Heralded as one of the biggest rollercoaster openings of 2020, Iron Gwazi will be the tallest wood-steel hybrid rollercoaster in North America, as well as the fastest and steepest hybrid coaster anywhere in the world.

With a 91 degree drop and a top speed of 76mph (122.3kmph), Iron Gwazi is the same height – 206ft (62.3m) – as Energylandia’s record-breaking Zadra. However, Gwazi’s drop is slightly more than Zadra, meaning it has a higher top speed. Stretching 4,075ft (1,242m), the ride track will also feature three inversions and 12 air time sections.

Inspired by the crocodile, Iron Gwazi is an evolution of Busch Garden’s former wooden coaster, Gwazi, with elements of the former attraction integrated into the new version. The new steel track and re-imagined layout presents an entirely new experience for Iron Gwazi. Its original form first opened in June 1999 and reached speeds of up to 51mph (82kmph). It closed in February 2015.

Iron Gwazi will be North America’s tallest hybrid coaster and the fastest and steepest hybrid coaster in the world

The first Disney ride to feature Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a dark ride experience billed as a ‘zany out-of-control adventure’, where guests will find themselves transported into a Mickey Mouse cartoon.

The ride will be one of Disney’s most visually advanced attractions, using new technologies to transform the two-dimensional cartoon world of Mickey Mouse into a “multi-dimensional experience”. It will feature “2.5D” technology – essentially 3D without glasses – as well as projectors and technologies created by Panasonic.

The ride is being constructed in place of the former Great Movie Ride and will be based on the Mickey Shorts that are shown on the Disney Channel. It will debut on 4 March, with the ride coming later to Disneyland in California in 2022.

Runaway Railway replaces The Great Movie Ride at Hollwood Studios

Futuroscope is about to launch its first major rollercoaster, with the new addition of a sit-down steel coaster from Intamin.

Called Objectif Mars, the space-themed attraction takes riders on a mission to the red planet, with the ride designed to simulate the g-forces that astronauts feel as they travel through space. On the ride, “trainees” have their ability to endure extreme environments put to the test so they can join Mission 2040 and travel to Mars.

The family ride is a new concept featuring spinning cars, a dark ride section and a free-fall drop track. The ride experience will last around three minutes with a launch at the start, taking riders up to 55kmph (35mph). The €20m (US$22.3m) investment is the largest ever by Futuroscope.

Riders will have to test their resistance in extreme environments and prove their ability to join a mission to Mars

Stretching 1,900ft (579m), the multi-launch Ice Breaker will feature four launches with airtime, both backwards and forwards, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida. At its peak, the 93ft (28.3m) spike will drop into a 100-degree angle.

Ice Breaker follows an Arctic theme and will be located near SeaWorld Orlando’s Wild Arctic attraction. In line with SeaWorld’s conservation-based approach, the ride gives a nod to its conservation partner – the Alaska SeaLife Center, which is primarily dedicated to marine research, education and wildlife response. The ride experience educates guests about the Arctic and its inhabitants.

Ice Breaker will have a conservation focus

A second SeaWorld entry, this time in California, Emperor will be the state’s first floorless dive coaster when it opens to the public in May.

Reaching speeds of up to 60mph (95.6kmph), the penguin-themed Emperor will also hold the record for California’s tallest rollercoaster, standing at 150ft (45.8m) tall. The ride is presented as a “deep dive into the depths of the ocean” as a tribute to the Emperor Penguin’s dives to more than 1,800ft (548m) below sea level.

B&M is behind the ride, which will top Knott’s Berry Farm’s Hang Time by a few feet and miles per hour. During the ride experience, the train will hang over the edge briefly, before plummeting down a vertical first drop into a barrel roll.

SeaWorld is partnering on the ride with Penguins International to highlight the conservation needs of the birds.

Ice Breaker will have a conservation focus

Ice Breaker will have a conservation focus

Canadian manufacturer Martin & Vleminckx is behind a new wooden coaster coming to Queensland’s Sea World.

Part of an AU$50m (US$34.3m) investment into new attractions at Village Roadshow-operated theme parks, the centrepiece will be Leviathan, one of three multi-million dollar additions to Sea World.

The first wooden coaster to be built in Australia in 35 years, Leviathan is set over a 1km (0.62mi) track with riders climbing 105ft (32m) before experiencing the ups and downs and twists and turns of the ride, which features 10 crossover moments through the track. A world-first for any wooden rollercoaster, Leviathan will feature rear seats, allowing guests to ride in reverse.

Leviathan will be the only traditional wooden coaster in operation in the country when it opens in December. Martin & Vleminckx are working with The Gravity Group on the project, which has helped with the design process and manufactured the ride’s 24-seater trains.

