Thursday, August 20, 2009

A Blast From The Past! - Chang at SFKK


One of only twelve stand-ups ever built in North America and one of the last, Chang made it's debut at then Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville Ky in April of 1997. As advertised, Chang, meaning long in Mandarin Chinese, was a record breaker. Of course all those records were broken the next year by Riddler's Revenge at Six Flags Magic Mountain. But, over a dozen years later, Chang still stands tall as one of the most popular coasters at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom



Stand-ups seemed to be a fad that has come and gone, there hasn't been one built since the Georgia Scorcher a decade ago. There are only ten left, but, for 15 years they were the hottest thing around and still seem to be crowd pleaser today.

Chang, built by B & M and designed Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH, at a cost of $12,000,000.00, is 4155 feet long and boasts speeds up to 63 mph. The ride time is approx. 2:30 and maximum hourly capacity is 1556 riders per hour.

Are stand-ups a dying breed? I would think it's safe to say a certain manufacturer would be happy to build another if any park would make such a request. That said, if you love stand-ups, I think it would be a good idea to get out and enjoy those that are still operating and lament over the ones that are gone.


1 comments:

Sabrina said...

The one and only time I visited Kentucky Kingdom was in '97, and I can STILL remember the audio track they were playing over and over and over again while we waited in line for Chang. "You are about to experience...CHANG!!" *imagine overly dramatic voice*

I think I'll be hearing it in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. Good ride though, from what I remember!