Alpine Bobsled facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alpine Bobsled |
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|---|---|
| Previously known as Sarajevo Bobsled at Great Adventure, Rolling Thunder at Great America | |
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| Great Escape | |
| Park section | Fest Area |
| Coordinates | 43°21′04″N 73°41′16″W / 43.3511°N 73.6877°W |
| Status | open |
| Opening date | 1998 |
| at at RCDB | |
| Six Flags Great America | |
| Coordinates | 42°21′57″N 87°56′13″W / 42.3658°N 87.937°W |
| Status | Relocated to Great Escape |
| Opening date | 1989 |
| Closing date | 1995 |
| Replaced by | Raging Bull |
| Six Flags Great Adventure | |
| Coordinates | 40°08′20″N 74°26′17″W / 40.139°N 74.4381°W |
| Status | Relocated to Six Flags Great America |
| Opening date | 1984 |
| Closing date | 1988 |
| Replaced by | Great American Scream Machine |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel |
| Manufacturer | Intamin |
| Model | Bobsled roller coaster |
| Height | 64 ft (20 m) |
| Length | 1,490 ft (450 m) |
| Speed | 35 mph (56 km/h) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 1 min. 40 sec. |
| Height restriction | 42 in (107 cm) |
| Trains | 6 trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 2 across in 4 rows for a total of 8 riders per train. |
The Alpine Bobsled is an exciting steel bobsled roller coaster. It was built by a company called Intamin. This roller coaster has traveled quite a bit! It has been at three different amusement parks. Today, you can find it at Great Escape in Queensbury, New York.
Contents
What is the Alpine Bobsled?
The Alpine Bobsled is a unique type of roller coaster. Instead of riding on a track with rails, the cars look like bobsleds. They run freely in a U-shaped trough. This gives riders the feeling of actually sliding down an icy bobsled run. It's a fun and different kind of coaster experience.
The Alpine Bobsled's Design and Look
The Alpine Bobsled ride looks like a bobsled track you might see in the Winter Olympics. This theme was chosen because the park is close to Lake Placid. Lake Placid hosted the Winter Olympics in 1980 and 1932. Both of these events included bobsled races.
The ride has six bobsled-themed cars. Each car is decorated to represent a different country. You might ride in a sled for the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, Jamaica, Canada, or Switzerland. Usually, three or four sleds are running at a time. The other sleds are stored or being worked on.
Entering the Ride Area
To get to the ride, you walk through a large archway. This archway is decorated with an old Olympic-style bobsled. Along the path to the loading area, you'll see old, broken sleds. The loading station itself looks like an old-fashioned ski lodge from the 1800s. The outside of the bobsled track is purple and white. The inside of the track is white.
The Journey of the Alpine Bobsled
This roller coaster has had an interesting history. It has moved to three different amusement parks over the years.
First Stop: Six Flags Great Adventure (1984-1988)
The coaster was first built in 1984. It opened at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. Back then, it was called the Sarajevo Bobsled. The ride was very popular. It was meant to celebrate the 1984 Olympics.
By 1988, the area of the park where it stood needed a change. The park decided to build a bigger roller coaster there. So, the Sarajevo Bobsled was closed in the middle of the season. It was taken apart and moved. A new, very tall roller coaster called Great American Scream Machine was built in its place.
Second Stop: Six Flags Great America (1989-1995)
After being taken apart, the bobsled coaster moved to Six Flags Great America in Illinois. It opened there in 1989. At this park, it was known as Rolling Thunder.
Rolling Thunder stayed at Six Flags Great America until 1995. It was then replaced by a different kind of steel coaster called Raging Bull. After that, Rolling Thunder was sold to another company called Premier Parks.
Final Stop: Great Escape (1998-Present)
Premier Parks moved the coaster to Great Escape in New York. It reopened there in 1998 as the Alpine Bobsled.
Interestingly, Premier Parks bought Six Flags in 1998. This meant that Great Escape and the Alpine Bobsled became part of the Six Flags family again!
How the Trains Work
The Alpine Bobsled uses cars made by a company called Giovanola. Each car has four rows. Two riders sit side-by-side in each row. So, each car can hold eight riders.
As of 2015, four of the bobsled cars are used regularly. Two other cars are kept in storage. Sometimes, the back rows of the cars are closed off. This is done to make sure riders have a comfortable experience.
- Alpine Bobsled at the Roller Coaster DataBase
