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NEWS: LakePoint to Build First Polercoaster


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Well, this was a surprise.

 

EMERSON, Ga. — One of the most unique thrill rides is coming to the world’s largest sports vacation destination. The Polercoaster, created by “inventioneer” Bill Kitchen, designer of the SkyCoaster and SkyVenture, will be built at LakePoint Sporting Community. Located in Emerson, Ga., north of Atlanta, LakePoint Sporting Community is a 1,400+-acre development under construction that will feature state-of-the-art venues for 29 of America’s favorite youth sports and 5 million square feet of mixed-use development. Along with sports, LakePoint will include approximately 29 on-site hotels, restaurants, retail shops, office space and several other entertainment venues.

 

US Thrillrides has assembled a world-class team to build the attraction, including Celtic Engineering, Haskell Steel, and S&S~Sansei. According to the company, USTR will announce other Polercoaster sales in the next few weeks.

 

The Polercoaster is an incredible double engineering marvel that will provide visitors an opportunity to ride one of the tallest and most thrilling roller coasters in the United States, as well as visit the observation tower with retail, restaurant/bar and observation area at the top. Polercoaster is a full coaster experience in a small footprint, including multiple loops, barrel rolls and high G-force maneuvers, making it a ride like nothing on the market. The vertical nature of the Polercoaster creates an amazing visual “icon” for LakePoint with potential for exceptional lighting options.

 

“At over 325 feet tall, the planned Polercoaster at LakePoint will be the tallest coaster in the Southeast and one of the top-ten tallest coasters in the United States. We expect to deliver high thrills for more than 4 million annual visitors to LakePoint,” said US Thrill Rides President, Michael Kitchen. “We believe the Polercoaster will add an electrifying view and an exciting high thrill attraction to the LakePoint development.”

 

*Snip*

 

“We are thrilled to be bringing the most unique thrill ride attraction to our LakePoint Entertainment Village called BoomTown,” said LakePoint Co-CEO and Master Developer Neal Freeman. “BoomTown will be the gateway to the development with themed restaurants, a movie theater and now the Polercoaster. At LakePoint we are focused on partnering with brands and attractions we consider to be the gold standard in their industries, and we are excited we have done so by working with US Thrill Rides to acquire the unique Polercoaster.”

 

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Edited by robbalvey
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Wow, definitely didn't expect to see one of these actually built. Should be interesting to see what the layout and such ends up being for the final product!

 

Seems like a maintenance nightmare. What would happen if it valleys very high up? What if it decides to pull a Steel Dragon 2000?? What if the track decided to pull a Smiler?? There are just so many what-ifs with this ride.

 

No different from the what-ifs with any other ride...this is silly.

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That is incredible news!

 

If I'm gonna be honest I thought that was more of a concept only, I did not except anyone to actually build it, let alone after only 1 year after the unveiling.

 

I'm am in the same boat as you. I thought if it was going to be built it would have been built in Vegas and then run out of funding halfway through. I actually feel better about it being built GA.

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^ Exactly. Dumb. "What if B&M built a Windrider with forces? What if people that were 'stuck in China' were REALLY stuck? What if people on the internet had brains?"

 

 

I think it's an interesting idea--a nice expansion of the basic concept of an observation tower. Think of the coaster as a cross between an El Loco and a Toboggan.

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I will be interested to see how they put these 'multiple loops' around such a small space. Sure its 325ft tall but loops and barrel rolls around a tower with little space has got my mind wandering. Yes, I've read up on the articles about the new design and it still has my interest. Looking forward to final design and pics to surface.

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Well hell yeah, give it up to Georgia for being cool and innovative. Never heard of this LakePoint before but kind of happy it's only 3 hours from where I live. I'll definitely be checking this out when it is opened...I just hope it don't turn out to be the world's coolest lift hill with the world's roughest ride down. I'll keep an open mind and hope for the best.

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So in this picture the red track is the lift hill section, and the blue track is the actual "ride portion" during the decent, does anyone know if this is correct?

 

If so, I wonder why the manufacturer chose to use the spiral track for the lift section instead of some kind of elevator? Seems like there is already infrastructure in place (or necessary at least) for elevators on the tower anyways, I would think an elevator lift would have been fairly easy to incorporate into the ride itself. Maybe someone can ask on the behind the scenes tour during TPR's Deep South Sports Complex tour of 2016 .

 

Seems like I remember seeing an animation at one point of the actual ride and this thing looked like it really had some potential to be a good coaster! Pacing was kind of weird (given the fact that the thing is hanging off the side of the freaking tower!) but it had some wicked looking drops and air pops.

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Looks interesting. I hope this is really a go and not something they are hoping to build at some point in the future. I can imagine at 325 feet tall, wrapping around the tower would build up a lot of speed. Look for a lot of trims!

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When I first saw the concept art for this I was hoping someone would build one. I am a fan of unique coasters so I like to see companies thinking outside of the box. I hope it turns out to be a fun ride. It will be at the top of my list to head to GA and try this out once it opens.

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I found out about this a while ago, and heard rumors about the thing being pitched in Vegas, but I would have never guessed this would open in my own backyard!!!! This more than makes up for SFOG's lack of a new coaster in the foreseeable future. It does seem random to build such a huge attraction in the middle of North Georgia, but then again my state has been pitching lots of crazy new developments like a new Falcons stadium and a new Braves stadium.

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