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The last year has been stacked for ride manufacturer Vekoma, which is celebrating a bumper year in 2024, along with major announcements and completions for both 2025 and 2026
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 04 Dec 2024
Siren’s Curse is a Tilt Coaster opening at Cedar Point Credit: Vekoma
The last year has been stacked for ride manufacturer Vekoma, which is celebrating a bumper year in 2024, along with major announcements and completions for both 2025 and 2026.
In the US in 2024, Vekoma has opened Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers at King’s Island, which takes its inspiration from the soap box racing derby, inviting children and their parents the chance to choose their favourite Peanuts-decorated car before racing through a track filled with twists and turns.
Meanwhile, for Santa’s Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire, Vekoma has installed a Horus Family Coaster dubbed Midnight Flyer, with the Northern Lights-inspired track allowing riders to feel like they are flying with reindeer.
Making the headlines at IAAPA 2023 for its gravy boat-inspired ride car, Good Gravy made its debut this year, with the ride at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari designed after the theme of Thanksgiving dinner.
Energylandia in Poland has also launched two Vekoma coasters in 2024, with the Choco Chip Creek Mine Train and the Honey Harbour family coaster featuring in the new Sweet Valley themed land.
Two new Vekoma coasters in Ireland have also opened in 2024, with the Na Fianna Force and The Quest merging together with an intertwined design. The first track is a suspended thrill coaster featuring a 360 Zero-G Roll and an Upward Helix among five upside-down experiences on the ride. The second coaster is a family boomerang, which includes forward and backwards runs on the track and through the station, with airtime hills, dives and turns.
Set to open before the end of the year are two coasters sure to make waves as part of the new Wizard of Oz precinct at Warner Bros. Movie World Australia.
The first coaster, dubbed the Kansas Twister, is a family boomerang racer that will play out over two duelling tracks of 225m (738ft) and 220m (720ft) in length. The ride is the less extreme of the pair and will reach a maximum height of 72ft (22m) in height and a top speed of 36mph (58kmph). The second ride, called Flight of the Wicked Witch, is a suspended family coaster with a track length of 454m (1,500ft) and a maximum height of 19m (62ft). It will reach speeds of up to 42mph (67kmph). According to the park, both rides have been designed with high capacity in mind, as well as low height and age restrictions to provide more experiences for families.
Also in Australia, Dreamworld will open Jungle Rush - the world’s first Switchback Coaster. This family-thrill coaster is set to be the first of its kind, with the ride design supporting multiple different cycle paths and featuring the world’s first inclined turntable. The ride will also include 12 airtime elements, dedicated show moments and the ability to run both backwards and forwards.
Vekoma’s project list doesn’t stop in 2024, with 2025’s list of projects looking equally stacked.
Thrill coasters include the Tilt Coaster ‘Circuit Breaker’ at Cotaland. A first for any rollercoaster Circuit Breaker sits directly next to a Formula 1, NASCAR and MotoGP racing track.
Also launching is Siren’s Curse, a Tilt Coaster opening at Cedar Point in Ohio, US. Boasting a 2,966ft (904m) track, the coaster features the innovative seesaw track element 160ft in the air, as well as several exhilarating ride elements including two 360-degree, zero gravity barrel rolls, 13 weightless airtime moments and a high-speed triple-down element with twisted and overbanked track.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the world’s tallest Tilt Coaster ‘Iron Rattler’ is under construction at Six Flags Qiddiya City, with the ride set to reach speeds of up to 118kmph with elements including five inversions and 12 airtime moments.
Currently under construction is North America’s first Super Boomerang ‘The Flash: Vertical Velocity’, which will open at Six Flags Great Adventure. Meanwhile, a Family Boomerang Rebound ‘ShootOut’ will open at Oasis at the Lake of Ozarks.
In Canada, Santa’s Village is opening a custom-designed Family Coaster ‘Yeti Trek’ and in Mexico a Suspended Family Coaster ‘Serpentikha’ will open at Aztlán Parque Urbano.
In Europe, an indoor Family Coaster ‘Bulder Baan’ is set to open next year at the new indoor theme park Bommelwereld in the Netherlands, In France, Winnoland is building a Kalypso Family Coaster ‘Wild West Coaster’. Poland’s Mandoria has called on Vekoma to build an indoor Family Launch Coaster ‘Aquila’.
Vekoma’s big recent news came at IAAPA Expo, when the company unveiled its new attraction coming to BON Luxury Theme Park in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, in 2026.
Featuring five different rides from Vekoma, guests can ride the Horus Family Coaster ‘Izari’s Flight’, the Suspended Family Coaster ‘Speed of Light’, a Switchback Coaster ‘Ashara – Goddess of Fire’ and the new Beat It water attraction ‘Toco Tambo Falls’. The main attraction will be Latin America’s only Double Launch Coaster ‘Tecuani Beast’ - a unique ride with 20 different track elements including the world’s first Double Roll-Over Tophat, as well as more than 16 seconds of airtime and six inversions. With a total track length of 1,200m and a top speed of 105 kmph, Tecuani Beast is the longest and fastest Launch Coaster in Latin America.
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