Hyper Coaster (B&M model)

The Hyper Coaster is a model line from Bolliger & Mabillard. The company has produced 18 models over 21 years of production, making it one of the more successful models manufactured by the company.[4]

Hyper Coaster [1]
Goliath's first drop at Six Flags Over Georgia in Georgia.[2]
Status	In Production
First manufactured	1999
No. of installations	20
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Rows	8
Riders per row	4
Restraint Style	Clamshell restraints
Hyper Coaster [3] at RCDB

History

The first installation of the hyper coaster was Apollo's Chariot located in Busch Gardens Williamsburg.[5][6] It was one of the two models released in 1999. The other being the Floorless Coaster. It was made in a similar style to the TOGO, D. H. Morgan Manufacturing and Arrow Dynamics hypercoasters. Now it has become one of the more preferred models with a success rate second only to the Inverted Coaster. In 2012, B&M decided to increase the size of its hyper coaster to exceed 300 feet. Some enthusiasts therefore classify it as a giga Coaster, although Giga coaster is a term used by Intamin for its 300-plus-foot coasters. B&M still refers to all of its models as hyper coasters.

Design

The design of the hyper coaster includes a large lift hill then a large drop with a steep angle of descent and typically includes floater and ejector airtime hills. Only one of the B&M Hypers does not have a long out-and back layout: Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America.[7] which features more of a twister layout. According to B&M the Hyper Coasters are a -High speed, no inversion coasters specially designed to create air time. A comfortable patented lapbar procures an incomparable feeling of freedom.-

Trains

The trains feature seven to nine cars of one row with four seats, resulting in each train seating 28 to 36 riders. Depending on the dispatch time and the number of trains the coasters typically have an hourly capacity of 1,200 to 1,500 people. Each seat features a unique clamshell restraint.

Some trains used on B&M Hyper Coasters feature staggered seats, where the two outer seats are located farther back than the two center seats. This makes for a more open experience. Currently this staggered seating arrangement is only featured on four coasters: Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland, Diamondback at Kings Island , Intimidator at Carowinds & Shambhala at PortAventura Park.

A train in the splashdown element.

Brake Runs

On giga coasters, such as Fury 325 or Orion there is a very long brake run at the end of the ride instead of a mid-course brake. The long brake run allow more than one train to hold on the brake run improving the capacity.

Having this brake run parallel to the station makes evacuation easier. On Nitro the Brake run to hold another train is so far from the park, a minivan is required to bring guests back to the park.

Installations

Various B&M Hyper Coasters

Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, the first B&M Hyper Coaster[8]

Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, the first B&M Giga Coaster[9]

Fury 325 at Carowinds[10]

Mako at SeaWorld Orlando[11]

Candymonium at Hersheypark)[12]

Name	Park	Country	Opened	Status	Height	Drop	RCDb
Apollo's Chariot	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	USA	March 27, 1999	Operating	170 ft (52 m)	210 ft (64 m)	[13]
Behemoth	Canada's Wonderland	Canada	May 4, 2008	Operating	230 ft (70 m)	226 ft (69 m)	[14]
Candymonium	Hersheypark	USA	July 3, 2020	Operating	210 ft (64 m)		[15]
Diamondback	Kings Island	USA	April 18, 2009	Operating	230 ft (70 m)	215 ft (66 m)	[16]
Flight of the Himalayan Eagle Music Roller Coaster	Happy Valley	China	June 2019	Operating	157 ft (48 m)	157 ft (48 m)	[17]
Fury 325	Carowinds	USA	March 28, 2015	Operating	325 ft (99 m)	320 ft (98 m)	[18]
Goliath	La Ronde	Canada	May 13, 2006	Operating	174 ft (53 m)	170 ft (52 m)	[19]
Goliath	Six Flags Over Georgia	USA	April 1, 2006	Operating	200 ft (61 m)	175 ft (53 m)	[20]
Hollywood Dream: The Ride	Universal Studios Japan	Japan	March 9, 2007	Operating	144 ft (44 m)	Un­known	[21]
Intimidator	Carowinds	USA	March 27, 2010	Operating	232 ft (71 m)	211 ft (64 m)	[22]
Leviathan	Canada's Wonderland	Canada	May 9, 2012	Operating	306 ft (93 m)	306 ft (93 m)	[23]
Mako	SeaWorld Orlando	USA	June 10, 2016	Operating	200 ft (61 m)	200 ft (61 m)	[24]
Nitro	Six Flags Great Adventure	USA	April 7, 2001	Operating	230 ft (70 m)	215 ft (66 m)	[25]
Orion	Kings Island	USA	July 12, 2020	Operating	287 ft (87 m)	300 ft (91 m)	[26]
Raging Bull	Six Flags Great America	USA	May 1, 1999	Operating	202 ft (62 m)	208 ft (63 m)	[27]
Shambhala	PortAventura Park	Spain	May 12, 2012	Operating	249 ft (76 m)	256 ft (78 m)	[28]
Silver Star	Europa Park	Germany	March 23, 2002	Operating	240 ft (73 m)	220 ft (67 m)	[29]
Un­known	Hot Go Dreamland	China	Un­known	SBNO	Un­known	Un­known	[30]

