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originally posted on 1/6/2025

Nothing inspires industry ideas like IAAPA Expo.
Photo: David Lipnicky. View full-sized image.

Throngs of people attended IAAPA Expo 2024. The trade show for the amusement industry attracts thousands of people from around the globe each year, and packed aisles this past November indicated a healthy industry.

Some onlookers could speculate that with fewer ride vehicles on display and less flashy announcements this past show was less exciting. However, from interviews with coaster manufacturers, it was apparent that enthusiasts should enjoy one of the best coaster years ever in 2025, and there is a lot of great stuff on the horizon beyond.

The ACE rundown:

Rocky Mountain Construction

Taking the top award (Image Award Winner) from IAAPA for exhibitors’ booths, Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) was having a strong show.

RMC’s booth won an IAAPA Award for Best Booth.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.

“It’s on-brand for us,” said Darren Torr, president. “We took existing connex boxes [shipping containers] and repurposed them into a multilevel booth. It’s functional and has a cool factor.”

Walibi Holland (Biddinghuizen, Netherlands) will debut its second RMC called YoY (pronounced “joy”).

“This has been in development for a few years,” said Joe Draves, coaster designer. “It’s a racing and dueling raptor coaster. It starts off with a bunch of racing maneuvers.”

RMC’s new racing/dueling raptor coaster at Walibi Holland looks to be impressive.

The blue track is termed the “family track,” as it has no inversions. The green track goes upside down six times.

“From the lift hill, the blue side has the airtime drop, and the green track has a barrel-roll down drop. Then they align again for the airtime hill for the ‘high five.’ (The park loved that element on Twisted Colossus). They insisted on two elements; it had to have the high five and the top gun stall.”

Draves was also excited about the sideways airtime hills as well as the interactivity.

“It’s all about the line of sight,” Draves said. “You have to see the other train as much as possible. We’re really excited about how much interaction there is.”

YoY will have two eight-seater trains on each track for a total of four trains. The coaster will be located near Goliath and will create a circle for two existing dead-ends.

Rendering: Courtesy of RMC. View full-sized image.

Closer to home, Lost Island Themepark (Waterloo, Iowa) is debuting Fire Runner. While it is the compact model that many enthusiasts know, this installation will run 12-car trains.

“That back seat is going to be even more exciting on this one,” said Jake Kilcup, COO. “They are going to do an amazing job on the theming.”

Shortly after IAAPA Expo 2024 closed, RMC opened Skôll & Hati at Gyeongju World in Gyeongju, South Korea. It’s the compact “Stunt Pilot” raptor track model, featuring a 10-car train.

Flying Scooters can take on new heights as RMC/Larson has combined the technology of two of its rides into a telescoping, larger version.
Rendering: Courtesy of RMC. View full-sized image.

For fans of Flying Scooters, Larson International, now under the RMC umbrella, was showing off the concept of Telescoping Flying Scooters, which combines the technology of rides Larson already manufactures. In this case, the Flying Scooters would rise up in the air during the ride cycle. It goes from eight gondolas on the typical model to 12.

“This was an IAAPA Expo ‘first,’” said Hunter Novotny, ride consultant, commenting on its first showing at the expo.

“We’re known as the wooden coaster renovation people,” said Torr. “We love doing that, as well as from the ground up, but we’ve been working hard on a different structure.”

“The lattice structure is good,” said Kilcup. “It’s heavy and creates an anchor point for the park. We did that on ArieForce One (Fun Spot Atlanta, Fayetteville, Georgia). On the raptor coasters, we use pipe structure. And we are able to do that structural system across the board. The steel I-beam system we used at Silver Dollar City is another system that we’ve used.”

The revealed car of Tecuani Beast was a real showstopper.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

Vekoma

Vekoma is unquestionably a huge power player in the amusement industry. The company has distanced itself from the days of boomerangs and suspended looping coasters. Now, the world is turning to the company for exhilarating, smooth rides. Numerous projects are on the horizon. Three tilt coasters are potentially opening in 2025: Siren’s Curse, Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio); Circuit Breaker, COTAland (Austin, Texas); and Iron Rattler, Six Flags Qiddiya City (Al Muzahimiyah, Saudi Arabia). The trains on Cedar Point’s installation will have slick, captivating lighting.

