The Coaster Critic's Blog

New Ring°Racer Video Shows the World's Fastest Coaster in Action
Finally, more images and a video has been posted on the S&S web site of the Ring°Racer coaster coming to Nürburgring in Germany. It's called 'F1 Coaster' on their web site, but there's little doubt that this an animated video of Ring°Racer. When it opens in June 2009, it will surpass Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka which tops out at a blistering 128 mph. Ring°Racer will push the envelope even further with a top speed of 134 mph (217 km/h).

The world's new fastest coaster will have an appropriate home. According to wikipedia, Nürburgring, known as simply "The Ring" by enthusiasts, is a motorsport race track in Nürburg, Germany. Like the infamous Autobahn it includes public acceess roads where anyone with a registered car can drive as fast as they want.

Ring°Racer Takes the Crown
This will be the first time that I can remember the Germans holding a major roller coaster world record. Unlike, the 1990's, I doubt this will kick off another coaster arms race due to the state of the economy, but you never know. Kingda Ka will still hold the height record and is so insanely fast that I doubt Six Flags will blink. Besides, the general public that makes up the majority of the park's patrons will have never heard of Ring°Racer.

Check out this pov video of the ring°racer at Nurburgring:

Thorpe Park Announces Saw: The Ride for 2009
Thorpe Park recently announced the name and theme of its 2009 Gerstlauer Eurofighter. It will be themed after the popular horror movie series, Saw. The ride will feature a 100' climb and a beyond vertical drop of 100 degrees. Saw may be in the same vein as Dollywood's Mystery Mine which was also a custom Eurofighter.

I didn't know that the Saw series was so popular in the UK, but apparently it is. If you're a fan of the movies, the you'll really appreciate the site.

**Warning this site is not appropriate for children.** Check out the official web site for Saw: The Ride.

Counting Down The Best Roller Coasters From Down Under
For the triumphant return of Top 3 Thursdays, I figured I would countdown the top three roller coasters in Australia. As I've never ridden a coaster outside of the U.S., I invited an Aussie, Ash from ThemeParkNewsDirect, to provide this week's Top 3. I did some metric system conversions for my U.S. readers.

2 - Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster at Warner Bros. Movie World - Australia's best themed roller coaster, hands down. After the station you enter a haunted house themed to from the motion picture. After that you enter a vertical lift, then drop backwards into a laser filled room with music. You then turn forwards and proceed to enjoy the class wild mouse layout.

1 - Superman Escape at Warner Bros. Movie World - 0 to 100km/h (62 mph) in 2 seconds. After the launch you fly up 40 meters (pretty high) and then into a series of 2 air-time hills before coming to a smooth stop. Oh, did I mention that there's also a pre-launch theme that you are in a subway during an earthquake and Superman has to push you out? It has been rated Australia's best roller coaster and 16th best in the world for 2007 – There's no question why.

Confirmed Roller Coasters & Rumors for 2009
Kings Island will be getting a B&M hyper coaster for 2009. Construction has been pretty apparent even though no official announcement has been made. The layout which first appeared in First Drop magazine last November looks great. It will ride off into the woods behind the Tomb Raider ride, much the way The Beast does.

There's an area being cleared that looks like where the station and a water splash section will be built. The water splash will act to slow the trains down at the end of the ride like on Griffon and SheiKra. So far this new unnamed project is tied for my favorite '09 coaster with Manta. More at ScreamScape. Image courtesy of ScreamScape.

California Gets Two New Woodies
California's Great America in Santa Clara, CA announced a new wooden coaster for 2009 months ago. No details have surfaced. Rumors suggest it will be a GCI, but it is not known if it will be a clone of an existing ride or a custom installation.

A Terminator wooden coaster (?) was not officially announced, but alluded to at a conference by the Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro. More on the Terminator coaster...>>>

Holiday World Mysteriously Clearing Space
Last month on the HoliBlog, Holiday world teased fans with a picture of a clearing with survey stakes in it. Could there be a new coaster coming to the park? Maybe an entire new holiday-themed section like New Year's Day, St. Patrick's Day or dare I say a Valentines Day. For now we'll just have to wait.

