- [Host] Engineering is complex work
and even the best in the field
are capable of making mistakes.
This also goes for the fine folks
who design roller coasters.
Now, just because a rollercoaster has a design flaw
doesn't make it bad,
and that's the case with most of the rides on this list.
However, I thought it would be interesting
to look at some of the most famous design flaws
on today's roller coasters;
so as voted on by the fans,
here are the top 10
right here on "Theme Park Crazy."
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Number 10: the first hill on "The Ride to Happiness"
at Belgium's Plopsaland De Panne.
This first coaster may surprise you
considering how new it is.
Plus, German manufacturer Mack Rides
is one of the most seasoned coaster companies in the world.
However, like I said at the beginning,
even the best engineers can make mistakes.
This ride is known as an extreme spinning coaster model
and it's one of only two in operation-
the other one being "Time Traveler"
at Missouri's Silver Dollar City.
While "Time Traveler" has received universal acclaim,
many consider "The Ride to Happiness"
to be even more insane.
With its thrilling inversions and relentless pace,
some say it's one of the best roller coasters on earth.
Even still, this ride had a pretty clear design flaw
when it first opened.
After the first launch,
the coaster ascends a steep incline
and an outwards banked left turn,
and it was at this moment
that the original design had a major flaw.
The problem with this hill
was that it was theoretically easy
for the trains to valley at the top.
On February 19th, 2023,
this is exactly what happened,
but the train getting stuck at this point,
even worse,
due to high winds left over from storm Eunice
and short firefighter ladders,
it took six hours to evacuate everyone on board
with a crane.
This all would've been avoided
if the train was able to roll back to the station.
In response to this incident,
drive tires were installed on the hill
so the next time the train valleys,
the tires can simply push it back to the station.
As it stands, this coaster is operated without incident
and it remains a bucket list attraction
for many enthusiasts.
Number nine: the LIMs, or linear induction motors,
on "Mr. Freeze" at Six Flags Over Texas
and "Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast"
at Missouri's Six Flags St. Louis.
These two coasters are literally the same
with the only difference being
the direction the trains face-
so this applies to both of them.
These coasters, along with the now defunct
"Batman & Robin: The Chiller"
were originally built
to promote the disastrous Batman and Robin movie.
However, both "Mr. Freeze" coasters were delayed one year
due to issues with the launch system.
These were some of the earliest magnetic launch coasters
and this new technology often caused issues.
The design flaw on this coaster
doesn't really have to do with the launch itself,
but rather where it's placed on the track.
The ride experience consists of a 70-mile-per-hour launch
followed by an inverting top hat,
an over-banked turn,
and a vertical spike.
The train then descends the spike in the opposite direction
and repeats the layout backwards.
Some may think the design flaw is the first launch,
but there's actually another launch on this coaster.
Attached to the vertical spike
is another system of LIMs
which push the train down faster than gravity.
Without these LIMs,
the trains wouldn't have enough momentum
to return to the station-
and therein lies the problem.
If the launch system on the spike fails,
the train can easily valley
at either the bottom of the spike
or after the over-banked turn.
Had the launch system been placed
at the bottom of the spike,
it would be much easier
for the train to be launched out of this area.
But as it stands,
if the train valleys
it either has to be disassembled with a crane
or lifted up the spike with a winch and sent back down.
This is a lengthy process,
so if you see the train valley during one of your visits,
don't expect to ride it that day
or even for the next few days.
The bulky LIM system could only be installed
on straight sections of track.
Had there been a straight section at the bottom of the spike
they could have put the launch there.
If you plan on visiting either of these Six Flags parks,
make sure you ride this early in the day, just in case.
Number eight: the upstop pads and the original lap bars
on "Magnum XL-200" at Ohio's Cedar Point.
Upon its opening in 1989,
"Magnum XL-200" was the tallest full circuit rollercoaster
on Earth,
and the only one of its kind to break the 200 foot barrier.
Built by American manufacturer Arrow Dynamics,
this coaster was their most ambitious project at the time.
