Sandy’s Blasting Bronco

Recommend

originally posted on 11/20/2020

Photo: Paul Daley. View full-sized image.

Ever wonder what squirrels in Texas dream about? Most are likely thinking about getting their paws on some tasty nuts in all shapes and sizes. Sandy Cheeks, a Bikini Bottom transplant from Texas featured in the Nickelodeon animated television series “SpongeBob SquarePants,” got together with her friends at Intamin to dream up a deliciously fun roller coaster called Sandy’s Blasting Bronco that is also a little nutty.

Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park in East Rutherford, New Jersey, opened its gates on October 25, 2019. Over the first couple of months, four of the five roller coasters opened to riders. The fifth coaster however, Sandy’s Blasting Bronco, stood mysteriously silent at the back of the park. Intermittent work and testing would be seen throughout the following months, but an opening date for the coaster was not in the cards. Then the pandemic started, and like a lot of things in 2020, the Jif hit the fan. The park was forced to temporarily close. Good news came later in the year as the park announced it would be able to reopen on October 1, and with it, Sandy’s Blasting Bronco!

Photo: Mat Wangrow. View full-sized image.

Photo: Joe Radomile. View full-sized image.

Set at the opposite end of the park from the entrance plaza, multiple tall inversions peek out from behind myriad other colorful and well-themed attractions. The ride looks like someone stood a figure eight on its side and drew a rudimentary outline of a peanut shell behind it. Deep cobalt blue track stands sinuously upright before the wall of windows, teasing passersby on I-95. The ride has been intriguing curious riders for nearly a year now.

Riders queue behind the coaster with a canopy of netting above them owing to the trains rocketing overhead. The station is simple and open. A single lavender train with cartoonish purple rivets, red fins and a propeller can seat 12 guests. During a pandemic, that amount is cut in half. After boarding the train, riders are pleased to find comfortable overhead lap bars. Ahead of them is a precariously short section of launch track. They may be wondering, “How is that small of a launch going to…” Zoom! Faster than one can say “macadamia,” the train is already soaring through the first Immelmann inversion. It rights itself just in time to rocket through a tight second Immelmann. This is followed by a near ground-level drop that sets the train up brilliantly for a second set of inversions, a creamy rollover that ends with magnificent hang time into the brake run. Riders are like peanut butter stuck to the roof of a mouth. Comfortably, the train rolls into the station. To the right, the ride attendant is yelling, “Don’t unbuckle the safety belts. You’re going again…BACKWARD!” The station has a turntable that spins the train 180 degrees. Riders do not have time to spell “pistachio” before they are launched through the same sequence of inversions in reverse.

Photo: Mat Wangrow. View full-sized image.

Photo: Paul Daley. View full-sized image.

Overall, this is a very solid and wonderful roller coaster. Both launches are fast and forceful but also surprisingly comfortable. Riders may notice some rattling during the Immelmanns, but it does not detract too much from the ride. The ride also has a small footprint. Hopefully, this makes it a marketable model for smaller parks looking for a new, big attraction. Is the coaster “smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy?” Probably not, but this squirrely ride is a lot of fun and very re-rideable. To Sandy Cheeks and the folks at Intamin, Mr. Peanut tips his hat to you.

— Mat Wangrow