Coaster Reviews

Manta - Sea World Orlando (October 2009)

2009-10-12T09:07:00.005-04:00

Despite the fact that flying coasters are not my preference, Manta is the real deal.

Following up that statement leads me into what will be a very positive review concerning the latest and greatest thing to hit central Florida. We were in Orlando this past weekend (I am currently typing up this review from The Marshall House Hotel in Savannah, GA) with our main task being a sub-48:00 minute time in Disney's Race for the Taste 10K. That was accomplished on Sunday morning with a 47:50 in which I was very proud of. On Friday however, our secondary task was completed with two laps on Manta and # 3 ranking in the best new coasters of 2009 poll. It definitely lived up to that ranking.

Like most things in Orlando, Manta is not simply a coaster, it is a total experience. The line weaves in and out of the Manta Ray exhibit and is a 1st class aquarium all by itself. Their is a separate entrance for those only wishing to view the animals, but a large portion of the aquarium itself can be seen through the Manta que line.

I rode the ride once as a walk-on as soon as the park opened, then again at mid-day with about a 20 minute wait. I expect that eventually the lines will get massive as the ride is located very close to the front of the park entrance and has become the new icon at Sea World.

As for the ride itself, it has a number of unique elements despite its flying type. The first drop into the pretzel loop is surpassed only by Tatsu out west. It is much more intense than those inversions located on the various Superman clones. The g-forces provided by this inversion are very strong as you feel like your body is going to be sucked all the way through your seat. Manta also has two zero-g rolls with are taken at just the right speed to feel intense but comfortable.

The most unique feature the ride contains however, is the dip into the water following the mid-course brake run. I recommend the seat on the far ride (the first one as you entering the train) as you can reach down and fell the water as it blasts upward. You do get a little wet but it is a refreshing kind of wet without being drenched. The other seats do not offer this.

In conclusion, Sea World has a definite winner. The coaster is centrally located so it is easy to get pics of. It takes up a large area but walking paths are present directly under numerous parts of the ride. The ride scores somewhere between the Superman clones and Tatsu putting it at a solid 8.5. I will round up to the 9 however, due to the immersive themeing and fun ride experience. It is a can't miss while at Sea World.

Overall rating - 9.

Orlando United Tournament of Champions

2009-08-21T18:33:00.002-04:00

I like coasters. I also like anything to do with tournament brackets. The link below combines the best of both worlds through a unique tournament designed to compare the top thrill rides (not just coasters) in Orlando, Florida....ie. the Theme Park Capitol of the World. Please register and log in to vote on your favorites. The registration process is very simple and they do not slam you with spam. The message boards offer some great discussion forums and the site itself seems to be growing rapidly. The match-ups only last for 2-3 days so the tourney moves quickly. Currently, the world's first Dive Coaster (Shiekra) is battling one of the top themed dark rides ever (Hollywood Tower of Terror). Register and vote as soon as possible. http://orlandounited.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=68

Kings Dominion Announces Intimidator-305

2009-08-20T19:05:00.007-04:00

Ok I admit it.....I'm excited. I have ridden over 400 roller coasters in the last 3 years and it really takes a good bit to get me excited. Ok, maybe not......but this time I'm REALLY excited. The fact the second Giga Coaster in the U.S is being built a mere 9 hours from my house makes me feel very warm and fuzzy......and excited.

In all seriousness, this is going to be a great ride. The 300 foot drop on Millennium Force is my favorite element on any roller coaster I have ever ridden and this will be virtually identical. I am not happy with the restraints, but this coaster still seems to be a combination of Millennium Force and

Maverick which will make it a superb ride. While a majority of the coaster community seems disappointed that this ride did not top the record breaking stats they were hoping for, I think that Cedar Fair has designed another winner which will make Kings Dominion a destination park. I know one thing....I will be there next summer to find out for myself what this thing can do.

Boardwalk Bullet - Kemah Boardwalk (July of 2009)

2009-07-31T21:37:00.004-04:00

I did something different...really different. Having travelled the country and ridden 401 roller coasters, there was still one area that I had not visited.....Texas. After returning from vacation this year, I decided to meet up with a travel group called Theme Park Review and spend 5 days in Texas at a very reasonable price. This was a superb experience that I will discuss in a later post, but the main reason I went was to ride this coaster.

Having two Gravity Group woodies in my Top 10, I had high hopes for this creation and was not disappointed. Now don't get me wrong. The Bullet is very intense and has suffered some ridiculous abuse in the form of Hurricane Ike. No coaster should go through what it has faced. Yet still, the coaster has character and I thoroughly enjoyed my 10 laps in two days.

What is character? Can we give human characteristics to inanimate objects like amusement park rides? Here at Coaster Reviews, we do. To us, the ride is an experience. Some may be smooth, some rough, and some intense. The key thing is that we like rides that give us memories and the Bullet does that.

The first section of the ride is typical Gravity Group intensity with a very twisted track which takes the riders within 30 feet of the water. There are a couple of very intense sections of track which border on roughness. It is common knowledge that the faster this thing goes, the smoother the ride. I think my better rides were the night rides we took following the storm that blew in. I also enjoyed the morning rides but they seemed a tad rougher.

But what the heck, the ride is fun. It has a gorgeous backdrop, a great layout, and some intense airtime segments and laterals. It is not the greatest coaster in the world but still gives an unrelenting ride. That is what a wooden coaster is about......and oh yeah....it has character.

It gets a solid 8 from Coaster Reviews.

Hades Review - Wisconsin Dells (July of 2009)

2009-07-30T20:33:00.003-04:00

Hades was arguably the coaster I was looking forward most to riding this entire summer. I currently have 11 coasters which I have given a 10 ranking to and fully expected this Gravity Group creation to make it # 12 and mix up my top coasters. When we pulled into the parking lot, these feelings rose a couple of notches to near certainty.

The park was very crowded but most of the people seemed to be headed for the water park so we got in all the smaller woodies first and then doubled back to Hades hoping the line had shrunk a little. We were wrong as a 45 minute wait awaited us since one train operation is all the park offers on each of its coasters. We ended up getting a next to the back seat ride and off we went for what I hoped to be an unbelievable coaster ride.

I was wrong.

To begin with, the pre-lift hill section is very overrated. It is cool dropping out of the station, but there is not any airtime and the train just seems to meander along to the lift. The drop off the lift hill and through the tunnel is superb. The typical Gravity Group forces are present as you speed under the parking lot, out into the turn around, and back down through the return trip. However, I faced another issue here which totally destroyed the ride experience for me: the lights in the tunnel were on! I could not believe it. I had heard rave reviews about the total blackness and the out of control feelings one faced when navigating the 90 degree banks in pitch blackness. Alas, that was an experience I missed out on.

Finally, we crested the hill exiting the tunnel and dove into a very long curve in which the train jackhammered so violently that I took an instant headache. The jackhammering continued around the entire curve and up into the final section leading to the station. It was among the roughest sections of any coaster I have ever experienced.

Needless to say, I was disappointed. We left the area, finished the other coasters in the park, bought a few souvenirs, and then ambled back to Hades. I decided to wait through the hour long ride again and get another ride near the front of the train to see if the experience improved. I'm sorry to say that it did not.

