When people talk about their favorite invert a few usually come to mind- Nemesis, Montu,
Katun, Pyrenees.
Those are my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th favorite inverts respectively.
So which one is number one?
OzIris at Parc Asterix in France.
And it’s not even close for me.
This coaster is the complete package.
I honestly couldn’t believe it.
This Bolliger and Mabillard invert has gotten mixed reviews over the years.
Most praised the coaster’s appearance, but I commonly heard people describe the ride
as forceless.
So I went in with fairly low expectations and OzIris shattered them.
So what was different for me?
Over the years, OzIris has operated with both polyurethane wheels and nylon wheels.
Like many coasters, this invert runs noticeably faster with nylon wheels.
And most coasters naturally run faster in the heat.
For that reason, if you ride OzIris in the summer months, you’ll probably find it running
with polyurethane wheels.
The polyurethane wheels are more forgiving on the track and tend to provide a smoother
ride, but their higher rolling resistance leads to a slower ride.
I’m guessing a lot of the reports I’ve seen for OzIris were from people who rode
it in the summer months.
My visit to Parc Asterix took place on a cool April day, so OzIris was running the nylon
wheels.
And it was running like a bat out of hell.
This B&M invert opened in 2012 as part of an all new Egyptian themed area.
And the presentation of OzIris is top notch.
Not only does the coaster itself look great, but the whole land looks incredible with the
fountains, palm trees, and rockwork.
If you’re familiar with the appearance of Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa, OzIris shares
a lot of similarities.
Both are Egyptian themed.
Both utilize trenches to enhance the coaster’s sense of speed.
But I think OzIris one ups Montu since more of the ride is integrated around the midway.
The ride is themed to the Asterix Movie, the Twelve Tasks of Asterix.
In this film, one of the tasks the main characters need to complete is to resist the temptation
of an Egyptian magician known as Iris.
On this coaster, you fail to resist Iris’s hypnosis.
You’re transformed into an animal and take flight.
It’s a goofy premise for sure, but it fits the inverted coaster very well.
I splurged for the park’s Rapidus Pass, so I never waited in OzIris’s standby queue.
This skip-the-line pass routed me up the exit.
But from the videos I’ve seen online, the main queue is extremely well themed.
This coaster also has a single rider line, but I don’t know if that skips the queue’s
theming like the Rapidus Pass.
Thankfully the station itself is well themed.
And once dispatched, synchronized lights and music start to signify you’ve been hypnotized
by Iris.
OzIris sports the traditional B&M invert trains with the older over-the-shoulder restraints
as opposed to the new vests found on Banshee.
And like most B&M inverts, this one is glass smooth start to finish.
I didn’t hit my head once against the restraint.
In terms of seat selection, OzIris is unequivocally a back row ride for me.
The inversions have a bit more force to them back there.
But the main reason I prefer OzIris in the back is the same reason why it’s easily
my favorite invert- the airtime.
OzIris has several moments of legit airtime.
In general, I prefer airtime to inversions.
So getting all these airtime moments combined with the usually forceful inversions of a
B&M invert was an absolute dream.
I do recommend trying the front at least once because of the amazing visuals.
You have a ton of near-misses and interactions with the Egyptian area.
But I chose the back for 11 of my 12 OzIris rides for that airtime.
OzIris begins with a 131 foot tall or 40 meter lift and the coaster kicks things off with
an incredible first drop.
Many people praise Banshee for its snappy first drop.
OzIris’s drop has some similarities.
Both rides forego the pre-drop found on older B&M inverts.
Both twist 180 degrees.
But OzIris’s drop is even better.
For one its considerably steeper.
This increased angle of descent gives back row riders on OzIris ejector airtime.
Ejector airtime on a B&M invert?
I couldn’t believe it either, but OzIris did it.
But that’s not all.
The 180 degree twist on drop is even tighter.
And since it starts further down the drop, you get some fantastic laterals combined with
that airtime.
This is easily one of the best and most underrated drops in the world.
