Boy, do we have some eagle-eyed QoD readers who never fail to keep us on our toes or what? This is the first time in writing about the Canyon Blaster over the past 15 years or so, since it opened, that we didn’t bother qualifying the superlative with "which Circus Circus claims is the largest indoor roller coaster in the world." And leave it to you guys to call us on it and compel us to compare.
So. We’ve done the research and here are the relevant data, when it comes to the somewhat ambiguous term "largest," for the three indoor roller coasters: Space Mountain at Disneyland, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney World’s Hollywood Studios, and Canyon Blaster at the Adventure at Circus Circus.
As for track length, Space Mountain is the longest, at 3,450 feet. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, at Disney's Hollywood Studios amusement park at Disney World, has 3,403 feet. Canyon Blaster, in this category, is a distant third at 2,423 feet.
In terms of length of ride, Canyon Blaster’s lasts 1 minute, 45 seconds, compared to Space Mountain’s 2 minutes, 45 seconds and Rock ‘n’ Roller’s three minutes and 12 seconds. So Canyon Blaster places a distant third in that comparison as well.
In terms of height, Space Mountain climbs to 75 feet and its maximum speed is 32 miles per hour. Tame. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster reaches 80 feet and its maximum speed is 60 miles per hour. Canyon Blaster ascends 90 feet and its maximum speed is 55 miles per hour. So Canyon Blaster wins the height contest, but places second, by a hair, in the speed contest.
Finally, Canyon Blaster’s actual claim as the largest in the indoor world is for being a looping roller coaster. Space Mountain isn’t even in this category, since it doesn’t loop at all. Rock ‘n’ Roller boasts two vertical loops and one corkscrew. (A vertical loop is the basic roller-coaster inversion, a 360-degree circle at the top of which the rider is completely inverted; the corkscrew is an elongated loop that turns riders over perpendicular, rather than parallel, to the track.) Canyon Blaster features two consecutive vertical loops and two corkscrews, for four complete inversions. So Canyon Blaster beats Rock ‘n’ Roller by one corkscrew -- justifying its claim as the loopingest bad boy on the roller-coaster block.
However, Rock 'n' Roller uses slingshot technology (similar to Speed at the Sahara) to fling its cars from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds. Of all the roller-coaster effects, this one, in our opinion, is the most monstrous. If you've ever ridden Speed, you know how gut-wrenching and anus-clenching that kind of acceleration is.
So all things considered, placing number one in ride length and speed, second in height and loops, and first in acceleration, Rock 'n' Roller takes the prize as the "largest" indoor roller coaster.
But with one extra corkscrew, Canyon Blaster can rightfully claim its place as the largest indoor looping roller coaster.