Still, despite these negatives, Hades is a good coaster. It is by no means one of the top 10 coasters on the planet as it consistently ranks in the Golden Ticket Awards. I think the enthusiasts who continue to rank it so highly rode it many years ago and have not been back to see it in it's current state. It scores a solid 8 but is well below every GCI woodie I have ridden and it ranks at the bottom on the 4 Gravity Group coasters I have been on as well. The tunnel sections are great with that wonderful swooping motion that good woodies have. However, the addition of the lights, the weak pre-lift section, and the horrible curved section drop it a couple of notches in my book.

Shivering Timbers Review - July of 2009

2009-07-11T14:34:00.004-04:00

Whew again! I just finished two unbelievable coaster journeys and am need of some serious rest. Guy and myself travelled over 2,000 miles hitting some great parks up the east coast with our main goal of trying out the new Bizarro themed coasters. I will write up that trip as soon as I can find my zip drive with our pictures on it. In the meantime, I'll review the best ride I had on my trip with Julia through the midwest: Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon, Michigan.

It has been said on my websites previously, but this coaster is one of the most aesthetically pleasing rides in existence. It runs virtually the entire length of the parking lot and is all you see when you first pull in. Unfortunately, it is the only reason for visiting the park as all the other coasters are clones or very poorly designed. Fortunately, Shivering Timbers is good enough to be considered a destination coaster.

The layout is very simple with lots of huge hills and some very strong airtime. This ride is not super smooth like some of the newer woodies out there, but is instead a powerful ride along the likes of Ghostrider out at Knotts or The Beast at King's Island. It is not rough, but the forces it puts on your body are very strong. I rode the back seat once, three times in the middle part of the train, and lastly on the front car. The front is by far the best with both the most airtime and the smoothest ride. The back was good as well but a little rougher, particularly at the bottom of the first hill. In addition to the large hills, there is also a very fast helix at the end of the ride and a section following the turnaround called a "Trick/Track" which is unique to this coaster. It is a very effective element where each side of the track dips at alternate times causing the train to sway back and forth. This is one of the best segments on the ride and fits in well with the other elements.

In conclusion, Shivering Timbers deserves its top 10 ranking among woodies. I rate it as a solid 9 and place it at #18 overall out of my 400 coasters ridden. It is well worth the effort it takes to get to the park.

Theme Park Battles - Cedar Point vs. Magic Mountain

2009-06-11T18:47:00.011-04:00

Welcome to another new series here on coasterreviews.net. The other night I was watching Spike's new show "Deadliest Warrior" (a nerd show if there was ever one) and a random thought crossed my mind. Theme park enthusiasts are always ranking coasters and parks so how do some of the parks actually stack up when compared directly with one another? I know that in the past both Cedar Point and Magic Mountain were in a race to see which park could put together the most extreme coaster line-up. Magic Mountain seemed to forfeit their bragging rights when tearing down the Psyclone and taking down Flashback. But, lo and behold, by building the new Terminator ride, they are now up to 16 total coasters which is only 1 behind Cedar Point. However, the question is this: Which park has the best line-up of coasters? This post will compare a coaster from one park with its counterpart from the other park in order to determine........Who is Deadliest!?.....no wait a minute.....I mean....Who is the most extreme!? Please keep in mind this is not an analysis of each park as flat rides, water rides, shows, food, etc are not a part of the evaluations. This post will deal only with the coaster line-up each park possesses.

Hyper/Mega Coasters - Magnum XL-200 (CP) vs. Goliath (MM). Although these coasters fit into the same general category, they are very different. Magnum is the best airtime coaster at CP while Goliath is almost totally devoid of any airtime. However, it does have the "Helix of Death" which is among the most intense elements on any coaster ever built. Despite its age, I still prefer Magnum, particularly as the final ride of the night in total darkness with no trim brakes. Plus, it has a much better view. Edge - Cedar Point.

Inverts - Raptor (CP) vs. Batman- The Ride (MM). While I love the Batman rides (there are now over a half dozen of them throughout the U.S.), Raptor is just a better coaster. It is longer, more forceful, and much more respected among enthusiasts. I like the fact that Batman does not have mid-course brakes which leads to excellent pacing, but I like Raptor better. Edge - Cedar Point.

Stand-Up Coasters - Mantis (CP) vs. Riddler's Revenge (MM). In my humble opinion, this is a simple case of a good stand-up coaster versus a bad one. Riddler's Revenge is much bigger and smoother with some unique elements while Mantis is simply an ear-banger. Edge - Magic Mountain.

Launch Coasters - Top Thrill Dragster (CP) vs. Superman: The Escape (MM). I love both of these coasters as they are both intense yet smooth. Both are themed up well and are normally among the most popular rides at each park. I give the edge to TTD simply because it is taller, faster and contains the Top Hat which is preferable to simply dropping backwards like Superman. In its defense however, Superman was the original Intamin launch coaster that ended up being a direct forebearer to rides like TTD and Kingda Ka. Edge - Cedar Point.

Big Woodie - Mean Streak (CP) vs. Colossus (MM). This took some thought as both coasters were among the biggest and best when they were orginally built and have currently come under attack from the coaster community due to deterioration. However, CP is re-tracking Mean Streak making for a much better ride while MM has simply let one of the two tracks of Colossus rot. This past February, I actually did not feel safe riding it due to the horrid condition of the track. It still offered a decent ride but I have had some outstanding Mean Streak rides despite its supposed roughness. Edge - Cedar Point.

Little Woodie - Blue Streak (CP) vs. Terminator: The Ride (MM). I love Blue Streak. It reminds me so much of the Lake WInnie Cannonball that I had so much fun on when I was smaller. We even rode it 10 consecutive times last September and had a blast. But let's be realistic. Terminator is going to be in the running for Best New Ride this year and will probably be ranked among the top woodies in the world very shortly with its twisted lay-out, on-board sound system, and tunnels filled with mist. Edge - Magic Mountain.

Inverted Boomerang Coasters - Wicked Twister (CP) vs. Deja Vu (MM). This is a very even match-up with two very similar coasters. WT starts with a launch out of the station while Deja Vu pulls you back up to a height of almost 200 feet before dropping you at a 90 degree angle. I like both coasters but prefer Deja Vu because of its immense size and initital drop. It is also a coaster that can be ridden anywhere on the train while WT is much better on either end. Edge - Magic Mountain.

Basket Rides (also known as suspended coasters) - Iron Dragon (CP) vs. Ninja (MM). Hmmmm....two oriental based rides. Both are located in the middle of their respective parks but are beautifully landscaped with trees and water. Both are very similar but the main difference is the way each coaster ends. Ninja simply stops and is pulled up a lift hill to the station. Iron Dragon dives into a mist filled helix over the pond with some pretty intense laterals. Plus everyone knows a dragon could kill a ninja. Edge - Cedar Point.

Mine Rides - Cedar Creek Mine Ride (CP) vs. Gold Rusher (MM). Now I have had some excellent rides on the CCMR particularly during Halloween when the entire ride is blanketed in mist. However, the Magic Mountain version is much faster and longer. It is also spread out on the side of the mountain making it landscaped much better. Edge - Magic Mountain.

Unique/Intense Steel Coasters - Maverick (CP) vs. Tatsu (MM). Wow! These two rides are among the best in the world and neither park has a coaster to match the other so I put them together. Tatsu is the best flying coaster on the planet with the most intense element (Pretzel Loop) that I have ever felt. It is enormous as well standing well over 125 feet tall and seeming much taller at times. Maverick won Best New Ride of 2007 with its dual launches and crazy airtime filled hills along with its steeper than vertical 1st drop. This is so close that the coaster reviews staff does not agree on which coaster is the best. Guy prefers Tatsu, but since I am writing the review, Maverick gets the edge for one simple reason....I had rather sit down than fly on my coasters. Edge - Cedar Point.

