The Coaster Critic's Blog

The Next Generation of Wooden Roller Coasters - Part I
Not Your Father's Wooden Roller Coasters
From my early riding experiences at Kings Dominion on wooden staples like the old-school racing coaster Rebel Yell, I would use two words to describe wooden roller coasters. Rough and boring. Of course some woodies were more enjoyable than others, but I think overall I didn't appreciate wooden coasters. And who could blame me? Compared to their steel counterparts that were breaking world records for height and speed and throwing riders into awe-inspiring loops and inversions, wooden coasters seemed about as run of the mill as can be.

I'd heard about legends like the popular woodies out in Ohio like the Beast and Mean Streak. Also, Texas Giant, Megafobia in England, and the preeminent woodie, The Cyclone at Astroland, But these seemed like exceptions to the rule. The wooden coasters in my neck of the woods, the Mid Atlantic area of the Eastern U.S. were nothing to write home about. So, my status as a steelie fan was solidified early on in my coaster enthusiastness.

However, this all changed a few years ago. Both Great Coasters International, Gravity Group, and even steel stalwarts Intamin are changing the game by delivering wooden coasters that I would never describe as boring or even all that rough. My new found respect for wooden coasters both new and some old all began with Boulder Dash in 2005.

Boulder Dash - A Fast & Furious Ride on a Mountain
Boulder Dash is a terrain coaster located on the side of a mountain behind Lake Compounce. The large Custom Coasters International woodie likely helped to put the small Connecticut park on the map. After an unforgettable climb through the dense forest on the mountainside, the train takes a swooping dive to the right and the rest is an intense ride packed with lots of speed and several moments of airtime. Boulder Dash's unique setting brought me to the park and thankfully its ride was as impressive as its location.

Thunderhead – World-Class Woodie with a Smooth & Twisted Ride
Dollywood received critical acclaim for their GCI designed Thunderhead. The coaster promised a beautifully twisted layout and it more than delivered. Aside from the ride's twists and turns, Thunderhead features a one-of-a-kind station fly-through. About midway through its course Thunderhead sends riders tearing through an upper area of the station. I enjoyed the fly-through, but was really most impressed by the coaster's buttery smooth ride. Using GCI's millennium flyer trains that were lightly themed and more open than PTC's, the ride was surprisingly smooth. The smoothness encouraged re-rides, something unusual for most woodies.

The Voyage – An Intense Marathon of Thrills
Holiday World's The Voyage is a wonder to behold. It sports a traditional out-and-back layout, but riders encounter so many insane elements that The Voyage is far from traditional. This monster features eight underground traverses, two 90-degree banked turns, and a total ride time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds. An unassuming 154' drop generates the speed needed to push the standard PTC trains to warp speed for nearly the entire ride. Thanks to the Gravity Group's genius design The Voyage is still storming its way down the track all the way up to the final brakes.

The highlight on the journey is the 'triple down in the dark'. Leaving the mid-course brake run, the train enters yet another tunnel and then the bottom literally drops out from under you in pitch black darkness. The Voyage is far from boring, but a little rough. It's definitely a wooden coaster that's redefined its genre and has taken the Golden Ticket Award from the former winner, Thunderhead.

In Part 2 of Next Generation Woodies, I'll cover Intamin's revolutionary, pre-fabricated El Toro, Ravine Flyer 2, and the god of the underworld Hades. We'll also take a look into the future with wooden coasters set to open in 2009.

What's your favorite wooden roller coaster? Are you a fan of older woodies or today's woodies? Leave a comment below. Images courtesy of CoasterImage.

Holiday World's Pilgrims Plunge - World's Tallest Water Ride
Holiday World has been teasing their new attraction both on their blog, The Holiblog, and through Twitter messages sent to their 300 plus followers. Hints including 'world's tallest' had the coaster community abuzz. I even signed up for the park's Twitter messages. With my phone buzzing at random times throughout the day, I felt like Batman trying to figure out the Riddler's cryptic clues.

