Coasters that seemed ahead of their time

[ava1enzue1a]

Which roller coasters seemed "too advanced" or "unbelievable" for the year they were opened, past or present?

Two right off the top of my head are...

Alpengeist: It's hard to believe that such a massive, speedy invert would be built even these days, let alone 16 years ago.

Top Thrill Dragster: I can't believe it's already a decade old now.

But those are just my opinions. Anyone else? Which roller coasters seemed to go far beyond any others that were created around their time?

 

[CookieCoasters]

Kumba definitely, even though it probably used too ride better it is an incredibly impressive ride that is now 20 years old!!!

 

[Nemesis of oblivion]

I guess Nemesis and Air.

 

[Jake]

The Eurofighters with their beyond vertical drops deserve a mention;

http://rcdb.com/2163.htm

Look at the "facts" section at the bottom. This makes me laugh!

Vertical lift, first drop at 97 degrees (that isn't a typo, beyond vertical!), 115 degree overbanked turn, vertical loop and camel-backs.

The same can be said for anything that was a first though?

 

[Auraofshadows]

Oblivion, Nemesis and Air.

 

[Ian]

Which roller coasters seemed "too advanced" or "unbelievable" for the year they were opened, past or present?

Top Thrill Dragster: I can't believe it's already a decade old now.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with the notion that TTD was ahead of it's time.

TTD opened in 2003, Dodonpa opened in 2001.

Both have 100+mph top speed and a top hat style element. Dopdonpa got there first. Ok, TTD is three times(ish) higher but it was only a matter of time until a company with enough money like Cedar Fair would commission such a ride tall enough to smash the height record.

To most enthusiasts who look no further than America, TTD is advanced but the ride concept could be credited to Dopdonpa. If anything, TTD is the evolved 2nd Gen Intamin launch coaster with Superman: Escape from Krypton/The Escape at SFMM being the first.

 

[Hutch]

X2 seemed pretty advanced when it opened in 2002 as X. I also agree about Eurofighters being unbelievable as well, especially since the first one opened in 2003.

 

[Martyn B]

Defo Oblivion...1998 for christs sake, and it still kicks arse!

 

[Xpress]

X. It bankrupted Arrow.

IMO it's design was far too advanced for the time it came out. Look at B&M, they're finally beginning to mass market their wingrider design close to a decade later.

 

[Jason Voorhees]

Moonsault Scramble - Fuji Q-Highland (1983). It's closed now but opened in 1983 and was 230 something feet tall, had a huge batwing, and was a boomerang type style coaster. Let's not forget it pulled 6.2 g's...

Steel Phantom - Kennywood (1991). The most itense roller coaster ever. 2nd drop was taller than the first. negative g's, positive g's, positive, negative, positive, negative, The g's went from negative and positive throughout the whole ride. The 2d drop was super long and as I mentioned was taller than the first. It also went 85 MPH through all those negative's and positive's and airtime and the major Thunderbolt headchopper.

Outlaw Run (2013) - Silver Dollar City. Who would have thought of 10 or 11 airtime moments, hang time, a double barrel roll, the custon 153 inversion, an 160 foot 81 degree drop on a world class woden coaster in the middle of Missouri at Silver Dollar City...

 

[Edward M]

X. It bankrupted Arrow.

IMO it's design was far too advanced for the time it came out. Look at B&M, they're finally beginning to mass market their wingrider design close to a decade later.

+1

I also think that Millennium Force is ahead of it's time. Flight of Fear is also ahead of its time being the first launched coaster.

 

[gavin]

^Flight of Fear was nowhere near the first launched coaster. I'm not going to try and find the exact first one, but the Schwarzkopf shuttle loops alone predate Fight of Fear by close to 20 years.

 

[madhjsp]

^ I'm guessing he meant to say first LIM launched coaster, which would be true. In that sense, it could be considered innovative, but not ahead of its time.

 

[Edward M]

^ meant first LIM but Schwarkopf's Shuttle loopers are probably more ahead of their time.

 

[Smithy]

X. It still boggles me how the thing works today. To even think of such a concept, let alone implement it.

And Oblivion, obviously.

 

[Hyde]

Drachen Fire, and other large, early 90s Arrow loopers. While the vision was there for large, multi-loop roller coasters, the train and ride design technology was not able to match.

Intamin, B&M and etc. were able to revisit this design style after improvements were made to the train chassis and track design to make for a smoother ride.

 

[madhjsp]

I think this is actually a pretty tough question. To me, a ride that is ahead of its time is one that pushes the limits of design and technology to previously unprecedented levels, which then went unmatched for years afterwards. Most of the answers given so far list coasters that were unique or a world's first of some sort, but ones that I wouldn't necessarily call "ahead of their time." Many of them just happened to be some of the first good examples of a ride type that quickly grew in popularity soon thereafter, which to me indicates that the design community and the GP were ready for the changes they helped usher in.. so in effect, they were precisely on time. Kumba is a perfect example of this.

The only ride I can think of offhand that stands out as completely ahead of its time, by my definition, is X. Nobody at the time was building anything that remotely resembled it. 11 years later, there have only been two other such rides constructed, and the first of those wasn't until 4 years after the original.

 

[Youngster Joey]

Surprised no one Matterhorn Bobsleds. That tubular steel track is what Allowed for most of the mentioned rides to exist. Steel tracks are extremely important to the future. While I wasn't alive I'd like to believe it was considered ahead of it's time.

 

[rollermonkey]

X is obvious, the mechanism is so simple, yet nobody thought to put a rack and pinion gear on a roller coaster...

I can't believe that according to RCDB, six shuttle loops opened in one year from two companies. Greezed Lightning, King Kobra and White Lightnin' from Schwarzkopf. Black Widow, Demon and Zoomerang from Arrow.

 

[Intricks]

Moonsault Scramble - Fuji Q-Highland (1983). It's closed now but opened in 1983 and was 230 something feet tall, had a huge batwing, and was a boomerang type style coaster. Let's not forget it pulled 6.2 g's...

Steel Phantom - Kennywood (1991). The most itense roller coaster ever. 2nd drop was taller than the first. negative g's, positive g's, positive, negative, positive, negative, The g's went from negative and positive throughout the whole ride. The 2d drop was super long and as I mentioned was taller than the first. It also went 85 MPH through all those negative's and positive's and airtime and the major Thunderbolt headchopper.

Outlaw Run (2013) - Silver Dollar City. Who would have thought of 10 or 11 airtime moments, hang time, a double barrel roll, the custon 153 inversion, an 160 foot 81 degree drop on a world class woden coaster in the middle of Missouri at Silver Dollar City...

None of those really.

I would have to say some of those really ancient coasters that we have onoy brief snippets of old news reals for, like the Flip-Flap Railway...or whatever the first looping wooden coazter was.

I would honestly say that was a visualized ride that really predated its time for all things considered. Look how long it took til a properly functioning wooden coaster with inversions appeared.

I would also like to add in Son of Beast. The ride was designed in a time in which wooden coasters were just beginning to push their boundaries a bit.

Lets see, maybe the Vekoma Flyers?

Hell, Id even put out Switchback Railway since this all mainly evolved from wanting to go snow sledding during the summer months (as well as a few more steps inbetween the sledding and switchback railway).