50 years of coasters – 2000

Along with all the fads that came with it, the year 2000 seemed like a great excuse for many parks to build massive coasters. A bit of a coaster race, or even war, had been looming on the horizon for a little while now and if it wasn’t just a coincidence, maybe it was marketing opportunities that pushed things over the edge. There’s scale on this list like we haven’t yet seen before, with nearly everything standing at well over 100ft the time for filler is finally drawing to a close.

Intamin continued to be the sole caterer to Japan’s wooden coaster market and this year saw a small zoo on the outskirts of Tokyo go for their largest coaster to date. They aren’t the most thrilling of designs, but they do give a good general sensation of the shake, rattle and roll associated with big woodies and I’m sure the experience complemented the neighbouring jet coaster well at the time of opening.

The rarely seen Russian manufacturer Pax had been kicking around for the last decade or so, honing their skills well off the beaten track when it comes to the more established world of coasters, in countries such as Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia and of course back on their home turf.
The skill they developed most is actually in making coasters far more wild and exciting than they appear on the surface, as is well evidenced by Wild Train here. Don’t let less than 50ft of family coaster and by far the smallest ride on this list fool you, the shaping of the track is ridiculous and can provide some unnervingly powerful forces.

Might be time for B&M to take a back seat this year, their follow up Floorless coaster lacked a lot of character for me. Where the first few examples of each of their other ride types all stood out and tried a few different things, this one seemed destined to repeat the same patterns over and over, struggling to find that special spark of its own. It’s a great ride of course, though I think we’ll start to see the company slip into ‘dependable’ status for a while at least, following on from their gamechanging period.

The spiritual successor to Eurosat wasn’t quite as ambitious in size or scale, but it still manages to deliver a lot of entertainment with a good family frolick in the dark and the actual building that houses the attraction is a particularly striking design. I really liked it and think it’s a shame that Mack haven’t had a few more opportunities with these sorts of projects over the years.

One year after the original of these was installed at Darien Lake, a mirrored copy was built not too far away in Maryland. While the fundamental ideas for these steel monsters with airtime like the world had never seen before were beginning to manifest in some form or another, something about the delivery of the earlier layouts just isn’t all there when viewed from a modern persective, what with many speed sapping helices and several silly straights. All part of the learning experience I guess.

Having one GCI wooden coaster wasn’t enough for Hershey as only a few years later they decided to purchase another pair specifically to go with a racing concept. It’s an impressive mess of twisted track and I always love a bit of two train interaction, but I don’t think the company had found their killer streak just yet – at the very least it shows the makings of something that could be far Greater.

Perhaps at the time, Superman may have seemed like the standout hyper for those moments of aforementioned airtime, but from riding these two giants in later years and with much more to compare to, I prefer the rare Giovanola attempt for bringing something slightly different to the table. Goliath just does its own thing and there’s something about that first drop that manages to deliver a lot more than rivals of a similar stature.

Except, confusingly, we’re not done with Superman just yet. Another slightly more refined layout of the Intamin design also went up this year. It has a bit less faffing about, a bit more airtime and some interesting interactions with the pathing around one end of the park as opposed to the uninspired wasteland that may have contributed to the comedy of the original. A step in the right direction but I personally don’t think it’s held up that well and we now know they can do much better.

One more bite at the apple for B&M this year with another massive inverted coaster over in Europe. Interestingly enough I found this one to have similar issues to Medusa earlier in the list in that it doesn’t really stand out in a sea of similar designs, so this positioning is mainly testament to how much I prefer the ride type in general.

Though it’s been a year dominated by giants, I can’t say I’m particularly enthralled with any of my top three or four picks. Their status in the industry is huge and, other than Katun, they were pushing boundaries like never before, so that makes them respectable at the very least. I like Steel Dragon, but I wanted to like it a lot more. You hear these tales of legendary beasts in Japanese parks and then when meeting your heroes, it turns out it’s a big softy really.
Admittedly I’m broken, but the tallest drop of it’s day and one that has remained near the very top ever since, just doesn’t feel that much more significant. The actual fun part of the ride is in the second half when you’re flying through many consecutive hills much closer to the ground and perhaps thats a lesson at least some of the industry has learned over time, looking back at this age of giants. Size isn’t everything.