Holiday World Joins the 2009 Tease-O-Rama
Holiday World, located in Santa Claus, IN has a reputation as an enthusiast's park. They officially announced their 2008 plans on YouTube last year, they've hosted the Golden Ticket Awards, and they even have park officials hanging out in coaster geek message boards. So, I won't say that they're followers by joining the current tease craze, but they've joined. After reporting that Holiday World is clearing space, I was sure that the clearing was for a new section, not a new coaster. But from the hints that the HoliBlog has been dropping, a new coaster is likely on its way to the Southern Indiana park.

Hints like "world's tallest", "The Gravity Group", and "dropping" have the enthusiasts world buzzing with anticipation. There's also the stated $8.4 million figure for the project. Enthusiasts' guesses have been all over the map ranging from a B&M dive machine to a drop tower to a spinning family ride to even a launched wooden coaster!

I'm not going to claim to have a better guess myself. I do doubt that the ride will be an extreme ride like a launch coaster, dive coaster, or flying coaster. I just can't see something really intense fitting into the overall feel of the park. Even though The Voyage is about the most intense wooden coaster around. Check out Holiday World's HoliBlog and see if you can put together the clues.

I'm going family ride. And I like the idea of a water coaster, but I wonder if they'd have enough time for 2009 since they haven't really been doing serious construction yet. What's your guess? Leave a comment below. Image courtesy of CoasterImage.

The Voyage's Triple Down in the Dark | Coaster Moments

After a rapid fire opening featuring hills, airtime, tunnels and a twisted turnaround, The Voyage like Happy Gilmore, has only just begun. The train slows considerably at the mid-course brake run and typically after brake runs most roller coasters can't live up to the intensity of their first halves. That's not the case with this Gravity Group monster. Immediately after the brakes, just as you let your guard down, you dive into INSANITY.

The train has slowed to a crawl as it creeps back into another tunnel. The dark cool tunnel contrasts greatly with the summer heat and bright sun above ground. Suddenly, the train takes a short dip. Then it drops again down a slightly larger hill. And then the bottom literally drops out from under you in pitch black darkness. The succession of drops are perfectly executed and really take you by surprise. My ride in the second car from the back was the best.

After the insane airtime, the train heads back to surface and completes its circuit with a surprising amount of speed and intensity so late in the ride. If you haven't made it to Holiday World, go now! It's a nice park and Voyage is amazing. Read my full review of The Voyage.

Elements like the triple down, put The Voyage in my Top 10 Coasters list as well as the top ten lists of pretty much anyone that's ridden it. What do you think of The Voyage at Holiday World? Leave a comment below. Photo Credit: Theme Park Review

Mitch Hawker's Wooden Coaster Poll Results
The best wooden roller coasters of 2007 look a lot like the best from 2006. Mitch Hawker's Internet Coaster Poll is arguably the most accurate coaster poll around. The ballots take into account votes based on mutual rides. On the ballots riders must rank the coasters they have ridden and then their ballot is put up against someone else that has ridden the same coasters. The mutual rider comparisons bring more merit to Mitch's poll. This year, Mitch received over 700 ballots from all over the world.

I'm not too surprised to see The Voyage reclaim its spot at the top. I'm just glad that I got to ride it last year since it's becoming to be known as the best wooden coaster on the planet. Check out my complete review of The Voyage here.

Pennsylvania-based Great Coasters International has designed the most coasters in the top ten. Including Troy at Toverland which was good enough to debut this year at number 4. I've ridden 6 of the Top Ten which isn't bad considering I haven't ridden any coasters outside of the U.S.

2007 Top Ten Best Wooden Roller Coasters
1 The Voyage at Holiday World (Indiana) Gravity Group (1st '06)
2 El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) Intamin (3rd '06)
3 Thunderhead at Dollywood (Tennessee) GCI (7th '06)
4 Troy at Toverland (Netherlands) GCI (New in '07)
5 Balder at Liseberg (Sweden) Intamin (2nd '06)
6 Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce (Connecticut) CCI (5th '06)
7 Phoenix at Knoebels (Pennsylvania) Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (4th '06)
8 Tremors at Silverwood (Idaho) CCI (6th '06)
9 Hades at Mount Olympus (Wisconsin) Gravity Group (7th '06)
10 Thunderbird at PowerPark (Finland) GCI (38th '06)
Complete 2007 wooden roller coaster poll results with all 178 coasters.

