Roar-O-Saurus is the amazing wooden roller coaster at Story Land.
If you told me a decade ago that Story Land would receive a wood coaster just 40 feet
or 12 meters tall, I would have believed you.
If you told me Story Land was going to get a roller coaster with a dozen airtime moments
would have called you a liar.
But after Gravity Group unveiled Wooden Warrior at Quassy and showed what they could do with
such a small coaster, Roar-O-Saurus became an intriguing ride for me when it was announced.
I still had my doubts if Story Land would actually build something with as much airtime
as Wooden Warrior.
And they didn’t.
Roar-O-Saurus crushes Wooden Warrior.
This is the most relentless small scale Gravity Group coaster.
This ride has some serious airtime, including a finale that is really reminiscent of Steel
Vengeance.
So in this video, I will explain why Roar-O-Saurus is one of the most underrated wood coasters
in the world.
Story Land has always been a park for children.
As a result, roller coasters have never been their focus.
From 1975 through 1986, they had the small Bradley and Kaye Iceberg Coaster.
Then in 1987, this ride was replaced by the Polar Coaster, a cute Hopkins terrain coaster
that winds its way down the hillside.
This was the perfect introductory coaster for kids, as it wasn’t very intense and
still perfectly comfortable for larger guests so they could be side by side with their children.
Gravity Group built Wooden Warrior for Quassy in 2011 and it was a major success.
Wooden Warrior cost only $2 million and it was masterfully designed.
The coaster stood just 32 feet or 10 meters tall, yet it featured airtime better than
coasters 3-5 times its size.
The ride was thrilling for all ages, but its low height limit and modest height made it
accessible to young kids.
It now serves as a gateway coaster for budding coaster enthusiasts.
Story Land wanted a new signature attraction and Wooden Warrior caught their eye.
So for the 2014 season, Story Land opened Roar-O-Saurus.
The ride had a similar sized drop to Wooden Warrior.
And just one more foot of track; Roar-O-Saurus had 1240 feet or 378 meters of track.
Roar-O-Saurus is more compact, yet it manages to cram in more airtime hills and excitement.
Roar-O-Saurus is located in the very back of Story Land.
But because of how far it is from the main entrance, it doesn’t open until a half hour
after the rest of the park.
That makes it harder to beat the crowds back there on busy weekend days.
I do recommend riding Roar-O-Saurus early in the day because this coaster can build
up a line.
Story Land can get decent crowds, yet the park only ordered a single 12 person train
for their new coaster.
So this coaster does not have the highest capacity.
Thankfully the crew does check the restraints super quickly, so they can at least maximize
that modest throughput.
And this is not a line you want to get stuck in.
The queue line wraps around the ride’s structure.
While this gives awesome views, there is zero shade.
A full queue takes roughly 45 minutes assuming lightning quick dispatches, but usually the
peak wait most days will be closer to 20-30 minutes.
Roar-O-Saurus is also loud.
You’re mere feet from the coaster, so you hear the loud rumble and steel screeching
every time this coaster cycles.
This noise can be unpleasant for all ages waiting in line, but I’ve seen it terrify
a lot of children to the point that they don’t want to ride the coaster.
Roar-O-Saurus doesn’t have any theming along the ride’s course, but the ride is part
of a small dinosaur area.
The ride plaza has a giant dinosaur statue plus some explorer music mixed with dinosaur
roars.
Then the fencing along the queue line has factoids about dinosaurs from A to Z.
But that all pales in comparison to Roar-O-Saurus’s lead car.
A stunningly detailed green dinosaur is at the helm of the Timberliner train.
It’s one of the best lead cars out there in my opinion.
Those Timberliner trains are super comfortable for all ages.
The seats are well-padded and you have just a lap bar that swivels from the side.
These restraints make it super easy to experience this coaster’s airtime.
And there’s a lot of it.
Possibly too much for the park’s audience.
The ride’s relentless nature catches a lot of adults off-guard.
Many come off shocked how wild this coaster is despite its small stature.
And it leads to a lot of lost articles.
Story Land proudly displays a white board in the station that keeps track of how many
articles are lost both on the day and season.
On average, Roar-O-Saurus steals 2-3 items per day.
Phones are the top item lost, but the ride operators were proudly touting that this coaster
ripped off someone’s hair extensions this past year.
Story Land offers free cubbies in the station and the crew gives oncoming riders plenty
of warning what they’re about to experience, but people still lose things without fail.
In general, Story Land has very friendly staff, but one weird thing that happens at Roar-O-Saurus
is what they do when a kid comes back screaming.
