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Most Innovative or smartest Designs


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It's a simple thread, talk about one or a few designs that you think are really innovative, of make you go "huh that's so smart, never thought about it like that!" Or "holy crap those engineers are insane". It doesn't have to be a whole ride, can be as little as a cleverly placed bolt or doesn't even have to be amusement ride related!

 

I have to applaud for Imagineers here. Soarin's insane mechanical arms, Tower of Terror the whole thing, the 12-car multi-move on Journey, mastering animatronics and trackless system on Mystic Manor and Pooh, etc. Also something I've heard all about but never got to experience it, Alien Encounter. Disney is playing a different game than the rest of the industry! Spiderman by Universal is really innovative as well.

 

As for little details, here are a few I really like:

The moving drive tires on TTD, once the train slow to a certain speed the drive tire rises

Sensors on the moving floors of B&M Dive Machines

The moving boards that stable the cars on Falcon's Fury with all the circuits

Gerstlauer's brush-like circuit/sensor at the station

RMC welding track from pre-cut steel sheets

Using magnet to control rotation/spinning on Falcon's Fury, 4D Free Spin, Mack's new spinning car

Intamin putting hydraulic lock inside the back spine of the seats

Click N Fix buckles

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Parks with crammed roller coaster lineups, specifically Great Bear / Coal Cracker / Sooperdooperlooper / Skyrush / Comet, and Kvasten / Twister / Jetline / Vilda Musen.

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The combination of form and function in Goliath SFGAm's lift hill/zero g stall structure is, to me, one of the most emotionally evocative and ingenious designs to come out of the amusement industry. It looks like a railroad bridge from Alice in Wonderland. I can't wait to see it in person sometime.

 

Here's a funny example: I actually thought the rotating bins on Skyrush were a very clever and simple solution to the single-sided station dilemma. You put your stuff in when you're waiting in line, it's there for you when you get off the train, minimizing risk of theft in the meantime. A great idea on paper... too bad the IQ of the general populace just wasn't up to snuff.

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This is a weird simple one but I love watching how Top Thrill Dragster engages into the catch car

Me too. And it's interesting how the launch dog then stays in place due to magnetic field which needs to be "neutralized" for it to lower into the catch car. Pretty clever stuff.

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Here's a funny example: I actually thought the rotating bins on Skyrush were a very clever and simple solution to the single-sided station dilemma.

I was actually thinking about that for this thread, even though it didn't work out in practice. There are so many little things that Hershey does more effectively than other parks. I especially admire their complete dedication to and enthusiasm for racing on Lightning Racer. The only things I really can't stand are the programs for their flat rides and their lackluster, overly restrictive rendition of a line-skipping program.

 

I may have a half-baked memory and description of this, but I noticed that Iron Rattler has an automatically controlled exit gate. I like how it saves time since no one has to close or lock the gate, and I hope it catches on with more rides that could benefit from it.

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Premier's decision to put track on both the inside and outside of Full.Throttle's vertical loop is an elegant solution to what was presumably a budgetary constraint. It looks great, rides great, and eliminates tons of steel (literally...).

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...talk about one or a few designs that you think are really innovative, of make you go "huh that's so smart, never thought about it like that!" Or "holy crap those engineers are insane".

 

Goliath's lift structure, and zero-g-stall amaze me. When the renderings first came out showing what this would really look like, I was really amazed. This is one of those times where I think "Holy crap those engineers are insane!"

 

 

Same goes for i305. The lack of supports on the lift hill amaze me.

 

 

I know less and less supports on lift hills are becoming more and more common, however when these both first came out it amazed me that the rides were able to stand with such few supports, and the truss system just amazes me.

Edited by DoinItForTheFame
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...talk about one or a few designs that you think are really innovative, of make you go "huh that's so smart, never thought about it like that!" Or "holy crap those engineers are insane".

 

Goliath's lift structure, and zero-g-stall amaze me. When the renderings first came out showing what this would really look like, I was really amazed. This is one of those times where I think "Holy crap those engineers are insane!"

The lift sort of reminds me of how Intamin did the lift supports on I305. Both two great coasters with two great designs!

EDIT: Posted this just before you updated yours to include I305.

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Verbolten's drop track is pretty innovative. I'd love to see more of those kind of coasters.

 

You and me both. I don't know why the free fall drop element never caught on. I think it is a great addition to a coaster, and I'd love to see more of them.

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This might be a weird one, but the apparent complications of the Intamin 1st Generation FreeFall.

 

Rather than "let's have one tower and make it go up and come down", they wanted to have a bunch of individual cars, almost like a coaster, travel up and through many different planes, catching on to different parts of the car throughout the ride, ride like a roller coaster at one point, then adjust the rider position into another plane all in one ride. It just seems like much more complicated mechanics than a typical drop tower, especially for the 1980s.

 

However, with that being said, they do give a true free fall experience, something becoming seemingly more rare nowadays on drop rides.

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Prowler's triple down is beautiful, and was very innovative at the time.

So is Storm Runner's triple-up finish. It's the perfect ending. Not to mention the way the flying snake dive thing sets it up.

Renegades double turn first drop, and Thunderhead's double turn first up.

I love the pre-drop dip on some of the B&Ms, most notably Raging Bull, and Alpengeist. I know it was more function-related than experience-related, but it rocks.

Goliath's (WW) stengel dive (and Maverick's).

This is small, but I love the slightly nuanced transitions that B&M has, like the heavily banked turn into Katun's cobra roll, and the turns into and out of Wildfire's cobra rolls. I think they're so elegant, and add a lot.

I love the aesthetic appeal of the cobra rolls on B&M coasters when they're bowed outwards.

The megalites, as a whole, hit the nail on the head. So smart, so compact.

I (like others in this thread) absolutely love the 'floating' lift hills of Goliath and I305.

The Pax masterpieces Jungle Storm in Bahrain and Wild Train in Austria.

Some of the Winjas' tricks are pretty great.

Outlaw Run's sideways airtime hill.

Medusa Steel's everything, especially that first drip, and the plummeting barrel roll

Mystery Mine's finale is brilliant.

Tornado at Bakken's spinning launched lift hill.

Starry Sky Ripper's 1.5 barrel roll.

 

Good thread

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This might be a weird one, but the apparent complications of the Intamin 1st Generation FreeFall.

 

Rather than "let's have one tower and make it go up and come down", they wanted to have a bunch of individual cars, almost like a coaster, travel up and through many different planes, catching on to different parts of the car throughout the ride, ride like a roller coaster at one point, then adjust the rider position into another plane all in one ride. It just seems like much more complicated mechanics than a typical drop tower, especially for the 1980s.

 

However, with that being said, they do give a true free fall experience, something becoming seemingly more rare nowadays on drop rides.

 

+1

 

The fact that the wheels don't go around the track gets me as well, the track is around the wheel.

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