10 Best New Roller Coasters for 2008

With the 2008 season upon us I thought it was time to list the ten biggest and best roller coasters opening in North America in 2008.

Flying Turns: Knoebels to Resurrect an Extinct Type of Wooden Coaster
Keeping with Knoebels' tradition of classic wooden coasters, the park has been working on Flying Turns for the past few years. According to Wikipedia, Flying Turns was the name of a specific type of wooden roller coaster. They featured a trackless wooden chute that was twisted like a bobsled course and had toboggan-like cars. There hasn't been one in operation in over 30 years, so it seems like a great move by Knoebels to resurrect this type of coaster. Flying Turns will help to put the small park on the map, just as the airtime-packed Phoenix has, while still keeping in step with the homey old school amusement park feel. For more on Flying Turns check out Knoebels.com.

Dark Knight Roller Coasters Swoop into 3 Six Flags Parks in 2008
Six Flags looks to mass produce (well mass produce in coaster terms) a new indoor wild mouse roller coaster for three of its parks. In 2008, Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, NJ), Six Flags New England (Springfield, MA), and Six Flags Great America (Chicago, IL) will get Mack Wild Mouse coasters enclosed in a Batman themed building. Details have been sparse other than the blueprints that emerged and concept art from a recent New York Post article. Some enthusiasts have been quick to dismiss the Dark Knight coasters, because the wild mouse coasters are not the most thrilling coasters, but with the dark ride feel and the right theming the Dark Knight coasters could surprise a lot of people. For more on the Dark Knight coasters visit the web sites of: Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America, and Six Flags New England.

Kings Dominion Adds Dominator for 2008
Cedar Fair closed Geauga Lake this past winter and has shipped out some of the park's roller coasters to other parks. Another Geauga Lake orphan has found a new home. The Bolliger & Mabillard floorless roller coaster will dominate the Kings Dominion skyline next year. Among Dominator's five inversions is the largest vertical loop on the planet. So, that will give Kings Dominion's marketing department something to tout. Dominator is easily one of my favorite floorless coasters and also one of my top 10 or 15 seated looping coasters. Virginians should be excited. For more on Dominator go to KingsDominon.com.

Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach to Feature a Led Zeppelin Roller Coaster
The new Hard Rock Park set to open in 2008 in Myrtle Beach will feature a large Bolliger & Mabillard looping coaster themed after legendary rock band Led Zeppelin. The station will be a zeppelin and the trains will have on-board speakers. Fittingly, the ride will be synchronized to their hit "Whole Lotta Love". Members of the band apparently worked with Hard Rock on the theming and picked the song from their catalog. The layout of the coaster looks great. It will have six inversions (vertical loop, cobra roll, zero-g roll, vertical loop, and a corkscrew) and it will be situated partly over a lagoon. For more on the Led Zeppelin Coaster and the new Hard Rock Park visit hardrockpark.com.

X at Magic Mountain Gets Enhanced for 2008
X at Six Flags Magic Mountain was the world's first 4th dimension roller coaster. Instead of riding above or below the track, riders are positioned beside the track in seats that spin. Here's a really good look at one of X's trains. If that doesn't sound insane enough, Six Flags is taking X2 to the 5th dimension with $10 million dollars worth of audio and visual enhancements. For more on X2 go to Six Flags Magic Mountain's web site.

Fahrenheit: Hershey's New Steel Looper Goes Beyond Vertical
Hershey's new looping coaster will boast a 90-degree lift hill and a 97-degree drop which is beyond straight down. Aside from the ultra-steep 12-story drop, Fahrenheit will reach a top speed of 58 mph and traverse a twisted course of inversions. The five loops include: a corkscrew, cobra roll (2), inverted S roll, and another corkscrew. For more on Fahrenheit go to Hersheypark.com.

Six Flags St. Louis Clones a World-Class Coaster in Evel Knievel
Six Flags St. Louis is going to introduce their 9th coaster with Evel Knievel. It will be a wooden twister designed by Great Coasters International. Knievel's layout will be an exact copy of Thunderbird at PowerLand in Finland. That's a good thing, because Thunderbird ranked 10th on the 2007 Internet Coaster Poll. If this design was a success once, it should be again. Six Flags could have another world-class wooden coaster. Read more about Evel Kneivel on the Six Flags St. Louis web site.

Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland to be Canada's Largest, Tallest, and Fastest Coaster
The roller coaster landscape north of the border is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Canada's Wonderland is building an impressive B&M hyper coaster that will be Canada's tallest, fastest, and largest roller coaster. Behemoth's layout is reminiscent of Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure. As with most B&M coasters Behemoth should boast a smooth and satisfying ride. One important distinction will be the coaster's unique trains. With a kind of wing formation, each car will have two seats in the middle-front and two on either side. This will likely allow an unobstructed view of the ride. Watch an onride video and read more about Behemoth at CanadasWonderland.com.

Indiana Beach to Build a Landmark Coaster in Steel Hawg
Just as Indiana Beach's Crow's Nest Blog quoted me, the announcement of Steel Hawg and its insane details made my winter. As I reported, "...with Steel Hawg's eye-popping inversions that border on "I didn't know that was possible", Indiana Beach may just have a landmark roller coaster." Steel Hawg will be an S&S steel looping coaster with numerous one-of-a-kind elements. Its based on the appropriately named El Loco coaster from the IAAPA. The real question for Steel Hawg is whether those crazy inversions will punish its riders. I'm hoping that S&S can pull off the maneuvers in a relatively smooth fashion. Hopefully, my prediction comes true. Read more about Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach.

Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer - The Sleeper Hit of 2008
Waldameer Park, located in Erie, Pennsylvania, is building a Gravity Group wooden terrain roller coaster called Ravine Flyer II. Gravity Group is my favorite wooden coaster company. They've produced the 2007 Golden Ticket Winning Voyage as well as the greatly underrated Hades at Mount Olympus. Ravine Flyer II will feature an out and back terrain layout with some twister elements. Highlights include a 120 foot first drop, 10 moments of air time, 6 tunnels, 10 cross overs, a 90 degree turn, a view of Lake Erie, and a 165 foot bridge over a highway. In my opinion, Ravine Flyer II's the coaster that's most likely to become a classic. For construction photos and more on Ravine Flyer II including a video visit WaldameerPark.com.