As such,
the company designed this ride in the same way
as their older attractions.
Some of the design choices, though,
were extremely problematic.
First of all,
the original restraint system was a thin metal lap bar.
This, as you can imagine,
was extremely painful
considering the coaster's notable ejector airtime.
Another big issue
was the fact that this coaster did not use upstop wheels,
which are wheels that run underneath the rails
to keep the train on the track.
Instead,
the coaster had metal upstop pads
which grinded against the track.
Naturally,
the high forces of the ride
led to excessive wear on the rails.
Nowadays,
metal pads are still used on some tamer roller coasters,
such as this example on Magic Mountain's "Gold Rusher,"
but on a hyper coaster like "Magnum,"
they were simply a poor fit.
Both the restraints and the upstop pads
would be switched out shortly after the coaster's opening.
More padding was added to the lap bars
and upstop wheels were placed on the trains.
These, along with other modifications,
greatly improved the ride
and it continues running strong today.
If you wanna learn more
about "Magnum's" changes over the years,
I've linked El Toro Ryan's problematic coasters video
in the description.
Awesome stuff!
Number seven: the first turn on "Intimidator 305"
at Virginia's King's Dominion.
In 2010,
this coaster made its debut
to enormous fanfare from thrill-seekers.
Coaster enthusiasts praised its high speed,
massive size,
and heavy forces.
However, these forces actually caused
some pretty notable problems at first.
The most intense moment by far occurs after the first drop.
After plunging 300 feet,
the train transitions straight into a banked right turn.
When the ride first opened,
this turn was considered to be way too intense
for general audiences,
and even some enthusiasts.
Several people were said to have blacked out
on this coaster.
A black-out occurs when positive Gs
push blood away from your head
and you temporarily lose consciousness.
Some enthusiasts consider this fun,
but even most of my viewers agree
that passing out on a rollercoaster
is more terrifying than enjoyable.
Because of this over-intensity
the coaster's ridership plummeted shortly after opening.
In fact,
more people were said to have ridden
the park's floorless coaster, "Dominator,"
in "Intimidator's" opening year.
The phrase, "Giga coaster 1 looks too intense for me"
definitely applied here.
At first,
a set of trim breaks were installed on the first drop
to reduce the speed,
but everyone knows that slowing down the first drop
is a total buzz kill.
So for the 2011 season,
the park had the first turn re-profiled
to tone down the G forces a bit.
This process even involved rerouting a service road
to make room for the footers.
Since then,
the coaster has operated with much less complaints,
and as for the original track,
it was actually kept in storage behind "Grizzly,"
but has since been removed.
Number six: the launch on "Lightning Rod"
at Tennessee's Dollywood.
In 2016 this attraction opened
as the world's first launch wooden coaster
with the use of a magnetic LSM,
or linear synchronous motor launch.
Guests were taken up the side of a large hill
and sent through a terrain based layout
packed to the gills with airtime.
Despite the ride itself being acclaimed though,
it would end up being a maintenance migraine for the park.
The ride's manufacturer,
Rocky Mountain Construction,
had never built a launch coaster before
and Dollywood's request to make it a wooden coaster
made it especially challenging.
Without the resources to design the launch themselves,
RMC ended up working with Pennsylvania company,
Velocity Magnetics.
While the company agreed to build the launch system,
they too had never built one.
Velocity's work experience did involve magnetic systems,
but they were breaking systems and not launch systems.
From the very beginning,
the coaster struggled with its launch system.
Not only was it prone to overheating,
but it would oftentimes
fail to launch the trains up the hill causing rollbacks.
Supposedly, this was due to the wooden structure
flexing underneath the launch track.
Wooden structures are much more flexible than steel ones
and this allegedly caused the launch fins
to be misaligned with the trains
causing an error that shut down the coaster.
These issues,
in addition to wear and tear on the wooden track,
led to a problematic first few years at the park.
Eventually,
most of the coast's layout was given a steel re-tracking.
Though it's said to be more reliable than before,
it still reportedly has issues.
