Universal Studios Building New Roller Coaster For 2007

Osaka, Japan -- Universal Studios Japan is hoping an exciting new roller coaster will draw more visitors to the theme park in 2007.

The thrilling new attraction will be the first at the park to be built in more than one themed area. The roller coaster will start near the park entrance and extend to the lagoon in the center.

Standing more than fourteen stories tall, the new roller coaster will feature a 50-degree descent from a height of 144 feet. Four trains will carry 36 passengers each along 3,937 feet of steel track at speeds of up to 56 mph.

Universal Studios Japan estimates that it will spend more than $50 million to construct the roller coaster making it the second largest investment fro a new attraction. Previously, the park spent $120 million for the Spiderman 3-D dark ride that opened in January 2004.

The company hopes the new attraction will draw more visitors to the park. Attendance was up last year, with just over 8.3 million guests. For the second quarter of 2006 (April-June) attendance was down half a percent compared with the same period the previous year.

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