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Although I love almost all roller coasters, the traditional wooden roller coaster, or “woodie” holds a very special place in my heart.
There is something about that shimmy, shake, and give that really speaks to me, much more than the antiseptic smooth ride that most steel coasters provide. Each individual ride on a wooden roller coaster is a different experience. The expansion and contraction of the wood due to changes in temperature and humidity, and the effect of dew or rain (or lack thereof) on the track combine to make each ride unique. Those coasters that give consistently great rides in any conditions are those I’d consider “top ten” coasters.
Harking back to an older time when wooden coasters were more fearsome than today, The Wildcat delivers a fast, smooth ride with great twisting drops, and loads of airtime and lateral force.
The Jack Rabbit is a small coaster, with only a 40 foot lift hill, and maximum drop of 70 feet. It doesn’t have the swooping turns or the deep drops of its contemporaries. It does have gorgeous 1930’s era art-deco trains that have the least amount of restraint on any coaster I’ve ever ridden. Just a fixed bar and a thin leather strap over both riders laps hold you in. The Jack Rabbit also has something unique in the American coaster world, a double dip. Coming down the longest drop, the track undulates upward for a brief moment, then back down, giving the rider the best single instance of airtime on any coaster standing today. With your hands in the air, pick your feet up off the floor prior to the double dip, and you’ll be floating off your seat until the train starts up the next hill. Sublime!
Built into the forested area around the park, this ride was designed to remove as few trees from the property as possible. This design results in a ride that is fast and filled with airtime, but also has the added rush of the trees closing in on you, and the sense that you could fly into them at any moment. Since there are no lights on the coaster after the first drop, a nighttime ride feels like pure mayhem, with few visual clues as to where you are going. Add to that a second 70 foot surprise drop after a sharp left turn in the middle of the ride, and you have one exhilarating ride.
Designed by Prior and Church (who along with builder Harry Traver were responsible for many of history’s great wooden coasters), this beauty was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. Because it is so well maintained, it still tracks like a new coaster. Classic in form and function, the Dipper provides a fast ride with steep drops and great swooping turns. It would rate even higher if it didn’t use uncomfortable Morgan trains, which can pin even thinner riders than I to their seat. This has to give a great ride for me to even place it on this list, considering how much I loathe Morgan trains. If the park would replace the Morgan trains with Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) trains with individual ratcheting lap bars, this coaster would move up into the top three.
Built on the side of a mountain that borders the park property; Boulderdash uses the terrain to its advantage. At the top of the lift you experience a quick right turn into a sweeping first drop that sends you back past the loading platform. Boulderdash then goes out along the mountain and back to the station, relying on unrelenting speed and small bunny-hop type hills that give plenty of airtime. A fast, fun ride, that has great re-ride ability
The granddaddy of all wooden coasters and the coaster that all other woodies are measured against, The Cyclone still provides one of the most harrowing rides one can have on any kind of roller coaster. With its 85 foot, nearly 60 degree angle first hill that truly gives the rider the feeling of dropping off the edge of the world, unrelenting power, brutal drops, and lateral forces through vicious turns, The Cyclone has it all. If you ride in the back seat, don’t hold with your hands up until you know what the coaster is going to do, or you may come back to the station with broken ribs!
Most woodies are classified either as twisters, those that go up, turn, and then go down, twisting inwards upon themselves, or as out and back coasters, that follow a straight line away from the lift, turn around, and come back to the station. Rampage combines both of these worlds with an out and back component, and the sharp turns and twists associated with twisters. Combine this with great pacing and a beautiful wooded landscape, and you have one killer ride.
Originally named the Rocket, this great ride was saved by park owner Dick Knoebel. Dick realized he could buy the coaster, have it dismantled, shipped to Pennsylvania, and rebuilt for less money than a new ride would cost. Not only was it a frugal decision, it was a smart one, as this woodie is a classic. It’s a double out and back coaster, most noted for its ground level speed bumps that it takes at breakneck speed. I never rode it in Texas, but those who have say it runs even better now.
Named after singer/owner Dolly Parton, Dollywood is a beautiful little park nestled in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. When Dolly finally decided to invest in a wooden roller coaster, she hit the jackpot with this gem. Featuring high speeds, open front trains, classic 1920’s style sweeping turns, a unique trip through the station at full speed 10 feet above the heads of those waiting to ride, and absolutely no braking of the trains until they are about to re-enter the station, this woodie gives one of the most thrilling rides that I’ve encountered. It’s so good that it’s worth the red-state trip for this blue-state boy.
What can I say about Thunderbolt? It has absolutely gorgeous 1950’s era National Amusement Device (NAD) trains with steel fronts and working headlights. In the center of the front of the train, there is a “floating” headlight which swings wildly across the tracks on night rides. The trains have soft padded leather seats, but do not have seat dividers, allowing the patrons to slide wildly into each other, especially on the two vicious surface turns that were added to Pippin’s existing structure. The ride has all the normal coaster elements, but not in the order one is accustomed. Utilizing the parks terrain beautifully, you drop out of the station into a ravine that encircles the park, a quick turn to the right, and you drop into the ravine a second time. After this second drop is the lift hill. At 70 feet it doesn’t look like much, but after a quick right turn you go into the two surface turns. There is so much lateral force on these two turns that, even though the two riders may fill the whole seat at the beginning of the ride, you will have room for a third as the force squeezes you together. Make sure the heavier person enters the train last, or the lighter person will be flattened like a pancake! The train makes a sharp left turn (the only left turn on its circuit), and drops again into the ravine. One more right turn, and you approach the final drop into the ravine, which at 95 feet is the largest drop on the ride. As a caveat to this list, there are many highly rated wooden coasters that I have yet to ride. These include Shivering Timbers at Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon, MI, both The Legend and Voyage at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN, and Megafobia at Oakwood Theme Park in Wales, UK. I’d also like to use this opportunity to say there are some pretty poor wooden coasters as well. The Grizzly at Paramount’s Great America in Santa Clara CA is perhaps the most boring wooden coaster I’ve ever ridden, and the Mean Streak at Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH is like getting sucker punched in the spine for 2 ½ minutes. Mean indeed! Stay tuned to this space next month for my top ten steel coaster list. Until then, see you in the queue line!
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