Delayed Mission gets up to speed
Let’s keep rolling with 10 more 2023 coasters
I’ve already shared my picks for the 10 most anticipated U.S. roller coasters slated to open in 2023, including TRON Lightcycle/Run at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Pipeline: The Surf Coaster at SeaWorld Orlando, and Circuit Breaker at COTALAND in Texas. But there are a slew of additional rides scheduled to debut this year. Let’s run down another 10 coasters, starting with three intriguing, highly anticipated international entries followed by seven on their way to American parks that merit honorable mention.
Mission Ferrari coaster at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi
The long delayed Mission Ferrari is finally scheduled to open in mid-January. Known as an SFX Coaster from Dynamic Attractions (this will be the world’s first), it will reportedly include as many as five magnetic launches. The tricked out ride, which I have referred to as an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink coaster, will also feature a “side slide,” which would send trains down a drop facing sideways, as well as at least one inversion. It may also include a drop track, in which the train comes to a halt and the track literally drops a few feet before continuing; a tilt track, which may tilt a track section either up or down to change the direction of the train; and a gyro table that would spin the trains. If all of this isn’t wacky enough, Mission Ferrari will also be heavily themed. Like a dark ride, the indoor coaster will include set elements, media, and other effects to help tell a story. It all sounds incredibly wild.
Uncharted at PortAventura in Spain
Another heavily themed attraction that will be as much a dark ride as a coaster, Uncharted will draw on both the popular PlayStation video game franchise and the same-named movie starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, and Antonio Banderas. An indoor ride, the Intamin launched coaster will include show scenes and animatronics developed by Sally Dark Rides.
Toutatis at Parc Asterix in France
Another Intamin coaster, Toutatis will include four launches, climb 167 feet, and hit 67 mph. It will also feature 23 airtime moments, which the park says will be a world record, over its 3,500-foot-long course. Other elements will include a top hat tower with a 101-degree drop, a spike with a vertical rollback, and two zero-G stalls. It also appears that it will include some stylized themeing to the Celtic god, Toutatis.
Honorable mentions for the most anticipated U.S. coasters of 2023
MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress at Knott’s Berry Farm in California
Among the notable coasters opening this year will be a reimagined Knott’s Berry Farm classic. Montezooma’s Revenge has been throwing passengers for a loop since 1978. The first coaster to use a flywheel launch, the ride simply roared out of the station, navigated a loop (it was one of the earliest steel coasters to include an inversion), climbed a dead-end spike, fell backwards into the loop, climbed a spike at the other end of the 800-foot track, then stalled and fell forwards to return into the station. The whole thing lasted 36 seconds.
The 2023 makeover will follow the same layout, but will use a randomized magnetic launch system that will sometimes propel the train forward and other times go backwards. In addition to the mystery of not knowing in which direction they’ll be heading, passengers will also encounter story elements in the queue and aboard the train before they launch that will be themed to the Forbidden Fortress. MonteZOOMa will feature new trains and a new indoor staton themed as an Aztec temple.
Matugani at Lost Island Theme Park in Iowa
Relocated from the Swedish park, Liseberg (where it was known as Kanonen or “The Cannon” in English), the Intamin Accelerator Coaster will use a hydraulic launch to blast its trains at 47 mph up a 78-foot-tall top hat tower. Passengers will experience two inversions during the course of the ride. Matugani, along with the Yuta Falls SuperFlume, will join the ride lineup at Lost Island, which opened its gates in 2022.
P’Sghetti Bowl at Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Even though the popular San Antonio park opened its 11th coaster, Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger, in 2022, it’s unleashing yet another one (technically two more) this year. The so-far-unnamed ride, which will be the first P’Sghetti Bowl model from Skyline Attractions, will be a twin-track racing coaster. The fairly tame ride, which will feature a single-rail design, will be targeted to children and families. It will also be the first to showcase Skyline’s programable Aurora LED light system, which should provide dazzling displays at night. By the way, “P’Sghetti Bowl” refers to the coaster’s jumble of intertwined, single-rail track. Ride manufacturer Skyline Attractions, which is based in Cincinnati, is named after the city’s legendary Skyline chili. The dish is served over–you guessed it–spaghetti.
Arctic Rescue at SeaWorld San Diego
The family coaster will use a tire-propelled launch system to accelerate its trains, hitting a maximum 40 mph. With a top height of only 30 feet, Arctic Rescue will mostly hug the ground. Passengers will mount motorbike-like ride vehicles that will be themed as snowmobiles and experience a brief show sequence before the ride’s first launch.
Primordial at Lagoon in Utah
It’s been seven years in the making, and the park has not revealed much about it, but given Lagoon’s, er, track record, I’m inclined to believe that Primordial will be a worthy coaster contender. What little we do know is that the new ride will be interactive in some way. Also much of the experience will apparently take place indoors with passengers entering a show building that looks like a craggy mountain (oddly, set against actual mountains). With a minimum height restriction of 36 inches, Primordial will be a family coaster. According to the park, it will be an “incredible state-of-the-art attraction.”
Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer at Mattel Adventure Park in Arizona
As with Primordial, there is not much known about Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer either. It is one of two coasters coming to the new Mattel Adventure Park that is scheduled to open in Glendale, Arizona this year. To be honest, I’m not even sure whether the rendering above is meant to depict Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer or the park’s other coaster, which will also be themed to Hot Wheels. I believe Twin Mill Racer will be a launched coaster (which would fit with the toy brand’s theme) and will include three inversions.
American Dreier Looping at Indiana Beach
The revived Indiana Beach, which has been under new ownership since 2020, will be getting a transplanted coaster with quite a history. Manufactured by the gone-but-not-forgotten Schwarzkopf company, Dreier Looping first debuted in 1984 as a traveling coaster at German carnivals. (“Dreier” means “triple” in German.) It later took up residence at three different fixed-site amusement parks, including La Feria Chapultepec Magico in Mexico where a horrific derailment accident resulted in the death of two passengers. American Dreier Looping was the first coaster to boast three vertical loops.
Okay ATPers, let’s hear your take on these 10 coasters. Might you visit any of the parks this year to try one or more out? Are any of these parks on your bucket list?
Arthur, have you been to Ferrari World yet? I know this was in your previous list, but I missed it on vacation. I am personally looking forward to Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood as this is a park I am planning to visit in the coming year.
Are there plans to build an SFX coaster in the U.S.? I want on e of those! Also, I'm not sure how I feel about riding a coaster that caused a deadly accident.