  7. ↑ a b 310-Foot-Tall "Giga-Coaster" Nears End Of Construction. Ultimate Rollercoaster, March 9, 2000, accessed September 18, 2013 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e Fast Facts About Building Cedar Point's Millennium Force. Ultimate Rollercoaster.com, March 9, 2000, accessed September 15, 2013 .
  9. ↑ Walt Schmidt: 2000 Changes ramp up. PointBuzz, October 12, 1999, accessed on September 18, 2013 (English).
  10. ^ Chief executive appointed by Mosser Construction. Toledo Blade, December 19, 2000; accessed September 18, 2013 .
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  13. ↑ Cedar Point Snugs up Safety Belts. (No longer available online.) Toledo News Now, March 20, 2004, archived from the original on December 24, 2013 ; accessed on September 18, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.toledonewsnow.com
  14. ↑ Cedar Point Puts Size Limit On Coaster Riders. newsnet5.com, March 20, 2004, archived from the original on July 18, 2008 ; accessed on September 18, 2013 (English).
  15. ↑ Ryan Haidet: Cedar Point: Warm offseason boosts new projects. (No longer available online.) Wkyc.com, April 27, 2012, formerly in the original ; accessed on September 18, 2013 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.wkyc.com  
  16. ↑ a b CHAUVET® Professional Takes Cedar Point Guests on Colorful Rides. (No longer available online.) Chauvet Lightning, September 20, 2012, archived from the original on November 30, 2012 ; accessed on September 18, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chauvetlighting.com
  17. ↑ Live Family Entertainment. Cedar Point, accessed October 2, 2013 .
  18. ^ Susan Glaser: Pay to get in the Fast Lane and you'll wait less at Cedar Point: close to home. Cleveland.com, April 28, 2012, accessed October 2, 2013 .
  19. ↑ Susan Glaser: Amusement parks offer different ways of letting people skip long lines. Cleveland.com, July 30, 2011, accessed October 2, 2013 .
  20. ↑ a b c d Ride Policies and Procedures. Cedar Point, accessed September 22, 2013 .
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  22. ↑ Cedar Point Ohio: Millennium Force HD Theme / Station Music. Video on YouTube, January 1, 2010, accessed September 22, 2013 .
  23. ↑ A Whitewater Family Adventure Begins! Reuters, September 3, 2009, archived from the original on December 24, 2013 ; accessed on September 22, 2013 (English).
  24. ↑ Tom Jackson: Dinosaurs to roam at Cedar Point? Websites say so. Sandusky Register, August 7, 2011, accessed September 22, 2013 .
  25. ↑ a b c d e Millennium Force Fact Sheet. Ultimate Rollercoaster, July 22, 1999, accessed September 22, 2013 .
  26. ↑ a b c d e Duane Marden: Entry in the RCDB. RCDB.com, accessed September 18, 2013 .
  27. ↑ Cedar Point: Official Millennium Force POV. Video on YouTube, October 28, 2011, accessed September 18, 2013 .
  28. ^ HSS: Designs for the 21st century. (PDF; 184 kB) Steel Tube Institute, archived from the original on December 23, 2010 ; accessed on September 25, 2013 (English).
  29. ↑ EC-1 User Manual Version 2.1. (PDF; 2.76 MB) High End Systems, Inc., 1997, accessed on December 23, 2013 (English).
  30. ^ HES Scales New Heights by Lighting the Millennium Force. High End Systems, Inc., archived from the original on February 15, 2004 ; Retrieved December 23, 2013 .
  31. ↑ Rider high requirements. Cedar Point, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  32. ^ Guests with disabilities. Cedar Point, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  33. ↑ New Japanese coaster may top Cedar Point Ride. Toledo Blade, August 2, 2000, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  34. ↑ a b New Cedar Point ride to be tallest and fastest. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 11, 2003, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  35. ↑ Duane Marden: Steel coasters sorted by height. RCDB.com, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  36. ↑ Duane Marden: Steel coasters sorted by speed. RCDB.com, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  37. ↑ Duane Marden: Steel coasters sorted by length. RCDB.com, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  38. ^ Duane Marden: Steel roller coasters sorted according to the height of the descent. RCDB.com, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  39. ^ Duane Marden: Steel roller coasters in North America sorted by length. RCDB.com, accessed September 25, 2013 .
  40. ↑ Kings Dominion to Introduce 305-Foot Giga-Coaster In 2010. (No longer available online.) NewsPlex.com, August 20, 2009, archived from the original on February 16, 2013 ; accessed on October 2, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.newsplex.com
  41. ↑ Riding high in Ohio. (No longer available online.) Highbeam Business, July 1, 2001, archived from the original on September 23, 2013 ; accessed on October 2, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / business.highbeam.com
  42. ↑ Kathy Boccella: Millennium Force coaster reaches new heights on record-setting track. The Post and Courier, June 18, 2000, accessed March 7, 2015 .
  43. ^ Millennium Force. Ultimate Rollercoaster, accessed October 2, 2013 .
  44. ↑ Top 50 steel roller coasters. (PDF; 16.9 MB) Amusement Today, archived from the original on October 19, 2013 ; accessed on February 28, 2016 (English).
  45. ↑ Top 50 steel roller coasters. (PDF; 6.7 MB) Amusement Today, archived from the original on October 19, 2013 ; accessed on February 28, 2016 (English).
  46. ^ Cedar Point's Millennium Force. Travel Channel, accessed October 2, 2013 .
  47. ↑ Golden Ticket Awards 2015. (PDF; 15.8 MB) Amusement Today, accessed on February 28, 2016 (English).
This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on December 25, 2013 in this version .

Coordinates: 41 ° 28 ′ 53.8 "  N , 82 ° 41 ′ 16.9"  W.