Old School steel loopers - Corkscrew (CP) vs. Revolution (MM). This is an interesting comparison. Revolution was the first coaster ever with a veritcal loop while Corkscrew was the 1st coaster ever with three inversions. Both coasters are well maintained and beautiful. Corkscrew is a Cedar Point icon with its twisted inversions directly over the midway. Revolution is also gorgeous flying through the trees and around Tatsu with a great lead up to the loop. I bet that last rise before the inversion scared people to death when this thing was first built. It's a tough call, but Revolution is much smoother now and a much more enjoyable ride. Edge - Magic Mountain.

Sit-down steel coasters - Wildcat (CP) vs. Viper (MM). This is really not even close. Wildcat is a fun little family coaster which has some pretty fast elements but Viper set the inversion record when it was first built. Inversions are not really my thing but Viper is one of the better sit-down loopers I've been on. Edge - Magic Mountain.

Family Coasters - Woodstock Express (CP) vs. Canyon Blaster (MM). I am sad to say I have ridden both...more than once. Woodstock Express is much better because it is longer and much more family friendly with its on board video cameras. Edge: Cedar Point.

Kiddie Coasters - Junior Gemini (CP) vs. Thomas the Tank Engine/Goliath Jr. - Neither park will let me ride either of these so no one gets the point. Edge - Even.

Random Match-up - Gemini (CP) vs. Scream! (MM). I had no other coasters to match these two against so they ended up against one another. It is difficult to compare an older racing coaster with the best capacity in the world that was once the tallest and fastest coaster built against a newer floorless B and M design. Nonetheless it had to be done. Despite Gemini being a fun ride and Scream being built in the middle of a parking lot (with the lines still present in under the coaster), Scream still gets the edge. Edge - Magic Mountain.

Whew! If I have counted correctly, we have now looked at 15 coasters with each park getting the edge on 7 with 1 tie. That leaves the signature coaster from each park which will be the decding vote. The final match up is:

Signature Coasters - Millennium Force (CP) vs X2 (MM). Wow. Both of these coasters currently reside in my Top 10 and each offers soemthing totally unique. If a 300 foot drop at over 90 MPH with over a mile of track is your preference take MF. If you had rather listen to an awsome soundtrack while riding a 4th dimension coaster which drops you over 200 feet at a 90 degree angle face down, then X2 is your thing. There is no wrong answer but readers of the site know that Millennium Force ranks at the top of my list, as well as # 2 in the world according to the Golden Tickets. Edge (and winner) - Cedar Point.

That was a long post but hopefully someone out there enjoyed it. One coaster that was left out was Cedar Point's Disaster Transport which did give them another slight edge when tallying the results. Both parks are great and no enthusiast can go wrong with visting either of them. Check back in a couple of weeks for more Park Battles with two family owned parks containing some of the greatest wooden roller coasters in the world matching up against one another.

Tatsu - Six Flags Magic Mountain - CA

2009-06-06T16:31:00.006-04:00

This is a different kind of roller coaster.

Tatsu is without a doubt, the most intense flying coaster ever created. It is far from the standard B and M model they have used at numerous Six Flags parks around the country. This is one of the most creative coasters on the planet and is a definite "can't miss" ride for any enthusiasts.

Having said all of that, let me now say this. Tatsu is not one of my favorite coasters. I totally respect the unique elements and creativity that went into this monster, but I still prefer to sit in my coaster trains, not fly. I like the feeling of airtime more than inversions and in a flying coaster, the inversions are what make them special.

I have three laps on Tatsu with hopefully a few more coming up in October. This past February, the station was virtually empty so we could have ridden it as much as we wanted. However, after putting 10 laps on X2, we were physically unable to take the famous Pretzel Loop on Tatsu more than twice. When you take into account those two coasters plus the helix on Goliath, you have probably three of the most intense coasters on the planet.

So in conclusion, Tatsu grades out as a solid 9 and is by far the best flying coaster I have ever ridden. The argument could be made to give it a 10 as it is the best of its type but, as I said earlier, flyers are just not my thing. One piece of advice. Looking at Tatsu from ground level does not do justice to its immense height. When going up the lift hill while laying face down, it looks as if the train is over 500 feet high. Only people who have ridden it can truly appreciate the size and intensity of this coaster.

Diamondback - Kings Island (5-2-2009)

2009-05-25T12:31:00.006-04:00

I made it!! A weekend that had been placed on my calendar 6 months in advance finally came to fruition and was totally perfect.

While riding the newest B and M hyper coaster at the location of one my Top 20 (The Beast) coasters was the main goal of my weekend, I did have a little other unfinished business in the city of Cincinnati: setting a marathon P.R. at the Flying Pig Marathon which is one of the top ranked marathons in the world. My plan was to drive up Friday night, visit King's Island and ride Diamondback on Saturday morning, pick up my running packet and some race gear on Saturday evening, run the race on Sunday morning under 3 hours 50 minutes and make it back home that night in order to sleep and head to school the next morning. Everything worked out perfect.

Now, you are not here to read how I ran a 3:45:47 crushing my P.R. by over 7 minutes, or the great pasta dinner the night before hanging out in downtown Cincy listening to a live band and stuffing my face with carbs for energy the next morning. You want to hear about Diamondback and I will do my best to describe the experience.

To begin with, I really want this to be a good review since I can find virtually nothing detailed so far about this coaster online. If you are interested in making a trip to visit KI, then maybe this will give you some information you can't get anywhere else. If so, tell your friends about the site. Our readership is growing but we are still looking for more activity from enthusiasts like YOU!

Now, on to the coaster. Getting straight to the nuts and bolts, Diamondback scores a solid 9 just like every other B and M hyper I have ever ridden. It has some positives as well as some negatives which are basically divided up into the two halves of the coaster itself. The first half is impeccable. I think the first drop is the best on any B and M coaster. You exit the station and go straight up the lift hill ala Millennium Force but not nearly as quick. The drop is steep and fast and leads into two other unbelievable airtime hills before hitting the hammerhead. The third hill is the best as I counted 8 seconds of airtime on that hill alone. Due to the speed of the train, the hammerhead turnaround seems to be more forceful than the one on Nitro. It is here however, that Diamondback begins slithering toward mediocrity.

When leaving the hammerhead and heading up the next hill, a trim brake kicks in which slows the train noticeably. There is no airtime whatsoever leading all the way up to where the mid-course brake kicks in which brings the train to almost a complete stop. The drop off the mid-course brake area is well below average and leads into another hill and helix before the splash down which is simply another way of slowing the train before cresting the final hill and hitting the final brake run. If you were counting, that is four brake runs in the last half of the ride which totally kills any momentum the first half had built up.

