Top Ten Roller Coasters Opening in North America in 2017

Although only less than twenty roller coasters are opening in North America in 2017, some of them look to be great rides. Some are clones, some are originals, and some are for the little ones. Start making your *few* amusement park plans right now, as I will be counting down the top ten roller coasters opening in North America next year!

10. Wild Waves - Playland's Castaway Cove

Wild Waves was supposed to open in 2016, but for unknown reasons, it didn't. Little is known about this coaster, but it still seems to be a decent addition for all ages. It will be fifty feet tall and will wrap around the park's other new-for-2017 coaster, GaleForce.

9. Merlin's Mayhem - Dutch Wonderland

Merlin's Mayhem will be the first coaster to come to Dutch Wonderland, a children's theme park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in nearly twenty years. Merlin's Mayhem will be a family S&S Worldwide Family Inverted Coaster, the same model as Freedom Flyer at Fun Spot America in Orlando, Florida. It will be the tallest coaster in the park at 60 feet in height and 1,300 feet in length.

8. unknown - Casino Pier

This unnamed Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter will be very similar to several other coasters, such as Untamed at Canobie Lake and Rage at Adventure Island. These coasters are identical in their order of elements, except that Casino Pier's Euro-Fighter will not feature an additional helix before the final brake run, (most likely due to space constraints as Casino Pier is a boardwalk park).

7. The Joker - Six Flags Great America, Six Flags New England, and Six Flags Over Texas

The Joker will be a trio of S&S Worldwide Free Spin roller coasters. They will take riders 120 feet into the air and release them to spin freely, according to weight distribution, along a 1,019-foot track at 38 mph. These coasters are clones of BATMAN: The Ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

Read my analysis of The Joker here

6. Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster - SeaWorld San Antonio

Wave Breaker (for short) will be the first roller coaster from Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Intamin to be built in America since Skyrush at Hersheypark in 2012. It will be a double-LSM launch family coaster with jet ski-style trains seating two across. Riders will reach 44 mph while traversing a 2,600-foot track that has an apex of 61 feet.

Read my analysis of Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster here

5. Rollin' Thunder - Owa

Rollin' Thunder will be one of two roller coasters to open with a new amusement park, currently absent of a name, located in Owa, a multi-use development in Alabama. It will be a clone of Thunderbolt at Luna Park, a Zamperla Thunderbolt model. Rollin' Thunder will be 114.8 feet tall, 2,234.3 feet long, and will reach a top speed of 55.9 mph while riders encounter a 90 degree drop and four inversions.

4. InvadR - Busch Gardens Williamsburg

InvadR will be a Great Coasters International wooden-hybrid family coaster that features a 74-foot drop and a top speed of 48 mph. InvadR will have trains recycled from Gwazi, a wooden coaster standing but not operating at the sister park of Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Busch Gardens Tampa.

3. GaleForce - Playland's Castaway Cove

GaleForce, like the aforementioned Wild Waves, was scheduled to open this year, but didn't. When GaleForce opens, it will be an S&S Worldwide multi-launch coaster with a compact layout, consisting of a 100 degree drop and 1,269 feet of track. GaleForce will be 125 feet tall and have a top speed of 64 mph.

2. unknown - Fun Spot America (Kissimmee, Florida)

This recently announced wooden-hybrid coaster from The Gravity Group will be among the small handful of wooden coasters to feature an inversion(s). It will be 82 feet tall, 2,256 feet long, and have a top speed of 48.5 mph. The layout of the coaster will feature a barrel roll, 115 degree over-banked curve, and many airtime moments.

Read my analysis of the wooden coaster coming to Fun Spot America here

1. Mystic Timbers - Kings Island

Also from Great Coasters International, Mystic Timbers will be a wooden coaster focused on airtime and banked turns while taking riders through the woods of southwestern Ohio. Mystic Timbers will be the first wooden coaster built at the park in seventeen years. The coaster also features a dark shed at the end of the ride that will contain something the park is keeping a secret until Mystic Timbers officially debuts. The new wooden coaster will be 109 feet tall, 3,265 feet long, and will reach a top speed of 53 mph.

Read my analysis of Mystic Timbers here

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