As summer approaches, amusement parks across the world are readying their updated arsenal of thrill rides. The sole reason for building exciting new attractions is to entice customers who want to stand at the front of the line, proudly telling friends about becoming one of the first to ride a legendary new attraction. Fortunately, the time is almost at hand. As construction workers, designers, and park managers all sweat the details of final test runs, fans prepare to benefit from their thousands of hours of labor. Here are eight of the hottest rides ready to debut.
1. Fury 325
I previously discussed this upcoming Carowinds roller coaster, but no list of new 2015 rides is complete without it. The moment it debuted this week, Fury 325 instantly became the tallest giga-coaster in the world, which is justification enough for its inclusion. The popularity of viral videos for Fury 325 underscores the unmistakable anticipation for the ride. There are already several that have garnered over 100,000 viewings. The most watched of them comes from the park itself. Over 2.6 million people have already oohed and ahhed over this Carowinds video. Some people who have a fear of heights cannot even watch the entire thing. There are literally dozens of exciting new thrill rides in 2015, but Fury 325 is unquestionably the alpha of the group.
2. Baron 1898
Due to differences in safety requirements, many of the most interesting new offerings debut outside the United States. Arguably the most visually interesting of them is the Baron 1898, the latest offering at Efteling amusement park in The Netherlands. A creation of vaunted ride engineering company, Bollinger & Mabillard, it is another of what they have colloquially termed Dive Coasters. It is the ninth such attraction they have built and already the second in 2015 after Oblivion: The Black Hole at Gardaland in Italy.
If you love Steampunk, this is the ride for you. The engineers incorporate these themes into the story-driven ride experience. If you don’t believe me, read the Wikipedia page, which could double as a screenplay treatment. As for the Baron 1898 experience, watch this video. At the 25-second mark, it will blow your mind while dropping your heart in your stomach.
3. The Zombie Ride
While the name Bosque Magico may sound like a luchadore with a zombie magician gimmick (and one of those might already exist), this park is well known for its personality and attention to detail. They’ve gone all-in on the premise with The Zombie Ride, whose hysterical slogan is ¡muy pronto! This twisty coaster seems to function like a broken elevator. It goes up and down at the least expected times, leaving riders absolutely baffled as to what comes next. Based on this demonstration video, I can’t help but wonder if the ride is named thusly, because it scares people to death early on and then brings them back to life thanks to a few unholy drops.
4. Cannibal
Lagoon Amusement Park, located just outside Salt Lake City, is almost 130 years old and one of the few remaining trolley parks in existence. While there are only nine attractions at the site, its private owners decided to make a splash by investing $22 million into Cannibal. Their ambitious plans will pay dividends upon the ride’s introduction, as it will immediately claim the record as the steepest drop of any coaster in America as well as the fourth steepest in the world. It will also become THE tallest beyond vertical drop in the world. Watch this (admittedly amateur-ish) video to understand how that will happen. Note the drop, which looks from a distance like the coaster climbs down the wall of the building beside it. Watching Cannibal could prove as entertaining as riding it.
5. Batman: The Ride
Quick, how many dimensions do you think there are? If you’re in Interstellar, you may answer five. Otherwise, you know the answer is three. At least, you once did before reading this and learning that Batman: The Ride is a 4D “free spin roller coaster.” Watch the video of this upcoming ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and see if you agree that it’s basically a fast-moving vomitorium. Batman: The Ride offers an experience unlike any other. No, you won’t feel like you’re soaring through Gotham City, protecting the citizenry from the comic realm’s greatest rogue’s gallery. Instead, you’ll enjoy the sensation of laundry in a dryer. And I don’t care how sick it’ll make me. Batman: The Ride immediate goes on top of my roller coaster bucket list. Live now, regret later.
6. Thunderbird
Holiday World embraces a long-standing Disney Imagineering practice with their latest roller coaster offering. The $22 million Thunderbird is less focused on record-setting heights, velocity, and turns. Instead, the goal is to create an atmospheric experience for the rider.
Thunderbird simulates a thunderstorm. Before the ride begins, lightning claps boom through the speakers while the park visitor gets a face full of mist. Soon afterward, the ride explodes into action, shooting a person from zero to 60 miles per hour in three seconds. As you can tell from the video, Thunderbird should also do a great job of mimicking the sensation of flight.
7. Impulse
Knoebels Park in Elsburg, Pennsylvania, is one of the most beloved family amusement parks in North America. Their collection of thrill rides had previously primarily consisted of Phoenix and Twister, but the most popular free amusement park in the United States has taken steps in recent years to change this perception. Yes, they are still the predominant collector of throwback rides, but they can throw down with a state-of-the-art thriller just as well as anyone else.
Proving this statement is Impulse, a looping coaster that fills a void the park has felt since the closing of Whirlwind in 2004. Judging from this video, Impulse is not going to win any awards as the baddest thrill of 2015, but the incongruity of it in combination with the voluminous restored rides at Knoebels is cause enough for intrigue.
8. Kärnan
Hansa Park in Germany will play host to this epic steel roller coaster with a twist. The 240-feet tall hypercoaster will provide a 90-degree drop with an inversion early during the ride. The surprise is that the inversion occurs during a dark ride section of track. Toward the end of Kärnan, a second dark ride element transpires. This type of blended roller coaster with dark ride elements is a first, and it is one that is sure to be mimicked repeatedly in years to come. Alas, the Germans get it before the rest of us. Upon its debut, Kärnan will also become the second tallest roller coaster in Europe, so it has more to offer than almost any other new 2015 attraction.
