Next morning we ignored the dreaded words ‘Ange Michel’ that were still ringing in the back of our minds and ploughed on to the very north-western tip of France, to the home of the most significant ride of the trip so far (not difficult). Day 3 – La Récré des 3 Curés
Dubbed more affectionately by ourselves as ‘Reccy 3’, this was the second park in a row to feature a tunnel under a road to reach the entrance, though far less massive this time. With tickets purchased and gates unlocked it was straight to the back of the park for some Gerstlauer goodness.
Here it is, #1 Vertika. The Eurofighter you probably forgot existed, I know I had. Looks rather fetching.
Only about 10 people had made it to the entrance of the ride as they sent some test cars and opened it up, so the one train operation was more than adequate for us to grab multiple walk-on laps in succession.
It’s a decent ride, very nice to see a new layout for this model, though I can’t help but wonder why they don’t just come with lap bars by default these days, with multiple options available.
There’s a suspenseful little slow down at the crest of the lift which felt a little different. The loop is unusually wide? By that I mean a larger than average horizontal gap between entrance and exit.
A couple of alright airtime moments in the top of the twisty and in the banked speed hill thing up into the non-inversion, which hurls you back down into the final corkscrew, threading the loop rather nicely. It’s not an unpleasant corkscrew either, Eurofighters are nailing those inversions nicely at long last.
Solid stuff, short but sweet. Probably wouldn’t go out of the way for it other than for completeness though.
The only other ride on the agenda for this park was the first of the #2 Grand Huits, sharing a name with that fateful Jardin ticket. Yet another unpainted Soquet with some stuff going on, largely corners and changes in elevation, it was fairly groundbreaking and the train design was a nice touch.
Ange Michel. Would it happen? We swiftly left the park at this point, struggling somewhat to leave through a ton of guests now packed wall to wall in the entrance tunnel, still queuing to get into the park. Timed that right then.
A man had to move a cone for us to exit the car park, perhaps rather unusually, at no more than one hour through the operating day and then a couple more later we had reached park number two.
Kingoland
Though good progress had been made, it all came to a grinding halt here.
The first queue we entered was for the elaborately rethemed Zyklon Galaxi, #3 Apollo Steamrocket. Steampunk really is all the rage these days, though it’s unusual to see it on a ride of this calibre.
It appeared to be working in terms of popularity, attracting a 30 minute wait from guests who mostly seemed to be loving it. I zone these things out so hard that they just become an extension of whatever conversation is going on and it was at this point we decided the day would be ‘make or break’ at the dark ride.
Next up was #4 Speed Chenille, a vicious looking kids coaster with a comically huge bug face. It used to live at Jardin with an apple, but no speed.
Though not quite what I’d hoped for, it certainly had some go to it and the crazy looking airtime hill was sufficiently disproportionate to the layout.
Turns out it was ‘break’ at the dark ride. Though not a large queue by any means, time was ebbing away and the situation was starting to look exactly the same as the previous day. We could make it to the next park, but they’d probably close in our face.
This was a fairly standard wild west themed shooting dark ride, the type that sets off small effects as you travel around, rather than being a points scorer.
The last coaster was another stock model Pinfari that used to live at the Gullivers park we were just recently let into. It looks surprisingly good as #5 Gold Rush, again they’ve put a fair amount of effort into glamming it up. It was also weirdly smooth and totally not what I expected. I’m calling witchcraft.
Park complete it was time to assess the options. Ange Michel was gone, again. Some wacky worm looked like too much effort as we still had a long, long way to go. A funfair had appeared on route that was slightly less detour and meant to be a +2 instead of a +1. Let’s give it a go.
Oh, this was the journey with the McDonalds that had a convoluted outdoor entrance barrier, staff that were smoking in our faces while they scanned our vaccine codes and that then wouldn’t let me in with what had so far served me adequately as a face covering (read – a snoody thing that may or may not be imbued with anti-virus magic). They wanted something better (read – 2p’s worth of blue and elastic from China, off Amazon) that I also had with me.
Just something to be wary of for now, it turns out a fair few Europeans across various countries seem to have a bit of a thing about this at the moment and are spoiling for an argument, whether looking like a bandit instead of a surgeon makes you a ‘covid ain’t real’ conspiracist, or everyone’s now a medical professional. To be clear on my stance, I’m not a medical professional and am happy to wear absolutely anything from scuba mask to space suit so long as it lets me get on with daily life, the problems only arose through inconsistent instruction and/or the attitude with which it can sometimes be delivered.
At the fair, nope, though they claimed ‘some rides were open’ from 5pm, it was a ghost town, in a poor location, next to a dodgy supermarket/construction site.
There was one more brief sightseeing stop on route. Bastille Day, 2018, again. A hotel with no air-con in 35°C. One of our staple activities on short trips to France was established, namely watching a TV show called Fort Boyard. If you’re familiar with the Crystal Maze then it’s that, French, with celebrities, for charity, on a fort out in the sea, with 1000x more risk of death and endless comedy.
Anyway, here it is, the fort itself, just about. Seeing it in person was a pretty cool moment.
Luna Park Palmyre
Never mind that other funfair. This was a funfair. And also our first taster of what would become a bit of a staple over or the next week – French semi-permanent parks that don’t start until 8pm and stay open until 2am. They’re also rather deceivingly reported on RCDB due to the travelling nature of half the lineup, so make sure to check another source like Coaster Count if you ever plan on visiting one of these, you may be surprised by what turns up.
#6 Jet Star was imposing over us at the entrance, so the adventure began on that. The signature single file seating and forceful layout full of crazy compact turns didn’t disappoint. Smooth, powerful, exposed, Schwarzkopf doing what he did best.
Beyond the permanent resident, they also had #7 Le Dragon. Doesn’t need much description past ‘more than a Wacky Worm.’
And a spinning #8 Wild Mouse. Prepare to get sick of the sight of them.
Maybe Michael Jackson designed Thriller instead of Space Mountain. In any case this was my first and last time paying for crappy ghost trains on this trip. I was thinking about putting myself through every single one for the sake of research (or, a dangerous thought, maybe even competitively counting them one day) but there’s just nothing to say about these. They’re an event, not an experience. Loud noises and cheap decoration, not my kind of thing.
This massive drop tower caught our eye somehow. Mega King tower looked rather good offride, reminiscent of the old Power Tower that used to frequent Hyde Park Winter Wonderland before they swapped it for an inferior model.
While queuing we watched a hilarious looking offroad jeep ride that was launching people off of dirt hills, not something you expect to see at your average fair.
Huge, good views, an extended double cycle and a kick ass drop. It delivered on all counts, but it was worrying how easily we got distracted by something like this. No time for distractions later down the line.
Finally, again for the benefit of DRDB research, we jumped on the log flume Le Splash, which was described as having a dark ride section.
Not really, though it was a fun water ride with some extremely intense water braking on the drops, the second one putting me in an entirely standup position for a moment at the bottom, the ‘indoor section’ didn’t meet the criteria at all and I’ve since had it removed, so that’s a positive outcome.
With that, the day was complete, other than a late night drive to the next hotel, where more plans would have to be drawn up for a certain forgotten park.
The second day was in theory going to be fairly chill, a calm before the storm of many, many late night ride establishments. As we started to head anti-clockwise around the country, the first park of the day was a humble affair by the name of Day 2 – Papéa Parc
The names will definitely start to blur by the time we’re done, but the individual characters are at least holding for now. This place is home to
A poor #1 Chenille with a missing antenna.