Rather than consoling the child, they sort of heartlessly add that child to their tally
of riders who came off crying.
Fortunately, most kids and adults do come off smiling and laughing.
Roar-O-Saurus delivers a wild ride in all seats, but I have a slight preference for
the back.
Most elements ride similarly throughout the train, but the very back row gets the full
power of the first drop.
Roar-O-Saurus has a super narrow station, but you’re allowed to wait for any row of
your choice.
Once dispatched, you slightly turn out of the station and quickly ascend the ride’s
lift hill.
At the top, you get a gorgeous view of the White Mountains.
Then you turn 180 degrees and the action begins.
The first drop is only 38 feet or 11.5 meters tall, but it packs a serous punch.
You’re still turning as you start the drop, so everyone gets some laterals.
Then if you’re in the back, you also get some good floater airtime simultaneously since
the drop is deceptively steep.
You then quickly navigate a double up.
The first hump gives a great pop of airtime up front and decent floater towards the back.
The second hump gives solid floater up front.
Then those in the back get strong floater airtime on the descent.
This double up is easily the ride’s second tallest point.
From this point forwards, Roar-O-Saurus hugs the ground and ups the ante.
You then zip around a low turn that leads into a tunnel.
This turn is underbanked, so you get some moderate laterals.
And those laterals are carried through the surprise bunny hill in the tunnel that gives
a good pop of airtime.
You then emerge into the daylight and navigate a double down.
Those up front, get two nice pops of airtime back to back.
Those in the back get a fairly good airtime pop on the first drop and a strong and abrupt
ejector pop on the second drop.
And it’s also paired with a sweet headchopper with the double up.
You then navigate back to back bunny hills.
The first has a decent pop of airtime throughout the train.
The second has a weaker pop throughout the train.
Roar-O-Saurus then zooms around another low turnaround, giving some sustained laterals,
before hitting one of the craziest sequences on any coaster- the bunny hill finale.
You have 4 consecutive hills.
They are tiny and have super sharp crests.
They almost look triangular.
So each hill tries to launch you to the moon.
All 4 hills have very strong and aggressive ejector airtime pops in the back.
The 3rd hill only offers a weaker pop towards the front, but the 3 other hills deliver nearly
as crazy airtime as the back.
But along with this airtime, there are also some subtle laterals mixed in.
The second bunny hill gradually turns to the left, so you get some solid laterals paired
with that wild ejector pop.
Then the third bunny hill sort of rides like an S-hill as you subtly twist to the left
into the hill and twist to the right out of it, so you get some weak lateral shift on
both sides of the airtime.
Getting 4 ejector airtime pops in a row is something few coasters can match.
Roar-O-Saurus’s finale is special.
Between it’s power and pacing, it reminds me of the bunny hill finale on Steel Vengeance.
I never thought I’d one day compare the best coaster at Cedar Point to a ride at Story
Land, but Roar-O-Saurus is 100% worthy.
This ride is legit.
You then turn into the station, getting one last dose of laterals.
This turn is also rather shaky, easily the shakiest part of the ride.
In general, Roar-O-Saurus is pretty smooth.
However, the ride does have a noticeable shuffle on all 3 turnarounds.
The ones on Roar-O-Saurus are very tight.
The other small scale Gravity Groups that came after Roar-O-Saurus take their turns
more smoothly, so I’m guessing future rides were adjusted accordingly based on their learnings
with this one.
So what would I rate Roar-O-Saurus?
I would give this underrated wood coaster a 9 out of 10.
Roar-O-Saurus is spectacular.
This is the reason I shamelessly return to Story Land as a grown adult annually.
Roar-O-Saurus may only have a top speed of 33 mph or 53 kph, but the coaster feels way
faster because of how compact the elements are.
And the coaster is a frenetic blitz of powerful airtime.
The sense of speed and constant airtime makes this one of the best paced wood coasters out
there in my opinion.
Roar-O-Saurus goes full throttle start to finish.
I love this coaster’s relentlessness.
This coaster destroys the other small scale Gravity Groups.
Roar-O-Saurus is a borderline top 10 wood coaster for me, which is no small feat.
And this is easily the second best wood coaster in New England after Boulder Dash.
I know not a lot of enthusiasts make it to Story Land, but this coaster is worth the
trip.
So those are my thoughts on Roar-O-Saurus, the amazing junior Gravity Group coaster at
Story Land.
What are your thoughts on this coaster?
How do you think it compares to the other small scale Gravity Groups?
I would love to hear your thoughts about Roar-O-Saurus down in the comments.
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