Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), described as producing the “Ferraris” of roller coasters, is known for making some of the biggest and most intense roller coasters on the planet. From air time machines like Apollo’s Chariot (Busch Gardens Williamsburg) and Intimidator (Carowinds), to the inverts that let your feet soar through the air such as Silver Bullet (Knotts Berry Farm) and Nemesis (Alton Towers), and even coasters where riders stand up like Riddlers Revenge (Six Flags Magic Mountain) and Georgia Scorcher (Six Flags Over Georgia). The manufacturer has been known to pump out similarly designed coaster from year to year. But 2011, will be very different. Next year, the company will be producing just three coasters in 2011, two of which will be brand new ride systems and the third being an underused ride system with a unique layout. Lets take a look at what the park will be offering in 2011.
X-Raptor at Gardaland – It’s been nearly a decade since B&M last introduced a new ride system. The “flying coaster” set riders face down obscuring their view of the track and giving them the sensation of flying like a super hero. With X-Raptor at Gardaland, riders will again be set of from the track as they will ride on “wings” of the coaster that hang off the sides of the track. The ride style is similar to that of the Intamin AG’s Wing Rider and Arrow/S&S Power 4th Dimensional Coaster designs. B&M’s unique style of elements however will set this ride appart. X-Raptor will feature a lift hill just under 100 feet, two inversions, and multiple 90 degree turns over the half mile of track. The coaster will open late March and is being dubbed as “the most extreme coaster ever built in Italy”. At the moment it sure looks like this will hold true.
Check out the X-Raptor site by clicking here.
Krake at Heide Park – Heide Park is known for its award winning wooden coaster, Colosssos. But soon the park will be home to another beast, KRAKE. German for octopus, Krake, will be a new type of B&M Dive Machine. The coaster will be a smaller, more compact version of the two Busch Garden giants, SkeiKra and Griffon. Krake will feature a 41 meter (134 foot) drop, a splash down, across a 10,000 square meter construction site. Krake will feature the fifth version of B&M Dive Machine trains; arranged in 3 rows of 6, this more compact design should allow for a lighter train with the weight more distributed, and the ability for more compact elements. When compared to the other B&M Dive Machine trains, the cars seem quite basic with the models going 2*8, 3*8, 3*10 floorless, 3*8 floorless, and now 3*6. Krake will also use a new magnetic brake system that has never before been used on a dive machine. The park has yet to release a layout, so I am curious to see how all of these elements come together.
Starry Night Ripper at World Joyland – Talk about an awesome name, Starry Night Ripper is the last of the three B&M attractions being built this year. This flying coaster features a one of a kind layout with several lie to fly and fly to lie elements that haven’t been used since AIR at Alton Towers was introduced back in 2002. The ride starts with what looks like it will be the steepest drop on a flying coaster and the first B&M flyer where the first drop is not twisting. After the drop, riders will go into an egg turn that will push towards the heavens and pull them back down. The next element is a zero-g roll on crack. Instead of twisting 360 degrees, riders will flip a full 540 degrees and end up on their backs where they enter a oddly round vertical loop. Riders end up back on their backs and go into back to back corkscrews before one more helix into the break run. Starry Night Ripper looks flat out insane. It looks like Tatsu and Manta may have another competitor for the best Flying Coaster in the world with this chinese monster. The ride will open with the rest of the park in March of 2011.
Credit to tieba.baidu.com for the images and check out their site for more.
2011 certainly looks like it will be an excellent year for Bolliger and Mabillard. The company is producing three top notch attractions that are sure to be a crowd pleaser: X-Raptor, a completely new style of coaster coming to Gardaland; Krake, a new compact dive machine that is surrounded in mystery; and Starry Night Ripper (coolest name ever!), the massive B&M flyer that looks like the off spring of Tatsu and Air. Keep an eye out for these three attractions and we’ll keep you posted.