A coaster centered on an inversion that remains popular to this day – the corkscrew. A corkscrew coaster (Knott’s Berry Farm’s Corkscrew) was the first successful modern looping coaster.
The original corkscrew coasters consisted of a lift hill, a drop, and a double corkscrew. Over the years, Arrow added a vertical loop and then two vertical loops immediately after the lift hill drop to provide more thrills and a longer ride experience.
The first Arrow Corkscrew opened in 1975 at Knott’s Berry Farm in California, USA, and was relocated to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, USA, in 1990. It was the first successful modern roller coaster to turn people upside down, combining two corkscrew inversions with a fairly simple layout.
Although Vekoma corkscrew coaster layouts are more interesting, the ride is rough. They come in two main varieties: the Corkscrew with Bayerncurve model, such as the one that stood at Alton Towers in the UK, and the incredibly compact Whirlwind model, such as Bocaraca at Parque Diversiones in Costa Rica.
Super Manège at La Ronde, Canada
Bocaraca at Parque Diversiones, Costa Rica
Python at Efteling, Netherlands
Corkscrew at Playland at the PNE, Canada
Another version is the Hurricane model, of which only two were built – Waly Coaster at Walygator Parc in France and Jester at Six Flags New Orleans, which has been SBNO (standing but not operating) since 2005.
This corkscrew coaster has track and supports over the inversions that resemble Arrow’s style, as do the trains. Space 2000 may have been removed after the 2015 season, as it is no longer on the park map.
Black Hole 2000 is likely a second corkscrew coaster from Meisho, as the track, supports, and trains are similar to those found on Space 2000, as is the coaster’s name. However, this has yet to be confirmed, and the entire coaster stands much higher off the ground and has a different track layout.
