Laura Laham Roller Coaster History and Design

Final Project: Despicable Me, A Visceral Experience!

When the students of Carnegie Mellon University heard that Universal Studios was basing a ride off of Despicable Me! They relished in excitement. When they found out it was a simulator, however, they were overthrown with anger and revile! How could they make a minion-based ride, a simulator?, they questioned. Clearly, a ride based on the adventurous life of a minion would be highly visceral, with dangerous twists and turns around every corner. The students of CMU envisioned a roller coaster unmatched by any roller coaster in any theme park operating today. Empowered by the CMU carnival committee, the students set out to make the vision a reality.

This ride is unlike any of its kind. Not only is this coaster at least 100 feet tall and 2,000 feet in length, but this sit-down steel monster also parallels all the action and adventure packed into one day as a minion gallivanting alongside Gru and his daughters. Critics are calling it the coaster to rule all coasters. Students are already underway designing and theming the ride, with the few details publically released written below.

Initial Research Revenge of the Mummy Universal Studios Orlando. Amusement Park: Universal Studios Florida (Orlando, Florida, USA) Type: Steel - Sit Down Status: Operating since 5/21/2004 Builder: Premier Rides Lift / Launch System: LIM Categories: Enclosed Length: 2,200 ft Speed: 45 mph Duration: 2:57 Max Vertical Angle: 50 Degrees Restrictions: Riders must be 48 in or taller to ride. Location: Replaced the Kong.

This ride is very immersive and tells a story while you ride through an enclosed space. Rides like this do not often include as many special effects but given the location and the enclosure, the designers were able to add in many cool effects. This ride also has two mid-course break runs, which allow for three separate LIM launches. This excited the riders as they travel through the storyline of the ride. Given the enclosure, however, the riders cannot always get the same action packed adventure they would generally when riding a roller coaster through open air.

Bizarro (formerly Medusa) Amusement Park: Great Adventure (Jackson, New Jersey, USA) Type: Steel - Sit Down Status: Operating since 4/2/1999 Make / Model: Bolliger & Mabillard / / Medusa Categories: Floorless Length: 3,985 ft Height: 142 ft Drop: 132 ft Inversions: 7 Speed: 61 mph Duration: 2:20 Elements: Loop, Dive Loop, Zero-G Roll, Cobra Roll, Interlocking Corkscrews

Trains: 3 trains with 8 cars per . Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.

This coaster was B&M!s experiment with floorless coasters. It introduced a new concept into their portfolio, which also expanded on their already existing themes including seating their riders four-across and including a cobra roll (not many other companies will include cobra rolls in their designs). In 2009, Medusa was given a paint job and was fixed with audio and special effects. It was renamed Bizzaro after the famous comic book character. This coaster has some very interesting elements that will be taken into account as I design my ride including the use of 7 different inversions. The ride does, however, include a major portion of their larger inversions before the midcourse break run, which I may look into altering for my ride.

Incredible Hulk Amusement Park: Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Type: Steel - Sit Down Status: Operating since 5/28/1999 Make / Model: Bolliger & Mabillard / All Models / Sitting Coaster Lift / Launch System: Tire Propelled Launch Capacity: 1,920 riders per hour

Length: 3,700 ft Height: 110 ft Drop: 105 ft Inversions: 7 Speed: 67 mph Duration: 2:15 G-Force: 4 Max Acceleration: 0 - 40 mph in 2 seconds Elements: 150 ft long Tunnel, Zero-G Roll, Cobra Roll, Loop, Corkscrew, Loop, Corkscrew

Trains: 8 cars per train. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.

This is the second Universal coaster that I researched mainly because of its integration of the elements that surprise riders. This ride begins by sending its riders through a 150-foot tunnel, which only excites the rider!s senses even more and allows for the integration of light both in the tunnel and as the riders exit the tunnel as an added stimulatory effect. This helps the riders experience a full transition from dark to light, which simulates an extreme change in the story line. This ride also integrates special effects very well and is even partially built over water. This allows for a completely different experience for the rider, which helps them feel more, fulfilled in their decision to ride The Incredible Hulk.

I also hope to use the interplay of light and dark in my ride. I am still looking into visceral dark rides as well to stimulate the senses of the riders on a different level than just acceleration and g-forces can.