A nice looking Tivoli Large, imaginitively named #2 Roller Coaster. Take care not to skim your hand in the stones as though it was the water at Tripsdrill.
Time to kill means time for small ferris wheels, made by Technical Park, of ‘Italian dinosaur log flume that may or may not be a coaster’ fame.
And cute little boat rides with Irish ride ops that play royalty free panpiped Lion King music.
Before the main event, more Soquet goodness in the form of #3 Train de la Mine.
This one had a bit of a stewing queue, but it was eventually worth it for some of that strong terrain game and unpainted finish.
Being the literal definition of ‘some creds’, I don’t have a huge amount to say about Papéa so I’ll ramble a little instead. It was an overall pleasant park and put another +3 under the belt. It’s located near the Le Mans race circuit and the Goodyear blimp likes to hover ominously around the sky. As we left, some sort of anniversary celebration was going on in the form of a middle aged man calmly DJing from a laptop to an audience of none, while what looked like his parents were sitting just to the side, texting and making orange squash. Next?
Festyland
Another very pleasant park. Seems I don’t have an actual entrance shot of the place, instead just this humongous tunnel which you get to pass through from the car park.
With back to back Soquets, #4 Drakkar had me worried that it was some sort of clone as the ending sequence near the station looked very similar to the previous one. Fortunately the rest of the layout was rather different and contained some decent landscaping of its own. I like to imagine the manufacturer used to just turn up on site with some steel and wing it on the day.
The real star of the show is #5 1066 though. I simply loved this thing. It’s a little more significant than most other Soquets and rides with a real vigour.
The face of the bull on the front says it all (I’m not even sure how he’s related to the battle of Hastings), as it just plunges down this big hillside and gets surprisingly intense in places. For one of these at least.
Time to kill means time for flat rides, in this case, Eretic, or ‘better Cyclonator’.
And time for water rides with a ridiculously violent trough spin on them. Seriously, watch out for the Kaskade.
Wait. Wait. Wait. This all feels too easy to me. Something isn’t sitting right. A look of concern had crossed my face as we left this ride and a sudden, horrific thought occurred to me – we’ve forgotten a park. I’ve become overly complacent with knowing the itineraries off the top of my head these days (with how much fruitless trip planning I’ve done this year, it’s no surprise) and had somehow subconsciously fooled myself into thinking this was an easy two park day. In actuality it was meant to be a go-hard three park day. What an amateur.
After racing back to the car and punching some numbers into Google, it simply wasn’t to be. Ange Michel, a name we would come to curse regularly throughout the coming weeks, would just have to wait for another day.
Clécy Gliss
There was however now time for a bonus round instead. On a hillside down the road was our first of these weird contraptions.
A single rail Alpine coaster, #6 Clécy Gliss. These are manufactured by Wiegand’s Austrian rival Brandauer, who actually started the ‘mountain coaster’ game one year earlier, back in 1996, and have since been acquired by Sunkid, of ‘Butterflies and random new trains on dodgy coasters’ fame.
Single rail = terrifying. I’ve had my moments over the last few years of fearing various alpine coasters. Though you’re sufficiently upstopped on rails while riding of course, there can be something unnerving about the way the structures just sit on what appear to be loose rocks, I’ve still never been 100% convinced you can just no-brake every installation that ever existed and the relatively exposed feeling of sitting on a tea tray doesn’t often help matters either.
These things feel even more exposed and slightly more ghetto, which is an interesting combination. They also appear to have the ability to perform much steeper drops, an experience all in itself. A solid last minute find at the very least and a warm up, perhaps, of what’s to come.
It’s been far too long. This time last year I was bemoaning those first world problems that 2020 brought to the realm of theme park trips, telling some lowly tales about dusting off minor European coasters (oh, and Zadra), while silently hoping that 2021 would be the one to turn it around.
It didn’t.
The same trip plans I back then had were cancelled again not once, not twice, but three times over. Turns out it’s actually harder to go anywhere this year than it was last. There’s now a lot more hoop jumping, many more unfathomable rules and plenty of persistent website checking to be done. But where there’s a will there’s a way and Eurodemption 2 – The Revenge was born. Bigger, badder and more burdensome than ever.
The primary chunk of the trip revolved around France this year, which was a nail biter in itself as they had barely made it off of the UKs ‘amber plus’ list in time. Two weeks had been pencilled for what was basically a loop of the country, along with some cheeky bonuses to finish. As more borders sprang into life the itinerary grew even more adventurous and sporadic, and it’s fair to say that the trip wasn’t without issues. But that’s the fun part.
Day 1 – Parc du Bocasse
Bastille Day, 2018. The tour de France was in town and the Gendarmerie were breathalysing us in a layby at 2 in the afternoon. Freedom was in the air. Those were the days. We had visited Bocasse before for a quick +3 and a surprise Soquet log flume with elevator lift, while somehow skipping a dark ride that may or may not have existed at the time (it did). The park have been keeping themselves very busy since then, adding another 2 coasters and completely changing the face of another and so they seemed like the perfect starting point for a post channel tunnel journey.
I’m already feeling too wordy, but what are these reports for if not to be educational? If you want to do anything in France right now (from England at least) you’ll want to get yourself two vaccines, an NHS Covid Pass QR code and a healthy supply of ‘medical masks’. Oh, how we’re going to have fun with that term. All (legit) parks like to scan this code on entry and you may even find yourself needing all of these things to even get into a McDonalds, while they smoke in your face.
With the revelation that French phone apps recognise said code and the system actually works, it was straight to the newest and most major coaster. #1 Orochi is the 600th Orkanen to have been built since 2013 and though it’s a really good layout and experience for what it is, with all the forces in the right places, they’re definitely starting to wear me down, as all clones do.
It is particularly nicely presented, that pale green is rather striking in a way that makes me wonder how we’re still discovering new colours for coasters in this day and age and the big snappy dinosaur is a nice touch on-ride, though hard to capture in any great detail from afar.
They’re not quite done with the finishing touches, some of the queueline is yet to be built and there’s a pond on the way, but I’d say they’ve done well with this one. It just doesn’t seem that popular yet with a bit of an awkward dead end location on park. Like the Swarm.
I was playing around with this superwide lens on a different phone for the other new-to-me coaster in the park before deciding I don’t like it that much. This Prestion & Barbieri classic, #2 Pirate’s Coaster was struggling to park itself on multiple occasions, resulting in far more laps than strictly necessary for the checklist.
Ah yes, there it is. I can forgive myself for missing out on Apiland before because it looks like the building for a children’s play area and not a major attraction. The dark ride is actually surprisingly elaborate and themed to bees, bees existing happily in many different environments. It has a catchy onboard tune and meets just about every requirement to be a quirky and fun indoor attraction. Don’t miss it.
There was still time for a token lap on the park’s previous star rollercoaster, now Fort D’Odin. The before and after shot shows how much effort they’ve put into this thing and it was surely worth it. I’d forgotten how secretly good a lot of these medium Soquet coasters are. They’re like the Japanese jet coasters of Europe, an unpredictable frolic through weird and wonderful forces that you just don’t get from your stock models.
