Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is an abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek and was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. They originally manufactured farm equipment and later made steel constructions for the coal mining industry in the 1950s, After the closure of Dutch mines in 1965, they manufactured steel pipes for the petrochemical industry. Since the 1970s, they have manufactured amusement rides. In 2018, Vekoma was acquired by Sansei Technologies, the parent company of American ride manufacturer S&S Sansei.
A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit, but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller coasters, due to the ubiquity of Vekoma's Boomerang coaster model.
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 March 2020 there are 55 Boomerangs operating.
A Giant Inverted Boomerang is a type of steel shuttle roller coaster manufactured by the Dutch firm Vekoma. The ride is a larger, inverted version of Vekoma's popular Boomerang sit down roller coasters. As of March 2020, five installations of the model are operating, with another one under construction.
Boomerang: Coast to Coaster is a steel roller coaster of shuttle design currently in use at four different Six Flags & EPR theme parks. The ride was designed and manufactured by Vekoma, and is considered as one of its boomerang models. Each coaster has one train with a capacity of 28, two across in each row. Unlike Vekoma's suspended trains, "Boomerang: Coast to Coaster" operates a sit-down design. When the coaster starts, the train is pulled backwards up the lift hill, then dropped through the loading gate through a cobra roll and then one loop. At the end of this cycle the train is pulled up the lift hill at the end of the track, then dropped once again allowing the train to go back through the loops backwards, hence the name "Boomerang: Coast to Coaster."
Nighthawk is a steel flying roller coaster from Vekoma located at Carowinds amusement park. The roller coaster originally opened as Stealth at California's Great America on April 1, 2000. In 2003, Paramount 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.
Batwing is a steel flying roller coaster built by Vekoma at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. This is nearly identical to Nighthawk at Carowinds, however that ride has a slightly different ending, and different paint scheme.
Blue Hawk is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Georgia. Designed by Vekoma, Blue Hawk was originally built for Conko's Party Pier in New Jersey, where it was known as Kamikaze. It was relocated to Six Flags Over Georgia in 1992 as Ninja, and was the tallest roller coaster in the park at that time. In 2016, Six Flags announced that the ride would be renovated and renamed, with members of the public voting on the ride's new name.
Boomerang is a shuttle roller coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. It opened in the 2000 season, replacing the vacancy left by the Zambezi Zinger's departure in 1997, and used Zambezi's line queue. Since 2005, the line queue and signage has moved. Boomerang is a "cookie-cutter" or "clone" ride, meaning it is not unique to Worlds of Fun and is manufactured by Vekoma for many other parks. Since Worlds of Fun has no Australia/Oceania section, the Boomerang was fitted into the Africa section.
The Jester is a steel roller coaster located at the abandoned Six Flags New Orleans amusement park in New Orleans. Built and designed by Vekoma, The Jester opened to the public on April 13, 2003. Following the devastation to the amusement park in August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, the roller coaster ceased operation after the park's closure, although it remains standing.
Sidewinder is a steel roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is located in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park, right across from Storm Runner. While the coaster itself is a standard Vekoma Boomerang, this installation is notable because it was the first Vekoma Boomarang to use Vekoma trains. For the 2011 season, the Sidewinder's trains were replaced with Vekoma's modern trains, similar to the train on Carowinds' Carolina Cobra. This ride was also the first coaster installed in the park in 14 years since the SooperDooperLooper in 1977.
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park owned and operated by Cedar Fair and located in between Allentown, Pennsylvania and Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The park features seven roller coasters, other adult and children's rides, and a waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom.
Zoomerang is the name of a boomerang steel roller coaster located at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut. Zoomerang is one of the forty-five functioning Vekoma boomerang style roller coasters in the world. They all feature a cobra roll and a loop, but the Lake Compounce Boomerang was the first boomerang to receive a Vekoma designed train. Early models used trains designed by Arrow Dynamics. In September 2007, due to paint deterioration, the ride was repainted with a new color scheme with purple tracks and teal supports.
Thunderhawk is an inverted roller coaster located at Michigan's Adventure amusement park in Muskegon, Michigan. Designed and built by Vekoma, the roller coaster debuted in 1998 as Serial Thriller at Geauga Lake in Aurora, Ohio. It was renamed Thunderhawk in 2004 when Cedar Fair took ownership of the park. Following Geauga Lake's closure in 2007, Thunderhawk was dismantled and moved to Michigan's Adventure in time for the 2008 season, where it became the first inverted roller coaster in Michigan.
Boomerang is a steel boomerang roller coaster at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri (USA) that opened on June 8, 2013. Before September 3, 2012, Boomerang was located at Six Flags Over Texas where it operated as Flashback until the coaster was disassembled, refurbished, and repainted to a new green and orange color scheme.
Firehawk was a flying roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Manufactured by Vekoma, it originally opened as X-Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure on May 26, 2001, billed as the Midwest's first and only flying roller coaster. Cedar Fair purchased Worlds of Adventure in 2004 and began efforts to downsize the park. X-Flight was relocated to Kings Island following the 2006 season, where it reopened as Firehawk on May 26, 2007.
Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements".
Invertigo is a type of shuttle roller coaster manufactured by Dutch company Vekoma. It is a variation on their traditional Boomerang design.
The Flying Cobras, formerly known as the Head Spin, Carolina Cobra and The Mind Eraser, is a steel boomerang roller coaster located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Vekoma, The Flying Cobras was the first roller coaster addition to Carowinds following the park's purchase by Cedar Fair in 2006. It originally operated at Geauga Lake from 1996 to 2007 until its relocation to Carowinds in 2008. Following the 2016 season, the roller coaster was refurbished and renamed again in 2017.
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 the icon for the pier.
