Review: LEGO 10303 Loop Coaster

July 5, 2022 | 21

For 2022, LEGO have decided it was time to upgrade the Roller Coaster in LEGO’s fairground collection with the LEGO Icons 10303 Loop Coaster, introducing, for the very first time, not one but TWO loops in this exhilarating ride.

Your LEGO theme park is all set for an exciting new ride, with one of LEGO’s most technically ambitious builds yet – when LEGO debuted 10261 Roller Coaster in 2018, it was notable for being a fully-functioning Roller Coaster, and LEGO are now upping the ante with the introduction of a double loop system.

10303 Loop Coaster was released on 1 July for VIPs, and on 5 July for the general public. It’s one of the bigger and more expensive LEGO sets this year, and takes up a whole heap of space, so to help you decide if this set is right for you, let’s jump straight into the review!

See below for regional pricing and links:

• 10303 Loop Coaster [US] – US$399.99
• 10303 Loop Coaster [AUS]  – AU$599.99
• 10303 Loop Coaster [UK] – £344.99
• 10303 Loop Coaster [EU] – €399.99
• 10303 Loop Coaster [CA] – CAD$499.99

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review

10303 Loop Coaster – Set Details

Name: Loop Coaster
Set Number: 10303
Pieces: 3,756
Price: AU$599.99 | US$399.99 | £349.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK]
Exclusive to: LEGO.com / LEGO Stores initially
Theme: Icons
LEGO Designer: Pierre Normandin
Release Date: 1 July 2022

So the first thing that you need to consider before purchasing this set is whether you have enough space to build and display it.

The Loop Coaster is really large AND tall, measuring over 92cm (36 in.) high, 85cm (33.5 in.) wide and 34cm (13.5 in.) deep.

Here’s how big the Loop Coaster is, relative to an adult-sized human (me).

Here’s a look at the instruction manual, which is quite simple – I did like the Fairground Collection timeline, which lists out all the different sets within the Creator Expert (now LEGO Icons) sub-theme, from the inaugural 10244 Fairground Mixer, to 2020’s Haunted House , and now, the 2022 Loop Coaster.

There’s a short and nice profile on the designer, Pierre Normandin and his reflections on designing the Loop Coaster.

My favourite part of the manual is the back page, which has a cute photograph of the boy losing his red balloon, as it floats away.

One thing I really like about the LEGO Fairground sets is the abundance of minifigures – the set comes with a whopping 11 minifigures that include riders, fairground workers and staff.

There’s a good mix of roles, from the stall operators that include a Pretzel seller, Hot Dog Cart vendor, Balloon Artist, Ride Operator, and a mixed-generation family.

There are 6 minifigures with dual-sided heads, many of which with alarmed exclamations that are great for minifigures hurtling through the Loop Coaster.

The ride operator has a yellow LEGO logo printed on the back, and if you look closer, she also has a hearing aid!

In addition to rides and attractions, every theme park has plenty of overpriced food stalls and vendors. Here’s a look at the hotdog cart – I appreciate that it’s shaped like a hotdog, and there are condiment bottles, and holders for the sausage.

Check out the insane pricing though – 4 dollars for mustard?!

Here’s a look at the pretzel cart, which could probably double as a popcorn cart as well. It has a stick where you can thread pretzels through.

I do like the symbolism of pretzels – their design roughly looks like the loop de loop coaster!

Here’s a balloon vendor, which has his own trike, and an assortment of colourful balloons on sticks. I really like the simple design of the handheld balloon pump, and also the inclusion of 2 dark trans blue balloon dogs!

The balloon dogs in this colour aren’t new, but are pretty uncommon, so it’s nice to get a pair.

There’s also a small park bench for visitors to rest, with the most notable part of this build being a stickered map of LEGO’s Fairground. You can see 10273 Haunted House as part of the layout, as well as the Loop Coaster being the centrepiece of the park.

There’s also a smaller Ferris Wheel and Carousel which don’t share similar colour schemes as the previous Carousel, and Ferris Wheel, although some artistic license could’ve been applied here for the colours.

Hopefully, we’ll get a smaller Carousel soon in these colours!