Jack Rabbit Amusement Park: Kennywood Type: Wood - Sit Down Status: Operating since 1920 Builder: Charile Mach Designer: John A. Miller Track layout: Terrain Categories: ACE Coaster Classic Maps: Bing Maps (Satellite) á Google Maps (Satellite) Cost: $50,000 USD

Length: 2,132 ft Height: 40 ft Drop: 70 ft Inversions: 0 Speed: 45 mph Duration: 1:36 Max Vertical Angle: 45 Degrees Elements: Double Dip

Trains: 3 trains with 3 cars per train. Riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows for a total of 18 riders per train.

I looked into this ride in particular because the track design was very interesting to me. I want to follow as much of the terrain of Carnegie Mellon University as possible in my design and so a coaster that follows the terrain it was built was very important. This ride is one of the oldest lasting and operating rides, which also drew me to its design. I do not, however, intend on building a wooden coaster. Knowing I wanted to look into steel coasters, I came across Tatsu.

Tatsu Amusement Park: Type: Steel - Flying Status: Operating since 5/13/2006 Make / Model: Bolliger & Mabillard / Flying Coaster / Custom Track layout: Terrain Categories: Dual Station Capacity: 1,600 riders per hour

Length: 3,602 ft Height: 170 ft Drop: 111 ft Inversions: 4 Speed: 62 mph Elements: 103 ft tall Corkscrew, 96 ft tall Zero-G Roll, 80 ft tall Horseshoe, 124 ft tall Pretzel Loop, In-Line Twist

Trains: 3 trains with 8 cars per train. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.

This ride was the perfect research for my terrain-driven ride. It is highly praised for its theme, story, and its structure in that it was built to follow the terrain, which added an element of dimension and speed to the ride. It also is the only flying coaster to boast a zero-g roll which is honestly, just really cool. The only downside to having studied Tatsu, though, is that I will be looking more towards creating a sit-down steel coaster. This would allow me to diversify the launch system that I choose later down the line. Tatsu is a flying coaster with a chain lift.

Manufacturer: Considering my research is heavily based in B&M rides (3 out of the 5 are in B&M!s portfolio), I will be choosing B&M to continue their work and help manufacture Carnegie Mellon University!s first on-campus roller coaster.

Write Up

This ride is based on the motion picture, Despicable Me, where the ride originally starts out by the UC. This is where the riders wait through the queue and then get on the ride!s car. The queue is where they are the premise of the ride is made known. They people on line have actually signed up to be minions. The cars will be sit-down style with over the shoulder u-bar restraints. When seated, the ride begins by first pulling the guests up a which will be enclosed in a CGI tunnel where special effects including heat and water sprays add another dimension to the experience. The guests will be entertained as they are pulled up the lift hill by instructions as to how to be proper minions and once they reach the top, their training is complete. They enter the first drop. After they come out of the first drop and inversion set, including a loop and a cobra roll, they go through a mid course break run which is also enclosed in a CGI tunnel. This is where the girls, Margo, Edith, and Agnes appear and tell the riders that in order to be minions they have to impress Gru. They wish the riders luck and send them off. The ride then enters the second set of inversions. These include a zero-G roll over the Randy Pausch bridge which then leads into a dive loop. The ride then enters the second mid- course break run which is also enclosed in a CGI tunnel. Here, Gru examines the car as it slowly moves by him. He mentions that he is not impressed and that they are horrible minions for having kept their hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. This is not characteristic of an evildoer and so he sends them on their way. They then enter their final course, which travels atop Purnell and around the Walking to the Sky statue and return to the station where pinch breaks slow the ride down to a complete stop. I chose to integrate the terrain along the valley in between Gates, Purnell, and Doherty Hall for the reason that the natural turns would provide an added experience for the riders. When the car moves close to the ground, the riders feel as though they are going faster than they actually are. This also allows for the coaster to loop through existing structures that the riders already know including the connecting bridges between Gates, Newel Simon, and Purnell. The new perspective the ride will give on these already known monuments will add another level of excitement of the riders as well. Finally, I wanted to stay true to elements generally expected in a B&M ride. This is the reason I tried incorporating as many elements as I saw repeated in their portfolio including the vehicle design and the cobra roll inversion. Altogether this ride will hopefully expand on the experience many have already had going on the simulation ride in Universal Studios in Orlando and add a more high- speed, visceral level to the excitement that ride offers.

