![]() When I was a kid, “Shrek” was by far my favorite movie, and I was elated the day I found out they were making a “Shrek 2”! In retrospect, it was an obviously good business decision to make a sequel to the movie, but my excitement feels valid, nevertheless. Yes, it doesn’t actually hang off the famous cliff at Fiesta Texas, but I’ll take what this ride is giving. universe, has a beyond-vertical drop, and adds some other elements that elongate the ride beyond just the drop. It uses a non-obvious character from the D.C. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger is exciting in itself, too. Hopefully, it portends new and exciting rides from B&M at other Six Flags parks in the future. ![]() It’s exciting to see Six Flags work with B&M again. The fact that these two companies went 10 years without working together – the last B&M coaster built at a Six Flags park is X-Flight at Six Flags Great America – and reunited to build a new dive coaster is surprising. Six Flags is of course a big player in the amusement park landscape, and Bolliger & Mabillard (or B&M for short) is perhaps the most popular roller coaster manufacturer in the world. This can be for a variety of reasons, but it does happen. You will often see parks stop working with manufacturers as well. Certain parks or chains have preferred manufacturers that they prefer to work with. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger is on this list because of the park/manufacturer relationship. Even without the wooden status, though, the coaster is a true marvel and a unicorn in the coaster landscape. ![]() And remember how I said the ride “opened” as the world’s first launched wooden coaster? Well, after some changes in 2020, the ride now stands as a hybrid coaster as large portions of the wooden track were replaced with steel I-box track. The launch it became famous for has been dialed down since it’s opening. Ultimately, RMC may have flown a little too close to the sun with Lightning Rod as the monumental coaster has had some major challenges over the years. ![]() However, this particular addition was pretty shocking to the coaster world. When Lightning Rod opened, the world knew about RMC and how they were revolutionizing roller coasters. Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) constructed Lightning Rod from the ground up about five years after the first RMC, New Texas Giant, opened. Well, I don’t know if many said that, but it didn’t seem likely before Lightning Rod at Dollywood! In 2016, Lightning Rod opened as the world’s first launched wooden coaster. Many said it can’t be done - you can’t build a wooden roller coaster with a launch. Either way, these 10 coasters were very unexpected. Sometimes the sheer ambitiousness of a ride is more than we thought any park would have the bravery to try. Sometimes the concept or idea of a ride is something the enthusiast community hasn’t even thought of. Some of the coasters on this list are at are smaller parks that haven’t invested much into roller coasters before the ride in question. Sometimes nobody sees these coasters coming because of the park itself. Announcements usually fall into one of three buckets: a coaster that “makes sense” given a park’s current line-up and size, exciting new coaster that pushes the boundaries of the park’s current lineup, or out-of-left-field coasters that nobody saw coming. If you’re reading this article, chances are you follow rumors, announcements, and construction updates on new coasters.
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