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Overview of the Major Roller Coasters Opening in 2017
Many may argue that 2017 is a slow year for the amusement park industry, but, in reality, every year is full of speed. Many parks have announced new coasters and attractions they are planning to open in 2017 within the last year, including a new Intamin launched coaster, similar to Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka, that will blast riders from zero to 111.9 mph up a nearly 370-foot tall top hat. Other coasters include two new wooden roller coasters from Great Coasters International (GCI), an Intamin LSM launched coaster with jet-ski-styled trains, and three S&S - Sansei 4D Free Spin coasters.
The most renown of these new-for-2017 coasters is Mystic Timbers, a GCI wooden coaster that will open at Kings Island. This upcoming wooden coaster themed to an overgrown wooded area purchased by the fictional Miami River Lumber will be the first wooden coaster at the park built in seventeen years, and only the second since 1979. Mystic Timbers will be 109 feet tall, one foot shorter than The Beast, another wooden coaster at Kings Island, will have 3,265 feet of track, and will reach speeds of 53 mph. Kings Island will have the most wooden roller coasters in a single amusement park when Mystic Timbers opens as the fifth operating wooden coaster at the park in April 2017. Want to know my feelings about Mystic Timbers? Make sure to read my analysis of Mystic Timbers from July 29, 2016.
Another GCI wooden coaster, InvadR, is opening at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in 2017. This family wooden coaster will be the first of its kind at the park since it opened in May 1975. The coaster will be only one of two GCI wooden coasters supported by steel, rather than the traditional support material, wood, found on most of GCI's coasters. Busch Gardens Williamsburg said they chose a steel support structure for increased stability. The park also confirmed that they would be using some of the Millennium Flyer trains first used on Gwazi, a GCI wooden coaster that is standing but not operating at Williamsburg's sister park, Busch Gardens Tampa, for InvadR.
GaleForce, an S&S - Sansei multi-launch coaster under construction at Playland's Castaway Cove, was actually announced in 2015, and was scheduled to open in 2016. However, construction of a smaller roller coaster, Wild Waves, which is being built around GaleForce, was not completed on time, causing the opening dates for both coasters to be pushed back to 2017 to allow them to be operational without disturbances. GaleForce, which upholds the statement that "big things come in small packages," will only be 125 feet tall, but will reach speeds of 64 mph, hit a maximum g-force of 4.0, and will have a beyond vertical drop at an angle of 100 degrees.
This next coaster has hid in the shadows of others as it has been erected. Acelerador Vertical, an LSM launched coaster, will open as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Europe at Ferrari Land, a new amusement park opening in 2017 as well. Acelerador Vertical is nearly 370 feet tall at the highest point of its ninety-degree top hat, and it will reach speeds over 111 mph. The coaster will be the first Intamin accelerator coaster to feature the new triangular double-spine track style used on coasters such as Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion and Flying Aces at Ferrari World.
Intamin hasn't built a major roller coaster in the United States since 2012, the last coaster being Skyrush at Hersheypark. The drought of major Intamin coasters in America will finally end in 2017 when Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster opens at SeaWorld San Antonio. The coaster will have unique trains styled as jet-skis, similar to those found on Jet Rescue at Sea World Australia, (not owned by SeaWorld Entertainment). This multi-launch family coaster will be sixty-one feet tall and reach speeds of 44 mph. I suggest you read my analysis of Wave Breaker, available right now! Read it NOW here.
Another roller coaster, which currently is absent of a name, is opening at Fun Spot America in Kissimmee, Florida, in 2017. This will be an inverting wooden-hybrid coaster. The coaster will have a steel support structure rather than the traditional wooden structure. It will be 82 feet tall and will reach a top speed of over 48 mph. You can read my analysis of the new wooden-hybrid coaster coming to Fun Spot America in Kissimmee here!
These last three coasters are all located at Six Flags parks, and they all are clones of Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. All three coasters are named The Joker, and they will be located at Six Flags Great America, Six Flags New England, and Six Flags Over Texas. These S&S - Sansei 4D Free Spin coasters will be 120 feet tall, reach speeds of 38 mph, and have track lengths of 1,019 feet. You can read my analysis of The Joker here!
Analyses of Mystic Timbers, The Joker, and Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster are available on our site! If you want to view these must-read analyses, use the links below!
Analysis of Mystic Timbers, New for 2017 Coaster at Kings Island
Analysis of The Joker, New for 2017 Coaster at Six Flags Great America
Analysis of Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster, New for 2017 at SeaWorld San Antonio
Analysis of Gravity Group Wooden Coaster, New for 2017 at Fun Spot America (Kiss., FL)
Stay tuned to the Roller Coaster Daily Blog for more information about the new major roller coasters opening in 2017 by subscribing to our mailing list at the bottom of the page, following us on Instagram (@rollercoasterdaily) and Facebook (Roller Coaster Daily), and following Chief Editor Caleb Keithley on Twitter (@calebkeithley). All of these links can be found at the top and bottom of this page.
Mystic Timbers photo: WLWT.com
Acelerador Vertical photo: marca.com
