Status Closed Closing date 1978 Status Closed Closed 1978 Opened 1972 Track length 870 m | Opening date 1972 Replaced by WildCat Closing date 1984 Max speed 80 km/h Capacity 1,200 people/hour Park Cedar Point | |
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Similar WildCat, Lost Coaster of Superstiti, Jet Star II, Disaster Transport, Wilderness Run | ||
Jumbo Jet was a steel roller coaster that operated from 1972 to 1978 at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. The coaster was a prefabricated roller coaster with an electric spiral lift mechanism. It was one of the first coasters in the world to use this particular lift mechanism, and the coaster was also the first of its model type.
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Ride layout
The Jumbo Jet, like all electric spiral lift roller coasters, reached the top of its lift hill by way of a gently-graded spiraling helix, before beginning its first drop. Unlike many roller coasters, which use a chain lift or launch, the Jumbo Jet was propelled with small wheel motors up the incline of the helix. These sort of coasters soon became a very common type of steel roller coaster in the 1970s, and were distinguished from later steel roller coaster designs that were characterized by their thicker, tubular-steel tracks. After climbing the spiral lift, riders plunged down a 56 foot tall drop into a series of tight turns in a figure-eight pattern and ending with a double-helix. When it debuted, Jumbo Jet was billed as the fastest of its kind and was known for its views of Lake Erie and steeply banked turns (some at up to 70 degrees).
History
Jumbo Jet was manufactured by noted roller coaster designer Anton Schwarzkopf, and was the first of the Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line. The coaster was located in the same beach-front location where the wooden roller coaster Cyclone stood before, where the defunct indoor roller coaster Disaster Transport recently stood, and where GateKeeper stands today. While at Cedar Point, Jumbo Jet carried between 1.6 and 1.8 million passengers every year. Jumbo Jet was finally replaced in 1979 by the new WildCat coaster. Although Jumbo Jet was only at Cedar Point for a total of 6 years, the coaster subsequently moved to a large number of different amusement parks, including Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach, Maine; Malmö Folkets Park in Malmö, Skåne, Sweden; Beoland in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; Dreamland in Minsk, Belarus; and presently Chelyuskintsev Park in Minsk, Belarus.
