Status Operating Cost $1,750,000 USD Manufacturer Arrow Dynamics Height 26 m Opened 15 May 1976 | Opening date May 15, 1976 Type Steel Designer Ron Toomer Max speed 77 km/h | |
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Address 1 Cedar Point Dr, Sandusky, OH 44870, USA Hours Open today · 11AM–10PMMonday11AM–10PMTuesday11AM–10PMWednesday11AM–10PMThursday11AM–10PMFriday11AM–10PMSaturday11AM–10PMSunday11AM–10PM Similar Gemini, Iron Dragon, Raptor, Blue Streak, Magnum XL‑200 | ||
Corkscrew is a steel roller coaster built by Arrow Development at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. When built in 1976, it was the first roller coaster in the world with 3 inversions. The coaster, which features Arrow's first vertical loop, was built during the same time period as The Great American Revolution at Magic Mountain. However, Revolution opened seven days prior and is therefore credited as the first modern-day coaster to feature a vertical loop.
Contents
General
The ride's station is located on the midway directly across from Top Thrill Dragster, between Power Tower and Magnum XL-200. Corkscrew was the first coaster to have inversions featuring a walkway underneath. It consists of an elevated station that houses the cars, in combinations of red & white, white & blue, and blue & white: a color scheme inspired by the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, the year the ride was introduced.
Ride experience
Riders leave the station when the ride operator releases the pneumatic station brakes. The slight decline of the station allows the car to roll out down a small drop and around a declining 180 degree curve until the train reaches the chain lift. The lift operates at or near a speed of 5 mph (8.0 km/h) and ascends, at a 30-degree angle, an 85-foot (26 m) lift hill; then riders are dropped 65 feet (20 m) at a 45-degree angle, gaining speed up to 48 m.p.h (77 km/h). The next element is a bunny hop, so named for the quick rise and fall. The end of this hill is lower than the beginning. It then goes through a vertical loop (Corkscrew opened only 7 days after the first modern coaster to feature a vertical loop, The New Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain). It then coasts up an incline. After a piece of flat track, the train curves around a 180-degree descending turn, heading into the twin corkscrews over the midway of the park. In the "eye" of the corkscrews, it is traveling at 38 mph (61 km/h). It completes these two corkscrew loops, comes through trim and block brakes, and coasts back into the station.
The ride is 2,050 feet (620 m) long, consisting of blue tubular steel track with a 48-inch (1,200 mm) separation between tubes, built on 5 acres (20,000 m2), rides for 1 minute and 40 seconds, and has three 24-passenger trains. Almost daily, a train is transferred off the track once ridership reaches a point that permits two-train operation with little or no waiting in line. A different train is cycled off each day. The ride was designed by Ron Toomer and built by Arrow Dynamics. The total cost of construction was US$1,750,000 (equivalent to $7,365,351 in 2016), and the ride has had over 30 million total riders since opening in May 1976.