Which one will break the 500ft barrier first?

[Anonymous]

Nobody seems to have brought up the point that coasters have been around much longer than these drop towers...

At the rate that the drop towers are increasing by height compared with the rate of coasters getting taller considering how long each has been around. Coasters have taken just over 100 years to get to 456ft, drop towers like 30 years or so to reach 375ft.

As for the actual engineering side of it, I think a drop towers is much more likely. Yet from a marketing point of view, the coaster would scare less people away. Although I'd love the 500ft+ drop towers, I'd deffinately end up crying on it and would probably never go back on. The coaster, I would find less intimidating, mostly due to the fact the drop isn't so sudden and it has a pull out which gives more peace of mind.

The coaster would happen first. No park would dare spend all that money to scare off their guests with a ****ing huge drop tower. The coaster may cost much more, but you can at least support it's structure more efficiently. If the drop tower added some form of supports... there would be less room to even fit on the few people brave enough to ride.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

I'm sure we'll see a Kingda Ka clone that breaks the 500 foot barrier in the not so distant future.

It seems like parks would rather have the highest coaster height record than the highest drop tower record anyway, so if that's what most parks are aiming for, I'm sure that's what we'll see first.

Though to be honest, I'd rather see a 500 foot drop tower, just because the drop on Top Thrill Dragster didn't do much for me anyway, so it's not like the whole 500 foot drop thing would do that much either. Personally, I would prefer Millennium Force's drop over that anyday.

 

[Martyn B]

I'd really like to see the 500ft barrier broken by a 'tradition' roller coaster, though I'm not going to get my hopes up!

 

[marc]

I am not sure that we will see it to be honest simply due to people having breathing problems at that height.

I could be wrong though but am sure 500ft most people would have problems without oxegon masks.

And the speed to get up that high would produce more ge-force than people could take. It would need to go 150 mph maybe even faster.

 

[Leighton]

^You would only be 500ft for a second or two. It wouldnt be long enough to cause breathing problems. People skydive from 10,000 feet.

And you wouldn't have to excede 4.5Gs as you would use a longer launch track.

The pullout from the drop would also be wider, keeping the Gs tolerable.

 

[marc]

Yeah did not think of that lol

 

[Martyn B]

^You obviously didn't notice that I wrote "traditional Roller coaster", meaning one with a lift hill.

 

[marc]

Was replying to the other posts about a clone of KK/TTD.

A traditional one would be great I would be so scared of the height though I hate heights I can not even look down from the big one in blackpool.

 

[Martyn B]

Ok, I apologise.

I'd love to see it happen, but I don't think it will, too much space is needed.

 

[Leighton]

traditional Roller coaster", meaning one with a lift hill.

We will never see that for a chain lift, the weight of the chain needed to lift it, would be way too heavy for it to be practical, and effiecent.

For a cable lift, it may be a possiblity, but cost for any practical layout beyond a drop, would be too high.

 

[Mit deLuxe]

I dont know why, but I would prefer if the 500ft drop tower would be built first! And why wouldnt anybody go on it!?! When people go on a 420ft coaster which goes 120mph in 4.2 seconds and it has a twisted drop? Hmmmmm

And I was wondering if a thicker tower help?

 

[Anonymous]

i reckon roller coaster because its more near to 500ft than a drop tower

 

[FastAndFurious]

Not necessarily an accelerator and why Intamin?

The 500ft mark is a milestone, half a thousand. So many designers/managers want to achieve this goal.

 

[Almost]

^And who said a 500 ft coaster needs to break the speed record also. They could launch at 130 or so just to steal the record then boost with LIM's to make it over the 500 ft mark.

 

[FastAndFurious]

The 500ft mark is a milestone, half a thousand. So many designers/managers want to achieve this goal.

That's a bit ridiculous.

If someone wants to make a T&F coaster (457+, maybe 460ft, maybe 475ft). Why not to add extra 25 - 35 feet? This is not a lot and obviously the 500ft mark sounds more marketable than 475ft. I don't think it is ridiculous at all.

Not to mention, things cost money, and if you don't get someone to pay you the money to do it, it isn't going to happen.

Are you sure this is never going to happen?

 

[Anonymous]

Yea, but it's probaly more likely to make a 500ft. drop tower before a 500ft coaster.

S&S would probaly hit the tower mark first, they just need a park to put it in!

But the costs is what would turn the parks off of the idea.

 

[A-Kid]

I think drop towers have stoped growing in hight as not many are built now and it could push to many G's. Coasters seem to get higher every cople of years and people would more than likley would want to ride a realy high coaster, so it has more chance of a high coaster going in somewhere.


(50 posts !! )

 

[Almost]

Yea, but it's probaly more likely to make a 500ft. drop tower before a 500ft coaster.

S&S would probaly hit the tower mark first, they just need a park to put it in!

But the costs is what would turn the parks off of the idea.

Actually the company most likely would be Intamin as they are the only ones with drop towers over 300 ft.

 

[Anonymous]

I think personally it would have to be a rollercoaster, but itss gonna have to be a launched rollercoaster...... can you imagine the time you'd spend on thet lift hill. or it would have to be extremely fast which would add to the mounting expense of such a coaster and put a lot of strain on the lift system.