Other highlights from this ride include overhearing a man awkwardly describe to his children how this park was a warm up to Disneyland and that they should be looking forward to ‘that Space coaster designed by Michael Jackson.’
Poor Jules Verne. And that’s not the only time I’ll be saying that on this trip.
Jardin d’Acclimatation
I always get the name wrong for this park and have been meaning to visit for at least 7 years now, never quite getting round to it for various reasons ranging from laziness to lack of effort. The drive into Paris was surprisingly pleasant, with no accidental trips round the Arc de Triomphe and though my planned car park didn’t appear to exist there was plentiful metered parking on the road that runs along the top of the ‘garden’. Parking with flawed increments of money at least. It suddenly gets very expensive if you choose over 4 hours, but there’s no indication of a no returns rule. We paid for what we thought should be enough (see if you can guess where this is going) and headed in, QR codes at the ready.
The epic sounding ‘grand huit’ was our ticket of choice for the visit, which grants entry and huit (8) attraction tickets. It’s also the name of multiple coasters elsewhere on this adventure, stay tuned for that excitement.
Hadn’t really thought about it, but the place felt rather busy. The queue for the main draw, #3 Speed Rockets, was spilling just outside of the entrance but in reality it just can’t hold that many people and the operations are pleasantly swift. We were on in under 20 minutes.
I’m so glad these Gerstlauer Bobsleds are becoming so diversified over time because they can be cracking little rides. There’s tons of character in this one, from the multiple lift hills, weird double down drop, whippy overbanks and solid pops of unusual air. I really liked it and quickly thought to myself it could be the best one yet.
After the pleasant reminder of Soquet earlier, #4 Machine à Vapeurkilled, in the best way. A janky powered coaster with speed in all the wrong places is punctuated by a ridiculously violent plummet into, and subsequent ejection from, a small concrete tunnel that marks the final stretch of each circuit. There’s only one setting to the lap bars on these things and the result is absolute carnage.
The Kinetorium had recently come onto my radar after learning that not all 100 of the Alterface interactive theatres in the world have to be Desperados 4D, ones like these have pre-shows, custom theming, the works. (More here if you’re interested in that stuff). ‘Plants grow big and evil, by mistake, and you have to shoot them with chemicals’ is the general gist of the experience, which combines the fun of both a communal competitive atmosphere with everyone else in the room and a surprisingly energetic ride-on seat that makes it a right romp.
Trouble was afoot. The rare baby Reverchon spinner wasn’t open for business and I really wasn’t planning on being spited this early. There were however signs of life, even though it was getting pretty late in the operating hours. Someone was in the control box and at one point a test car was sent.
There are gardens here too, as the name would suggest. The Korean garden had me reminiscing about better times again, but never mind that, let’s focus on the highlights of the here and now.
Further down the path, the final coaster of the park was also ‘temporarily closed’ and undergoing some test laps, with a significant queue forming outside. It was clear that any hope of success was not going to be immediate and that our parking was going to run out in due course, so while they warmed the various seats for us it was time to quickly pop out and rectify that particular situation.
Upon leaving the park at the far exit we asked the nearest member of staff about the re-entry policy, something which you’re not technically allowed to do for whatever reason (money). As it was a literal 2 minute ‘pop out to the car’, she kindly stated that of course she’d let us back in, so long as we were quick. While passing several other admissions staff on the way out I remarked about how nice that gesture was and jokingly hoped aloud that she wouldn’t suddenly change shifts or go home on us.
2 minutes later, she was gone. The four other staff members that had also been there at the time were suddenly acting like they had never seen us before in their lives. Our admission tickets with half their active ride tokens still available on them were suddenly a source of great suspicion and after a failed attempt to reason with what had literally just happened, we were forced to buy another set of admission only tickets while one of the staff was adamantly warning the sales office not to ‘let us get away with anything else’, like we were out to commit some heinous crime.
With that unpleasantness out of the way, it was time for more Soquet goodness in the form of #5 Dragon Chinois, with it’s pleasant landscaping and overdose of lift hills for such a small layout.
The mini spinning mouse, #6 Souris Mécaniques, had come back to life by now and felt weird with all the proportions being off from what I’m normally used to with these things. The ride had a bit of a slow start to proceedings but managed to get sufficiently violent by the end. Always nice to try new models.
Believing the day was done, it was out of Paris and off to the first hotel for the night. Hang on a minute, is that a cred at the side of the road? Braaaaaake!
Yes it is. By complete chance, we had stumbled across this temporary setup about halfway on route. Never mind that it’s for enfants. Le Festival Des Enfants
The cred in question was this piece of magnificence, #7 Le petit train de la mine. Fully prepared to not even find it on the sacred coaster count database, detailed pictures and notes were being taken before, surprise, it already exists, under one of the seven possible combinations of words printed on and around the ride. As an added bonus it had only been previously documented in photo form, closed in a field and there were no registered riders. I’ll take those 10 rare points now, thanks.
You know it’s not a good sign when riding rollercoasters causes you grievous injury on the first day of a long trip. The seatbelt mounts happened to be sharp, protruding and located at shoulder blade height in the centre of each car. On the fastest corner of the first lap I let out an involuntary scream as the laterals of the ride tried to cut me open. The operator looked concerned, but he had bigger things to worry about as one of the lap bars further up the train wasn’t down properly, prompting a quick on the fly fix as it came through the station for the second lap. After endless laps of fear and defensive riding, I discovered later that the ride had indeed drawn blood and given me the ugliest graze imaginable. It’s far from the first time I’ve suffered for my art and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
Apologies for flogging the same series 4 weeks in a row, I’m actually out riding rollercoasters again on an extended road trip right now and this felt like the easiest rhythm to get into for churning out some scheduled content to tide things over. One massively overdue trip report, coming right up. Four racing cars, three sets of duelling coasters, technical problems and fire galore, this year has it all. It feels like a good way to start the 2010s and I’m sure there will be some surprises in store with how this one plays out.
#10 Fiorano GT Challenge– Ferrrai World (UAE)
The opening of Ferrari World put the UAE on the world coaster map as a potential key player for the first time. It kickstarted some real momentum for the region and with a lot of cash and empty land floating around this became a particularly exciting prospect. Fiorano is an interesting design, a duelling Maurer coaster with several controlled launch sections and predominantly unbanked turns that really try to emulate the sensation of racing cars far more than any other rollercoaster I’ve experienced.
#9 Battlestar Galactica: Human – Universal Studios Singapore
The other big news in Asia this year was the birth of the latest Universal Studios park. It debuted with the world’s tallest duelling coasters and a new styling of product from Vekoma, one that actually looked rather different to the above in the train department. The headline attraction spent half of its life closed and then had them replaced due to ‘technical difficulties’. The Human side is the non-inverting sitdown version and the lesser of the two, though it contributes greatly to the spectacle of course.
#8 Cobra – Conny-Land (Switzerland)
The Pax ‘Loop 520’ is a crazy and unique creation that somehow found it’s way to being Switzerland’s most significant coaster. Not for the first time we’ll see in this list it had a troubled past, with some track replacement taking place. The trains were also upgraded for the 2020 season just in time for my visit and so I think we found it at its absolute best. Good timing resulted in a great ride.
#7 Thirteen – Alton Towers (UK)
An Intamin family coaster with a drop track became Alton Towers’ next claim to world’s first fame, with a satisfying indoor plummet that moves both track and train vertically downward together. The feature is used to great theatrical effect, though the common consensus is that the rest of the hardware doesn’t really live up to this moment and the entire concept was poorly marketed by the park. Personally I’m quite the fan of it regardless.