Overall, this coaster story is too big for a "Top 10" video
and there are more details I haven't mentioned,
so feel free to subscribe
and stay tuned later this month.
Number five: the final turn on "Pegasus"
at Wisconsin's Mt. Olympus.
A couple weeks ago,
we talked about the polarizing "Hades 360."
Some people love this coaster and some people hate it,
but the ride on this list is one that
this ride is supposed to be a family wooden coaster.
However,
many have criticized it for its roughness
and heavy discomfort.
The profiling and layout are just bizarre,
consisting mostly of uncomfortable turns;
and though there are a few airtime hills at the end,
riders are suddenly blindsided
with an un-banked jerk to the right.
Just one look at this clip
can easily lead one to believe
the designers use the auto-complete feature
for this coaster.
It was like they were designing the layout
and all of a sudden
realized the station was right in front of them.
To its credit,
some viewers have said the turn really isn't that bad
but others would consider it a reverse bucket list coaster,
as in a coaster
you hope to go your whole life without riding.
- [Rider] Ow!
- [Host] If you've experienced this turn,
feel free to let me know about it in the comment section.
Number four: the inversions on "Texas Tornado"
at Texas' Wonderland Amusement Park.
This story is just hilarious
and has been publicly shared by the park.
Apparently,
this coaster was originally designed on a napkin
at a trade show cocktail party.
The manufacturer was Florida-based company Hopkins Rides.
This company is mostly known for their flume
and shoot the chutes rides,
but they did build a few roller coasters.
With "Texas Tornado,"
it wasn't until the ride was constructed
that a major problem was discovered.
As it turned out,
the trains were unable to complete the inversions.
In a supposed effort to save time and money,
officials made the unorthodox decision
to attach what looked like spokes to the structure.
This way, only the track had to be re-profiled,
while the structure of the inversions
remained the same.
The result is
one of the strangest looking roller coasters out there.
Fortunately, this ride is said to be an enjoyable coaster
and a must-ride for unique credit-seekers.
Number three: the drop on "Tower of Terror"
at South Africa's Gold Reef City.
This is definitely one of the most
mysterious operating roller coasters out there.
Designed by Ferris wheel specialist, Ronald Bussink-
yes, "Bussink" not "Bussnik-"
Number 16: "The Evolution" built by Dutch designer,
Ronald Bussnik.
(dramatic, sad music plays)
- [Katy Perry] They ask you how you are,
and you just have to say that you're fine
when you're not really fine.
- [Host] This coaster was said to be built by
either Swiss manufacturer, Giovanola,
or by local companies.
Either way,
when it first opened
it had a major flaw with its main element.
After ascending an actual mining tower,
the train plunges down a 90-degree drop.
Initially,
the bottom of this drop was supposed to exert
around four Gs on riders.
However,
the forces were greatly underestimated in the design process
and the actual ride turned out to be 6.3 Gs.
This unintentionally made it
the most forceful rollercoaster on Earth.
As it turned out,
the pullout of the drop was too sudden.
Anyone who's designed a ride in "Planet Coaster"
can tell you that suddenly switching directions
is way too forceful.
Fortunately, in the mid 2000's,
the coaster was renovated,
giving it new trains
a new elevator lift system,
and an adjusted drop.
Nowadays, the G forces are much closer
to what they were originally intended to be.
Regardless of losing its record though,
this coaster is still a fascinating addition
to any enthusiast's credit list.
Number two: the heartline roll on "Maverick" at Cedar Point.
Yep, another Cedar Point coaster is on this list.
Unlike "Magnum," though,
this design flaw was hammered out before the ride opened.
When the coaster was originally announced,
its layout featured a heartline roll
after the covered launch.
This inversion was tested a few times,
but almost immediately the problems with it were evident.
You may be thinking that such a fast inversion
would risk serious injury to the passengers,
but this actually isn't the case.
