It's December 20th, and 39 years ago, on this day, The Mindbender, an Anton Schwarzkopf triple loop rollercoaster officially opened to the public.
And this rollercoaster was my favourite in the entire world.
This blog post is dedicated to the life of The Mindbender; specifically my experience with it, as I'll go over proper history with her some other place and time. This blog post is laden in weirdo-ness and objectum feelings; that's right, I'm getting overly personal about rollercoasters!
So, if you know me on a surface level, you know that I enjoy amusement parks; mascots, general park theming, so obviously I love rollercoasters. If you also know me, I... don't exactly live anywhere with rollercoasters. Newfoundland has a grand total of FUCKING ZERO and Alberta has... 7! If you're from the USA, you're probably thinking holy shit, you're being deprived as a coaster lover, to which I have to say yeah! I am!!!!
Quick crash course on my coaster experience; not counting coasters for literal children, I have been on a grand total of 5 proper non kiddie coasters. Vortex in Calaway Park, the Cyclone in Sandspit, Cavendish, P.E.I., Wooden Roller Coaster in Playland, Vancouver, B.C, The Galaxy Orbiter, West Edmonton Mall, and the titular one this blog post is about... The Mindbender, at West Edmonton Mall, Alberta.
The Mindbender was not my first coaster. This award goes to the Cyclone, which is a pretty solid first go; then The Vortex, then The Wooden Roller Coaster, and then her.
I first saw The Mindbender when I was relatively young; I think I would've been about 7 or 8. Who could miss her; a eternally tall yellow and red beauty whose thrills roared off the glass walls of her section of Galaxyland. She was LOUD, along with the hisses of the Space Shot, her cart literally shaking the galaxy painted ground and making the scaffolding of the nearby Galaxy Orbiter shudder with every passing round. She was best observed from afar either between her exit walkway, or from the wait line of the Galaxy Orbiter.
She was rated top of the scare scale, the most terrifying ride in all of Alberta, and having a very strict height limit, which I obviously couldn't reach at only age 8. I left the park with her unridden, though the Galaxy Orbiter, which rides high above the whole indoor park, weaved itself between her tracks, and the wait on the 3rd drop gave you the most perfect view of her. High up above, with a moment to admire.
There were implications of The Mindbender's unavailability at this time. I vaguely remember visiting WEM and her being shut down for maintenance, and knowing the context I do now, I completely understand why. It was very frustrating at the time, to come all that way just to be turned away, but Galaxyland was incredibly dedicated to keeping her in perfect condition.
Around age 11 or so, we went over to WEM and she was open. And it was a calm weekday. So the line was only like, 8 people long and so I dragged my mom onto that ride (she's a big thrillseeker so I didn't begrudgingly force her, she willingly went on with me,) and because I was clearly the youngest on that ride and they wanted to scare the shit out of me or something, we were placed front row seats. It was perfect.
The suspense, as the cars climbs up to the very top of the building, the ceiling looking so close as if you can touch it. It's then that you kind of realize how massive she is, looking down at the people below. She's no Leviathan or anything, but I think that was the tallest height I've ever properly been on. It kind of reminds me of waterslides at the pool, where at the very top, you're above the lights so it's a bit dark, and there's nowhere left to go but down.
When you go down, you go. The second you pass that little lull and the cart tips over the edge, it's like gravity tears you around her until you're sat at the end in shock. the first loop pins you to the seats and the double one has you dizzy, there's also this mirror section you whip around that's terrifying at first because it looks like you're going to crash into yourself.
And then it all stops. And she gently lets you back onto your feet, like your entire life didn't just change. I went on this coaster a decade ago, and I still remember every second of it.
After that first ride, and confirming I wasn't going to throw up, I jumped back in line. And I went again, and again, and I probably rode 7 times in a row that day before they shut her down for daily maintenance. She was wonderful.
I evidently, don't live anywhere near Edmonton. Visits were few and far between, and eventually if I wasn't going on her like I needed to stockpile Mindbender rides until the next apocalypse, I was staring at her longingly through that "closed for maintenance" sign. COVID rolled around, and I actually visited the mall mid pandemic with my mom, and gazed at her through the blue bars of Galaxyland. It was here I properly identified some sort of difference in how I felt towards her, but we're not at that part yet.
