CoasterCritic
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Coaster Critic is your source for opinionated roller coaster reviews, theme park tips and a coaster enthusiast’s take on theme park news.
CoasterCritic
3y ago
OVERVIEW Boardwalk roller coasters, such as Thunderbolt at Luna Park, can be a treat and GaleForce is no exception. Located at Playland’s Castaway Cove in Ocean City, NJ, it’s a multiple launch steel coaster from S&S. It opened in 2017 although the track was replaced during the off-season due to defects which reportedly resulted in a somewhat shaky ride. LAYOUT, ELEMENTS AND THEMING Standing 125 feet tall and themed after a whirlwind (there’s actually a spinning coaster named Whirlwind a short distance away), GaleForce features a double out and back layout with 1,269 feet of tr ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
Mountain coasters (also known as alpine coasters) feature sled-like cars that fit up to two people (snugly) and allow for the riders to adjust their speed. In recent years, there’s been a bit of a boom as they’ve been popping up more and more in the United States at ski resorts and in mountainous tourist areas.
On a past trip to the Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee, I rode my first mountain coaster. See my (Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster review). Now, just four years later, this area is home to six mountain coasters. This time we decided to try out The Coaster at Goats on the Roof. I’d read a ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
SeaWorld Orlando’s Ice Breaker Roller Coaster
SeaWorld has announced Ice Breaker, a new launch roller coaster that will open in 2020. It will boast the steepest beyond-vertical on a roller coaster at 100 degrees. Ice Breaker will also be a rare multi-pass launch coaster meaning that riders will travel forward and backward with the aid of several launches. When it opens it will be the park’s 6th roller coaster.
Ice Breaker Will Bring Something New to Orlando
While Ice Breaker may not get the attention that the park’s 200-foot tall hyper coaster Mako did, it will add another ride to the park’s ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
Last week, Busch Gardens Tampa announced Iron Gwazi. Rising from the ashes of the defunct Gwazi wooden coasters, Iron Gwazi will be a hybrid roller coaster featuring a wooden support structure and steel rails. The steel rails will be the key in creating a whole new experience for riders. Whereas before, Gwazi’s dueling course was pretty typical of wooden coasters with drops and turns you’d expect, now Iron Gwazi will include much larger and steeper drops, extreme banking, and three inversions turning riders upside down.
Here’s a teaser video of the new Iron Gwazi roller coaster coming to Busch ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
Pantheon Roller Coaster Launching in 2020
Busch Gardens Williamsburg will be opening an exciting new multi-launch roller coaster in 2020. Pantheon will be built in the park’s Italy section and will be themed around the pantheon of Roman gods. It will feature a variety of elements and boast quite a few stats making it a one-of-a-kind roller coaster.
The Pantheon roller coaster will include:
Three launches
Top speed of 72 mph
Height of 178 feet
A beyond-vertical 95-degree drop
2 inversions flipping riders upside down
A section where will travel riders travel backwards
My Take: One of My Favorit ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
Overview
Located at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, PA, Steel Curtain is one of two record-breaking steel roller coasters from S&S – Sansei Technologies to open in the USA during 2019. (The other is Maxx Force at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL.) It sets a record for tallest inversion (197 feet), tallest looping coaster, tallest coaster in Pennsylvania (220 feet) and most inversions of any coaster in North America. There is some controversy about how many inversions it actually contains but more about that later.
Photo by Bobbie Butterfield
Layout, Elements and Theming
The Steel ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
While we focus primarily on roller coasters at CoasterCritic, I have reviewed some non-coaster rides like the popular Proslide Tornado. In that same vein, if you enjoy barreling down a hill at speeds of 30 mph or more, then I can almost guarantee snow tubing is down your alley.
As I kid growing up in northern Virginia, I was fortunate enough to get a decent amount snow every winter. My neighborhood had some great hills for sledding. Pigeon Forge took back to the experience, but without the more difficult aspects. Pigeon Forge Snow opened in 2017 as the World’s only indoor snow tubing park. Th ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
Mountain coasters (also known as alpine coasters) feature sled-like cars that fit up to two people (snugly) and allow for the riders to adjust their speed. In recent years, there’s been a bit of a boom as they’ve been popping up more and more in the United States at ski resorts and in mountainous tourist areas.
On a past trip to the Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee, I rode my first mountain coaster. See my (Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster review). Now, just four years later, this area is home to six mountain coasters. This time we decided to try out The Coaster at Goats on the Roof. I’d read a ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
Here’s Part 2 of my Dollywood trip report. In case you missed it, check out Part 1: Wildwood Grove and Dragonflier.
Great Pumpkin Luminights: A More Family-Friendly Halloween-Themed Event
Great Pumpkin Luminights is Dollywood’s Halloween-themed event. As parents, we really appreciated Dollywood’s approach to their theming. Instead of the gory and macabre, the park has glowing pumpkin creations, lights, and a bit of fog. It was nice to be able to visit a theme park in the fall without having to maneuver my kids away from decorations like evil clowns, zombies, and other dark set pieces that are ..read more
CoasterCritic
4y ago
A few weeks ago, I went to Dollywood with my wife and daughters (ages 12 and 9). It was our first time at Dollywood since our trip in 2015. On that trip, Lightning Rod had just began construction. Since then, the ride had opened to much praise from enthusiasts. Jon gave it a 10 out of 10 and it currently sits tied at 2nd in our combined overall list. So I was looking forward to finally riding it myself. I was also looking forward to checking out the all new Wildwood Grove section with my family.
Thunderhead: Former Golden Ticket Award Winner Still a World-Class Woodie
After attempting to ride ..read more