As the name of this inversion implies,
A heartline roll has your chest as the center of rotation,
so passengers would easily be able to navigate this
without any danger,
but while the passengers would be spared
from the roll's forces
the trains would be completely subjected to them.
The inversion was so forceful
that it put way too much stress on the trains
which could have easily led to accelerated wear and tear.
Had the inversion stayed in place,
the cost of maintaining the trains
would've likely been astronomical.
So to make things easier for the park,
the inversion was removed
and replaced with a simpler S-curve.
Funnily enough,
the heartline roll was not sold for scrap,
but was instead sent to steel fabricator, Adena Corporation,
in Mansfield, Ohio.
It was recently discovered on Google Earth
and a few enthusiasts have taken the trek out to Mansfield
to check it out...
a remarkable piece of Cedar Point's history.
Number one" the racing feature on "Twisted Colossus"
at California's Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Now this one may be controversial,
since many of my viewers have argued
that it isn't really a design flaw.
However,
after conducting a separate poll,
I decided to leave it in here
since it's debatable.
First opening in 2015,
this RMC I-Box coaster
was a revival of the park's old wooden coaster, "Colossus."
That racing coaster had two separate tracks,
but for "Twisted Colossus,"
both of the tracks were combined into a single layout.
Ordinarily,
this would be considered a Möbius loop coaster,
but since the whole layout is traversed in one circuit
and there's only one boarding station,
it's considered a quasi Möbius loop coaster.
The main selling point of this ride was the racing feature
and the ability to have
two trains interacting with each other on the course.
The problem was
that this feature was extremely hard to execute correctly.
In order to race another train,
ride operators have less than a minute to dispatch it.
Of course,
the station has bins,
meaning riders will inevitably need time to put away
their wallets,
phones,
and drink cups.
And of course,
the ride operators still have to
carefully check everyone's restraints.
All the while, the other train is inching up the lift hill.
The lift hill can slow down, but it won't stop entirely.
Because of the strict guidelines,
the trains are said to rarely dual each other.
Some have suggested
that there should be a holding break
before the second lift hill.
The problem with this method
is that passengers would be stuck outside
waiting before the lift hill-
this would kill the ride's pacing
and lead to hampered operations.
So with this coaster,
racing is purely up to chance
and it all really boils down
to there not being two stations.
I can only imagine
how stressful it would be to be a ride operator
on this ride.
With someone on board demanding to race,
you constantly have to tell everyone
how many seconds they have left to race.
Then, if someone takes 500 years
emptying their cargo pockets into the bins,
you end up getting blamed for the trains not racing.
If you work this ride, you deserve a lot of respect.
Perhaps the quasi Möbius loop coaster
is an inherently flawed concept,
but still,
when it does race,
it's an amazing ride.
So if you don't get a race, just keep trying.
And now it's time for the comment shoutout program.
This is where I take five random comments
from my previous video
and read them out.
These comments come from my video
on the most improved coasters.
No, This Is Mattrick! says,
"went on Ninja in Georgia,
probably not long before the switch,
it started to rain right at the top of the lift hill,
getting raindrops in the eye
and partially obscuring vision
added a new level to the headbanging lol."
Liam says,
"During my marching band trip
I rode Icebreaker for the first time
a week before they got rid of the comfort collars,
I live so far away, so I gotta wait so long.
I also didn't get to ride Velocicoaster
when I was down there.
CJ79 says,
"Icebreaker is already my number one at SeaWorld Orlando,
I can't imagine how nuts it is now."
Mr. Crash says, "Steel Phantom was not trash."
And Quix says,
"so glad my home park got some love at number one!
Phantom is a treasure of a coaster
considering its history,
and still holds up to coasters 20 years older!
It's almost the father of RMCs
as someone who's ridden a lot of RMCs
and Phantom hundreds of times."
If you wanna see your words in my next video,
leave a comment down below and it may be selected.
Please note though that inflammatory or spam comments
will not be read.
Thank you all so much and if you wanna support me on Patreon
you can do so once again
at the link in the description.
Thanks for watching, everyone.
Feel free to like, share and subscribe.
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