An inverted roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars, letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster was pioneered by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard in the early 1990s with the development of Batman: The Ride, which opened at Six Flags Great America on May 9, 1992.
Versions of inverted coasters have since been produced by other major coaster manufacturers such as Vekoma and Intamin. Intamin has few designs classified as inverted coasters, although they do install inverted coaster trains on some of their launched designs. Vekoma, however, predominantly mass-produced the same design (Suspended Looping Coaster) with 41 identical coasters installed around the world, though Vekoma now markets a newer style of inverted coaster, the Suspended Thrill Coaster, which utilises lap-bar restraints instead of the traditional over-the-shoulder restraints. Vekoma was also the first manufacturer to install a family-friendly inverted roller coaster with the opening of Flying Ace Aerial Chase at Kings Island in 2001. Giovanola also has a single inverted coaster operating, which uses the box-track design, also used by Bolliger & Mabillard.
The inverted coaster differs from the older suspended coaster, which runs under the track, but features cars that enclose the rider's legs and lower body and are attached to the track above by a pivoting bar, whereas the trains on inverted coasters are directly attached to the track. This direct attachment facilitates inversions, which aren't possible on suspended coasters. Inversions typically featured on inverted coasters include vertical loops, zero-g rolls, Immelmann loops, cobra rolls, and corkscrews, though Vekoma's suspended loopers typically feature sidewinder and in-line twist elements.
History The inverted coaster was developed in the early 1990s by engineers Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard of the Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard in cooperation with engineer Robert Mampe and Jim Wintrode, at the time the general manager of Six Flags Great America, who first envisioned a suspended coaster capable of inversions. The result of this partnership, Batman: The Ride, soft opened at Six Flags Great America as the first inverted coaster in the world on May 2, 1992, officially opening on May 9, 1992. With the coaster's success, Time Warner, Six Flags' parent company at the time, moved to construct a series of duplicates of the ride at various Six Flags parks. In 1993, a second installation of Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great Adventure opened as the second inverted coaster in the world. Six Flags has since gone on to construct five additional duplicates of the ride.
The second unique inverted coaster was Flight Deck which opened in 1993 at California's Great America as Top Gun. Nemesis, now Nemesis Reborn, was the first inverted coaster constructed outside the United States when it opened at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England in 1994. That same year, Raptor opened at Cedar Point. With a 3,790-foot (1,160 m) track layout, Raptor was far larger and featured a less compact layout than its predecessors. It also featured the first cobra roll on an inverted coaster.
Installations 231 inverted roller coasters have been installed at various theme parks, some of which have been relocated. The following list is not exhaustive and only shows the most notable installations.
Name Park Opened Manufacturer Status Batman: The Ride Six Flags Great America 1992 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Batman: The Ride Six Flags Great Adventure 1993 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Flight Deck California's Great America 1993 Bolliger & Mabillard OperatingNemesis RebornAlton Towers1994 (original), 2024 (refurbished)Bolliger & MabillardOperating Batman: The Ride Six Flags Magic Mountain 1994 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Raptor Cedar Point 1994 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Condor Walibi Holland 1994 Vekoma Operating Diavlo Himeji Central Park 1994 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Batman: The Ride Six Flags St. Louis 1995 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating T3 Kentucky Kingdom 1995 Vekoma Closed Eurostar German Traveling Fairs 1995 Intamin/Giovanola Operating Flight Deck Canada's Wonderland 1995 Vekoma Operating Arkham Asylum - Shock TherapyLethal Weapon - The Ride Warner Bros. Movie World 1995 Vekoma Closed 2019 The Great Nor'easter Morey's Piers 1995 Vekoma Operating Professor Screamore's Skywinder Six Flags America 1995 Vekoma SBNO Montu Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 1996 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Batman: The Ride Six Flags Over Georgia 1997 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating The Great White SeaWorld San Antonio 1997 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Mind Eraser Six Flags Darien Lake 1997 Vekoma Operating The Riddler Revenge Six Flags New England 1997 Vekoma Operating Mind Eraser Elitch Gardens 