The Storm Coming to Italy's Etnaland

I'd never heard of Italy's Etnaland before the news broke that the park was adding a slimmed down version of Europa Park's Blue Fire coaster for the 2013 season.  The park features water slides, a Dinosaur Park (think Cedar Fair's Dinosaurs Alive!), and for 2013 what will be a full theme park experience.

Named the Storm, the coaster has the same track colors as Blue Fire, and really could easily pass for the ride if you weren't paying attention.

However, there are some big differences between the Storm and Blue Fire.  The Storm features only one inversion, seen above, and also a lift hill instead of a launch to start things off.  The ride features a few large air-time hills along with plenty of swooping turns.

I think that Manta at SeaWorld San Diego is going to wet the appetites of coaster fans and leave them waiting for a bigger Mack ride to show up in the U.S.  I know I wouldn't mind!  It would be most interesting to see what kind of design Mack could come up with for one of the large North America theme parks... hopefully the day will come.