If you haven’t spotted yet, the obvious coaster missing here is the other Y2K giga from Intamin, Millenium Force. it’s been on the actual trip horizon for me for at least the past 18 months and I’m determined to actually catch up with it to see what it’s really all about.
Other big things were going on too, CCI delivered another massive design to Six Flags St Loius with Boss, a coaster with an equally interesting reputation. Perhaps their most highly regarded design of all time however came with Boulder Dash this year and the terrain goodness up for grabs there really does seem like it would suit my tastes extremely well. It was yet another busy year for them with Legend at Holiday World, along with the eventually upgraded Medusa at Six Flags Mexico and the now defunct Hurricane, Mega Zeph and Villain. Huge roster, it’s a shame that so few remain.
The Dania Beach Hurricane seems like yet another sad loss to the woodie world. Coaster Works Inc. had a very limited portfolio and one that I’ll now never be able to experience.
I’m hoping that Kraken and Superman Krypton Coaster were the ones that managed to do the B&M Floorless justice this year, they certainly have the visual aesthetic to back it up.
Fabbri entered the compact invert scene with this interesting looking design, I’d love to find out what that turned out like.
Doing this ending list is confusing me now as it’s the first year so far in which I’m having to differentiate between significant rides I already have and have not yet ridden, reminding myself that this is a list of what could potentially make the cut it in future for me, not a list of interesting attractions that I personally know haven’t already made it.
So on that note, done.

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50 years of coasters – 1999

Time to close out the ’90s. It’s been a good run, we’ve seen B&M hit their stride and start to dominate the scene with several wins, though they’ve had some sporadic competition from the quirkier end of the spectrum, one ride of which came from a certain rival Swiss manufacturer who will no doubt have a powerful presence in the next decade or two. Sadly (for me at least) it’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing old mate Togo again, but at least they managed to pulled a couple of victories out of the bag and we have also seen the birth of many more names with something to prove in the meantime.

Mack decided to join the compact steel wild mouse market around this time and introduced a new version that utilises an ingenoius elevator lift hill to start, which is both fun to watch/be a part of and provides opportunity for a bit of a theming element. Sadly that part of the design hasn’t appeared to have caught on at all, though the layout is now in almost every corner of the world, thanks to Legoland.

After going all out with their previous invert, Intamin dialled it down a little for this traditional lift hill version of their new ride type. Though decent, this one ended up as a surprisingly unremarkable attraction for me, lacking the style, grace and force of rival B&Ms. At least it’s not just another SLC though.

And here’s not just another Vekoma looper. An unusual layout and location works wonders for Millenium, which starts above the street outside the park and interacts with the monstrous Odyssey. It’s also unnervingly smooth for both the style and vintage when it comes this particular manufacturer and I have no insight as to why that’s the case, especially when you consider the performance of it’s neighbour.

We’ve seen this spaghetti bowl layout of a premier launch coaster before, only it was hidden in darkness under the name Flight of Fear. Seeing this version out in the open gives you a real sense of appreciation for the twisted mess of track and supports and the spectacle even manages to enhance the onboard experience in its own way.

One of Arrow’s final legacies from their looping coaster career. It’s a satisfying layout in a gorgeous location with a lovely aesthetic and stands out as one of my favourites from this more ‘classic’ era. Bonus points for being at Dollywood.

Bandit is sometimes considered the worst wooden rollercoaster in the world, though the claim only enhanced our enjoyment of this seemingly rather inoffensive woodie. Many around this sort of age seem to have their good and bad days, I’m glad it was the former during that one particular snapshot.

Rollercoaster backdrops don’t get much more intense than this. Ocean Park is well known for the views and this ride perhaps uses it most to its advantage amongst all the coasters in the park. There’s a solid layout here too, with a decent first drop, the gradual helix build into a reasonable airtime hill and the final moments out over the cliff are nothing short of unnerving.

The debut of the B&M floorless coaster – an alternative to their highly successful danglefoot experience, this time with legs situated above the track, Bizarro (named Medusa at the time) builds on all the ideas of the manufacturer’s traditional sit downs with a plethora of inversions and probably once dominated its surroundings here, though it now manages to appear as rather small change amongst the rest of the current park lineup.

The B&M invert is back on form again, with a powerful display of pacing that reminds the floorless competitor who’s boss. This ride type is still dominating the age and B&M have managed to take all three podium positions to clse out the ’90s on a high, so what else have they been cooking up?