Another major advantage that OzIris has is that it has an unorthodox layout.
Most B&Ms have a familiar sequence of inversions- a vertical loop, an Immelmann, a zero-G roll,
and corkscrews.
OzIris throws all that out and starts with a dive loop much like Banshee.
They’re the only two B&M inverts with a dive loop actually.
And as I say that, I realize OzIris has quite a few similarities to Banshee but OzIris executes
the layout far better in my opinion.
The dive loop on OzIris starts off really floaty with some hangtime at the apex of the
inversion, but the pullout is very forceful and packs on the Gs.
The rapids change from hangtime to positive Gs is stark.
That’s followed by an extremely snappy overbank.
You haul through this element.
Then comes the vertical loop.
It doesn’t quite have the greyout inducing force of a Batman the Ride clone, but it’s
still very forceful.
OzIris then does something very different and subtle after this loop.
Rather than pulling up into another element or leveling off, the exit of the loop transitions
into a gradual downward slope into a tunnel.
This allows you to continuously build up speed as you plunge into darkness.
This is similar to what Holiday World’s Raven does on the tunnel after the first drop.
It’s an uncommon design choice, but I that forgoes positive Gs in favor of increased
speed.
Back to OzIris, when you emerge from the tunnel, you find yourself zipping through a shockingly
fast Immelmann.
Usually I’m not a big fan of Immelmanns, especially the ones on B&M inverts.
They often feel like throwaway elements to me.
But the one on OzIris is pretty good.
It’s decently forceful.
That’s followed by this odd overbank that morphs into a drop.
This drop is deceptively large since it plunges deep underground into a water-filled trench.
And this drop also offers some nice floater airtime if you’re in the back.
You emerge from the trench and glide through a zero-G roll.
On the older B&M inverts, the zero-G rolls tend to be really snappy.
On OzIris, the zero-G roll is elongated and you take it rather slowly so you get some
wonderful sustained hangtime on this inversion.
That’s followed by a 270 degree upward helix and if there’s one element on OzIris that’s
underwhelming, it would be this one.
I don’t recall it having any force to it.
Thankfully, the helix is over in a flash and OzIris return to greatness.
You then drop down into another trench, this time giving back row riders a strong pop of
airtime.
OzIris then takes riders through its final inversion.
Now you’d think this would be a corkscrew.
But OzIris foregoes the traditional corkscrew much like how Banshee does.
Instead of a corkscrew, the final inversion on OzIris is another zero-G roll.
More often than not, zero-G rolls are my favorite inversion on B&M inverts, or any B&M looper
for that matter.
Most B&Ms only have one zero-G roll.
So I was ecstatic to find a second one.
And it was just as floaty as the first one, ripe with hangtime.
That’s followed by another 270 degree upward helix.
But unlike the first one, this one is quite intense.
It delivers leg-numbing forces like the final helix on Silver Bullet.
At the end of the helix, you quickly dip towards the ground, giving back row riders yet another
pop of airtime.
You then rise back up into the brake run, ending OzIris.
So what would I rate OzIris?
If you haven’t been able to tell by the heaps of praise I’ve thrown at this invert,
it’s getting a perfect 10 out of 10.
This is my favorite coaster in all of France and there’s so much to love about this ride.
For one, the layout is a masterpiece.
It’s very unique and it’s a smorgasbord of sensations.
You have a mix of forceful inversions, floaty zero-G rolls, intense turns, and several airtime
moments if you’re in the back.
This diversity is what really elevated OzIris for me.
And then when you consider the elaborately themed Egyptian area that accompanies this
coaster, that’s just gravy.
It’s a borderline top 25 steel coaster for me.
I just hope when I return to Parc Asterix one day that OzIris is running just as I experienced
it in the spring of 2019.
So those are my thoughts on OzIris, the best Bolliger and Mabillard inverted coaster in
the world in my opinion.
What are you’re thoughts on this coaster?
I would love to hear what you think down in the comments.
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