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» arrow coasters
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Top 3 Arrow Design Failures
For this week’s Top 3 Thursday, Aric Davis takes a look at Arrow’s three biggest design failures. Prepare for an entertaining history lesson. Give just about any historical subject a long look in the rearview mirror, and you’re going to see some ugliness. Some things are worse than others of course, but for every VHS player, there is a Video Disc unit, clinging to the unfortunate sh...
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Demon @ Six Flags Great America | Coaster Reviews
A few years ago I ventured out to Chicago for a Six Flags Great America-Wisconsin Dells trip. The main attraction of the Great America visit was the B&M hyper coaster Raging Bull. But, it was almost overshadowed by my surprisingly fun rides on Demon. Riding decades-old Arrow loopers is generally an unenjoyable, ho-hum kind of experience where you’re happy to come away with a ride credit....
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Best Steel Roller Coasters of 2009
Mitch Hawker has released the results of his annual Internet Coaster Poll. I’ll cover the wooden roller coaster results in another post, for now here’s the top ten steel coasters along with their places in last year’s poll: 1 Bizarro at Six Flags New England Intamin Hyper Coaster (1st) 2 Eagles Fortress at Everland (South Korea) Arrow Suspended Coaster (3rd) 3 Expedition GeForce ...
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Arrow’s 700 Foot Tall Fish-Hook Roller Coaster
Arrow’s 700 Foot Tall Fish-Hook Roller Coaster I was recently contacted by a television production company doing research on roller coasters. They wanted to know if there were any strata coasters currently being built. Strata coasters are over 400′ tall and currently there are only two in the World in that lofty category. Kingda Ka & Top Thrill Dragster. I told the producer that th...
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The End of the Record Breaking Roller Coaster Era
Have We Seen the Last of the True Record Breaking Roller Coasters? The recent announcement that Ferrari Experience’s F1 Coaster will be capable of 150 mph had me thinking. While this would be a record setting roller coaster, officials from the park said that they might actually operate it at lower speeds. This begs the question: Are we reaching the limits of roller coaster thrills? As part o...
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Busch Gardens Roller Coaster Tour Part 1
Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Roller Coaster Tour Part 1: Loch Ness Monster & How Coasters Work 101 If you’re a roller coaster geek like myself, or just curious about how roller coasters work, Busch Gardens Roller Coaster Tour is for you. It gives unparalleled access to the these modern thrill machines as well as a ton of interesting tidbits of knowledge about Busch’s own co...
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Big Bad Wolf: A Legend Reaches Its Expiration Date
More Insight Into Big Bad Wolf’s Closing: “Service Life” Defined Yesterday, the Big Bad Wolf made its final run. While on the Busch Garden’s Roller Coaster Tour over the weekend, the tour guide Zach Gray admitted he was sad to see Big Bad Wolf go just like everyone else. Like many locals his age, it was his first roller coaster. He explained that the ride was closing becaus...
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Big Bad Wolf to be Removed?
Big Bad Wolf is a world-class suspended roller coaster at Busch Gardens Europe. It’s unique layout uses the terrain of the hilly, wooded, park giving you an experience that would be nearly impossible to find anywhere else. It’s a suspended terrain coaster that flies you through a Bavarian village then plummets you to a river. Also, Big Bad Wolf is a classic Arrow suspended coaster. T... -
What is a Mine Train Roller Coaster?
Mine train roller coasters have been around for many years. They are defined by simulating an out of control mine cart or Old West locomotive train. They are made of steel and most are tame enough to be classified as family roller coasters. Common elements include: multiple lift hills, short gently slopping curved drops, helices, and tunnels. The first mine train roller coaster was Runaway Min... -
X2 @ Six Flags Magic Mountain | Coaster Reviews
The Coaster Critic Faces the Most Extreme Coaster on the Planet The main attraction of my first ever West coast coaster trip was the newly redesigned and much hyped X2. I was lucky enough to catch the ride when the 2 hour wait was only about 50 minutes. It was about 4 in the afternoon on a Thursday in mid-August. X2’s theming was better than expected. Six Flags took the ‘extreme’... -
Top 3 Old School Looping Roller Coasters
Top 3 Old School Looping Roller CoastersMost enthusiasts top 10 lists are littered with modern thrill machines boasting the latest technological advances. Many don’t even have a single roller coaster from the last millennium. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just important to recognize that there are some gems out there that don’t hold any current world records. This ...