#6 Intimidator – Carowinds (USA)
The year of the Intimidators was a battle fought and lost by B&M if only for the fact that they didn’t do anything special with their now standard hyper coaster setup. This one is very run of the mill, somewhat sluggish and doesn’t quite live up to the race car theme that it’s all about, yet you still can’t really go wrong with something of this scale and pedigree, if you want to play it safe.
#5 Formula Rossa – Ferrari World (UAE)
No safe options where Intamin were concerned this year however. It was time to smash the record for world’s fastest coaster in ridiculous fashion with an eye-watering 149Mph. Rossa also goes for a different approach to the previous record holders by having a bit of a layout and focusing on pure speed rather than using it for height as well. It’s a little too ‘big Rita’ for my liking, but both the face-ripping nature of the launch and that sequence of hills at the end are pretty special.
This Vekoma SLC kicks ass, and it’s not often you’ll hear that phrase. The ride gets somewhat overlooked in this new wave Vekoma obsession either due to location or a bad rep from those ‘technical difficulties’, but for me the manufacturers evolution started here and I’m yet to find one that is more impressive. It has that unrefined, wilder quality I’m still holding out for in the latest creations.
#3 Intimidator 305 – Kings Dominion (USA)
The year of the Intimidators was a battle fought and won by Intamin if only for the fact they did do something special with their giga coaster setup. The ride immediately reached legendary status by being ‘too intense’ and having to have some track reprofiled to compensate (something in the water this year clearly) and most people either love or hate this thing for that insane first drop and turn. I’m firmly in the ‘meh?’ camp however, it’s not what I wanted it to be (an Intamin Mega-Lite, but insanely huge), but 305 has strengths of its own, mainly in those overly snappy transitions.
#2 Joris en der Draak – Efteling (Netherlands)
Meanwhile GCI were playing to their strengths again with a small, fast paced woodie filled with aggression, except this time there’s two of them, interacting all the way. Couple this above average ride experience with some Efteling magic, through killer soundtracks, a genius narrative and an amazing dragon animatronic and you’ve got something far more special than some big try-hard hunks of steel.
#1 Revenge of the Mummy – Universal Studios Singapore
And being understated is what shall inevitably prevail this year. The best dark ride rollercoaster in existence brings the two things I love most about parks together in spectacular fashion and that’s worth at least 10x giga coasters or record breakers to me.
What else did the world have to offer this year?
I’m not sure what Vekoma were going for with the bizarre Big Air, but it’s definitely a must ride. The original Sky Rocket from Premier looks far more fascinating than the prolific version II it went on to spawn.
Worryingly enough that’s it, I’m done. Unless there’s something I’ve overlooked this list could well be already set in stone. It’s a first for the series, will it be the last?
A nice varied mix this year with five different manufacturers sharing the top 5. Is the era of domination coming to a close, or is this just a blip in the system? Or have I just not ridden enough yet. All I know is there’s some big new entries coming up that paved the way for some of absolute favourites, so it was an exciting time for sure.
#10 Tranan – Skara Sommarland (Sweden)
A one of a kind wacky installation from S&S and a different take on the wing coaster design, with single file seating that can freely rock back and forth. It’s nice to see experimentation keeping things fresh and interesting within the industry.
#9 Fluch von Novgorod – Hansa Park (Germany)
Dollywood appears to have set the trend for housing those vertical lift hills and doing something special with Gerstlauer hardware. On paper I should really love this one as well, but I just can’t get past the uninspired layout that rides poorly. I’d rather just experience the dark ride sections individually and be done with it.
#8 Mumbo Jumbo – Flamingoland (UK)
S&S had also been concocting other crazy ideas last year with this El Loco design debuting at Indiana Beach. Mumbo Jumbo was the first version to hit Europe and features a fascinating sequence of elements such as that outerbanked turn and downhill inversion that set it apart from pretty much everything else in the field. The only things holding it back are the clunky shoulder restraints which have a particularly awkward design.
#7 Anubis: The Ride – Plopsaland de Panne (Belgium)
Probably one of the most major coasters I failed to take even a single picture of. There’s something about Belgium (or our particularly poor planning) that always sucks all the time out of the day leaving little luxury for photo laps. Update: I’ve since been back and managed just one snap, after being distracted again by something far more impressive. Says it all really. Anubis was the follow up to last years Lynet, the Gerstlauer launch coaster and marks the second and last of the model to have been made, with the LSM technology instead transitioning over to their Eurofighters as seen above.
#6 Saw: The Ride – Thorpe Park (UK)
Busy year for Gerstlauer. The UK also ended up with a Eurofighter with indoor sections and theming and it’s the first real coaster I ended up following the construction of, having just started to get into this hobby properly (first time round). While the presentation is in no way a match for the direct competition this year, I find Saw to have a much more entertaining layout, the brutality of which is rather fitting for the theme.
#5 iSpeed – Mirabilandia (Italy)
I opted not to fill this list with another dose of Mega-Lites as we’ve probably seen enough of them already. It was a busy year for Intamin, though mostly through the sale of cloned layouts across the world. iSpeed was the standout box fresh design and European successor to Maverick with that LSM launch. It also opted for the large top hat element, like the hydraulic accelerators of old, perhaps in an attempt to be the best of both worlds, though it wasn’t as good as I would have hoped.
#4 Diving Coaster – Happy Valley Shanghai
Once again I’ve only done one of the B&Ms so far and it’s another Chinese monster dive machine clone, but Sheikra this time. It’s a mighty impressive ride, does what it says on the tin. The less said about the park the better, though it did all open for the first time this year with a particularly significant lineup.
#3 El Toro – Freizeitpark Plohn
A humble GCI affair in Eastern Germany manages to outgun the big players this year, really showing off the strengths of the wooden coasters from this manufacturer with a high energy series of twists, turns and hills out of a minimal height differential. The less said about the park the better.
#2 blue fire Megacoaster – Europa Park (Germany)
Big moment for me, though I wouldn’t know it yet. Mack Rides have stepped up after a prolonged absence from these lists and it’s time for them to start properly competing with the thrill market. The development of their own LSM launch coaster coupled with what I still consider to be the best trains in the business was just the first step towards true greatness. Blue Fire is a real showcase piece, with a bit of everything from dark ride sections to inversions, an onboard soundtrack and even heart rate monitors.
#1 Wooden Coaster – Fireball – Happy Valley Shanghai
Finally. I’ve been honourable mentioning the Gravity Group for several years in a row now, having never had the fortune of getting on one of their US installations yet. They hit the Asian market for the first time this year in a big way, with China’s first ever wooden coaster and this has gone on to do amazing things for the hobby, at least in my particular case. Fireball is part traditional out-and-back airtime machine and part out-of-control insanity machine, something that this manufacturer does better than anyone else. And that’s all I’ve ever wanted.
Have we got any more excitement to be uncovered from 2009? Magic Mountain got their Terminator themed GCI this year, sadly it was down during my visit. They also made Prowler elsewhere in the States, which sounds good for name alone. The missing B&M list is basically just Diamondback, continuing the annual hyper tradition. Though they also built one other coaster this year I’ve already experienced the layout and to be fair it would easily be top three. Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit still intrigues me, it looks rather different to anything else Maurer put out.
