The coaster's track is 1230 feet, but Hughey points out that because it will be traveled in both directions, riders will experience a combined distance of 2,080 feet. The result, when complete, will include a 95-foot vertical lift, and an attraction like no other, drawing attendees far beyond the kiddie crowd first envisioned by Epstein to the park. It was that forward then backward design and execution that inspired the rides name of Palindrome. The title comes from Greek words, palin, meaning again or back and dromos meaning running – hence, the idea of running back.Īccording to Hughey, “Gerstlauer took our ideas and supplied a design and worked with the timeframe in which we wanted to do it.” Nothing backwards about that. At that point, the reverse spike will hurtle ride vehicles back again over the entire course. The exhilarating ride will put guests on a fast-moving trajectory through the track and around its curves and twists, with riders eventually experiencing a moment of weightlessness. A hop stall - a reverse spike shaped like an hourglass – is another element that Epstein desired. There is also an impressively flipped wave turn. Other criteria for the ride included a twisting vertical dive, as well as a high speed inline twist. With that in mind, Epstein wanted a major ride in place for future additions. Epstein sought a coaster track that would rise and soar over the road, and “riders will travel over it upside down in a zero-G stall…He wanted it to go across the road. We think in the future we might expand the park in that direction.” He relates that there was a specific design element featuring a roadway within the Circuit of the Americas that had to be included. “Several had designs of things they had built - the engineering was done - but where we wanted the ride, a cookie-cutter coaster wasn't going to fit,” Hughey says. Developing such a ride was an extra challenging feat post COVID. Gerstlauer was the manufacturer who came through. The coaster, named Palindrome, includes a design that the park owner specified, according to COTALand and COTA Karting senior manager Matt Hughey. The projected opening of the park is for late spring of 2022. And now, there's even more ahead. The upcoming COTAland will be introducing a one-of-a-kind coaster made by Gerstlauer that has been designed site-specifically with a variety of unique features. Inspired by San Antonio's Kiddie Park, Epstein set out to create another children's park, using some of the rides currently available at “Peppermint Parkway.” The “ready-set-glow” event featured seasonal activities, games, and food, including the opportunity to meet Santa, enjoy COTA karting, and climb aboard a holiday express train. The zip line and a live reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas along with musical performances completed the fun.īut even these attractions were not enough for Epstein. Over the Christmas holidays, the park also hosted a themed attraction featuring the lighted displays of “Peppermint Parkway.” Along with the light displays, attendees could also take a lap on the world-famous COTA racetrack – in their own cars, not in racing vehicles, at 25 miles per hour. If that wasn't adrenaline boosting enough, the track's owner, Bobby Epstein, decided to add some additional attractions to the large-scale property, starting with competition-level go karting that is powered up to 55 miles per hour, and a Soaring Eagle zipline, both located in a recreational area of the racetrack property. The Circuit of the America racetrack hosts major racing, action sports, and musical events with a 2.41-mile challenging racetrack at its center. The theme park was originally conceived as a kiddie park, but over the course of the last 17-month period, the 1500-acre racetrack location's evolution has changed. COTAland is becoming a coaster land with the upcoming addition of a new and unique roller coaster from Gerstlauer for 2022.
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