originally posted on 5/10/2019
From White Cyclone to “White Whale” in little more than a year’s time! How did Hakugei, the “White Whale” that replaced the beloved White Cyclone at Nagashima Spa Land in Kuwana, Japan, become the first Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) conversion in Asia? Hakugei’s story is more than the destruction of an aging wood coaster in favor of a hybrid wood-steel design; it is also a story about what can be accomplished with international corporate cooperation.
White Cyclone was a stunningly beautiful wood coaster built by Intamin in 1994. Painted white, with two signature helixes, it was one of three wood coasters in Japan when it was built and was the tallest at 139 feet. It was also one of the world’s longest at more than 5,577 feet. As had happened with other extreme wood coasters (e.g., Texas Giant [Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington], Mean Streak [Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio], Rattler [Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio]), maintenance issues and low ridership began to plague White Cyclone as the years went by, and the park began looking for a solution.
Photo: Yoshiaki Nishikawa. View full-sized image.
A visit to Six Flags Fiesta Texas to try out an S&S Worldwide 4D Free Spin coaster (Batman The Ride) for possible purchase led to the answer. During the visit, Nagashima Spa Land representatives also rode Iron Rattler and realized that an RMC conversion might be the answer to their issues with White Cyclone. Easier said than done, however, since the park had never done business with RMC and was required to work through another Japanese company. Enter S&S Sansei Technologies. Ultimately, responsibility was divided among three companies: RMC (track, trains), S&S Worldwide (mechanicals, engineering) and S&S Sensei Technologies (dismantling of parts of White Cyclone’s track, installation of new structure and meeting Japanese building codes).
That Fiesta Texas visit had more consequences for the park than the purchase of a 4D Free Spin coaster from S&S Worldwide: business connections were arranged among Nagashima Spa Land, the two S&S companies and RMC, and White Cyclone closed on January 28, 2018. The addition of Arashi (the 4D Free Spin) and Hakugei brought Nagashima Spa Land’s coaster count to 13. ACE visited Nagashima Spa Land as part of its East Meets ACE international trip in 2018, but since Hakugei was under construction, all attendees could do was look at the progress and drool.
Hakugei opened March 28, 2019. Wood coaster fans will be pleased to see that although Hakugei is sporting new track and new elements, most of the beautiful white wood is still in place and is now topped by bright blue IBox track. Hybrid Hakugei has lost a bit in length (5,019.7 feet) but has gained in height (180.4 feet) and speed (66.5 mph). The signature helixes are gone. Alan Schilke of Ride Centerline designed a new, steeper first drop and added new elements: a zero-G stall and two zero-G rolls. Three trains will run, each train has six cars carrying 24 passengers. A lap bar restraint is sufficient for the inversions.
Photo: Yoshiaki Nishikawa. View full-sized image.
The ride begins with a few innocent bunny hops out of the station and proceeds to the chain lift. It’s a slow ride to the top, with views of Ise Bay on one side and the giant Ferris wheel on the other. At the top, the train drops into a gentle turn that leads to the 80-degree first drop, which riders don’t see coming because the track rises from the turn before it drops. And oh, it drops! Afterward, riders have a chance to catch their breaths during the next few hills, but transitions begin soon after. Extremely banked turns are followed by more hills, some diving down through the structure and rising quickly into another banked turn or a zero-G element. Transitions between elements are smooth on the two-minute-plus ride.
Photo: Yoshiaki Nishikawa. View full-sized image.
As Quinn Checketts, general manager of design planning for Sensei Technologies, remarked, “The movements were unique and unexpected yet somehow felt smooth, crafted and safe. There was never a jerk or a pull that felt excessive or out of place.” The number of airtime moments has increased in the new layout, but there’s enough transition time among banked turns, steep hills and zero-G elements to give riders a chance to appreciate what they have just experienced.
Photo: Yoshiaki Nishikawa. View full-sized image.
Watching a point-of-view video of a Hakugei ride, RMC fans may be tempted to compare it with that of Steel Vengeance, an RMC makeover of Mean Streak. Both Hakugei and Steel Vengeance were reborn from coasters constructed with massive amounts of wood and thrilling elements that plunged riders through the structures, causing moments of disorientation as they were surrounded on all sides by wood track and supports. Happily for fans of the “flying through the wood” elements, both Hakugei and Steel Vengeance have retained these, although the ones in the hybrids happen faster and are much more thrilling and disorienting. It would be easier to make comparisons between the coasters, of course, if more enthusiasts were able to travel to Japan, but for now they will have to hope for reports from those fortunate enough to ride both coasters.
— Lee Ann Draud
ACE publications director
@#$%&!
#ACENews