Untamed is a steel hybrid roller coaster, located at Walibi Holland, in Flevoland, Netherlands.
The ride opened to the public as Europe’s first modern hybrid roller coaster constructed
by the well known roller coaster manufacturer, Rocky Mountain Construction.
And like the majority of their attractions, Untamed didn’t begin its life as the ride we see today.
Prior to the new millennia, the park was acquired by the Six Flags Corporation.
As a result, they opened in the year 2000 under the brand new name - Six Flags Holland.
With the debut season came a whole host of investments, including 4 new roller coasters.
One of these new flagship rides was Robin Hood, a wooden roller coaster manufactured
by Dutch firm, Vekoma.
In fact, Robin Hood was one of only three wooden rides built by the company, all located within Europe.
As its name suggests, the ride was located within a medieval themed area of the park
Sherwood Forest.
As it aged, Robin Hood began to gain a bad reputation.
Many found the wooden coaster was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
On top of this, as Walibi Holland developed, so too did it’s attractions.
New rides built at the park catered exclusively to the thrill seekers,
aiming to attract guests the new best thing.
By 2018, Robin Hood wasn’t as thrilling as it was upon opening year.
Declining ridership led by these two factors caused Walibi Holland to make a radical announcement,
and on the 6th of February 2018 they stated that Robin Hood would be refurbished into
a brand new experience for 2019.
This sparked a huge amount of hype within the European theme park communities.
As guessed, it was later confirmed that parts of the ride would be reused in a renovation
by the American company, Rocky Mountain Construction, often referred to as RMC.
The idea to improve, rather than completely replace, the aging attraction came from Walibi
Holland’s director, Mascha van Till.
After experiencing Iron Rattler in America, a similar old wooden coaster that had undergone
refurbishment to become a thrilling hybrid coaster, she decided it was a perfect fit for the park.
Robin Hood closed to guests for the last time on the 28th of October 2018.
The same night, an exclusive event revealed the name of the new roller coaster, Untamed.
Removal of the old track began in November, followed by construction of the new ride in December.
Throughout the building of Untamed, Walibi Holland produced a series of videos detailing
the construction process, and slowly revealing aspects of the ride.
Through this we saw the attractions’ conversion from a wooden roller coaster, to a hybrid variant.
The track was slowly replaced with a steel counterpart, while the original supports were
reused and altered to allow for a new layout to follow Robin Hood’s old design.
Towards the end of the process, the park installed a red button one of the fences near the ride’s station.
When pressed, a sound would play, which was later revealed to be the audio played when
a train is dispatched from the station.
After roughly 8 months of construction, the new roller coaster opened to the public on
the 1st of July 2019.
And unlike Robin Hood, time and effort was spent improving the overall design of the
attraction and its nearby area.
As a part of this, Sherwood Forest became an all new section of the park known as the Wilderness.
In total, 12.5 Million Euros were spent on the ride and its new area.
This included the addition of a whole host of thematic elements, to both the new roller
coaster and the Wilderness as a whole.
In fact, the section of the park is part of a greater 'Festivalization' project, which began in 2018.
With this, Walibi Holland aims to transform each area of the park over the coming years
through continued investment.
In the Wilderness, it’s very clear that mother nature has taken over.
Wicker and plants can be found scattered around, while old machines lay in disrepair.
As guests walk up to the ride they are met by the large metallic entrance sign.
Navigating the queue line, visitors pass beneath a repurposed section of Robin Hood’s wooden
track, with a car of the original ride sitting above.
It’s at this point that riders come face to face with the attractions station building,
which resembles an overgrown greenhouse.
Inside, guests board one of the ride’s two vehicles.
Each train has been made to resemble a large flying insect, similar to a dragonfly; and
seats visitors in six cars, each of which are made up of two rows of two.
This leads to a total of 24 riders per train.
Once ready, ride operators stand on pressure plates at the end of the station, allowing
the trains to dispatch from the station building.
As the sound plays, riders leave the station and complete a 45 degree outward banked turn,
straight into the base of the lift hill.
Here, the trains slowly climb up 36.5m (120ft) high.
After cresting the top of the hill, the trains plummet down the 35.4 m (116 ft) drop, at
the maximum vertical angle of 80 degrees.
It’s at this point that riders reach their maximum speed of 92 km/h (57 mph).
Once they’ve completed the first drop, guests race over a small bunny hop and enter a one-of-a-kind
inversion, the 270 degree double inverting corner stall.
This element sees the trains enter the first half of a zero-g roll, followed by a wave
turn, and then the second half of a zero-g roll.
After this, visitors complete a double up, followed by a downward left-hand banked turn.
The trains climb over two airtime hills, one normal and the 2nd outward banked, before
entering the ride’s 3rd inversion, a step-up underflip.
Riders then traverse a 97 degree outward stall and complete a double up,
followed directly by a double down.
At this point, guests enter their 4th inversion, a 140 degree stall.
After an overbanked turn right, the train navigate a series of four airtime hills, followed
by the final inversion, a heartline roll.
The ride comes to an end with a small dip and quick ascent into the final brake run.
Throughout their experience, guests complete 14 individual airtime moments and traverse
through 5 inversions, a record for an RMC roller coaster.
This all takes place within approximately 53 seconds of actual ride time, in which guests
navigate 1085m (3560ft) of track.
Because of this, and the size of the trains, Untamed has a maximum theoretical throughput
of roughly 900 riders per hour.
It’s safe to say that Untamed has been a huge success.
It seems that the ride has taken the Dutch roller coaster enthusiast community by storm.
Many love the ride, quoting it’s whippy layout and forceful airtime moments.
While others are happy to recall how much of an improvement the ride experience is compared
compared to its predecessor.
Untamed is taller, faster and longer than Robin Hood; managing to pack in a more thrilling
layout into the exact same space.
Which leaves us with the question, would you like to see more European theme parks convert
their older wooden coasters into new hybrid attractions?
Let us know which parks and rides in the comments down below.
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