I was just thinking of the coasters I have ridden this year and really liked the most. As far as steel coasters go of the ones I have ridden Thunder Express (years ago) and Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood and Demon at Six Flags Great America have been my favorite. I did some research and found they were both done by Arrow dynamics. It looks like Arrow had such a great run. Its a shame they went out of business. I think there are several Arrow coasters at Six Flags St Louis I haven't ridden that hopefully I'll get to go back and ride next year. Just curious if you guys had a favorite Arrow roller coaster to pass along. Just bored during lunch and thinking about coasters!

Gemini: Smooth, lots of airtime, just plain fun.

Magnum: Out of control wild ride, with triangular hills on the return (proof that -2 vertical gs can still be fun...lol!)

The Big Bad Wolf: Still the best suspended I've been on. Lots of swings, lots of tight locations, great drop towards the river.

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The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done. - George Carlin

Cool, I'll have to watch some youtube's of these!

Vortex: Kings Island
Drachen Fire: BGE (Defunct)
Steel Phantom: Kennywood now PR
BBW: BGE
Maggie: CP
Loch Ness Monster: BGE

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~ThrillNetwork's Social Networking Director~
This signature is up for rent.
2010 Draft: I-305, Kumba, Boardwalk Bullet

^ Weirdo. LOL (vortex)

1-Magnum
2-Loch Ness Monster

Honarables:
Tennessee Tornado (they finally got one right, and then S&S bought them)
Big Bad Wolf. Ride at the speed of fright!
Drachen Fire at night. Otherwise it was a pretty standard corkscrew coaster with a lot of corks. Coolest trains evar!!! (Glow in the dark).

Bullet trains. MMMM...

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Intimidator Racing in to Carowinds 3/27/2010!

Yeah yeah, you just don't have good taste in coasters Wes!

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~ThrillNetwork's Social Networking Director~
This signature is up for rent.
2010 Draft: I-305, Kumba, Boardwalk Bullet

Based off this list - Roller Coaster Search Results - These are the ones I've been on.

1 - Adventure Express - Kings Island
2 - Anaconda - Kings Dominion
3 - Big Bad Wolf - Busch Gardens Europe
4 - Black Widow - Six Flags New England
5 - Canobie Corkscrew - Canobie Lake Park
6 - Canyon Blaster - Great Escape
7 - Carolina Cyclone - Carowinds
8 - Carolina Goldrusher - Carowinds
9 - Cedar Creek Mine Ride - Cedar Point
10 - Corkscrew - Cedar Point
11 - Corkscrew - Michigan's Adventure
12 - Dahlonega Mine Train - Six Flags Over Georgia
13 - Demon - Six Flags Great America
14 - Diablo - PortAventura
15- Double Loop - Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom**
16 - Dragon Fire - Canada's Wonderland
17 - Dragon Mountain - Marineland Theme Park
18 - Flight Deck - Kings Island
19 - Gemini - Cedar Point
20 - Great American Scream Machine - Six Flags Great Adventure
21 - Irn-Bru Revolution - Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
22 - Iron Dragon - Cedar Point
23 - Loch Ness Monster - Busch Gardens Europe
24 - Mad Mouse - Myrtle Beach Pavilion**
25 - Mad Mouse - Michigan's Adventure
26 - Magnum XL-200 - Cedar Point
27 - Marche du Mille-pattes - La Ronde
28 - Ninja - Six Flags St. Louis
29 - Pepsi Max Big One - Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
30 - Phantom's Revenge - Kennywood^^
31 - Python - Busch Gardens Africa**
32 - Revolution - Libertyland**
33 - River King Mine Train - Six Flags St. Louis
34 - Runaway Mine Train - Six Flags Great Adventure
35 - Steamin' Demon - Great Escape
36 - Steeplechase - Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
37 - Tennessee Tornado - Dollywood
38 - ThuNderaTion - Silver Dollar City
39 - Trailblazer - Hersheypark
40 - Vampire - Chessington World of Adventures
41 - Viper - Darien Lake
42 - Vortex - Canada's Wonderland
43 - Vortex - Kings Island

** = Removed
^^ = Not 100% arrow

I've liked most of them.. I don't think I wouldn't reride any of them. But some of the cooler ones would be Vortex at Canada's Wonderland (same overall layout as Kings Island's Top Gun.. but this one came first), ThuNderaTion at Silver Dollar City (Cant beat backwards cars), Steeplechase at Blackpool (last of its kind), Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool (craziest first drop ever!), Marche du Mille-pattes at La Ronde (rare Arrow Kiddie coaster), Great American Scream Machine at Great Adventure (GIANT looping coaster), and I guess Dragon Mountain at Marineland (just a massive layout..)

