Spotlight on: Lech Coaster

Anybody who's a regular reader here knows I'm a bit of a closet Vekoma fangirl, and I'm absolutely delighted to see that 2017 seems to be the year they're coming back with a vengeance! They've got loads of cool projects going on and funky new coaster types, but the one that has caught most people's attention seems to be Lech Coaster at ÅšlÄ…skie WesoÅ‚e Miasteczko. And the thing looks absolutely obscene. I don't know if anybody saw that photo of the ride's first drop, but it made me make unusual noises. Let's take a closer look at this awesome coaster!

Firstly, a layout concept and an animated POV were released back in July 2016 as well as some initial concept art. OMG, look at THAT! It doesn't look anything like a Vekoma (and that can only mean good things right?) The drop looks absolutely ridiculous and a rumours height of 50m means that this thing would definitely be one to watch. Looks like it's got some insane speed on it too! (59mph in case you were wondering). But we were all in agreement, this thing was weird in all the right ways. 


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Further, initial theming looks kinda Medieval/mythical - like a Polish version of kings and knights in shining armour, which is very cool considering it's not a theme we see often with big mean coasters.

Fastforward to December 2016 and some more detailed concept art hits the coaster community. And oh shit. This thing is absolutely stunning! The way the coaster weaves in and out of the castle turrets, the interaction with the mythical beasts, the way it glides over the water. It all looks too perfect. If the final product is half as good as what this concept art is showing us we're in for a treat.


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Throughout January and February we watched closely as the coaster started to go up. Won't go into that too much as it's no different really from your everyday coaster build. Until...


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 BOOM! Vekoma dropped some seriously sexy looking track pics on their Facebook page and we pretty much wet ourselves all over again. This looks SO. FUCKING. GOOD. And it's in bloody POLAND of all places?!


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Little did we know the best was yet to come. Early March Vekoma did their best to break the coaster community by dropping the coaster equivalent of a nude celeb photo. And we lost our damn minds. PINCH ME!! IS THIS EVEN REAL? The first dropped that we were all sure was emphasised for fun in the concept art is literally sat in front of our faces in photographic evidence. Vekoma are back and they're bringing their A-game. This thing looks godly. 


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And finally, to bring us up to dates, they treat us to a sneak peek of the trains. OK, it couldn't ALL be amazing. Sad to say that Lech Coaster will use OTSRs, which immediately dashed all of our dreams of obscene airtime on that first drop. But, I mean, the train design IS cool. Really warrior like and epic, like a knight riding into battle. Would I have preferred lapbars? Of course, but I don't think the OTSRs are as much of a hindrance as we might think. I guess we'll have to ride it to see for sure!

And that about brings us up to date! The layout so far has stuck exactly to the concept which is amazing to see and I can't wait to see the theming start to go up for this coaster to really come to life! Although it's set for a July 2017 opening I probably won't get round to visiting until 2018, which should give it lots of time to warm up and break itself in. For now, I'm sure you'll agree that it's very refreshing to see such a unique and exciting coaster being constructed in Europe and I'm absolutely gagging for a ride.

Talk later xoxo,

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