If you are an OCD coaster enthusiast (which I define as having ridden or being dragged along on over 100 coasters) you will probably be disappointed with Diamondback. The general public however, totally loves the ride as it is like nothing in Ohio with its smoothness and perfect first half. If visiting, take advantage of the single rider line which is run perfectly. I was able to get 5 rides in an hour while the normal line seemed to be about a 45-60 minute wait if not longer. The station crew was doing an excellent job of running all three trains so this thing is a people eater. The new open air trains (identical to Behemoth) are an advantage as I was able to get two second row (which are actually the same as front row) seats plus three rides somewhere in the middle. As a single rider you do not get to pick your seat but the shorter wait time is well worth it. I never got near the back but some people said you actually get wet back there on the splash down. I can neither confirm nor contradict that but I did not see anyone get off the train wet.

In conclusion, despite the negatives King's Island is now a destination park. With a world class woodie, a flying coaster, a launch coaster, an underrated sit-down looper, a racer, and the worlds tallest and fastest woodie added to this hyper coaster, it is a park to visit for an entire day or more. If you are on your way to Cedar Point from the south, do not forget to stop in on your way to visit this park. It will be well worth your time.

Final Rating - A solid 9.

Review: X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain (CA)

2009-05-09T15:43:00.004-04:00

The ceremony is about to begin! Let me say that if you have ridden the original X but have not been back to Magic Mountain for the upgraded X2, you are missing one of the best rides in the world.

Back in 2006, I took my first trip to California in 7 years and visited a number of theme parks with Magic Mountain being the primary destination. I enjoyed X a great deal as it was totally unlike any coaster I had ridden. However, at the time I was probably around only 50 coasters total so I did not recognize how unique X truly was. I ranked it an 8 and left it out of my Top 20.

Fast forward to February of 2009. After a very disappointing day at Knotts with both Ghostrider and Xcelerator not running, we were hoping for a little more fun at a park I had not had very good experiences at. Magic Mountain had always been crowded with many of the rides down. Not this time. The lines were non-existent, all the coasters were running and X had been upgraded to one of the best coasters in the world.

When riding X2, you get an entire sensory experience. The huge flat screen in the station, the dual loading X cars, the creepy soundtrack (hence the first line of this review) in the station as well, and the fast loading ride ops. All of these things set the mood for the ride experience that is about to come. Once you are loaded (I prefer the inside seat since it seems a little smoother), the sound system begins with a wide range of music starting with Harry Connick (I think) and randomly jumping to artists that vary from Metallica to the Beastie Boys. The experience is totally indescribable.

I will suggest the front seat which gives you an unimpeded view of the 90 degree 200 foot drop at the beginning while going down face first. That is one of the best first drops on any coaster ever. After that, the ride is completely crazy with a total of 3 inversions (I think), a fire element toward the end, and a completely warped ride experience. We were lucky enough to get in 10 rides (yep 10) with the last 9 without having to even leave the station. I have heard that lines are normally in the 2-3 hours range so I believe we hit it on a good day. The ops were not making us walk around the station since the lines were so short. We had a blast riding X2 however we did run into a problem after about 6 laps. We started hurting.

That’s right, pain became a problem. My back and head were both killing me as well as my neck and shoulders. This is not a coaster that people (my age at least) can continually loop. The intensity of the ride makes it great fun for a couple of laps. And despite the ride being smooth, the elements simply make it a coaster that pushes the limits to what a human body can take. From now on, I will be satisfied with a couple of laps each trip.

As it is, X2 scores a 9 and ranks # 11 on my list of all time favorite coasters. It is unique and offers an unparalleled experience. It is without a doubt a destination coaster that no enthusiast should miss. And now, about Tatsu……….

# 1 - Millennium Force.....A Life Changing Experience

2009-05-05T19:44:00.003-04:00

By now, regular readers of the site know that Millennium Force at Cedar Point was actually a life-changing experience for me.

Now I know those are very strong words considering that these are just roller coasters, but sometimes we have great experiences when we least expect them. I was simply getting away from some major problems in my life. I had never even heard of Cedar Point back in 2006 much less any of the specific coasters located there. Once I had my first ride on Millie, my life was forever changed and I became a coaster geek.

Please scroll down and read my Millennium Force review for more details of my favorite ride of all time. And there you have it, as I moved toward my favorite rides I discovered that many of these coasters already had detailed reviews leading to shortened down versions of my favorite rides.

Like always, thanks for checking out the site. With coaster riding season beginning again, look for more reviews, pictures, and tips in the upcoming months on coasterreviews.net.

# 2 - The World's Most Famous Roller Coaster

2009-05-05T19:37:00.002-04:00

The Coney Island Cyclone is not simply a roller coaster. It is an American Icon and a total experience that no enthusiast (or common rider for that matter) should ever miss.

Without a doubt, it is one of the most famous coasters of all time located in one of the greatest cities in the world. The experience is like no other ride in the world today. Despite being among the most cloned coasters of all time, the original is still unique and ranked way above the others. You can read my very lengthy and detailed review as one of the first posts on this site. If you want a better account of this ride, I recommend that you go there. However, for the purpose of this post, keep in mind that my solitary ride back on July 3rd of 2008 was one of my best total experiences (not just at theme parks) ever.

I will never forget it.

# 3 - The Storm Ride (Dueling Dragons) 2008

2009-05-05T19:33:00.002-04:00

What a ride! I will not cover all of the outstanding details as this ride (as well as the next two) have been covered in my reviews of the coasters themselves. Needless to say, this particular ride (on the Ice Dragon) was as good as anything I have ever been on. The Dragons themselves ranked in my Top 20 for a while, in large part because of this ride. The outstanding woodies have taken their place and dropped them slightly out of my top ranked coasters but are still among my favorites. The storm ride was totally out of control with rain beating down me, the wind blowing and lightning flashing every few seconds. Once again for more details please read my ride review of Dueling Dragons.

# 4 - The Beast (Kings Island) Fall of 2008

2009-05-05T16:24:00.003-04:00

Some coasters have multiple personalities. They may be good on one, great another, and terrible on yet another. It may depend on the time of day the ride takes place, the seat on the train, or even the time of year. However, no coaster has more of a split personality than The Beast at King’s Island.

The Beast is legendary wooden coaster which is on many peoples Top 20 lists, including mine, due to its speed, length, and strong laterals in its famous double helix. It has also given me quite possible the worst ride of my life in October of 2007 on a cold day at the park’s opening. However, approximately one year later, the wooden legend delivered with a front seat night ride I will never forget.

This coaster has already been reviewed on this site and this particular ride has also been discussed. Let me add to that by saying that riding the Beast at night is an experience no coaster enthusiast should miss. There are no lights on the track and the coaster is almost two miles long. With over five minutes of ride time in the pitch black darkness in the woods of central Ohio, this coaster deserves its high ranking.

The Beast is a destination coaster that is well worth the drive and price of admission. And at night, it is almost unbeatable with my best ever ride that did not contain a lightning storm or a coaster with a soft spot in my heart. Those reviews are coming up but rest assured, I have never had a better coaster ride than this one in my life.

# 5 Boulder Dash (Lake Compounce) 7-3-2008

2009-04-13T20:45:00.002-04:00

If there is a coaster that is completely designed to my preferences, it may be Boulder Dash located at Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT.

To begin with, it is a very smooth riding woodie. Secondly, it has a number of intense moments of airtime located throughout the course. And thirdly, it is build on the side of a mountain. That is not a typo. The lift hill actually takes the train up the mountain where it turns and plunges down toward the lake. On many rides, that contain an awesome first drop, that is the highlight of the ride and little else occurs. That is only the beginning of Boulder Dash.

