Maurer has been in business for 150 years, but they’ve only been building coasters for the past
30 years. In that time, the company has built a wide range of spinning and wild mouse coasters,
but they’ve also introduced some innovative thrill coasters such as the Sky Loop. Now the
company is heavily pushing their spike coasters. So in this video, I will rank the company’s top 20
coasters that I’ve personally experienced. Before starting the countdown, I need to
note that I have not been to China. Fortunately, I have ridden clones of
their highest profile coasters over there, so I will touch on those when appropriate.
I also have not experienced their first coaster in Venus GP since Space World was closed in my
lone visit to Japan. This unique looping coaster has since been relocated to Himeji Central Park,
so maybe I can experience it one day. I also did not get to experience G Force
at Drayton Manor before its removal, nor have I experienced its clone in Iraq.
Lastly I have reviews for several of these coasters, including everything in the top 3.
20) Wild Mouse- The base wild mouse coaster has some variability depending how hard the trims hit,
but at its peak, the first half has strong laterals on the hairpin turns and the second
half offers some airtime pops on the sharp dips. 19) Twistrix at Drievliet- This is a bizarre
spinner that feels more like a flat ride. The coaster layout is quite dull. It’s
a short, slow spiral around a garden. But this ride spins more than most tea cup rides.
Picture those high speed spins on a tilt-a-whirl chained together. You’re sure to come off dizzy.
18) Naga Bay at Bobbejaanland- This spinner has a wonderful location above
the pathways and water. It creates some nice views on and off-ride.
I also like this ride’s layout; however, the pacing is killed by a series of harsh
trim brakes. You’ll still spin, but most of the elements feel slower and weaker than they should.
17) SC2000 Coasters- This is the company’s most common spinning coaster layout and that’s fine
because it’s a decent ride. The initial drop is quite the thrill if you take it in reverse.
Then you can get some good spinning if you have an off-balance car.
The one thing that can vary mightily installation to installation is how hard the brakes hit.
This impacts the pacing and spinning. Whirlwind at Seabreeze and Spider at Lagoon are the two best
examples of this layout I’ve ridden. 16) Salama at Linnanmaki- This custom
spinner is uniquely placed above this park’s river rapids ride. The layout helically winds about,
yet it didn’t induce as much spinning as I expected. However, the initial drop and
horseshoe turn are fun. And there’s very little braking so the ride holds its speed well.
15) Sky Dragster at Skyline Park- This is the only spike coaster I’ve experienced to date and it also
happens to be the prototype. This is a powered coaster, but the initial straightaway feels like
a strong coaster launch. Then you head through a quirky layout. There are no notable drops, but
there are some tight helixes that are enjoyable, especially since the trains leave you so exposed.
14) Insider at Wiener Prater- This is a mutli-sensory experience. The queue line has a
mirror maze and a fun sci-fi theme. Then the main layout is overwhelming with electronic dance music
and lasers flying everywhere. This is especially disorienting since this is another spinning
coaster. This one has a basic layout that’s identical to the company’s original wild mouse
coasters. Except you will spin a lot if you’re in an off-balanced car. The downside with this
coaster is that it has some severe braking. This hurts the pacing and can cause you to whack the
side of the car since you can’t see them coming. 13) Fiorano GT Challenge at Ferrari World-
This is a strange launch coaster. It seems to take inspiration from Disneyland’s old Rocket Rods.
First, you have 4 LSM launches. None are particularly powerful, but you keep having
the need to accelerate because each launch section has a brake shortly thereafter. Second,
the turns are completely unbanked. This is the ride’s greatest thrill element since you get some
wicked laterals. Then this coaster also offers a long ride and most importantly, one of the best
executed racing elements of any coaster. The two tracks are side-by-side the entire time.
12) Crush’s Coaster at Walt Disney Studios- This is a plussed SC2000 coaster. For one,
you have a fun little dark ride sequence at the start. This is a Disney coaster after
all. Then the main layout has some fun music and psychedelic lighting effects,
but not enough to reveal the full layout. This makes the ride extra disorienting. Despite having
to operate at a higher capacity, this one isn’t braked too harshly so the spinning is very strong.
Just beware this ride’s queue line! 11) Cagliostro at MagicLand- This is another
indoor Maurer spinning coaster, but this one has a fully custom layout. And the set-up shocked
me. You see this large building, but you only go halfway up. Yet you have a sizable drop. That’s
because the ride is built in a pit below ground level. This caught me off-guard on my first ride.
This is especially because the ride is in total darkness. That initial drop is the highlight,
but the rest of the layout is full of twists with minimal braking, so you’ll spin plenty.
