# Roller-coaster identification please **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293 "2011-05-18T07:44:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deflagration](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ab097/32.png) [@Deflagration](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deflagration)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/1 "2011-05-18T07:44:37Z")
Spotted the following pic on the interwebs… [![](http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg) ](http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg) Does anyone know where it is and what it’s called? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/2 "2011-05-18T08:29:13Z")
Vertical Velocity roller coaster from Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Deflagration](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ab097/32.png) [@Deflagration](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deflagration)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/3 "2011-05-18T08:51:29Z")
It is indeed. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/4 "2011-05-18T13:17:40Z")
FWIW, that coaster _looks_ really cool, but I was less than impressed with it. It’s a disappointingly short ride. The train goes up one end and twists around, then goes backwards up the other end, and that’s pretty much that. Wasn’t worth the wait. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/5 "2011-05-18T14:56:06Z")
There was a twin of it at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in California that I’ve ridden, but upon looking it up, it’s been modified to fit a city height ordinance. > **[The Flash: Vertical Velocity (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V2:_Vertical_Velocity)** > > The Flash: Vertical Velocity (formerly known as V2: Vertical Velocity) is a steel Inverted Impulse roller coaster located at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. It is California's first and only inverting Inverted Impulse Coaster, built by Intamin and opened on June 8, 2001. It stands 150 ft tall (46 m) and reaches speeds of up to 65 mph (105 km/h). > When it opened on June 8, 2001, the ride was 186 ft tall (57 m). Both sides of the track were vertical, the front tower twisted an... ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/6 "2011-05-18T23:28:33Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > FWIW, that coaster _looks_ really cool, but I was less than impressed with it. It’s a disappointingly short ride. The train goes up one end and twists around, then goes backwards up the other end, and that’s pretty much that. Wasn’t worth the wait. That doesn’t surprise me. Shuttles tend to be really boring and I’ve found that the anticipation of being pulled up in a Boomerang, for instance, is more intense than the cobra and loop combination. I pretty much skip the shuttles these days. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/7 "2011-05-18T23:39:49Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > FWIW, that coaster _looks_ really cool, but I was less than impressed with it. It’s a disappointingly short ride. The train goes up one end and twists around, then goes backwards up the other end, and that’s pretty much that. Wasn’t worth the wait. It only runs once? The one at Valleyfair, which is a twin of that, right down to the colors, launches you up the front spire three times and the back spire twice. Still short, but much better than once. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/8 "2011-05-19T00:01:42Z")
Am I the only one who doesn’t even consider rides like that to be proper roller coasters at all? To my mind, “roller coaster” implies a loop track where you’re hoisted to the top of a hill and then go by gravity from there. Neither something where you’re launched from the start, nor something where you go forwards partway, then backwards back into the station, seems like a real roller coaster to me. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/9 "2011-05-19T02:36:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Am I the only one who doesn’t even consider rides like that to be proper roller coasters at all? To my mind, “roller coaster” implies a loop track where you’re hoisted to the top of a hill and then go by gravity from there. Neither something where you’re launched from the start, nor something where you go forwards partway, then backwards back into the station, seems like a real roller coaster to me. I agree that a proper roller coaster should be totally gravity-driven, but the hoist method, whether chain-pull or LIM launcher, is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/10 "2011-05-19T12:09:10Z")
> [@Silophant](#): > > It only runs once? The one at Valleyfair, which is a twin of that, right down to the colors, launches you up the front spire three times and the back spire twice. Still short, but much better than once. Actually, I can’t say for sure how they do it now. I went several years ago when the ride was brand new and heavily hyped, and the line was long. They were probably trying to move as many people through as quickly as possible. It may very well be a longer ride these days. (Still, not all that exciting, IMO) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/11 "2011-05-19T21:28:27Z")
Meh. Give me the [Screamin’ Eagle](http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks2/photo.php?pageid=51&linkid=538) any day. Largest and fastest of its time, plus you had the addded thrill of expecting to be hurtled off the track at any moment, since it shook like crazy…and was made of wood. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/12 "2011-05-19T21:46:58Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Meh. Give me the [Screamin’ Eagle](http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks2/photo.php?pageid=51&linkid=538) any day. > > Largest and fastest of its time, plus you had the addded thrill of expecting to be hurtled off the track at any moment, since it shook like crazy…and was made of wood. [It was an imposter](http://www.currentreports.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/5-con-cyclone.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/13 "2011-05-19T21:58:10Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > [It was an imposter](http://www.currentreports.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/5-con-cyclone.jpg) You won’t find it on this [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Roller_Coaster#Replications). Read more [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamin%27_Eagle). ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/14 "2011-05-19T22:01:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Am I the only one who doesn’t even consider rides like that to be proper roller coasters at all? To my mind, “roller coaster” implies a loop track where you’re hoisted to the top of a hill and then go by gravity from there. Neither something where you’re launched from the start, nor something where you go forwards partway, then backwards back into the station, seems like a real roller coaster to me. I guess it depends on your definition of one. One of my favorite roller coasters wouldn’t fit your definition. It was the [Tidal Wave](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greezed_Lightnin%27) originally built at Mariott’s Great America. It’s moved several times to other Six Flags parks and chnaged names. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/15 "2011-05-19T22:46:45Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > [It was an imposter](http://www.currentreports.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/5-con-cyclone.jpg) I’ll see your Cyclone and raise you a [Giant Dipper](http://www.beachboardwalk.com/02_giant_dipper.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roller-coaster-identification-please/582293/16 "2011-05-19T22:49:39Z")
I don’t know about the Screamin’ Eagle or the Cyclone, but it’s hard to top the Beast, at King’s Island, Cincinnati. It’s one of the longest coasters in the world, but all of the little details are just right for the whole length. The first time I rode it, I was shaking for a good 15 minutes after I got off.