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Worst roller coaster theme


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What is the worst theme ever for a roller coaster? I'm not referring to sub-par and cheesy theming. This is about what the ride itself is themed to. Whether or not the actual ride itself sucks or is amazing is beside the point. And coasters that simply have a name and no real theme to them don't count.

 

My vote goes to Coast Rider at Knott's Berry Farm. This little wild mouse coaster is themed to the concept of driving along the winding California coast. What the hell? Lame. Dumb. Stupid.

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Coast Rider seems too benign to rustle up such negative sentiment. There's already GhostRider in the park, so it's a slight play on another coaster name, and it's also a pretty harmless motif for a standard mouse.

 

Cheesy theme aside, Disaster Transport was just an odd head-scratcher. Conveying a mission to Alaska to transport some kind of cargo was convoluted at best. On the other hand, the air conditioning was fantastic on a hot day.

 

I'll also put in for Hundeprutterutchebane, the "dog fart" coaster at BonBon-Land, although it's pretty hilarious and I wouldn't want it to change. It's a classic case of bad = good.

Edited by Samuel
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Cheesy theme aside, Disaster Transport was just an odd head-scratcher. Conveying a mission to Alaska to transport some kind of cargo was convoluted at best. On the other hand, the air conditioning was fantastic on a hot day.

and why were going into space to go to alaska (so random)? it made no sense.

 

i mean, if we were going to the moon, or mars, or something, ok, i'm on board, but DT's story always seemed very odd to me.

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Cheesy theme aside, Disaster Transport was just an odd head-scratcher. Conveying a mission to Alaska to transport some kind of cargo was convoluted at best. On the other hand, the air conditioning was fantastic on a hot day.

and why were going into space to go to alaska (so random)? it made no sense.

 

i mean, if we were going to the moon, or mars, or something, ok, i'm on board, but DT's story always seemed very odd to me.

 

Lol, exactly. If your cargo has to go to outer space to get to Alaska, that's the first flag that you've gone with the wrong shipping company.

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

 

In terms of worst, however, gotta give it up to Swarm and the Apocalypse twins for being legitimately themed around mass-extinction events. Because human mortality is exactly what I wanna think about on a fun day out!

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dog-coaster.jpg

 

(P.S. Pretty sure this has been discussed before)

 

I don't know man, that's a pretty ridiculously awesomely themed ride. Distasteful? Sure I guess. But worst? No way.

 

Also not the worst I supposed, but one of the most hilariously bad (and awesome) is Skull Mountain. First off: the death metal. Its fast. Its loud. Its ridiculous. Its amazing. But why? Also, why is there a glowing pumpkin inside of a mountain? What do pumpkins have to do with mountains? And how would a pumpkin grow inside a mountain? Is the pumpkin responsible for the moan at the beginning of the ride? And then... a random skull and strobe lights. The end.

Edited by boldikus
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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.

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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??

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Mantis because I'm absolutely terrified of Praying Mantises. No joke.

 

If I had to pick another, I'd say Zombie Ride at that Mexican park whose name I'm too lazy to look up. I'm actually not even sure that ever opened. Nonetheless, zombies are a stupid idea for a roller coaster. It seems like a permanent Halloween overlay for a Six Flags Coaster.

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Hydra: The Revenge at Dorney Park definitely takes the cake. I get the whole reference to Hercules being torn down for it, but the inclusion of "The Revenge" implies Hercules was an amazing coaster, which it really wasn't.

 

The fact that the small depressions in the ground covered in crushed stone are apparently supposed to be canyons doesn't help either.

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I personally like the dog fart coaster theme for how weird and random it is.

 

dog-coaster.jpg

 

(P.S. Pretty sure this has been discussed before)

 

I don't know man, that's a pretty ridiculously awesomely themed ride. Distasteful? Sure I guess. But worst? No way.

 

Also not the worst I supposed, but one of the most hilariously bad (and awesome) is Skull Mountain. First off: the death metal. Its fast. Its loud. Its ridiculous. Its amazing. But why? Also, why is there a glowing pumpkin inside of a mountain? What do pumpkins have to do with mountains? And how would a pumpkin grow inside a mountain? Is the pumpkin responsible for the moan at the beginning of the ride? And then... a random skull and strobe lights. The end.

 

I feel like Skull Mountain is the David Pumpkins of roller coasters (for SNL fans out there). It's so absurd and leaves you asking so many questions, yet you love it.

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I would say the worst theme has to be YOLOcoaster. YOLO is literally the point of the theme. It has music and billboards that are supposed to be themed to "Living it Up," but they just do not mesh well. This could be excusable if it was a good looking ride, but the area they built the ride on still looks like a dirt mound on a hill with no attempt to make it look nicer.

 

Or that honor could go to Living With the Land at Epcot. It is a ride where you learn about and look at plants. It starts with a mediocre at best dark ride section about how animals adapt to the land, then the rest of the ride is set in a greenhouse where you mostly just look at plants. There is some guilty pleasure in going on a plant themed ride with friends to make fun of how bad it is.

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I would say the worst theme has to be YOLOcoaster. YOLO is literally the point of the theme. It has music and billboards that are supposed to be themed to "Living it Up," but they just do not mesh well. This could be excusable if it was a good looking ride, but the area they built the ride on still looks like a dirt mound on a hill with no attempt to make it look nicer.

I was going to mention this one as well, but couldn't find the right way to say it. X2 took the "XTREME" theme and ran with it, and its no-bull approach to that style actually makes it work. It feels fitting for such a unique, messed up coaster.

 

YOLO, on the other hand, feels like the coaster embodiment of a badly managed, albeit well intentioned, college project. Something to the effect of, "F**k, we spent all our money on this kickass tophat loop and backwards launch and it's due tomorrow! Just throw some tarps on it! Nobody will notice!"

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Here are my top bad ones:

 

1. Derren Brown theme

2. Temple of the Nighthawk

3. Smiling sanctuary

4. Wicker man

5. Evil curse on a family rollercoaster (13)

6. Lego

7. Angry Birds

 

Funny ones:

1. Sex and Torture

2. Wine factory

3. Mouse infestation

4. Anything stereotypical about another country!

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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

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Talk about DinoLand USA at Animal Kingdom then, where they made up the parking lot as part of the theming. quote]

 

Maybe I'm the minority, but I actually don't mind the Roadside theme to Dino-Rama because if you put it together with the whole land's theme it works. As the story goes Dino-Rama was the response of Chester and Hester to the stuffy Dino Institute and a way to make a quick buck. Primeval Whirl is supposed to be knock off of the Dino Institutes Time Travel Device. Yes the rides are cheap when your talking about Disney but really that's what the whole section is supposed to be. It is meant to evoke the roadside attractions of the 50's and 60's and they do a good job of that.

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