10) Sky Loop- This model has some sensational hangtime. The vertical lift bends backwards,
fully inverting riders. This transition and subsequent barrel roll have several seconds
of hangtime and it’s sort of freaky. Then you have another roll that leads into a forceful dive loop.
On most, you then rock and back forth getting a mix of hangtime and weightlessness.
And each time you pass through the station, you get some more positive Gs. The one downside
with this coaster is the finale. You stop on the vertical lift and the restraint,
which rests against your tummy, will give you a gut-punch from the abrupt stop.
9) Tarantula at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid- This is a different spinning coaster. Most focus
on twists, turns, and helixes. Tarantula does not. So the spinning isn’t as strong as others.
However, this one compensates with a series of good and sizable drops since this coaster
is built on a hill. They pack a nice punch if you take them in any direction but forwards.
8) Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers- This is yet another spinner. This one starts with two sizable
drops. The second one is particularly sweet since you’re spinning for it. The ride does have a lot
of block zones that will slow you down, but the ride keeps regaining its speed afterwards and the
spinning is solid for the duration of the ride. 7) Formule X at Drievliet- This ranking would also
apply to Crazy Car in China, as that ride is a clone. This is a small and compact X-Car coaster,
but it has some really good elements. It starts with a forceful LSM launch. Then there’s a dive
loop with hangtime at the top and crushing Gs on the pullout. The hill midway through
has some ejector airtime and the corkscrew offers ridiculous hangtime with those lap bar restraints.
And this ride is extremely smooth unlike some of the other X-Cars higher on this list.
6) Freischutz at Bayern Park- This is the roughest X-Car coaster. The train rattles start to finish.
Thankfully the lap bars prevent any headbanging, but this is one that could be tricky to marathon.
And that’s a shame because it is otherwise a great ride. It starts with a nice LSM launch. Then there
are 4 wonderful inversions. The inverted top hat has hangtime. The loop has ok power. The
first heartline roll has hangtime while the second whips you through it. Dragon Legend
is a clone of this ride in China that could potentially rank higher if it runs smoother.
5) Dragon’s Fury at Chessington World of Adventure- I love this spinner’s layout.
It’s a larger, sprawling one as opposed to the usual compact and self-contained layout.
The ride has enough changes of direction to keep the spinning consistent throughout
between the helixes and s-bends. Then this coaster features a trio of fantastic drops,
and as always, they hit particularly hard if you experience them going backwards. This is one of
the most complete spinning coasters out there. 4) Abismo at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid-
This is the one extended Sky Loop and I love everything except this coaster’s finale. You have
a similarly thrilling inverted chain lift. You get that delightful hangtime on that lift and initial
barrel roll. Then the dive loop back down offers some more hangtime at the top followed by crushing
positives. And those Gs are carried through a powerful overbank that caused me to greyout.
You then have two airtime hills. The first is a big camelback with sustained ejector. The second
is some floater going back to the station. The ride tracks very smoothly; however, you
have the same uncomfortable stop on the vertical lift due to the bars resting on your stomach.
3) Winjas at Phantasialand- This spinning has two separate and different tracks- Fear and Force.
From the pathways, you can see some thrilling drops and a series of turns and helixes that
will have the cars spinning fast. But what makes this ride special are a series of tricks
hidden from view. I don’t want to spoil them here, but they are easily the best
part of the ride and will definitely catch a first-time rider off-guard.
2) Shock at MagicLand- This X-Car coaster is punchy. The LSM launch has solid power
and then you have an intense first half. There’s this large camelback with great ejector airtime.
That’s followed by a giant non-inverting loop with some airtime and laterals.
Then you have one of the snappiest overbanks of any coaster. You slow way down after the
mid-course brake run, but the final barrel roll uses that to its advantage to offer incredible
hangtime. And fortunately, this is another one of the X-Cars that runs very smoothly.
1) Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida- I know this ride has its many haters,
but I love it. This X-Car coaster doesn’t track the best. The trains can shuffle,
but not enough to cause pain especially with those restraints. The ride does have a ton of mid-course
brake runs, but I don’t mind since you get good airtime entering and exiting each one.
On that note, this coaster has excellent forces. You have several forceful turns, no shortage
of airtime, and that awesome non-inverting loop combining negative and lateral Gs. And this ride
features some of the best on-board audio of any coaster to make the whole experience a joyride.
So those are the top 20 coasters Maurer has built. I really hope more parks give them a
chance with their custom X-Car coasters because those rides show a lot of promise. What are your
favorite rides from Maurer? Let me know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this countdown, I’d
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!