Fourth-dimension roller coaster facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fourth-dimension roller coaster
'X²' (formerly 'X') was the first fourth-dimension roller coaster in the world.
Status	In Production
First manufactured	2002
No. of installations	18
Manufacturers	Arrow Dynamics (discontinued), S&S Worldwide, and Intamin
Riders per row	4
Restraint Style	Over-the-shoulder

Imagine a roller coaster where your seat can spin around while the coaster zooms along the track! That's what a fourth-dimension roller coaster is. It's a special type of steel roller coaster where the riders' seats can rotate on their own. This rotation happens separately from how the track twists and turns.

The seats usually spin around a horizontal line that goes across the track. This means you might be facing forward one moment and backward or even upside down the next! It adds a whole new level of excitement to the ride.

History of 4D Roller Coasters

The idea for a fourth-dimension roller coaster first came from John F. Mares in 1995. He even got several patents for his spinning seat system. In his original idea, riders would actually control how much their seats spun!

The very first fourth-dimension roller coaster ever built was called X2. It opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2002. This amazing ride was designed by Alan Schilke. Later, in 2007, another company called Intamin created their own version of the 4D coaster, which they named ZacSpin.

How 4D Coasters Are Designed

Different companies have designed 4D roller coasters in unique ways. Let's look at how some of them work.

Arrow Dynamics and S&S Worldwide Designs

A) Rotation of seats
B) Seat on axle
C) Rack gear
D) Four rails

Arrow Dynamics was the first company to build a fourth-dimension roller coaster. Their coaster trains have seats that can spin a full 360 degrees, either forward or backward. This spinning is carefully controlled.

How do they do it? These coasters use four rails on the track instead of the usual two. Two rails are for the coaster train to roll on, just like a normal coaster. The other two rails, called "X Rails," control the spinning of the seats. These X Rails change in height, and they use a special gear system to make the seats spin as the train moves along.

The first Arrow Dynamics 4D coaster, X2, was a test ride. It had some problems at first, which cost a lot of money to fix. Arrow Dynamics later went out of business, but S&S Worldwide bought them. S&S Worldwide continued to build these types of 4D coasters.

• The second one, Eejanaika, opened in Japan in 2006.
• A third one, Dinoconda, opened in China in 2012.

Intamin ZacSpin First Generation

Intamin created their ZacSpin coaster as a different kind of 4D ride. Here are some key differences from the Arrow Dynamics version:

• The seats spin freely, which means each ride can feel a little different!
• It doesn't need extra rails to control the spin.
• The cars are smaller, usually holding two riders sitting back-to-back.

However, some riders found these early ZacSpin coasters a bit uncomfortable. This was because the seats spun around a point that was behind the riders, not directly under them. Also, these rides mostly moved up and down, without much side-to-side motion. Because of this, some roller coaster fans don't consider them true "fourth-dimension" coasters.

• The first ZacSpin, Kirnu, opened in Finland in 2007.
• Later that year, Inferno opened in Spain.
• In 2009, Insane opened in Sweden with a different track design.
• The first ZacSpin in the United States, Green Lantern: First Flight, opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2011. It was themed after the DC Comics superhero Green Lantern.

S&S Free Spin Coasters

In 2012, S&S Worldwide introduced a new design called the Free Spin. It's similar to the Intamin ZacSpin but with some important improvements:

• Each vehicle has two rows of seats, and each row spins on its own.
• The seats are designed so that the spinning happens around the rider's own center of gravity. This makes the ride much more comfortable!
• The seats still spin freely, but magnets are used in certain parts of the track to make sure the seats flip over in a controlled way.

The first 4D Free Spin coaster was Batman: The Ride, which opened at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 2015.

Intamin ZacSpin Second Generation

In 2016, Intamin also updated their ZacSpin design. Like the S&S Free Spin, their new version also has vehicles with two rows of seats that spin independently. They also made sure the spinning happens around the rider's center of gravity to make the ride more comfortable.

Do 4D Coasters Have Inversions?

There's a big discussion among roller coaster fans about whether the spinning on these rides counts as an "inversion." An inversion is when a coaster turns riders completely upside down, like in a loop or a corkscrew.

• Guinness World Records said that the Eejanaika coaster had 14 inversions because of its spinning seats.
• However, other groups that keep track of coaster records, like the Roller Coaster Database, only count inversions that are part of the track itself, not the seat spinning. They say the record for most inversions (14) belongs to The Smiler in the United Kingdom.

So, it depends on how you define an "inversion"!

Where to Find 4D Coasters

Here is a list of some fourth-dimension roller coasters around the world:

Name	Park	Years	Model	Status		Image
Batman: The Ride	Six Flags Fiesta Texas	2015 to present	S&S Worldwide 4D Free Spin	Operating	rowspan=2	rowspan=2|
	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom	2019 to present
Arashi	Nagashima Spa Land	2017 to present	S&S Worldwide 4D Free Spin	Operating
The Joker	Six Flags Great Adventure	2016 to present	S&S Worldwide 4D Free Spin	Operating	rowspan="4"	rowspan=4|
	Six Flags Great America	2017 to present
	Six Flags Over Texas
	Six Flags New England
Wonder Woman Coaster	Six Flags México	2018 to present	S&S Worldwide 4D Free Spin	Operating
Dinoconda	China Dinosaur Park	2012 to present	S&S Worldwide 4th Dimension	Operating
Dragon Slayer	Adventureland Park	2021 to present	S&S Sansei 4D Free Spin	Operating
Eejanaika	Fuji-Q Highland	2006 to present	S&S Arrow 4th Dimension	Operating
Inferno	Terra Mítica	2007 to present	Intamin ZacSpin	Operating
Insane	Gröna Lund	2009 to present	Intamin ZacSpin	Operating
John Wick: Open Contract	Motiongate Dubai	2022 to present	S&S Worldwide 4D Free Spin	Operating
Kirnu	Linnanmäki	2007 to present	Intamin ZacSpin	Operating
Tumbili	Kings Dominion	2022 to present	S&S Sansei 4D Free Spin	Operating
X2 Formerly X	Six Flags Magic Mountain	2002 to present	Arrow Dynamics 4th Dimension	Operating
Green Lantern: First Flight was to be relocated to La Ronde as Vipère	Six Flags Magic Mountain	2011-2017: operated 2017-2019: inactive	Intamin ZacSpin	Removed
	La Ronde	2019-2022: stored 2022: cancelled		Cancelled; in storage

See also

In Spanish: Montaña rusa de cuarta dimensión para niños

• Wing Coaster – another type of roller coaster with seats that stick out to the sides of the track.