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The Guide To Ride 2006
By: CedarPoint6 (17/04/2006)
Top 5 Must-Ride Coasters for 2006
1. Black Mamba, Phantasialand, Germany
2. Voyage, Holiday World, Indiana, USA
3. Speed Monster, Tusenfryd, Norway
4. Tatsu, Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, USA
5. El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, USA
Black Mamba- Phantasialand, Germany
People are calling it the next Nemesis, and from the looks of it, they are right. Phantasialand’s new B&M inverted coaster takes a page from Alton Tower’s Nemesis, with the majority of the track in trenches. Each of the 5 tight inversions will start or end below ground level. Phantasialand will take theming to the max on the ride, going so far as to enclose the majority of the lift with a large building rumored to be a restaurant. At the time of this writing, the majority of the theming is still to be completed. Artist’s conceptions show dense jungle theming with a queue snaking around the many trenches as well as through the vertical loop. The track work that has since been completed, reveals an exceptionally steep first drop along with multiply highly banked corners and several tight helixes. Each of these elements will be enhanced by the close proximity of the ground. Black Mamba is shaping up to be a legend of a coaster and is currently my pick for the best new ride of 2006.
Voyage- Holiday World, Indiana, USA
Next year, Holiday World will debut their third wooden coaster in an all new Thanksgiving themed section of the park. Voyage will be Gravity Group’s second coaster, a 163ft. tall monster with 3 corners banked to a full 90 degrees. This wood-on-steel creation will be a giant-sized airtime machine on an out and back style layout. The ‘out’ track will consist of 3 large hills before diving into a twister style turnaround very close to the ground. The return leg will consist of airtime hills and a final twister section at the very end of the ride. As an added bonus, the return leg will criss-cross underneath the ‘out’ structure, hopefully making for some great ‘head chopper’ effects. Another bonus will be the coaster’s use of 3 subterranean tunnels- 2 traversed twice. As the anchor to the new Thanksgiving section, Voyage will definitely draw enthusiast and public alike to experience the next generation of Holiday World’s wooden coasters.
Speed Monster- Tusenfryd, Norway
The Intamin accelerator craze has reached Norway with the construction of Speed Monster at Tusenfryd. The coaster takes the non-tophat element approach of Rita: Queen of Speed at Alton Towers, and combines it with the tight layout of Kanonen in nearby Liseberg. Instead of a tophat, Speed Monster will feature a double-inversion pretzel loop element, similar to those found on the Superman: Ultimate Flight clones at Six Flags parks. These inversions will be further enhanced by an escalator running through the center of them. This will be sure to attract many photographers once the ride opens! The rest of the layout is less spectacular then the opening element, but still includes several tight twists and high-banked turns, plus a single corkscrew near the end of the ride. This new launched coaster will certainly bring many new visitors to Norway’s premier theme park.
Tatsu- Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, USA
Next year, Six Flags Magic Mountain in California will debut the biggest, fastest, and longest flying coaster in the world. The ride takes several of the concepts created with Superman: Ultimate Flight (like the pretzel loop) and expands on the them in a major way. With a 173ft. climb, it certainly tops Superman's 115'- the previous top mark for B&M flyers. With the signature swooping drop, the trains will navigate a series of twists and inversions- two of them brand new to the flying coaster experience. First, the trains will pull through a flying corkscrew- the first of its kind- and later navigate a large zero-g roll. Along with many sweeping curves like those near the end of the Superman clones, the train will pull through a giant pretzel loop out over the side of Samurai Summit, the hill in the center of SFMM. Tatsu will become the park's 17th coaster (not all of them operating, mind you) and will bring new life to the park's Samurai Summit section. If the previous B&M flying coasters are any indication, this will be an incredible ride.
El Toro- Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, USA
Intamin pre-fab woodies come to America with El Toro. This will become the third fastest and third tallest wooden coaster in the world. While the track and structure will both be wood, the ride will be more akin to a steel coaster rather then a wooden coaster because of the modification Intamin has made to their wooden coasters. The layout is a relatively simple one, although it starts with the steepest first drop of any wooden coaster at 76 degrees. The rest of the ride will consist of several airtime hills and a final section of tight twists in the shadow of the park’s other wooden coaster, Rolling Thunder. This ride will be sure to enhance the already great lineup of coasters at Six Flags Great Adventure.
Goliath- Six Flags over Georgia, Georgia, USA
The B&M mega coaster has been reborn in Goliath at Six Flags over Georgia. While only just reaching 200ft. both the first and second drops will be a full 175ft. Six Flags made great use of the land outside the traditional park boundaries, setting most of the ride on the opposite side of the entrance road. While Goliath is labeled as an out and back coaster, the ride includes elements like a high speed turn, 540 degree turnaround helix, and an overbank corner to vary up the style. Of course, airtime will still be abundant with the many airtime hills along the way, including three in a row near the end of the ride. Goliath will breath new life into the USA section in the middle of the park and is sure to become the first stop for guests to the park.
