Aquashow Family Park, a park in Portugal which is primarily a water park, is building a Mack launch coaster in an extremely compact plot of land that looks to be one of the better coasters opening up next year, but is barely being talked about at all.
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
I think this coaster has the potential to be one of the better coasters opening next year, and I feel like nobody is talking about it. With some really unique elements and such a compact layout, it should be really fun, and I can't wait until we see more of the layout as well!
The Park
Aquashow Family Park is located right on the south end of Portugal, just around 2 mi / 3 km from the coast. It's mostly a waterpark, featuring a variety of rides and slides. The park is less than 30 acres in size, but still features a large outdoor water park, an indoor water park, and an on-site hotel. The only roller coaster there currently is a Mack Water Coaster. The layout of the coaster track sections is identical to that of Posiedon at Europa Park, featuring a lift hill, two twisted sweeping dips, a splashdown, another lift hill, and a final drop through a tunnel into a splashdown. The coaster opened in 2006 and is called Montanha Russa, which translates to Roller Coaster.The Coaster
In 2024, Aquashow started work on a new coaster to open in the 2025 season. Limited details have been revealed, but here's what we know:Land
The coaster is going to be very compact, occupying an extremely small plot of land. Squeezed between their existing Water Coaster and a road with parking spaces, the plot of land is only about 25,000 square feet / 2,400 square meters. For reference, the footprint of a Sky Rocket II is 13,293 square feet / 1,235 square meters, plus the space for the queue and entrance. An image is included below of the coaster's plot of land, with the footprint of a Sky Rocket II (just the ride, minus the queue) outlined in yellow to show scale.
Layout
Mack's Head of Marketing stated in an IAAPA interview that the coaster will be a launch coaster with a relatively narrow, but high layout due to space restrictions, and he calls the coaster very exciting. A construction update posted on Reddit shows what part of the coaster's layout will be. While it is difficult to tell how each will link together, in the photo we can see some very interesting elements. On the back right is a top hat-like element with interesting angles. If entering from the right, it would hang riders 90° to the left before dropping them to the ground in a downwards roll. If entering from the left, it riders would be sent through a roll upwards into the 90° bank to the right, before diving back down to the ground. To the left of this top hat, there is what appears to be a vertical or near-vertical ascent/descent, which may connect with the base of the right side of the top hat. In the foreground is a fascinating triple-inverting element, in which it appears that riders will experience three consecutive barrel roll-like motions. On the left is the ascent into or dive down from this element. If it is the former, it is possible that the right side of the top hat instead connects with the base of this triple-inverting element. Just to the left of the black box, slightly in front of the base of the triple-inverting element is a curved piece of track with LSM fins on it.Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Post-coaster
Once the coaster opens, it seems like it will be by far the best coaster in Portugal – the only existing coaster that isn't an alpine or family coaster is the Water Coaster located right next to this coaster. It also continues to show how Mack is willing to make great rides with tight constraints (in this case, space), and this is a continuation of their recent success with whacky elements and angles, like is seen on the other new-for-2025 Mack thrill coasters Helios, Stardust Racers, and Wiener Looping. It will also be interesting to see if Aquashow invests in any other high-thrill attractions after this, as the rest of the park seems quite family oriented.I think this coaster has the potential to be one of the better coasters opening next year, and I feel like nobody is talking about it. With some really unique elements and such a compact layout, it should be really fun, and I can't wait until we see more of the layout as well!