Dollywood's Up to Something
Dollywood's been clearing land in the area behind the park known as the Wilderness Pass. The clearing can been seen from the train ride that winds its way around the Smoky Mountains that the park backs up to. Check out this video below of the clearing:

Orlando Offers Two Impressive New Attractions
Orlando will be the place to be in 2009. The new B&M flying coaster Manta will have riders flying face down over water. It was officially announced last month by SeaWorld Orlando. More on Manta...>>

Universal Studios' Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit's main distinction will be the on-board cameras that will allow riders to download a video of their ride and post it on the Web. HRRR will also feature a number of elements and inversions. More on Rip Ride Rockit...>>>

Record Breaking Coaster Coming to Germany
A new S&S launch coaster will be the speed king, for the moment. While Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka tops out at a blistering 128 mph, Ring°Racer will push the envelope even further with a top speed of 134 mph (217 km/h). This speed demon will be at Nürburgring a famous motorsport race track in Nürburg, Germany. More on Ring°Racer...>>>

China's First Wooden Roller Coaster - Fireball
Fireball will be China's first wooden coaster and it looks awesome. Designed by Gravity Group, Fireball will be on a peninsula at Happy Valley near Shanghai. (pictured right)

What do you think of these new coasters? Do you know of any 2009 rumors or confirmed coasters? Leave a comment below.

UK Park Alton Towers Bans PDAs
Alton Towers is a park in England that's home to some great roller coasters like the inverted coaster Nemesis and the world's first dive coaster Oblivion. I thought that it was a little strange when I reported that Alton Towers was looking into weather control to help with rainy days affecting attendance, but now the park is banning guests from bringing PDAs into the park.

Alton Towers must be a pretty progressive park. There may be a cultural difference between the U.S. and the Brits where the park thinks they need to prohibit PDAs. Are Brits workaholics? Are they overly connected with new technologies? In my theme park trips this year, I don't recall seeing guests on their iPhones or Blackberries. If the new rule encourages park guests to relax and get away from the grind then I'm all for it. I just thought it was a strange thing to have to enforce. Read the full story...>>>

What do you think a theme park banning PDAs? Any Brits out there want to chime in? Leave a comment below.

People-Powered Green Dragon | Greenest Roller Coaster on Earth
Happy Earth Day! Today, I thought I'd write about the most eco-friendly roller coaster. Not only is it good for the environment, it even gives the riders some exercise. The aptly named Green Dragon located at the UK amusement park Greenwood Forest was the world's first people-powered roller coaster when it opened in 2004.

It's a family coaster that has its riders walk up a hill and gather in a little cabin called a funicular (pictured below). From the weight of the passengers, the cabin slides down an incline. Via a pulley system, it lifts the empty train to the top station. Now riders climb the hill once again and climb aboard their empty train.

Once aboard the train, gravity carries them down a swooping path through the wooded area. At the end of the ride, riders get off at a separate exit station. The next new set of riders climb into the cabin, raising the empty train and the cycle continues. The Roller Coaster Database lists Green Dragon's top speed at only 25 mph, but according to reviews it seems much faster, especially in the helix. For more on Green Dragon and Greenwood Park check out Chris Simon's review.

Pedal-Powered Ride, Not a Roller Coaster
The Skycycle at Washuzan Highland Park in Okayama, Japan received a ton of Internet buzz last year. Everyone deemed it a pedal-powered roller coaster, but it's technically not a roller coaster at all. It's basically a bicycle on a fixed track and doesn't meet the requirements to be considered a coaster. Even worse people confused an actual roller coaster (also with a white track) near the ride as part of the same track, making Skycycle seem even crazier. While it's not actually a coaster, the views from Skycyle look amazing!

What do you think of Green Dragon and Skycyle? Leave a comment below.