Goliath- LaRonde, Canada
With a bit of a lack of creativity, LaRonde will debut another B&M mega coaster called Goliath. While not even close to the 200ft. mark at only 170ft., the ride will make up for that deficit, in airtime. This is a true out and back airtime machine with- just hills out and just hills back. Almost out of character for a B&M, the turnaround is a flat corner, perhaps taking a page from classic woodies. Goliath will be Canada's tallest coaster and will bring even more visitors to LaRonde
Patriot- Worlds of Fun, Missouri, USA
Debuting their first B&M coaster, Worlds of Fun will open Patriot next spring. The layout is very similar to that of Talon at Dorney Park, another Cedar Fair park. Starting off with a large climb of just over 145ft., the ride will dive down the trademark B&M fan curve into a vertical loop, before flying under the lift hill. Continuing for a zero-g roll and an immelman, riders will then encounter a high-banked helix tilted at a very steep angle (again reminiscent of a similar element on Talon). From there, the train will navigate an airtime hill over the station and a tight corkscrew before a tight ending helix up into the brakes. The helix is sure to provide some high positive g's. The ride will be situated in the USA section of the park, and will celebrate the patriotism of America
Expedition Everest- Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom, Florida, USA
Disney’s Animal Kingdom finally gets a new major attraction in Expedition Everest, Disney’s single largest investment at Walt Disney World at $100 million. Much of the ride has been shrouded in mystery, although it has been rumored to include backwards and forwards sections on the ride. The real star of the show on this coaster is the enormous mountain built around the ride and themed to look like Everest. Disney spared no expense making this look as realistic as any other ride at Disney parks. If the coaster is anywhere near the quality of the theming, it’s sure to be a winner.
Project Stealth- Thorpe Park, UK
Britain's newest coaster is another Intamin accelerator- the hot item of late. The layout is not original (only a miniature version of Kingda Ka), but it will still provide a great addition to the park as the tallest and fastest ride. It also introduces the Top Hat element to the country and will be unlike anything in the area. The ride is sure to attract many new crowds next year.
Kentucky Rumbler- Beech Bend, Kentucky, USA
One of GCI's two new twisters for next year, Kentucky Rumbler will put this tiny park on the map. The ride has GCI's usual twister elements along with many crossover maneuvers. One unique feature of the ride is that the station's location is inside the tangle of track with the ride surrounding it on all four sides. The coaster will use GCI's amazing Millennium Flyer trains- articulated 2-seat cars to allow for the maximum twist in the track.
Thunderbird- Power Park, Finland
GCI makes their first overseas excursion with this new wooden coaster in Finland. At only 88ft., the ride is very small, but will still pack a punch. The tight layout features several high-banked fan corners and a section very close to the ground. As with most GCI’s this ride looks like it will provide a great sense of speed with track diving in and out of the structure and high banking throughout.
Abismo- Parque de Atracciones Madrid, Spain
The Maurer Sohne X-car coaster concept may finally get a chance to shine with Abismo, the most extensive X-car layout to date. Taking a page from Sky Wheel, the first of these coasters, the ride will start with a vertical lift flipping upside-down at the top before a twist into a vertical dive. After this, the coaster will head up into the first over banked corner and around the lift. Then it’s an airtime hill, which will certainly be a highlight since the cars are lap bar only. Finally the coaster hits the last overbank and slides back into the station. Abismo is the breakthrough design for the X-car coaster and will hopefully make a good showing for this interesting design.
Kumali- Flamingo Land, UK
After recently removing two Schwarzkopf coasters, Flamingo Land will replace them in the form of a custom Vekoma SLC. The layout will be a copy of Shenlin at Happy Valley in China. While the layout is rather short, consisting of the drop, inversions, and a final helix, the ride should provide a good addition to the small park. The coaster will use Vekoma’s new SLC system, which will hopefully provide a smooth ride through the coaster’s 4 inversions.
Unknown- Fuji-Q Highland, Japan
This coaster may in fact prove to be the most exciting development of 2006. The problem is we have very limited (almost no) information about the ride. Rumor has it, that S&S Power will be delivering the second ever 4th Dimension coaster and an improvement on the first 4-D coaster, X. It is also rumored that the coaster will contain a ‘full-full’ inversion that consists or a full track twist as the seats rotate a full 360 degrees. If the ride is anything like the rumors, we may have a new number one coaster for next year. For now, we’ll have to wait, speculate, and see.
The Rest- A description of the other upcoming coasters of 2006
Unknown- Magic Springs and Crystal Falls, Arkansas, USA
Maurer Sohne delivers their second standard X-car model to this growing park in Arkansas.
Cobra- Paultons Park, UK
Another Gerstlauer bobsled model, this ride should bring some attention to this little park next year.
Unknown- Oakwood, UK
This yet unnamed attraction will be another Eurofighter beyond vertical model, this time with a custom layout and a relatively tall first hill.
Vliegende Hollander- Efteling, Netherlands
KumbaK Coasters makes their first full coaster debut with this small water coaster.
Unknown- Plopsaland, Belgium
Mack delivers a short water coaster model to this park.
Unknown- Duinrell, Netherlands
Little information has been released, but we know that this will be another Eurofighter model from Gerstlauer.
Unknown- Chime-Long Night Zoo, China
Vekoma will make their third motorbike installation next year at this park.
Montanha Russa- Aquashow Fun Family Park, Portugal
Mack’s largest and fastest water coaster will debut here next season.
Italian Job: Stunt Coaster- Paramount’s Kings Dominion, Virginia, USA
The 3rd of these cloned rides from Premier will make 4 launched coasters at the park.
Screaming Squirrel- Wonder Island, Russia
This park will debut another of these unique coasters from S&S next year.
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