The specific ride I am thinking of occurred on the night of July 4th in 2008. Julia and myself had already celebrated her birthday the day before by riding the Coney Island Cyclone and driven up to CT. We used the late entry to get in 3 rides on Boulder Dash including our final ride of the night on the very front car with fireworks going off in the background. There are no lights anywhere on the coaster so you are simply flying through the very length ride in the middle of the woods. The front seat of the coaster is by far the best on the train with wind hitting you in the face. The ride seems so much faster, as do most coasters, when riding the front car due to the lack of wind resistance.

In conclusion, the terrain coaster with a well-run station crew placed a ride in the top 5 of my all time rides. I will never forget it.

# 6 - Raven - Labor Day 2007

2009-03-29T20:19:00.002-04:00

I will not go into too many details since this ride has been discussed in my review of The Raven. I will say that this little coaster does indeed pack a wallop no matter where you ride it. I actually prefer the back seat because the surprise 60 foot drop in the middle of the course is much more intense back there. However, the ride that falls #6 on the overall greatest rides of all time was our front seat night ride during Labor Day Weekend of 2007.

It was the final ride of the day and we were lucky enough to be in lap mode. We had sprinted around for one last ride and were at the head of the pack of people doing the same. We dove in the front seat line and had a total blast. There are no lights at all on the track so the entire ride was in total pitch black darkness. It was easily our best ride of the day. I only wish we would have had a opportunity to ride The Voyage at night. So far that feat has eluded us. As far as the Raven is concerned however, it is a proven fact that the woodies at Holiday World warm up as the day wears on and the best rides are given toward the end of the day. We can definitely attest to that fact thanks to this wonderful ride on a very well-respected coaster.

The Raven sits solidly at lucky number 13 in my Top 20 and this great Labor Day ride comes in at # 6 overall in my best rides ever.

# 7 - Magnum XL200 - NO BRAKES!!!

2009-03-15T10:25:00.002-04:00

I feel that as far as steel coasters go, Cedar Point is the best park in the world. Magnum XL-200 is the ride that started it all back in 1989 as the first ever coaster to crack the 200 foot barrier. It is still a great ride as evidenced by its current top 5 ranking in the Golden Tickets.

I have continued to keep this coaster in my top 20 due to a number of great rides I have taken, the best which was in the fall of 2007. This specific ride took place directly before the park was about to close. For those of you unaware, the ride operators begin to close down certain seats in the middle of the train at the end of the day. They keep the front seats and back seats open in order to keep the weight balanced and each train at least half full.

When this happens, the lower weight on the train allows the mid-course brakes at the turnaround point to not kick in which leads to an insane second half of the ride along the bunny hills. This actually happened to us on this ride (we were toward the front) and the coaster was totally out of control. My legs were actually sore from being forcefully thrown into the lap bar going over each and every hill. It was totally dark, the breeze was nice and cool, the view looking out over Lake Erie was great, and the airtime was some of the most intense I have ever had on a coaster.

That adds up to the #7 ranked ride of my life…..so far.

#8 - Top Thrill Dragster - The Bug Ride (Fall of 2008)

2009-02-28T13:28:00.004-05:00

Wow. It has been a while since I have posted anything. Hopefully, the consistent readers we have did not totally desert our site. Thanks to running races on two of the past three weekends and traveling to CA on the other, I have not been on here in a long time. In addition with fantasy basketball season ending and fantasy baseball beginning, my computer time has been spent on Yahoo Sports and CBS Sportsline. Yes, I have more than just one nerd activity; I have multiples!

Anyway, thinking back to my 8th greatest ride of all time brought back an actual audible stream of laughter. The ride took place late one night at the Coaster Capital (Cedar Point) when Guy and myself decided to wait the extra time for a front seat ride on TTD. This is normally an extra 30 minutes or so since the front has a huge line due to the nature of the ride. Out of over 10 rides we had never waited the extra time before so on this particular night we decided that the time had finally come.

Neither of us were prepared for what followed. Being that the ride is only 20 seconds or so, I personally did not think a front seat ride would offer that much more. I was wrong. While the ride goes over 120 MPH, the front seat seems much faster due to the unimpeded air that is totally slamming into your face. That, along with the intense 420 foot 90 degree drop made this a very memorable ride. However, it was the choice I made in choosing my seat that was the key decision that night. For some reason, Guy got in first. I normally enter the trains first while he goes last but on this occasion our roles reversed. By entering first he rode on the side of the train that had lights the length of the track......and bugs!

When we exited, I had maybe 5 or 6 plastered on my shirt due to our high rate of velocity. Guy had hundreds! He had bugs on his face, his glasses, and both arms. It was hilarious and he spent the next 5 minutes trying to clean bug stuff off himself.

Once this task was completed, we decided that we just had one of our greatest ride experiences. TTD is a great ride on any seat but the front takes the intensity up another level. Just don't forget to send your buddy in first!!

# 9 - Volcano-The Blast Coaster (Spring of 2007)

2009-02-09T19:33:00.003-05:00

Continuing on with this series, which is very enjoyable to look back on by the way, I decided on Volcano as my 9th greatest ride of all time.

Back in 2007, Julia came out for a couple of weeks during her track break and we took two outstanding trips. The first was to Virgina and back down through the Carolinas to visit King's Dominion and Carowinds. We processed our season passes at King's Dominion and had a great time there. We rode everything in the park, starting off with the now defunct Hypersonic XLC. By mid-afternoon, we had ridden everything with the exception of the Grizzly which had been down due to problems with one of the trains. We had gotten one ride in on Volcano and it instantly became one of our favorite rides. We decided to leave and go grab a bite to eat and then return that night with the intent to finish the park and get a night ride on Volcano.......on the front.

Up until this point in my coaster riding career (I was at a little over 100 total coasters), I really did not prefer one seat to another. I liked the front seat better but was really not that obsessed with waiting the extra time that a preferred seat requires. I had read on a web site however that a front seat night ride on this monster was not to be missed. We decided when we returned we would ride the Grizzly and then wait the extra time for the front seat on Volcano.

The plan went to perfection as the Grizzly was back running and we walked right on it. We then busted it across the park to Volcano and after about a 30 minute wait, we were rolling around the turn about to have one of the best rides I have ever had.

Simply put, the speed on some of these launched coasters is unbelievable when riding the front. Since Volcano is an invert (the track is above the train) then our view was totally unobstructed. We tore out into the night at over 70 MPH, turned the curve around the mountain and then were launched straight up the volcano itself with fire bursting out everywhere. The ride was totally insane through the inversions on its way back into the mountain where we de-boarded. We were both laughing hysterically the entire time.

Our ride on Volcano was silky smooth with the huge adrenaline rush of being launched out of the station, down the dark tunnel, around the bend and then blasted straight up and out of the top of the mountain. Everything else was just gravy after that unbelievable start.

In summary, riding this coaster at night is a must for every coaster enthusiast. The launches, the special effects, the super-slow inversions, and the smoothness make this a unique experience for even the most veteran coaster rider. The good thing is that the next year I got to experience this same identical ride with Guy under the same circumstances. And just like my previous ride, this one was also a "blast".

# 10 - A Night Ride on the Boardwalk

2009-02-06T20:15:00.004-05:00

When beginning this series, I could not think of a better place to start than on the # 1 ranked seaside amusement park in the world today: The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk featuring the historic Giant Dipper coaster.

