Intamin has announced that it has completed the circuit on its track for the new Falcons Flight roller coaster.
Workers have placed the final pieces of track for the Intamin's first Exa Coaster, which will be the world's fastest at 155 mph when it opens at the new Six Flags Qiddiya theme park in Saudi Arabia next year. The coaster also will be the world's tallest, with a nearly 640 foot elevation atop a hill, leading into a 519-foot drop.
The previous record-holders for both categories closed this year. Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey has announced that Kingda Ka - the previous world's tallest coaster - will be closed permanently. The fastest coaster - Formula Rossa at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi - has been closed since February with no set date for a reopening from the park. But Falcons Flight's specs exceed those from both of those coasters, so it will be the undisputed coaster stat king in these categories when it opens.
Which is something that many coaster fans thought they never would see when the park announced the audacious stats for Falcons Flight. Granted, trains have yet to run in anger, but with the track now complete, it really does appear like this Falcon one day will be taking flight after all.
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But the park cannot fail. At least, not financially. The money the KSA is spending on this is a rounding error. Even if no one ever buys a ticket, the KSA can afford to dismiss this park as a total loss, because it will suffer zero financial harm if SFQ makes no income for it.
The only way that this park "fails" is if it does not do anything to help make the KSA an attractive tourist destination for anyone anywhere in the world. But even if that happens, again, it's no financial loss to Saudi. It's a no-risk chance for them.
That said, I hope that the engineering challenge of the Exa coaster is helping Intamin to develop more reliable and ambitious designs for coasters in parks in places that more fans are likely to visit.
I can’t believe this is actually coming to fruition. The initial announcement video looked like something a 12-year old might design on a rollercoaster sim.
I get your reply Robert and I agree with its logic. But, and it's a huge planet-killing 'but' - it really isn't about whether this place 'succeeds' or not. We all know the Saudis can throw an infinite amount of money at this project to support their vanity, but in the end it really is nothing more than a vanity project. It's a desperate attempt to make a despicable regime 'appealing' and apart from a host of theme park vloggers who will praise the park to the ultimate heights, (whilst almost certainly enjoying complimentary access, possibly even travel), this park is not going to attract even moderate numbers of western visitors. Even if I could afford to travel, (and if prices are on a par with Dubai then the answer is 'in my dreams'), I wouldn't. Anyone who visits, and that includes all those theme park vloggers and bloggers, is tacitly supporting this monstrous regime and frankly they should be ashamed of themselves, regardless of how wonderful the attractions are. Please tell me you won't be amongst those flocking to enjoy the Saudi 'hospitality......
@Russell, if your logic holds true, about this park potentially being a ghost-town, Intamin won't have much to worry about when it comes to disappointing thousands of park guests when the coaster is down due to technical issues.
@David, sadly enough, a lot of those theme park vloggers/bloggers don't give a damn about the regime as some that I've chatted with have already stated "I just want to ride coasters."
That aside, I too didn't think such a coaster would be built, but maybe I'm in the minority of opinion because outside of the stats, I'm not really impressed.
To me, Falcons Flight has always looked like it will be a pretty good ride, but it has never looked like one of the best coasters ever built. It doesn't really do anything that can't be found on a majority of modern Intamin coasters, but is just built on such a giant scale that it looks far more impressive. It is absolutely something that is on my bucket list to ride, but it is not something I'd prioritize over other destinations that are more compelling, and if I never wound up getting around to it, I probably wouldn't lose sleep over it.
As for traveling to Saudi Arabia, I see it as visiting any other country: It is up to the traveler to do the research and decide if they're okay with going there. For me personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable traveling there at present. However, if someone says "I know how things are there and it doesn't bother me enough to not go," I'm not going to judge them for their decision.
For the record, I was invited on a press trip to Saudi for the official announcement of the park, but I declined that offer. I have no idea if I will be invited to the park opening.
A 600 ft Intamin coaster fully exposed to desert storms and 110 degree heat in a country with no concerns for regulations or liability. What could possibly go wrong?
I disagree that the money this project will lose does not matter. This (as well as several other projects) are not only cost billions now but will be massive money sucks for as long as they are operating, and even if this park closes, will continue to cost a lot of money just to have sitting around or to remove. OPEC is under pressure from American fracking and global climate change initiatives, middle eastern oil is quickly not becoming the endless money spigot it once was, and NEOM has been scaled back and budget cut so much that its not nearly the project it was promised. You don't hear a lot about how Saudi Arabia is struggling because the one famous journalist from there that wrote about it [literally] got chopped up into pieces.
Epic Universal will be so disappointed when everyone shows up to ride this beast and skips Epic....
(Sarcastic) HAHAHAHHAHAAHAA
I mean they just started to let women drive in 2018 and in 2015 they let them vote.
Maybe by 2030 they will be able to ride this coaster????
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If it's deemed the world's tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster and no one shows up to ride it, does it really have those records?
The attractions and parks in the UAE are bad enough, but this park in Saudi Arabia is no different from LIV Golf, WWE PLEs, NEOM/The Line, or FIFA unscrupulously awarding the 2034 World Cup to the oppressive and regressive Kingdom. KSA thinks that touting the biggest/best/most popular attractions in the world will somehow cause people to overlook their abhorrent record on basic human rights. While I hope that the creatives and industry professionals get credit for designing and creating these landmark attractions, deep down inside, I really want this park to fail miserably.