Superman Ride of Steel Continues Dominance, Top Coaster in Mitch's Poll
Not a lot of surprises at the very top of Mitch Hawker's 2007 Steel Roller Coaster Poll. For the seventh year in a row Superman at Six Flags New England and Expedition GeForce at topped the poll. The rest of the top coasters shifted around a bit, except for the controversial inclusion of Everland's Eagle's Fortress at 3rd. I'm working on a post just on Eagle's Fortress and whether it should rank so high considering it only had 6 riders. Look out for that post soon. Of the new for 2007 roller coasters, Cedar Point's Maverick entered the poll at 10th and Busch Garden's Griffon at 13th.

Thrill Rides, Not the Best Roller Coasters
The tallest, fastest, and most intense rides don't appear to translate into the best overall roller coasters as some would think. Adrenaline junkies like to argue for these rides and they can give unforgettable experiences, but the enthusiasts that took the poll didn't agree. Thrill rides like Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster (#23), Magic Mountain's X (#57), Great Adventure's Kingda Ka (#61), Kings Dominion's (now defunct) Hypersonic XLC (#152), and Superman The Escape Magic Mountain (#219), didn't fair so well in the coaster poll.

Disney's Roller Coasters
The highest ranked Disney coaster was California Screamin' at 62 . Roller coasters aren't really Disney's strong suit. Other Disney coasters that ranked in the top 100 were Disneyland Paris' Thunder Mountain (#74) and AnimalExpedition Everest (#82). In case you've ever wondered, California's Disneyland has the best of the Space Mountains coming in at 110th.

My Personal Favorite Still Highly Ranked
I feel more and more justified in my high praise for Kumba at Busch Gardens Africa. It's my all-time favorite coaster and ranked #1, but not the best moves up to 18 this year. After all of the advances and newer coasters that have come about since Kumba opened in 1993, it's cool to see that other enthusiasts agree that Kumba's among the best in the world.

1 Superman: Ride of Steel. at Six Flags New England (Mass.) Intamin Hyper Coaster
2 Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park (Germany) Intamin Mega Coaster
3 Eagle Fortress at Everland (South Korea) Arrow Suspended Coaster
4 Millennium Force at Cedar Point (Ohio) Intamin Giga Coaster
5 Katun at Mirabilandia (Italy) B&M Inverted Coaster
6 Nemesis at Alton Towers (UK) B&M Inverted Coaster
7 Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia (Georgia) B&M Hyper Coaster
8 Goliath at Walibi World (Netherlands) Intamin Mega Coaster
9 Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) B&M Hyper Coaster
10 Maverick at Cedar Point (Ohio) Intamin Launch Coaster
Complete 2007 steel coaster poll results.

More on Mitch Hawker's Coaster poll including last year's results, click here. Where did your favorite coasters place? Check out the full list here. Do you agree with the rankings? Leave a comment below.

Busch to Open New Theme Park in Dubai
This week Busch announced that they'll be building a new mega theme park in Dubai. That city is literally growing overnight into a metropolis. I reported last month that Sega's also adding a theme park in Dubai. It will be at the base of the building that will become that tallest in the world.

Busch's new park will include SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove & Aquatica all on one man made island. Busch's World of Discovery will be a killer whale shaped island that will be the crown of the Palm Islands (pictured to the bottom right).

Busch's VP of Marketing delivers the message, along with the help of a few killer whales in the video below:

T-Express | Intamin Terrain Woodie for Everland
One ticket to Seoul please. T-Express is the name of a new roller coaster opening in Everland in South Korea. It's an Intamin pre-fabricated wooden coaster in the same vein as the critically acclaimed El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure and Balder at Liseberg (Sweden). Intamin has created a new generation of wooden coasters that are as smooth as steel coasters. I can personally vouch for El Toro as it's 3rd on my Top Coasters list.

Aside from the silky smooth ride it should give, T-Express is built on a hill and makes use of the park's terrain. Terrain coasters (like Boulder Dash) are another favorite of mine. Also, at 5,838 feet long it'll be the 6th longest wooden coaster in the world. It looks massive and the station and neighboring builds (not pictured) look great. T Express is the name of Korea's largest cellular company. That's kind of a weird way to name a coaster, but there are worse names out there.

