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Evolution of roller-coasters 2018 OFFERING: FOUR OF THE MOST THRILLING RIDES IN THE UNITED STATES
ROLLER-COASTER EVOLUTION
I f you thought roller-coaster design could not get more innovative, 2018 has a little something to show you. From coasters that plunge you on a single rail to trains that spin while launching you uphill, this season’s coaster class offers surprisingly fresh and record-setting ways to ride. Here is a look at four of the most thrilling in the US, a few of which I sampled this season. Wonder Woman Golden Lasso – Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio, Texas With a wispy, flat, yellow track that twists and turns through the sky in all kinds of iterations, it really does evoke Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth. The coaster is built on a single Ibeam rail, which means the train’s wheels hug the sides of one rail of track, rather than rolling over two tracks like most coasters. The tracks are narrow and the trains are, too, carrying only eight people, with riders sitting single file in bobsled-style cars that straddle the track. That may be bad news for those who like to share the experience with a buddy, but if you are in front, it gives the impression that the coaster is all yours. In the station, you get in the car while it is slowly moving on the track to keep the flow constantly going in and out. The ride, which is positioned inside of quarry walls and occasionally rises above them and over a man-made pond, is both fast and smooth. The track seems like it is barely there, but the compact nature of the ride makes it feel even faster and more immediate. After the first drop, you glide through each element (including an impressive, tightly-wound 360-degree roll), never slowing until reaching the too-fast conclusion. Time Traveller – Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri This coaster is a huge investment (to the tune of $26 million or R369 million) for Silver Dollar City, tucked in the Ozark Mountains. It is also a record-breaker in a few different ways, billed as the fastest, tallest and steepest complete-circuit spinning coaster in the world.
I had the benefit of riding it my first time with columnist Jada Yuan and we basked in its wonders together, including the 10-storey drop that starts the ride while your train has begun to spin.
The train has you seated in four-person pods with two seats on each side facing away from each other. The cars spin in a controlled way using magnetic technology, so you are not twirling at nausea-inducing levels.
As the car spins, you can interact with the other riders, which is not common on a roller-coaster. I loved being able to see how others are enjoying the 29m-tall vertical loop. This is a coaster worth repeat rides – in the front, middle and back – because you really do get three different interactive and physical experiences in each position. Steel Vengeance – Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
If a mad scientist got his hands on some roller-coaster track and started building it using every tool at his disposal, it probably still would not feel as intense as Steel Vengeance. It comes from the same manufacturer as Golden Lasso, Rocky Mountain Construction. The company has reached new heights here, creating the world’s tallest hybrid at 62m (a hypercoaster), with a mind-blowing 90-degree first drop.
Speeds get up to 119km/h and are relentless, only once slowing. The hills, drops and inversions just keep coming, as if they are being invented on the spot, ike you are in a roller-coaster time loop.
I live for airtime, those moments of weightlessness you feel in your gut that pull you right out of your seat. Steel Vengeance features a whopping 27 seconds of airtime. And it also manages to pack in four inversions, sending riders twisting through what feel like vortexes of wood and steel. HangTime Knott’s Berry Farm – Buena Park, California
This is a sinister type of ride that takes you up the lift and, right before you go down the first hill, pauses, forcing you to look directly down at your fate. Then comes the plunge.
The train has four rows of seats that each sit four across. It starts you off with a vertical lift, which has you on your back staring at the sky while you rise to the top.
Then there is that pause before you do a beyond-vertical drop and go into a series of curves and loops that takes you back and forth in dizzyingly fun ways. And some serious “hang time” comes at the top of a “negative-g stall loop,” which has you floating upside down at the top of it.
But one of its best elements may be its lighting. HangTime has lighting along its entire track, giving the impression that it is glowing in the dark.