Now we can end on some downers, two spites: The future is uncertain for Senzafiato. I would have ridden this one had they not closed indefinitely the year we were in Italy. I also tried my hardest to ride Stingray, visiting the area on multiple occasions with specifically allocated days to spare. It never opened for any number of reasons and I so badly wanted that unique creation.
Ah well, 2010s next, Should be good! Click here to continue the timeline.
2008 is most notable to me for being the first year in which I actively started riding the actual big, high thrill, loopy coasters I was so fascinated by, though I remained entirely limited (by adolescence) to the lineup of Thorpe Park. Elsewhere, many exciting developments were taking place including a couple of real legends, none of which I would have heard of back then. It’s a scary thought.
#10 Pony Express – Knott’s Berry Farm
This leisurely horseback trundle around a figure of 8 layout was one of two Zamperla Motocoasters to open this year, as a new model for the company, characterised by the unusual seating position. Bonus points for the little moment of interaction with the rapids ride and for having entertaining staff.
#9 Salama – Linnanmäki (Finland)
Suddenly everything is interacting with a neighbouring rapids ride. In this particular instance this Maurer spinner sits mostly above the water attraction and gets to share in a few of the special effects along the way, including a bit of fire, as well as being a decent coaster in it’s own right.
#8 Muntanya Russa – Tibidabo (Spain)
Sometimes visuals are everything and a park like Tibidabo has the fortune of offering some spectacular views over Barcelona from its mountain-top location. Chuck in a terrain hugging Vekoma family coaster with a great first drop and some forceful turns and you can’t really go wrong.
#7 Lynet – Fårup Sommerland (Denmark)
Gerstlauer continued to experiment this year and unleashed their first launch coaster in the form of Lynet. It featured a new style of 6 seater cars with slightly tiered seating which you have to assume are more aerodynamic than the usual rolling stock found on their high thrill coasters up until this point. While these alone gave no real improvement on the comfort department, the tracking of this ride was unexpectedly excellent when I happened across it, something they’d been struggling with in the years leading up to this point.
#6 Mammut – Tripsdrill (Germany)
Gerstlauer played a part in this one too, providing the rolling stock for a special team up with fellow German company Cordes Holzbau, the timber experts who were involved with the construction of all but the most recent (incoming) Intamin pre-fab woodies. Sadly Mammut doesn’t come anywhere close to the experience of those, though it’s a solid and rerideable coaster with it’s own particular charms.
#5 Jet Rescue – Sea World (Australia)
Watch out, Intamin are back. Improving on their vastly inferior debut model of the family launch coaster just up the road from Sea World, Jet Rescue continued to demonstrate that the company can put out a top quality product in basically any corner of the market. High speed twists and turns, an almost non-existent height differential and comfy seating make this a winner.
#4 Kawasemi – Tobu Zoo (Japan)
They’re not stopping yet. The first of two Mega-Lites to be built this year showed off their as yet unmatched knack for delivering clinical, unstoppable airtime in the most compact package yet. The design was an instant hit, though I found this particular version of it to ride a little sluggish and unloved.
#3 Dive Coaster – Chimelong Paradise (China)
B&M’s token entry into the top three this time is a slightly altered version of US giant Griffon, a ride I somehow forgot to include in last year’s lineup – obviously showing how forgettable some of these dive coasters end up being! Against an overly hazy Guangzhou sky, visuals aren’t the strongest point for this imaginatively named version. Instead the way in which it was being operated proved to be a standout for me, with almost no braking force applied on the midcourse it was flying into that second near-vertical drop with incredible vigour.
#2 Piraten – Djurs Sommerland (Denmark)
The other Mega-Lite for the year became Europe’s one and only. It’s identical in all but colour to the earlier entry on the list, as far as anyone can tell, but there’s something about Piraten that just pops when compared to counterparts. It runs well, too well, ensuring that not one inch of track is wasted in delivering a world class coaster experience.
#1 T-Express – Everland (South Korea)
They’ve swept the field for ’08 now. The last of the Intamin pre-fab woodies to be built so far is another insane display of why their design was a cut above the rest when it came to ridiculously steep drops and mind-blowing out of your seat moments. Everland haven’t built another rollercoaster since T-Express, it’s like they don’t even know how to top it. Does anyone?
To be fair to B&M, I’m missing a chunk of their ’08 roster. Behemoth was the next in the long line of hyper coasters and provided Canada’s Wonderland with a massive headlining crowd pleaser. While also bruising countless thighs, Intamin were knocking out a multi looper with a vertical lift by the name of Fahrenheit. I’ve stood at the foot of this thing, only to be told it was too cold to run it, while simultaneously being sunburnt. I’ll be back. All these Gravity Group rides I’m missing out on make me sad. Ravine Flyer II is no exception. If anyone knows how to top Everland, this lot do. The catchily named SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge is the only catchily named Eurofighter 410 in existence, and that’s reason enough for inclusion. The notoriously short lived Hard Rock/Freestyle Music Park opened in this year, with the star coaster being Time Machine. Luckily the hardware was saved and shipped across the world and it currently operates in Vietnam. I thought I knew all the Tornados, but apparently not. I don’t understand it and probably never will.
After such a huge year before it, there was bound to be a bit of an ebb for 2007. That’s not to say that the showings this year aren’t still outshining that which we saw, say, 10 years ago. It’ll always be on the up overall from here on out, we just haven’t quite got any of the sheer game changing insanity in the list today, sadly. The best rollercoasters really do come in ups and downs, it’s rather appropriate really.
#10 Pirate’s Blast – Lagunasia (Japan)
A fascinating little ride with a significant dark ride section. For some reason they decided to add a VR option to this coaster in later years, entirely defeating the point of the various physical scenes and effects to be appreciated throughout the indoor portion of the layout, something I’ll never understand. Once the car emerges into the outside world, the clunkiness of certain Senyo Kogyo coasters shines through, but that’s only a bonus in this case.
#9 Rage – Adventure Island (UK)
A solid Gerstlauer Eurofighter with both floaty and punchy features. I wasn’t too fussed about this one back in the day. It likely contributed to the ‘is this it?’ feeling that was brewing inside me while exploring the lesser known attractions of the UK for the first time. Having since become far more unhealthily obsessed I managed to appreciate Rage a lot more for what it is, even going as far as having a mini marathon on it on my most recent visit.
#8 Desert Race – Heide Park (Germany)
Intamin are back on another mini spree of hydraulic launchers this year. First up is a safe clone of Rita from Alton Towers a couple of years ago. This one seemed to run smoother overall, probably because it’s operated by the Germans, slightly enhancing the mildly interesting high speed layout.
#7 Furius Baco – PortAventura Park (Spain)
The boat was pushed out far more for this installation though. Intamin’s first (and so far only) launched wing coaster. Baco has a bit of a reputation for being brutal, with the way the seats sit far outside of the track and have the ability to bounce and flex around rather violently under any force, but even in the supposed worst seat I found that this only improved the experience through sheer comedy. Without that, it’s just a figure of 8 layout, and that would bother me.
#6 Mystery Mine – Dollywood (USA)
The first Eurofighter to make it across the Atlantic and Dollywood chose to use the hardware in a much more exciting manner. Mystery Mine has indoor lift hills, special effects and a storyline that potentially outperform the coaster itself and it definitely raised the bar for both the manufacturer and the ride type.
