What a great year! With 2008 ending and 2009 ready to begin, it is time to look back on the highlights of our past year focusing on the best rides and moments of 2008. Starting this blog was something that I promised myself I would do this past year. While it is far from the best site on the web, I still hope that those of you reading have received some information that has helped you on your coaster endeavors. Mainly, the bog itself is a way to fuel my obsession, but oh well. Anyway, in 2009 look for the site to change slightly. I have reviewed a large majority of the top coasters in the United State and Canada. I am sure that no one wants to read a post about kiddie coasters, so I will begin writing more trip reports with updated reviews of the main coasters at the park and smaller reviews of other rides including flats. As usual, there will be plenty of great pics from Julia and Guy who are two of the best coaster photographers in the business. I am hoping to update at least twice a week in 2009. Please let your friends know about us and feel free to post our link on your site.
Now, on to this past years' awards.
Obsession Coaster of the Year: Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park. For the past three years, Guy and myself (ok, mainly me) have obsessed about coasters. I normally have one ride each year that I continuously ride online and even dream about. Yep, that's weird but I'm sure there are other 36 year old college graduates who dream about roller coasters, aren't there? Anyway, this year the RFII gets the award. I started with Behemoth this but once I discovered that this wonderful woodie would be up and running it took over the top spot. Diamondback at King's Island is the definite front runner of 2009. 2007 Winner - Maverick at Cedar Point. 2006 Winner - Cedar Point Park (Guy obsessed about this for years).
Best Old School Moment: 10 consecutive laps on the Starliner at Cypress Gardens in January. The Coaster Reviews staff is nothing if not Old School. We listen to old school music, play old school games, and love old school rides. It dates back, I guess, to the hundreds of laps Guy and myself put on the Lake Winnie Cannon Ball (review below) when we were in elementary school. Julia also has some great old school memories of the Giant Dipper out in Santa Cruz. For that reason, this award consists of numerous laps and great times on preferably an old woodie, although our 50 laps on Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia on opening day received some consideration for the pure number of rides. The Starliner (review below) was one of our best experiences this past January as we never even had to leave our seat. The park was dead, it was freezing cold, but we were bundled up in our hoodies and rode until the park closed. It was a great night to be a nerd coaster enthusiast. Other great old school moments include 10 laps on Blue Streak at Cedar Point, my ride on Great White at Morey's Piers for my 300th coaster, and our 33 rides on the Holiday World woodies in less than 3 hours. 2007 Winner: 10 laps in under an hour on the Ozark Wildcat in Branson, Missouri. 2006 Winner: A front seat ride on the Beast at King's Island
during our first ever coaster trip.
Best View - Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park. Looks like my obsession coaster is still an obsession. The RFII offers a great view of the Lake Erie coastline with the water crashing up on the rocks as you crest the first hill. It is absolutely gorgeous. That feeling of peace simply warms you heart, until you dive down and cross the highway at over 60 MPH. Other rides with great views are the Swamp Fox at Myrtle Beach which offers a super view of the Atlantic Ocean and the Skyliner at Lakemont park which overlooks a minor league baseball stadium. 2007 Winner: Desperado in the middle of the Nevada Desert. 2006 Winner: Millennium Force at Cedar Point with its view of Lake Erie.
"New" Ride of the Year. Now, this category does not consist of a "new ride" that has been built in 2008. It is given to the best coaster that we rode during this year that we have never ridden. For that reason, we had some great rides to choose from including Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce, the Coney Island Cyclone, and the other two Superman hyper coasters in both Largo, Maryland and Darien Lake, NY. The argument could even been made for the previously mentioned Ravine Flyer II and Behemoth. However, the winner is the legendary Phoenix at Knoebels. I will not review the ride here since there is a very lengthy review already on this site, however I will say that this is a "can't miss" coaster for anyone reading this blog. 2007 Winner: El Toro in Jackson, NJ and Superman: ROS at Agawam Mass. 2006 Winner: Millennium Force at Cedar Point.
And now for the biggie.....Best Ride of 2008. Once again, let me explain this category. This is not necessarily the best coaster we rode this year. If you are looking for a ranking of the top coasters in the world, you can click on the pics to the left and see our opinions there. Or you can check out Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards in which the top coasters in the industry are honored. There is also Mitch Hawker's online coaster poll which has just posted its 2008 results. No, what we are about is the coaster that delivers the best single ride for us in 2008. There were tons to choose from. There was the great front seat ride on Boulder Dash on July 4th in the pitch black of night. A day prior was our great ride on the Coney Island Cyclone, the most famous coaster in the world. There was the front seat night ride on the legendary Beast this past September. There was the infamous "bug ride" on Top Thrill Dragster in which we finally waited for the front and Guy was plastered with about a thousand bugs because he rode on the side with the lights, and finally the Millennium Force ride later that night in which the fog from Millennium Island blacked out virtually all of the lights. However, the winner is a coaster that neither of the three of us even have in our Top
25's. It is also being currently re-themed around that wonderful teen-age magician Harry Potter despite winning the Golden Ticket for "Best Themed Ride" for the past three years. Our Ride of the Year took place in January on the Dueling Dragons inverted coaster at Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fl in the middle of a lightning storm. Once again, the review (and a lengthy description of the ride itself) is posted on the site so I'll let you scroll down if you want to read the entire thing, but I will say that after this ride I now have an idea what riding a dragon might possibly be like. 2007 Winner: A front seat night ride on Holiday World's Raven as the park was closing. 2006 Winner: My first ever Millennium Force ride, which still holds strong as my favorite coaster.
And there you have it. For those of you that read that entire post, thanks. I have had a great time in 2008 riding coasters and enjoying the fellowship of my best friends. I look forward to much of the same in 2009 as God continues to heap blessing after blessing upon my life.
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