Hoosier Hurricane is one of 5 roller coasters at Indiana Beach and it’s probably their
most iconic roller coaster.
This is a beautiful coaster, as the coaster borders Lake Shafer and the backside of the
park.
In my opinion, it’s one of the most photogenic coasters out there.
Hoosier Hurricane opened in 1994 and was constructed by the now defunct Custom Coasters International,
or CCI for short.
Hoosier Hurricane was a notable coaster for several reasons at the time:
It was the largest coaster CCI had built to date.
Previously CCI had built Dutch Wonderland’s Kingdom Coaster and Adventureland’s Outlaw,
two coasters that were 20-25 feet shorter.
It was the first ground-up wooden coaster in decades to be built with a steel support
structure, technically making Hoosier Hurricane a hybrid coaster.
CCI would go on to use a steel support structure on several future wooden coasters like Great
White and two other Indiana Beach coasters in Cornball Express and Lost Coaster.
It was the first wooden coaster built in Indiana in nearly 50 years.
Over the next decade or so, Indiana Beach and Holiday World would combine to build 6
different wooden coasters, 5 of which were from CCI.
Hoosier Hurricane is essentially an out-and-back coaster occupying a very thin footprint.
I’d say it occupies a thin stretch of land, but that would be a bit deceiving.
A larger chunk of this coaster is built atop Lake Shafer.
As a result, this coaster has some odd-looking supports.
Steel juts from the boardwalk.
Some supports have tires tied to them.
And the structure looks even more bizarre if you see a rare image of it when Lake Shafer
is periodically drained.
Hoosier Hurricane is one of the rare modern woodies to operate with buzz bar restraints,
or single positon lap bars.
I love these lap bars.
They’re incredibly freeing and leave you plenty of room to experience airtime…assuming
the ride actually has airtime.
And with Hoosier Hurricane, that’s a problem.
It’s actually sort of baffling how little airtime Hoosier Hurricane has.
When I think of wooden coasters without airtime I think the following:
Twisters, which Hoosier Hurricane most certainly isn’t.
Slow, trimmed coasters, which Hoosier Hurricane also isn’t.
Hoosier Hurricane feels pretty fast and never really slows down.
I actually can’t think of a wooden out-and-back coaster that holds its speed as well as Hoosier
Hurricane that manages to provide less airtime.
I wish the crests of the hills weren’t as drawn out.
For that reason, I don’t really have a strong preference towards the front or back.
The only recommendation I have is to avoid a wheel seat, or the back row of any car.
While Apex owned the park, they retracked roughly three-quarters of Hoosier Hurricane.
And the new ownership retracked the first drop for the 2020 season.
So parts of Hoosier Hurricane ride quite smoothly, but the far turnaround was extremely bumpy.
I dreaded that part of the ride on every lap.
And that retracked first drop is one of the best parts of the ride.
If you’re in the back, you get a rare moment of airtime.
Plus you have the amazing visuals of Lake Shafer and the park.
Really the strength of Hoosier Hurricane are those visuals.
While it is a bit frustrating none of the camelbacks nor bunny hills provide any airtime,
the lack of forces allow you to appreciate the beauty of the park and lake.
Plus you can really appreciate the near-misses, particularly on the third drop when you dive
beneath the suspension bridge.
But my favorite part of the ride occurs on the return run.
The second bunny hill has an abrupt kink to the right.
This results in some strong and unexpected laterals.
It’s easily the most intense moment on an otherwise scenic coaster.
So what would I rate Hoosier Hurricane?
I’d give it…a 4 out of 10.
I think the most frustrating thing about Hoosier Hurricane is that it had the potential to
be great.
It has one of the best settings of any wooden coaster and buzz bar restraints.
The ride is just missing airtime.
If only the crests of each hill had been a bit sharper, but at least the park redeemed
itself a few years later with Cornball Express.
What are your thoughts on Hoosier Hurricane?
Are you a fan of this iconic wooden roller coaster?
Or do you feel similar to me?
I would love to hear your comments down below.
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Coaster, as there will be more reviews coming.
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