Verbolten

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Manufacturer
ZIERER

Model
Elevated Seating Coaster w/ Vertical Drop Element

Hamlet
Oktoberfest (Germany)

Official Opening
May 18, 2012

Soft Opening
May 11, 2012

Tallest Drop
88ft


Top Speed
53mph

Inversion Count
0

Launch Segments
2

Riders Per Train
16

Number of Trains
5

Height Requirement
48in



Verbolten is an indoor/outdoor ZIERER Elevated Seating Coaster that features a Vertical Drop Element. It officially opened in mid-May 2012 on the site formally occupied by the Arrow Suspended Coaster, Big Bad Wolf.


Videos​

Development Documentary​

Ride Recordings​

On-Ride Videos​

Backstage Footage​

 
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If they really wanted the campy blacklight romp, they should have built it in Drachen's spot or possibly waited to put it in DarKastle's. It just doesn't match the more realistic theming in the queue/station. Were they trying to make it "a ride full of surprises"? Because that's exactly a ride that doesn't stand up to rerides. The end result is as incoherent as KD's Safari Village area and isn't even as good as FoF/Backlot let alone I305.
 
IIRC in something I read about the design of stuff like that, the faster you move, the brighter that something like that has to be in contrast for you to be able to see it clearer. So the brighter neon blacklight contrast is so that you can better see the design, as opposed to darker not as well lit set pieces. It also has to do with the fact that if you went with darker colors, you would need to have brighter lights, which means seeing more of the show building and ruining the illusion that they are trying invoke of not seeing where you are about to go.

It also has to play with biology, and the pupil can't adjust fast enough to go from bright lights of outdoors to the darker indoors that easily, and the bright colors make the dark area's appear much darker to you.

I have no problem with the way the interior was, I hold out hope that they can bring it back, but I don't worry about it's impact on my enjoyment of the ride. It's like Nessie's effects are cool and all, but that has little impact on my enjoyment of Nessie.
 
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^Even more reason they should have used the Drachen spot. The show building was a waste of terrain.

Re: weak theming not hampering an already good ride, Nessie stood just fine without the effects in the cave. A rather awkward wannabe-blitz coaster just doesn't do it for me, and my previous suggestions were attempts to make it a better wannabe-blitz.

Side note: Tempesto's comfort collars are stupid because the ride has minimal laterals. On this lateral-heavy ride, they'd be welcome.
 
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Here is an unpopular view: I enjoy Bolt more than latter-years BBW.

BBW ultimately felt slow to me, and the sense of speed was what initially made it fun for me. Bolt may not be perfect, and certainly isn't Apollo or Nessie (or several other coasters around the country). It is, however, fun, because of the drop track and sense of speed.

I would also point out that the park says that BBW became too expensive to maintain, and in fact ended up using BBW parts to extend the life of Nessie. Maybe they aren't telling the whole truth; maybe they are lying outright; or maybe they really did the cost/benefit analysis and decided that BBW's time had come. I don't think we are in a position to judge the validity of the decision.

Not every coaster needs to be a masterpiece. In fact, I doubt most family coasters can be. That said, a reasonable debate can be (and has been) had about the cost in comparison to the revenue it generated for the park.

I think the idea that it is nothing more than a "novelty coaster" and worthy of such extreme hate is certainly an outlier view, however. I am not saying that people are not welcome to express their opinions, but everyone should likewise accept that their perspectives are not and need not be universal.
 
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Looking at POVs, it seems the Big Bad Wolf's strength wasn't forces or speed, but its scenery. I doubt the Wolf's ride experience alone would have measured up to Vortex CW.

Yes, I will admit Verbolten has a strong sense of speed, but that's only to be expected from a wannabe-blitz, and so many other coasters already deliver a similar or stronger sense of speed. Even among family-targeting coasters, Avalanche at KD has a comparable sense of speed.
 
Nicole said:
When did you ride BBW? It used to feel very fast, especially when flying through the village.

I have never ridden a coaster for the scenery, personally.
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I never did. The only time I went to BGW while the Wolf stood was '98, little me still being afraid of coasters and skipping it. Part of why I'm so bitter about Verbolten replacing it.
 
I've only been coming to the park since 2014, so I don't have memories/nostalgia for BBW—But I love Verbolten. It's the coaster I've ridden more than any other, I think for many of the reasons Nicole listed above. It's unique! I've never ridden another coaster with a drop track, I think the indoor section is thrilling and disorienting, and the boost up to the rickety bridge followed by the drop to the river is a great finale to the ride.

When I bring new people to the park, that and InvadR are consistently the favorites of the day.
 
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Pretzel Kaiser said:
You never rode BBW but you're incredibly bitter at a family coaster that replaced it? Huh.
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Pretty much. My rage is directed at three entities: the guys who thought killing the Wolf was the best decision, the PETA guys for defaming SeaWorld and causing the loss of attendance that led to the financial troubles that all but ensure SWP&E won't be getting many Cedar Fair quality new rides any time soon, and my younger self for being a wuss and missing out on the Wolf.

Zimmy said:
Were they trying to compete with I305?
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Hopefully not. Though they did outdo I305's price tag. What I was trying to say is that at least KD's Safari Village makes up for its incoherent / mismatched theming with great rides.


I still think a lot of Verbolten's appeal is that it's a wannabe-blitz, and those seem to be the crowd-pleasers of the 2010s/2020s (removing the need for a big lift hill and allowing for nonstop action) the way hypers were in the 1990s/2000s (wowing riders with their massive scale).
 
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Thomas said:
Volcano is a great ride? TIL.
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As far as novelties go, you can't deny that launching out the top of Volcano's structure into an inversion that was once one of the world's highest is much more impressive than a very brief freefall drop track.
 
I rode BBW in 2003, and 1990. Now I wasn't a coaster person at all in the 90's but my age then certainly played into it. In 03 I was like "oh cool scenery, nice ride, I like what's at Hershey much better". Bolt I enjoy much more as an actual ride experience, but the package is a drop down.

And I'm a person that should love BBW more than anyone. BBW was 4 months 1 day older than me. From my first ride I felt a personal connection because it was my age. But man, even in 03 that last drop was becoming really shakey.
 
SLC Headache said:
As far as novelties go, you can't deny that launching out the top of Volcano's structure into an inversion that was once one of the world's highest is much more impressive than a very brief freefall drop track.
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I don't think Volcano was an adequate replacment for Smurf Mountain.
 
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