Specific Type: Euro-Fighter
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Have you ever been on a coaster that features a rotating saw, an indoor section with a barrel roll, or themed to a horror movie. If not, then all these needs will be fulfilled on Saw: the Ride at Thorpe Park. In addition to these elements Saw includes a 100 foot vertical lift, following with a 100 degree drop, and 3 inversions over a 1 minute 40 second, 2,362 foot long track. The ride opened in 2009 advertised as the world’s only horror coaster. Saw is of course themed to the horror series that has spanned seven films of the same name.
Saw is a Eurofighter built by Gerstlauer. Mystery Mine at Dollywood was the first to feature extensive theming as part of the ride. Saw expanded with having expansive theming not only for the ride but also for the queue, featuring many of the devices used in the films and sometimes live actors. The inside portion of the queue can double as a haunted walk-through attraction. Riders can find the ride on the left most corner of the island that Thorpe Park sits on. Entering the queue from the outside, riders go through various switchbacks and torture devices before going into the building that encases the loading station and prelift. More traps and TV screens are inside showing the infamous Jigsaw puppet. Occasionally live actors are trapped in the devices. Shotguns dangle from the ceiling and sometimes go off, scaring future riders underneath with blanks. The loading process is organized into loading two 8-rider trains at a time. Riders in the second train receive a speech from Jigsaw before disembarking, giving a slightly different ride experience. Once the train moves the station, it turns right into a block section, used to separate the two trains that were loaded. The puppet laughs at the riders as they pass by, as they make another right turn towards a pair of swinging blades. Right as it seems as if the train could not get any closer, it suddenly drops with a near miss with a wall of spikes. Riders lurch to the left as they slow down into another block section. Crossbows on either side of the riders spray a substance before the train turns into a bathroom. The riders’ world is spun 360 degrees over the bloody dead body of Jigsaw. The train exits the building and turns left into the brakes. A U-turn to the left faces the train to the vertical lift. A pair of TV’s with the Jigsaw puppet says with a laugh “Game over,” before the train turns skyward. The riders crest the lift and see rotating saws below them. The 100 degree drop happens next, with riders narrowly avoiding the bloodstained saws. The train flies up into an immelmann, and turns left and then stengal dives to the right before climbing up into an airtime hill. Riders turn slightly to the right before making another left turn into the mid-course brake run. The train drops and flies upwards into a dive loop. A left turn returns the ride to the building, ending their horror themed coaster. |
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