Why Not Be Impulsive? The impulse coaster is a model manufactured by Intamin, inverted and featuring multiple launches. There are currently five installations in the USA: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America, V2: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Wicked Twister at Cedar Point, Steel Venom at Valleyfair and Possessed at Dorney Park (pictured.) They’re not all the same although they all follow the same pattern, with repeated forward and backward LIM launches up the two ends of the track, with the train passing through the station on each one.
This puts a new twist on things, both figuratively and literally, as the ride begins with a launch up a twisted spike (except for V2, which has a slightly different configuration). On Possessed the train is launched up the twisted spike, rotating riders 180 degrees, then launched up the straight spike before being launched again up the twisted spike. (Wicked Twister actually has two twisted spikes.) From there it’s back up the straight spike, where riders are suspended for a few seconds with a holding brake – more than a little unnerving – before being launched once more up the twisted spike and back to the loading station to finish the ride. It’s a pretty convulsive ride.
What’s your take? Have you ridden an impulse coaster and if so, what did you think of it?