Favorite Defunct Roller Coaster/Ride

[ImmelMatt]

The list goes on for those I missed, but "Big Bad Wolf" hurts the most, as I wasn't able to get to BGW for the first time in my life until the year right after it closed. On my "if only" list, experiencing that dive towards the river into the 90 degree turn is up there.

 

As for what I have ridden... well, I lived in Gurnee, in the neighborhood right across Grand Ave from the SFGAm main entrance, from 1992 to 1999. Every day I went to school, every time my parents took me somewhere, I would also see the looming and menacing sight of "Shockwave" towering over the parking lot. I would fall asleep on summer nights listening to the rattling of its lift hill taking riders up and the subsequent screams as they turned and dived 170 feet before heading into the first loop. It was the god-awesome first sight I got of the park every time I went, and when I was finally over my fear of roller coasters and tall enough to ride, I was unbelievably stoked. Riding Shockwave to me was a greater achievement than riding Batman in those days. Even though the ride did not live up to my expectations, it was a fixture of my childhood. Essentially, in my eyes, "Shockwave" was SFGAm. I doubt any coaster removal could devastate me like the teardown of "Shockwave" did.

[Meteornotes]

Yeah, I will never forget those Eagle's Fortress rides. That ride was amazing.

 

dt

[Sooner21]

Shockwave (Six Flags Great America) - When I was younger it was always cool how that coaster dominated the front landscape of Great America.

 

Deja Vu (Six Flags over Georgia) - Awesome ride, glad there's at least two of those left in America. Wouldn't say its completely defunct yet, but it's been sitting in Brazilian storage since 2009 so that's good enough for me.

 

Jaws (Universal Orlando) - Not a coaster, but still really shocked they scrapped this for another Harry Potter development. This was, hands down, my favorite ride at Universal until Revenge of the Mummy arrived. It was such a classic and always delivered a unique ride experience. My saddest loss in the amusement industry.

[goatdan]

I love Arrow Suspended rides, so Eagle's Fortress sucks, although I get it. I also really wanted to check out the weirdness that was Batman and Robin, but alas...

 

I'm honestly floored by the number of rides I have been on that aren't open any more. I visited whole parks (SFNO, GL, SFKK, Fun Spot Indiana...) right before they shut down. My love of odd, crappy rides and their history means I'm more concerned about riding what is probably going to be torn down next then what is the next big thing.

 

I also regret not riding Black Hole at Alton Towers when I was there, I didn't realize what it was...

 

...I think I'd go with Big Dipper or Son of Beast. Both of the actual rides were extremely meh to me, but not just did I find their histories fascinating, my trips to the parks were with some of my best friends, and are part of my fondest memories from those trips.

[necoastergp]

1) Batman & Robin the Chiller

2) Big Bad Wolf

3) Jaws

[DarienLaker]

I regret never riding Nightmare at Phantom Cave when it was at Darien Lake. When it came to indoor coasters I would have to say that Opryland's Chaos takes the cake, sorry Disaster Transport, you're not worthy!

 

But for flats, Scrambler and Raging Seas at Darien Lake!

 

The defunct rides/coasters that I wished I rode!

.Floodgate Falls

.Cedar Point's Wildcat

.Space Spiral

Edited December 8, 2013 by DarienLaker

[Schrecken]

I can't think of too many coasters or rides I really miss, as most of those that have gone away were ones I didn't like at all.

I do miss BBW at BGE, simply because it was such an uncommon and unique coaster, and fit so well into that hillside.

I also kinda miss DT at CP, mostly because it was a good ride for very hot afternoons (or inclement weather) and when you just finished eating and didn't want to risk riding a more aggressive coaster for a little while.

Same thing for Wildcat at CP - that, and losing a Schwarzkopf is always sad.

Also the dinosaur dark ride at KBF - glad I got to do that when I lived in CA.

I never liked Flashback at SFMM, but something about that coaster did fascinate me - it was so different from anything else and I went about researching it to try and figure out exactly what kind of coaster it was and who made it, back when I didn't know much about coasters. I had always hoped that maybe they would put new trains on it and it would be a fun ride, but alas that was not to be.

Then there was Two Face at SFA - I never thought inverted boomerangs were that bad, and actually it was much better than the Mind Eraser. I would have rather seen ME go rather than TF. Also the Python at SFA - Arrow shuttle loops were never great coasters, even in their time I don't think, but it did give some nice pops of airtime if you rode in either the very front or very back. I have fond memories of riding that with a friend around Halloween. Once it was really foggy and dark and we were the only two people on it and it was actually a pretty spooky experience. This was also one of the coasters I rode as often as I could to help break my coasterphobia (and unlike the Mind Eraser, it wasn't painful to ride!). So I miss that one for sentimental reasons (but don't miss all those stairs at all!).

Then there are coasters I was glad to see disappear - Windjammer at KBF, Psychlone at SFMM, Son of Beast and Drachen Fire are four that come to mind. Only Drachen Fire had some redeeming values IMO - if somehow they could have gotten rid of the neck-snapping element and given the coaster a Steel Phantom type re-do (not removing all the loops, just the neck-snapper(s) ) then it might still be around as a classic Arrow looper.

 

There are two other coasters that aren't defunct but have been altered to such a degree that they are apparently nothing like they were when they were built. Colossus at SFMM and Revolution at the same park. I would love to have ridden Colossus before it was re-profiled and of course Revolution w/o those nasty OTSR's. I can't really miss them because I never rode them before they were altered, but it makes me wish I could have done that.

