Six coasters to ride this summer
Roller Coaster-lovers looking for the next thrill can expect something fresh to seek out each year. The rides are an essential part of a theme park’s lure for returning customers and for new ones drawn to extravagant experiences. Below is a look at what’s new this year.
MINE BLOWER, FUN SPOT, KISSIMMEE, FLA.
The wooden coaster offerings in the Orlando area are sparse. But this hybrid coaster makes a thrilling addition. While the structure of the ride is steel, its track is wood. The small train (holding 12 riders) and compact track initially make this ride seem as if it won’t pack much of a wallop. But it moves swiftly and, well, crazily along the track, picking up speed as it rounds sharp curves and creates intense moments of airtime along the way. Its signature element comes right after its steep first drop: a barrel roll where the twisting track forms a kind of upside-down rainbow. And it doesn’t let up until its conclusion, which comes too soon.
MYSTIC TIMBERS, KINGS ISLAND, MASON, OHIO
“Don’t go in the shed” is the warning riders receive when they climb the lift of Kings Island’s latest woodie. The coaster has a haunted woods theme, and the front of its trains resemble a rusted old truck that you’re “driving” through the woods. After the first curved drop, it’s a feverish trip through those timbers as the track speeds across rivers and through tunnels and then ends at that mysterious shed you were supposed to avoid. What’s in there? A pretty good time. The experience is a nice complement to that of the park’s classic woodie, the Beast.
WAVE BREAKER: THE RESCUE, SEAWORLD SAN ANTONIO, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
The SeaWorld parks have consistently been upping their roller coaster game over the years. Now they bring a Jet Ski-style coaster, the first to open in North America, to its San Antonio location. Wave Breaker was inspired by SeaWorld’s animal rescue team. You straddle the seats and grip the handle bars and, after being assigned a mission to rescue dolphins, sea lions or sea turtles, you are launched over the park’s lake. Most of the ride takes place over water to simulate the Jet Ski experience. It’s essentially a water ride where you don’t get wet. And its relatively low intensity level makes it fun for the family.
HYDRUS, CASINO PIER, SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J.
A roller coaster by the ocean is always a delightful thing. A new one is even better. This ride was built to replace a coaster on the pier destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. It is compact but still not for the faint of heart, packing a tense vertical lift, a steep 97-degree drop and three inversions into its 45-second running time. And it has the Atlantic Ocean as a gorgeous accessory.
KRAKEN UNLEASHED, ORLANDO, FLA., SEAWORLD ORLANDO
This year SeaWorld has dipped its fin into the virtual reality space that Six Flags parks began incorporating last year. They sought to resolve some of the issues that riders had: long lines and the constant redistribution of the headsets. SeaWorld has converted one of its steel coasters, Kraken, into this Unleashed enhancement. Riders use a free Spot Saver system to reserve their ride, cutting down on wait times. The virtual-reality headsets are connected to the trains themselves and are stored in a box in front of the restraints. They include headphones to provide an aural experience as well. The narrative plunges riders undersea on an adventure that uses the ride’s hills and inversions to push its story, and scary sea creatures, forward. It had its debut in June and is one of the better coaster virtual-reality experiences thus far.
INVADR, BUSCH GARDENS VIRGINIA, WILLIAMSBURG, VA.
The Busch Gardens park in Virginia has installed its first wooden coaster, and it’s a doozy. It has a Viking theme, and riders sail out on a conquest. This was the first crowdsourced ride in which the park, using the hashtag #BGProject2017, asked patrons to help design the ride and offer ideas during its development. The collaboration resulted in this knockout coaster with steel structure and wood track that has its first major drop out of a tunnel, then a series of airtime hills to keep riders bouncing on their voyage.