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Eagle Fortress at Everland
Does Eagle Fortress Deserve Third Best in the World?The interesting part of this year’s Mitch Hawker Internet Poll is Eagle Fortress coming in at the third best roller coaster in the world. Eagle Fortress is an unlikely coaster to rank so high. It’s a sixteen year old suspended coaster built on a hillside at Everland in South Korea. It’s a controversial ranking as only six of the... -
Drachen Fire @ Busch Gardens | Defunct Roller Coasters
A Look Back at the Legendary Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Drachen Fire was an infamous roller coaster that lived in the Rhineland, Germany section of Busch Gardens Williamsburg from 1992 to 1998. While it had a short run, it’s easily one of the most well-known defunct coasters in past years. I will relay the background story I’ve seen several times on the coaster enthusiast circuit. I... -
Scarowinds Trip Report Part 2
Scarowinds Trip Report Part 2 County FairThe County Fair section had the feel of a busy carnival. It was full of bright lights, music, and games that were actually attracting customers. It was also home to the wooden racing coaster Thunder Road. Normally, it races one train with forward facing cars and one train with backward facing cars. This night, only the forward facing side was operable. It h... -
Great American Scream Machine | Coaster Reviews
Great American Scream Machine @ Six Flags Great AdventureGreat American Scream Machine is an aging, old steel coaster at the New Jersey Six Flags. Not to be confused with the wooden coaster by the same name at Six Flags Over Georgia. Don’t get me started on how bad of a name ‘Great American Scream Machine’ is or how dumb Six Flags is using it for two different roller coasters. I ... -
Steel Phantom @ Kennywood | Defunct Roller Coasters
Kennywood Offered a Unique Hyper Coaster in Steel PhantomPhantom’s Revenge was originally known as Steel Phantom. It was Kennywood’s entry in the Coaster Arms Race of the 1990’s. Theme parks around the world were trying to one-up each other in boasting the tallest roller coaster in the world. Coaster designer Arrow had a large part to play in the Race. In most cases they were bro... -
What is a Suspended Roller Coaster?
What is a Suspended Roller Coaster?Suspended coasters were the next level in the steel coaster evolution in the 1980’s. Designers wanted to offer a different ride experienceArrow introduced the Bat at Kings Island as the first modern suspended roller coaster. It opened in 1981 and closed only a few years later due to numerous mechanical problems. In 1984, the legendary Big Bad Wolf was born ... -
Anaconda @ Kings Dominion | Coaster Reviews
Quadruple Looping Steel Coaster Loves WaterDoes a 14-story drop to an underwater tunnel sound like fun? The Anaconda at Kings Dominion is a steel coaster with some pretty unique elements. It rises high above a pond (that used to be the much larger Lake Charles) before dropping 144 feet into an underwater tunnel. It’s one of the few roller coasters in the world with an underwater tunnel. Anac... -
Busch Gardens Europe | Theme Park Reviews
America’s Most Beautiful Park Offers Top Notch ThrillsBusch Gardens EuropeWilliamsburg, VAWindows Live Satellite MapTickets & PricingLast Visit: July 2007 Busch Gardens Europe (formerly Busch Gardens Williamsburg) is a Euro-themed park that’s a cut above your average seasonal park. Everything from the food to the buildings are themed after the ‘Old Country’. They breathe a ... -
What is a Hyper Coaster?
Back in 1989, Cedar Point opened Magnum XL-200. It was the tallest coaster in the world at 205′. More important than setting a new height record, it started a whole new trend in coaster design. Up to that point steel coasters were solely looping coasters. The oneupmanship between parks was to build the coaster with the most loops. Magnum had no loops, just enormous hills and drops that offer...
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