The ups and downs of a rollercoaster at Tayto Park

AS a boy, Korey Kiepert built toy amusement parks. He made small, functional, rollercoasters in his bedroom and dreamt up inventive jumps.

Tue, 02 Jun, 2015 - 01:00

Fast forward 20 years and Korey is still making rollercoasters — but now they’re great, big hulking beasts, dominating the skyline of amusement parks from China to the US.

His latest design can be seen in Ashbourne, Co Meath, at the newly revamped Tayto Park. “Ireland doesn’t have many rollercoasters. The Cú Chulainn is 32m tall and 1,000m in length and lasts for around two minutes — it’s no small ride. It’s in the top 10 in Europe, in terms of speed and height,” said Korey.

Check out the #CúChulainn Coaster...opening June 5th! #TPRollerCoaster #TaytoPark pic.twitter.com/U4GZmML46V
— Emerald Park (@emeraldparkirl) May 29, 2015

More than 800,000kg of yellow pine was imported from South America to make the frame of the rollercoaster, and 100 tonnes of steel and 700,000 nails and bolts were used.

“With a wooden rollercoaster, the design can be altered slightly during construction, if you want to make a section higher or lower, for example. With steel, you don’t get that flexibility, because everything has to be pre-bent and has to fit together,” he said.

“Plus, wood fits in with its surroundings and it’s a natural resource. It’s green, it’s environmental. If you cut down a tree, you can grow another one, whereas steel is made in an industrial environment and works with chemicals.” Recently, Tayto Park added seven other amusement rides — all with suitably daunting names, such as ‘Sky Tower’, ‘Rotator’ and ‘Air Race’. But The Cú Chulainn, once finished, will be the main attraction. “Tayto Park is undergoing a huge amount of growth right now, which will allow them to add more rides and do different things. We designed the rollercoaster with that in mind, so it will be the centrepiece,” says Korey, who has worked on 20-plus rollercoasters.

“At Tayto Park, we couldn’t go underground, because the water table here is too high, but some other rollercoasters do go underground. We’ll put a ride anywhere. Into the side of a mountain, in a swamp, anywhere,” he said.

“We like what we do. And so, we try to have fun with our designs and make each one better. The rollercoaster isn’t just a commodity that we sell. We have some passion that we put forth in our designs.” Korey’s passion for rollercoasters permeates every aspect of his life — he got married on one in 1999.

Goodnight from everyone in #TaytoPark! #CuChulainnCoaster #Rotator #ThemePark #Summer2015 pic.twitter.com/mvWSEmHlNL
— Emerald Park (@emeraldparkirl) May 15, 2015

“My fiancée, we went and talked it over in a Taco Bell beforehand. We were in college at the time and we’re kind of adventurous people. We’re still married, so I guess it worked.” But, above all else, Korey says safety is paramount in the rollercoaster business. G-Force limits are strictly adhered to, as are the various country safety codes.

“It’s our job to make people think they’re doing something dangerous or unsafe. To give them that illusion,” he said.

“Safety is the most important aspect of what we do. There’s no point designing a ride if you’re not going to make it safe.”