Mindbender (Galaxyland)
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| Mindbender | |
 The Mindbender |
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| Location | Galaxyland |
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| Type | Steel |
| Status | Operating |
| Opened | 1985 |
| Manufacturer | Anton Schwarzkopf |
| Designer | Werner Stengel |
| Track layout | Indoor |
| Lift/launch system | Tire Drive lift hill |
| Height | 145 ft (44 m) |
| Drop | 127 ft (39 m) |
| Length | 4,198 ft (1,280 m) |
| Max speed | 60 mph (97 km/h) |
| Inversions | 3 |
| Duration | 1:13 |
| Capacity | 430 riders per hour |
| Max g-force | 5.5 |
| Mindbender at RCDB Pictures of Mindbender at RCDB |
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The Mindbender is the world's largest indoor triple loop roller coaster. It is located in Galaxyland Amusement Park, a major attraction inside West Edmonton Mall, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Galaxyland is the largest indoor amusement park in the world, and West Edmonton Mall is the largest mall in North America.
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[edit] Layout
Mindbender was designed by Germany's Werner Stengel and built by Anton Schwarzkopf. It was inspired by this team's previous design, Dreier Looping, a portable coaster that travelled the German funfair circuit, before being sold to a succession of amusement parks in Malaysia, Great Britain, and most recently, Mexico. Mindbender is a pseudo mirror-image of Dreier Looping, and is slightly taller, with additional helices at the end of the ride. Mindbender features shorter trains, with three pilot cars, whereas Dreier Looping usually ran with five trailer cars and one pilot car, occasionally rising to seven-car trains at busy funfairs.
The ride's layout features many twisting drops, three vertical loops and a double upward helix finale. The ride twists underneath, in between and around its supports. It also goes underneath the "UFO Maze" , (which has been removed to make way for a new roller coaster - Gerstlauer's Galaxy Orbiter), during the helix.
Often in high season, the last car on one of the trains is reversed, allowing guests to ride the roller coaster without being able to see where they are going.
[edit] Ride Experience
After boarding the Mindbender, riders put on a seatbelt and lap restraints. Also, the ride operator lowers large shoulder restraints over the riders. All of the restraints keep the riders firmly secured in the seat.
When all of the riders are safely secured, a pre-recorded message warns riders to prepare for a series of sharp turns, twisting motions, and high speed changes. The message ends with the words: "Enjoy your ride...on the Mindbender..." in an ominous tone as the tire drive ignites. Immediately following the message, an automatic blast from an airhorn signals the beginning of the ride.
After ascending the lift hill, the train descends a sharp, twisting left-hand (near vertical) drop that climbs up to the first of four stacked block brakes. The train negotiates a second left-hand drop that is immediately followed by two vertical loops. The aforementioned process happens yet again, but the height of the coaster is decreased and the next loop is a single one.
Upon completing the final loop, the coaster train shoots along a two-layered upward helix before running behind the Turbo Ride theatre and into the exit/entry area.
[edit] Pricing
One ride on the Mindbender is 7 ride tickets, or $10.50 Canadian. It is also covered by the Galaxyland day pass.
[edit] Crash
On the evening of June 14th, 1986, some time after completing the second inverted loop, loose bolts on the wheel assemblies caused the wheels on the final car of the four-car yellow train to become disengaged during a regular run with a full load of riders. This caused the final car to bounce wildly, throwing off passengers and losing speed. The train entered the third and final inverted loop, but did not have the speed to complete the loop. The train stalled at the top, then slid backwards, crashing into a concrete pillar. Three people were killed during the accident and a fourth man was paralyzed.
The MindBender was immediately shut down. An investigation was launched that revealed that there were problems in the translation from German to English of operational and maintenance information from Schwarzkopf, the German coaster manufacturer. In addition, Mindbender crews had ignored a special inspection order from the General Safety Services Division. Cars were checked only by visual inspections, not by taking them out from service. Visual inspections alone would not have been adequate to determine if screws or bolts were loose. It was discovered that one-quarter of all axle bolts on the trains were loose.[1] No safety check had been made through the German TÜV organization. The wheel assemblies themselves were also faulted for not having enough wheels in place to prevent the accident. In addition, the restraint systems were also criticised for being inadequate for a ride of this type.
When the Mindbender was reopened seven months later, the train car wheel assemblies were redesigned with additional wheel sets. New full-shoulder restraints were installed to prevent riders from ever falling out. Finally, maintenance checks and scheduled maintenance downtimes were significantly increased. In the twenty years since the accident, the Mindbender has an excellent safety record.
