Adrenaline Peak is the most thrilling coaster in all of Oregon.
Located at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, this is a small Gerstlauer Eurofighter.
You have the signature beyond-vertical drop and three inversions. But is it
better than the larger Eurofighters? Find out in this review of Adrenaline Peak.
From 1996 through 2017, the lone major coaster at Oaks was a Pinfari looping
zyklon named Looping Thunder. While the coaster was notable for being the only
one in the Beaver State with an inversion, it developed a reputation as a rough ride.
In late 2017, Oaks announced Looping Thunder would close and be replaced by a Gerstlauer Eurofighter
320. This would be a clone of the recently opened Hydrus at Casino Pier in New Jersey.
Later that year, Oaks held a naming contest for their new attraction and from all the
submissions Adrenaline Peak was selected. WBF Construction Services of Seattle was
tasked with assembling the ride and they did it in record time. In less than 2 weeks,
the coaster was complete. That is extremely impressive for a permanent coaster of this scale.
Adrenaline Peak was ready for the start of the 2018 season and it has been the park’s
signature ride ever since. And it makes a great first impression. The ride has a beautiful and
striking color scheme. You have fuchsia track and blue supports. This really pops on a sunny day.
And it may look even better at night. This coaster has a fancy light package from KCL,
similar to the ones on Adventureland’s Monster or Knott’s Berry Farm’s Hangtime. The way the lights
travel with the train is an attraction in itself. And Oaks knew what they were doing with this
ride’s placement. It is the first ride you see when you arrive. The parking lot wraps around
the coaster. You can walk right up to this coaster from all sides and one of the pathways into the
park actually runs alongside the first drop. Adrenaline Peak is the park’s most popular ride.
When I visited on a bustling weekend, the ride had a full queue just starting to
spill out onto the midway. But have no fear! The wait was still fairly short. This ride’s
physical line is very short and only takes about 15 minutes with 2 train operations.
And I have seen two trains in use in both my visits. Each train can accommodate a
max of 8 riders in two rows of 4. Exactly 8 riders are admitted into the station for each
ride and seating is on a first-come basis. But I don’t think it matters which row you
get. The ride feels identical in all seats. One of the best parts about this ride is the
restraints. Unlike the early Eurofighters that had over-the-shoulder restraints, you have just
lap bars. They will be pushed down snugly, but your entire upper-body is free. This has two
advantages. First, say goodbye to headbanging. This can be an issue with this ride type.
Second, the ride’s forces are accentuated with a more minimalistic restraint.
There is an important rule you need to follow though. You cannot raise your hands. The park
is very strict about this. Before dispatching the train, they tell this to the train. Anyone
who disobeys is not allowed to ride again. I suspect it is a clearance issue. I have heard
stories from a few coaster enthusiasts who have hit a support on Galveston’s Iron Shark or Darien
Lake’s Tantrum, two other Eurofighters with lap bars. And this could be an even bigger issue with
the 320 model because of how it was created. The Eurofighter 320+ model debuted in 2007.
One can be found stateside in Canobie Lake Park’s Untamed. This layout has been built 5
times worldwide and each installation has over-the-shoulder restraints.
The Eurofighter 320 model was the exact same layout with one key change. The final
helix was omitted to reduce the ride’s footprint, so trains just twist up into
the brake run after the final inversion. The same clearances were retained for the
rest of the layout, which was designed with the over-the-shoulder restraints in mind.
Those harnesses restrict how far guests can extend their hands upwards and outwards.
Given this information, a taller guest may be able to hit a support somewhere in this layout.
So in order to get the superior lap bar harnesses, guests just need to follow the rules.
Once dispatched, you turn out of the station and pause at the base of the 72 foot or 22
meter tall vertical lift hill. Once the catch car engages, you smoothly rise to the top.
If you look backwards, you get a neat view of the entire park.
Soon enough, you are cresting the 97 degree beyond vertical plunge. And this is a great
drop. It’s over in a flash, but it offers very strong ejector airtime.
This is the case on all Eurofighters, but it feels extra powerful here with the lap bar restraints.
The pullout then pummels you with positive Gs. This part also has a noticeable side-to-side
shimmy, making me ever so grateful there are no over-the-shoulder harnesses.
I had a headache when I visited Oaks in 2019, not from any ride but rather the lack of sleep
from a red-eye flight, and this part took a toll on me between the force and shake.
This leads into a vertical loop. You get a reprieve on the positive Gs at the apex,
instead getting a pinch of hangtime. But those positives return in full
force afterwards. I started to greyout here on most of my rides.
This leads into an abrupt cutback. And there is s a jitter at the apex. On the 320+ model
with over-the-shoulder restraints, this part can deliver a nasty jolt of headbanging between the
tracking and quick directional change.. Thankfully you don’t get that on Adrenaline Peak, but it’s
still my least favorite part of the ride. You then have a banked turn. This is another
spot with some shimmying, but it’s not uncomfortable because of the lack of speed.
This leads into the best inversion, the barrel roll. You get some spectacular
hangtime. With those restraints, it almost feels like you’ll fall out. It’s one heck of a thrill.
You then twist 180 degrees towards the brake run. But before you hit those final brakes,
you hop upwards. This transition offers some nice floater airtime. I know this shorter finale
is meant to be less exciting than the original layout’s helix, but I think this is better finish.
The helix on the main one isn’t super forceful and it has a less than ideal transition.
You then smoothly decelerate and return to the station,
ending the 1081 foot or 320 meter long layout. The latter is where the model’s name comes from.
This coaster is very short, no denying that. But that’s the case with most Eurofighters,
but especially this layout. It at least has solid pacing as it keeps throwing one
element at you with little downtime in between. In terms of smoothness, the coaster as a whole
is comfortable. Half the ride is very smooth, but the elements I noted may shake you a bit.
I don’t have an issue because of the restraints, but it was noticeable.
So what would I rate Adrenaline Peak? I would give this Eurofighter a 7 out of 10. This is a
good little coaster. The ride does a lot well. The initial plunge is excellent, delivering
robust airtime. The first and last inversions are good too. Then the ride has blasts of positive Gs
mixed in. The middle section isn’t the strongest and the ride is over quickly, but it’s a great fit
for this small amusement park. And the ride seems to be a big hit with their audience.
And it’s better than quite a few Eurofighters because of the punchy
layout and improved comfort. I definitely prefer it over the 320+ models I’ve ridden
because of the better ending and restraints. So those are my thoughts on Adrenaline Peak at
Oaks Amusement Park. What are your thoughts on this compact coaster? Is it your favorite ride
in Oregon? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I would appreciate it
if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller
coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!