Vekoma
Encyclopedia : V : VE : VEK : Vekoma
Vekoma is a roller coaster and thrill ride designer with its facilities based in the Netherlands. The company has engineered rides ranging from massive steel roller coasters to water rides to family-friendly attractions. The only wild mouse type roller coaster Vekoma has ever built is now at Idlewild Park.
Examples of their designs includes suspended looping coasters and boomerang coasters, which are found throughout the world.
Roller coaster types made by Vekoma
- Big Air - Also known as the Hammerhead Stall, this shuttle type ride is designed to replicate the feeling of flying in a plane.
- Boomerang - A three inversion shuttle coaster. Invented over 20 years ago, it continues to be a successful product. In 1996, Vekoma introduced an inverted upgrade to this ride called an Invertigo. Five years later, in 2001, Vekoma introduced the Super Invertigo (or Giant Inverted Boomerang), which has completely vertical spikes and provides a taller and faster ride.
- Flying Dutchman - A flying coaster. Riders are reclined back into a lay-down position and turn around on the first drop of the ride into a prone 'flying' position.
- Looping Coaster - A multiple element sit-down steel roller coaster. One of the most common models is the Corkscrew, a double inversion thrill ride with both inversions being Corkscrews. Other spin-offs of the Corkscrew exist as well, including a version with a Bayern Curve, and a version with two vertical loop inversions with the corkscrew element.
- Mine Train - A mine train roller coaster
- Motorbike Launch Coaster - A coaster that uses motorbike trains.
- Roller Skater- A small, steel roller coaster that is family friendly. Riders go through a small, twisted layout in roller skate-looking cars.
- Suspended Family Coaster
- Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) - An inverted coaster, with many installations across the world. The standard model has a roll over immediately after the initial drop, followed by a sidewinder, and finally ends with a double inline twist. There are a few variations, including a longer model with an extra helix at the end of the ride. Vekoma also offers custom SLC models.
- Swinging Suspended Coaster
- Ten Loop Coaster - A ride that exists in concept only. If built, the ride would feature a launch and ten inversions
- Tilt Coaster - A standard coaster with a vertical drop at the start. Trains enter the vertical drop via an unusual tilt section. After leaving the chain lift, instead of going down a first drop, the rider is held on a horizontal section of track, which then tilts forwards, to become a vertical section. This leads into the drop, then into the rest of the coaster layout. There is currently only one tilt coaster in operation - Gravity Max at Discovery World, Taiwan.
- Wooden Coaster - A coaster that is made of wood.
Criticism
Vekoma has been criticized by some roller coaster enthusiasts as producing mediocre rides, in part because their designs are considered mass-produced or "clones", rather than being unique, one-of-a-kind designs produced for single clients. However, Vekoma does offer custom design services for theme park operators to allow operators to alter their basic products to provide a unique experience to patrons.
Their rides also have a reputation among enthusiasts for being "extremely rough", in comparison to those produced by other designers, such as Intamin AG and Bolliger and Mabillard. Most consider this as a negative point against Vekoma although some of Vekoma's newer rides, such as Kumali at Flamingoland offer a somewhat smoother ride.
See Also
External links
- [Vekoma website (official)]
- [Vekoma] at RCDB
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.