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 Steel
roller coaster - sleek - fast - smooth and incredible!
Some of our favorite "hair-on-fire" steel monster rides! |
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Zuko's eXtreme
Rides - Metal Monster Favorites |
Back to The Cool Rides Index |
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I
Feel the Need For Speed
The Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster
Universal
Studio's Island of Adventure
Orlando, Florida
Very Intense! In a word, AWESOME! |
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From the time you first lay eyes on the Hulk's towering tangle of steel
track you know this is going to be one awesome ride. Best of all, the "Fear
Factor" seems to be so high that only the hard core adrenaline junkie rides
this one, making it a lot less hassle to get in multiple rides. We did seven
rounds on the Hulk with the park full of people, never waiting more than 15
minutes.
What makes the Hulk so intimidating? Well . . . you strap in and as the ride
starts out, you round a corner invisible to the folks on the platform. You
start to "clackety clack" (just like any ole coaster) up a rather
"high-tech" looking tube, and all you can see at the end of that cylinder
(150 feet up) is blue sky. You creep up about 20 feet, at about 3 mph . . .
then suddenly, without any warning, you accelerate to 40 mph in just 2
seconds! Yheeeeee . . . you blast out of the cylinder with only the sky
visible. But wait . . . there's more. As you're blasted out of the end of
the tube, the Hulk immediately rolls over (inverted) and you plummet down
the first hill with your "hair-on-fire." The Hulk has 3,700 feet of menacing
track, with lots of outrageous maneuvers. With seven inversions, a big 105
foot drop . . . down through a tunnel under "the water line" and right
through an eerie green mist all at a top speed of 67 mph. On this green guy
you will pull 4.5 G's . . . (ordinarily you'd have to fly an F-16 fighter
jet to pull that many G's) and you will also experience one "weightless"
negative G roll. Yes . . . you will scream!
Dr. Von Zuko's Fear Factor 9.0 They really don't get much better than this one!
Dr. Von Zuko's Fun Factor 10
The Incredible Hulk, including all
prominent characters featured here, and their distinctive likeness thereof
are the trademarks of MARVEL
ENTERTAINMENT GROUP.
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The Raging Bull, the World's First
"hyper-twister coaster"
Six Flags Great America,
Gurnee, Ill.
The Raging Bull is an awesome ride
and well worth the lengthy wait times (even in the early
morning). The best seat is in the front row on the left or
right outboard side. In that outboard seat you're
basically hanging over the edge . . . which is of course a
tremendous rush.
The Important Specifications:
5,057 feet of steel track
73 mph Maximum Speed
202 foot high Lift Hill
208 foot drop
Descent Angle of 65 degrees
2:30 minutes ride time
Dr. Von Zuko's Fear Factor 8.0
Dr. Von Zuko's Fun Factor 7.5 |
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The Vortex
King's Island, Mason, Ohio
World's First 6
Inversion Steel Coaster |
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The Vortex was the first 6 inversion steel coaster in the world
and is still one of my all time favorites. This metal giant
provide one awesome, adrenaline pumping ride . . . in fact it's
where I first conceived my favorite coaster phrase "blasting
around with my hair-on-fire." I love this ride.
From it's 148 foot tall and (unnervingly) slender main tower,
the Vortex, true to it's name propels you to speeds up over 55
miles per hour over 3,800 feet of the most twisted track ever
built! Powering you through an incredible series of twists,
loops and rolls, the Vortex throws six truly terrifying
inversions your way, including a giant high-speed vertical loop
and one heart stopping seemingly slow barrel roll and an awesome
internal spiral, some really good air time. The Vortex clearly
sets the bar by which other coasters in this class are measured.
The world's first and still one of
the most intense rides you can find. You'll definitely want to
ride multiple times, what a rush!
A Few Specifications:
3,800 feet of steel track
55 mph Maximum Speed
148 foot high Lift Hill
138 foot drop
Descent Angle of 55 degrees
2:55 minutes ride time
Super Fun (and disorienting) Ride
Dr. Von Zuko's Fear Factor 8.5
Dr. Von Zuko's Fun Factor 9.5
by: Dr. Von Zuko 1998© |
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eXtreme Rides Coaster Index:
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Dr. Von
Zuko's Recommended books and DVDs on Roller Coasters and eXtreme
rides:
Find other great books on
this or any topic:
Manhattan Express
Roller Coaster
At the New York - New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
The Manhattan Express generates a "way" generous dose of speed and
negative G's. This ride is an absolute kick-butt blaster . . . ripping
down 4,777 feet of track at speeds up to 67 mph, you experience what the
operators have tagged, the world's first "heartline" twist and dive
maneuver. Simulating the barrel roll of an advanced jet fighter, the
Express rolls (slowly) 180 degrees and kind of just hangs there 86 feet
in the air, then it sharply dives down and under itself.
The ride tops out at a towering 203 feet with some breath-taking drops
of 144 feet. This one promises real heart pounding excitement and
white-knuckles for the uninitiated. It's worth several spins around the
track.
If you have a need for a big dose of adrenaline, The Manhattan Express
won't disappoint you.
Dr. Von Zuko's Fear Factor 8.0
Dr. Von Zuko's Fun Factor 8.5
by: Dr. Von Zuko 1998©
Iron
Wolf
Six Flags Great America,
Gurnee, Ill.
A Great Stand Up Coaster |
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Iron Wolf is a stand-up coaster
that gives the rider a rather unique riding experience and
perspective. If you've never been on a stand-up, you must
give it a go!
The Iron Wolf tops out at 100 feet tall with a 90 foot drop,
with a track length of 2900 feet. Iron Wolf's top speed is
55 mph. which feels considerably faster. It has two inversions:
a vertical loop and a corkscrew.
Iron Wolf is one of the rides responsible for starting an "Arms
Race" for bragging rights to the tallest/fastest coasters of
this type (The other is Batman The Ride).
The Iron Wolf appeared in the movie Richie Rich.
Dr. Von Zuko's Fear Factor 7.0
Dr. Von Zuko's Fun Factor 9.0 |
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Dr. Von Zuko's Fear Factor and Fun Factor
Ratings = 0-10 Points
Fear Factor: Just how frightening is this ride, just how much adrenalin
did it pump, how loud do you scream?
Fun Factor: How interesting is the ride, how many surprise moves does it
throw your way?
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