“What we are able to do today with the lighting system is pretty impressive,” said Ricard Tonding-Etges, North American sales for Vekoma. “Every single LED light is programmable. The system gives a lot of flexibility to the park. It also has the onboard audio.”

Vekoma will debut two other coasters in Qiddiya as well; one is a family coaster and the other is a suspended family coaster.

Aquila is a family launch coaster at Mandoria (Rzgów, Poland).

“Mandoria has the family, indoor family launch coaster,” said Carin Davits, marketing director for Vekoma. “It’s a new retail indoor space, and we had to fit the coaster inside, and it was quite the engineering challenge to make it work, but I think we came up with an exciting layout with near misses.”

The area is themed. Aquila features no inversions. The coaster is being finished and should open in early 2025.

The Flash: Vertical Velocity is completely finished and will open in the spring at Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, New Jersey).

“With that layout specifically, we’ve incorporated a lot of modern-age track elements,” said Tonding-Etges. “We have stall loops, a lot of inversions, the height, boosts — in theory, this ride has seven launches — the blend of all these elements makes it high thrill and unique.”

A Family Boomerang Rebound will be the coaster at Oasis at lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.
Rendering: Courtesy of Lake of the Ozarks. View full-sized image.

Other projects include a Family Boomerang Rebound, ShootOut, at Oasis at Lake of the Ozarks (Osage Beach, Missouri); Yeti Trek, a family boomerang at Santa’s Village in Canada (Bracebridge, Ontario); and Serpentikha, a family suspended coaster at Aztlán Parque Urbano in Mexico City.

Intamin’s wide portfolio of rides was sought after during the show.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.

Intamin

Intamin is always busy, but as the last section of track has been placed in the world’s tallest, longest and fastest coaster (Falcons Flight), the time for testing has arrived.

“It is one of the most extreme climate conditions there is to operate a roller coaster,” said Sascha Czibulka, executive vice president. “We have a lot of experience with thin air, but it is still new territory. We approached this project with the highest level of respect and dignity.”

In addition to Falcons Flight, Intamin is providing a launched coaster, Spitfire, as well as a flying island to Six Flags Qiddiya City.

In the U.S., Georgia Surfer will finally make its debut at Six Flags Over Georgia (Austell), and Six Flags New England (Agawam Massachusetts) is debuting Quantum Accelerator. Intamin says “compact and tons of airtime” sums up the latter.

Intamin was also sharing its family linear synchronous motor (LSM) coaster to customers. As linear motors have developed, Czibulka commented that although LSMs are viewed as expensive, with more and more applications, the cost has come down. Likewise, the company has looked at making them contactless to reduce wear and tear. By reducing the height of the stators, the chassis can be lowered, which the manufacturer believes will create an even smoother ride. Reducing the weight of the coaster also reduces the need for more power. While not a new technology, clearly LSM launches are continually being refined.

“I call it a family coaster with a lot of pepper and spices,” he smiled.

In noncoaster news, the new dynamic motion stage (Danse Macabre) that just opened at Efteling (Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands) and the dome ride theater at SeaWorld Abu Dabi have garnered interest.

RollerCoaster! Editor Tim Baldwin (left) and Managing Editor Jeffrey Seifert (right) talk with Mack Rides’ Maximilian Roeser.
Photo: Tim Baldwin collection. View full-sized image.

In addition to roller coasters and water rides, Mack will be the supplier of SeaWorld Orlando’s new flying theater this spring.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.

Mack Rides

The Prater in Vienna will be adding its first big coaster in some time. It will be one of Mack Rides’ Big Dipper coasters. “The thing with the Big Dipper coaster is that you can do very sharp turns,” said Maximilian Roeser, marketing director for Mack Rides. “One column actually goes into the ghost train ride.”

While the manufacturers were prohibited from saying anything about Six Flags Qiddiya City, Mack Rides has two attractions going in, one water coaster and one interactive boat ride.