1997 Vekoma Operating Pyrenees Parque Espana-Shima Spain Village 1997 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Alpengeist Busch Gardens Williamsburg 1997 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Great Bear Hersheypark 1998 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Linear Gale Tokyo Dome City 1998 Intamin Closed 2010 Volcano: The Blast Coaster Kings Dominion 1998 Intamin Closed 2018 Blue Tornado Gardaland 1998 Vekoma Operating KongFormerly The Hangman Six Flags Discovery KingdomOpryland 19981995 Vekoma OperatingClosed 1997AnacondaGold Reef City1999GiovanolaOperating Tornado Parque de Atracciones de Madrid 1999 Intamin Operating Batman: The Ride Six Flags Over Texas 1999 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Dragon Challenge Islands of Adventure 1999 Bolliger & Mabillard Closed 2017 Afterburn Carowinds 1999 Bolliger & Mabillard OperatingTwisted TyphoonWild Adventures 1999 Vekoma Operating Invertigo Kings Island 1999 Vekoma Operating Katun Mirabilandia 2000 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Batman: The Ride Six Flags Mexico 2000 Vekoma Operating MP Xpress Movie Park Germany 2001 Vekoma Operating Talon Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom 2001 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Tornado Särkänniemi 2001 Intamin Operating The Flash: Vertical Velocity Six Flags Great America 2001 Intamin Operating Batman: Arkham Asylum Parque Warner Madrid 2002 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Stunt Fall Parque Warner Madrid 2002 Vekoma Operating Wicked Twister Cedar Point 2002 Intamin Closed 2021 Le Vampire La Ronde 2002 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating The Flash: Vertical Velocity Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 2002 Intamin Operating Sky Rocket Dreamworld 2002 Vekoma Operating Jubilee Odyssey Fantasy Island 2002 Vekoma Operating Nemesis Inferno Thorpe Park 2003 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Swamp Thing Wild Adventures 2003 Vekoma Operating Kiddy Hawk Carowinds 2003 Vekoma Operating Steel Venom Valleyfair 2003 Intamin Operating Unknown Formerly Lightning Wonderla Amusement Park Chennai Kuwait Entertainment City 2025 2004 Bolliger & Mabillard Under construction Closed 2016 Silver Bullet Knott's Berry Farm 2004 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Bat Lagoon 2005 Vekoma Operating Patriot Worlds of Fun 2006 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Black Mamba Phantasialand 2006 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Kumali Flamingo Land Resort 2006 Vekoma Operating InfusionFormerly Traumatizer Pleasure Beach BlackpoolPleasureland Southport 20071999 Vekoma OperatingClosed 2006 Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Flyer Movie Park Germany 2007 Vekoma Operating Kvasten Gröna Lund 2007 Vekoma Operating Phaethon Gyeongju World 2007 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating ChupacabraFormerly GoliathFormerly Batman: The RideFormerly Gambit Six Flags Fiesta TexasSix Flags New OrleansThrill Valley 200820031995 Bolliger & Mabillard OperatingClosed 2005Closed 2002 Thunderhawk Michigan's AdventureGeauga Lake 20081998 Vekoma OperatingClosed 2007 PossessedFormerly Steel Venom Dorney Park & Wildwater KingdomGeauga Lake 20082000 Intamin OperatingClosed 2006 AftershockFormerly Déjà VuSilverwood Theme Park Six Flags Great America 20082001 Vekoma Operating Closed 2007 Steel Lasso Frontier City 2008 Vekoma Operating The MonsterFormerly Orochi Walygator ParcExpoland 20101996 Bolliger & Mabillard OperatingClosed 2007Ednör - L'AttaqueFormerly Serial Thriller La RondeSix Flags Astroworld 20101999 Vekoma Operating Closed 2005 Battlestar Galactica: Cylon Universal Studios Singapore 2010 Vekoma Operating Sky MountainFormerly Déjà VuMirabilandia Six Flags Over Georgia 20112001 Vekoma Operating Closed 2007 Mountain PeakJinjiang Action Park 2011 Vekoma Operating GoliathFormerly Déjà VuSix Flags New England Six Flags Magic Mountain 20122001 Vekoma Closed 2019-2021 Closed 2011 OzIris Parc Astérix 2012 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Banshee Kings Island 2014 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Family Inverted Coaster Happy Valley 2014 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating Arthur - The Ride Europa-Park 2014 Mack Rides Operating Hals-über-Kopf Erlebnispark Tripsdrill 2020 Vekoma Operating Monster Gröna Lund 2021 Bolliger & Mabillard OperatingStorm - The Dragon LegendTusenfryd2023GerstlauerOperating Phoenix Rising Busch Gardens Tampa 2024 Bolliger & Mabillard OperatingInfinity Inverted CoasterParque del Café2025GerstlauerUnder constructionNa Fianna ForceEmerald Park2024VekomaOperatingBig Bad Wolf: The Wolf's RevengeBusch Gardens Williamsburg2025Bolliger & MabillardOperatingBig Lego CoasterLegoland Shanghai2025Bolliger & MabillardOperating Barracuda Strike SeaWorld San Antonio 2026 Bolliger & Mabillard Operating
Gallery
See also Wing Coaster Suspended roller coaster Pipeline roller coaster
References
External links
Bolliger & Mabillard official site Intamin official site Vekoma official site