Not much more could be said about Orient Express that I haven't already written about or said in the past. But today is April 4th, 2020, and today, forty years ago a gong sounded, and Orient Express gave its first public ride ever. I can't just let that go without celebrating it just a bit on THE DAY.
If you want to read a little bit more about its specific history I recommend reading our historical review of Express which can be found here: http://www.worldsoffun.org/1980/orientexpress.html. But Express was so much more, it was the first thing everyone saw when they arrived, the sound of its lift hill still seemingly echos in our heads to this day. It was also the last thing everyone saw as they exited, and that is regardless of what gate you went through, Americana or Scandinavia. Worlds of Fun could have pulled a Six Flags and plopped a coaster into a parking lot, or field, but they didn't and to me at least that is part of what made it so special.
Ron Toomer, designer of Orient Express said it best:
"The Orient Express was designed to correspond with the existing ground layout, preserving as many trees and natural features as possible." Toomer said. We were commissioned by Worlds of Fun to design a major coaster which not only provides an exciting ride experience, but a spectacular visual effect." (Worlds of Fun, 1980. p. 7)
And so today, on what would have been its 40th Anniversary, a tribute to that "spectacular effect'" of a coaster...
From April 4, 1980 until October 2003 no day at Worlds of Fun started without seeing the mighty Orient Express towering over the rest of the park. Lee Derrough, General Manager of the park at the time Orient Express was built, made a comment when Timber Wolf was built that Hunt Midwest never attempted to build the longest, tallest anything because the next year another park would come and build something a few feet taller and a few feet longer. Instead, he would go on to say, it was more important to focus on quality and building a good ride period, regardless of its statistics. Orient Express was not the tallest, and it wasn't the fastest, and it certainly wasn't the loopiest, since Carolina Cyclone beat Express to four inversions only a few weeks prior. The fact that Hunt focused on building a all-around amazing ride is why I believe Express could strike fear and awe into guests from day one until the very end.
Three were so many aspects that set Orient Express apart from other coasters though. Of course there was its first drop...
The boomerang, or as it was known on the coaster the Kamikaze Kurve. The unique aspect of the Kamikaze Kurve was that it was not only the first non-loop or corkscrew element on a roller coaster anywhere, but it would go onto the be re-used over and over and is still being used by Vekoma today on its modern coasters. (Energylandia's newest coaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1pGqsibw0Y)
Then there were the interlocking loops. Express wasn't the first, that went to Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) at Busch Gardens Williamsburg (it's also still operating). On Nessie both the lower and upper loop use the traditional Arrow lattice structure on the supports. On Express, the top loop still incorporated that same lattice structure, but the bottom loop used the more modern "less is more" supports. The combination of the old and new created something that probably wasn't planned but was absolutely aesthetically beautiful.
The sunlight fades, the park lights are illuminated. Coasters definitely take on a whole new personality as nighttime approaches. Then just like that it's time to leave. Whenever we left we always knew we would see this same view the next time we came.
And as an added bonus! Orient Express 1990 footage. Special thanks to Randal Strong-Wallace for finding this and providing us with the video!
Worlds of Fun (1989). Not Quite the Tallest, Longest or Fastest, Just The Best. Coaster Count-Down.