A hybrid roller coaster is a category of roller coasters where the track is made out of one material, either steel or wood, and the support structure is made from another.[1] [2] Early hybrid coasters include mine train roller coasters from Arrow Development, which feature a steel track with a wooden support structure.[3] Becoming increasingly more common are hybrids with wooden tracks and steel supports, such as The Voyage at Holiday World.[4] [5]
Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is well-known for their I-Box track design, commonly used to retrofit existing wooden coasters with a new steel track. Such designs provide several benefits, offering smoother rides and reducing maintenance costs.[6] Hybrid coasters can also add inversions, similar to Mean Streak's conversion into Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point in 2018. Newer hybrids also tend to be taller, faster, and feature steeper drops over their wooden coaster counterparts.
Two main components of roller coaster design are their track and support structure. In most cases, both are made of the same material – either wood or steel. Occasionally, they are designed to feature a steel track with a wooden structure, or vice versa, in what has become known as a hybrid roller coaster. Hybrid roller coasters have existed for a long time, with one of the oldest being Cyclone at Luna Park, which opened in 1927.[7] Its track is made from wood, while the support structure is made of steel.[8] Arrow Development built a vast amount of mine train roller coasters beginning in the 1960s, featuring tubular steel track and wooden supports.[9] [10] [11] One of their last installations is Adventure Express at Kings Island, which opened in 1991.[12] [13]
Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) and The Gravity Group are at the forefront of modern hybrid coaster construction.[14] RMC entered the industry by refurbishing old wooden roller coasters, converting them into hybrids with steel track, beginning with New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in 2011. One of their most popular conversions is Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point,[15] which has been consistently ranked as one of the best steel coasters in Amusement Todays Golden Ticket Awards. The Gravity Group designs coasters with wooden track but with a steel support structure, such as Hades 360 at Mount Olympus Theme Park.[16]
The term "hybrid roller coaster" started to be used by the coaster community when New Texas Giant opened and Six Flags classified the roller coaster as wood. Six Flags in response of the confusion classified the roller coaster as a "hybrid", which has since been used to include many other Rocky Mountain Construction Coasters of the same style.[17] Coasters are usually still classified as either "steel" or "wood", based on what their track material is.[18] The use of the phrase is controversial.[1]
| New Texas Giant | Six Flags Over Texas | 2011 | United States | First RMC conversion[19] | |
| Hades 360 | Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park | 2013 | United States | ||
| Steel Vengeance | Cedar Point | 2018 | United States | First hybrid hypercoaster and longest hybrid in the world[20] | |
| Zadra | Energylandia | 2019 | Poland | ||
| Hakugei | Nagashima Spa Land | 2019 | Japan | First hybrid roller coaster in Asia[21] | |
| Iron Gwazi | Busch Gardens Tampa Bay | 2022 | United States | ||
| Wildcat's Revenge | Hersheypark | 2023 | United States | World's largest underflip inversion[22] |