The economy, still wobbly as we enter into 2011, has put the kibosh on many parks' capital budgets and has prevented them from rolling out the heady number of coasters that we used to see debuting a few years (and one honking recession) ago. Still, there will be a few new roller coasters opening in the U.S. this season, including a couple of especially intriguing ones. Note that some of the "new" coasters are existing rides that are being transplanted from other parks--and, in one case, a hunka-hunka bunch of wood will take shape as the King's favorite coaster. Beyond the U.S., the race for fastest coaster bragging rights has taken some new turns.
The guide is arranged alphabetically by U.S. state. Select coasters at parks beyond the U.S. follow at the end of the guide.
CONNECTICUT
Quassy Amusement Park Middlebury, CT
Wooden Warrior The small, traditional amusement park will add a new family wooden coaster that will climb 35 feet, drop 45 feet, and reach a top speed of 35 mph.
CALIFORNIA
Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia, CA
Green Lantern, revamped
Superman: Escape from Krypton, and
Little Flash With an additional two coasters coming in 2011, including the highly anticipated
Fourth Dimension "ZacSpin" model, Green Lantern, Magic Mountain will have a total of 18 and reclaim the world's record for most number of coasters at one park.
FLORIDA
Busch Gardens Tampa Tampa, FL
Cheetah Hunt When you think of cheetahs, you think of graceful, sleek animals that are fast--really, really fast, right? Cheetah Hunt, the new roller coaster coming to Busch Gardens Tampa in spring 2011 looks like it will be sleek, smooth, and, yup, fast.
Legoland Florida
Winter Haven, FL
- Coastersauras
The junior wooden coaster is a holdover from the former Cypress Gardens (where it was known as Triple Hurricane). - Lego Technic Test Track
Junior steel roller coaster will be Legoland's only truly new coaster - The Dragon
Indoor/outdoor steel coaster that is also a holdover from the former Cypress Gardens. - Flight School
Junior inverted coaster that was part of Cypress Gardens.
To be built on the site of the former Cypress Gardens and scheduled to open in October 2011, the new Legoland Florida will be larger than any of the current four Legolands (including the sole US property, Legoland California). It will offer about 50 rides and shows, including four coasters. Like the other parks, the coasters and all attractions will be geared to the 12-and-under set.
GEORGIA
Six Flags Over Georgia Austell, Georgia. (near Atlanta)
Dare Devil Dive A "Euro-Fighter" model, the sleek new roller coaster will lift single cars straight up a 95-foot top-hat tower, pause them at the top, then send them down a beyond-straight drop at 52 mph. A series of acrobatic maneuvers will follow.
MASSACHUSETTS
Six Flags New England Agawam, MA (near Springfield and Hartford, CT)
To be Named Transplanted from the shuttered Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, where it was known as Road Runner Express, the Wild Mouse-style coaster will climb about 50 feet, reach a top speed of 28 mph, and feature characteristic hairpin turns.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Canobie Lake Park Salem, NH
Untamed While specifications have not been officially confirmed for the compact Euro-Fighter-model coaster, it is expected that it will feature single 8-passenger cars that will climb about 73 feet straight up a tower and drop around 97 degrees (that's 7 degrees beyond vertical) down the other side. Untamed will reach a top speed of about 44 mph and will likely include three inversions, including an
Immelmann loop and a
zero-G roll.
NEW JERSEY
Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, NJ
Green Lantern Not to be confused with the same-named ride coming to Six Flags Magic Mountain, this
standup coaster is another attraction salvaged from the shuttered Kentucky Kingdom. It will climb 154 feet and hit 63 mph when it drops 144 feet.
NEW YORK
Coney Island Brooklyn, NY
New
Scream Zone park with two new coasters
It's been decades since a major new roller coaster opened at Brooklyn's famed Coney Island. This spring, two are set to debut. Get ready to ride Soaring Eagle, a
flying coaster on which riders will navigate the track in a nearly prone "superhero" flying position, and Steeplechase Coaster, which will feature racehorse seats rather than traditional coaster cars (and harks back to Coney Island's legendary, circa-1908 Steeplechase ride).
PENNSYLVNIA
Knoebels Elysburg, PA
Flying Turns The Flying Turns will re-create the bobsled-like wooden coasters that were popular decades ago. The path to opening the ride has taken a lot of, um, turns. The delayed coaster was supposed to have opened four seasons ago (and has been duly noted in my Coaster Ride Guide for the past four years). 2011 may finally be the year that the ride will open; then again, maybe not.
Black Diamond
I'll bet this ride will open in 2011. A former Jersey shore steel family coaster, Knoebels will repurpose the ride into an indoor/outdoor coaster that will feature a mining theme.
TEXAS
Six Flags Over Texas
Arlington (near Dallas), TX
The Texas Giant
The famed wooden coaster will get a major overhaul when its aging wooden tracks will be replaced with prefabricated steel tracks. The "new" Texas Giant, which will be a hybrid wood/steel coaster, should be quite smooth.
UTAH
Lagoon Farmington (near Salt Lake City), UT
Bombora A steel "family" (not a humongous, mega-thrill ride) coaster is on its way to Lagoon for the 2011 season.
WISCONSIN
Bay Beach Amusement Park Green Bay
Zippin Pippin The small, free-admission park will be home to a remake of the defunct Tennessee wooden coaster that was purportedly a favorite of Elvis Presley. it will drop 70 feet and reach 40 mph.
SELECTED COASTERS AT PARKS BEYOND THE U.S.
Nurburgring
Nurburg, Germany
ring racer
The ride opened briefly in 2009, but encountered problems and never reached its intended record-breaking speeds. When it opens in 2011 at the Nurburgring Race Track, ring racer will now have to settle for second best(see the Formula Rossa coaster below). Using the compressed-air launch system it pioneered, S&S Worldwide, Inc. will design the ride to accelerate from 0 to 135 mph in 2.5 seconds. Ring racer will not include any inversions, banked turns, or any other elements. Created exclusively for speed, the ride will run parallel to the famous German raceway on a mostly straight track, and then turn around to head back to the loading station.
Ferrari World
Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, part of the United Arab Emirates
Formula Rossa
Opened in November 2010, Ferrari World's featured attraction uses a hydraulic launch system to reach a top speed of 240 km/h (149 mph), making it the fastest roller coaster in the world.
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