Cobra roll

A cobra roll on Incredible Hulk at Universal's Islands of Adventure

The cobra roll is a double-inversion which resembles the head of a cobra. Riders travel up through the first half of a vertical loop, then the second half of a corkscrew, before repeating the process in reverse. The two half-corkscrews are in opposite directions, meaning riders come out of the element facing the opposite direction as they entered.

The first roller coaster to use a cobra roll was Vekoma's Boomerang model, the first of which to open was Boomerang at Bellewaerde Park, in 1984. Now, over 150 roller coasters include a cobra roll. The element is widely used by Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters.

There is some confusion about the naming of this element, with different manufacturers give different names to their inversions. Cobra roll is the widely accepted name, and the name used by Intamin and B&M, however it is sometimes known as a Boomerang, due to the popularity of the Boomerang model built by Vekoma.

See also

The roll over element, aka the sea serpent, is similar to the Cobra roll, except the two half-corkscrews are in the same direction, and the train enters and exits in the same direction. The banana roll element is similar to a cobra roll but has only one inversion.

Thrill elements