#5 Vliegande Hollander – Efteling (Netherlands)
This appears to be a year of dark ride sections, no complaints from me about that. It’s literally the only factor that puts this otherwise underwhelming water coaster on this list, but it’s clearly a good one. The theming, visuals and soundtrack for this attraction are on another level and all I can think is that I need to spend more time with this ride.
#4 Formule X – Drievliet (Netherlands)
Maurer are back with their X-Car model and it’s vastly superior to the (deceased) original in literally every way. A punchy launch begins proceedings as opposed to the hideous beyond vertical lift hill, the restraints seem less restrictive on the breathing and the layout itself is a wonderful blend of all the stuff great coasters are made of.
#3 Troy – Toverland (Netherlands)
Big year for the Dutch parks with three cracking attractions in a row. GCI’s second European installation went bigger and badder and put this little up and coming park on the map for most enthusiasts in a big way. While I’m not Troy’s greatest fan by any means, I’ve had a ton of fun on it and can never deny the power of a decent wooden coaster.
#2 Phaethon – Gyeongju World (South Korea)
The momentum swings back and forth between the big manufacturers at the moment and it’s B&Ms time to shine again. They were busy out in Asia making this massive invert and though it’s far from their best work, being rather more graceful than intense for my personal tastes despite the scale and 6 inversions, these things always perform well in these lists (for now).
#1 Hollywood Dream: The Ride – Universal Studios Japan
And they top another list with a hyper coaster that’s not really a hyper coaster (not this again). This relative miniature (at only 144ft) blends beautifully into the Universal city landscape here at the studios and manages to put most of it’s bigger brethren elsewhere in the world to shame. Something about that layout just flows better and hits harder than what I’ve generally come to expect from this ride type. And then of course you can ride it backwards these days and that’s a whole different ball game. Love it.
I badly need some Boardwalk Bullet in my life, a tangled mess of Gravity Group goodness seems right up my street. The big news of the year was likely Maverick for most people, the first breakaway from that hydraulic design for what is in theory the birth of new age Intamin launch coasters. Has to be in with a shout. GCI also knocked out Renegade for the states, which should end up being a solid hit for the list. The surprise news was probably Zierer putting out this launched ‘Tower Coaster‘, having pretty much stuck to the family market for their whole career, it was a big step for them and I can’t wait to try out the result. One more notable for the year, just for how ridiculous it is – the world’s longest coaster, in a non-traditional sense, is the 17,000ft Alpine Coaster Tobotronc in Andorra, more than twice the length of the conventional record holder. My mind can’t fathom the scale, but I’ll say this – soon.
The Intamin Mega Coaster first hit the scene in 1999, as the manufacturer’s first foray into ‘hyper coaster’ territory, contrary to what the name would suggest. The world of 200ft+ rollercoasters (with an actuallayout) was dominated at the time by team Arrow and Morgan who, in conjunction with Cedar Point, had coined the use of the ‘hyper’ label some 10 years prior. By the turn of the Millennium several other manufacturers were trying their hand at the concept and of course, as one of the big innovators, Intamin played their part well.
Marketing remains at odds with enthusiasm as always. Though Intamin would go on to set the trend over the next few years, again with Cedar Point, for the naming of both >300ft and >400ft coasters ‘giga’ and ‘strata’ respectively, the product name for what the company currently defines as anything exceeding 61m in height (200ft) perhaps defiantly remains as the Mega Coaster. The term giga lives on in their product lineup, while the likes of 400ft monsters Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka have been snuck away into the LSM launch category despite using an entirely different launch system.
We’re not done yet on definition though, as I’m going to throw my own spanner in the works for fun. A fairly recent rebrand on their website brought the Ultra Coaster into being, specifically a little ride we like to call the Mega-Lite around here, and they’re going on this list anyway. One supposed difference is that these are well under 200ft in height, but what I’m choosing to focus on in the comparisons today is more relevant to what Intamin aptly describe as both ‘Speed and airtime combinations’ or ‘Speed and airtime fascination’ between the two products and you could definitely say I have a fascination with airtime.
I suppose this is the paragraph for the usual spiel about how many there are and if I’m even qualified to speak about such things (most likely not). I was hoping to hold off on this particular topic until Kondaa (actually it turns out over half of these aren’t >60m despite… no, that’s enough of that discussion, I’ll be going round in circles all day) happened to me, but following the news of the flooding disaster and the continuing uncertainty around foreign travel in general it’s clear that nothing is going to happen in that department for a good while yet. With that in mind the new Belgian beast made for 9 unique layouts across the world and without it I’m on 8, which is not too shabby. Let’s begin.
#11 Superman – Ride of Steel – Six Flags America
With the ’99 classic, or rather the mirrored clone of that original, situated just 2 states over. The mega coaster model started out with good intentions, leaning heavily on the speed side of the equation. An entertaining ride for sure, though perhaps for the wrong reasons – namely the amusingly over exaggerated straight sections and momentum sapping helices. Should put a smile on anyone’s face at the very least.
#10 Thunder Dolphin – Tokyo Dome City
The crown for amusing sections goes to central Tokyo’s finest however, with that slow wobbly bit over the top of some buildings and a spectacularly enthusiastic dive straight into a final brake run. Things don’t get more ridiculous than Thunder Dolphin when it comes to big, impressive hardware in a knockout setting such as this, but there inevitably has to be a lot of comprimise along the way. The creative layout that fills the perimeter of the park and follows in the footsteps of 2 Way Coaster just doesn’t do this ride type justice, although it’s still a ton of fun.
#9 Superman the Ride – Six Flags New England (USA)
Fellow Superman, another 2 states over, was the sequel to the design and went down as one of the all time greats in the world of online coaster polls, living near the top for a good many years. I wasn’t that bowled over by it personally, almost 20 years later, it feels a little sluggish and uneventful for what should have been a gamechanger at the time. It’s definitely a more accomplished and refined layout and sure tries harder in that signature bunny hill finale though, setting things up for some real magic in the not too distant future. Maybe it’s those altered trains that let it down a bit, and it did look much more attractive in purple.
I’m putting what I’ve found to be the weakest of the Mega-Lites here. Knowing what the design is capable of, they were honestly let downs, ones that I just couldn’t get into for what I can only assume to be circumstantial reasons. It’s a fickle business this ranking game when you only get a snapshot of something and it’s one of the reasons clones irk me so much. The head tells me there shouldn’t be so much disparity between identical creations and yet the heart says otherwise.
#6 Goliath – Walibi Holland
Currently sporting a fetching coat of deep blue paint, this ride has been under my coasting belt for what feels like forever. It was my first true encounter with airtime fascination and for that reason alone, easily one of the best things I had ever done. A landmark attraction in Europe that, like many of these, has faded a little over time. The coaster lineup of the park has done well to outdo it ever since, after a long stint at the top, though it still has a lot to offer and what it does it does very well.
#5 Light Speed – Visionland (China)
It’s back again. Unlike the previous ones I actively wanted to marathon this edition of the Mega-Lite and that’s not a statement against the rest of the park lineup because, well, Tobu Zoo. It’s instead because Light Speed was riding well, close to what I remember from my personal glory days of riding this coaster layout, but not quite there. And for reasons we’ll see in a minute, I’d rather ride the almost version than any of the other slightly less potent custom designs.
