Oddities of Asian Coasters

[reddude333]

I have always thought that roller coasters in Asia are distinctly different from those in other parts of the world. It seems that Asia is oftentimes the hub of guinea pig coasters, some of these result in huge success and world renown (such as with Takabisha), and others become the greatest oddities of the coaster world. So I decided to see what you guys think and get some other people's opinions of the strangest coasters in Asia (or other parts of the world). I tried to get the ball rolling with a few of my own.

If you look in the background you can see a weird flat, wide turn for seemingly no purpose, not to mention the unique track skeleton.

This one is another one where there is seemingly no purpose for this flat section at the top of the lift hill. Perhaps so there is no hanging effect as the train crests the hill?

The second lift hill looks like it leads to quite an exciting part of this coaster. Makes you wonder why they didn't just have the lift go toward the station.

This one was brought up in another thread recently. I don't think I need to explain what's odd about it.

And then there are coasters like White Cyclone with perhaps the most bright and extravagant structure for any wooden coaster. Beautiful, yes, necessary, probably not...

P.S.: Let me make myself perfectly clear that I in no way intend to offend or insult Asian coasters or parks, simply pointing out a trend that I find intriguing.

EDIT: Sorry if this looks too much like the other wacky coaster bits thread. It is meant to focus more on Asia though.

 

[Josh73]

:shock:The second to last "coaster"(I wouldn't call it a coaster, I'd call it death), looks absolutely
vile...
To answer your question, I don't know, but money, I suppose. It would cost alot of money to ship all of that track from America, where most of the big coaster companies are located. Not sure though. I'm sure some samarter people will know .:lol:

 

[reddude333]

^ I didn't really ask a question, but you make a decent point...although there are plenty of coasters in Asia that are manufactured by American companies.

 

[Antinos]

Asia is definitely full of it's quirky coasters. Jet coasters in general are pretty funky with their huge footprints and drawn out elements. I've also noticed that there are some massive helixes in roller coaster layout in Asia.

I must add though, I find the Bandit is one of the most fascinating roller coasters over there. The layout is great.

 

[Hixee]

This one is another one where there is seemingly no purpose for this flat section at the top of the lift hill. Perhaps so there is no hanging effect as the train crests the hill?

I suspect it's some sort of pre-drop. Just a slightly different shape to normal ones. Doesn't seem that strange. Doesn't actually look that far from Swarm's lift hill crest... :?

And then there are coasters like White Cyclone with perhaps the most bright and extravagant structure for any wooden coaster. Beautiful, yes, necessary, probably not...

Could this be some sort of earthquake protection thing? It looks like an awfully big structure (maybe the white isn't helping), but it seems like it's too big. My guess would be that it's extra supports to give the structure more rigidity if an earthquake were to strike.

 

[reddude333]

^ In regards to Bandit, it seems like a pretty long pre-drop but it may have something to do with the length of the trains. Just seems excessively long.

And for White Cyclone I think you make a good point. Although structurally rigidity is not good for earthquakes because the more rigid a structure is, the more likely it is to fail due to tension and compression. I do however see how the larger structure could help in that it puts less stress on each member.

 

[Hixee]

^I know I used rigidity in wrong context here, it was just the only word that came to mind. It gives the structure more support then.

 

[reddude333]

^Yeah, I got what you meant and I agree

 

[furie]

Wasn't White Cyclone Intamin's first wooden coaster? It's got a very "olde worlde" style structure to it, almost as if it was designed without decent computer modelling. It's always reminded me of Fred Church designs, which also seemed massively over the top on supports.

In terms of why stuff seems weird, I think it's simply culture and different local manufacturers. The same reason food is different. You source and build what is available and popular locally.

 

[reddude333]

That still doesn't really explain long, drawn-out, flat turns at low speeds, etc. Can't see how that is enjoyable :-\ but I agree that cultural differences play a big role.

 

[furie]

I can't see how bean curd is enjoyable either, but the Chinese love it :lol:

You'll notice though that Western influence has been making headway over the last few years (well, a lot of years really), and probably some of the best examples of Western manufacturers coasters have appeared in Asia. I think there's an imagination or willingness to try something different that makes the coasters stand out. Great when using companies who have spent years perfecting their designs, not so good in the earlier days of steel when designers were still finding their feet

 

[reddude333]

Yeah, like I was saying before, some of the stuff that comes out of Asia (mostly China and Japan) is brilliant and innovative, and increasingly is the case as of late. As with other technologies, Asia manages to dominate despite years of isolationism (lol, historical reference, but it applies here too) and seems to be popping out some extremely impressive and unusual (but enticing) coasters.

 

[Jake]

Not trying to be an arse, but more or less all of these coasters have been posted in here at some point.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=27995

I know this is supposed to be just for Asian coasters, but, I could just start a European one, then a North American one... etc.

 

[Ben]

Ohhh, what CRAZY ASIAN COASTERS!

Look how CRAZY AND ASIAN they are!

CRAZY!

 

[Treeis]

I was recently reading TPR's Japan trip report thing, and its interesting to see that about %90 of all their rollercoasters have walkways along the entire track

 

[tks]

^ Health & Safety. It helps maintenance, evacuations.. Although it can cause problems *points to the woman who got spited on Fujin Raijin 2.*

 

[Hixee]

^ Health & Safety. It helps maintenance, evacuations.. Although it can cause problems *points to the woman who got spited on Fujin Raijin 2.*

This. I think it's partially there so they can evacuate the coaster from (nearly) anywhere on the track in the event of an emergency, most probably earthquakes in Japan.

 

[reddude333]

Not trying to be an arse, but more or less all of these coasters have been posted in here at some point.

If you read the entire first post it says:

Sorry if this looks too much like the other wacky coaster bits thread. It is meant to focus more on Asia though.

and we are having good discussion about why these things might exist.

And yes Ben, those CRAZY Asians! I am part Japanese so I can relate with them, haha.

@Hixee: I'm beginning to see a trend. Seems that many oddities can be explained as earthquake precautionary measures.

 

[gavin]

Has anyone actually confirmed the "earthquake" thing as far as the catwalks go though? I can understand it when we're talking about supports etc., but it seems like everyone jumps on the "it's because of earthquakes" reasoning for every little thing when it comes to Japanese coasters. The non-Japanese coasters in Japan don't generally have them as far as I'm aware; it's just Togo and Meisho. It goes no way to explaining this either:

It's an American manufacturer (Arrow) in a Korean park that has no risk of earthquakes.

 

[reddude333]

Hahaha! That's pretty intense. For that I can't see the reason being anything but maintenance, but I don't know for sure. It's still excessive in my opinion. And I'm digging the triple corkscrew, lol.