Official Patriot 2006 Construction Thread...

[ChuckR]

PATRIOT - The American Scream at Worlds Of Fun

Press Release

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The American Dream becomes the American Scream at Worlds of Fun for thrill seekers grasped in the clutches of the new PATRIOT roller coaster. In spring 2006, guests at Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri, challenge PATRIOT, the longest, tallest and fastest full-circuit inverted roller coaster in the region, and the largest capital expenditure on a single attraction in the park's history.

The new PATRIOT roller coaster is a $14 million investment for Worlds of Fun and is sure to be an anchor attraction at the park. The ride boasts the red, white, and blue colors of the American flag, and there is no other single ride or attraction in the park's 33-year history that meets this level of extreme thrill or financial commitment.

The inverted PATRIOT delivers two minutes and 18 seconds of the ultimate amusement park adventure by exposing riders to height, speed and a seamless transition of gravity-defying elements. Hanging beneath the track, thrill-seekers climb a 149-foot lift hill, then plunge down a 123-foot curved drop reaching a speed of nearly 60-MPH. Riders are disoriented as they fly through seven gravity-defying elements, including an 89-foot vertical loop, a zero-gravity roll, an Immelmann loop, an inclined banked curve, an s-curve, a corkscrew, and a high-speed spiral.

With 3,081 feet of seemingly out-of-control tubular steel track, PATRIOT is the perfect addition to Worlds of Fun's already impressive line-up of world-class thrill rides. Known as an inverted coaster because of its unique trains that hang below the track, PATRIOT grips riders in bucket seats with shoulder harnesses and safety belts. The ski-lift style chairs leave legs dangling as the floor drops out, providing passengers with an unobscured view of the terrain below.

"We are excited to unveil the highly-anticipated PATRIOT roller coaster to our guests this spring," said Phil Bender, Vice President and General Manager at Worlds of Fun. "Adding this monster ride to our vast collection of attractions reinforces the Park's dedication to being the region's leading thrill park and family entertainment destination."

PATRIOT is custom designed for the topography of Worlds of Fun by famed coaster designers Bolliger & Mabillard (B & M) of Monthey, Switzerland. Riders sit four abreast in seven rows on two 28-passenger trains that accommodate 1,160 riders per hour.

PATRIOT is the sixth roller coaster at Worlds of Fun and is scheduled to open April 2006.

Videos
(All viewed in Windows Media Player)

Various Ride Angles

Front Row POV

Camera Fly Around

Webcam
Patriot has a webcam set up. To view it click here!

Pictures
If you would like to see construction pictures of the completed circuit, check out Worlds of Fun Construction Journal!

All discussion of Patriot should be discussed here...

[SilverBullet]

Speed Monster? LR Goliath?

There hardly discussed yet they are original and deserve it, Patriot is just  Talon wannabe.

[overlord]

Patriot doesnt look to be anything thrilling. With only 4 inversions, and nothing really new, it doesnt make me want to ride it any more then i do batman. Hope that it proves me wrong.

[KingdaKaRuler05]

Looking good. I loved Talon when I rode it in October, so this ride should be pretty good considering they are so similar.

-KKR05

[Metsman.]

Speed Monster? LR Goliath?

There hardly discussed yet they are original and deserve it, Patriot is just  Talon wannabe.

Maybe nobody cares about them because they are in Norway and Canada.....

[SilverBullet]

Exactly why they're the least hyped....

[ChuckR]

Although that last helix does look pretty insane on Patriot...

[overlord]

But after the Immleman, its just kind of boring floating around over the station. I think they should have built a tunnel under the station.

[stew560]

And now the Patriots are complete as well! <rimshot!>

Ok that was bad!

Looks like it will be a good addition to their park.

[Bubba Z]

^ It wasn't bad if you hate the Pats .........Go Broncos

[Nitro1118]

Speed Monster? LR Goliath?

There hardly discussed yet they are original and deserve it, Patriot is just  Talon wannabe.