The specific ride I am thinking of took place in the summer of 2006. This was my first summer of obsessive coaster riding and the Dipper was actually an afterthought on a day we visited what was then Six Flags Marine World. The day was ridiculously hot as California can be in the middle of the summer, and we were finished a little after lunch. To kill the rest of the day, Julia told me of an old wooden coaster in the area that she remembered riding as a little girl. We googled directions and headed off.

Once we pulled up, I immediately fell in love with the place. It reminded me so much of all those countless hours spent riding the Cannon Ball at Lake Winnie when I was young. We took a ride on the Dipper as well as the other two coasters in the park, the sky ride, and took a stroll down the boardwalk. We saved enough tickets for one more ride on the Dipper and waited until it was completely dark. That is the ride that makes the top 10 of my greatest coaster rides ever.

The station was rocking as the coaster would pull in and the riders would reach up to high five those in line as the train pulled into the station. We ended up sitting somewhere toward the middle of the train since preferential seating is not allowed and rolled into the tunnel heading up to the track. The coaster itself is totally gorgeous at night with running lights along the rails, the beautifully lit up boardwalk, and the sounds of the Pacific Ocean off to your right. I do not remember a lot about the ride, only the sense of serenity this quaint old woodie offered me during a very chaotic time of my life. It seemed that ride lasted for hours (actually only a couple of minutes) with the wind blowing through our hair, the smell of cotton candy, and the typical amusement park sounds not often heard at larger parks. It was simply a great ride and one that I will always remember and cherish as the Dipper sits rock solidly in my overall Top 20.

Now, here is the good news. During Spring Break, we are headed back out there to stay at the Carousel Hotel with the intention of spending a couple of days in the park itself. On our only two visits so far, we have only stayed for a few hours and not really enjoyed all the park has to offer. This year I am going to ride the carousel and toss the rings in the clown's mouth and put up double digits on the Dipper itself. I can only hope that we receive another ride as great as that one on my first visit to Santa Cruz.

A New Series.........

2009-02-04T18:25:00.003-05:00

I think most of you know that I like to count stuff. It has been documented in earlier posts about how the staff here at CoasterReviews keeps up with their rides, their books read, and so on. If there is a site to count stuff, we are members.

In light of that, over the next few weeks, I will be counting down the best coaster rides I have ever taken. I received lots of positive feedback from our "Year in Review" post, so it gave me the idea of listing my ten best rides. Now, please understand this is not simply a list of top coasters. Anyone who visits the site can click on the links to the left and see out Top 20 list. No, this is something more......this is the cream of the crop (I hate cliches....sic) as far as solitary rides taken over the past 3 years. There is a wide variety in the types of coasters. They range from sleek, new scream machines to old fashioned woodies. The one thing they all have in common was that they delivered unbelievable rides.

So, when you count up the 334 coasters I have been on and multiply them by 5 (which is the approximate number of total rides I have) you end up with over 1500 total journeys on roller coasters. Of that massive number, the ten that follow are best. Number 10 should be posted later this week. Thanks for reading and Happy Blogging!!

Trip report - Indiana Beach on Labor Day Weekend of 2008

2009-01-25T17:00:00.005-05:00

I'm still getting around to posting some of my trip reports from last year. I have reviewed a large majority of the more well-known coasters I have ridden and am now trying to focus on some of the parks themselves as well as the smaller coasters at those parks. Indiana Beach was a wonderful little park that I had listed as must visit destination due to the famous Cornball Express wooden coaster. In addition to their signature ride, IB has two other woodies (The Hoosier Hurricane and The Lost Coaster of Superititous Mountain), a couple of small steel coasters (Tig'r and Galaxi) and a radical new steel coaster called Steel Hawg which features the steepest first in the U.S. I have reviewed it and Cornball already on this site so if they interest you, feel free to scroll down and read the reviews. Cornball was by far the best ride in the park with a solid 9 rating while Steel Hawg garnered a very high 7 due to uncomfortable trains. The Hoosier Hurricane is an fun little out and back design which goes out over the lake. It was great fun to ride at night but is more of a family oriented type ride than a true thrill machine. I still scored it as a solid 8 which is about a point higher than most enthusiasts would probably score it. However, I am a sucker for the forces provided by fun little wooden coasters and this one was lots of fun.

The other three coasters were well below average although for different reason. The Lost Coaster of Superstitious Mountain was a unique ride offering both forwards and backwards facing seats and a strange feel vertical lift. The problem was that we waited 45 minutes on a day in which the park was virtually empty. Terrible capacity makes this average ride lose a point or so. The other two steel coasters are simply for those who want to get the coaster credits. Tig'r is a bobsled type right without any restraints....just a lap belt and Galaxi is a typical carnival type ride with normally a long line. All three of those rides score in the 5 to 6 range as being nothing really special although the Lost Coaster is a must-ride due to the unique features it possesses.

Other rides in the park include one of the most awesome walk-through spookhouses called Dr Frankenstein's Castle. It has a slight upcharge (about 4 bucks a piece) to keep teens from tearing the place apart. The gags inside are great and the path is very long. There are no live people inside to jump out and scare you, just little gags and lots of darkness.

There is also a drop ride which overlooks the lake, a pretty fun shoot-em up ride called Den of Thieves and a beach type area with lifeguards. We paid a little of 20 bucks for an unlimited ride wristband for the late ride session and had no problems doing everything we wanted to do. We also had a great meal at the restaurant overlooking the lake.

Overall, Indiana Beach was a blast. While definitely not dirty, the park was not as neat Holiday World or Beech Bend and lacked a little in atmosphere due to all the rides being lumped together. There is very little walking necessary to get from one area to the next which is another plus. The park itself scores in the high 7 to low 8 range with it being equally good for thrill seekers and families. The Cornball Express is good enough itself for a visit.

Updated Top 20

2009-01-19T13:07:00.002-05:00

To start out the New Year, I always like to re-evaluate my favorite coasters based on rides from the past year. I have made some slight changes for this year with the most notable being a bump up of Ravine Flyer II and Goliath to the Top 10 as well as an addition of The Beast in place of the now defunct Ozark Wildcat. You can see the upated list on the left side of the screen as well as on coastergrotto.com by clicking on any of the pics on the left. For February, we are looking at a trip to Knotts, Magic Mountain, and the Santa Monica Pier as well as Six Flags Over Georgia's opening day on the 28th. I think coaster season has officially begun.

Dollywood Trip Report - Winter of 2008.

2009-01-11T18:34:00.006-05:00

November and December are not good months for a roller coaster enthusiast. Unless one is fortunate to live in either Florida or California, most other parks are closed for the season. So following my October trip with Guy to Cedar Point and Holiday World, I figure that was it for my coaster riding until my trip out west for New Years. However, thanks to Ms. Rhonda Ledbetter and the Chattooga High School Chorus, I was able to help "chaperone" a trip to Dollywood and take 12 laps on one of my favorite coasters, Thunderhead.

This was my second year in a row to visit Dollywood. This time I had lots of fun mainly wondering around by myself. I got in 4 laps on Myster Mine as well as another ride on the Tennessee Tornado in addition to my Thunderhead rides. The park has the three coasters listed above plus a dark ride/coaster called Fire in the Hole (which scores in the 5 range and is not really worth its own individual review) as well as a Topple Tower, and a couple of fun water rides which are among the best rides in the park. I definitely avoided the few water rides that were working due to the cold weather but feel free to ride them all if visiting in the muggy summer season.