Layout of the Ride

Initial concept sketches:

Locations of the CGI Tunnels

Layout with Labeled parts:

3

2

5

6

1 4 7 8

9

1 Lift hill from UC to Doherty 2 From drop into first loop 3 Cobra roll around bridge connecting Newel Simon and Wean 4 MCBR near Fence 5 Zero-G roll over Randy Pausch Bridge 6 Dive Loop 7 MCBR 8 Fly around Walking to the Sky 9 Back to the loading station

View from the Randy Pausch Bridge:

Statistics, Calculations, and Estimations: Statistics: The valley in between Doherty Hall and Purnell is estimated by Carnegie Mellon University to be about 75 feet from its highest point to its lowest. This is the location of the first hill, however, a lift hill is also added to the portion of The Cut before the riders are dropped down the first hill. Altogether, the total drop of the first hill will be approximately 125 feet since the hill will be brought up to the same height as Doherty Hall (approximately 50 feet above ground level of The Cut). Using an energy balance, the expected velocity the car will reach at the bottom of the first hill can be found.

!"! + !"! = !"! + !"!

1 1 !! + !ℎ = !! + !ℎ 2 ! ! 2 ! !

1 !ℎ = !! ! 2 !

!! = 2 ∗ 9.81!/!^2 ∗ 38.1! = !". !"#/!

This shows that the expected velocity of the car at the bottom of the first hill is approximately 27m/s. This is approximately 61 mph. The maximum G-force is not expected to exceed 2 which would require the inversion and dive loop to have radii of at least 50ft should the car continue to move throughout the ride at 39 Ð 40 mph (approximately 17.5 m/s). These values were found using the principle that:

!! ! = !

Advanced Physics Calculations: *Note, these were the classes I missed due to the IAAPA Conference. Please see the IAAPA Section below instead.

Estimations: Length: A rough estimation of this ride is approximately 2,425 feet altogether. This was found using a visual model on the concept sketches. Capacity: Given this ride is following a B&M style track, a B&M style car will also be used. This means that the cars will be set up with four riders seated across and 8 rows of riders seated per ride. This means that there will be a total of 32 riders per ride. The two mid course break runs break the ride up into four overall blocks including the first block-the lift hill, the second block-the mid-show, and the third block-the final show, as well as the boarding station. This would technically allow for one car per block, but for safety measures there would be two cars on the track separated by a block and one in the station. If three cars are running then a total of 96 people will be either boarding or riding the coaster. If the ride lasts a total of 1 minute and 23 seconds (found using length of track and factoring in average velocity of the car), then the total capacity per hour is 1,560 riders. This, of course, is only the ideal estimation. There would be much less ridership that the ideal ridership considering the amount of empty seats that ride the coaster per turn and the shutdown due to maintenance, fixes, or inclement weather. Given I will be using 2,425 feet of steel to create this roller coaster, and assuming the cost of steel is approximately $1000-2000/ton, I assume this ride will cost upwards of approximately $4,000,000 in the track alone. There will still be other costs associated with this attraction which include the cost of the technology included, the cost of care and maintenance, the cost of the cars that are to be fitted to the track, and any other miscellaneous costs that occur throughout the construction and operation of the ride. Similar rides including the rides researched average at approximately 11-15,000,000 dollars in cost of production.

IAAPA IAAPA had a lot of interesting things happening all at once. The trade show floor however, had to have been one of the most exciting parts of the overall experience. The show floor was full of vendors, salespeople, animatronics, and just about every kind of blow-up attraction and stunt attraction. People set up individual rooms to make sure they could do business properly while there since the floor was so full of action. As people networked, and exchanged business cards, I had the unique opportunity to learn about the business from first hand experiences by talking to the men and women in the companies that make the magic happen. Since I wasn!t trying to buy or sell them anything, they seemed more open to having casual conversation and sharing their wealth of knowledge. The show floor was a unique experience and I definitely recommend you visit at least once.

References: http://rcdb.com/502.htm http://rcdb.com/120.htm http://rcdb.com/2232.htm http://rcdb.com/3305.htm http://rcdb.com/557.htm http://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain/rides/tatsu.aspx http://www.chapelsteel.com/weight-steel-plate.html http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatGUID=210fcd12132049d0a3e0cab e7d091eef&ckck=1