#4 Expedition GeForce – Holiday Park (Germany)
Far more than any others of its era I’d say, GeForce has stood the test of time. This ride really feels like it would have been another level back in 2001 when it took the scene by storm, because it still feels like another level today when it comes to raw airtime. The violently twisted first drop brought brand new sensations to the design and those hills are quite often obscene. But, let’s talk about pacing…
#3 Piraten – Djurs Sommerland (Denmark)
Because for all the majesty of the larger designs, the one thing I can’t look past is the downtime – the moments between those signature airtime hills that generally are all this ride type has to offer in its raw form. The Mega-Lite design (or more specifically, Piraten) can hit you just as hard with those hills, but they also come at you so much thicker and faster to the point where it can be hard to even process. Add to that the additional sensations of some properly twisted bunny hills in there, which are an experience like little else, and I believe this little Ultra puts the majority of the Megas to shame.
#2 Coaster through the Clouds – Nanchang Wanda Theme Park (China)
After a 13 year drought of Intamin Mega Coasters, China decided it was time to resurrect an old legend and break some records along the way. The tallest and fastest coaster in the country is striking, perhaps in the wrong way. That big flat turnaround at a mere 240ft in the air always felt rather ugly and counter-intuitive, like something you’d build in a game rather than real life. Looks can’t take away from that staggering drop though and once it actually gets going this thing flies like no other on the list. The leaning has once more returned towards speed, but that combination is still going strong as at least two of the airtime moments here are out of this world and I think like the Mega-Lites it has even more to give under the right conditions. Too bad there’s only one of them (stop that).
#1 Hyperion – Energylandia (Poland)
And as time goes on, we just get better at these things. It feels like a bit of a cheat to have Hyperion come in and steal the show with how different it feels – those wing-esque trains with superior seating and an inversion to boot. The ride is still the poster boy for Mega Coasters according to Intamin themselves though and it’s easy to see why. It counts though and frankly the wing seats add nothing like I would have wanted them too when compared to other, actualwing coasters from the manufacturer, but that’s about the only negative thing I have to say about this ride. Everything else is sublime. That first drop, that first camelback, that dive loop. A killer combination that shows the modern age has brought the ride type to another level so, you know, hopefully, <insert Kondaa here>
This one’s a big one. By far the most stacked year we’ve had yet. The Millennium boom may have been all about size and scale, but for me this one is where the true excitementa of the decade lies. A recurring trend here seems to be the continued improvement and development of some already existing ride types that were doing well previously, just pushing the boundaries a little further and in many cases coming up with something extra special. Diving in right now.
#10 Stealth – Thorpe Park (UK)
Strong start with a popular coaster from the UK and, you know, I don’t think I’ve moaned about clones nearly enough recently – an identical pair of these opened on opposite sides of the world, just over a month apart. Stealth easily wins in the theming department and so claims the spot on the list. I’m less enamored with the layout than most due to the simplicity of the experience. I can’t however deny the rush comes from that, as once exclaimed enthusiastically by a fellow rider, £4 for 4 seconds. Probably costs more now.
#9 Backlot Stunt Coaster – Kings Dominion (USA)
This Premier Rides launch coaster was the last of three of these installations to hit the then Paramount park chain of North America, with the others opening at Kings Island and Canada’s Wonderland a year prior. Though the acceleration is nothing to match the above, you get a bit more of a journey out of this one and there’s even some theming and storyline chucked in for a laugh. The physical effects weren’t working when I was there, mind you, but that added comedy and the sentiment still stands.
#8 Crystal Wing – Happy Valley Beijing
After three years of silence, the B&M Flying coaster is back and making its first appearance in Asia, where a good few more are destined to end up over the next decade. The Happy Valley chain are often fans of tried and tested layouts and so opted for the world’s fourth ‘Superman’ layout. They certainly made it their own at least, with a staggeringly huge and intricate theming package that definitely adds to the onboard experience and overall visuals like never before.
#7 Thunderbird – PowerLand (Finland)
More globalisation, and this time it’s GCI making their mark over in Europe. The fetching two tone colour schemes of the trains are one of the standout features of this one which, though undoubtedly a good ride as all woodies from this manufacturer tend to be, never really stood out much for me. Still honing their craft and looking for that perfection. It’ll come.
#6 Goliath – Six Flags Over Georgia (USA)
Impressive showing for B&M after an unusual absence last year. It’s partly my fault for not yet riding a few, admittedly, but six installations this year versus two in 2005 – something was going well. This lineup included a couple of Hyper coasters, both named Goliath and both going to Six Flags parks though, mercifully, they aren’t the same. Georgia received the larger one as well as the only one of the two I’ve ridden so far and it’s a solid entry. Nothing mindblowing, but does what it says on the tin and most people love that.
#5 Speed Monster – TusenFryd (Norway)
After a hectic 2005 full of all manner of Accelerators, Intamin came back strong with another example of these at their best. A fun, efficient ride that packs plenty of variety into a fast paced layout, it’s exactly the sort of thing I look for in a coaster. Speed Monster also invented the Norwegian Loop (pictured), which remains a rarity but one of my favourite inversions.
#4 Tatsu – Six Flags Magic Mountain (USA)
Aside from another Superman it was time for B&M to step things up a gear with the Flying coaster and Magic Mountain provided them with the perfect setting to do just that. Tatsu really plays on the height and sensation of flight that comes with the available terrain and saving the brutal pretzel loop until the last moment was a stroke of genius.
#3 Black Mamba – Phantasialand (Germany)
With Inverts still staying mostly on top for me, for now, Black Mamba seemingly attempted to outdo European rival Nemesis when it comes to the intense integration of a high thrill rollercoaster into its surroundings. On some levels they certainly succeeded, as you can barely see any of the ride and some of the moments of interaction are top notch. it doesn’t quite have the narrative to carry it forward, nor the crushing positive forces of that particular legend of the industry, but it’s a damn good B&M.
#2 El Toro – Six Flags Great Adventure (USA)
The previous Intamin pre-fab woodies had already made some waves with their uncharacteristically steep drops and stronger than usual focus on intense airtime. By the time El Toro came around, Six Flags must have wanted to go harder than ever before and the result was this ridiculous contraption that essentially cut all the faff out of the original design, went taller, steeper and faster and bruised thighs like never before. It holds up to this day as one of the all time greats, and yet it still wasn’t the best thing to come out of 2006.
#1 Eejanaika – Fuji-Q Highland (Japan)
This insanity was. After prototype X at Magic Mountain had basically broken Arrow Dynamics for the last time it must have seemed entirely possible that we’d never see anything like a 4th Dimension coaster again. Fellow Utah-based company S&S got their hands on the plans however and unleashed a far more refined, yet even more incredible version of the very same concept out in the perfect park for something like this. Once again we’ve gone both taller and faster, but perhaps most importantly of all the seats on Eejanaika rotate themselves many more times throughout the layout to the point that you really can’t tell what’s happening any more and that makes it a completely different beast.