Go to a larger site than just northeast park fansites and you'll see both of those coasters are getting their respect. Patriot isn't, as it is a near identical clone of Talon (which isn't a bad thing at all).

[sfgadvfreak]

Got Talon? *picture of Mick Foley with a grin on and a zero-g roll photoshopped in as a mushdash*

Cheap clone...Talon...awesome coaster...Patriclone...probably good, but, yeah.

No one really cares about coasters outside of the US.  For example, there's a 4-D going to Japan, and how much have you heard about that.  If, say, CP was getting a 4D, it would be all over the place every second.

[SilverBullet]

Speed Monster? LR Goliath?

There hardly discussed yet they are original and deserve it, Patriot is just  Talon wannabe.

Go to a larger site than just northeast park fansites and you'll see both of those coasters are getting their respect. Patriot isn't, as it is a near identical clone of Talon (which isn't a bad thing at all).

Yes, but it is a near clone so why should it get any respect? Show me a forum that is respecting Speed Monster and I'll show you a well rounded forum.

[Nitro1118]

Thrillnetwork has a forum for it, RCPro just had a SM update, there are sites like XtremeCoasters that have updates for it and rarely for Patriot, all polls about best coaster in 2006 have it near the top, etc...

Talon is a great inverted coaster, and the midwest is pretty empty of good inverted coasters outside of Raptor and a few B:TR clones. It deserves respect. To me, Speed Monster won't be that great of a coaster. It will be good like Rita and Kanonen, but nothing too special.

[ChuckR]

Yeah Talon in the front is a good coaster, in the back I can take a nap on it.

[ChuckR]

Updated page with all information on Patriot including videos, pictures and press release of it.

[ChuckR]

http://coastercommunity.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=741&g2_page=1&g2_navId=xc2ab4b70

[rjholla2003]

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2006/04/03/daily32.html?surround=lfn

Worlds of Fun unveils $14M roller coaster
Kansas City Business Journal - 11:40 AM CDT Thursday
by Chris Grenz
Staff Writer

Officials at Worlds of Fun said they are hoping the park's new $14 million roller coaster -- the largest investment in its 33-year history -- will jolt attendance and revenue in addition to riders.

The Patriot will officially make its debut when the park kicks off its 2006 season with weekend operations starting Saturday.

"It's a fantastic ride," said Phil Bender, vice president and general manager of Worlds and Oceans of Fun. "We're thrilled to be able to bring a world-class coaster like this to Kansas City."

In an interview, Bender said a ride of The Patriot's caliber is expected to boost annual attendance by 15 percent to 20 percent. Park revenue should see a similar spike in 2006, Bender said.

Cedar Fair LP (NYSE: FUN), based in Sandusky, Ohio, owns and operates Oceans of Fun and Worlds of Fun. In January, the company reported about 800,000 gate admissions in 2005, which the company said represented a 10 percent drop compared with 2004.

In addition to The Patriot, the park will unveil a new $9.95 ticket for senior citizens older than 62 and for children shorter than 49 inches. Also, all Cedar Fair parks are experimenting with 25-cent cotton candy in the summer as a way to make a family trip to the park easier on the pocketbook, Bender said.

"Something like this is for the teenagers," Bender said of The Patriot. "We want to do something for everyone else, too. It's all meant to attract more families."

The Patriot is an inverted roller coaster, meaning the cars hang beneath the track with riders' legs dangling below them. The steel coaster is 3,081 feet long and 149 feet high at its crest. The ride, lasting two minutes and 18 seconds, reaches a high speed of 60 mph. Park officials bill it as the longest and tallest inverted roller coaster in the region.

"The feedback that we're getting is that people are just blown away by this ride," said Nick Guevel, a park spokesman.

The ride was designed by Switzerland-based Bollinger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers Inc. The train and mechanical parts of the ride were manufactured in Switzerland, and the track was built in Cincinnati, said Walter Bollinger, a principal with the engineering firm and the ride's designer.

"What's special is we didn't do this on a flat area," Bollinger said of The Patriot. "It's somewhat hilly, which allowed us to play with differences in elevation."