- May 30th, 2014, 5:41 pm
#56006
This was announced back in November 2013, but no location was given at that time. In fact not much information has come out about the 525 foot Polercoaster....until today. They just announced on WESH 2 (Orlando) that the coaster will be built in Orange county and will most likely be in the I-Drive corridor. It will NOT be in one of the theme parks. This was announced at 5:15pm on May 30, 2014. Even more info to be released on the the exact location in the weeks to come.
Polercoaster coming to Central Florida, sources say
Here is the announcement in November:
World's tallest roller coaster coming to Orlando, FL
Polercoaster coming to Central Florida, sources say
ORLANDO, Fla. —A WESH 2 News investigation reveals the world's tallest roller coaster is coming to Central Florida.
U.S. Thrill Rides, designer of the Polercoaster vertical coaster, has been saying for months that it has a client in Florida to buy and build the ride, but we didn't know where.
Now, documents made public provide evidence the coaster is coming to Orange County.
All indications are that the Polercoaster will be built outside of a major theme park, and the company believed to be leading the effort is already building the new Mango's Café just south of Sand Lake Road.
The idea that the tallest roller coaster on earth is coming to Florida has been racing through the attractions world.
In November, at the amusement industry convention, U.S. Thrill Rides' president Michael Kitchen detailed the plans for the ride and the attraction.
It will feature a concert hall, entertainment, restaurant and retail space, all 570-feet in the air.
"Imagine being 50 stories in the air and orbiting the entire observation structure, rolling inverted and coming down to the ground. It's going to be an incredible ride," he said.
WESH 2 News has obtained a copy of the visitor log that shows Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs or her staff met Thursday with Jeff Forrest, president of Winter Park Construction, Joshua Wallack of Wallack Holdings LLC, Kitchen and Alan Helman, founder of global architectural firm HHCP.
Sources tell WESH 2 News that Wallack, who is currently building a huge Mango's Tropical Café on International Drive, is leading the team to build the Polercoaster in Orange County.
Planning records show Wallack previously planned to build a large parking lot a block away from his café, but that land could be the coaster site,
Since then, Wallack bought a Walgreen's property near Mango's to build a new garage.
The world's tallest coaster could blend well with the nearby Orlando Eye, a 425-foot observation wheel.
Everyone connected to the Polercoast won't comment.
Sources tell WESH 2 News an announcement of the Polercoaster project including the exact location could be revealed as soon as the middle to end of next week.
Here is the announcement in November:
World's tallest roller coaster coming to Orlando, FL
ORLANDO, Fla. —The world's tallest roller coaster is slated to be built somewhere in Florida.
Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florid ... z33Em0vwJ9
U.S. Thrill Rides has confirmed the 525-foot tall coaster has been purchased by a company in Florida that will soon announce that construction is underway.
The coaster will also be the longest in the U.S. with 8,000 feet of track.
"This is fast, smooth and very, very exciting," U.S. Thrill Rides President Michael Kitchen said.
Kitchen discussed the new coaster at the ongoing convention of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions at the Orange County Convention Center. He said the ride vehicle would be part of the next-generation coaster.
The ride, currently known as the Polercoaster, can be anywhere from 300 to 650 feet tall.
"We use these on the Polercoaster in either a four-person or eight-person configuration," Kitchen said.
More than 90 people can ride at one time in a chain of vehicles, doing inversions and sudden accelerations in a tower-like structure 50 stories high.
The roller coaster also doubles as a high-rise restaurant.
"It will be 525 feet tall, and it's going to have two levels on top with nearly 20,000 square feet of restaurant, retail bar and banquet space available with 360-degree views of Florida," Kitchen said. "Unfortunately, until our customer releases that information, we're going to keep the location a tightly held secret for another couple of weeks."
Kitchen said the buyer has yet to decide the theme, specific design for the store and restaurant space or even the color scheme.
The roller coaster will be almost 100 feet taller than the SunTrust Tower in downtown Orlando and almost 200 feet taller than the Federal Aviation Administration tower at Orlando International Airport.
The FAA, which would have to approve a roller coaster that tall, also said it has no such paperwork for the state of Florida.
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