Hypercoaster

A hypercoaster is a roller coaster with a height or drop measuring at least 200 feet (61 m). The term was first coined by Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point in 1989 with the opening of the world's first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, which features a height of 205 feet (62 meters). The next hypercoaster, Pepsi Max Big One, opened five years later at Blackpool Pleasure Beach featuring a height of 213 feet (65 m).

Other roller coaster manufacturers may or may not recognize the term hypercoaster when naming their models. Intamin calls their hypercoaster model a Mega Coaster, and Bolliger & Mabillard labels theirs a Hyper Coaster. The competition between amusement parks to build increasingly taller roller coasters eventually led to the next height classification for roller coasters known as giga coasters, which have a height or drop measuring at least 300 feet (91 m). This was soon followed by the world's first strata coasters – exceeding 400 feet (120 m) – with the release of Top Thrill Dragster in 2003.