Whether you’re slowly climbing that 300-foot chain lift hill or racing out of the station on the freeway faster than a sports car, roller coasters are very effective at attracting thrill seekers and the brave for a quick adrenaline rush. Usually, the logo of any amusement park is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the area. Or theme parks might advertise the number of times their roller coaster reverses, or the amount of time the ride puts the rider through high levels of gravity.
Sometimes, however, the key to marketing roller coasters is to design something really weird, so much so that you wonder if you’re looking at a real roller coaster or a Photoshop passion project with clickbait posters. So here’s a list of the superstition Mountain Lost roller coaster from the US, which has no problem making a statement.
We’re staying in the U.S. for this next coaster, located in the Indiana Beach amusement park. It’s easy to see why this wooden roller coaster, built by Custom Coasters International, fits this list. Instead of normal roller coaster trains, this wooden coaster features full-on enclosed mine carts. Guests are trapped in trains, facing each other, as they chaotically weave in and out of an artificial mountain built on top of a pier over Lake Schafer.
Another fun bit of Lost Coaster’s history, however, is that it replaced a normal dark ride known as Superstition Mountain. The park manager, in 2002, decided to gut the mountain and try and squeeze in a roller coaster, and while more sane individuals may opt for a kiddie coaster, the visionary, Tom Spackman Jr., was wild enough to envision a compact, enclosed wooden ride. And so, the Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain careens its captives to this day as the only wooden roller coaster of its type.