Orient Express (Worlds of Fun)
| Orient Express | |
|---|---|
Orient Express
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| Worlds of Fun | |
| Park section | Orient |
| Coordinates | 39°10′34″N 94°29′18″W / 39.176133°N 94.488338°WCoordinates: 39°10′34″N 94°29′18″W / 39.176133°N 94.488338°W |
| Status | Removed |
| Opening date | April 4, 1980 |
| Closing date | October 26, 2003 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel |
| Manufacturer | Arrow Development |
| Designer | Ron Toomer |
| Model | Custom Looping Coaster |
| Track layout | Terrain |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 117 ft (36 m) |
| Drop | 115 ft (35 m) |
| Length | 3,470 ft (1,060 m) |
| Speed | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
| Inversions | 4 |
| Duration | 2:15 |
| Max vertical angle | 55° |
| Capacity | 1,800 riders per hour |
| G-force | 3.5 |
| Height restriction | 48 in (122 cm) |
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Orient Express at RCDB Pictures of Orient Express at RCDB |
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Orient Express was a steel roller coaster located at Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri. Introduced in 1980, the ride was manufactured by Arrow Development and designed by Ron Toomer. The red-orange track was in between the two entrances of the park. The station house is still visible, and contains the park's haunted attraction Lore of the Vampire and Club Blood.
The Orient Express was the first coaster ever to have a "Kamikaze Curve" element, which was later termed a "boomerang" by Arrow Development and a "batwing" by Bolliger & Mabillard. This element consists of a 90-degree rise to the right or left (similar to half a corkscrew), followed by half of a traditional loop element, then a rising half loop, then a final 90-degree dive sending the track in the same direction it entered the element. This element was common on Arrow's larger multi-element looping coasters, as well as on the Vekoma designed Goudurix at Parc Astérix, where it was known as a "Double Sidewinder," and on B&M's inverted roller coasters. The Orient Express also featured a tunnel prior to the lift hill that housed the Orient Express Dragon, a wooden sign that had the ride's logo illuminated.
The queue house had a "chicken exit" that guests could take if they chickened out at the last minute. The sign for the chicken exit now resides in the station house for Timber Wolf.
Orient Express was also the second full circuit roller coaster to have interlocking loops, the Loch Ness Monster being the first. Lightnin' Loops at Six Flags Great Adventure, which opened in 1978, was the first roller coaster to have interlocking loops, but the coaster was made up of two separate shuttle tracks. With the retirement of Orient Express, Loch Ness Monster is again the only coaster with this feature.
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