CORKSCREW COASTERS - COASTERFORCE

Wild Thing Wild Waves Enchanted Village — Wild Thing at Wild Waves Theme & Water Park in Washington, USA.

A coaster centered on an inversion that remains popular to this day – the corkscrew. A corkscrew coaster (Knott’s Berry Farm’s Corkscrew) was the first successful modern looping coaster.

The Original

ARROW CORKSCREW

Corkscrew Nagashima Spa Land — Corkscrew at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan.

The original corkscrew coasters consisted of a lift hill, drop and a double corkscrew. Over the years a vertical loop and then two vertical loops were added immediately after the lift hill drop to provide more thrills and a longer ride experience.

Examples:

Corkscrew at Silverwood Theme Park, USA
Corkscrew at Cedar Point, USA
Dragon Fire at Canada’s Wonderland
Corkscrew at Valleyfair! USA

Corkscrew Silverwood — Corkscrew at Silverwood in Idaho, USA.

The first Arrow Corkscrew opened in 1975 at Knott’s Berry Farm in California, USA and was relocated to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, USA in 1990. It was the first successful modern roller coaster to turn people upside down, combining two corkscrew inversions with a fairly simple layout.

Variations

VEKOMA CORKSCREW

Corkscrew Alton Towers — Corkscrew at Alton Towers in the UK.

Although Vekoma corkscrew coaster layouts are more interesting, the ride is rough. They come in two main varieties – the Corkscrew with Bayerncurve model, such as the one that stood at Alton Towers in the UK; and the incredibly compact Whirlwind model, such as Bocaraca at Parque Diversiones in Costa Rica.

Examples:

Super Manège at La Ronde, Canada
Bocaraca at Parque Diversiones, Costa Rica
Python at Efteling, Netherlands
Corkscrew at Playland at the PNE, Canada

Waly Coaster Walygator Parc — Waly Coaster at Walygator Parc in France.

Another version is the Hurricane model, of which only two were built – Waly Coaster at Walygator Parc in France and Jester at Six Flags New Orleans, which has been SBNO (standing but not operating) since 2005.

MEISHO AMUSEMENT MACHINES CORKSCREW

Space 2000 Gyeongju World — Space 2000 at Gyeongju World in South Korea.

This corkscrew coaster has track and supports over the inversions that resembles Arrow’s style, as do the trains. Space 2000 may have been removed after the 2015 season, as it is no longer on the park map.

Black Hole 2000 Seoul Land — Black Hole 2000 at Seoul Land in South Korea.

Black Hole 2000 is likely a second corkscrew coaster from Meisho, as the track, supports and trains are similar to those found on Space 2000, as is the coaster’s name. However, this has yet to be confirmed and the entire coaster stands much higher off the ground and has a different track layout.