Check out these T Express construction photos. It looks amazing. The closest I'll probably ever get is one of Robb Alvey's Coaster Expedition DVDs, but it's better than nothing I guess. Image courtesy of AttractionR2 Blog.

What do you think of T-Express? Leave a comment below.

Behemoth | Canada's Record Setting Roller Coaster Nears Completion
CWMania has posted some great construction photos of Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland. Behemoth is definitely living up to its name. It looks quite impressive, especially that steep first drop. When it debuts in May it will be Canada's tallest and fastest roller coaster. To see the contsruction photos, click here. For more on Behemoth check out my Associated Content article here.

Racecoaster: World's Fastest Coaster to Be Built in Germany
Germany may soon be home to the world's fastest roller coaster as Racecoaster at Nurburgring will shatter the current record in 2009. While Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka tops out at a blistering 128 mph, Racecoaster will push the envelope even further with a top speed of 134 mph (217 km/h).

Unlike Kingda Ka's hydraulic launch, this new coaster will be built by S&S Power using an air launch system (similar to the defunct Hypersonic XLC). The acceleration offered by Racecoaster will be unbelievable. It will provide a 0 to 134 mph in only 2.5 seconds. Kingda Ka doesn't reach it's top speed until 3.5 seconds. The bottom line is that this is going to be one intense launch.

Racecoaster will be built along side an actual race track at Nurburgring. Below are some excerpts from a translated article about the ride:

"Acceleration more powerful than on any race car: "Racecoaster" offers a more authentic version of this experience than any other. The strained feeling before the start, the rising adrenaline, the driver being pushed back into his seat as the traffic light turns to green and the race begins."

"After the passengers enter through a railway station in the new indoor attraction, Racecoaster's launch runs parallel to the Grand Prix stretch on the race track, with its starting point aligned to the starting line of the track. Here, the vehicle accelerates to its top speed of 217 km/h, travels 480 meters (1574.8 ft) along the race track then sharply curves to the left. The coaster's route leads back through the Boulevard and ends again in the railway station. Each of the coaster's two four-car vehicles is capable of transporting eight passengers. Altogether, the coaster travels 1.2 kilometers (3937.01 feet) in its adrenaline-packed course."

Like Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka it sounds like pretty short ride. Racecoaster won't even offer any kind of top hat or hill. But the point will be the launch and the speed and that will likely bring enthusiasts and thrill junkies from all over the world. The full translated article can be found here. Props to CoasterForce for translating the article. It's a great site, especially for information on international theme parks and coasters.

UPDATE - It looks like this coaster has been renamed, ring°racer according to the RCDB listing. It's set to open June 11, 2009 in Rhineland-Palatinate Germany.

Ring°racer's not the first coaster to incorporate cars/automobiles. The Italian Job coasters at three of the former Paramount parks featured Mini Cooper-like trains. Check out my full review of Italian Job at Kings Island. Maximum RPM!, which just opened at the new Hard Rock Park features British convertible sports cars and on-board radios. More on Maximum RPM, including a video. A small park in New Market, Maryland has an old steel coaster called Wildcat. It's cars are designed to look like 60's muscle cars including: Yenko Camaro, SS Camaro, 340 Cuda, 1960's Police Cruiser, Mustang.

Aside from cars, there are also a number of coasters that feature motorcyle-like trains. This year, Darien Lake opened Orange County Choppers MotoCoaster. Check out more information on the motocoaster and its Pony Express and OCC versions.

What do you think of this new record breaking roller coaster? Leave a comment below.

Video Game Company Looks to Expand Theme Park Business
Sega has plans to open an indoor theme park in Dubai according to an article from GamesIndustry. It will be similar to Sega's Joypolis centers in Japan. The park will be part of the 76,000 square foot Dubai Mall and also the site of the world's tallest tower, the amazing Burj Dubai. On a side not, check out this diagram of the world's tallest buildings.

Sega Corp. and Dubai's Emaar Properties have also announced that they will be building additional theme parks in North Africa and South Asia. No word yet on similar parks in the U.S.

