Looping Star (Mellors Group)

Roller coaster
Watch the on-ride POV
Looping Star
Mellors Group (UK)
Location Travelling
Status Operating since 2023
Parko Paliatso Luna Park
Name Looping Star
Location Ayia Napa, Famagusta, Cyprus
Coordinates 34°59′08″N 33°59′52″E / 34.985523°N 33.997865°E / 34.985523; 33.997865
Operated 1 April 2018 to 2023
Attractiepark Slagharen
Name Thunder Loop
Location Slagharen, Overijssel, Netherlands
Coordinates 34°59′08″N 33°59′52″E / 34.985523°N 33.997865°E / 34.985523; 33.997865
Operated 26 June 1979 to 2 October 2016
Replaced by Gold Rush
Statistics
Manufacturer Schwarzkopf
Product Looping Star
Designer / calculations Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH
Type Steel
Track layout Figure-8
Propulsion Chain lift hill
Area 77 metres × 31.5 metres
Height 24.5 metres
Top speed 77 km/h
Length 592 metres
Inversions 1
Duration 1:42
HELP

Looping Star is a steel travelling roller coaster. When opened in 1979 it was the first inverting roller coaster in the Netherlands. It later became the first inverting roller coaster in Cyprus where it operated from 2018 to 2023. Since 2023, it was been owned by the Mellors Group.

History

The ride opened at Attractiepark Slagharen in 1979 and was called Looping Star. It closed after the 2016 season and was replaced by a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster named Gold Rush, which opened in 2017.

It operated at Parko Paliatso Luna Park in Cyprus from 1 April 2018 to 2023.

In 2023, the coater was purchased by Mellors Group who placed it at Winter Wonderland Kuwait for winter 2023.[1]

Pop-culture

The ride was featured in the 2007 movie "Ernst, Bobbie en de Geslepen Onix". In the ride's scene, the two main characters, Ernst and Bobbie, were tied up in a train, riding towards a big block of concrete placed on the brake run by the movie's villain, Onix.

Design

Elements

Colour scheme

Blue track and white supports at Parko Paliatso. The ride originally opened with red track and teal supports at Slagharen, later being repainted to a dull yellow scheme for both the track and supports.

Trains

2 trains with 7 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 28 riders per train.

References

  1. Sansens, Jonathan (2023-11-11). "Thunder Loop uit Slagharen duikt op in Koeweit". Themeparkfreaks (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2023-11-11.

External links