Summer is nearly here which means that the seasonal amusement parks are beginning to open their gates and reveal their biggest and baddest new rides. We recently highlighted two of the most extreme new thrill rides opening this season, Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom and Verruckt. But we wanted to give the good old roller coaster a little love. Today we bring you a look at 5 new attractions that will be opening to the public officially in 2014.
Goliath (Six Flags Great America)
Goliath will be the world's fastest wooden coaster with the tallest and steepest drop, plunging riders down 180 feet and rocketing through twists and turns at 72 miles per hour.
Holding three world records, Goliath is the most extreme coaster of its kind and provides adrenaline rush like no other. Riders will elevate up to touch the sky atop the 165-foot lift hill. Then, you'll whip over the peak and conquer the world's tallest and steepest heart-racing drop, at an unbelievable 180 feet and a near-vertical 85 degrees. You'll reach the bottom of this gut-wrenching slope before you even have time to scream.
Reaching top speeds of 72 miles per hour—the fastest of any wooden roller coaster—you'll then thunder around surprising curves and outrageous twists. You'll face three intense over-banked turns, a 180-degree zero G-roll twist, and two wild inversions, flipping head-over-heels through a winding inverted drop and a spiraling inverted zero G stall.
Banshee (King’s Island)
The world’s longest inverted roller coaster, “Banshee,” opens this year at Kings Island. The first female-inspired thrill ride at a Cedar Fair Entertainment amusement park, Banshee will send riders screaming through 4124.1 feet of track and seven mind-bending inversions at speeds up to 68 miles per hour.
The ride layout is specially designed for Kings Island. Elements will include Curved Drop, Dive Loop, Looping interacting with the lift, Zero-G-Roll, Batwing, Outside Loop, Spiral, In-Line-Roll, and Carousel.
El Loco (Circus Circus/Adventuredome)
El Loco pushes the limits of what can be accomplished in a small footprint. These family-friendly roller coasters offer the steepest first drop in the coaster world, barrel rolls, the smoothest track imaginable, a 45-degree outwardly banked turn, and a throughput of up to 720 riders per hour.
Thunderbolt (Coney Island)
The Thunderbolt will have a 90-degree vertical drop, followed by a 100-foot loop and a zero-gravity roll, along with dives, hills and a corkscrew — all within two minutes. The ride will feature 2,000 feet (610 m) of track, a height of 125 feet (38 m), and a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). Thunderbolt will feature three inversions including a vertical loop, corkscrew, and an Immelmann loop
Flying Turns (Knoebels)
This final coaster is unlike anything you have probably ever seen. The Flying Turns is a 1,200 foot long chute without tracks. 7 ½ years in the making, is actually an updated version of an old 1920’s style ride. Getting the same experience while meeting today’s safety regulations proved quite challenging. The bobsled coaster seems to be worth all the effort.
Which one of these rides would have you lining up in the summer sun?