Freestyle is a

stand-up roller coaster A stand-up roller coaster is a roller coaster designed to have the passengers stand through the course of the ride. History The first stand-up roller coasters in the world were originally built as sit-down roller coasters. Japanese manufacturer ...

operating at

Cavallino Matto {{Primary sources, date=August 2008 Cavallino Matto is the largest amusement park in Tuscany. The park, the name of which means "Little Crazy Horse" in Italian, is located on 60,000 square metres of pine forest in Marina di Castagneto Carducci, ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It opened as the park's fifth roller coaster on July 18, 2015. Freestyle originally opened at

Canada's Wonderland Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life As ...

in 1985 as SkyRider and closed in 2014. Built by

TOGO Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, it was the second

from the company following the now-defunct King Cobra, which opened the previous year at

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expan ...

. On August 6, 2014, Canada's Wonderland announced that the ride would close permanently on September 1, 2014. The coaster accommodated nearly 23 million guests during its lifespan. In the Fall of 2014, SkyRider was sold, dismantled and relocated overseas to Cavallino Matto. It was reassembled and opened in 2015 as Freestyle.

Yukon Striker Yukon Striker is a steel roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, Vaughan, Ontario. Designed as a dive coaster from manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened to the general public on 3 May 2019 in place of Freestyle (roller coast ...

, a

Bolliger & Mabillard Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabil ...

Dive Coaster, is currently located in the space vacated by SkyRider.

SkyRider Memories Contest

In August 2014, Canada's Wonderland announced it would be holding a special contest for thrill seekers before the ride's official retirement. The contest was held on Canada's Wonderland official Twitter page under the banner "SkyRiderMemories", where 24 lucky winners were invited to have the final ride on SkyRider before its official closing on September 1, 2014 at 8pm. The winners were also given one of SkyRider's roller coaster wheels to keep as a souvenir.

Similar rides

While SkyRider was relocated in 2014, King Cobra was put in storage at sister park

before the start of the 2002 season and eventually scrapped in 2008. Freestyle is the second oldest stand-up roller coaster in operation.
RCDB Shockwave (Kings Dominion), Shockwave at

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 ri ...

had a similar track layout until the second camelback hill, where instead of a trick track and a turn to the right, the ride immediately turned to the left and went over one bunny hill before entering the brake run. As the last TOGO stand up and the oldest Stand Up in North America, Shockwave closed on the 9th of August, making room for

Delirium Delirium (also known as acute confusional state) is an organically caused decline from a previous baseline of mental function that develops over a short period of time, typically hours to days. Delirium is a syndrome encompassing disturbances in ...

, a HUSS Giant Frisbee. In Japan, the ''Pink Typhoon Standing Coaster'' at Washuzan Highland also has a similar layout to Freestyle until after the second camelback hill, where the trip back to the brake run is shorter and does not feature a banked section of straight track. Unlike Freestyle, only one of the two trains used on Star Jet has riders standing up. The second train is a standard

sit-down train that has rider's facing backwards throughout the ride.

References

External links

Official ''SkyRider'' page
{{Wonderland Roller coasters introduced in 1985 Roller coasters in Ontario Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair Amusement rides that closed in 2014 1985 establishments in Italy

SkyRider Memories Contest

Similar rides

See also

References

External links