“It’s breathtaking, one of a kind,” said David Sheffer, 42, of Orange County. “It’s still like the classic wooden coaster, but I promise you, it’s not your daddy’s wooden coaster.”Ĭoaster enthusiasts agreed, saying that while they missed the rickety, old wooden ride that had been shut down last year, the new one lived up to the hype that had built up on blogs and websites. “It’s the best of nostalgia meeting innovation,” Rabjohn said. The newer version has kept the spirit of the old ride, Rabjohn said. “I for one can’t wait to take a ride and am jealous that the employees previewed the ride earlier this week.” The twisted makeover adds at least 40 more years to the life of the ride, and that should make us happy. “But even the California missions have been upgraded and structurally changed to better withstand earthquakes, which included adding steel bracing.
“Of course, I know some of our members would love to see the all-wooden version still intact, and I for one will miss the music the wheels made when they rolled over the gaps between the boards as the trains rolled up and down the hills,” Patti wrote recently on the page. A Save Colossus rally was held outside Magic Mountain, and organizers gathered hundreds of signatures on a petition.īut after seeing the newer version, some of those same protesters, such as Donald Patti, who organized the protest, have reconsidered. When it shut down in August, some Colossus lovers mourned and protested, fearing that it would be torn down and rebuilt into something different. Its height, length and speed landed it on the historical map of greatest wooden coasters, according to the Texas-based American Coaster Enthusiasts, and it was featured in dozens of television shows and movies, including “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” The original Colossus was one of 211 wooden roller coasters worldwide and was built by Bernards Construction, based in the city of San Fernando. The wooden attraction opened in 1978 featuring two identical side-by-side tracks. With its crosshatched wooden frame, slow rhythmic ascent, dramatic pause at its 100-foot peak and 62 mph dive, the original Colossus was once billed as the fastest and tallest coaster in the world.
Twisted Colossus features 5,000 feet of track, making it the longest hybrid coaster in the world, said park President Bonnie Rabjohn.
Two trains run side by side as they go through an overbanked turn facing each other, so that riders get a feeling they can reach out and “high-five” one another. That’s when riders hit the “Top Gun Stall” – an inversion where the train slows while upside down. Renamed Twisted Colossus, the updated coaster is a hybrid of the original wooden structure with an iron-horse steel track to give it a faster, smoother ride. “It’s very different, but it’s better,” Kacey Umanzor, also 13, added.