Defunct Coasters We Wish We Could Have Ridden
Defunct Roller Coasters That Were Gone Too Soon Over the years there have been some great-looking roller coasters that we just never got a chance to ride. Some of them have become legendary within the coaster enthusiast community. Some had record-setting or one-of-a-kind elements. And some were just roller coasters that we kick ourselves for not riding, because they’re gone and now we’...[Read More]
Remembering ShockWave at Six Flags Great America
While most posts on Coaster Critic focus on “what’s new” in the world of theme parks, I wanted to take a moment to highlight something we seldom think about—defunct rides. Whether it’s the short-lived rush of Hypersonic XLC or the existence of the mysterious Tomb Raider: The Ride, these thrill machines may be removed from park maps, but they’ll always live on in our collective hearts. My original ...[Read More]
Kings Dominion to Close Shockwave
Kings Dominion has announced that they’ll be removing the Shockwave, their stand-up roller coaster. Your last chance to ride it will be August 9th. More at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. While it’s one of the weakest roller coasters in Kings Dominion’s lineup, it has been a fixture at the park since it opened in 1986. I’m sure some will miss it.I haven’t been the bigges...[Read More]
Carowinds to Close Thunder Road in July
Yesterday, Carowinds announced that they will be closing Thunder Road. It is one of the few remaining wooden twin track racing roller coasters. After 39 wonderful years and nearly 40 million scream-filled rides, Thunder Road will give its last race on July 26. The ride is being retired to make room for future family-fun attractions. Please join us this summer as we say good-bye to this iconic coas...[Read More]
Poll: Great Adventure Removes Rolling Thunder – Classic or Clunker?
Six Flags Great Adventure to Remove Rolling Thunder I’m still getting caught up with all of the Six Flags announcements. In the Zumanjaro Drop of Doom announcement, I noticed the mention of Rolling Thunder’s removal: To make room for the newest addition to Six Flags Great Adventure, we must bid farewell to a classic. Rolling Thunder, our classic wooden coaster, will close to the public...[Read More]
Poll – Kings Island’s Next Roller Coaster Should Be…
UPDATE 8/8/13 – Son of Beast’s replacement has been announced. Banshee will come to Kings Island in 2014. It will debut as the longest inverted roller coaster in the World with 4,100+ feet of track. Read and watch a video here: Banshee Roller Coaster Coming to Kings Island in 2014 [divider_line]Now that the final piece of Son of Beast has been removed, more than ever, Kings Island fans...[Read More]
What Are the Best & Worst Defunct Amusement Parks?
A while back I asked you about your worst defunct and best defunct coasters were. A reader suggested a similar post about defunct amusement parks. And after my last post about Freestyle Music Park appearing on Revolution I thought it’d be fun to hear from you on the topic. Thankfully, there haven’t been a lot of amusement parks go defunct in the last decade or so. Here are a few that c...[Read More]
Happy Roller Coaster Day 2012
It’s August 16th, National Roller Coaster Day. On this day 114 years ago, Edwin Prescott patented a looping roller coaster, which later became the Loop-the-Loop at Coney Island. There’s information out there on the interwebs that lazily report this as the day that the first roller coaster was patented. From what I’m gathering, this day was tied to Prescott’s patent for a lo...[Read More]
Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas | Coaster Reviews
The Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas should be renamed Two-Face after the Batman villian. The massive wooden coaster built on a cliff wall has some awesome moments and then some of that vintage wooden coaster abuse that we’ve all come to know so well. The trek to the Rattler’s station in itself was memorable. After moving past some large boulders that outline the queue, you begin to a...[Read More]
Hurler @ Kings Dominion | Roller Coaster Reviews
Patrick Wisniewski is on the staff at Theme Park Central. You can follow their latest updates on Twitter – @ThemePrkCentral. Hurler is a wooden roller coaster experience designed by International Coasters Inc. The ride opened in 1994 at Kings Dominion, originally themed to the 1992 film, Wayne’s World. The ride is located in the Grove section of the park. Hurler begins by ascending up a 83 f...[Read More]
Creepy Images & Video of Six Flags New Orleans | Abandoned Amusement Parks
Six Flags New Orleans | Abandoned Amusement Parks It’s always sad to see abandoned amusement parks. And other times it’s also downright creepy. The defunct Six Flags New Orleans falls into the latter category. WebUrbanist has a ton of really creepy images from inside the park. The thing that makes the images so disturbing is how the park was so abruptly abandoned. Usually defunct parks...[Read More]
5 Most Missed Defunct Roller Coasters
I hope that you have some tissues nearby. This post could be a real tear jerker if you’re still missing a rollercoasterthat’s no longer with us. I invite you to let go. A good cry could help you move on. A recent comment on the Drachen Fire post inspired me to take a look at some of the most missed defunct roller coasters of the past decade or so. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ...[Read More]