Salama is a Mauer-Sohne spinning coaster at Linnanmaki.
Most of the Maurer spinners are cloned, off-the-shelf layouts, but Salama features a custom layout
above the park’s Hurjakuru river rapids ride.
But is this unique layout actually good?
Find out in this review of Salama.
Hurjakuru opened in 1998 and Salama opened a decade later in 2008.
Linnanmaki is a park that’s pressed for space and it really is impressive how Maurer
was able to cram this ride into the park.
The twisted mess of track looks great off-ride, especially from the rapids ride down below.
Salama has 6 cars according to RCDB, but it was only operating two when I visited Linnanmaki.
That was problematic since the cars only seat 4 riders back-to-back.
I visited on a busy summer day and the line spilled onto the midway.
The ride’s queue line doesn’t hold too many people, but Salama’s limited throughput
caused a full queue to take roughly 45 minutes.
Of the spinning coasters, the orientation used on the Maurer ones is my favorite.
I love the spinners that face riders outwards.
It gives everyone an unobstructed view, which enhances the disorienting visuals as you’re
spinning like a top.
I do find the low seats on the Maurer spinners a little uncomfortable if you get stapled
by the lap bar, but the operators at Linnanmaki weren’t pushing down too hard.
And they always had the next car ready to go once the prior one hit the brake run.
So while the ride was operating with limited cars, the operators were doing their best
to keep the line moving at a steady, albeit slow, pace.
Once dispatched, Salama rapidly climbs the 56 foot or 17 meter tall lift hill.
Once you clear the lift, the cars start spinning immediately as you traverse this short pre-drop
that feels similar to trick track as the banking quickly changes directions.
And then you head down the first drop.
It’s not as steep as the drop on the SC2000 layout, but it still produces a tummy-tickling
sensation if you’re lucky enough to experience it either sideways or in reverse.
That’s followed by a cool horseshoe turn.
You get a surprisingly decent dose of positive Gs into this element and then you spin throughout
the vertical turn, which is a neat visual.
You then rise up into the first of a few mid-course brake runs.
While these kill all momentum on Tulireki, they barely slow you down on Salama.
However, the excitement dies at this point.
While Salama does hold its speed throughout the remainder of the layout, there really
aren’t any other exciting drops, turns, or transitions.
It just feels like Salama is going through the motions.
The segment between the first and third brake runs turns entirely to the right.
I had an unbalanced car, but I still didn’t get much spinning.
It felt more like a controlled and gradual turn during this section.
The segment after the third brake run reintroduces left turns, but it’s too little too late.
You just have two more u-turns before hitting the final brake run.
And you better hope you don’t come in sideways.
Salama tracks smoothly like all the Maurer spinners, but the way the brake run turns
the car back into position is very abrupt and jarring.
It feels like a car crash.
It’s a violent way to end your 1378 foot or 420 meter long journey.
So what would I rate Salama?
I would rate this Maurer spinning coaster a 5 out of 10.
It’s a fine ride.
It’s smooth and has a strong start, but the final three quarters of the layout lacked
any good elements or major spinning.
When I saw Salama was a custom Maurer spinning coaster, I got excited since I’ve loved
all their other unique layouts.
Salama does hold its speed better than other spinning coasters, but it just didn’t have
the crazy spinning or sudden drops I was looking for.
So those are my thoughts on Salama, the Maurer-Sohne spinning coaster at Linnanmaki.
What are your thoughts on this coaster?
Did you get better rides on it than me?
I would love to hear your thoughts about the ride down in the comments.
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!