About this time of the year, slight upturns in temperature tempt one to think of summer activities. As thoughts turn slowly but surely toward planning for warm weather fun, we here at 1812Blockhouse have been known to share news about improvements and changes underway at some of your favorite summer attractions here in Richland County and also further afield.
And, as hundreds of Mansfield-area folk make their way to Sandusky and Cedar Point, that always includes a look at what’s new there. This year there’s yet another major roller coaster story to share – say hello to Steel Vengeance.
Cedar Point’s FrontierTown will be transformed when Steel Vengeance – the tallest, fastest and longest hybrid roller coaster in the world – opens this spring. At more than 200 feet tall, the new hybrid design combines a steel running track on a massive wooden structure that provides an extremely smooth and comfortable ride while enabling the coaster’s trains to perform maneuvers previously unheard of on a wooden roller coaster.
The Wildest Ride Cedar Point Has Ever Built
Steel Vengeance will offer riders unmatched intensity through a relentless series of dynamic movements on this innovative coaster. Riders will board one of three trains and climb 205 feet above FrontierTown. Once they crest the lift hill, they’ll be staring straight down a 90-degree initial drop and a 200-foot fall to earth. Multiple airtime hills follow, including the world’s fastest airtime hill ever created on a hybrid roller coaster, and a 116-foot-tall outer-banked hill placing riders on an outward tilt while moving forward.
Steel Vengeance will also debut the first-of-its-kind “Twisted Snake Dive.” In this new maneuver, the coaster’s train will enter a half-barrel roll, hang upside-down for a brief moment and then turn back in the direction of travel, not completing a full roll. The coaster’s figure-eight layout will create a fast-paced journey with multiple airtime hills, twists and dives, overbanked turns and surprise maneuvers. The entire ride will last approximately 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
“This is another roller coaster that only Cedar Point could build – tallest, fastest and longest of its kind with four inversions and the exciting movements the hybrid design can achieve,” said Jason McClure, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. “There are so many unexpected moments on Steel Vengeance, it’s just plain twisted. It’ll be an extremely wild experience for our guests.”
The World’s First “Hyper-Hybrid”
Steel Vengeance introduces a new classification of roller coaster – the “hyper-hybrid.” The coaster not only combines a hybrid construction of smooth steel track set atop a wood support structure, but also reaches a height of over 200 feet – the defining feature of a “hyper-coaster.” It marks the fourth classification of roller coaster introduced by Cedar Point as the park’s ever-higher roller coasters have needed new categories to define them.
Previous roller coasters that were world’s firsts include Magnum XL-200 – a “hyper-coaster,” a term given to any roller coaster that breaks a 200-foot height; Millennium Force – the world’s first “giga-coaster,” a coaster eclipsing a 300-foot height; and Top Thrill Dragster – the world’s first “strata-coaster,” soaring over 400 feet tall.
Another World Record Breaker
With the addition of Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point will once again shatter both roller coaster and amusement park records. These records include:
- World’s tallest hybrid roller coaster (205 feet)
- World’s fastest hybrid roller coaster (74 mph)
- World’s steepest drop on a hybrid roller coaster (90 degrees)
- World’s longest drop on a hybrid roller coaster (200 feet)
- World’s longest hybrid roller coaster (5,740 feet)
- Most inversions on a hybrid roller coaster (4)
- Fastest airtime hill on a hybrid roller coaster (73 mph)
- Most airtime on a hybrid roller coaster (27.2 seconds)
- Most airtime on any roller coaster (27.2 seconds)
- World’s first “hyper-hybrid” roller coaster
- Most roller coaster track at one amusement park (60,423 feet/11.4 miles)
- Most steel roller coaster track at one amusement park (57,865 feet/11 miles)
- Most roller coasters over 200 feet tall at one amusement park (6)
- Most rides at one amusement park (71)
- Most roller coasters with a first drop of 90 degrees or more at one amusement park (5)
Steel Vengeance is being constructed by the roller coaster engineers and builders at Rocky Mountain Construction, an Idaho company that specializes in the reconstruction and re-imagination of traditional wooden roller coasters.
We invite you to take a virtual ride on the new coaster in the video below. It’s not for the faint of heart!
Source: Cedar Fair