The park was not crowded at all during our visit. I planned on putting up more laps on Thunderhead, which is the main attraction at the park without a doubt, however there were problems with one of the train which led them to run only one train after lunch. When the park opened, the ride was a walk-on and I rode it 7 times in less than an hour. Like many woodies, some of the early rides were a little rough due to the cold weather and the fact that the track was still warming up. Then just when I took a couple of great rides after lunch, the problem came up with the train and wait times went up to over 30 minutes. However, with only 2 previous rides before this trip, I was able to get a better feel for this great woodie and it is still solidly in my Top 10 although I will be the grade back to a very high 9 instead of the 10 I previously ranked it at. The best seat is by far the very front with rides there being silky smooth with massive pops of air.

Four laps on Mystery Mine did not change my opinion of it. It is still a very fun ride which due to the immersive themeing, is best the first time. It is a Disneyesque attraction which loses a little luster after multiple rides. It is a solid 8 and is a great addition to Dollywood.

The Tennessee Tornado is an Arrow sit-down looper which has a great drop through a tunnel and some massive inversions. Readers of this site know my feeling about inversions and the restraints that go with them, so I will not go into details there. However, the TT is fun and worth a couple of spins when visiting the park. It scores in the 7 range.

Other than the Thunderhead, most people visit Dollywood for the shows and the food. I personally have cannot comment on these parts of the park, but they are consistently ranked among the best in the amusement park industry each year.

Overall, Dollywood is a great place to visit with a great atmosphere and one of the best wooden coasters on the planet. Special thanks to the entire CHS Chorus for letting me tag along and ride some roller coasters with all of you as well as Dr. Perry for the great pics you find posted on this review. I had a great, and surprising, weekend trip full of coaster riding and fellowship.

Buffalo Bill's Trip Report and Desperado Update (Also the 1st Coaster Ridden in 2009)

2009-01-05T19:37:00.004-05:00

While most parks are still closed for the winter, there are a few parks in California and Florida that are open year around. Buffalo Bill's Resort and Casino on the California/Nevada border is one of those year around parks that I normally visit on trips to Las Vegas. Using a coupon from the Vegas Entertainment Book, it is possible to ride twice for $7.00 which is about as a deal as one is going to get in the land of eternal sunshine. Julia and myself took a trip out to the resort on January 2nd and had a great time. One of the restaurants inside the resort was running a special on T-Bones for under 8 bucks so we a good meal plus a couple of coaster rides each.

At Buffalo Bills, there are a number of attractions including a log flume (pretty good by itself but better when the laser guns are working.....they were down for repair this last trip), and S and S Supershot launch tower which offers a great view of the surroundings, a Frog Hopper for the kiddies, and c couple of 3D attractions which I normally avoid like the plague due to headaches. The main attraction however is one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters on the planet: The Desperado.

I have reviewed the coaster previously on this site so feel free to scroll down to read it. It is a very fast and intense ride offering different rides based on seat location and how many people are in the train. The main positive is the outstanding view offered of the surrounding desert including the Vegas lights at night and the long line of cars on the freeway. The coaster is simply not placed in an area anyone would think a coaster would be in which makes a fun ride.

At Buffalo Bills, they offer a number of pricing options which can be found on the official website. Wristbands or single ride purchases are possible with discounts for younger children. One warning however. The casino is open 24/7 but the rides have strange hours. Be sure to call before you visit to make sure they are operational. Also, Desperado and the Launch Tower are quickly closed of inclement weather including high winds arise.

In summary, we had another fun trip out to ride one of my special coasters. Too bad I missed the snow (yep snow) on the ground the previous week.

2008 Coaster Awards

2008-12-27T16:40:00.005-05:00

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.

Voodoo - Dorney Park (PA)

2008-12-21T12:19:00.002-05:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 in back of the train.

Voodoo is a Intamin impulse coaster which was moved to Dorney Park for the 2008 season from the now defunct Geauga Lake in Ohio. I visited Dorney twice this past summer and was lucky that the coaster was up and running on my second trip.

The ride itself is very similar to Wicked Twister at Cedar Point with the only difference being that instead of twisted spikes on each end, there is only one twisted spike and a straight piece on the other side. One the side with the straight piece of track however, on the final climb up the brakes do catch you for a really scary moment before dropping the train back down for its final run up the twisted end.

Voodoo is a short but fun ride which garners an above average rating of 8. The capacity is horrible but we were lucky to hit the ride on entering the park before the line grew too long. It is a solid addition to a very underrated and unique coaster line-up at the Pennsylvania theme park.

The Comet - Great Escape (NY)

2008-12-13T17:24:00.003-05:00

Date Ridden: = Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 3 in the front, middle and back of the train.

One again, I find myself thinking back to great ride this past summer on an old wooden roller coaster with tons of character. The Comet was originally the Crystal Beach Comet which opened in 1948. The coaster was relocated and has been in operation at the Six Flags in which it currently resides since 1994. It is a wooden coaster with steel supports and offers a very fun ride with its lap bars and double out-and-back design.

The Comet is consistently ranked among the top 50 wooden coasters in the world. It is also the only unique ride The Great Escape offers. There is a boomerang, a sit-down looper, a fairly lengthy main train ride, and a toboggan but the Comet is by far the best ride in the park. It is located at the very back of the park so lines according to most observers are normally minimal. I personally rode three times in less than 30 minutes.

The ride itself offers some great airtime at 3 or 4 points throughout the course. The lap bars are not constrictive and the trains are well taken care of. There is also a board in the station telling the history of the coaster which is a nice touch for nerds like myself. While not being the greatest coaster in existence, the Comet is still a great ride that oozes history. It gets a solid 8 from the Coaster Reviews staff.

Ride the Comet below.

Boomers Trip Report (November of 2008) and Dania Beach Hurricane Review

2008-12-07T20:32:00.003-05:00

Living in the deep south, winter is definitely not coaster riding season. However, this year I have been extremely blessed to visit Dollywood (trip report forthcoming), Knotts Berry Farm back in October and a couple of weeks ago I long drive down to Miami to ride with of the only coaster in Florida that I had not ridden: the Dania Beach Hurricane. I have to say the the trip was worth it.

Boomers is a medium-sized family fun center offering a number of arcade games, a few different go-kart tacks (including the longest one in the world which is over a mile in length), a couple of mini-golf courses and finally the coaster itself. The coaster is a separate attraction not included in the other entertainment packages. You actually even have to by your tickets at the coaster itself and not inside where the games are. Obviously the best deal is the 12 dollar all you can ride wristband.

We arrived when the park opened and were the first in line for the coaster. We took three rides on it riding in the front, back and middle of the train. There was no line at all, however the park policy is to make each guest get up and walk around the que for a re-ride. This is necessitated by having to re-scan your wristband each time at the entrance to the line. That is a pain, but is still no overly inconvenient since it is a very short walk.

We left the park, (no desire to ride go-karts or play mini-golf and arcade games are not our thing) visited a few sites around Miami, drove a ways our toward the Key West, and then came back that night for another 7 rides. I was really looking forward to night rides, however the coaster is so well lit that there are no dark sections. There is virtually no difference from riding at night time or in the daylight hours.

