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Most spurious/obscure theme park “world’s first” or record claim?

Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
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Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Hi guys. Innovation has driven the theme park industry for decades, and back in the day, some of these firsts and records were absolutely pivotal moments in the history of the modern industry. The world’s first tubular steel roller coaster at Disneyland in 1959. The world’s first modern inverting roller coaster at Knott’s Berry Farm in 1975. The world’s first roller coaster over 200ft at Cedar Point in 1989. Moments like these were truly seismic for the industry!

But as of late, we’ve arguably seen these “world’s firsts” and records take a slightly more… spurious turn. As we’ve pushed the feasible limits of height, speed, length, inversions etc, parks have increasingly been clutching at straws for their firsts and records in recent years. We’ve seen parks reach for some increasingly spurious and/or obscure records and firsts to sell their new rides in recent times. With this in mind, I’d be curious to know; which obscure/spurious theme park record or world’s first sticks out to you most as a particularly spurious or obscure claim?

I’ll get the ball rolling with a couple of suggestions of my own:
  • “World’s largest loop diameter” (Do-Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland, 2017) - This one seems to me like they couldn’t quite do the world’s tallest vertical loop, but they still wanted a loop-related record… “largest loop diameter” seems so strangely obscure compared to “tallest vertical loop” to me, though.
  • “World’s first roller coaster fully dedicated to virtual reality” (Galactica at Alton Towers, 2016) - I’m still not even sure what Alton Towers meant by this claim. Galactica was not the world’s first roller coaster to use virtual reality headsets, so I’ve got no idea how it was the first to be “fully dedicated to VR”… it’s arguably quite a spurious claim by mere virtue of how hand-wavey and open-ended it is!
  • “World’s steepest roller coaster” (TMNT Shellraiser at Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park, 2021) - I’m not raising “world’s steepest roller coaster” as a spurious or obscure claim in itself, but I’m raising this particular example of it because TMNT Shellraiser arguably broke the record in one of the pettiest manners I’ve ever seen… it’s quite literally a clone of Takabisha that has the main drop half a degree steeper. Something about building a clone of a record breaking ride and claiming to have the record based on the drop being half a degree steeper, an amount that could potentially be encompassed within the scope of a rounding error, just seems so strangely petty!
But I’d be keen to know; in the age of the increasingly spurious USP, which spurious/obscure theme park world’s first or record claims stick out to you as being particularly spurious or obscure?
 
Great thread, Matt. I've always thought the cherry-picked stats for coaster and theme park marketing were both funny and slightly unnecessary. The spurious geographic delineations along the lines of "tallest spinning coaster in the Southern Hemisphere" always got me, as if there's a "Guinness Book Of Records That Apply To The Bottom Half Of The World Exclusively"

As a basketball fan it reminds me a lot of some of the stats you hear about NBA players. Things like "Steph Curry joins LeBron James as only 2 players in last 5 seasons to record 25-pt double-double on 27th birthday." (actually posted by ESPN here!)
 
I think you should be given a pass to do that if you're a park somewhere where there's previously been little to no notable theme park industry but when it's like, US states doing it or "southern hemisphere" that's so undignified
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Gold Rush, Drayton Manor Park and Zoo. - "World's first coaster to feature a backward launch into an outdoor gravity track."
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Was that really a claim they made? If so it's not even true. Firechaser and Pegase Express both come to mind.
Sounds like they were only really thinking about the UK and Th13teen.

Can I flip this with a claim that Enthusiasts always point out as false but I actually think is a good World's First. Oblivion, the first vertical drop. Yes I know it's technically a few degrees off vertical, but that doesn't effect the ride experience.
The reason I think this one does matter is how much of a game changer the ride is. 18 coasters directly based on it, many more with vertical or beyond vertical drops as signiture elements of the ride. That's what really makes a great "world's first", an innovation that is actually compelling and becomes a first of many.
 
Tim said:
Was that really a claim they made? If so it's not even true. Firechaser and Pegase Express both come to mind.
Sounds like they were only really thinking about the UK and Th13teen.

Can I flip this with a claim that Enthusiasts always point out as false but I actually think is a good World's First. Oblivion, the first vertical drop. Yes I know it's technically a few degrees off vertical, but that doesn't effect the ride experience.
The reason I think this one does matter is how much of a game changer the ride is. 18 coasters directly based on it, many more with vertical or beyond vertical drops as signiture elements of the ride. That's what really makes a great "world's first", an innovation that is actually compelling and becomes a first of many.
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It was indeed, as well as being the "UK's longest family coaster" and "world's first coaster to feature two unique multi-directional experiences".
 
Tim said:
Was that really a claim they made? If so it's not even true. Firechaser and Pegase Express both come to mind.
Sounds like they were only really thinking about the UK and Th13teen.

Can I flip this with a claim that Enthusiasts always point out as false but I actually think is a good World's First. Oblivion, the first vertical drop. Yes I know it's technically a few degrees off vertical, but that doesn't effect the ride experience.
The reason I think this one does matter is how much of a game changer the ride is. 18 coasters directly based on it, many more with vertical or beyond vertical drops as signiture elements of the ride. That's what really makes a great "world's first", an innovation that is actually compelling and becomes a first of many.
Click to expand...

Na, sorry.
If you are claiming the worlds first vertical coaster...as a big claim, which it was...then it should be vertical.
And it isn't.
Typical theme park hype, not quite true.
 
Not a record, but DMP advertising The Wave as "the UK's most thrilling family coaster" is the sort of nonsense I cannot get behind. It's so subjective on multiple levels that it just ends up being meaningless.
 
John said:
Not a record, but DMP advertising The Wave as "the UK's most thrilling family coaster" is the sort of nonsense I cannot get behind. It's so subjective on multiple levels that it just ends up being meaningless.
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Yeah exactly it’s still a thrill coaster but with a 1.2M height restriction, which is pretty much the norm for most coasters abroad anyways
 
I was going to go for the "fully dedicated to VR". But I just can't get over "Worlds first Cbeebies Land Hotel".

As if someone else somewhere in the world is ever going to build a hotel themed to an area within a Staffordshire theme park just for laughs, the area itself themed to a very particular British TV channel.
 
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