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On reading my top ten wooden coasters list, a friend asked me
how I could write a top ten steel coaster list after saying some
less than complimentary things about them.
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Let’s get this
straight. I love and enjoy steel coasters; they just don’t
bring me the same level of excitement I get from wooden coasters.
Unlike wooden roller coasters, which basically come in two types,
there are a myriad of different types of steel coasters. Types
of steel coasters include looping, corkscrew, mega, hyper, stand
up, boomerang, and inverted. There are also coasters classified
as flying, Linear Induction Motor (LIM), suspended, shuttle loops,
and mine rides. There is new innovation in the industry constantly,
and it is a rare year that a new style or type of coaster does
not debut. As I approach my forty fifth year on the planet, my
enthusiasm for going upside down five or six times in three minutes
has waned precipitously. This is particularly true of the old
fashioned sit down style looping steel roller coaster. Inverted
coasters, where the tracks run above the riders heads, and your
legs dangle beneath your seat are my favorite type of looping
coaster, as you’ll no doubt tell from the list. Get ready
and strap in for ten great rides!
 10. Magnum XL200 (1989)
Cedar Point, Sandusky OH
Magnum was once my favorite steel coaster. It was the first so
called hyper-coaster, defined as having a lift hill of over 200 feet. It has
no inversions, and relies on speed and airtime for its thrills. Unfortunately
time has not been kind to the mighty Magnum. The last time I rode this coaster
it was noticeable rougher than on previous rides. It is no longer a glass smooth
speed machine. The coaster needs serious track work and new trains to regain
what was once a top notch ride experience. It’s hanging onto the number
ten spot by a thread.
 9. Big Bad Wolf (1984)
Busch Gardens Europe, Williamsburg,
VA
The Big Bad Wolf is a suspended coaster. In this configuration,
the car is suspended from the tracks above, but the riders are in an
enclosed car similar to a standard type of roller coaster that would
travel over the tracks. When the track turns, the cars swing wildly
out to the side, and back again. This arrangement precludes the coaster
from inversions. After the short first lift hill, the first half of
the ride is a speedy jaunt through a faux European village. There is
a second larger lift hill in the middle of the ride, however, and this
culminates in an 80 foot drop towards the river with a water spray at
the end. This drop is definitely the highlight of this ride.
 8. Mr. Freeze (1998)
Six Flags St. Louis, Eureka,
MO
I didn’t want to ride this coaster. As I stated before, I’m
not a huge fan of going upside down on a coaster, and I’m also
not a fan of going backwards. There is a standard type of coaster called
a Boomerang that drags you up a hill before sending you through the
station, through a corkscrew and loop, and then backwards through the
whole circuit. These nauseate me, and I refuse to ride them. Mr. Freeze
looked to me like a boomerang on steroids. My wife (who will ride anything)
was going to ride it by herself, when I decided to show some testicular
fortitude and ride it. I am so glad I did. From the 0-70 MPH start,
up the 200 plus hill, through the 190 foot long tunnel, Mr. Freeze is
a blast. An added bonus for us was that we rode it in the rain, the
droplets falling into our face as we hurtled upward towards the sky.
Mr. Freeze is a LIM ride which uses electro-magnetic propulsion to “shoot” you
out of the loading station.
 7. Top Thrill Dragster (2003)
Cedar Point, Sandusky,
OH
Though Top Thrill Dragster launches you from the station like
a LIM ride, it actually uses hydraulics, rather than electro-magnets.
Make sure your head is firmly placed against the headrest before the
launch, as you will go from 0-120 MPH in only four seconds! You then
go up a 420 foot hill, the train feeling as if it can’t possibly
make it over the top. It does make the crest, only to plunge 90 degrees
downward in a 270 degree spiral 400 feet down. You hit 120 MPH on the
way down as well. The train slows down and stops in the station. That’s
it. About thirty seconds. But what a thirty seconds it is. One of the
most startling things to me was when cresting the hill; you cannot hear
a sound, except for those made by your fellow riders, and most of them
are silent as they catch their breath from the initial ascent. You are
above a massive amusement park, but up so high that the sound doesn’t
travel up from the ground. Wow.
 6. Great Bear (1998)
Hersheypark, Hershey, PA
Great Bear is the first of four inverted coasters on my list.
Two different companies make inverted coasters, but only one, Bollinger
and Mabillard (B&M) of Switzerland makes great ones. Seated four
across with the tracks above your head, Great Bear uses the terrain
it is built on wonderfully, and has four inversions, including a standard
loop, corkscrew, Immelman (a dive loop named after a German WWI fighter
pilot), and a zero gravity, or heart-line spin. Unlike a traditional
coaster that uses your stomach as your center of gravity, the heart-line
spin design uses an imaginary line through your heart as your center
of gravity, like fighter planes do. This allows the coaster to do a
corkscrew-like maneuver, but in a very tight spiral. It is one of my
favorite moves on an inverted coaster.
 5. Raptor (1994)
Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH
Raptor was the first inverted coaster I ever rode. Manufactured
by B&M, it shares the four across seating that mark a B&M inverted
coaster. The second company that makes inverted coasters uses
a configuration that has only two seats across. The four across
seating style of the B&M inverted coasters provides a much smoother
ride and easier transitions between elements, due to the wider wheel
base. Raptor was the first inverted coaster to use a unique layout.
