New RailBlazer Roller Coaster Opens At California's Great America
SANTA CLARA (KPIX 5) -- A brand new roller coaster that is opening for business in the South Bay this week is the first-of-its-kind on the West Coast.
The 106-foot-tall RailBlazer glides over a single twisting track at 52-miles-per-hour.
It's not the tallest, longest or fastest roller coaster out there, but the new attraction at California's Great America in Santa Clara is highly anticipated.
What the RailBlazer lacks in height and speed it makes up for in design.
It has a single track, which allows for a smoother ride and more dynamic twists and turns as compared to a traditional dual-track coaster.
Riders sit alone with no one on either side, all while straddling the rail.
By afternoon, coaster enthusiast Cole Mathews had already ridden the RailBlazer more than 50 times since the park opened Thursday morning
He recommends that riders relax and avoid tensing up.
"If you tense up, you'll start freakin' out. You don't know what the heck's going on," said Mathews. "You're moving so fast, you'll probably forget the ride."
What's more, there is a completely vertical, 90-degree drop during which the ride hits a top speed of 53 miles per hour.
The whole ride lasts only 66 seconds.
The new roller coaster marks the first new attraction in what park operators are promising will be "a multi-year transformation of California's Great America."
