Battlestar Galactica at Universal Studios Singapore twisted Vekoma inverted and sit-down coasters into a dueling battle in the park's Sci-Fi City, over the shore of the park's central lagoon. The sit-down "Human" side was one of my favorite coasters anywhere, a quick, twisty delight with abundant airtime and wicked visuals not only of the park but of the dueling "Cylon" inverted coaster train whizzing by, seemingly within reach at times.
Technical problems plagued this coaster from its birth, and the ride closed again last summer. It has not reopened. Universal Studios Singapore has removed it from the park's map and list of attractions, and taken down its signage. So, I guess this is farewell, Battlestar Galactica. You will be missed.
Our two contestants today represent the opposite ends of the thrill scale. But they both illustrate how the roller coaster form often is used to represent other forms of transport. The other coasters in our tournament this year are just coasters — they don't pretend to be anything else. Our featured coasters today, though, show the use of coasters to fit a particular theme, whether it be a runaway mine train in the old American West or a high-speed race car on a modern Formula 1 track.
When Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars opened at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2012, theme park fans around the world began to take more favorable notice of a park that, until then, had been considered the runt of the Disney litter, along with Walt Disney Studios Paris.
A mashup of Big Thunder Mountain and Expedition Everest (thanks to a backward section), Big Grizzly Mountain is the centerpiece of the park's Grizzly Gulch land, part of the expansion that set the stage for debut last year of Mystic Point and the Theme Park Insider Award-winning Mystic Manor. Let's take a ride:
While Big Grizzly Mountain offers a family-friendly ride experience, Ferrari World's Formula Rossa can be considered "family friendly" only if your family name is Andretti.
Launching into a blistering top speed of 149 miles per hour, this Intamin creation, styled to suggest a Ferrari F1 car, actually requires you to wear safety goggles to ride, to protect your eyes from the blowing sand in the Arabian desert that surrounds the park. While the rest of Ferrari World is contained within the park's massive Abu Dhabi building, Formula Rossa's track extends outside of the park building. Here are F1 drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso riding:
Time to vote!
The vote is open for 48 hours. Campaign in the comments.
With this vote, we're ready to move on to the next round of the 2014 Theme Park Insider Tournament, honoring top attractions outside the United States. We'll post semi-final votes in the Dark Ride and Roller Coaster brackets on Monday and Tuesday, with the finals in each bracket on next Thursday afternoon. Thanks for being part of this year's tournament, and we hope that you're enjoying this look at some of the wonderful theme park attractions to be found in parks around the world.
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That sadness is partially offset by Alonso's face pulling a Clarkson.
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