And here’s the completed model! It’s a beast of a build, and I have my wife to thank for assembling it together. She actually also built the first Roller Coaster so was probably the most qualified in our household to put it together.

It’s quite a lengthy built, and because of its size and height, so it’s best to build on a large dinner table if you have space. The motorised lift/tower is especially tall, and you spend much of it building sideways.

In this review, I will be making plenty of comparisons with the original 10261 Roller Coaster, as some of you might own the original (as it’s a modern classic), and might be considering whether this one is right for you.

Unlike the previous Roller Coaster which had a large footprint, there really isn’t space to have the stalls and vendors ON the actual model itself, so they just kinda are best displayed just outside of the entrance.

Here’s a look at the footprint of 10303 Loop Coaster and view of the model from above – it’s mostly dominated by the bright yellow tracks, and as you can see, the “ground” area is quite small.

The compact footprint is both a good and bad thing – for one, it’s much narrower and smaller than 10261 Roller Coaster.

For reference, the footprint of the Loop Coaster is 90 x 30 studs, compared to the Roller Coaster’s 90 x 48 stud base.

Here’s a look at the entrance to the Loop Coaster. The arched entrance, and stylised text is really attractive, and there’s also a gentle ramp to provide access which is a small yet important accessibility feature for any wheelchair visitors.

I really like the warning signs on the left, which prohibits caps (they might fall off the loop), balloons, food (no mustard hotdogs are fine), and hilariously, a warning to not carry any squirrels with you on the ride.

On the right is a height limit chart – unfortunately the boy isn’t tall enough to go on the Loop Coaster, and has a sad face expressing his disappointment.

There’s a small dirt path that leads to the Loop Coaster platform, and some foliage around, but that’s really it. The grounds are quite bare, and there really isn’t much flourish or details around the Loop Coaster.

As you can see, space is also quite restrictive, so it would be quite a squeeze to fit any of the vendors or carts around here.

One cute little detail is this ladybug just hanging out on the stairs to the Loop Coaster platform. It’s quite random, but I love how nonsensical it looks, and it also adds an unexpected pop of red.

I like surprises like this – when the designer adds these funny little flourishes when you least expect them, while still being (fairly) in-character with the set.

There’s some foliage around the grounds, which are simple leaves and flowers, but I did like this palm tree, which adds a bit of height. I liked the dense use of the leaves, and brown candles for the trunk.

Here’s a look at the station, which has 3 turnstiles, and the Loop Coaster ride operator, who has a control panel in the corner. The construction is quite basic, but there’s a lot of space on the inside for minifigures to line up for their turn on the Loop Coaster.

Here’s a look at the photos on display on the inside, thanks to several cameras that litter the Loop Coaster tracks. It features Loop Coaster riders with shocked looks on their faces, and funnily enough, a man losing his hotdog, and also the brown squirrel photo-bombing in the other.

Here’s a look of the boarding station, which cleverly uses curved roller coaster tracks for its sloping roof.

It’s a really interesting technique, blending the sloped curves with the sharper tiles which creates quite a bizarre visual effect.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the roof as it doesn’t quite look complete, and the grey tiles are quite distracting – a smoother look that matches the curves of the tracks. A different colour for the tiles would’ve also been nicer – I wonder how it’d look in dark blue to match the overall colour scheme.

Here’s a look at the Loop Coaster carriages/cars which utilise the same base introduced in 10261 Roller Coaster, which easily clip onto the tracks, and have minimal friction allowing them to glide.

At the boarding station, there is a red claw/beak-shaped stopper that holds the cars in place before it goes up the lift. When the lift slams down after reaching the top, it drops the red claw, allowing the cars to get loaded into the lift that carries them upwards.

The Loop Coaster has two visual highlights, the mind-numbingly tall lift, and of course, the two loops that work effortlessly.

The Tower is the Loop Coaster’s most visually impressive feature, standing 92cm (36″) tall, mostly made out of dark blue bricks, with pops of lighter blue and yellow on the monolithic structure. I’m a little biased here, but dark blue is my favourite LEGO colour, so the design and colour scheme hits the spot for me.