See 2006's results for both steel and wooden coasters here. Soon, voting for the steel coaster poll will begin. No matter how many coasters you've ridden, you should submit a ballot. Every vote counts!

What do you think of the 2007 wooden coaster poll results? Have you ridden Troy, Balder or Thunderbird? Leave a comment below. Image courtesy of CoasterImage.

Holiday World Announces 2008 Plans on YouTube
Holiday World, located in Santa Claus, Indiana, is home to the critically acclaimed Voyage wooden coaster. It's a smaller park, but has made strides in the past decade to really make a mark on the industry. Earlier this week, the park made an announcement on YouTube.

The real story here is the medium and not so much the message. It's cool to see a park embracing technology. I've seen parks upload computer animated videos of their coming roller coasters on YouTube, but never a formal announcement. Also, Holiday World is thought of as an enthusiast-friendly park and even hosted Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards.

No new roller coasters for 2008, but the park will be adding a few rides. Also, Holiday World will be adding a lot to its infrastructure like clocks to remind people that their in the central time zone and a new tram to take guests from the parking lot to park.

Watch the video to learn about the additions and enhancements for Holiday World in 2008:


Anyone planning to visit Holiday World next year? What do you think of the park's additions? Leave a comment below.

Voyage Takes Top Wooden Coaster at 2007 Golden Ticket Awards





At the 2007 Golden Ticket Awards, Holiday World's Voyage has over taken Dollywood's Thunderhead in its second year in existence. This isn't too surprising and is well deserved. Check out my full review of the insane and intense marathon that is The Voyage including an onride video.

While I have my own Top 10 Wooden Coaster list, I don't have a problem with the 2007 GTA's list for the most part. It's interesting to note that 7 out of 10 of the coasters aren't at major theme parks. You've got to go a little off the beaten path away from the Six Flags and Disney parks to ride a world-class woodie. Proudly, I've ridden 9 out of 10 of this year's GTA winners.

What's the Deal with Raven?
I really don't understand enthusiast's love for Holiday World's Raven. It's a pretty good coaster at best, but it's elevated to a level that I don't think it quite deserves. I'd put Holiday World's Legend which was bumped out of the list by El Toro over Raven. El Toro will continue to climb year after year as more enthusiasts get back to Six Flags Great Adventure and ride it. It HAS to move it, it's just too good.

Below is the complete Top 10 Wooden Coasters:
*= Coasters that I've ridden.

Golden Ticket Awards - Top Wooden Coasters
1 The Voyage* - Holiday World
2 Thunderhead* - Dollywood
3 Phoenix* - Knoebels Amusement Resort
4 Boulder Dash* - Lake Compounce
5 Hades* - Mt. Olympus Theme Park
6 Shivering Timbers - Michigan's Adventure
7 Raven* - Holiday World
8 Beast* - Paramount's Kings Island
9 El Toro* - Six Flags Great Adventure
10 Lightning Racer* - Hershey Park

What do you think of the 2007 Golden Ticket Award's top wooden coasters? Are there any woodies that you think should be in the list? Can you explain Raven's popularity? Leave a comment below. Picture courtesy of CoasterImage.

Everyone's been to a Six Flags, Paramount, or Disney theme park. But what about the smaller amusement parks. This Thursday I'm counting down my top 3 small amusement parks. My three amusement parks are off the beaten path, have only three major roller coasters, and have a rich history.

Lake Compounce - Bristol, CT
Lake Compounce is home to Boulder Dash, an amazing wooden coaster that's built on the side of a mountain. Boulder Dash has attracted enthusiasts like myself from all over the country. Once you're there though you realize that Lake Compounce is a beautiful park. Other Reasons to Visit: The Lake, Free Soda Fountains!!!, Wildcat

Knoebels Amusement Park - Elysburg, PA
Knoebels is an oasis of fun literally in the middle of nowhere in the Keystone State. It's home to another acclaimed roller coaster known as Phoenix. It's a wooden coaster that's on many enthusiast's top 10 lists because of its insane airtime. It's neighbor, Twister is #6 on my Top 10 Wooden Coasters. Knoebels has a great old-school amusement park atmosphere and charm. Other Reasons to Visit: The Haunted Mansion, Flying Turns, Even Hersheypark can get old

