Intamin Spiral Coaster!

[samisthabomb]

Remember that Arrow pipeline coaster that Shane posted? Apparently, Intamin made something extremely similar called a "spiral coaster". They only produced one, which, after being relocated, ended up at Al-Sha'ab Leisure Park in Salmiya, Kuwait. It operated for 5 years an has been SBNO since 2005. And, according to RCDB, it is still in production! This entire coaster just strikes me as really strange. Does anyone have any more information on it? Oh, and I found some pictures, too, which I have posted below.

Edited December 31, 2010 by samisthabomb

[boywholaughed]

No

[ebl]

Wasn't a ride like this put into a mall somewhere in Asia?

 

Eric

[robbalvey]

^ Yes. And then it was relocated to this park.

[chadster]

death machine, no thanks. And i rarely turn down a coaster.

[eddie200330]

It just looks slow, painful and quite honestly, pointless.

[Skycoastin Steve]

That ride literally looks like it would end someone's life.

[Fire2box]

It looks worse then Zonga IMHO. Which also happened to have killed someone, though they had a brain aneurysm.

[FLIPDUDE]

I'd hit that.

[hyyyper]

Looks like Storm Runner's Flying Snake Dive isn't unique after all

[jynx242]

I'd hit that.

 

Agreed Tomi! Looks scary as hell!

[FLIPDUDE]

Actually it doesn't look that scary to me... Layout-wise it practically seems boring. The only thing that's scary about it is it's death-machine-ular look, and when your home park rides are notorious for only being scary because they look like they're about to fall apart, you stop worrying about that sort of thing, as long as all the beams are in the right place.

 

It does look interesting though.

[MagnumUnlimited]

I'd be scared that I would end up with a concussion.

[netdvn]

It doesn't look that bad., although it looks like it's in much better shape here.

 

Clicky

 

If it were treated right, it would definitely deliver a unique ride.

[cal1br3tto]

I don't see anything about this that would stop me from riding, but it does look, well, interesting.

[eddie200330]

In the first pic from RCDB on the Sky Plaza Comet, it appears to have drive wheels to make it go through the spirals. Now does this make it a powered coaster and if so, how slow does it travel through the inversions? Makes it all that less thrilling of an idea......

[DCody]

What intrigues me most about this coaster is the fact that I've never met anyone online or IRL who's ever ridden it. I kniw of people who rode the Arrow spiral coaster prototype, but not this weird-ass Kuwaiti thing. I'd love to see a POV!

[snowboard83]

Personally I'd love to ride it. looks quite interesting! It has been SBNO for 5 years now... Would be a cool addition for a small US park! It would be the only pipeline in our fine country, quite the marketing angle. Has anyone ridden it in Korea or in Kuwait?

[A.J.]

The ride is -partially- powered, mainly because there is no lift or launch of any kind, and that the ride has to end at the same height it started at.

 

Some say the Sky Plaza Comet (as it was known in the Sky Plaza in South Korea) was well-maintained, and that it did not generate enough revenue for the mall it was in to justify its existence. All we know is, it's SBNO now.

Brownie points to anyone who can figure out who I sound like in that paragraph.

 

IMO, the Sky Plaza was a much better location, mainly because riders didn't have to climb a flight or two of stairs to get to it, because, they would be already there doing their shopping. The Intamin Spiral Coaster was essentially a better version of the TOGO Ultra Twister that could take lateral turns.

 

It, and the Arrow Dynamics prototype pipeline coaster, inspired the "Pipeline Coaster" RCT3 roller coaster type.

[MrMorgan]

I totally forgot about this ride. Thanks for posting those pics and bringing this up. I always enjoy seeing threads about rare, random coasters. Isn't it cool to look at the pictures of the ride in the shopping mall, then out in the park in a TOTALLY different environment? It kind of reminds me of the before and after of BMRX and Knightmare.

[palmerleeberry]

Well, I took a look at your photos and thought out Hmm . . .that is one type of coaster I haven't rode before.

 

But I have ridden Ultra Twister at Astroworld ( ) a few times and wished that ride could've been rebuilt at Six Flags America instead of rotting away in its boneyard ( ). I didn't see any picture of the restraints they use, but if its one of those painful horse collars, then I'll only ride it once.

 

"Hey, you can always ride me; you know I'll never bang your head around."

[ECZenith]

Does anyone have any photos of this type of coaster in operation?

[A.J.]

Does anyone have any photos of this type of coaster in operation?

 

Sort of. I have a late nineties book (Roller Coaster by David Bennett) that has a picture of the ride operating in its former location the Sky Plaza.

[samisthabomb]

^Holy crap! I have that book too! What page is it on?

[Ace Of Spades]

^Pg. 169 in my copy.