AUSTIN (KXAN) — The rides include two steel rollercoasters that both loop and spin you upside down.
Then there’s the drop tower, a log ride, a giant swing, smaller coasters, a Jeep safari and a carousel.
While it isn’t finished yet, on Friday visitors to COTA for the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix will be among the first to get a taste of COTALAND.
The new theme park’s marquee rollercoaster, Circuit Breaker, will open for the weekend, kicking off what’s set to be a busy year for the park.
The ride lifts passengers up 130 feet before riders stop at the top of the first climb. The track then tilts 90 degrees toward the ground, pauses just long enough to make you uncomfortable, and then lets go.
In addition to the loops and spins, construction teams also created two large tunnels where the coaster briefly takes riders underground while traveling up to 60 miles per hour.
“I think it’s one of the most amazing rides around, it’s gonna be so great,” said Park Operations Vice President Matt Hughey.
The park has been Hughey’s baby for years, ever since Circuit of The Americas Chairman Bobby Epstein recruited him away from Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington.
Together the pair began envisioning and eventually building a park they hope will rival Texas’ two Six Flags and SeaWorld theme parks.
COTALAND’s second steel coaster, Palindrome, is nearly ready too. The bright blue track is already being tested, with cars filled with weighted bean bags climbing the track vertically to start, before looping and corkscrewing over the road, up a spike, and then back again in reverse.
“The very end, the spike, that hop skip that we’ve added to it is just a unique element that you don’t see very often,” Hughey said. “That was a very fun kind of way of introducing something a little bit unique to the audience, like, ‘Hey, I’ve never done that before.'”
The coasters flank both ends of the park, with the promise of more rides, games, attractions, and food in between.
A massive restaurant called Turn 20 is being constructed along the famous last turn of the COTA racetrack. The downstairs will feature indoor climate-controlled dining, with a rooftop bar and dining on top that offers 360-degree views of the property.
“(It’s) one of the largest restaurants I’ve ever seen in a theme park, being able to produce over 1000 meals an hour,” Hughey said.
While the restaurant will show off a unique perspective of the track most days, a reservation is expected to become a hot commodity on big race weekends, like when Formula 1 comes to town.
A grand opening date for the full park hasn’t been set yet, but the plan is for sometime in 2026.
Hughey also hasn’t determined pricing yet, but said it’ll be competitive. Right now, Six Flags tickets are as low as $40, and SeaWorld is $54.
The plan is to operate on a school schedule, meaning open weekdays during summer along with holiday breaks and weekends year-round.
There will be nods to racing throughout, including an add-on ride called Hot Lap that’ll put you in a car with a professional driver for a lap on the COTA track.
However, this is not a racing-themed park.
“I think the guests will be so thrilled at the uniqueness of what this park is,” Hughey said. “I think the best way to put it is, we will be Austin.”
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