Holiday World - Santa Claus, IN
Holiday World's original claim to fame was that it was America's first theme park opening as Santa Claus Land years before Disneyland. But, today its claim to fame is The Voyage. It's a relentless wooden coaster odyssey that's non-stop excitement. Again, it's in a pretty isolated area. I had to fly to Louisville, KY and then drive about an hour to get to it, but it was more than worth the trip. Also home to the critically acclaimed Raven. Other pluses include a super friendly staff, cleanliness, and appreciation for the coaster enthusiast community. Holiday World's growing and might not be on a list like this in a few years. For now though it's my favorite smaller amusement park. Other Reasons to Visit: Free Soda Fountains!!!, Legend (#10 Woodie), Water park

Don't take my word for it. Knoebels and Holiday World took home some top honors at last year's Golden Ticket Awards.

Do you have a question or comment about this week's Top Three Thursday? Got a suggestion for a Top 3 Thursday? Leave a comment below.

Mitch Hawker's Internet Roller Coaster Poll Results
The results for Mitch Hawker's Roller Coaster Poll have been posted. Information about how Mitch's poll works can be found here. Basically on the ballot you indicate all of the roller coasters that you've ridden and then you rank them. The results are based on which coasters were ranked higher than other coasters by riders who had ridden them both.

2006 Best Wooden Roller Coasters
The big news for the wooden roller coasters was The Voyage's debut at number 1. It's a great ride and deserving of the top spot. To me, it's no surprise that all three of Intamin's prefabricated coasters (Balder, El Toro, & Colossos) are in the top ten. After riding El Toro, I have seen the future. It will be interesting to see if El Toro moves up even higher next year. It opened late in the season and that might have had some effect on people getting to ride it.

2006 Top Ten Best Wooden Roller Coasters
1 The Voyage at Holiday World (Indiana) Gravity Group
2 Balder at Liseberg (Sweden) Intamin
3 El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) Intamin
4 Phoenix at Knoebels (Pennsylvania) Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
5 Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce (Connecticut) Custom Coaster International
6 Tremors at Silverwood (Idaho) Custom Coasters International
7 Thunderhead at Dollywood (Tennessee) Great Coasters International
7 Hades at Mount Olympus (Wisconsin) Gravity Group
9 Aska at Nara Dreamland (Japan) Intamin
10 Colossos at Heide Park (Germany) Intamin
Complete wooden coaster poll results.

2006 Best Steel Roller Coasters
Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England deservedly took the top spot for the steel coasters. Surprisingly though, the steel coasters were dominated by foreign entries. This contrasts greatly with the Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today's poll had only one non-U.S. coaster in its top ten as Expedition GeForce landed at seventh. On Mitch's Internet Poll it narrowly missed the top spot.

I'm happy that I don't see Kingda Ka or Top Thrill Dragster. They made the list, just not the top ten. They're fun, record breaking thrill rides, but shouldn't be placed among the best roller coasters in the world in my opinion. It's good to see my favorite designers Bolliger & Mabillard with six out of the ten coasters. I've ridden three of the four U.S. entries and none of the international coasters. It looks like I've got some traveling to do.

2006 Top Ten Best Steel Roller Coasters
1 Superman: R.O.S. at Six Flags N.E.(Mass.) Intamin Hyper Coaster
2 Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park (Germany) Intamin Mega Coaster
3 Nemesis at Alton Towers (UK) B&M Inverted Coaster
4 Goliath at Walibi World (Netherlands) Intamin Mega Coaster
5 Katun at Mirabilandia (Italy) B&M Inverted Coaster
6 Millennium Force at Cedar Point (Ohio) Intamin Giga Coaster
7 Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) B&M Hyper Coaster
8 Black Mamba at Phatasialand (Denmark) B&M Inverted Coaster
9 Pyrenees at Parque Espana (Japan) B&M Inverted Coaster
10 Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia (Georgia) B&M Hyper Coaster
Complete steel coaster poll results.

