Knoebels Amusement Resort is a family-owned and operated amusement park, picnic grove, and campground in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1926, it is the United States's largest free-admission park. The park has more than 60 rides including three wooden roller coasters, three steel roller coasters, a 1913 carousel, and two haunted house dark rides.
A steel roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its steel track, which consists of long steel tubes that are run in pairs, supported by larger steel columns or beams. Trains running along the track typically rely on wheels made of polyurethane or nylon to keep each train car anchored to the track. The introduction of tubular steel drastically changed roller coaster innovation, allowing for greater speeds, higher drops, and more intense elements such as inversions.
The Mindbender was an Anton Schwarzkopf looping roller coaster at Galaxyland, a theme park in West Edmonton Mall, in Alberta, Canada. The ride officially opened to the public on December 20, 1985 at a cost of $6 million. At 44.2 m (145 ft) in height, it was the tallest indoor roller coaster in the world as of 2020.
Dragon Khan is a steel sit-down roller coaster in the PortAventura Park theme park in Salou and Vilaseca (Tarragona), Catalonia, Spain. It has eight inversions, which was a world record until the opening of the ten-inversion Colossus in Thorpe Park, United Kingdom in 2002.
Alpengeist is an inverted roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Alpengeist has an Alpine mountain region theme and opened in 1997 as the tallest inverted coaster in the world. The name "Alpengeist" is German for "Ghost of the Alps" or "Alpine Spirit", and the ride is themed to a runaway ski lift. It has the records for the tallest complete circuit inverted coaster in the world, tallest inverted roller coaster in the United States, and the longest complete circuit coaster drop in the world.
Kumba is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened in 1993. It stands 143 feet (44 m) tall and has a top speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Kumba features a total of seven inversions across the 3-minute ride.
Superman: Krypton Coaster is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park in San Antonio. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the Floorless Coaster model opened to the public in 2000 as one of the first of its kind in the world. The well-received ride held the title for the world's tallest vertical loop from its opening until 2013. Superman: Krypton Coaster stands 168 feet (51 m) tall and reaches a maximum speed of 70 mph (110 km/h).
Raptor is a steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. The coaster, which broke many records upon its opening in 1994, differs from previous inverted coasters. Instead of having a short layout designed to fit into a compact area like Batman: The Ride, Raptor was designed with a larger, 3,790-foot (1,160 m) layout, making it the tallest, fastest and longest inverted roller coaster in the world when it opened. It features six inversions, including a cobra roll, a first for inverted roller coasters. The ride is themed as a bird of prey.
Colossus is a steel roller coaster at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England, and the park's first major attraction. It was built by Lichtenstein-based manufacturers Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel as an adaptation of Monte Makaya in Brazil. Colossus was the world's first roller coaster with ten inversions; an exact replica, called the 10 Inversion Roller Coaster, was later built at Chimelong Paradise in Guangzhou, China. It retained its title of having the most inversions on any other roller coaster in the world until The Smiler at Alton Towers took the record in 2013.
Dominator is a floorless roller coaster located at Kings Dominion amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, it originally opened in 2000 as Batman: Knight Flight at Six Flags Ohio, in Aurora, Ohio. It was given its current name when Cedar Fair purchased the Ohio park in 2004. However, following Six Flags Ohio ’s eventual permanent closure in 2007, the coaster was relocated to Kings Dominion, where it reopened on May 24, 2008. Dominator is located fairly close to the park’s main entry plaza, in the area known as International Street.
Scream is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the Floorless Coaster model was the park's sixteenth roller coaster and is located in the Screampunk District area of the park. The 150-foot-tall (46 m) ride consists of a series of roller coaster elements including seven inversions ranging from a zero-g roll to interlocking corkscrews. The ride is a mirror image of Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure.
Katun is a steel inverted roller coaster at the Mirabilandia amusement park, Savio, outside Ravenna, Italy. It is the longest inverted roller coaster in Europe. The coaster stands 164 feet (50 m) tall, has a track length of 3,937 feet (1,200 m), a top speed of 65 mph (105 km/h) and six inversions:
Wildfire is a steel roller coaster located at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the $14-million ride opened to the public on April 4, 2001. It is themed as a flying machine developed by a fictional 1880s Ozark inventor.
Silver Bullet is a western-themed steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard located at Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park in Buena Park, California. The $16 million roller coaster was announced on December 1, 2003 and opened on December 7, 2004. A first rider auction was also held where people would bid on seats to be the first riders. The track is approximately 3,125 feet (952 m) long and the lift hill is about 146 feet (45 m) tall. The ride lasts two minutes and thirty seconds and features six inversions including a vertical loop, cobra roll, zero-g roll, and two corkscrews.
Fahrenheit is a steel roller coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park, the roller coaster was manufactured by Intamin and opened on May 24, 2008. It features six inversions and became the steepest roller coaster in the world when it opened with its first drop of 97 degrees. Fahrenheit briefly held the record until Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach, which featured a 111-degree drop, opened several weeks later on July 5. Fahrenheit is also one of the only coasters in the world to feature a Norwegian Loop.
Dragon's Run is a steel roller coaster manufactured by Swiss engineers Bolliger & Mabillard and located at Dragon Park Ha Long in Vietnam. The coaster was relocated from Freestyle Music Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it last operated as Time Machine. The ride originally opened to the public on April 15, 2008, under the name Led Zeppelin: The Ride as one of the main attractions at Hard Rock Park. As a result of financial difficulties, Hard Rock Park closed after five months of operation. The park re-opened in 2009 with new owners and a new name, but closed at the end of the season. All of the rides and attractions were removed from the grounds, and Dragon's Run was disassembled and shipped to Dragon Park Ha Long in Vietnam, where it reopened in 2017.
Wicked is a Zierer steel launched roller coaster located at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah. Designed by Werner Stengel, the ride was manufactured by Zierer at a cost of $10 million and opened to the public in 2007. It features a zero-g roll inversion and two linear synchronous motor (LSM) launches, reaching a maximum speed of 55 mph (89 km/h).
King Cobra was a stand-up roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Manufactured by TOGO, the roller coaster operated from 1984 to 2001, and it was the first in the world to be designed from the ground up as a stand-up configuration. Other stand-up coasters that preceded King Cobra were sit-down models later modified to accommodate stand-up trains.
The Space Shuttle is a steel roller coaster situated at Enchanted Kingdom in Santa Rosa, Laguna in the Philippines. It is a Vekoma Boomerang coaster. It has a single train with seven cars, with 2 rows per car and 2 seats per row. The train is capable of carrying a maximum of 28 passengers. It is inspired by sci-fi films and the NASA space program of the 1960s. This 11-story roller coaster inverts riders six times - three times forward and three times backward. This is the first coaster ride of its kind in the country. This ride was originally called the 'Cobra' and it was located at West Midland Safari and Leisure Park in Bewdley, England from 1985 to 1991.
