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| Big Blue while standing but not operating at Loudoun Castle in 2011
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| OK Corral
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| Name
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Looping Star
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| Location
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Cuges-les-Pins, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France
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| Operated
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1980 to 1985
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| Statistics
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| Manufacturer
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Schwarzkopf
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| Product
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Silverarrow
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| Designer / calculations
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Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH
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| Type
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Steel
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| Riders per train
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24
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| Hourly capacity
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1,500
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| Propulsion
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Chain lift hill
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| Area
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28.5 metres × 65.2 metres
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| Height
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18.3 metres
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| Top speed
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66 km/h
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| Length
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553.8 metres
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| Inversions
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1
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| Duration
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1:48
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| HELP
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Big Blue is a steel roller coaster currently operating at Fun Park Biograd in Biograd na Moru, Zadar County, Croatia. It has previously operated at five other amusement parks.
History
This roller coaster was a mainstay of the Bembom Rides company for many years. The company operated a number of amusement parks across Europe, as well as leasing many of their attractions to other operators. The rollercoaster’s first location under their ownership was one of their own parks - OK Corral in Southern France, in 1980. It remained here until the end of the 1985 season, when it was loaned to First Leisure, who operated it as the “Looping Star” at the First Leisure-owned Ocean Beach Fun Fair in Rhyl from May 1986.[1]
In 1989 the ride was leased to Camelot Theme Park who opened it under the name Tower of Terror. The track was painted black and the loop was enclosed in a castle facade, to be in-keeping with the park’s medieval theme. At the end of the 2000 season, the ride was being taken down to be removed from the park when a fire caused by a cutting torch destroyed the castle facade.[2]
The next location for the ride was Dreamland Margate in 2001. The ride was still owned by Bembom Rides, and was leased to Jimmy Godden - then owner of Dreamland Margate (the Bemboms had previously owned the park themselves between 1982 - 1995). The ride received a repaint - this time in orange and brown, and its name reverted to “Looping Star”.
In 2003 the Bemboms purchsed Loudoun Castle in Scotland, and this rollercoaster was one of the first attractions they installed at the park. It retained the brown & orange colour scheme previously used at Dreamland Margate, however the ride was renamed “Twist and Shout”. It took the spot previously occupied by the Galaxy and Thunder Loop Express. Twist And Shout operated until the end of the 2010 season, when the park closed down. The ride was listed for sale, but remained standing but not operating until 2016 when a buyer was finally found.
The ride has operated as “Big Blue” at Fun Park Biograd in Croatia since July 2017. This is the roller coaster’s first location not under the ownership of the Bembom family.
Design
The ride has a single vertical loop at its centre with a diameter of 40 feet. The track passes through the centre of the loop. The ride also has a helix.
Colour scheme
Blue track and white supports, used to be orange track with brown supports when at Loudoun and Dreamland. The ride has black track and white supports at Camelot. Its current colour scheme was also its opening day scheme.
Trains
6 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 24 riders per train.
References
External links
- Big Blue on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