What do you think of Mitch's Internet Poll? Do you think the Golden Ticket Awards or Mitch's Poll are a better indicator of the best coasters in the world? Leave a comment below.

Thunderhead Edges Out The Voyage for Second Straight GTA Title
Thunderhead won top honors at Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards for the second year in a row. But the real surprise, to me at least, is that The Voyage shot all the way to the second spot nearly taking first in its very first year in existence. That's impressive, and it must mean that a lot of those well-traveled enthusiasts made it out to Santa Claus, IN. It's good to know that I wasn't the only one who ventured way off the beaten path to visit Holiday World.

The Voyage and Thunderhead offer quite different rides. Thunderhead is more of a fun-for-the-whole family type of coaster where you get off no worse for the wear. The Voyage on the other hand is an intense, white knuckle adventure. It will be interesting to see if The Voyage will over take Thunderhead next year as not all riders will prefer its intense 1.2 mile trip over Thunderhead's fun twists and turns. Congrats to Dolly and the coaster designers (Great Coasters International). They're going to have find room for another Golden Ticket on Thunderhead's entrance sign.

Boulder Dash and Hades Tie
It's funny that Hades and Boulder Dash are tied at 3rd. I had a hard time placing those two coasters in my Top Ten Coasters. It's really tough to say which I prefer. Hades has an amazing opening. Boulder Dash has a stronger finish. Riding at insane speeds through a pitch black tunnel is crazy. Flying down a mountain and through the woods is almost just as thrilling. Both coasters offer pretty unique and very thrilling rides.

Phoenix
Phoenix at Knoebels deservedly rounds out the top 5. It's not one of my personals favorites, but it's packed with airtime and has been a perennial fan-favorite for years. If you haven't been to Knoebels it has a lot to offer for a smaller park. It's coasters and the park itself are a great change-up compared to the modern corporate parks out there.

Below is the complete Top 10 Wooden Coasters:
*= Coasters that I've ridden.

Golden Ticket Awards - Top Wooden Coasters
1 Thunderhead* - Dollywood
2 The Voyage* - Holiday World
3 Boulder Dash* - Lake Compounce
4 Hades* - Mt. Olympus Theme Park
5 Phoenix* - Knoebels Amusement Resort
6 Shivering Timbers - Michigan's Adventure
7 Raven* - Holiday World
8 Beast - Paramount's Kings Island
9 The Legend* - Holiday World
10 Lightning Racer* - Hershey Park

Smaller Parks Getting Props
As I looked at the Golden Ticket Awards, I was surprised to see the smaller parks scoring so well. I was especially surprised to see Knoebels ranking third overall. Of course Knoebels will never surpass Cedar Point, but it is getting more votes every year. The smaller parks like Knoebels and Holiday World also won other categories. I think this reiterates that the surveys are sent to coaster enthusiasts, not just thrill seekers. Both of those parks have a homy amusement park feel as opposed to a corporate feel like a Six Flags park might have. The parks also offer world-class wooden coasters like The Voyage, Phoenix, and the fan favorite Raven. There's a large contingency of enthusiasts that are undyingly loyal to woodies, no matter what steel coaster height or speed barrier just got broken. There weren't too many entries for the larger park chains like Six Flags and Paramount.

Here are a few of the winners in some of the other categories:
Cleanest Park - Holiday World
Friendliest Park Staff - Holiday World
Best Food - Knoebels
Best Landscaping - Busch Gardens Europe
Best Marine Life Park - SeaWorld Orlando
Best Water Park - Schlitterbahn

My Favorite Park
Busch Gardens Europe, formerly Busch Gardens Williamsburg, scored well in many of the secondary categories. It's won Best Landscaping every year for the last decade or so. I can easily see why, it's a really beautiful park with lots of greenery, the Rhine River, and exquisitely designed Euro-inspired buildings. BGE also scored 4th for Best Food, 3rd for Best Shows, and 2nd for Cleanest Park. Also, Apollo's Chariot was ranked at number 5 on the Top Steel Coasters of 2006. Not bad for a coaster that's seven years old. I'll get more into the coaster categories in my next post.