Just how tall is the Loop Coaster? Here’s a comparison with some of my tallest sets – at 92cm, it’s much taller than 10237 Tower of Orthanc (73cm), but a smidge shorter than the Saturn V which is 100cm tall.

Here’s a look at the base, where the lift collects the cars and sets it on its journey upwards. There are fireworks-like stars on the lift, making it seem like its shooting up into the sky.

There’s a hand-crank on the side that you can use to operate the lift, but like the previous Roller Coaster, the Loop Coaster works best if you motorise it.

I don’t have a lot of Technic motors, so I had to harvest an 88006 Move Hub from a Boost set that I had as the only other Motor I had was powering the old Roller Coaster.

Check out RacingBrick’s guide on Powered Up for more info on how it works – this was a useful resource in figuring out how to set it up, as I was used to “dumb motors”.

Any Technic motor that allows you to control the speed would be ideal in this case, as you want it relatively slow in order to give it time to catch the cars after they’ve gone through the pack.

The Loop Coaster’s primary mechanism is a rather ingenious one – utilising a pulley mechanism to lift the riders and cars up the tall tower.

There is a large black counterweight attached to the back of the tower, and the hand crank (or motor) powers the tracks, catching the lift to pull it upwards, and the letting gravity do the trick.

In some ways, it’s very similar to the drop tower mechanism in 10273 Haunted House, which was the last entrant in LEGO’s Fairground Collection in 2020.

It’s a long way to the top, but its necessary to get to that height to gain enough potential energy to ensure that the Loop Coaster cars can power through not one but two loops at impressively high speeds.

The top of the Loop Coaster tower is very utilitarian, and honestly, a little ugly, looking quite unfinished with exposed Technic beams, and bush-pins (the ones you push to lock beams together). I really wish that the final design has enclosed this slightly more, or made it look a bit more polished, but understand that with the string, it might’ve been a bit too hard if you need to make adjustments.

More similarities with 10261 Roller Coaster, it’s great to see the return of tiled letters, with the word LOOP on the lift. I really like the double loops incorporated into the two Os in the lettering!

Here’s a look at both loops. First of all, hats off to the design team and element team involved in pulling this off, because the mechanism works effortlessly.

I can still remember my disbelief and pure joy when I first built 10261 Roller Coaster, and just how it worked as advertised, and this Loop Coaster takes things to the next level.

The loops are made possible thanks to the new tracks, which have a slight curve to them – here’s a shot of all the new tracks and their element numbers, in bright light orange for the first time.

And one of my favourite parts of the build is this red balloon that’s floated away and lodged itself against one of the pillars – like the ladybug, it’s a lovely bit of colour, and I like that it also ties in with the balloon cart vendor, and the fact that balloons aren’t allowed on the ride – if you’ve been to a theme park, you’re surely familiar with the sight of kids accidentally releasing their helium balloons into the air.

As the Loop Coaster is a really kinetic and dynamic model, you really need video to show off the set, so here’s a video of it in motion.

As you can see, the Loop Coaster can run continuously unless it jams, and be sure to have your sound turned on as it makes a very satisfying sound when it flies through both loops.

I’m not sure if the “sound design” was intentional, but it’s one of my favourite things about the set, as it whooshes through both loops. The sound the counterweight makes as it falls is also great.

And now for the inevitable comparisons – here’s the Loop Coaster set up next to 10261 Roller Coaster. The colour scheme and overall shape make this look like an evolution over the Roller Coaster.

The colours are subjective – some prefer the cleaner and more traditional red and white of 10261, whereas I like the more contemporary dark blue and bright light orange a bit more.

The shape is also vastly different, with 10261 looking more traditional, whereas 10303 Loop Coaster has a more modern design.

As you can see, if you want to have both Roller Coasters displayed, you’re going to need a LOT of space – they both take up the entirely of my more than 2m long dinner table, and the Loop Coaster is also quite tall, so for some people, it may be an impediment to display.

Here’s a video of both LEGO Roller Coasters running simultaneously, which demonstrate how both models differ. Apologies for the grinding sound – I need to fix the chain or something with the older Roller Coaster but I’m still puzzled at what to do.

