Specific Type: Impulse Coaster
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In 1999, Intamin AG introduced a new concept to the thrillride industry: A steel inverted coaster which used Linear Induction technology to launch a train forwards and backwards along a U-shaped vertical course consisting of two 18-story towers. It opened in Japan as Linear Gale, dubbed an Impulse Coaster by Intamin. The next year, the concept came to America, but with a twist - the first ever completely vertical twist, that is, opening as Steel Venom [then Superman: Ultimate Escape] and the next year as V2: Vertical Velocity at two other parks in the USA. But in 2002, the concept was taken to a whole new level at the park that revolutionizes the industry with each coaster addition - Cedar Point. The Wicked Twister opened on May 5th, 2002 at the Sandusky, Ohio park as a 215-foot tall version of the Impulse Coaster, with two vertical twists, taken both forwards and in reverse. The Twister is also Cedar Point's third coaster over the 20-story mark, the first being the very oldest coaster which passed that boundary - the Magnum XL-200. And like CP's other two hyper and giga coasters, Wicked Twister adds another exceptional element to the ride - a scenic setting - with the yellow and teal course just yards from Lake Erie.
The ride begins with the boarding of the magenta-and-blue 32-passenger train, the securing of yellow over-the-shoulder restraints, and a depart on a 50-MPH first launch - a teaser for what's to come. Falling backwards, a second burst of LIM's propell the train to 63 MPH, then riders get to watch the ground fall and twist below before the direction reverses again. Flying through the bottom section of the layout again and accelerating 6 more miles an hour, the train flys up over the 'Point's Disaster Transport and puts the Twister in Wicked Twister, yellow track rotating 450-degrees to the sky and abruptly ending. After falling back down in reverse, the ride hits it's top 72-MPH speed and then climbs up the back spike once more, getting maximum twistage out of the track. The ride decelerates gradually with one more forward trip and then comes to a halt. |
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