New Amusement Park Will Open with a Gerstlauer Looping Roller Coaster
New Houston-area amusement park, Galveston Island Historical Pleasure Pier, will be opening this summer with a signature roller coaster. The aptly named, Iron Shark will be yet another compact thriller from Gerstlauer. The ride’s blue steel track will send riders plummeting down a beyond-vertical drop and then it’ll invert riders four times. The Pleasure Pier has posted a few images of Iron Shark’s construction on their Facebook page.
Iron Shark will be America’s fifth Gerstlauer-designed looping roller coaster. Similar coasters include Dollywood’s Mystery Mine, Spongebob Square Pants at Nickelodeon Universe, and 2011′s Six Flags Over Georgia’s Dare Devil Dive and Canobie Lake’s Untamed. They’re known for their small 
footprints packed with loops, and their distinctive vertical lift hills that are followed by beyond-vertical drops.
I’m glad to see that the Houston area is getting another roller coaster. For such a large city (4th largest in the U.S.), it’s a crime that there’s no major theme park there. At least Houstonians and Texans in the area have Gravity Group’s Boardwalk Bullet at Kemah Boardwalk and now Iron Shark at the new Pleasure Pier.
Visit Pleasure Pier’s website to learn more about the park.
Somehow this Gerstlauer coaster has been off of my new coaster radar. I actually remember the initial news about this coaster, but I almost forgot about it. Luckily, I came across it while I was doing research for My Top 10 New Roller Coasters of 2012. Check back soon for that.
What’s Your Take?
Are you looking forward to Pleasure Pier’s Iron Shark? Leave a comment below.
 Go to Apocalypse at Six Flags America |
 2012 Roller Coasters Page |
 Go to Goliath at Six Flags New England |
February 28, 2012 at 09:03
I haven't had a reason to go down there since Six Flags closed up shop, hopefully they have some success and just maybe I may try and make it down there soon to check this and Kemah Boardwalk out. It also helps that the Mariners will soon be division rivals of Houston in 2013, I smell a baseball/coaster weekend in east Texas next summer…
March 2, 2012 at 05:09
Hey, I study architecture in the UK and I’m really interested in how people feel about abandoned theme parks and also about specific rides. I find theres a certain nostalgia towards them and a lot of memories buried in them. I'v heard a lot about Six flags and theres definitely a lot of people who are sad to have seen it go. Any comments you have would be really welcome. Thanks.
May 19, 2012 at 15:28
I too am looking forward to the Iron Shark. It is definitely a shame and a crime to be in such a big city with not one theme park(San Antonio has two). I wish I could purchase all of the defunct coasters and create a theme park to honour them in tribute. I know it's a costly idea but I think it would be cool, I guess. I think Earthquest is a no-go. Didn't they have until March to acquire the funds to build? The sad thing is that the space where Astroworld once was is just a gated grassy field. Nothing is there. Unbelievable!!!
March 1, 2012 at 15:34
There is also the proposed Earthquest for Texas.
March 3, 2012 at 11:38
cant wait for Pleasure Pier Galveston!!!!!just keep six flags away, as they would pave it & put up another parking lot, like they did to ASTROWORLD