china’s first wooden rollercoaster ::
Saturday, May 16th, 2009:: with the media focused on more pressing matters the last month or so, Martin & Vleminckx Rides and The Gravity Group’s latest project – China’s first wooden roller coaster – hasn’t made much of an impact.
Despite the coaster being fully operational, albeit for testing, it will be at least another two months before it’s opened to the public. Follow the coaster’s build progress via The Gravity Group’s feed, or in the ThemeParkReview.com forums.
The coaster’s inaugural run was on April 30, 2009, with a select group of engineers and staff riding the track roughly 1200 meters.
Some stats on the coaster (from the Gravity Group’s Web site)
- 108 feet (33m) tall
- first drop of 104 feet (32m)
- 3,819 feet (1164m) of twisted track
- top speed of 56 mph (90 km/h)
- ten track crossovers
- two road crossovers
The coaster is being built in the confusingly named Happy Valley in Shanghai’s Sheshan area, for Shenzhen’s OCT Property Group. (There is another, more famous Happy Valley in Hong Kong.) This won’t be OCT’s first resort, they’ve been building parks throughout China since early 1998. The park will also feature an innovative 5 star hotel built into the back of an old quarry, as well as a number of other attractions. Shanghaiist has a small writeup about that project here. Happy Valley is set to open around mid July, and the wooden coaster looks like it will take star billing. Visitors will be able to get to the park once it opens, via metro on Line 9, with shuttle buses departing for the park from the Metro station. // XD
Photo’s provided by Martin & Vleminckx Rides
[Xiao Du (小杜) is a guest contributor on 56minus1]
