39 feet or 12 meters tall. 1122 feet or 342 meters of track. 32 mph or 51 kph top speed.
Those are stats of a family coaster. But what if I told you this ride was arguably one of
the most intense coasters in the world? Which ride am I talking about? Tornado at Bakken.
Find out why this spinning coaster can be one of the wildest rides out there.
Spinning coasters made a resurgence in the 2000s. Most were built by Reverchon, Zamperla,
Gerstlauer, or Maurer-Sohne. And almost all of them were firmly family coasters.
Then Bakken received a spinning coaster from Intamin in 2009 named Tornado
and from the start, it was clear this would be a different experience.
During the ride’s construction, enthusiasts pondered why such a small coaster had a dual
chain lift. Why would such a small coaster have such a seemingly complex lift system?
The reason became clear upon opening. This was no ordinary chain lift.
This hydraulic lift was essentially a launch, accelerating the trains to 25 mph or 40 kph.
And this is a surprise for many riders since most of the ride is enclosed in a building.
There are two turns that pop above the midway showing the bright orange track,
but most of the twisted layout and lift hill is shrouded from view. The building itself
has a pretty mundane paint scheme, but I love the giant 3D twister placed on the building
and the giant signage for the attraction. Like many spinning coasters, Tornado has
just 4 person cars. Typically, the park has 4 on the course at once. But because
of a relatively short cycle time and a continuously moving load platform,
the ride usually has a short wait. The longest line I’ve seen for Tornado has been 10-15 minutes,
and that was on a summer weekend. The queue was set-up to have a single rider line,
but I’ve never seen it in use, presumably since the main queue is usually so short.
Like the Gerstlauer spinners, riders face inwards. I prefer the outer facing seats for the visuals,
but it is fun to see the shock and reaction of others during this ride’s intense bits.
Unlike the other spinners out there, Tornado has over-the-shoulder restraints with shoulder
straps. It’s the same restraint system found on rides like Intimidator 305 or Maverick.
And I have to say, this is one of the few rides I’m thankful for
having over-the-shoulder restraints. They are 100% necessary for the start of the coaster.
Now there are two ways to experience Tornado- the regular way and boost mode. If you’re a
hardcore thrill-seeker, you want boost mode. Boost mode throws you up the lift hill faster
and disables the mid-course trims, which allows the car to navigate the course 20%
faster. And the operators will also spin the cars, which results in the fastest and wildest
rotation on any spinning coaster I’ve experienced. I couldn’t believe how fast I was spinning!
To experience Boost mode, you need to ask the operators nicely and have low crowds. The ride
basically needs to be a walk-on for your request to be granted. This is for a few reasons. First,
the operators don’t pair parties together for this mode because of how intense it is. Second,
the operators need to stop the continuous load platform and switch the ride’s operating mode.
Third, the operators need to manually spin the car out of the station. Fortunately crowds
at Bakken are usually low enough that this can be accommodated outside of peak times.
I’ll first start by describing the normal ride experience. You slowly turn out of the station,
not yet spinning, and engage the chain lift. For a fleeting second, it tricks you into thinking
it will be your garden variety slow lift, but you suddenly start accelerating upwards in the dark.
The vehicle will start to rotate as well. You are then viciously thrown over the first drop.
Imagine being launched into the first drop on one of the Six Flags Pandemonium clones.
That’s basically what the first drop on Tornado is.
Because of how sharp this drop is, you are abruptly chucked upwards and sideways.
You get crazy laterals and a strong ejector pop simultaneously.
Your neck will inevitably snap against the shoulder straps from the violent motion.
It doesn’t bother me too much because the straps are soft, but this moment is too much for some.
Tornado then meanders through a series of helixes- some indoors and some outdoors. The change in
lighting and location does mess with your sense of direction, but the ride isn’t too intense
minus the first drop. These helixes don’t pile on the positive Gs and the spinning isn’t too crazy,
about on par with a Gerstlauer spinner. The ride does pick up towards the end though.
There’s a snappy S-transition that offers some nice laterals. Then the coaster has a
nice finale. This will almost always get the vehicle spinning quickly as you navigate a
compact helix and s-bend. You then hop into the final brakes getting a quick spurt of airtime.
This coaster is pretty brief, as you have roughly 30 seconds of prime ride time, but it at least
starts and ends with a bang. I think the pacing suffers towards the middle of the coaster.
Those helixes are fine for a straight-up family coaster, but it’s weird having an ultra-intense
start and backing off the thrills so severely. Now what about Boost mode? As you exit the
station, the operators will start spinning your vehicle. So when you reach the launched lift,
you spin at a more steady rate. And when you’re propelled into the main layout,
you will be spinning crazy fast. I couldn’t believe the difference!
The launch didn’t feel any faster and the initial drop was equally as intense as before,
but it’s apparent the ride is running much wilder immediately after. There’s
a transition early in the ride that pops you out of your seat this time
and you spin so quickly that you are subjected to sustained centripetal forces start-to-finish.
Picture those high-speed spins on a tilt-a-whirl that plaster you to the back of the seat, except
place that on a coaster. That’s what you have with Tornado. It felt completely out-of-control!
You end up hitting the brake run roughly 4 seconds faster in Boost mode.
That doesn’t sound like much, but remember that this is a pretty short coaster to begin with.
The final thing I want to touch on is the ride’s smoothness.
Most of the ride tracks well. The middle is smooth, but the finale has a rattle to it.
Then that first drop, while it tracks smoothly, is such a jarring transition
that it can cause discomfort for some. So what would I rate Tornado? Well…it depends
which mode it’s on. Regular mode gets a 6 out of 10. I love the crazy launched lift and first drop.
The ride does let its foot off the gas for the rest of the ride. It’s a weird contrast having
one of the most intense elements on any coaster followed by a series of helixes tamer than most
family spinners. But that initial moment ultimately makes the coaster memorable.
Boost mode gets an 8 out of 10. This is a night and day experience.
Those pacing issues I mentioned disappear. The extra speed and spin make a world of a difference.
You spin so quickly that any layout would be exciting.
You’ll get your equilibrium wrecked and likely cackle with delight…assuming you like to spin a
lot. I strongly recommend asking for this mode if you crave one-of-a-kind, thrilling experiences.
Tornado is a unique spinning coaster and few parks like Bakken would be willing to
operate a ride like this in Boost mode. And as a coaster enthusiast, I really appreciate it!
This is the best attraction at Bakken and when experienced in Boost mode,
it’s one of the best spinning coasters in the world. I’ll easily take the Mack Xtreme spinners
over Tornado because of the more varied elements, but Tornado in boost mode is better than almost
every other spinning coaster out there. Outside of Boost mode, I’d possibly place this ride near
the Pandemonium clones at the Six Flags park. That mode change makes that big of an impact!
So those are my thoughts on Tornado at Bakken, one of the most shocking experiences in the world.
What are your thoughts on this coaster? Have you experienced Boost mode? Let me know your
thoughts down below. If you enjoyed this review, 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!