Their own hyper coaster, that’s what. Two were built in the inaugural year of the type and this one at Busch Gardens became the first, instantly finding fame by getting a celebrity rider hit by a goose. The common debate as to what counts as a hyper/giga coaster may well have started on day one, as this only ascends to a height of 170ft, then using terrain to its advantage in order to boast a 210ft drop. For me, having that terrain aspect enhances it all and there are some great moments on this ride, though that turnaround is just so underwhelmingly uninspired. I’m sure they’ll come up with something even better in future.

Of course the other hyper was Raging Bull, one that I am yet to ride. It doesn’t appear to be the most highly regarded amongst the ride type, but it did actually breach the 200ft barrier, relative to the station, if that matters at all.

1999 also saw the likes of Diving Coaster: Vanish, a fun looking Japanese coaster that I’ve stood underneath only to be told it won’t run in the rain, and then gone on to ride a far more impressive Japanese coaster the very same day, in the rain, one that also shoots copious amounts of water onto itself just for the sheer fun of it. Makes sense to me.

The first ever B&Ms to die, I feel like everyone else in the world rode Dragon Challenge at Universal Studios. Sadly not me, and it will forever haunt me. I believe they went for a good cause though.

The first ever GCIs to die, Gwazi was just down the road comparatively, seems the Florida climate doesn’t treat it’s coasters too kindly. A massive mess of duelling woodies that was reportedly a bit of a nightmare to ride. I believe they went for a good cause though.

In fact this was the year of Islands of Adventure opening altogether and along with the Dragons we also got the Hulk. This one has survived, after receiving a huge makeover more recently. I desperately need to try it one day, if only for the fact that it inspired the launched lift hill piece on rollercoaster tycoon, characterising the ride type with something B&M never really chose to repeat.

Montezum has recently fascinated me after discovering it through a Geoguessr game. I like the unusual colouring for a woodie and the fact that it goes under the road. Who knows if it’s actually any good.

Powder Keg has a complicated history, starting out as a Premier built water coaster and later receiving modifications by S&S. The idea fascinates the hell out of me.

This is turning into such a huge list, looks like the world of coasters is really kicking off. Intamin built also built their first ‘mega coaster‘ (that happens to be a hyper coaster) this year. I’ve ridden the mirrored clone and it’s super underwhelming to the point of comedy compared to their later work, but it would probably still crack the top 5 here.

There’s a a wooden wild card at Knoebels with their in-built Twister.
Of course there’s the obligatory CCI I haven’t ridden entry, Tremors.
The final one to catch my eye is Steel Eel, more Morgan. Still don’t know what to say about them just yet. Sounds fun, even for the name alone.

And with that I think we’re done for this millenium. Exciting times.

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50 years of coasters – 1998

1998, the year I rode my first coaster (or was it? – this will forever haunt me) on a humble birthday trip to Legoland, blissfully unaware of what else was going on in the theme park world at the time. The stronger moments of the ’90s seem to be coming in waves, perhaps investment cycles and drive from competition create patterns and trends and I’d say this year was a slight downturn again before things really kick off. I keep saying they’ll kick off. They will. Eventually.

Proud winner of my SLC collection so far, if only for the fact that it happened to be operating three trains and didn’t cause me any specific harm. Wouldn’t have expected one of these to crack the top ten as late as ’98, but it’s looking like slim pickings to start with.

Staying in Italy, there’s another unremarkable highlight in the form of this vicious Italian-built wild mouse style coaster. The highlight of our overwhelmingly disappointing experience with this park took place on this ride, reducing us to hysterics with it’s abrupt transitions and general calamity.

This ride marked the birth of German manufacturer Gerstlauer, who have gone on to have some great successes in more recent times. This entertaining bobsled coaster model is somewhat of an evolution from the wild mouse and is integrated particularly effectively into the surroundings here at Tripsdrill, a park that would go on to host more than one prototype from the company.

My first ever Japanese cred was a total blast and I’m sure you can tell that from the picture alone. It sparked a love affair with jet coasters of all sizes and parks of this vibe in general. Not everything has to be a world beater, sometimes all it needs is to be endearing.

The most substantial stand up coaster ever built is somewhat of a marathon to ride all in itself. A relentless onslaught of inversions that goes on for a surprising amount of time, this particular B&M version of the model can be enjoyable as long as you manage to position yourself just right and I do admire the spectacle of such a monster

On board sound has the power to take attractions to another level and the ride soundtracks of Efteling are amongst the finest in the world. This is just a small indoor Vekoma, but it’s the package that makes Vogel Rok rather special to me, from the foreboding atmosphere in the station to the disorientating romp in the dark, singing along all the way. Aside from all that, just look at the face.