Post pandemic, she was never open. We went to WEM a couple of times, and she was never, ever open. But around early 2022, we visited, and this coincidentally was after I made a friend with an objectum who was in love with the moon. And when I stared at her while waiting in line for the Galaxy Orbiter...
I started thinking of her as my object crush. And then it grew, and grew, and I officially entered the objectum community around late 2022, joined a bunch of servers, was running a somewhat known objectum blog called mindbenderwem (yeah.) things were going great! I visited for my birthday in 2022, and then,
... I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Coasters not ridden, are coasters that die. But honestly it was just so unthinkable to me. The Mindbender couldn't be scrapped; she's their biggest coaster, she's the most thrilling thing there, she is Galaxyland. Because what is it without her?
In truth, Galaxyland wasn't Galaxyland anymore. It was now Galaxyland: Powered by Hasbro! and when we visited in late February of 2023, it was obvious just how much the park had changed. All of the rides were board games, aggressively corporately branded, I mean. So much had just been painted over by Monopoly man and other random things (I'm so sorry Autosled)
It's almost comical how fucking Monopoly man ruined one of my favourite places ever. It honest to god sounds like some performative anti-capitalist Tumblr post with how on the nose it is. But it's true! I'll refrain from the rant on Galaxyland (and WEM) this time around, because I will not let Hasbro fuck up my blog post about Mindbender.
When I was there, I got photos. I got photos from all angles, of her loops, from everywhere I could step foot. In one of these photos, it's a near replica of her Wikipedia page image, but I can see myself in her mirrors, so I know it's mine.
Honestly I figured I could see her one more time after this. I mean, they took a while to announce her closure, surely it'd take a bit to tear her down?
About a week after we left, they started deconstruction. The photo above was taken on my birthday, in 2023.
I'll be real with you; I cried. Infront of my whole family. I tried to keep all jokey but nope. The second there was all that empty space infront of me, it got really real.
The images I have now, are probably some of the final images of her anyone will ever take of her. I'm grateful for that. I feel a little upset at myself that they're not clearer, but is seeing objects through human eyes not the whole philosophy of objectum attraction? And, it's better than nothing, I guess.
Before our trip on my birthday, I honestly never truly processed she was gone. It's a lot harder to think about something being permanently lost forever when you only see it once a year. I watched her get torn down in posts on the WEM subreddit, but I barely processed it.
Her getting taken down really threw a wrench in things regarding being in objectum spaces. I now know a lot of people actually deal with object death as well, but at the time, it hurt like all hell and I couldn't bring myself to talk attraction with other objectums. I've literally only in the last month, started getting back into the objectum community and actually being open again; also because I just feel very. Secure with Calgary, because they can't just announce Calgary's getting wiped off the map one day. And if they did, I honestly probably would have worse problems.
Around the beginning of December, I really started thinking of her again. It's probably because I started interacting in online objectum spaces again (OKZ and SOE communities, you're the best,) or so I thought; turns out, it's her birthday soon! I always think it's fun when my brain does that subconcious thing of making me think about something and then I find out it's some sort of anniversary.
In honour of this post, which I've been thinking of making for a month before post date, I went looking for graphics of her. ... There unfortunately aren't many. But, I just so happened to stumble across a blog header that resonated with me. So much.
I don't believe in spirituality; I know others might say this is a sign. All I have to say, is that it was really something I needed to read.
When they were taking the Mindbender apart, they found a love note written on her, from a builder to his family. She was built with love, holding the foundation of 4 decades of appreciation, memories, and thrills, before she was shut down. She was wonderful.
When she was deconstructed, I actually called the scrapping company and asked if I could get a piece of her... I couldn't. Because her parts, were instead going to other Schwarzkopfs, which is an incredibly important thing considering the company for Schwarzkopfs is now defunct.
Her carts, namely, went to All American Loop in Indiana Beach, and the rest of her's probably seeing the world right now. I wouldn't want any different. I hope she gives these coasters another decade to ride, thrill, and create memories. I hope there's someone out there who loves those coasters as much as I loved her.
Happy birthday, Mindbender. I'm thinking of you always!