I just saw a POV of Drachen Fire. It looks sweet. Why was it removed?

Because it was rough? And in a bad (hard to get to) area in the park... And it had very low ridership.

I watched a pov on youtube of magnum, gemeni, and big bad wolf. Big bad wolf looks awesome. I was reading alittle about suspended coasters vs inverted. Its alittle confusing. From what I gathered, inverteds do everything a suspended does plus more such as inversions. However, one article said that anyone who has ridden the two styles knows they are different. Its confusing, but that drop after BBW's second lift hill looks wild!

Man! Just watched a vortex pov. That looks awesome. I like inversions. It looks like advanced Tennessee Tornado.

That's the basic difference between an Arrow Suspended coaster an an inverted coaster.
The other big difference is that inverted coaster trains are more rigid and not allowed to swing side to side.
Suspended Coasters on the other hand, hang more "loosely" and can freely swing side to side on the turns.

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

What!?! I have a credit you dont'?

Drachenfire was rough, but it wasn't that bad if you knew how to ride it.

It wasn't any rougher than most of the Arrow corkscrew coasters.

There was some talk about a lawsuit, and the park I think just decided it was a failure of a placement and design overall.

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Intimidator Racing in to Carowinds 3/27/2010!

Man! You've been around the block! That's cool. I have got to ride Ninja at Six Flags St Louis. I have heard it was alittle rough. When I was there this summer I was in line but it was very long. I heard a guy say "I'm not riding this thing it bangs you up." However, when I was talking to a girl in the Mr Freeze line she said Ninja wasn't bad at all. Go figure. I'll have to ride it for myself to decide! It looks like arrow was merged into S&S Power and they are still in business.

It was SBNO when I went. (My sister got the credit in 96 ) - I never got the chance to go to BGE (W at the time) until 99.

Arrow Dynamics coasters that aren't awful...

Magnum is easily my favorite arrow coaster. Top Gun at KI and BBW are both good, I prefer Top Gun.

The only loopers I really enjoy are Lochness Monster @ BE and Vortex at KI.

I rode Drachen Fire once, I thought it was awful. The layout was interesting and original, but holy crap it was easily one of the roughest coasters I've been on.

edit: Ninja @ SFSTL is decent, not too rough. The only reason I would re-ride it is because of the amazing head chopper it has after the sidewinder, looks like the chain lift is going to take your hands/head off every time.http://www.coastergallery.com/SF/STL16.html

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"For each path you walk down, there are several others you have to bypass. Maybe walking those paths would have made you happy, maybe they wouldn't have. You'll never know. Choose your path, walk it, and make the best of it."

^ Actually Ninja at St Louis is Vekoma.

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Intimidator Racing in to Carowinds 3/27/2010!

Actually... Its both

Arrow started the project and Vekoma came in and finished it when it was for the Expo in Canada.

Some of my favorites are:

Loch Ness Monster (rough, but has sentimental value in my book)
Big Bad Wolf, easily one of the best suspended coasters out there
Vortex (KI)- Rather smooth for an Arrow looper
Viper (SFMM)- Another Arrow that is relatively smooth for its age

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2010 Coaster Draft: Round One (Voyage), Round Two (Alpie), Round Three (Superman Krypton Coaster), Round Four (Let's just stay in left field for the heck of it )

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Arrow, mainly because I think they're under-appreciated for the advances they made in coaster technology. The first suspended (the Bat) and the rest of the first successful suspendeds (such as Big Bad Wolf and Top Gun/Flight Deck), the first modern steel coaster (Matterhorn at Disneyland), Magnum and Pepsi Max Big One, Gemini, and their plethora of corkscrew coasters all show the big mark they made in amusement parks. A lot of people don't realize the impact they had outside of roller coasters too - they pretty much invented the modern log flume, and did a lot of designing for Disney - such as the tracks for It's a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I haven't had a chance to ride all that many of them, but here's my list of favorites:

1. Gemini at CP
2. Magnum at CP
3. Top Gun/Flight Deck at King's Island
4. Vortex at KI
5. Iron Dragon at CP
6. Adventure Express at KI
7. Revolution formerly at Libertyland
8. Cedar Creek Mine Ride at CP
8. Dahlonega Mine Ride at SFoG

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05.16, 05.17, 05.18, 06.05, 06.06: Cedar Point
05.25.09-06.01.09: KD, SFA, BGE, SFGAdv, Morey's & More!
06.18.09: Holiday World
2009 Diamondback laps: 41

According the the Thrillnetwork Database I have actually been on 6 Arrow Dynamic coasters which is really more than I thought. Here are my rankings:

1. Tennessee Tornado- Dollywood
2. Vortex - Canada's Wonderland
3. Carolina Cyclone - Carowinds
4. Thunderation - Silver Dollar City
5. Carolina Goldrusher - Carowinds
6. River King Mine Train - Six Flags St. Louis

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i like the corkscrew at MIA. It one of the last of a dying coaster. Everytime I ride it i think this could be the last time.

