Now that we’re fully recovered from the 2024 IAAPA Expo, we thought we’d recap all of the announcements, train reveals, and any other new and interesting ride concepts and news we saw at the show. For our broader thoughts and...
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Lost Island Announces Fire Runner RMC Coaster
On National Roller Coaster Day, Waterloo, Iowa’s Lost Island Theme Park announced Fire Runner, a new single-rail roller coaster for the 2025 season. This will be the sixth Raptor coaster by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) to open in the United...
Continue reading...New Fire in the Hole Coaster 2024 Review
The New Fire in the Hole at Silver Dollar City is now open! For generations, the classic Fire in the Hole indoor roller coaster has captured the hearts of many guests visiting Silver Dollar City. For many, they grew up...
Continue reading...Lightning Rod Chain Lift Review and Reaction
I recently rode Lightning Rod at Dollywood for the first time since its launched lift was converted into a traditional chain lift for the 2024 season. Here’s what I thought of the new ride experience. First, some backstory. The world’s...
Continue reading...Dollywood’s Lightning Rod Launch to Become Traditional Chain Lift in 2024
Breaking news out of Dollywood — the theme park today announced that Lightning Rod’s launched lift hill will be converted to a “high-speed chain lift” for the 2024 season. The wood-steel hybrid Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) coaster will also receive...
Continue reading...The cOaster101 pOdcast: All Things Rocky Mountain Construction with COO Jake Kilcup
It’s been a busy 2023 for Rocky Mountain Construction. Two all-new coasters, a major retrak-ing project in Orlando, a merger, bringing Silver Dollar City’s Fire In The Hole to a new generation, and arguably, most importantly, WILD MOOSE. Andrew is...
Continue reading...Rocky Mountain Construction Announces Wild Moose Family Coaster Model
Move over, wild mouse — Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) today announced the Wild Moose, a new coaster model designed to compete with or replace the traditional wild mouse coaster. The family-friendly coaster design uses RMC’s patented I-Box track system and...
Continue reading...Fire in the Hole Behind-the-Scenes Construction Tour
This past Monday I had the incredible opportunity to attend the big reveal at Silver Dollar City for the announcement of their new 2024 attraction. Here’s a quick rundown of the event, including the behind-the-scenes tour of the Fire in...
Continue reading...Silver Dollar City Adding Fire in The Hole in 2024
As the original Fire in the Hole slowly becomes “extinguished” at the end of the 2023 season, Silver Dollar City has been teasing for months as to what the next great attraction coming to the park will be. Today, we...
Continue reading...Ranking Every RMC Pre-Lift Segment
Pre-lift: the section of track immediately after the station before reaching the first lift hill or launch track. On the majority of steel roller coasters, the pre-lift consists of a short straight track, a ninety-degrees turn, or a 180-degree turn....
Continue reading...The Coaster101 Podcast: Rocky Mountain, Hi!
Earlier this year, coaster enthusiasts on the east coast were blessed with not one, but two brand-new creations from the wizards at Rocky Mountain Construction – Arie Force One at Fun Spot Atlanta and Wildcat’s Revenge at Hersheypark. Luckily, we...
Continue reading...Wildcat’s Revenge Hersheypark Review and Reactions
Last week, Hersheypark officially debuted Wildcat’s Revenge, the park’s new-for-2023 Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) hybrid coaster. Built on part of the structure of the park’s former Wildcat wooden coaster, Wildcat’s Revenge features a slew of impressive stats — a 140-foot-tall...
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