Superman: Ultimate Escape

Geauga Lake, Aurora, Ohio

When you first see it, you don't even know what it is. There's this stick of what looks like track poking straight up into the air. But it can't be track... can it? It's completely vertical and seemingly not held up by much support structure. Maybe they're still building it... whatever it is. Then you see the other part. Another stick poking up into the sky, but the top half of this one is twisted like some mad licorice stick trying to grow up to the clouds. Surely that isn't a ride. Maybe it's art.
Making your way closer, you see that there's a loading station between the two sticks and a long, flat section of track connecting them. It is a ride. But what on earth does it do?

 Suddenly, you hear a screech. Then a whoosh. Then you hear screams and see the trainload of riders rocket down the track. What happens next leaves your mouth hanging open and your eyes wide in disbelief at what you're seeing. One thought crosses your mind: no way. No freaking way. Get in line fast, before you change your mind!

 Boarding the train, you still can't really believe that you're going through with this. The train is suspended below the overhead track and your feet are free to dangle below. Locked and loaded, ready for dispatch...
An ungodly screech reverberates around you and the train takes off down the flat track like a missile. Powerful Linear Induction Magnets are making it go, but you could care less. You reach the end of the runway and race straight up into the air, and I mean straight up. Speed decreases rapidly and by the time you're a third of the way up the spike, you are falling back down to the flat section. No big deal. Here's where it gets freaky. Those LIMs reverse and blast the train backward down the straightaway and breakneck speed and suddenly you're looking straight down at the ground from a disturbing height. (pic below)

It's only a second, but it's waaaay too long. Weightlessness takes over as the train falls back down the spike and back through the station. Whew. You survived. But the fun's just beginning. You don't stop in the station. You don't even slow down. The LIMs kick in again and you are screaming down the runway toward the first spike. Strong g-forces attempt to pull your shoes off your feet as the train once again heads straight up into the sky. This time, however, you're going all the way to the top of this one.

 The top of this spike is twisted, and the computer-controlled LIM boosters make sure you go almost too far. Flying straight up while doing the twist is a sensation so bizarre that trying to describe it in terms of anything you might be familiar with is pointless.

 All too soon, though, you're falling back down the spike, unwinding along the Twizzler track, back to the runway. And the LIMs kick in again. Rocketing backward, you prepare for the odd, up-n-down feeling of the back spike. Whoosh! Waaaaaay up the spike you go, slowing, stopping... and it just stops. Riders fall forward when gravity takes over, but the train stays put. Mass confusion sets in as people grasp their shoulder harnesses and ponder their fates. It only lasts about half a second, but you'll have time to see most of your life flash before your eyes... soon enough, the train is released and you become completely weightless in the freefall back to the station. This time, you stop.

Superman: Ultimate Escape may seem at first like a gimmick ride that will soon lose its lustre as the "new" wears off, but I forsee this ride holding its popularity for many, many years. Even when time goes by and new rides make this one's acrobatics seem tame, the fun factor should keep folks coming back for more. I haven't had this much fun on a coaster in a long, long time.