TMNT Shellraiser

TMNT Shellraiser is a steel indoor roller coaster at Nickelodeon Universe, inside the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Built by Gerstlauer as a Euro-Fighter model, it takes its theme from the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Its 121.5-degree vertical drop makes it the steepest roller coaster in the world.

The ride’s history began in September 2016, when American Dream’s officials announced a Nickelodeon Universe park would be built inside the mall. Details about the coasters, including a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter with the world’s steepest drop, came out in December 2017. Jeff Davis, the mall’s attractions director, said the Euro-Fighter design was chosen to break a world record and claim the steepest coaster globally; he also expected up to half of New York metro area residents to ride it. Vertical construction started in early 2018. In February 2019, at an American Coaster Enthusiasts summit, Nickelodeon Universe representatives first revealed the names of Shellraiser and three other coasters, with construction already well along. Testing began in April 2019. The ride soft-opened on October 25, 2019, as part of Nickelodeon Universe’s initial attractions at American Dream, but closed shortly afterward because it lacked an operating permit. It was also closed from January 9, 2024, to September 17, 2025.

The entire ride sits inside the American Dream building. After leaving the station, the train immediately goes through a slow heartline roll. Linear motors then launch it from a standstill to 62.1 mph (99.9 km/h) in two seconds. The train climbs from the launch track into a 125-foot-tall corkscrew. Next come a banana roll inversion, a second corkscrew, and an airtime hill. The train then hits block brakes, slows, makes a U-turn to the right, and ascends a 141-foot vertical chain lift hill. At the top, a brake holds the car for 14 seconds before it drops at 121.5 degrees over 141 feet. After the drop, the train goes through a dive loop, an inline loop, and an Immelmann loop, then hits the final brake run and returns to the station.

The coaster has green track with purple and light-blue supports, and seven inversions total. That ties it with Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure for the most inversions on any New Jersey coaster. Riders at the top of the lift hill get a view of the New York City skyline through windows in the building’