The oddest choice of the entire “Coaster Wars” series goes to Desperado at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino on the California-Nevada border. The Six Flags New England ride has been ranked first or second in the Golden Ticket award for the past decade, an impressive accomplishment. Once again, it appears the producers wedged the 77-mph Bizarro into this category to ensure the renowned coaster found a place somewhere in the series. The final themed show includes a pair of Intamin Accelerator coasters ( Knott’s Berry Farm’s 82 mph Xcelerator and Cedar Point’s 120 mph Top Thrill Dragster) featuring nearly identical straight-up-and-down “top hat” elements. Much like the height category, the speed episode comes down to a choice between raw statistics and personal preferences. Here we are 12 or 13 years later and it’s still doing the things it set out to do.” “When Millennium Force opened in 2000, it blew people away. “Millennium Force was built to break height and speed records,” Alvey said. Since all the coasters soar to the relatively rare air of 200-plus feet, Alvey decided to go with his favorite of the world-class group: Millennium Force. The episode features a pair of B&M Mega coasters (Carowinds’ 232-foot-tall Intimidator and Kings Island’s 230-foot-tall Diamondback) as well as an Intamin Giga ( Cedar Point’s 310-foot-tall Millennium Force) that are all known for extreme heights and speeds.īut when it comes to pure numbers, nothing compares to the 456-foot-tall Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure, the world’s tallest roller coaster. The tallest coaster category probably includes the most impressive collection of steel coasters of any “Coaster Wars” episode. The B&M floorless coaster with a trio of subterranean dives and seven inversions looks like the best of the bunch by default. In fact, Medusa, Montu, Afterburn and Alpengeist would have been better contenders in this category. The coasters with the most upside-down inversions all reside overseas, leaving the U.S.-centric “Coaster Wars” with a strange cast of contenders in this category.ĭorney Park’s Hydra the Revenge has an unusual slow-motion inversion right out of the station and Kings Island’s Vortex was the first coaster with six inversions way back into 1987, but neither coaster is on any enthusiast’s must-ride list.Īnd Wild Eagle feels like the producers wedged the Dollywood ride into this episode when they couldn’t find any other place for the brand new wing coaster in the series. “It’s a very interesting mix with lots of different coaster styles and manufacturers.” “This is the one category people will be fighting over on the Internet,” Alvey said. The other two coasters in the category are no slouches either: the air time-heavy El Toro at New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure and The Beast at Ohio’s Kings Island, the longest wooden coaster in the world. 1 Thunderhead at Dollywood in Tennessee is a twister-style ride built by Great Coasters International. 1 wooden coaster in the Golden Ticket awards. The Voyage at Holiday World in Indiana, a Gravity Group-designed hybrid ride with a steel frame, is the reigning No. The wooden coaster category looks like the class of the “Coaster Wars” series, with all four rides ranking in the top 10 of the annual Amusement Business Golden Ticket coaster poll. The also-ran in this race: Aftershock from Idaho’s Silverwood, a Vekoma Boomerang-style coaster that has fallen out of favor with most enthusiasts but is still beloved by everyday park visitors. Three more B&M coasters from the SeaWorld chain of parks (which also owns Busch Gardens) represent the main contenders in this category: Manta at SeaWorld Orlando, Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa and Alpengeist at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. This episode combines suspended, inverted and flying coasters - all of which hang below the track. “Hang ‘em High” (July 8, immediately following the premiere episode) The show’s other two coasters hail from smaller parks: Afterburn at Carowinds and Medusa at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. The showdown should be between a pair of Busch Gardens rides: SheiKra in Florida and Apollo’s Chariot in Virginia, both favorites among coaster enthusiasts. Let’s take a closer look at each of the six themed episodes:Īll the coasters in the first show come from Swiss-manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, representing four distinct ride styles that each pull more than 4 Gs.
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