Six Flags Great America's Goliath earns 3 Guinness World Record titles

[rlentless]

Goliath's official speed came in at 71.89 mph.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/news/ct-lns-goliath-records-st-0504-20150503-story.html

[The Interpreter]

Nowhere near the fastest steel.

[McSalsa]

I'm going to agree with Terpy here- I don't consider Goliath or Outlaw Run "wooden" coasters. Yes, they have wood structures, but by that logic Adventure Express and Gemini are wooden coasters. I did at one point think these were wooden, but that was before I saw how much of the track was actually replaced by steel- I thought it was just a small plate that covered the whole track. Then, I saw this photo from IAAPA. The topper track is on the left, with Iron Horse on the right:

 

 

That's a HUGE section of wooden track taken out- nearly everything the main wheels would ever touch- and replaced with steel. The only wooden part of the track that even remains are the lowest layers which are just there to absorb weight and hold the wheels to the track. While a coaster like Georgia Cyclone that only uses SOME of this on its worst parts could still be considered wooden, Outlaw Run and Goliath use this on every inch of their tracks. Yep- while there's some wood in that track, I'd still call them steel coasters. They are probably very good coasters though (have yet to actually ride an RMC but reviews have been great so far).

 

The current wooden records are held by, according to RCDB at least...(ignoring Goliath and RMC Topper Track woodies for above reasons)

 

Tallest: T Express @ Everland (Korea), 183.8 feet (even if it was wood Goliath is only 165 feet tall and thus fails to beat this- they probably meant by drop)

Tallest Drop: El Toro @ Six Flags Great Adventure, 176 feet

Fastest Top Speed: El Toro @ Six Flags Great Adventure, 70mph

Longest Track: The Beast @ Kings Island, 7359 feet

Most Inversions: Hades 360 @ Mt. Olympus, 1

 

And, if because the track is laser-cut on INTAMIN woodies (El Toro & T-Express), if you discount them for that...the tallest, fastest, and largest drops on traditional woodies go to...

 

Tallest: The Voyage @ Holiday World, 163 feet

Tallest Drop: Mean Streak @ Cedar Point, 155 feet

Fastest Top Speed: The Voyage @ Holiday World, 67.4mph

(Beast and Hades 360 are normal wooden coasters so their current records would still stand under these rules)

[silver2005]

I don't know how true this rumor was, but I heard that Guinness took a while to decide whether or not it should get wooden coaster records.  I guess this is their decision.  

 

I do consider Intamin rides such as El Toro and T-Express to be wood because its the material I focus on, not how its produced nor how they feel.  There's still actual wood involved.  RMC's on the other hand are clearly not wood as you're replacing 2 layers of wood with steel. If you take that steel and make it tubular instead of the bar shape, you get track not unlike Gemini and Excalibur. 

 

I'm surprised Guinness went with wood on Goliath.  I also know that RCDB was flawed before this, but them saying RMC's are wood really makes me question their system for doing things.

[Tr0y]

Sickens me that they allow this fraud of a coaster even be considered a wooden coaster.

[Tr0y]

I don't know how true this rumor was, but I heard that Guinness took a while to decide whether or not it should get wooden coaster records.  I guess this is their decision.  

 

I do consider Intamin rides such as El Toro and T-Express to be wood because its the material I focus on, not how its produced nor how they feel.  There's still actual wood involved.  RMC's on the other hand are clearly not wood as you're replacing 2 layers of wood with steel. If you take that steel and make it tubular instead of the bar shape, you get track not unlike Gemini and Excalibur. 

 

I'm surprised Guinness went with wood on Goliath.  I also know that RCDB was flawed before this, but them saying RMC's are wood really makes me question their system for doing things.

Money was probably involved, wouldn't surprise me if SIX paid for the title.

[shark6495]

 

I don't know how true this rumor was, but I heard that Guinness took a while to decide whether or not it should get wooden coaster records.  I guess this is their decision.  

 

I do consider Intamin rides such as El Toro and T-Express to be wood because its the material I focus on, not how its produced nor how they feel.  There's still actual wood involved.  RMC's on the other hand are clearly not wood as you're replacing 2 layers of wood with steel. If you take that steel and make it tubular instead of the bar shape, you get track not unlike Gemini and Excalibur. 

 

I'm surprised Guinness went with wood on Goliath.  I also know that RCDB was flawed before this, but them saying RMC's are wood really makes me question their system for doing things.

Money was probably involved, wouldn't surprise me if SIX paid for the title.

 

Probably not.  Guinness is one of the few that attempts to be completely neutral.  On their website it says if you want to dispute a record feel free to contact them. 

 

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/contact/

 

I would guess that SIXX had many people write and lobby that this should be considered a wooden coaster versus steel.  Why not do the same?  If you feel passionate enough about it, then you should do it as well. 

 

To 80-90% of the general population, the wooden versus steel coaster debate does not matter to them.  So to probably people at Guinness there are probably only a handful that are passionate enough to care about the difference. 

[The Interpreter]

SIX's paucity of certain awards demonstrates their integrity and/or reluctance to pay for such awards...

I agree that, in addition, there is no evidence Guinness records are for sale.

[APE]

I don't get why it's so difficult to put them in a new category of their own considering these are hybrids.