What do you think of Sega getting into the theme park industry? Leave a comment below.

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.

Superman: Ride of Steel Retains Title as Top Steel Coaster
This year's steel coaster Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards weren't half as interesting as the Top Wooden Coasters. There were no new entries from the Class of 2007 just a re-shifting of last year's list. With Cedar Point coasters always ranking so high, I was surprised that Maverick didn't make the list. I'm not as surprised about Griffon or Mystery Mine. They're both great coasters, but not quite top ten material.

Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England is definitely deserving of the top spot. Check out my full ride review including an onride video.

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

Golden Ticket Awards - Top Steel Coasters of 2007
1 Superman: Ride of Steel* - Six Flags New England
2 Millennium Force* - Cedar Point
3 Nitro* - Six Flags Great Adventure
4 Apollo's Chariot* - Busch Gardens Europe (Williamsburg)
5 Magnum XL-200* - Cedar Point
6 Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park
7 Phantom's Revenge* - Kennywood
8 Goliath - Six Flags Over Georgia
9 Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point
10 Montu* - Busch Gardens Africa (Tampa)

What do you think of this year's winners? Leave a comment below.

Alton Towers Seeks to Control Weather to Improve Attendance
Alton Towers, located in Staffordshire, England, is home to a world-class roller coaster in the B&M invert Nemesis, and other notable coasters like Oblivion, Air, & Rita Queen of Speed. The park is also home to some pretty dreary weather. Their looking to change all of that with the same cloud seeding technology that China is using for the 2008 Olympic Games. For years both China and Russia have been seeding clouds to ensure that the clouds produce rain before they reach areas where important outdoor events are being held.

Think of the effect on the U.S.'s weather system if Dan Snyder & Mark Shapiro decided to manipulate the weather around all 13 of its parks. Weather control sounds crazy, but it's true. I'm still waiting for my jet pack and flying car. Check out the rest of the story at the UK Daily Mail.

Do you think anyone should be controlling the weather? What about theme parks? Leave a comment below.

Canada's Wonderland will Build a Behemoth for the 2008
Canada's Wonderland has announced the details of their new roller coaster for 2008. It will be a B&M hyper coaster, as the 'Net rumors suggested, and it will be named Behemoth. Hyper coasters feature drops of 200 feet (20 stories) or more and offer consecutive airtime packed hills. At 230 feet (70 meters) tall and speeds of 77 mph, Behemoth will be Canada's tallest and fastest roller coaster.

My first impressions after looking at the layout is that it resembles 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.

Check out this onride video of Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland:


For more pictures, videos, and all of the details check out Canada's Wonderland Behemoth site. Any Canucks out there excited about this new roller coaster? (You should be!) Leave a comment below.

Mysterious B&M Track Appears at Canada's Wonderland
Canadian coaster enthusiasts have a reason to get excited about 2008. Canada's Wonderland, located near Toronto, will be announcing a new B&M roller coaster of some type on Monday, the 27th. ScreamScape has a covert pic of some bright yellow and red track, that's unmistakably going to be part of a steel B&M roller coaster. For some reason, ScreamScape is speculating it will be a hyper coaster. My only issue with that theory is that the teaser message on the park's home page states:

"Canada has never seen anything like it."

Six Flags affiliate, LaRonde (Montreal) already has a hyper coaster known as Goliath. So either the park is doing some typical marketing puffery or it will be some other type of B&M coaster Canadians have yet to experience on their own turf. Of the coasters that B&M makes, Canada doesn't have a floorless coaster or a dive coaster. After looking at Canada's Wonderland's 14 coasters, I think a hyper coaster would be the best addition to their arsenal. Plus, they could claim the title of Canada's tallest roller coaster. That's my guess for now. We won't have to wait long for answers.

What type of roller coaster do you think Canada's Wonderland should add for 2008? Leave a comment below.

