1/4/2024 0 Comments Manta roller coaster g force![]() ![]() Though it’s quite short and has some weird design choices such as the straight piece of track out of the station and dip before the lift hill, the rest is thoroughly enjoyable. It might not look like much to most, but it is actually unique! So what do I think of Shockwave? They are a rare breed of coaster, but Shockwave is the single last remaining to be built by Intamin. Shockwave still remains today as a stand up coaster and the only one in the UK, one of 2 in Europe and one of roughly 10 still operating worldwide. Things have gotten better for the old Intamin as stand up coasters have fallen out of favour, with many being converted to a much more appealing floorless coaster, a sentiment I’m not sure I mirror! As more and more stand-up coasters are converted, Shockwave gets rarer and rarer and hopefully, more sought after as a ride! ![]() A lot has changed since 1994, Big One isn’t the tallest or fastest in the world, Nemesis has got direct competition from Nemesis Inferno, as well as a plethora of other great European inverted coasters. Knowing what I know now though, I rate Nemesis the best of the 3, then Shockwave and finally Big One. If I could go back and look at all 3 on paper and decide which I’d prefer to give the most attention to, it would certainly be The Big One, then probably Nemesis, leaving Shockwave last to go and see. Yeah sure Shockwave was a stand-up coaster and featured a unique zero G roll, a feat it still retains to this day, but would Joe public be as interested in a stand up coaster over an inverted coaster and the world’s tallest? I’m not so sure! Shockwave today Nemesis didn’t really have too many issues as the ride was in a well respected park, had had plenty of investment and advertising done and the ride itself was unique to Europe with it being the first inverted roller coaster outside of North America. ![]() I don’t know at the time what ride attendance was but it can be assumed that Shockwave will have had a smaller number than it was entitled to because of the record breaking Pepsi Max Big One. Until Blackpool Pleasure Beach opens the world tallest and fastest roller coaster in May 1994, 2 months after Shockwave opens! So we’ve finally gotten the ride installed and opened and all is well, there’s a bit of competition from Nemesis but Shockwave can still shine though. Once the ride finally opened in March 1994, it was another uphill struggle as it was competing against Nemesis at Alton Towers. Issues were found when testing started though as the test car couldn’t navigate the zero G roll so another price of track was needed. The problems Shockwave has faced didn’t start here though, they started right when the attraction was built! The beginningĭrayton Manor bought this Intamin Stand Up roller coaster from a booth at the 1992 Internation Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions show (IAAPA) and proceeded to build the coaster over the next year. It lives in a park that has gone through a lot of trouble in the past, had troubles of its own and was even over shadowed (until recently) by another roller coaster in the same area, that being G-Force. ![]()
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