Freizeitpark Plohn (Lengenfeld, Saxony, Germany) will feature Mack Rides’ first launched water coaster in 2026. The dual launches will be timed so that opposing boats will lean in toward each other for a “high five moment” as they traverse a speed bump. The ride has not yet been named, but the majority of the ride is coaster track.

“The layout always touches some part of the water with splash effects,” said Roeser. “You aren’t just going up and splashing down; you have really nice interaction. New to the water coaster is high banking. [In the past], we had banking at 40 degrees and now we go up to 60 degrees.”

Freizeitpark Plohn will be receiving an exhilarating Mack water coaster in 2026.
Rendering: Courtesy Freizeitpark Plohn. View full-sized image.

Hot on the heels of Voltron Nevera, Helios at Fantasiana (Salzburg, Austria) is replacing Wild Train, a Pax coaster that opened in 2005. “They actually cried when they signed the contract,” reported Roeser. “They are a small park, and they were so proud to finally be able to afford a Mack ride. It actually opened a door for us with small parks. Just three weeks ago (from IAAPA Expo), we signed another one, also in Europe.”

Aquashow Family Park (Quarteira, Portugal) will be opening a launched Blue Fire-style coaster in 2025. Specific details are not released yet.

While the general manager of Holiday Park in Germany hinted about an Xtreme Spinning Coaster in 2026 during the Journey to Central Europe trip this past summer, that project has been pushed back because of plans for a waterpark.

Other projects from Mack include dark rides, flying theaters and water rides.

Great Coasters International, Inc. celebrated 30 years at IAAPA Expo.
Photo: Rachel Hawkins. View full-sized image.

Great Coasters International, Inc.

“The future looks very promising with new ideas,” said Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCII) President Clair Hain. “It’s a new element we’re going to add on a woodie — or anything. The clients we showed — their reactions were so positive. I hope to have a new vehicle at the show next year too.”

Three GCII coasters are opening in 2025.

Colossus at Six Flags Qiddiya City will begin testing in the spring.

Opening this year is Wild Buffalo, a family coaster built for a children’s park outside of Paris, France, called Mer de Sable (Ermenonville). “It’s a little ass kicker,” joked Hain.

GCII’s family coaster headed to France will still have lots of action, according to President Clair Hain.
Photo: Courtesy of GCII. View full-sized image.

In China, a coaster at Xianyang, an OCT park, will open this spring, and GCII has been led to believe it will be called Mad Racers.

GCII’s newest woodie in China called Mad Racers is approaching its commissioning phase.
Photo: Courtesy of GCII. View full-sized image.

The company has also said they are selling more Titan Track than ever, even at the IAAPA Expo. Typically, it is for trouble spots, not the whole ride.

Gerstlauer

Awaiting commissioning is Palindrome at COTAland, the under-construction park at Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Outside the U.S., Gerstlauer is very busy. While most rides would be considered family coasters, each has its own notable attributes, and some offer more thrills. Jardin d’Acclimatation (Paris, France) will offer a family coaster that involves a turntable and backward sections. Walibi Belgium (Wavre) will debut a triple-launch coaster with 20 riders per train. Parc Astérix (Plailly, France) will introduce a spinning coaster, Cétautomatix. Holiday Park in Hassloch, Germany, will debut a family coaster with a backward section. Avix will be a new Infinity Inverted Coaster at Parque del Café in Montenegro, Colombia, home of the original Zambezi Zinger.

Gerstlauer touted a new product to the company’s portfolio, the Airtime Coaster.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

The company spoke of a new Airtime Coaster. Geared toward families because of its minimum height of 39 inches, it also has a Class 5 restraint, which would allow for inversions if desired. It’s unclear how this style of coaster differs from other Gerstlauer coasters.

Wild inversion elements are now in development with Maurer Rides.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

Maurer Rides

With the Spike coaster system, Maurer is introducing some wild shapes for elements and maneuvers. Because the trains are motorized, these new iconic figures are possible.

“You could never make these elements with a traditional coaster because the energy isn’t there,” said Steve Boney, executive business development. “The difference with the motors is we can make these elements because we can add energy whenever we want to.”