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Voyage Lives Up to the Hype
Another trip and another extremely hyped coaster. This time I traveled more than 700 miles for two parks, but mainly for one new beast of wooden coaster, Voyage. Luckily, I wasn't let down. It rained on and off all day at Holiday World which must have helped with the lines. At times Voyage was nearly a walk-on!


The Trip Out (Hills, Air, & Tunnels)
My first ride was in the back seat of the 2nd car from the back. It's fun watching the trees get smaller and smaller as you climb the long, slow lift hill. The first drop is good, though I couldn't really tell it was that much steeper than most other woodies as advertised. There's some nice floater air on the next hill, a bit less on the next hill then you drop into the first of many tunnels. With temperatures in the upper 80s, the tunnels were noticably cooler in comparison to the sections on the surface and the longer tunnels were very dark. Another hill and another tunnel followed by a short hill and another short tunnel. The trip out could have felt repetitive, but it's not at all.

The Twisted Turn Around
Next you enter the twisted section at the turn around point. It's packed with highly banked turns, two at 90 degree banking and some sections that have small 'banked hills or bumps'. This part of the ride is fun in the front and pretty darn rough in the back of the train. The 90 degree curves are great. You feel like your head might skim the wood and they definitely take riders by surprise. Some of those banked hills are what I believe other enthusiasts are worried about aging poorly. They are kind of rough right now, in the future they could be really jarring. After the exciting twister section, you dive back into a short tunnel and up into then back up to the surface where you hit the MCBR (mid-course break run).

An Adventurous Trip Back
The train slows considerably at the MCBR and typically after break runs most coasters can't live up to the intensity in their first halves. After Voyage's break run things get really interesting. Immediately after the breaks, just as you let your guard down, you dive into INSANITY. The 'triple down in the dark' is awesome. The bottom literally drops out from under you in pitch black darkness. In my ride in the 2nd car from the back this section was the best. On other rides in different locations it wasn't half as cool. After that you make your way back to station with more short humps (that I guess are supposed to help add to that world-record airtime total). There are also several swooping turns that give you a kind of sailing side to side motion, especially in the front. This section is less intense that the turnaround, but you still have tons of speed. You rise up over the lift and dive into a short tunnel right next to the station. Most rides would be over by now, but not Voyage. You've still got another tunnel and a few more crazy turns.

Voyage = Not for the Faint-Hearted
This has been one of the toughest coasters for me to rate and place in my Top Ten. Mainly because of Voyage's roughness and intensity. Normally something this agressive would never get a perfect rating from me. You get thrown and flung every which way on your "1.2 mile trip". Holding your hands up is a battle. Is it TOO rough? At times it felt like it, but then I got off briefly exhausted, but not physically beat up. Then I kept finding myself back on another train 10 minutes or so later. It was really weird, like an abusive relationship I couldn't get out of. I rode it 3 times in an hour then two more before I left the park. I normally butcher rough woodies like Predator at Six Flags Darien Lake. You shouldn't need football pads or body armor to ride coasters. On the other hand Voyage's re-rideability was amazing. The roughness must be just at my threshold or the mile long adventure is fun enough to balance out the intensity. Voyage is now my top rated woodie passing Boulder Dash. It recieves one of my few 10's and lands at #5 on my Top Ten. Final Rating - 10 (Superior)

Check out this roller coaster video of The Voyage. Aside from the music, it's a pretty good video.


What do you think of Voyage? Do you have plans of visiting Holiday World? Leave a comment below.

The Next Big Thing
Holiday World near Evansville, IN has reputation of being a great family park as well as park that pleases the coaster enthusiast community. With renowned woodies like Raven and Legend, this small park has already made a mark. For 2006, Holiday World may make quite an impact with the addition of Voyage a massive woodie that looks to once again please both audiences.

The stats are staggering:
An unprecedented 24 seconds of total airtime over a 1.2 mile track, eight underground traverses, two 90-degree banked turns, and a total ride time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

But even more important, early reviews of Voyage are good to ecstatic. Personally, I've never been more impressed by an on-ride video. This coaster looks massive and most of all fun. Hopefully, I can make it to Holiday World this season for my own take on this park and possibly one of the best woodies in years.