The previous B&M inverted coasters are all called Batman the Ride,
at various Six Flags parks, and are copies or mirror images of each
other. Raptor features two corkscrews, a loop, a cobra roll, and
a heart-line spin. Unlike most roller coasters, several of the elements
pass over pedestrian walkways, giving non-riders excellent views of
the coaster as it makes its way through the circuit.
 4. Montu (1996)
Busch Gardens Africa, Tampa, FL
Another B&M masterpiece, Montu is themed with Egyptian
relics and hieroglyphs. I rode it in its initial year when the park had
crocodiles in a pit below where you turned out of the station towards the lift
hill. They’ve since been moved to the animal park, which is too bad, as
the illusion you might fall in and get eaten was great. I’m sure some
idiots were dropping things into the crocodile pen, requiring them to be moved. The
main attraction of Montu is how the ride was designed claustrophobically. The
track takes you through several tunnels and tight spaces that give the impression
that if you stick your hand out to the side, it would be ripped off by a wall.
The walls are of course far enough away that this could never happen, but the
proximity of them to the train as you pass, really makes you want to keep them
close.
 3. Alpengeist (1997)
Busch Gardens Europe,
Williamsburg, VA
The name means Ghost (geist) of the Alps (alpen) and
it is the finest example of an inverted coaster I’ve ridden. The ride
starts with a killer right turn off the top of the lift into a breathtaking
170 foot drop. Then, Alpengeist races through the rest of the circuit at nearly
the same 67 MPH that it reaches on the first hill. Through a loop, Immelman,
heart-line spin, cobra roll, and corkscrew, Alpengeist delivers thrills on every
inch of its convoluted track. It is surely the pinnacle of B&M’s
artistry in the inverted coaster. At one point the tracks go through a ski building
(with an unlucky skier sticking out of the roof), and the illusion that your
feet or legs will be ripped off your body is inescapable.
 2. Superman Ride of Steel (2000)
Six Flags New England,
Agawam, MA
At 221 feet the first drop on this hyper-coaster may be the finest
single drop on any steel coaster I’ve experienced. It almost seems
to fold back in on itself, and the tunnel that it enters at the bottom
seems like a black pit from which you won’t emerge intact. The
reason that this coaster is in second place and not first for me, however,
is the rest of the ride. Sure it has loads of airtime. It also has two
nice helices where you are nearly parallel to the ground, but it’s
the pacing. It’s nearly perfect, but not quite as perfect as my
choice for number one. One other issue may also be a factor. I have
not ridden this ride since 2004 when a man with cerebral palsy was ejected
from the ride and killed. Since then the ride has been retrofitted with
what I’m told are very restrictive safety harnesses. Many times
these harnesses will prevent a large man like me from riding. The reports
of his death seemed to implicate how the man was restrained as the culprit
in his death. The lap bar was not against his legs as it should have
been (how I always make sure it is on me), but against his belly. When
he hit a section of negative g-force, his belly popped over the lap
bar, making him basically unrestrained for the rest of the ride. When
I return to Six Flags New England if I am unable to ride Superman due
to the new restraint system, the ride will have to be dropped from my
top ten.
 1. Steel Force (1997)
Dorney Park, Allentown, PA
First there is 200 feet of lift hill. You crest the top and drop
205 feet into a tunnel. So begins what I feel is the finest steel roller
coaster I’ve ridden. Sleek, smooth, and fast, the hyper-coaster
Steel Force is also very well paced. No inversions, just sheer speed
and airtime. After the first three hills, you travel into a 360 degree
spiral to turn back to the station. This turnaround is really what separates
Steel Force from Superman Ride of Steel. These are the only moments
of positive g-force you feel on the circuit. The rest is pure unrestrained
negative g-force airtime, especially on the series of low bunny-hop
style hills on the way back to the station. Steel Force embodies everything
I want from a steel roller coaster.
As one can easily see, my preference in the steel roller coaster realm
is for tall, fast, non-inverting rides, and inverted coasters, whose
heart-line design makes inversions much easier on the stomach. Those
of you that have been to Cedar Point may then question why I have not
included what many (my wife included) believe is their best ride, the
mega-coaster Millennium Force. At 300 feet, with a top speed of over
90 MPH, and no inversions, it would seem a prime candidate for this
list.
Millennium Force was manufactured by the same company as Superman
Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England (Intamin). After the accident
there, Intamin insisted that Cedar Point add very restrictive restraints
to the ride. These restraints are reportedly even more restrictive than
those on Superman ROS, since the ride is so much taller and faster.
The park states that the seat restraints will accommodate persons with
up to a 40 inch waist. I have a 42 inch waist. I figured that I’d
still be able to ride it, albeit a bit uncomfortably. When I got into
the test chair in front of the queue line, the seat belt was easily
6 inches away from being able to lock. I looked at the attendant and
said it seemed much smaller than 40 inches. He informed me that it was
really about 36 inches, and that since they put in the new restraints,
they were turning away about a third of those who wanted to ride. Needless
to say, I was pretty pissed off. Several other ACE members who were
in attendance, and had ridden the coaster in previous seasons were also
denied access to the ride. The irony here is that Cedar Point will sell
you a XXL t-shirt of a coaster that a person who wears a XXL t-shirt
cannot ride. Going by my wife’s description of the ride, I am
sure that it would be near or at the top of my top ten list. Unfortunately
due to our litigious society, I will be denied the opportunity to ride
Millennium Force until the restraint system is changed to allow a larger
rider, or I become a smaller one, neither of which is likely to happen
in the near future.
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