With such a strong field already, can there really be anything else out there to threaten? Disney mine trains have always done well for me and from what I’ve seen and heard Expedition Everest could well be the most impressive of the lot so far. The aforementioned Goliath of course has a shot at at least beating its twin, though I never know where I’ll stand with those hypers really. The thought of the Kentucky Rumbler always makes me smile, even in name alone. The battle of the 2006 GCIs remains open. Patriot has the potential to do put in a strong showing, as pretty much all custom B&M Inverts have done so far. And just when I think it’s all over, Voyage teases me yet again. I should have been there at least twice over by now, experiencing this potential life changer until my hearts content. Surprisingly I feel 2006 is still ripe for the taking. What a year.
Europe’s 3rd RMC opened at Energylandia, Poland in August 2019, incredibly becoming the 16th rollercoaster amongst an amusement park lineup that has become one of the largest in the world almost overnight. Aside from the manufacturer’s single-rail model, this was the first of their ground-up creations to be classified as steel rather than wood due to the composition of the rails – rails which were previously exclusive to their conversions of classic wooden coasters.
Cheekily, the park went on to market Zadra as a woodie anyway, taking any opportunity to capitalise on claims like Europe’s tallest and fastest and using far more traditional wooden coaster imagery on everything from billboards to T-shirts. To the untrained eye it does of course look entireley believable, with the striking (mostly) wooden support structure, but we tend to pay most attention to what materials the wheels actually run on and how that affects the ride experience which, in this case, the wood doesn’t.
Almost exactly a year after the opening date, we managed to visit the park and this attraction for the first time, amidst all the chaos of ever changing travel restrictions. I’m beyond glad that the trip all came together in that way as, nearly one year on again, Zadra remains the most standout rollercoaster to impact my life over such an extended period of inactivity. It still seems the best I can do with this hobby right now is to relive these experiences through writing, so let’s do just that.
The sheer scale of this park becomes immediately noticeable if you happen to be heading towards Zadra first thing in the morning. The ride forms part of a significant expansion called Dragon Zone which sits at the far end of the park, beyond a road that must be crossed via a tunnel and, after much walking, guests are rewarded with quite the sight once they emerge from here. The area itself has a pleasant, mythological feel to it which, while fairly standard for a good number of theme parks (in Europe in particular), creates a pleasant contrast against the more funfair feel of the earlier secions of the park.
The exercise doesn’t end just yet. Zadra quickly became notorious during opening year for having one of the most exhaustingly long queues to walk through, every single time you fancied a lap, regardless of crowding. Feedback was apparently taken on board and ways were found to shorten it for the following season and though it remains quite the trek, it provides ample oppotunity to admire the features of the ride from up close, which can never be a bad thing. There is one small detail that could easily be missed, just inside the entrance archway – this little shrine to the construction of the ride, a bonus feature that’s always nice to see. After dealing with a slightly overcomplicated batching system comprised of three lines, turnstiles and TV countdowns, guests are penned in behind a closed door to the station in anticipation of the moments to come.
A 206ft climb provides riders with amazing views out over the twisted yet refined mass of steel and wood that lies in front of them. This style of airtime-laden almost-vertical first drop has become standard fare for the manufacturer over the years and they’ve become almost too good at it, to the point at which we expect perfection at all times. For Zadra it provides a powerful plummeting sensation, particularly in the back row of course, feeling every bit of that 200ft as you race towards the ground and into the chaos that ensues. In particular this drop is nicely framed by two parallel sections of coaster track on either side, so that you really get that sense of diving ‘into’ the structure.
Another feature that is becoming quite common on this particular ride type is the miniature airtime bump found at the base of the pullout from the first drop, interrupting the usual flow. Zadra’s version of this element also turns a few degrees to the right, tugging riders to the left of their seats in a satisfying speedy moment. The train then roars into this complicated mess of a turnaround which contains a fascinating mix of varying positive, lateral and negative forces. It twists first out to the right, upwards, left and back on itself and then, just as it crests the summit in anticipation of some powerful airtime, the track banks to the right again to throw an extra, out of control moment into proceedings.
Even during that descent the track feels that it has to adjust itself a couple more times, compensating again to the left and then lining up alongside that first drop moment in order to enter that signature stall, beautifully situated beneath the lift hill. This type of element is becoming increasingly popular and rightly so, because it brings new meaning to what coaster inversions are all about. The amount of time spent upside down is unparalleled when compared to the old fashioned vertical loops and corkscrews familiar to us throughout the history of steel rollercoasters and yet, due to the ‘Zero-G’ design, you don’t feel the effects of this at all – elegantly floating through the air with the world inverted around you, both slightly in and slightly out of your seat. It is of course a masterpiece we’ve seen several times now already and yet Zadra managed to throw a new sensation into the mix for me just upon the exit of this element where, in the back row, there’s a little extra downwards lurch that gives some weird but welcome airtime.
After racing towards the ground again, it’s up into this outwardly banked turnaround which, while visually stunning, may well have been the least impactful part of the ride experience for me. I don’t really associate the moment with any particular sensation, it’s one that feels so well made that it just sort of ‘happens’ around you, though I do of course greatly appreciate all of these innovative methods of changing direction, particularly when looking back on certain corners you’d find on thrill rides of the past.
Fear not, this moment of relative quiet is succeeded by a fast sequence of twists into one of the most powerful airtime moments in the business. This huge camelback was the standout element of the ride for me, with an insane level of pull over the crest, most reminiscent of a single giant version of those perfect back to back moments on Twisted Timbers (and not just in colour).
After experiencing such an exposed feature of the ride, it’s time to disappear completely into the structure for a moment by means of the second inversion – a much faster and whippier version of a Zero-G that leads into the reverse equivalent of the original turnaround, twisting downwards and back on itself in order to head towards the station for the final time.
Drawing perhaps on inspiration from another RMC classic, Lightning Rod, this return trip is punctuated by a rapid succession of downwards airtime elements as the pace ever increases and hits harder and faster. Two punchy moments in a double down lead into this vicious twisted hill that really throws riders from one side to the other in a welcome return to the type of out of control forces that set this sort of ride apart for me.
With more than enough momentum for one more moment of insanity, a third and final Zero-G inversion takes the train into the closing turn and brake run at an impressive speed. One thing that particularly stands out about Zadra is it’s height to length ratio and the way that it simply blasts through the layout with a very high average speed. This feeling is really accentuated as you tear into those final brakes with your stomach essentially being wrapped around the restraint under such intense stopping force, which is just fantastic.
So, in case it wasn’t clear, I absolutely adored Zadra. It’s got that little bit of everything I look for in a ride of this nature. A strong variety of forces, incredible individual moments, something old, something new. A complete package of a world class coaster experience. We spent two full days on park and tried to rack up as many laps as possible, along with fellow headline attraction Hyperion, closing out the second day with an especially memorable pseudo night-ride that was simply sublime. It was also deeply unpleasant, as the low light level brought all the insects out to play and riders were peppered with millions of tiny bugs, many of which found their way under our eyelids after being hit at ~70Mph. You just know a ride is that good when you can brush off any such adversity and say ‘it was totaly worth it.’
As for how it stacks up against the rest of the world, after much deliberation on the day I settled on it being my 3rd favourite RMC so far, a list that no doubt will need a critical update once I get a few more under my belt. While spectacular in almost every way, it just doesn’t have that thigh-crushing intensity I associate with my absolute best and though there are a fair few tasty airtime moments, I feel like just a couple more would have suited my personal palate. Upon the inevitable analysis after returning back home Zadra came as close as you can get to being a ‘top ten ride’ without actually being one, yet I’m sure it would easily be for almost anyone else.
