OzIris is a steel inverted

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides ar ...

Bolliger & Mabillard Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabil ...

operating at

Parc Astérix Parc Astérix is a theme park in France based on the comic book series ''Asterix'' by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny. With around 2.3 million visitors yearly, Parc Astérix is France's second largest theme park, behind only Disneyland Paris wit ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

since 7 April 2012. It is only one of two Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coasters in France, the other being The Monster at

Walygator Parc Walygator Grand-Est is an amusement park located in Maizières-les-Metz, Lorraine, France. Since its opening in 1989, the park has had a succession of different names: Big Bang Schtroumpf ( Smurf), Walibi Schtroumpf, Walibi Lorraine and now Walyg ...

. It is named after the Character Iris from the French comic

Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a '' bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Repub ...

Ride

OzIris includes five inversions after the

lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from t ...

that stands in height. After the initial drop, a

dive loop Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements". Comm ...

follows going upside-down (OzIris is the first inverted roller coaster to feature a dive loop). The track then manoeuvres an overbanked to the right, banked at about 110°, followed by a

vertical loop The generic roller coaster vertical loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, riders are completely inverted. History The vertical l ...

of . The track then passes into a trench and into an Immelmann of , and then a second overbanked turn . The coaster's track then descends to an deep underwater tunnel. A

corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attached to a hand ...

comes after the tunnel, then an upward turn to the next inversion a

zero-G roll Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements". Comm ...

, after this inversion the track follows a twisted course until reaching the main brake zone, and then back into the station.

Theme

''OzIris'' is part of a 2012 new

egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

ian themed zone inspired by one of the

comic book series ''

Asterix and Cleopatra ''Asterix and Cleopatra'' is the sixth book in the Asterix album series by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. It was first published in serial form in ''Pilote'' magazine, issues 215–257, in 1963. Synopsis The book begins with an argument ...

'' (as well as the movie ''

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix ''The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'' (''Les Douze travaux d'Astérix'') is a 1976 Belgian/French animated feature film based on the ''Asterix'' comic book series, and the third in the animated franchise. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, the creato ...

'') which expanded the park by ten percent. With exotic plants, palm trees, rocks, lake, Egyptian monuments and a huge temple, the new area combines the characteristic of the Asterix cartoon with this custom design roller coaster. With the new theme for the park, the

Zierer Zierer Karussell- und Spezialmaschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (Short name: Zierer ) is a German company located close to Deggendorf. Zierer manufactures Tivoli and Force line of roller coasters, as well as panoramic wheels, wave swingers, flying ...

roller coaster ''Périférix'' was rethemed to ''SOS Numérobis'' to fit the theme.

Storyline

After walking outside below security nests, riders step into Iris' temple. In there, riders get to learn about different experiences Iris made with hypnotising, and they also get hypnotised. The coaster consists in Iris' ultimate experience: making people fly. (Hence the inverted coaster) Before the train is dispatched, riders can hear Iris' voice saying his hypnotising catchphrase "By Osiris and by Apis, you are now birds! Yes, birds!"

Awards

In 2012, OzIris was ranked by ''

Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Ar ...

Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...

as the fifth-best new ride (tied with

Skyrush Skyrush is an Intamin prototype Wing Coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened to the general public on May 26, 2012. Skyrush is Hersheypark's 12th roller coaster, and its third coaster made by Intamin. Skyrush fe ...

Hersheypark Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about east of Harrisburg, and west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906 by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees o ...

), garnering six percent of the vote.

References

External links