 

Then there are coaster regrets - coasters I could have ridden but was too afraid to ride, and now they are gone. These include the Schwarzkopf looper that was at KD in the late 70's, and the woodie that was at Circus World in Florida around the same time. I'm sure I would have been old/tall enough to ride either, but was just too scared of coasters back when I was a kid.

[#1rollercoasterfan]

Hmm I have A LOT:

-Jaws

-Back To The Future

-Earthquake

-King Kong

-Yankee Clipper CGA

-Tidal Wave/Greased Lightenin CGA

-Stealth CGA

-The Edge CGA

-Sky Whirl CGA

-Lobster CGA

-Log Jammer SFMM

-Shockwave SFGA sounds amazing wish I got a chance to ride it

-Great American Scream Machine sounds amazing wish I got a chance to ride it

-Batman & Robin the Chiller Six Flags Great Adventure sounds amazing wish I got a chance to ride it

-Big Bad Wolf sounds amazing wish I got a chance to ride it

Wish these wonderful rides would come back.

Edited June 11, 2013 by #1rollercoasterfan

[canobie#1]

Jaws

Matterhorn (CLP)

Dueling Dragons (Forever dead )

***Jimmy Neutron Nicktoons Blast***

Time WaRP (SFNE)

[StLCPfan]

Worlds of Fun has eliminated 4 of their coasters throughout the 40 year history of the park. Zambezi Zinger might be entertaining people in South America now, but that removal was the biggest disappointment for me. The Schwarzkopf Wildcat model named Schussboomer and Orient Express were both disappointing removals also. The Screamroller stock Arrow corkscrew is no big loss to the park, but it was my first coaster with inversions in 1980 when I was 8.

[fraroc]

I guess for me, Laser at Dorney. I know it's entertaining people in Germany right now, but Dorney was never the same to me after Laser came out of the picture. Even now that Stinger is in place, there is still an emptiness in the park, I loved that ride's eerily B&M sounding roar as the train went through that double loop. Stinger is a pretty good coaster, NOT a good replacement for Laser. If Cedar Fair did decide to get rid of Flight of Fear in 2008 and it went to Dorney, that would have been a MUCH better replacement.

[Jpizzle]

Gotta say Hypersonic XLC... What a great launch. It was also exciting going to the park and wondering if it would actually be open!

[LoopScreweD]

The shockwave GASM were both just such beutiful photogenic monsters tiny loops way up in the air, the orient express interlocking loops why hasnt this been duplicated in an intamin or BaM! sweet layout too. Any shwarzkopf shuttle loops especially the tidal waves/Greased lightnings at Great americas both ended up together at kentucky kingdom were it rusts away.

[ThanksforRiding]

Drachen Fire, The Chiller (specifically the Batman side) and Big Bad Wolf are all rides that I wish were still around. It's really too bad that they're gone.

[Hriscay]

Texas Cyclone, XLR-8, The Viper, hell I even miss Ultra Twister. If I had to pick just 1, no questions asked, it'd be the Texas Cyclone. I miss you Astroworld

[narkitty]

^^ I came on here to post the same thing. Man, I miss that ride. I miss Texas Tornado, too. That thing blew my mind as a kid.

[alwaysairtime14]

Never rode, but the Aeroplane/Airplane Coaster that was at Rye Playland looks awesome, and I would like to ride it. I found a No Limits recreation and the ride clocked in at 55 mph! The GCI rendering looks stellar. The ride even has its own Facebook! There are fantastic pictures there that really show how fierce the ride looks. Looks intense for a 1928 woodie! If it rides anything like the park's other Church woodie, the Dragon Coaster, I'm sure it was smooth as silk.

 

Old Footage:

NoLimits recreation:

GCI recreation:

Bring Back the Airplane Coaster Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bring-Back-the-Airplane-Coaster/135614226454107

[daniellazarus]

The Viper looping coaster that was at SFAW.

The Viper at SFAW

[cfc]

I miss the old Peoplemover at Disneyland. It's sad to see its old, empty track after the Rocket Rods failure. At least they still have it in Florida.

[Hriscay]

^^ I came on here to post the same thing. Man, I miss that ride. I miss Texas Tornado, too. That thing blew my mind as a kid.

 

Never rode it, was too much of a chicken to ride it as a kid. When i finally realized I loved roller coasters, it was too late.

[Ape]

King cobra at kings island was always a favorite of mine as a kid. I was sad to see it go and would rather have it than dilerium.

 

I was glad to see son of beast go. I enjoyed it when I was a kid and it still had the loop but after all of the issues and me growing it became less than enjoyable.

[ajfelice]

Fortunately, none of my absolute favorite coasters have been demolished. However, if I had to choose my favorite defunct coaster, it would be Geauga Lake's The Villain. It wasn't running very well at the end of Geauga Lake's existence, but the layout was very interesting in which it combined the traditional out and back wood coaster experience with a modern wooden coaster experience of speed and intensity.

[coastercrazy 9]

I miss GASM and Batman and Robin: The Chiller, and will miss Rolling Thunder.

 

What I don't miss...

 

Viper at SFGAdv...

[Coaster_Fanatic]

Big Bad Wolf at BGW for me. I loved that ride

[jray21]

I'll have to agree with the Peoplemovers at Disneyland. I also miss Willard's Whizzer at CGA. Luckily, both of those still exist in some form.