The Viper

One of the longest rides to live at Astroworld was the iconic "Viper" rollercoaster. It appeared in the park in 1989 and before that, had operated at Six Flags St. Louis since 1981 as a roller coaster called "The Jet Scream". The "Viper" renaming and retheming was much cooler.

The most distinctive feature of this ride was the crude but visually-appealing tunnel that appeared in the middle of it. It was a large green tunnel with a very basic but very iconic dragon painted on it. The tunnel was short, not terribly dark, and not scary in the least, but from the ground and even from across the park, it really made the Viper stand out.

The ride also featured a giant loop. The speeds were fairly slow but riders could really feel that loop!

The Viper was one of the first "real" rollercoasters that most kids/teenagers ever got to go on. The height restriction was only 42 inches, and the ride was pretty tame by most standards, so a lot of budding theme park guests cut their teeth on the Viper. That would eventually lead them to bigger and better thrills, like the Ultra Twister.

Sadly, the entire ride was demolished in 2005 when Astroworld was shut down. It's manufacturer, Anton Schwarzkopf, and its designer, Werner Stengel, built many similar roller coasters all over the world, however. There are many steel, chain-driven, "Looping Star" models that have been rolled out since the very early 1980's and some are even still in operation.