Inspiration to be a designer for RMC has brought me out from under my quite lovely rock that has been under the RCT3/Theme Park Simulation community. While I'm back, I'd thought I post some other threads or posts about real roller coasters in the industry. That has definitely been the main coaster thing I've focused on for right now. I'm keeping my list to US coasters, but feel free to mention any I might have missed. Enjoy!
8 - Joker at Six Flags Great America, New England, and Over Texas
Three Six Flags parks are getting the new wide clone in the Six Flags chain. These S&S Free Spins are Wing Coasters with spinning seats, and are very similar to Intamin's ZacSpin models. This type of ride allows riders to get spun head-over-heels multiple times during the course. While they are all clones, it'll definitely drop the jaws of some GP. Read more about the Joker clones here.
7 - Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster at SeaWorld San Antonio
SeaWorld San Antonio is adding an interesting roller coaster meant to give a jet-ski like ride experience. Wave Breaker is essentially a Vekoma Motorbike coaster, but it is much more intended for the whole family and it's by Intamin. The theming and style of the ride looks great. It's good to see the park balance thrill machines such as Great White or Steel Eel for something that everyone can enjoy together. Read more about Wave Breaker here.
6 - Unknown Eurofighter at Casino Pier
[size=small]Casino Pier is adding a modern steel looping coaster to their classic boardwalk lineup. Their Gerstlauer Eurofighter will essentially have the same layout as similar Eurofighters such as Untamed at Canobie Lake Park, featuring the Eurofighter-typical layout including loop, cutback, and heartline roll. I'm glad to see that Casino Pier is taking a step up in their game, considering how weak their lineup currently is. It will be a great fit, and I'm interested to see how a Eurofighter will look on a boardwalk setting.
5 - GaleForce at Playland's Castaway Cove
This coaster was a big shocker for many enthusiasts. S&S is building what is supposedly their "copied homework" of the Skyrocket II. It'll be a very tall, but compact steel multi-launch coaster that will bring back an extreme coaster to the park after they removed quite a few roller coasters. The ride has suffered quite a bit of down time, unfortunately, but as we learned from Lightning Rod, it's easiest to stick to the tried and true method of coasters. For now, stay tuned to Screamscape for for the latest.
4 - Rollin' Thunder at Owa
Owa is the newest amusement park to be built in the US, and they are building a new, sweet roller coaster. Rollin' Thunder will carry riders up a vertical lift before being followed by a shocking 90-degree drop. The drop will pull riders back up into the first of many inversions, a vertical loop, and so on. The ride will follow the same layout as Thunderbolt at Luna Park in Coney Island, and I'd imagine that the ride will do Owa a lot of good for the thrill seekers.
3 - InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg will be filling their gap of a missing wooden coaster in 2017. They really needed it to balance out all the B&M coasters. The ride, being done by GCI, will have lots of thrilling moments but it advertised as being somewhat family-geared. And to say that InvadR is good for the park is an understatement. The SeaWorld company is finally finding good in the GCI coasters after Gwazi, and it looks like we might be seeing more wooden coasters in the future, or maybe something even better (Come on Busch Gardens, I believe in you to consult with RMC). More on Invadr here.
2 - Unknown Gravity Group Woodie at Fun Spot Kissimmee
Similar to InvadR, Fun Spot in Kissimmee really needed a good wooden coaster. More than that actually, they really needed a good THRILLING coaster period. With this new Gravity Group looping woodie, Fun Spot Kissimmee will go from "eh" to AWESOME just like that! With not only a barrel roll inversion feature, the ride features multiple great banked turns, airtime pops, and intense pacing, looking to counter White Lightning as the best wooden coaster in Florida. This should, again, be a ride appealing to most ages, not just thrill seekers.
1 - Mystic Timbers at Kings Island
One of the biggest parks in the Cedar Fair chain, Kings Island, is building the newest wooden coaster in the chain since Gold Striker back in 2013. This new thrilling ride will be the first GCI to be mostly airtime based, with tons of airtime hills and not too many banked turns, in contrast to most of GCI's creations. It looks like a great ride, very well paced and another masterpiece from GCI. While many people wish this came to a park that actually needed it,Â
 that doesn't take away from it at all. And as everyone knows, we must wait to anticipate #whatsintheshed. More on Mystic Timbers here.
