Today, Intamin’s gradual evolution has created stunning, complex, and feisty rides like Maverick at Cedar Point, Taron at Phantasialand, Pantheon (above) at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and the one-two punch of Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure and VelociCoaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, each exemplifying the complexity, intensity, and headlining nature of Intamin’s hits. Rides like Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain pushed the boundaries of speed and stats, accelerating from 0 to 100 mph in under five seconds Millennium Force shattered the 300-foot full circuit coaster record and then, of course, Top Thrill Dragster opened as the world’s tallest, fastest, and only 400-foot tall coaster. Intamin really rose to prominence in the ‘90s as a major player in the so-called “Coaster Wars,” experimenting with cutting edge (and occasionally, temperamental) launch systems and extreme maneuvers. There are few names as revered in modern coaster circles as Intamin, the Swiss manufacturer known for thinking outside the box. The First Arrow: Matterhorn Bobsleds (1959) To this day, some of the world’s most iconic “classic” coasters have been Arrows… think of the interlocked loops of Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Loch Ness Monster or the same park’s beloved Lost Legend: Big Bad Wolf Six Flags Great Adventure’s Great American Scream Machine the world’s first 100-foot coaster ( Gemini) and then the first’s first 200-foot coaster ( Magnum XL-200) both at Cedar Point and the wild ride that ultimately served as Arrow’s last, bankrupting the company, 2002’s X at Six Flags Magic Mountain.įor much of modern coaster history, Arrow practically stood alone as the solitary force behind steel coasters… and as its first coaster shows, there’s a reason for that. In the ‘60s, Arrow’s meandering mine trains spread around the nation in the ‘70s, their Corkscrew and Double Loop models made unthinkable inversions industry-standard in the ‘80s, multi-inversion “mega-loopers” that broke records in the ‘90s, suspended, swinging coasters and airtime-packed hypercoasters… That’s because Arrow sort of grew as the industry did. Nearly every major amusement park in the country contains at least one Arrow. In so many ways, Arrow Dynamics (get it? Aerodynamics?) should be considered the founding father of the modern roller coaster. Image: Joel Rogers, (Used with permission)
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