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Jim says; "The Potential energy of the system at the height of the lift hill is equal to the Kinetic energy at the bottom of the hill...."
Jim's friends say; "Just shut up and ride it would you."

Vortex (KI) is one of my favorites. Top Gun (Flight Deck) sure surprised us when we rode it. We were expecting an Iron Dragon-esque type ride.

Now the Arrow's I've been on:

Cedar Point: (no particular order)
Cedar Creek Mine Ride
Gemini
Magnum
Iron Dragon
Corkscrew

King's Island:
Vortex
Flight Deck
Adventure Express, pretty sure

Geauga Lake:
Double Loop
Corkscrew

In this picture of the Demon/Screamin' Demon (pretty sure my dad rode this during my first visit to KI) is that a monorail towards the bottom right of the picture, and is it still there?

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Yes, Adventure Express is an AD coaster. I took a picture of the plaque on the front car when I rode it yesterday.

And yes, that is a monorail. It used to run through a safari attraction down in the area Son of Beast is now. No, it is not there, but it is still in existence. The world's largest grocery store, Jungle Jim's, bought it and is currently setting it up to run around the shopping center. You can see it in Fairfield, which is just north of Cincinnati. In fact, here's a picture my friend took of it while we were there last year:

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05.16, 05.17, 05.18, 06.05, 06.06: Cedar Point
05.25.09-06.01.09: KD, SFA, BGE, SFGAdv, Morey's & More!
06.18.09: Holiday World
2009 Diamondback laps: 41

Thunderation at SDC is great for a mine train.

Corckscrew at CP was pretty fun; I got some great air in the back...same with Python at BGA and that coaster at Carowinds.

My all-time favorite Arrow coaster is the Orient Express at Worlds of Fun, which is gone because it de-railed once (or twice?) in the interlocking loops. The airtime on every drop was frightening, and it was a fun, fast-paced coaster. It was very rough, but I wish it was still around.

Iron Dragon was fun but I'd rather ride BBW or Ninja

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Dirty Tramp

I will be seriously and wholeheartedly offended if they decide to remove that coaster. Yeah, its a ride that doesnt offer any thing that you cant get on another coaster, but its history and location in that park are just too much for me to feel that it should go anywhere.

Nearly every day I hear from a guest about how they remember way back when the Corkscrew was the one of the only rides there and that there used to be hour long waits for it. I mean, I dont ride it anymore unless its a walkon, but I dont want to see that ride go anywhere. They have enough room to add more rides and I want to work on that crew next year.

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That's the same case for me with Drachen Fire in 1999.


My favorite Arrows:

Eagle Fortress - Everland
Flight Deck (Top Gun) - Kings Island
Vortex - Kings Island
Lochness Monster - BGE
Corkscrew - CP - I just don't know why?
Demon - Great America. It doesn't have the mountains in the loops but I knew I was riding a classic model.

Hate, hate - Canobie Corkscrew - It broke my Kodak beginner digi cam.

Somehow I like the elephant noises the air brakes make on all Arrow coasters. GASM at SFGADV made me realize it. It wasn't the nearby Wild Safari.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
The 2010 TN Coaster Draft: Now Underway Round Three
My Draft 10 in '10: El Toro, Afterburn, Phoenix

For me, the best Arrow coaster is definetely Magnum XL200. The ride is phenomenal and is one of my favorites anywhere. Yes there are parts where the Gs are a bit abrupt, but it still has crazy air time and it a great ride.

I also like Gemini, Anaconda, and the Great American Scream Machine. The rest do not stand out for me.

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X is in its whole other league. Quite nutty.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
The 2010 TN Coaster Draft: Now Underway Round Three
My Draft 10 in '10: El Toro, Afterburn, Phoenix

Magnum XL-200 is my favorite roller coaster.
I used to love Arrow Dynamics. They were way behind though. By the time Tennessee Tornado came along, B&M had been doing that for years.

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Element of Freedom - December 15th

Yeah, I think tornado was one of their last coasters. They were trying to stay in business. It's sorta sad it didn't work out.