They’re some of the most well-known rides in the theme park industry, loved by much of the general public but hated by enthusiasts. The first Vekoma SLC, or Suspended Looping Coaster opened at Walibi Holland in 1994, and since then the Dutch ride manufacturer has continued to build SLCs, up until 2017 when the last SLC was built for a park in Vietnam. Many of the SLCs built during the 1990s and 2000s still operate at parks around the world today, and aren’t exactly an enthusiast’s favourite coaster model. But are they really that bad, and how have they benefitted the theme park industry?
The Beginning of an Era
May 1994 was the beginning of something big for Vekoma- the first SLC was opening at what is one of the Netherlands’ most famous theme parks, Walibi Holland. Standing at just over 100ft, El Condor was one of just two 662m prototypes built by Vekoma, the 662 indicating a total track length of 662 metres. Just a year later, T3 opened at Kentucky Kingdom in the USA. It was almost identical to its predecessor El Condor, the same height and track length, just an extremely red colour scheme compared to El Condor’s green-ish supports and white track. Condor underwent a repaint in 2014, and today the track is a reddish orange.
It wouldn’t take Vekoma too long to innovate further. In 1995, the same year as T3’s debut, five new 689m standard model SLCs opened in parks from Japan to Brazil, most famously Flight Deck at Canada’s Wonderland and Mind Eraser at Six Flags America, both coasters that are notorious for headbanging. I guess Mind Eraser really does live up to its name.
Seven Models, One Coaster
If you think about it, the term Suspended Looping Coaster is actually pretty vague. It’s a suspended coaster that “loops”; technically any inverted coaster could be counted as an SLC. Vekoma’s SLC’s are in a way unique, they may be all very similar to each other, but the model itself is rather different to many other suspended coaster types. A standard SLC features five inversions: a double roll-over, a double spin and a sidewinder, while others have more distinctive layouts e.g the Sidewinder and Cobra Roll are extremely common on Vekoma coasters, including some SLCs.
Helix inversions are also commonplace on SLCs, so much that Vekoma offers various SLC models with helixes as an actual product separate from the usual standard and extended models. Track lengths on SLCs can reach up to 787m and most frequently have five inversions, however some have more!
Suspended Spin-Offs
Despite being slightly (or in some cases, extremely) painful, the SLC was extremely popular with parks wanting a new coaster, but not particularly wishing to spend too long designing it. The standard and extended models were just a little too thrilling for many family parks however, and more innovation was needed- enter the Suspended Family Coaster. Flying Ace Aerial Chase at Kings Island and Silver Streak at Canada’s Wonderland both opened in the same year of 2001, smaller versions of the classic SLC but still keeping much of the thrill element. This (kinda) new coaster model was a success with families and thrillseekers alike, and in the nineteen years that followed, twenty-three more installations opened around the world!
At 2019’s IAAPA Europe and January 2020’s IAAPA Florida, Vekoma took the opportunity to introduce a new type of suspended coaster, the Suspended Thrill Coaster. Partly inspired by the enjoyable aspects of an SLC and other Vekoma models, the prototype will feature a range of elements, including four inversions, and will be located at Germany’s Erlebnispark Tripsdrill as Hals-über-Kopf! The official opening year is set to be 2020, but with many construction projects across Europe, there’s a chance we may need to wait another year to experience this groundbreaking coaster model. I just hope the opening date isn’t altered too much though!
No other upcoming installations of the Vekoma STC have been announced as of yet, but it is likely Tayto Park in Ireland will be home to the next one. As Ireland’s only major theme park the park of potato chips draws in huge crowds every year, but currently only features one major coaster, Cu Chulainn, a Gravity Group Woodie standing at 157ft. It would be amazing for both the park and Ireland’s tourism industry if Tayto Park were to get one in the next few years, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait for planning permission to finally be approved. Which park do you think will be home to the next Vekoma STC? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The Rise of Golden Horse
It is not uncommon for ride manufacturers to take inspiration from existing rides when developing their new models… but it is for a manufacturer to blatantly copy another. Golden Horse is essentially the Vekoma of China, there are many coasters in China that were actually built by Vekoma, but for most parks, it is cheaper and easier to have an installation from a more local company, and that company is Golden Horse.
From the familiar-looking track designs to the remarkably similar models and names (Mine Coaster, Moto-Coaster, you get the idea) it’s obvious that this company has been somehow avoiding lawsuits from Vekoma for years, but the most significant example of this is the Suspended Roller Coaster (SRC?) looking almost identical to the well-known Vekoma SLC. While some types of Golden Horse SLC- sorry, SRC, are actually quite unique, there are just too many SRCs that look like they easily could have been built by Vekoma, it’s just impossible to not make this comparison.
Super Important Coasters (SICs?)
Yes, Vekoma SLCs don’t offer the most comfortable ride experience, and yes, they all seem extremely generic, but this hated coaster model was actually quite instrumental in making the theme park industry what it is today. Really, hear me out. Due to their generic nature and lack of need for theming, SLCs are generally cheaper than their more unique coaster counterparts, making it more affordable for smaller parks to open one and therefore opening more parks up to the thrill market.
Since 1994, the year Condor debuted at Walibi Holland, the theme park industry has grown greatly because of a range of factors, one of these being more and more parks opening thrill rides and expanding their target audience to more than just families. An SLC will bring in thousands of visitors, general public to ride the new coaster and enthusiasts for the credit. If cheap, or cheap-ish to build thrill rides like SLCs weren’t available, there would be significantly less thrill parks in the world and our favourite major theme parks may not be able to expand as much as they have been able to!
So next time you’re riding a particularly bad SLC, approaching the top of the lift hill and questioning your life choices, just remember- you’re possibly riding something that has helped to make theme parks what they are today! It might make the experience slightly more bearable, hopefully.
Have you ridden an SLC? Are they really as bad as people say? Share your thoughts below, and join the conversation!
Your articles are amazing. Thank you for your hard work.
It’s definitely worth a visit! 🙂
Interesting! Never heard of that park before
Love this Lily
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Thanks for your help!
Coaster Dreamers 
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoy them. Sorry about the late reply -Lily 🙂