Phaethon (roller coaster)

Phaethon (Korean: 파에톤) is an inverted roller coaster at Gyeongju World in South Korea, which opened in May 5, 2007 to commemorate Children's Day and to renovate Gyeongju World to boost tourism. The coaster has been initially announced in 2006. It is South Korea's first inverted roller coaster. Phaethon is the fifth fastest, third tallest, and third longest roller coaster in South Korea, and has the most inversions on a South Korean rollercoaster as well as the third most inversions in Asia.

Phaethon
Gyeongju World
Location	Gyeongju World
Coordinates	35.836657°N 129.280018°E / 35.836657; 129.280018
Status	Operating
Opening date	May 5, 2007
General statistics
Type	Steel – Inverted
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Model	Inverted Coaster
Lift/launch system	Chain Lift Hill
Height	147.67 ft (45.01 m)
Length	3,280.83 ft (1,000.00 m)
Speed	55.9 mph (90.0 km/h)
Inversions	6
Duration	2:20
Max vertical angle	90°
Height restriction	145–200 cm (4 ft 9 in – 6 ft 7 in)
Phaethon at RCDB

History

In 2006, Gyeongju World initially announced that an inverted coaster would open around June the next year as part of a plan to expand Gyeongju World after reaching its 20th anniversary.^[1] The expansion was calculated to increase the number of visitors to Gyeongju World to around 1.3 million people per year.^[2] 15 billion South Korean won were invested in constructing this coaster.^[2] Phaethon opened in May 5, 2007 at Gyeongju World.^[3] It was created to commemorate Children's Day in South Korea.^[4] Prior to T Express's opening, it was the tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster in South Korea.^[5][6][7][8]

Characteristics

The coaster starts with a 90 degree turn to the left leading to the initial lift hill After coming across the pre-drop, the coaster goes through a drop which spirals 90 degrees to the left, followed by a vertical loop. The next inversion is a zero-g-roll, followed by a cobra roll over the pathway leading to the entrance. After the cobra roll, the riders go through a 360 degree helix over the entrance to the coaster. After the helix comes the first corkscrew followed by another corkscrew, and a 540 degree helix all leading up to the final brakes.^[9] Phaethon's layout is similar to that of Raptor, a roller coaster in Ohio, United States.^[4]

Phaethon has 2 cars and 8 cars per train, with riders arranged 4 across per row, thus seating 32 people per train.^[10] It is 3280.8ft long and 147.7ft tall, and it has a speed of 55.9mph. Phaethon has six inversions and runs for 2 minutes and 20 seconds.^[10] Phaethon is the fifth fastest ^[5] and third tallest ^[6] and third longest ^[7] rollercoaster in South Korea. It also has the most number of inversions in a South Korean rollercoaster,^[11] and is the first inverted rollercoaster in South Korea.^[3] Phaethon also has the third most inversions on a rollercoaster in Asia.^[12]

Incidents

On June 16, 2023, Phaethon stopped operating temporarily due to a power outage at Gyeongju World.^[13]