Photos: Tobu Zoo's Intamin Junior Hyper
I didn't see these posted yet. Sorry if they have been.
Tobu's new Intamin Junior Hyper, going up in Japan:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/loefet/HB5.jpg
Holy airtime, Batman!

Thorpe Park take note..
WE WANT ONE OF THESE.

Thorpe Park take note..
We REALLY want one of these!
...but preferably a B&M. ;)

> Thorpe Park take note..
> We REALLY want one of these!
> ...but preferably a B&M. ;)
Either would do. Frankly.
But preferably an Intamin! B&M staple you to the seat with those stuid restraints. And they stick brakes everywhere. Intamin FTW!

> Thorpe Park take note..
> We REALLY want one of these!
> ...but preferably a B&M. ;)
Grrrrrrrr! Are you trying to ruffle my feathers, Graeme? ;)
Tim.

Holy airtime indeed! Now why on God's green earth can't we get a lovely little hyper like this in the UK? I love this layout, and would rather see this at Thorpe than some dodgy B&M.
Tim.
I guess they make deals with the manufacturers...Maurer Sohne spinners at Alton and Chessy, B&M flyers at Alton and Thorpe, Intamin rockets at Alton, Thorpe and Heide Park...perhaps they get a BOGOF offer or something. :D

> I guess they make deals with the manufacturers...Maurer
> Sohne spinners at Alton and Chessy, B&M flyers at Alton and
> Thorpe, Intamin rockets at Alton, Thorpe and Heide
> Park...perhaps they get a BOGOF offer or something. :D
Yes, definitely with the spinning and rocket coasters. Not sure if B&M flyers were a deal, but I genuinely like them. I feel it's valid for Thorpe to get one. After that, they really need:
1) Woodie/hyper/junior hyper - anything non-loopy and high-capacity
2) B&M Floorless (well, I can dream...)
I honestly can't think of any other ride types that would be high-capacity enough and "valid" enough for Thorpe. Maybe a Mack Bobsled - wouldn't get me hyped, but I'd like to ride it. Or a new-gen swing (suspended) coaster.
I think it's highly unlikely they'll ever get a B&M floorless as they have a sit down looper already. As you said, they need some sort of non-looping ride be it a hyper or junior hyper (personally I'd love to see some wood but as I was told previously, they don't have the foundations for it. Not sure why but I'm no engineer). I think we'd be more likely to see a more moderate coaster next - something like one of your cherished Gerstlauer bobs, maybe.

That looks kickin'!
And steep lift!

This thing is nucking futs! Seriously, I felt my stomach drop with the air (that's a good thing). Again, why isn't there one of these in the UK?? Hell, even Flamingoland could afford one of these.

I have just read on "coasters and more" that two more of these design have been sold to parks in Asia. I think this is now the best selling Intamin clone.
I never quite understood why not more parks go for Intamin non-loopers! They always come up with great new elements while B&M don´t seem to bother to try something new in the track-bending department. (O.K. Inversions with ten-people wide cars are pretty spectacular, but most of their innovations is directly related to the rolling stock).
With M.F., Superman and EGF topping the hitlists for seven years in a row, you should think that there was much more interest in these things?!

> Short, sweet and delicious hairtime!
What a lovely looking ride, i'm very impressed
The airtime floats look fun and the changes of direction aren't too fast to be jarring / rough
A decent length, just about tall enough to provide thrills but not too tall to be intimidating - this is the intamin goldilocks!
> I never quite understood why not more parks go for Intamin
> non-loopers! They always come up with great new elements
> while B&M don´t seem to bother to try something new in the
> track-bending department. (O.K. Inversions with ten-people
> wide cars are pretty spectacular, but most of their
> innovations is directly related to the rolling stock).
Thats a good point i've never thought of it that way before
Intamin, Maurer and S&S are developing more sensational thrill coasters, really twisting the track in new more extreme directions and performing more sensational stunts
Its kind of a response to the parks on a whole are investing less in new attractions and wanting an eye-catching gimmick at a cheap price
B&M have stuck to providing the premium quality traditional large scale looping coaster and inverted looping coaster - these are solid rides that more reliable and have a strong throughput capacity, but of course it comes at a price - which at this moment in time the parks are less willing to pay
Not all parks have a solid traditional big scale looper so i still hope there's room for them in the future

Stu, you're right there with B&M loopers, but still would it kill them to come up with newer or more unique inversions? I, myself would love to see a giant Norwegian Loop done on a sitdown or a floorless, and why not bring back the cutback. I'm still waiting for B&M to bring back with the same layout (but designed better) Drachen Fire from Busch Gardens Europe.

Tricktrack:
> With M.F., Superman and EGF topping the hitlists for seven
> years in a row, you should think that there was much more
> interest in these things?!
I would say it's a reluctance to buy Intamin (after the accidents this decade), yet rocket coaster sales have been good. I'm still tempted to think it's doubt about Intamin lap bars (combined with extreme airtime). That said, the tide seems to have turned, and now we've got El Toro, T-Express and these new Mega-Lites.
Winged Beast:
> A decent length, just about tall enough to provide thrills
> but not too tall to be intimidating - this is the intamin
> goldilocks!
Totally agree! I definitely like coasters in the 50-150ft range. As much as I enjoyed riding the Pepsi Max Big One, I thought the intimidation (ie. the height) took away from the ride and, to me at least, didn't add anything when I actually rode it. (Even though it's great fun in its own right.)
One thing's for sure: these Intamin Mega-Lites look great, the B&Ms look great, and it's rather a shame Vekoma and Gerstlauer don't have their own 100-150ft non-looping coasters.

> I would say it's a reluctance to buy Intamin (after
> the accidents this decade), yet rocket coaster sales have
> been good. I'm still tempted to think it's doubt about
> Intamin lap bars (combined with extreme airtime). That
> said, the tide seems to have turned, and now we've got El
> Toro, T-Express and these new Mega-Lites.
Yes, but the last of the steel non-loopers was Goliath in 2002. That was long before people started to fall out.
Its great that these two new rides don´t have OTSR, after all we have Rita/Desert Race, two rides without any airtime to speak of, with these stupid things.

To be fair, the accidents in the US with the riders falling out were due to the size of the riders, with the exception of the one rider at Darien Lake who manage to get out of the lap bar whilst waiting on the brakes. I really do hope we see more Intamin megas here, as well as in the UK.
On a side note, Xcelerator and Top Thrill use labars, and those top hats look like to have plenty of air.
Cedar Point did it right though, besides the T-Bar, the seatbelt has two locks making it nearly impossible for anything to happen.