As far as I can tell the world’s first vertical drop rollercoaster and the original B&M dive machine made a huge impact on the scene with its abstract sinister theming and unparalleled ride experience that played up fear like never before. I was too young to appreciate the full extent of this, though it became a firm favourite for a while in later years, eventually fading for me as the ride type grew and developed into far more, even though this was arguably the finest conceptual design for the hardware.

After a year of silence following their debut, GCI continued to build their portfolio, this time making a name for themselves in the Six Flags chain who went on to snap up several more over the years. This was the last time PTC trains were used with their hardware, just before the manufacturer’s famed Millenium Flyers came into being. The layout appears to somewhat reflect this, being quite unconventional against their style today with larger hills and going less full on with the twists and turns. The end product was solid, if a little unremarkable amongst the wooden coaster scene.

After storming last year’s list my entry from B&M is a little more reserved this year. Great Bear has an interesting interaction with its surrounding landscape which allows for some great spectator moments, but that comes with some slightly questionable on-ride moments. The starting portion of the ride is a welcome change of pace, but strange S-bends over mud in an attempt to get back to the station before running out of steam felt like a bit of an afterthought and the signature intensity of this ride type appears dialled down for perhaps the first time in its history.

And so CCI sneak in and steal the crown, though there’s likely a bit of cheating going on here and GCI will have to take some of the credit. Knott’s Berry Farm’s large wooden coaster saw a fair amount of deterioration over its lifetime and after 17 years of operation was closed to undergo some extensive refurbishment. CCI were no longer around to oversee this, so GCI stepped in to retrack large sections of the ride and give it some of those new Millenium Flyer trains (they’re back). The result was first class, a masterpiece of variety in all of the wonderful sensations that a woodie has to offer and I hope it reflects well on the original glory of this design.

Elsewhere in the world, Premier Rides continuned to innovate with their LIM launch systems with the unusual and ambitious Batman and Robin: Chiller attraction that involved much interactive shuttle madness. Sadly this one didnt last, being sold off to a Brazilian park but eventually being scrapped. A similar concept with a singular layout was also built at two other Six Flags parks this year, but must I keep depressing myself with these things that were never meant to be?

Other companies were innovating at this time too, Mack made their first water coaster for Sea World Orlando, something I’ve always wanted to try, though mainly for the dark ride aspect of the attraction.

Intamin built their first Inverts, two vastly different designs – a legendary, complex one in a volcano (perhaps the first true attraction to be designated with what would eventually become a highly sought after feature – multi launch) and an Impulse coaster, another LIM shuttle design, bizarrely squeezed into the middle of Tokyo. Both have unfortunately been retired, though the Impulse went on to sell a fair few more models, even very recently.

CCI had other an insane number of other projects in Excalibur, Rampage, Shivering Timbers and Twisted Twins. I keep putting them in this maybe pile in the hope that one day another will surprise me as much as GhostRider, though the last of that list has since moved on to a higher purpose and become an RMC.

Morgan had another go with another hyper coaster at Worlds of Fun. I have even less experience with this style of ride than I do with the CCIs, but I’m ever the optimist.
Hmm, that doesn’t sound right.

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50 years of coasters – 1997

The rise of the record breakers. Two major coasters that won’t be featuring in the list opened this year, breaching both the 300ft and 100Mph barriers for the first time. I’ve already elaborated on why I’m not a fan of these one trick ponies in other lists, but it has to be acknowledged that they happened and, as the new millenium approaches, we’ll be seeing a few more outrageous attempts at these dizzying statistics.

As the first of what became a staple attaction for all future Legoland parks across the globe, the Dragon houses an indoor dark ride section filled with many overwhelming Lego builds and wonders before heading out into the open air for some coaster based family thrills. The original is the only version that also happens to be a powered coaster and part of a very exclusive group of those that is able to operate multiple trains at once, through some form of witchcraft.

They came out on top last year, but I have to say that this was the first time Togo disappointed me a little. Mega Coaster lacked a certain playful spark and was perhaps my best indication so far of what the much lamented American Togo installations (they did have a busy year this year) behaved like. Still a quirky and enjoyable experience overall, particularly with that familiar looking heartline roll.

