Corkscrew Review, Silverwood Arrow Looping Coaster | First Modern Looping Coaster

Corkscrew at Silverwood is one of the most historically significant roller coasters of all-time. Corkscrew is the first modern looping coaster. Without this ride, we may not have the hundreds of inverting coasters that followed. But how does the on-ride experience hold up? I will discuss that in this review. Corkscrew wasn’t the first coaster to actually invert though. That honor goes to a series of rides built in the 1800s. But these coasters were highly flawed. The Flip Flap Railway at Coney Island featured a perfectly circular loop, leading to excessively high positive G forces. The Loop the Loop at Coney Island was more comfortable, as the loop was slightly oval-shaped, but it had putrid capacity, accommodating just 48 riders per hour. The industry would go decades until the inverting coaster was revived in the 1970s. Arrow Dynamics was a revolutionary ride manufacturer. In 1959, they opened the first roller coaster with tubular steel track with Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland. A decade later, they decided to bring back the inversion. Rather than going with a vertical loop, they developed the corkscrew. They erected a successful prototype at their manufacturing facility in California. The ride would stand roughly 70 feet or 22 meters tall and feature not one, but two corkscrews. The Knott’s family visited the Arrow facility and rode this exciting new coaster. They were so impressed that they purchased the prototype and had it reassembled at Knott’s Berry Farm for the 1975 season as the Roaring 20’s Corkscrew. Arrow would build 3 other corkscrew coasters that very year, but the one at Knott’s had the distinction of opening first. Arrow would go on to build roughly a dozen clones of the original Corkscrew. These rides were compact and simple with those two corkscrews being the main selling point. Arrow would later offer the loopscrew variant that added a vertical loop in between the drop and turnaround. Both Arrow and other manufacturers started developing larger and more complex looping roller coasters throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. One such example was the Boomerang coaster by Vekoma. This ride had three inversions and it was a shuttle coaster, meaning guests would experience the layout both forwards and backwards. Knott’s Berry Farm wanted to add a new coaster in the late 1980s. But they were landlocked and had to remove something. They ultimately decided to remove their historic Corkscrew in 1989. This was replaced with one of those aforementioned Vekoma Boomerangs in 1990. Knott’s would later remove this ride in 2017 and ever since 2018, that spot has been home to HangTime, which is way better than Boomerang or Corkscrew. As for the historic Corkscrew coaster, the ride was saved. Silverwood was a brand new amusement park in Idaho. The park opened in 1988 with a very limited attraction lineup. At the time, the park had just a steam engine train and a few flat rides. The park wanted to add a splashy new coaster, specifically something with inversions. So they purchased Knott’s Berry Farm’s former Corkscrew for $250,000 and had it relocated up north. The ride opened in 1990 and it has been operating at Silverwood ever since. The ride was placed in the Country Carnival section of the park. The ride originally opened as the Gravity Defying Corkscrew, but the name was later shortened down to just Corkscrew. The ride features dark black track and yellow supports. The latter is so faint they look white from many angles. Nowadays, this coaster does not have much of a wait. All my visits to Silverwood have taken place on summer weekends and this ride has always been a walk-on. That is even with the ride operating with just one train. The train does hold a respectable number of guests though, as it holds 24 riders. The train is comprised of 6 cars, each with 2 rows of 2. When you reach the station, you are free to choose any seat that you’d like. The front offers a slightly smoother ride, but I recommend the back on this ride. You get some great airtime on the first drop. Corkscrew was the first coaster to feature over-the-shoulder restraints. This restraint is commonplace nowadays for many looping coasters, but it was designed specifically for this ride to keep riders in their seat during the inversions. This type of harness usually has grab bars, but this one doesn’t have any. So you just hold onto the harness itself. Comfort can be an issue with this ride depending on your body dimensions. These trains are snug. The very back of each car has limited legroom. Then every seat has limited elbow room. Your arms will be squished in tight on this ride. Then smaller guests will be susceptible to headbanging if their ears are trapped between the harness. Fortunately, I’m tall enough that my head clears the top of the restraint. Most Arrow corkscrews start with a small dip followed by a flat turn. The prototype is a bit different. This one incorporates the small dip into the initial turn. Both are equally as mild, but it is a neat little quirk with this one. You then ascend the lift hill, hearing the glorious clickity clack of Arrow’s anti-rollbacks. Rather than being a fluid climb, the train is rhythmically jerked forwards the whole way up. Once at the top, you have a small dip. Then you round a slow, banked turn high in the air. With the limited speed, your body will helplessly dangle sideways here. You then navigate the best part of the ride, the first drop. This drop is punchy in the back row. Because the front of the train is already at the bottom as you’re cresting the drop, you get an aggressive jolt of ejector airtime. The landing can be a bit harsh though. The seats have minimal padding and the valley is bumpy, which is not the most ideal combination. But the airtime is still worth it in my opinion. Next is a righthand turn around the station. It’s light on the forces, but it is another bumpy element. So you’ll want to watch your head here. Then you have the signature back-to-back corkscrews. These aren’t snappy like the corkscrew found on B&M loopers. These ones are slower and more graceful. You get a smidge of weightlessness at the apex. You may just want to brace yourself entering and exiting this element. It’s possible to hit your head there. You then have a 180 degree turn. This is slow and forgettable. You then loudly come to a stop on the brakes and return to the station, ending the experience. This coaster is super short, as it only has a few elements and covers 1250 feet or 380 meters of track. The biggest con with this ride is the smoothness. Arrow loopers don’t usually excel in this area. The valleys and directional changes on this ride are mostly bumpy. I know this has been the first looping coaster for many kids in Idaho, but I think Stunt Pilot is a better option. That coaster is wilder, but it is exponentially smoother. So what would I rate Corkscrew? Eliminating the historical aspect, this ride gets a 3 out of 10. The first drop is great, but the other parts aren’t the best, especially when you factor in the bumpiness. There are a lot of old-school coasters that have aged well, but this isn’t one of them. This is an attraction you appreciate more for its contributions to the industry rather than its onride experience. Corkscrew was a trailblazer. This ride is a piece of history that paved the way for the larger looping coasters we can now find across the globe. So those are my thoughts on Corkscrew at Silverwood. What are your thoughts on this classic looping coaster? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I would appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!

Channel: Canobie Coaster

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Id: B8Avt9W1tZM

Length: 8min 54sec (534 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 29 2024