Worst roller coaster theme

Hurler previously being a Wayne's World coaster was always a bit odd to me.

 

Hurler made pretty good sense back in the '90s if you got all of the references. When the ride opened, the SNL skits and movies weren't obscure; they were wildly popular & made sense as the movies were from Paramount Pictures.

 

I've been on Hurler at Carowinds, besides the Stan Mikitas (sp) restaraunts out front, was there a lot of theming to waynes world in the paramount days??

 

There used to be a special recording of Wayne's World that Myers & Carvey did for the coaster that would play in the queue's many TVs, the station was themed to the old doll factory that the duo moved into after Wayne left his parents' basement in the movies, there was the big "No Way" (one of their catchphrases) giant road sign symbol on the pavement in front of the entrance, Wayne & Garth frequently used euphemisms for vomiting, the nearby rock shop had a ton of Aerosmith merch (one of their favorite bands), there was Stan Mikita's as you mentioned, and perhaps even more. It was a dedicated theme that just started to get phased out as the years went by, the parks expanded further, the characters fell out of the spotlight, and eventually the Cedar Fair acquisition of KI & KD pulled the plug on the direct tie-ins.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwcxVlkYMpw

That's awesome!! I was 5 when the first one came out and my Dad and me would watch it on video a lot, even though all the jokes went over my head, I even use to schwing at all the college girls at our apartment pool, and they all though it was adorable coming from a 5 year old, I'd be arrested and charged with obscenity if I did it at my age now.

While I can't really think of too many particular coasters, I do think that theming coasters to films and/or television shows that have only fleeting interest is a bad idea. The original theming of the Hurler is a good example, as is the Stunt Coaster (which of course was themed to and named after the now-forgotten film Italian Job) in the same park. Some coasters and rides themed to films can be easily transformed into generic themes once the licensing has run out (and said movie has mostly been forgotten about and is no longer relevant) but others, not so much.

The name "Hurler" is fairly generic and is IMO more or less suitable for a coaster so at least they were able to keep the name have it stand on its own, so to speak. But Italian Job became Stunt Coaster which, once decoupled from that long-forgotten flick, now suffers from a rather lame and pretentious theme, especially since some of the effects don't always work. But on the other hand, cloned-theme coasters like Top Gun, most of which became Flight Deck, are still able to work well with the general fighter plane theme. Which of course is quite appropriate for a looping coaster (though not so much for Flight Deck at KI as it is an Arrow suspended) since some of the elements are named after fighter jet maneuvers.

So I would say that the worst themes would include those that are transient in nature, not applicable to a generic idea and specific to a movie or tv show that will be forgotten about in only a couple of years.

I'm surprised no one mentioned the parking lot theme on Scream at SFMM

What are you talking about!?!?! That's one of my all time favorite coaster themes!! It's like the Six Flags equivalent of Expedition Everest!!!

^ This is about bad themes...and that does not have a theme to its name...not even generic

It does have a theme, but said theming consists of pictures of people screaming, which is pretty lousy.

^ that's not a theme anymore than Giant Dipper is a theme. It's just a name.

^ that's not a theme anymore than Giant Dipper is a theme. It's just a name.

How do pictures of screaming people not count as theming on a coaster called Scream?

well...

^that was on page one.

The dog fart theme is so bad, it's good.

^ Dog Fart Coaster theming is/was perfect. And there's an oversize "doghouse" you travel through, that "farts" when you do. It's awesome!

I will say Teeny Weeny Coaster at Tusenfryd is pretty sad for it's theming...not. Still a fun coaster, though.

Goin' through the dogfarthouse! (Note the speaker, there?) TPR 2014 Scandi Tour.

Teeny Weeny in Tusenfryd. Gotta admit, it does have some "landscaping," there. (o;