Golden Ticket Awards

The B&M Hyper Coaster has been the most successful model in the Golden Ticket Awards:

B&M Hyper Coasters in the Top 15 Steel Coasters at the Golden Ticket Awards

Coaster	2009 [31]	2010 [32]	2011 [33]	2012 [34]	2013 [35]	2014 [36]	2015 [37]	2016 [38]	2017 [39]	2018 [40]	2019 [41]
Nitro	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	4th	5th	5th	5th	7th	11th	10th
Apollo's Chariot	5th	4th	7th	4th	5th	7th	6th	6th	11th	6th	8th
Goliath (SFOG)	4th	5th	4th	9th	7th	9th	12th	14th
Diamondback	7th		11th	10th	14th	4th	11th	9th	8th	10th	14th
Behemoth	12th	13th	15th			15th
Raging Bull	14th
Intimidator				7th	8th	10th	7th	8th
Leviathan					15th	6th	8th	7th	6th	8th	9th
Fury 325							4th	1st	1st	1st	1st
Mako											15th

References

1. "Hyper Coaster (RCDb)".
2. Marden, Duane. "Goliath  (Six Flags Over Georgia)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
3. "Hyper Coaster (RCDb)".
4. "B&M Hyper Coaster".
5. Deacle, Robin (September 5, 1998). "New Ride Not For Mere Mortals". Daily Press. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
6. Marden, Duane. "Apollo's Chariot  (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
7. Marden, Duane. "Raging Bull  (Six Flags Great America)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
8. Marden, Duane. "Apollo's Chariot  (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
9. Marden, Duane. "Leviathan  (Canada's Wonderland)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
10. Marden, Duane. "Fury 325  (Carowinds)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
11. Marden, Duane. "Mako  (SeaWorld Orlando)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
12. Marden, Duane. "Candymonium  (Hersheypark)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
13. Marden, Duane. "Apollo's Chariot  (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
14. Marden, Duane. "Behemoth  (Canada's Wonderland)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
15. Marden, Duane. "Candymonium  (Hersheypark)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
16. Marden, Duane. "Diamondback  (Kings Island)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
17. Marden, Duane. "Flight of the Himalayan Eagle Music Roller Coaster  (Happy Valley Beijing)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
18. Marden, Duane. "Fury 325  (Carowinds)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
19. Marden, Duane. "Goliath  (La Ronde)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
20. Marden, Duane. "Goliath  (Six Flags Over Georgia)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
21. Marden, Duane. "Hollywood Dream: The Ride  (Universal Studios Japan)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
22. Marden, Duane. "Intimidator  (Carowinds)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
23. Marden, Duane. "Leviathan  (Canada's Wonderland)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
24. Marden, Duane. "Mako  (SeaWorld Orlando)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
25. Marden, Duane. "Nitro  (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
26. Marden, Duane. "Orion  (Kings Island)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
27. Marden, Duane. "Raging Bull  (Six Flags Great America)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
28. Marden, Duane. "Shambhala  (PortAventura Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
29. Marden, Duane. "Silver Star  (Europa Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
30. Marden, Duane. "Unknown  (Hot Go Dreamworld)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
31. "2009 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF).
32. "2010 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF).
33. "2011 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF).
34. "2012 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF).
35. "2013 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF).
36. "2014 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF).
37. "2015 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF).
38. "2016 Golden Ticket Awards".
39. "2017 Golden Ticket Awards".
40. "2018 Golden Ticket Awards".
41. "2019 Golden Ticket Awards".

External links