You can see the differences in speed, and sound that both rides make as the cars hurtle across the tracks.

If you own and enjoy 10261 Roller Coaster, I do think that 10303 is a great addition, given its completely new loop feature, different colour scheme and design makes it look like less of a remake or rehash, but a completely new ride.

It offers a vastly different experience, from the build to when you run the ride, but your main consideration is space – the Roller Coaster is one of the biggest LEGO sets to display with its height and surface area, so I’m not sure it’s going to be realistic for someone to display both at the same time, unless you have a huge dedicated area for LEGO.

I have a very soft spot for 10261 Roller Coaster, as it was my favourite set of 2018, but I think I like this one a lot more.

What I liked:

• The Loop Coaster works brilliantly
• Fresh and contemporary colour scheme
• Really tall and makes a huge impact visually
• Sounds incredible when it whooshes through the loops

What I didn’t like: 

• Motors/Hubs not included, and is another expense
• Top of the lift looks unfinished
• Not as much space on the grounds
• Needs a lot of space to display

Final Thoughts:

It must be said that 10303 Loop Coaster is yet another triumph of LEGO engineering and ingenuity, and Pierre Normandin and the team that worked on this need to be applauded for pulling it off.

10303 Loop Coaster is a modern step up in the world of LEGO roller coasters, and and the introduction of angled curved track which enables the double loops will open up incredible opportunities amongst theme park and roller coaster fans.

The pulley lift, counterweight, and of course double loops work astonishingly well, and is just absolutely brilliant LEGO engineering. That you can walk into a LEGO Store and pick a set up that does what 10303 Loop Coaster does is bonkers when you think about it – we are truly living in the future.

I really like the colour scheme, and I think the choice to use dark blue and bright light orange tracks make this a really aesthetically pleasing set. The height also gives off tremendous display presence, and put side by side with its predecessor, I think it achieves its objective of coming across as a more modern Roller Coaster.

It works best when powered up, and the double whooshing sound as it drops, and swiftly runs through both loops is super satisfying, especially when it works flawlessly. Just make sure you affix the minifigures to their cars properly, or they tend to get violently flung out.

Unfortunately, no motors or hubs are included in the set, so to get the complete Loop Coaster experience, you’ll need to either have some spares on-hand, or splurge on more, which add to the already high price tag.

10303 Loop Coaster isn’t for everyone as it’s in the higher bracket of LEGO set pricing, which means that it’s a big expense. You’ll also need plenty of display space to accommodate it, so this isn’t something you can impulse purchase/build because you really need to plan for how to display it.

This challenge also compounds if you already own 10261 Roller Coaster, which is already a beast of its own, and displaying both at the same time is probably not feasible for 99% of people.

This is a tricky set to recommend, as impressive as it is. It works really well, and if you don’t own a LEGO Roller Coaster, this is a fantastic addition that can be a centerpiece to your LEGO Fairground or City, but the set’s high price, and because you need motors/hubs for best results, it will put this out of reach for most people.

That said, if you can afford it, and display it, 10303 is an impressive display model, and in my opinion, one of the best examples of a kinetic, dynamic LEGO set that really pushes the boundaries of what people expect when they think of LEGO sets.

Rating and score: 4/5 ★★★★✰

Build [4] – It’s a large and expansive build, and building tracks is fun, and very Roller Coaster tycoon-esque. Repetitive in parts.
Real Value [2] – This is on the higher end of LEGO sets, and you also need a hub/motor for best results.
Innovation [5] – Works as advertised, and the engineering and design is a marvel
Coolness [5] – The first double loop LEGO coaster is beyond cool, especially when motorised
Keepability [4] – This is a great set that you’ll likely not want to put away

Thanks for reading my review of 10303 Loop Coaster! The set is now available from LEGO.com or your local LEGO store.

What do you think of the LEGO Loop Coaster? Will you be adding this to your collection, and how do you think this compares with 10261?

To get the latest LEGO news and LEGO Reviews straight in your inbox, subscribe via email, or you can also follow on Google News, or socials on Facebook, Instagram (@jayong28), Twitter or subscribe to the Jay’s Brick Blog Youtube channel.

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review