Wipeout (formerly Coca Cola Roller and Missile) is a

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

located at

Pleasurewood Hills Pleasurewood Hills is a theme park on a site between Corton and Gunton, near Lowestoft, Suffolk. History The park was created by entrepreneur Joe Larter in 1983 as a small American-themed family attraction, containing a miniature railway, C ...

theme park in

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally ...

designed the roller coaster. Wipeout uses a

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

design.

History

The roller coaster was first opened in 1988 as the Coca-Cola Roller at the

Glasgow Garden Festival The Glasgow Garden Festival was the third of the five national garden festivals, and the only one to take place in Scotland. It was held in Glasgow between 26 April and 26 September 1988. It was the first event of its type to be held in the cit ...

. That same year it was sold to the American Adventure in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

under the name Missile. It stayed at the park until the 2005 season, when it was closed down, dismantled, and taken to

. It did not open during the 2006 season due to planning problems. It opened for the 2007 season under the name "Wipeout". It has a surfer theme and is painted blue.

Ride Experience

The roller coaster is a ''boomerang'' ride wherein the train is taken backwards up a hill. At the top of the hill, the train is released and picks up speed. At that point, pictures are automatically taken of the riders (who can buy souvenir pictures at the beach hut themed stall after the ride). The train then speeds through the station at its top speed, and then goes through a cobra roll and a

vertical loop The generic roller coaster vertical loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, riders are completely inverted. History The vertical ...

. It then climbs to the top of a second hill. At the top, it is released and goes back through the vertical loop and cobra roll before resting in the station.

References

Coca Cola Roller at Glasgow Garden Festival 1988

External links

{{Commons category
Official ''Wipeout'' page
* Roller coasters in the United Kingdom Lowestoft Roller coasters introduced in 2007 Roller coasters introduced in 1988