Further additions to the park include a swinging pendulum called Vortex, and Trident – a spinning ride which reaches heights of 170ft (52m).

Leviathan is the first wooden rollercoaster to be built in Australia in more than 35 years

This LSM launch coaster will be Mack Rides’ first Power Splash model in North America. During the Aquaman-themed experience, the ride launches guests backwards, forwards, and then backwards again, with the train climbing 146ft (44.5m) up the 708ft (215.8m) track’s two peaks, reaching speeds of 100kmph (62mph).

After the final climb, guests plunge down into a giant splash zone, which is created using clever technology to almost instantaneously submerge the previously dry track. The section of track which ends up submerged is contained within its own reservoir inside a larger pool, putting the track below the overall water level and allowing the ride train to pass through with little to no resistance. When the system is ready for the final plunge, the flood gates containing the surrounding pool opens and water pours into the splash zone, raising it to the correct level in less than six seconds. After the car has passed through, the flood gates close and pumps drain the track’s reservoir in less than 30 seconds.

This will be the second ride to use the Power Splash system following on from Walibi’s Pulsar ride in Belgium. Aquaman: Power Wave will replace the existing Aquaman: Splashdown ride, which originally opened in 1987 under the name Splashwater Falls. Last year, the area housing the ride was hit by flash flooding, closing the old version along with the Yosemite Sam river ride permanently due to water damage.

Power Wave is the park’s 15th rollercoasters

Part of the new US$150m Chocolatetown expansion due to open in Q2 of 2020, Candymonium is a sit down steel hypercoaster from Bolliger & Mabillard that will span 305,000sq ft (28,300sq m) and reach heights of 210ft (64m).

Dubbed “the world’s sweetest coaster”, the entire ride is chocolate themed, with three Hershey’strains, as well as a Hershey-themed arrival area and coaster building.

The ride is the largest of Hesheypark’s 15 rollercoasters, reaching speeds of up to 76mph (122kmph). It will also feature seven camelback hills and a 123-degree hammerhead curve to provide feelings of weightlessness.

The milk chocolate-coloured ride will run a length of 4,636ft (1,413m) with the entire experience lasting almost two-and-a-half minutes.

Candymonium will be the tallest, fastest and longest coaster at Hersheypark

Set to become the world’s longest flying coaster – a record currently held by the Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan – this new addition for Phantasialand, in large part, has been kept under wraps.

Coming to the Rookburgh area of the German theme park, construction on the new ride started in June 2018. It’s expected to be completed later this year.

F.L.Y. will be the longest flying coaster in the world when it opens

The signature attraction for the new Aqualantis-themed area of Energylandia opening this year, Abyssus is a double launch Shockwave rollercoaster from Vekoma that will cross much of the 645,000sq ft (60,000sq m) land.

Stretching 4,318ft (1,316m) and featuring four inversions, riders will reach a top speed of 100kmph (62.1mph) and heights of 147.6ft (45m) during the experience, which is an €11m (US$12.2m) investment.

The land, based on ancient Atlantis, was developed by Jora Vision. It will also feature a boat ride, interactive Whirlpool Water Fight and a Disco Coaster.

The heart-racing Abyssus will feature five inversions

The Happy Ride with Baymax is an upcoming Big Hero 6-themed carnival spinner coming to Tokyo Disneyland.

Opening in the Tomorrowland section of the park, the ride invites guests to join their own personal healthcare companion Baymax for an exciting musical “whip ride” that swings them unpredictably round and round.

This is the world’s first rotating ride attraction themed to Big Hero 6. The story of the ride says that Hiro Hamada learned from Baymax the first step to make people healthy – make them happy. The pair develop the ride, which “scans” riders with lights to measure their happiness while on board. The ride experience lasts around 90 seconds.

The Happy ride is Disney’s first Big Hero 6-themed ride offering

This family-friendly “power coaster” by Mack Rides is the latest addition to fairytale theme park Efteling. Replacing the 34-year-old Swiss Bob Coaster, the new ride is inspired by the German tale of brothers Max and Moritz – a picture book written and drawn by Wilhelm Busch in 1865. In the comic, Max and Moritz turn their village into a hazardous place, pulling a number of pranks on the village’s residents.

Set for April, the double rollercoaster has electrically powered trains, meaning that they can travel at varying speeds and do not have to depart from a great height. The trains will run in opposite directions, with each track – blue for Max and green for Moritz – offering a different experience to riders. The tracks will intertwine, rolling under and over each other in an alpine setting.

The ride will be capable of running 2,000 people an hour. Its maximum height is 19.7ft (6m), with the ride reaching speeds of up to 22.4mph (36kmph).

The duelling coaster replaces Efteling’s former bobsled rollercoaster