Maurer has an installation at Six Flags Qiddiya City called Sea Stallion. “It’s a beautiful racing/dueling coaster,” he said.

A Spike Coaster up the tower, a drop tower inside, and an observation platform on top makes for three types of attractions on a single structure.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

New for the show was a tower attraction that showcased riders riding around and up a 55-foot tower, and then once inside, the vehicles would tilt and the attraction becomes a drop tower. The top of the tower could be an observation platform, making for three experiences in one. Boney said the concept garnered interest.

Showcasing creative ability, this coaster vehicle was on display at The Gravity Group booth.
Photo: Byron Stephenson. View full-sized image.

The Gravity Group

“Over the last three years, the demand for the engineered precut track is extremely strong,” said Michael Graham of The Gravity Group. “Two years ago, we had 10 projects; last year we had nine projects plus the new ride. This year is looking to be very busy as well, comparable to those. Because of that, we have had a need of improving our facility.”

Because of that, The Gravity Group has moved and renovated an existing facility.

Customers looking for the engineered precut track are “large parks, small parks and independent parks,” Graham joked, meaning everybody.

S&S Worldwide

In addition to the S&S Worldwide’s Twizzlers Twisted Gravity (Screamin’ Swing) going into Hersheypark (Hershey, Pennsylvania), the first Axis coaster is nearing its opening at Exit 10 (Yanbu, Saudi Arabia). The track is complete, but the indoor facility still has work on the building to complete.

The display of the Screamin’ Swing vehicle headed to Hersheypark noted the sheer size of the attraction.
Photo: Ted Ansley. View full-sized image.

The second Axis coaster has seen its structure built and awaits shipment; however, as it is in another new indoor facility, the construction is unlikely to begin until 2026.

According to leadership, the company is getting closer on a couple of contracts on the new Rail Ryder concept. Moving forward, S&S wants to make a rideable model for potential customers.

“We’re going to be putting one up at our factory in North Logan,” said Trever Dyer, marketing director. “We want customers to come out and ride it. We’re really focusing on when a ride goes out, it is done. From cycling it, our engineers can learn from it.”

While the Axis prototype used for testing had a segment for potential customers to ride (as attendees at the 2023 ACE Preservation Conference witnessed), the next move with new concepts is to build an entire ride that can be picked up and moved to a buyer. A complete model of Rail Ryder (a single-rail family ride) could be available as early as next summer.

S&S is excited with contracts in place, and discussions several years out are taking place, even up to 2030.

PTCI is the longest-running exhibitor on the show floor.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.

Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc.

PTCI is very busy with winter overhaul. Many parks have shipped coaster trains to the company for winter rehab. At the expo, management had an arranged meeting for a park overseas looking to replace its existing trains from another manufacturer with new ones from PTCI.

In 2024, PTCI provided new trains for Adventureland’s Underground in Des Moines, Iowa, and for Hersheypark's Comet.

Owner Tom Rebbie said he has been attending the IAAPA Expo since 1978.

Zamperla showcased a family thrill coaster headed to Parc Spirou Provence.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.

Zamperla

At its press announcement, Zamperla showcased the family thrill launch coaster. Such a ride is going into Parc Spirou Provence (Monteux, France) in 2026. The tire-launched coaster has a maximum height of 103 feet, a top speed of 47 mph, switch track and a track length just shy of 2,200 feet (but with a reverse spike, it travels almost 2,400 feet).

According to Adam Sandy, roller coaster sales and marketing director, the company has focused on rides for the broad range of guests between the 36-inch height requirement of kiddie coasters and the 48-inch requirement on many high-thrill coasters. In doing so, the 42-inch requirement can bring a lot of fun for those younger kids who want to ride with bigger family members.

“We know there are the Schwarzkopf speedracers and the mine trains — that demographic — which were super popular when they came out in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” he said. “We should have an equivalent today. The big difference was it has to have marketability features, which is why we have launches and the dead-end spike.”

Naruto, the coaster going to France, will feature a seven-car, 28 passenger train, but the last car is turned in the opposite direction.

