#alpine coaster

Photo Sources: x / x

Alpine Mountain Coaster at Mountain Creek Waterpark!

<- Previous | Start | Next ->

Opened: 2011 Manufacturer: Wiegand Height: Not listed Speed: Variable Length: 2,805.1 ft (855 m) My most recent ride: 2015

The second of the two alpine coasters I've done, and this one may be shorter in length than the Goat Coaster, but I actually ended up enjoying this one more haha. The ride felt faster (although since you can control your speed manually with a brake lever on alpine coasters, you can change that speed if you want lol), and the layout was more interesting and dynamic.

I also liked the setting of this one a bit more than the Goat Coaster, since it has the same path through the trees that the Goat Coaster did, but also passes right through the middle of the park, under and around different water slides and past different attractions. Also just like Goat Coaster (though I didn't mention this in that post) the Alpine Mountain Coaster was a very smooth ride all the way through, which is always a plus as well haha.

Though what might be most interesting thing about the Alpine Mountain Coaster is what it represents at Mountain Creek :3 You see, you may not have heard of Mountain Creek, but you might know it by it's former name: Action Park. Action Park is infamously known as the world's most dangerous amusement park, with poorly designed, unsafe rides including the notorious Cannonball Loop (that water slide with a full-on vertical loop in it), and 6 people died there over it's 20 year run. It is a cornerstone of New Jersey folklore, tradition and history. They also had the Alpine Slide, which was a trough people rode down on a little wheeled sled and would often fly out of and get really nasty abrasions.

The Alpine Mountain Coaster is built as a successor to the Alpine Slide, and is thankfully much, MUCH safer lol. Riders are secured into the ride vehicles with a seat belt and the vehicles are secured to the track via up-stop wheels so they have no chance of coming off. So the spirit of the Alpine Slide and Action Park lives on with all the thrills, but none of the spills haha.

The world's longest mountain coaster: the Tobotronc in Naturlàndia park, Andorra.

Family outting off the homestead! We road the alpine coaster at Spirit Mountain and it was super fun! It goes up to 26mph (you control the speed with hand breaks) and zips through the trees and overlooks Lake Superior. This is the ski hill that in recent years have expanded to summer activities with their "Adenture Park", including adding really sweet downhill bike trails.

We had dinner at Clyde Iron Works. It was out first time there and REALLY good. A number of local places we once enjoyed have been overpriced letdowns in recent years, but we'll defnitely go back there.

Finally a stop at Lester Park. We went to the old swimming hole I used to bike two miles to all summer as a kid. It's been called "Keep Smiling" since before I was born and attempts to cover it's namesake grafitti always prove futile. We've had a lot of rain this summer so the falls looked like they do during spring melt. Some summers this section slows to a trickle. The basin warms up and makes it nicer to swim in then Lake Superior (which stays cold all summer and is where it empties into) but the water flows through enough that it doesn't get gross, either. Watch out for snapping turtles downstream.

Photo Sources: All photos are mine

The Goat Coaster at Goats on the Roof!

<- Previous | Start | Next ->

Opened: 2015 Manufacturer: Wiegand Height: Not listed Speed: Variable Length: 3,061.0 ft (933 m) My most recent ride: 2022

The first of two alpine coasters I've ridden, this one is definitely one of the best coasters I've done in terms of vibe and location lol. You go to a fun little roadside attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (a town full of fun roadside attractions lol) where you can pet and feed goats! On the roof! And there's a roller coaster! What more could you want? :D

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg both have a ton of alpine coasters between them, but this was the only one I got the chance to ride while I was there, but it was definitely still a lot of fun! Being able to zip down the side of the mountain through the trees definitely gave a fun sense of speed with lots of the twists and turns that alpine coasters are known for.

For as much fun as it was, I remember being kinda surprised as to how short the ride felt. I'm not sure if I had my expectations in the wrong place or what, but the downhill portion of the ride went by faster than I had expected it to. Looking at PoV videos to refresh my memory for writing this, it didn't seem overly short there, so again, it may have just been an expectations thing.

But either way, it was still a fun ride and something you'll definitely wanna check out if you're ever in Pigeon Forge! Alpine coasters are similar to some of the other family coasters I've covered previously, where they're really good for what they are, but just get pushed down in my ranks by bigger and better rides.

Failed at getting a good video on the Alpine Coaster but you get the idea. My phone was in a weird video mode so this is way slowed down.

EDIT: Lots of cool videos of the ride on Youtube.