Alpinabahn
By the time of its inauguration in 1983, the Alpinabahn was not only a very fun roller-coaster, but also the first one in the world to feature an airtime hill. The Alpinabahn had its world and Oktoberfest premiere in 1983 under the name Achterbahn, which means figure-eight-roller-coaster, but is used for all types of roller-coasters in German. Replaced by the Euro-Star in 1995, it had its Oktoberfest comeback in 2008. Despite its original name, it was of some centuries late to be the first “Achterbahn”, but still, its designer, the legendary Dr. Werner Stengel, used it to introduce a completely new roller-coaster element: The Munich-based engineer realized the first flight parabola in a roller-coaster. Following the pre- and the actual first drop with a maximum tilt of 49,3 degrees, the train accelerates to 80 km/h and crests a hill on top of the station imitating the trajectory of a stone. Subsequently, riders experience a vertical acceleration below the earth’s gravitational force over a span of two seconds, the so-called air-time. During the ride’s duration of 58 seconds, it exposes its riders to vertical accelerations between 4.2 and 0g (zero gravity). At 27 meters high, 910 meters long and a base area of 84.5x32 meters, Alpinabahn still is the second largest transportable roller-coaster in the world. Despite its age and the constant construction and deconstruction the ride still feels harmonic and offers a great experience even for younger kids.