Specific Type: MotoCoaster
|
Back in 2007, Darien Lake had decided it wanted something a bit different for the park's 2008 season. After running through a variety of options, the park finally opted for a coaster, but not just any old coaster, the park wanted to finally add its first launched coaster. Partnering with Orange County Choppers for naming rights for the coaster, Darien Lake opened the Orange County Choppers Motocoaster in 2008, complete with a promotional custom-painted OCC motorcycle, and a custom bike built for the park as a centerpiece for the ride.
Built by Zamperla, the coaster installed at Darien Lake is actually the prototype that Zamperla used for tuning and testing at their factory in Italy. When it opened, it became the first of Zamperla's "motorbike" coasters installed in the USA. Pony Express would open up at Knott's Berry Farm just a couple of days/weeks later, also a Zamperla Motorbike coaster (though with a Pony theme instead). It replaced the old pools near Darien Square in an attempt to move guests to different areas of the park. In 2010, the name was change from Orange County Choppers Motocoaster to just MotoCoaster after the contract with OCC expired. In 2011, Zamperla debuted a clone of this layout as the Steeplechase Coaster at the new Scream Zone expansion of Luna Park at Coney Island, NY. A ride on MotoCoaster starts off with guests first loading onto motorcycle-style seats, leaning forward, with a "back bar" securing riders in the riding position. Turning right out of the station, bikes are blasted from 0-38 mph in just 3 seconds. At top speed, the bikes break hard to the right and climb up to the ride's highest point (44 feet). Heading back towards the station from an elevated position, riders do a heavily banked U-turn. Upon exiting the U-turn, the train swings left, then right, then left again as it enters a shallow spiraling figure-eight element. Exiting the figure-eight, the train dips slightly as it shimmy's to the right, then left, and enters a second, longer figure-eight (180+ right, 180+ left, 180+ right), and into the final brake run. Not the most exciting of coasters, and the ride only hits top speeds for a brief time, but the coaster is perfect for families to ride together. |
©1998-2016 COASTER-net.com, All Rights Reserved.