Top Ten New Roller Coasters for 2008 | The Top 5
And now for the conclusion of my top picks for the new roller coasters opening in 2008.

5 – Fahrenheit at Hersheypark
Hershey’s New Steel Looper Goes Beyond Vertical
Hershey’s new looping coaster will boast a 97-degree drop which is beyond straight down. Aside from the ultra-steep 12-story drop, Fahrenheit will reach a top speed of 58 mph and traverse a twisted course of inversions. The five loops include: a corkscrew, cobra roll (2), inverted S roll, and another corkscrew. Read more on Fahrenheit at Hershey…>>>

4 – Evel Kneivel at Six Flags St. Louis
Six Flags Clones a World-Class Coaster
Six Flags St. Louis is going to introduce their 9th coaster with Evel Knievel. It will be a wooden twister designed by Great Coasters International. Knievel’s layout will be an exact copy of Thunderbird at PowerLand in Finland. That’s a good thing, because Thunderbird ranked 10th on the 2007 Internet Coaster Poll. If this design was a success once, it should be again. Six Flags could have another world-class wooden coaster. Read more about Evel Kneivel at Six Flags St. Louis…>>>

3 – Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland
Canada’s Largest, Tallest, and Fastest Coaster
The roller coaster landscape north of the border is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Canada’s Wonderland is building an impressive B&M hyper coaster that will be Canada’s tallest, fastest, and largest roller coaster. Behemoth’s layout is reminiscent of Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure.

As with most B&M coasters Behemoth should boast a smooth and satisfying ride. One important distinction will be the coaster’s unique trains. With a kind of wing formation, each car will have two seats in the middle-front and two on either side. This will likely allow an unobstructed view of the ride. See constructions photos and watch an onride video and read more about Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland…>>>

2 – Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach
Indiana Beach Teams with S&S to Build a Landmark Coaster
Just as Indiana Beach’s Crow’s Nest Blog quoted me, the announcement of Steel Hawg and its insane details made my winter. As I reported, ”…with Steel Hawg’s eye-popping inversions that border on “I didn’t know that was possible”, Indiana Beach may just have a landmark roller coaster.”

Steel Hawg will be an S&S steel looping coaster with numerous one-of-a-kind elements. Its based on the appropriately named El Loco coaster from the IAAPA. The real question for Steel Hawg is whether those crazy inversions will punish its riders. I’m hoping that S&S can pull off the maneuvers in a relatively smooth fashion. Hopefully, my prediction comes true. Read more about Steel Hawg…>>>

1 – Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park
Ravine Flyer – The Sleeper Hit of 2008
While it’s not breaking news, it is definitely newsworthy. Waldameer Park, located in Erie, Pennsylvania, is building a Gravity Group wooden terrain roller coaster called Ravine Flyer II. Gravity Group is my favorite wooden coaster company. They’ve produced the 2007 Golden Ticket Winning Voyage as well as the greatly underrated Hades at Mount Olympus.

It features an out and back terrain layout with some twister elements. Highlights include a 120 foot first drop, 10 moments of air time, 6 tunnels, 10 cross overs, a 90 degree turn, a view of Lake Erie, and a 165 foot bridge over a highway. In my opinion, Ravine Flyer II’s the coaster that’s most likely to become a classic. For construction photos and more on Ravine Flyer II including a video click here.

Check out my picks for 6 through 10 in part 1 of my Top Ten Coasters for 2008.

What’s Your Take?
Which roller coasters are you the most excited about? What do you think of my picks? Leave a comment below.