Local competitors Senyo Kogyo were still managing to churn out some highly satisfying jet coasters, seemingly just for me, and, as they often are, this one is all about location. The layout becomes particularly fascinating due to the dense forest landscaping and interaction with both bridges and roads. The attraction originally opened under the name Eagle Coaster, with a front car designed to suit that very name, but the train has since undergone a striking transformation into a pink Cadillac suited for the highway.

Aside from having some fascinating hardware – the world’s only powered Caripro Batflyer, this attraction had many more things going for it, namely the one of a kind tailored queueline experience with staff interaction, walkthroughs and alien attacks that precedes a weird and wonderful dark ride coaster, also with aliens. Since visiting, the ride has received some form of overhaul that now includes interactive shooting on board and I trust that it has retained as much charm as the original concept in the process.

Intamin continued their streak of strong family coasters this year with another fun forest based romp. It’s hard to see what part of this one constitutes a mine train, but the ride type has since gone on to inspire both a far more detailed equivalent of the concept as well as one with tropical jeeps. Yet again the highlight of the entire ride is the unnerving first drop in the back car – a specialty it seems they were developing long before buliding any of their more modern beasts we know and love.

Now that CCI had broken into the European market, they went bigger and bolder over in France with a mammoth 4000ft installation, their largest to date. Characterised most prominently by the giant statue with striking underwear at the entrance, I don’t think we experienced this one at it’s best (I was very distracted by my attempts to keep my bag safe on board), but I respect what it was going for.

Mack’s original spinning coaster design debuted at their home park a full ten years before it ever got taken on by anyone else. The wild mouse inspired first half of the layout was never seen again, instead favouring the infinitely more interesting sweeping drops and turns that make the actual coaster portion of this ride so much fun. The endless rave on the indoor spiral lift hill is where it’s really at though.

CCI weren’t done just yet. In Spain they built three coasters all intertwined throughout a single patch of land, including Stampida, two large racing coasters that provide endless fun with rider interaction, jeopardy and all round vigorous wooden action. Throw in some further wild moments such as diving alongside or towards a third train on the family woodie Tomahawk, to the point where you can’t tell where one ride ends and the next begins amongst all the madness, and you’re onto a real winner in my books.

Step aside though, because B&M are back in contention and they mean business. The ridiculously huge Alpengeist is the tallest inverted coaster the manufacturer have made to date. It’s beautifully presented, contains several elements not seen on any other rides of the type and has gone on to become a bit of a coaster legend. The only downside is that by the time we arrived, it didn’t seem to be behaving as well as I’m sure it would have done in it’s prime.

And yet everything about the other monster built on the opposite side of the world the very same year was perfect. Pyrenees is essentially inspired by the Batman clones that have been keeping the company busy for the last few seasons, only twice as enormous and filled with many more wonderful elements. The ride puts all of its size into pure fear factor and incredible intensity and remains for me the best of its kind, as well one of my all time favourites from thoughout B&Ms brilliant history.

What else have I been missing out on in the wider world?
After alluding to stateside Togos earlier we of course have THE one that causes all the fuss also built in 1997. I may never know the horror for myself now as this very year Big Apple Coaster in Las Vegas has opened with brand new trains from Premier Rides, which you’d hope would alleviate some of the reported issues. I’ll just have to keep on reliving the original, courtesy of this wonderful homage.
They weren’t done just there though, how about some duelling, looping wild mice in the neighbouring state? Yet another attraction I’d have just loved to try if only it had lasted.
I’ve literally just found out about Delphis at Festivalgate, a ride and place I never knew existed. It might just be the camera angles, but this one in particular looks insane and I’m gutted to have missed out forever on what should have been another Senyo Kogyo classic.
Turns out there’s a lot I didn’t know about 1997. World’s first ‘flying’ coaster, at a TV studio in England, named after an event from one of my favourite shows as a child. How was this a thing and why have I failed to get all the best stuff?
On to slightly more serious matters, Steel Force at Dorney Park looks like a reasonable contender, a 200ft comparative baby version of what no doubt became Morgan’s record breaking giga coaster (hey, spoilers!)
CCI built two Zeus-eses this year, the other being at Mt. Olympus in the Wisconsin Dells. I wonder which is better. This was their third year on the trot building a coaster for the park, so they must have been doing something right.

Fairly confident we already have our winner though.

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