“I really like the successive launches,” said Sandy. “You come back to the station and some people might think it was awesome but it’s over, and then you get the second launch that is faster than the first.”

Two Zamperla double heart coasters will premier in 2026.
Rendering: Courtesy of Zamperla. View full-sized image.

In other coaster news, two of the company’s double heart coasters are opening in 2026 as well. Both are outside of North America.

RES Rides

Often also known as Ride Engineers of Switzerland, RES Rides will be debuting its Air Loop coaster at Serengeti-Park (Hodenhagen, Germany). Technically a powered ride, the inverted coaster has some unique features. Top speed is 35 mph, but riders have the ability to control the car, flipping upside down at their discretion. The first installation will open in the spring and will be called Gozimba. Each seat has a motor, in addition to the wings.

RES will open its first powered Air Loop coaster this spring.
Rendering: Courtesy of RES. View full-sized image.

Another “kind of” coaster is the Wave Twist L that will open at Adventureland in Farmingdale, New York. The L-shaped track has two, 10-seat gondolas on a platform that also rotates as the passenger mechanism travels back and forth. Adventureland is naming the ride Wave Twister.

Sled-like touches accent Premier Rides’ new trains headed for Canada’s Wonderland.
Photo: Paul Daley. View full-sized image.

Premier Rides

In a press announcement, Premier Rides revealed a vehicle headed to Canada’s Wonderland (Vaughan, Ontario) for the new-for-2025 AlpenFury. The styling on the vehicle had sled accents that found favor with onlookers.

Kings Dominion’s Rapterra vehicle was an eye-catcher.
Photo: Doug Perry. View full-sized image.

Bolliger & Mabillard

While B&M does not give interviews, the lead car of Rapterra, the launched wing coaster headed to Kings Dominion (Doswell, Virginia), was on display. It has a commanding presence.

Zierer has coasters, water rides and flat rides opening in 2025.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

Zierer

The German company Zierer, famous for Wave Swingers, showcased its new Drifter flat ride (a dry version of its Jet Ski attraction) at the show and has sold four. For coaster enthusiasts, among the 2025 projects, there will be coasters in the mix.

SeaWorld San Antonio (Texas) has Beach Rescue Racer among its complement in the new Rescue Jr. area. Legoland Shanghai (China) is adding a Dragon as seen at other Legoland parks. Word is that another Force coaster could be coming to the U.S. as well.

While kept ambiguous, Zierer reports two coasters are headed to Great Britain, as well as a Force Two family coaster to Poland.

While Chance Rides’ long-awaited coasters at Mattel Adventure Park await the resort’s opening in 2025, the manufacturer has sold other products in its catalog.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

Chance Rides

Chance executives reported they had been informed that Mattel Adventure Park (Glendale, Arizona) was looking at a target of fall 2025. Two Chance coasters have been erected there for some time, Hot Wheels Boneshaker: The Ultimate Ride and Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer. Oddly, Boneshaker sounds ominous, but it is the family ride of the two.

Future projects look to be concentrated on other rides in the Chance portfolio.

The Rocking Tower is a new ride concept from Sunkid.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

Photo: Courtesy of Sunkid. View full-sized image.

Sunkid

Sunkid is installing four of its new Mountain Coaster 2.0 single-rail alpine coasters. The first newer version opened in Norway in 2024, followed by Poland and Kazakhstan. Those will be followed by two more installations in France.

Sunkid also introduced a new ride that won an IAAPA Brass Ring Award. The Rocking Tower combines a tower ride with a thrilling swing ride. It is suited to families with older kids.

The spinning coaster on the show floor is heading to Malibu Jacks in Colorado.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.

Rides 4 U

Rides 4 U always brings in a spinning coaster from SBF. Four were sold at the show. The model that people could ride on the show floor will be going to Malibu Jacks in Northern Colorado.

If the energy level and signed contracts are any indication, the industry is strong and coaster fans have much to look forward to in the years ahead.

— Tim Baldwin, ACE News

The IAAPA Expo is always a sensory overload.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.

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