What's your take? Which of these 2017 coasters looks best to you?
I've even set up a poll so you can give your opinion there.
8 - Joker at Six Flags Great America, New England, and Over Texas
Three Six Flags parks are getting the new wide clone in the Six Flags chain. These S&S Free Spins are Wing Coasters with spinning seats, and are very similar to Intamin's ZacSpin models. This type of ride allows riders to get spun head-over-heels multiple times during the course. While they are all clones, it'll definitely drop the jaws of some GP. Read more about the Joker clones here.
7 - Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster at SeaWorld San Antonio
SeaWorld San Antonio is adding an interesting roller coaster meant to give a jet-ski like ride experience. Wave Breaker is essentially a Vekoma Motorbike coaster, but it is much more intended for the whole family and it's by Intamin. The theming and style of the ride looks great. It's good to see the park balance thrill machines such as Great White or Steel Eel for something that everyone can enjoy together. Read more about Wave Breaker here.
6 - Unknown Eurofighter at Casino Pier
[size=small]Casino Pier is adding a modern steel looping coaster to their classic boardwalk lineup. Their Gerstlauer Eurofighter will essentially have the same layout as similar Eurofighters such as Untamed at Canobie Lake Park, featuring the Eurofighter-typical layout including loop, cutback, and heartline roll. I'm glad to see that Casino Pier is taking a step up in their game, considering how weak their lineup currently is. It will be a great fit, and I'm interested to see how a Eurofighter will look on a boardwalk setting.
5 - GaleForce at Playland's Castaway Cove
This coaster was a big shocker for many enthusiasts. S&S is building what is supposedly their "copied homework" of the Skyrocket II. It'll be a very tall, but compact steel multi-launch coaster that will bring back an extreme coaster to the park after they removed quite a few roller coasters. The ride has suffered quite a bit of down time, unfortunately, but as we learned from Lightning Rod, it's easiest to stick to the tried and true method of coasters. For now, stay tuned to Screamscape for for the latest.
4 - Rollin' Thunder at Owa
Owa is the newest amusement park to be built in the US, and they are building a new, sweet roller coaster. Rollin' Thunder will carry riders up a vertical lift before being followed by a shocking 90-degree drop. The drop will pull riders back up into the first of many inversions, a vertical loop, and so on. The ride will follow the same layout as Thunderbolt at Luna Park in Coney Island, and I'd imagine that the ride will do Owa a lot of good for the thrill seekers.
3 - InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg will be filling their gap of a missing wooden coaster in 2017. They really needed it to balance out all the B&M coasters. The ride, being done by GCI, will have lots of thrilling moments but it advertised as being somewhat family-geared. And to say that InvadR is good for the park is an understatement. The SeaWorld company is finally finding good in the GCI coasters after Gwazi, and it looks like we might be seeing more wooden coasters in the future, or maybe something even better (Come on Busch Gardens, I believe in you to consult with RMC). More on Invadr here.
2 - Unknown Gravity Group Woodie at Fun Spot Kissimmee
Similar to InvadR, Fun Spot in Kissimmee really needed a good wooden coaster. More than that actually, they really needed a good THRILLING coaster period. With this new Gravity Group looping woodie, Fun Spot Kissimmee will go from "eh" to AWESOME just like that! With not only a barrel roll inversion feature, the ride features multiple great banked turns, airtime pops, and intense pacing, looking to counter White Lightning as the best wooden coaster in Florida. This should, again, be a ride appealing to most ages, not just thrill seekers.
1 - Mystic Timbers at Kings Island
One of the biggest parks in the Cedar Fair chain, Kings Island, is building the newest wooden coaster in the chain since Gold Striker back in 2013. This new thrilling ride will be the first GCI to be mostly airtime based, with tons of airtime hills and not too many banked turns, in contrast to most of GCI's creations. It looks like a great ride, very well paced and another masterpiece from GCI. While many people wish this came to a park that actually needed it,Â
 that doesn't take away from it at all. And as everyone knows, we must wait to anticipate #whatsintheshed. More on Mystic Timbers here.What's your take? Which of these 2017 coasters looks best to you?
I've even set up a poll so you can give your opinion there.
I need a new signature.
