A roller coaster inversion is a roller coaster element in which the track turns riders upside-down and then returns them to an upright position. Early forms of inversions were circular in nature and date back to 1848 on the Centrifugal railway in Paris. These vertical loops produced massive g-force that was often dangerous to riders. As a result, the element eventually became non-existent with the last rides to feature the looping inversions being dismantled during the Great Depression. In 1975, designers from Arrow Development created the corkscrew, reviving interest in the inversion during the modern age of steel roller coasters. Elements have since evolved from simple corkscrews and vertical loops to more complex inversions such as Immelmann loops and cobra rolls. The Smiler at Alton Towers holds the world record for the number of inversions on a roller coaster with 14.
Boomerang is a model of roller coaster manufactured and designed by Vekoma, a Dutch manufacturer. The roller coaster model name is from the hunting implement based on the traditions of the Indigenous Australians. As of January 2023 there are 55 Boomerangs operating.
Montu is an inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Designed by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, it is the park's second roller coaster designed by that company following the success of Kumba, which opened 3 years prior. When the ride opened on May 16, 1996, it was the world's tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster, a title it has since conceded to Alpengeist at sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The ride stands 150 feet (46 m) tall and reaches speeds of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
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.
Nighthawk is a steel flying roller coaster located at Carowinds. Constructed by Vekoma, it is located in the Thunder Road section of the park. The roller coaster originally opened as Stealth at California's Great America on April 1, 2000. In 2003, Paramount Parks decided to relocate the roller coaster to Carowinds. It reopened as Borg Assimilator – the first coaster in the world to be themed to Star Trek – on March 20, 2004. After Cedar Fair purchased Carowinds in 2006, Paramount themes were soon removed from the park, and the ride was renamed Nighthawk. It is one of only two Flying Dutchman models still in existence from Vekoma, the other being Batwing at sister park Six Flags America.
Volcano: The Blast Coaster, or simply Volcano, was an inverted launched roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, United States. Designed by Werner Stengel, it was the first launched roller coaster manufactured by Intamin and the first of its kind in the world to be inverted. Its launch mechanism utilized linear induction motor (LIM) technology. After a series of delays, Volcano opened to the public on August 3, 1998. A portion of the ride was enclosed inside an artificial mountain, constructed in 1979, which previously housed other attractions. Following nearly two decades of operation, Volcano abruptly closed a few weeks into the 2018 season, and the closure became permanent during the following offseason. In 2024, Rapterra, a launched wing coaster, was announced to replace Volcano.
T3 (stylized as T3; pronounced "T-three", "T-cubed", or "Terror to the third power") was an inverted roller coaster located at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky. The Suspended Looping Coaster model manufactured by Vekoma originally opened as T2 on April 8, 1995. Following the amusement park's closure in 2009 due to financial difficulties, the ride sat idle for several years. Under new park ownership, the roller coaster was refurbished and renamed T3, which reopened to the public as T3 on July 3, 2015. The ride closed permanently following the 2022 season.
Storm Runner is a launched roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by Intamin and situated in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park, the Accelerator Coaster opened to the public on May 8, 2004. It reaches a height of 150 feet (46 m) and catapults riders from 0 to 72 mph (116 km/h) in two seconds. Storm Runner features a top hat element, three inversions, a dual loading station, and a magnetic braking system. In addition, it was designed to interact with three other Hersheypark rides: Dry Gulch Railroad, the Monorail, and Trailblazer.
Medusa is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, Medusa opened in 2000 as the first floorless roller coaster on the West Coast. The roller coaster features seven inversions, a 150-foot (46 m)-tall lift hill with a 150-foot (46 m) drop, and the first Sea serpent roll element ever built on a B&M roller coaster. The ride is the longest coaster in Northern California at 3,937 feet (1,200 m) long and is notable as having one of the largest vertical loops in the world at 128 feet (39 m). It also shares the height record in Northern California with another two rides in the same park, The Flash: Vertical Velocity, and Superman: Ultimate Flight at 150 feet (46 m) high.
Xpress: Platform 13 is a steel roller coaster at Walibi Holland in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands which was launched as Superman The Ride in April 2000. The name was changed to Xpress in the season of 2005, and Xpress: Platform 13 in 2014. It was the first LSM-coaster in Europe.
Matugani is a steel accelerator roller coaster located at Lost Island Theme Park in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, it originally opened at Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2005 as Kanonen. The ride features a hydraulic launch and two inversions. The coaster was built with a tightly packed layout because of the limited area that was available at Liseberg. On December 30, 2016, Kanonen closed permanently at Liseberg, and was relocated to Lost Island Theme Park to make room for the park's new ride Valkyria, a Bolliger & Mabillard dive coaster. The coaster was dismantled and sold in 2018 to Lost Island Water Park, where it reopened in 2023.
The Smiler is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. The Infinity Coaster model from Gerstlauer set a world record for most inversions on a roller coaster when it opened in 2013, featuring 14 inversions that include dive loops, sidewinders, corkscrews, and other inverting elements. The ride was constructed in the X-Sector area of the park and underwent an extensive advertising campaign, during which it was codenamed Secret Weapon 7 (SW7).
Sky Scrapper is a flying roller coaster at World Joyland in Wujin, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. Sky Scrapper was one of World Joyland's opening day attractions, officially opening on April 30, 2011. The 2,805.1-foot-long (855.0 m) ride stands 131.3 feet (40.0 m) tall, and features a top speed of 54.7 mph (88.0 km/h). Designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard, Sky Scrapper restrains riders in the prone position and features five inversions.
Sea Serpent is a steel roller coaster at Morey's Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey. Opened in 1984, it was built by Vekoma, and was the first boomerang-style coaster to be built in the US. The coaster's installation was part of a redevelopment of the Marine Pier into a new Mariner's Landing area in 1984. The Sea Serpent currently sits in the middle of Mariners Landing and serves as an icon for the pier along with The Giant Wheel.
The Joker is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. The ride opened on May 29, 2016, as a rebuild of former wooden roller coaster Roar, adding a new steel track on top of Roar's wooden support structure. This hybrid configuration was implemented by Rocky Mountain Construction and is themed to the Joker, a comic book character villain featured in DC Comics publications. The original Roar roller coaster was constructed by Great Coasters International and opened in 1999.
Steel Curtain is a steel hypercoaster at Kennywood in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, United States. Manufactured by S&S – Sansei Technologies, the coaster reaches a height of 220 feet (67 m) and features either eight or nine inversions, including a 197-foot (60 m) corkscrew considered to be the world's tallest inversion. Themed to the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL football team, the roller coaster is named after the Steel Curtain, the nickname for the Steelers' defensive line during the 1970s.
Emperor is a Bolliger & Mabillard Dive Coaster at SeaWorld in San Diego, California. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plans for opening the coaster were pushed back to 2021, before a final opening date of March 12, 2022 was announced.
Batman: The Ride is an inverted coaster at Six Flags Mexico that has been operating since 2000. It is a standard Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster model themed to the famed Batman franchise, and was part of Premier Park's massive renovation in 2000.
The TMNT Shellraiser is a steel indoor roller coaster at Nickelodeon Universe amusement park, within the American Dream Meadowlands mall, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The roller coaster is a Euro-Fighter model manufactured by Gerstlauer, and themed to the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series. It is the steepest roller coaster in the world with a vertical drop of 121.5 degrees. The TMNT Shellraiser has the same layout as Takabisha at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan, a previous record holder for world's steepest roller coaster. The ride is temporarily closed due to track repairs. No opening date has been given.