Due to my vast international coaster experience, I'm more than qualified to countdown the Top 3 Roller Coasters in the UK. Just kidding. I've been out of the U.S., but not to any theme parks. This week's countdown is based on Mitch Hawker's Poll, CoasterForce.com, general buzz on the 'Net, and my keen sense of quality roller coasters.

3 - Speed: No Limits at Oakwood Theme Park (South Wales)
Speed is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter similar to Mystery Mine at Dollywood. It features a beyond 90-degree drop (97-degrees) and two loops (a vertical loop and a heartline roll). Check out this onride video of Speed at Oakwood Theme Park.

2 - Megafobia at Oakwood Theme Park (South Wales)
I've heard a lot about this CCI wooden coaster. Megafobia was designed by Custom Coasters International, the same company that we can thank for creating Boulderdash. Megafobia's an airtime packed ride that's known to have a pretty short queue. Here's an onride video of Megafobia.

1 - Nemesis at Alton Towers (Staffordshire, England)
Nemesis is easily the biggest name on the other side of pond. It's a thrilling B&M inverted coaster that hugs the terrain of Alton Towers. At Nemesis' highest point it's only 42' tall. Take note you Cedar Point stat freaks that think bigger and faster is always better. Nemesis was #3 in Mitch Hawker's Coaster Poll. That's quite an accomplishment.

Check out this onride video of Nemesis at Alton Towers.


Got a comment about this week's Top 3 Thursday? Any Brits want to chime in with their own experiences? Leave a comment below.

1 dies, 21 injured at Expoland in Japan
The Washington Post reported that there was an accident at Expoland an amusement park in Osaka, Japan. An axle on the Togo Stand Up coaster known as Fujin Raijin II broke. Pictures of the coaster can be found here. This is not the first roller coaster death on a Togo Stand Up. In 1999, a rider was killed on Shockwave at Kings Dominion. That accident was ruled rider's negligence as the rider freed himself of the restraints during the ride. This case at Expoland appears to be from a malfunction of the ride itself. The ride is currently closed.

As I pointed out in a post last May, you have a 1 in 1.5 billion chance of being fatally injured on a roller coaster. Every time you get behind the wheel of a car your chances are much, much worse (1 in 18,000). In case your not great with numbers, it's a lot more likely you'd be injured in a car, plane, or just walking outside than while riding a roller coaster. Events like these are tragic, but very rare considering the number of roller coasters in the world (over 2,000) and the number of rides given.

More at the Washington Post
Photo courtesy of AP

Top 3 International Coasters Debuting in 2007
America debuts amazing new roller coasters every year, but it's not really accurate to say the U.S. is on the cutting edge in coaster design anymore. This Thursday I'm going to countdown the three biggest roller coasters to debut oversees in 2007.

Troy at Toverland
Sevenum, Netherlands
Great Coasters International is designing a wooden coaster that's reminiscent of their hit, Thunderhead. From the illustration, it looks to be a very fun coaster. It's scheduled to open on June 23rd. Toverland is also home to a Vekoma motorbike coaster called Booster Bike!

Kirnu at Linnanmaki
Helsinki, Finland
Kirnu is a new Intamin 4th Dimension coaster design that just opened at Linnanmaki. On 4th dimension roller coasters, two riders are positioned on either side of the track. Their seats allow them to spin freely on their own axis. I'm sure it won't be long before Intamin brings one of these to our shores.

Furios Baco at PortAventura
Salou, Spain
Furios Baco is an Intamin Accelerator coaster that will be opening at PortAventura in Spain. It will feature 4D-style seating with riders positioned on either side of the track, but the seats will not spin. It will propel riders from 0 to 80 in 3.5 seconds. Portions of Furios Baco will be over water.. PortAventura is also home to the former inversion record holder, Dragon Khan.

Also, check out this coaster video of Hollywood Dream: The Ride at Universal Studios Japan. Located in Osaka, Japan this B&M Mega Coaster has the elements of a hypercoaster, but doesn't break the 200 foot barrier. It looks like a lot of fun and those lights on the train are insane. Only in Japan I tell you, only in Japan!

Got a question or comment about this week's Top 3 Thursdays? Leave 'em below.