Now, onto the ride itself. The Hurricane is one of the most underrated woodies I have ridden. Surprisingly, the front set offers the most air with five moments of serious ejector airtime and a number of floater moments. The back is almost as good well the middle part of the train only offers two moments of air. The track offers an out-and-back design with twister elements leading to a very fun and unique ride. The first big drop and the final bunny hills are definitely the best parts of the ride.

Even that night, there was virtually no one riding the coaster. I think 8 people was the most we ever had on a train. I imagine the ride would be much better with a full train, but I will not complain about the short lines. Overall, I will give the Hurricane a very solid 8 and place right up there the Starliner (formerly at Cypress Gardens) as the best woodies south of Thunderhead. Boomers itself looks like a great place to take the kids for a half a day or so with short lines, lots of games and some unique mini-gold courses and go-kart tracks. If you are a coaster enthusiast, the coaster is well worth the drive south from Orlando.

Coaster Types - The (In)Famous Boomerang

2008-12-01T17:11:00.005-05:00

As most coaster enthusiasts are aware (and the general public sometimes is not) not all roller coasters are unique. Many coaster companies design a ride and then clone it out to a number of different parks. Batman: The Ride, located at various 6 Flags parks is one such example. Another common type of clone are Mad Mouse coasters which feature a number of switchbacks at the top of the course followed by a few small hills.

And then there are the Boomerangs.

In speaking for most members of the coaster enthusiast community, I can honestly say that these things are absolutely despised. I honestly do not know where the world's first ever Boomerang is located (maybe a visitor to the site might know), but these coasters are so numerous at various parks throughout the world that they are difficult to count. In my 330 coasters alone, there are twelve different versions of Boomerangs. They have various names, are painted different colors, and even offer different rides based on the upkeep of the track and the train wheels, but the designs are all the same.

A Boomerang is a very simple coaster. The train is pulled backward out the station up a lift hill that is normally around 100 feet tall. The chain disengages sending the train roaring the station and into a cobra roll double inversion, through a vertical loop and up the incline where the chain engages again and tows the train up, forward this time. At the top, the chain once again releases and the whole thing is repeated again (except the vertical loop is first this time) with the train coming to stop on the original lift hill and easing back into the station.

For the most part, the rides are very uncomfortable with restraints that come over the shoulders (called OTSR's) and cause lots of ear banging when flying through the inversions. Also, waits are usually very lengthy since the rides are popular with the general public (people like to go upside down and in Boomerangs you go upside down 6 times) and the fact that due to the construction it is only possible to run one train. I have waited up to an hour for one of these before simply to get the credit added to my coaster count.

Most Boomerangs also have down time issues. Once again due to the construction, many problems occur which lead to the coasters being down and not running a great deal of time. So anyway, since this is a review site, how are these scored? Well, the best Boomerang I have ever ridden was in HersheyPark, PA (called the Sidewinder) which I would give maybe a 6 due to its smoothness. Most of these rides score in the 5 range with a couple (Tidal Wave at Trimper's Rides in NJ and the Sea Serpent at Morey's Piers also in NJ) scoring in the 2 range due to roughness. For the most part Boomerangs are below average rides which do not offer anything unique once you have ridden one.

As an alternative, there are number of Boomerangs which feature the same track lay-out but offer trains which set below the track (inverts) and have seats which face one another. Two Face - The Flip Side at Six Flags Great America in Maryland and the Invertigo coasters at the former Paramount parks in Ohio and California are rides of this type. While the trains are different, the ride experiences are still the same: right at a 5 and very uncomfortable.

If you find yourself in line for a Boomerang, I would suggest the middle of the train. The front and back seat go through the inversions with much more force causing a great deal more discomfort than the middle seats. A well-kept coaster ridden in the middle of the train can offer a decent ride, but seriously, once you have ridden one, why bother? I guess if you are an OCD coaster geek, it's so you can count it and put it on your website.

Listed below are the Boomerangs I have currently ridden.

The Bat at Canada's Wonderland.

The Boomerang at Worlds of Fun in MO, Knotts in CA, the Great Escape in NY, Wild Adventures in GA, and Darien Lake also in NY.

The previously mentioned Sea Serpent and Tidal Wave in NJ.

The Sidewinder in PA.

The Zoomerang at Lake Compounce in CT as well as the Invertigo coasters and the Two Face ride previously mentioned.

Ride a Boomerang below.

Phantom's Revenge - Kennywood (PA)

2008-11-25T20:48:00.005-05:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2007. Times Ridden - 1 in the second seat from the front.

Wow....it's been a while since I've posted an update. I have been out of town the past two weekends with a surprise trip to Dollywood (trip report and some great pics forthcoming) and a trek down to Miami to ride the Dania Beach Hurricane. It's been tough going online during the week with school and laundry to do, so I find myself without an update for well over a week. As punishment, I decided on a review that I have postponed for a long time.

To begin with, I really do not like to review coasters that I have only ridden one time. It is very difficult to get the feel for a good coaster without multiple rides. In this case, I feel that this is justified since I really was not all that excited over a coaster that receives raves through the enthusiast community. Phantom's Revenge was originally called the Steel Phantom and was the world's first hyper-looping coaster. With a drop of over 200 feet (its actually the 2nd drop and not the first) and a number of inversions, the ride itself was a landmark ride. However, the general public decided that speeds of over 80MPH and corkscrews should not go together so the inversions were scrapped and changed into airtime hills at the end of the course. The ride went from an ear-baning torture device to one of the top ten steel coasters in the world.

During the Top Ten Trek of 2007, this was actually the ride I was looking forward to the most. We arrived at Kennywood early on a Saturday in June to what we thought were sparse crowds. We went straight to the ride and had only a station wait. What I though would be less than 10 minutes turned into a 30 minute ordeal because only 1 train was being used and the ride ops were among the slowest I have ever seen, particularly the one sitting in a folding chair and eating popcorn. We were looking at multiple rides but with only a couple of hours to spend at the park and 4 other coasters to ride, one ride was we were able to get in. The ride itself was fun but did not offer the insane airtime I had been reading about. Again, that could be because we were close to the front since the 2nd seat had the shortest wait. Most reviews I have read state that the back of the train is preferable. However, I can only rate my experience and while it was good, it was not great either.

Positives include the bright green track, the large 2nd drop down through the structure of the wooden coaster, Thunderbolt (maybe this is where the popcorn lady was....I don;t remember) and the unique trains and restraints. As you can see form the picture, the sign itself is also very cool.

So anyway, one of the greatest coasters in the world gets only an 8 from me. I do hope to return to Kennywood this summer to put in some more laps on this well-respected ride. As a side note, a lot of the track is being replaced this winter by the park so Phantom's Revenge could offer a different ride next year.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Phantom's Revenge below.

The Cannon Ball - Lake Winnepesaukah - (GA)

2008-11-12T16:59:00.003-05:00

Date Ridden: Numerous times with the last being in August of 2008. Times Ridden: Well over 100.

For my 100th post, I was looking for a special review and there is not a more special coaster on my ride list than the Cannon Ball at Lake Winnie.

To begin with, I am certain that this was my first ever roller coaster. I can remember growing up and visiting Lake Winnie right at the end of each summer with our church. We would spend the entire day there with great fellowship, great food, and a gazilion laps on the Cannon Ball. The trips were always a highlight of every summer I had while growing up here in the mountains of northwest Georgia.

Last year, I visited the park again for the first time in many years and was proud of the condition of the park in general and there star attraction. Many wooden coaster which are painted white suffer from neglest which leads to a run-down looking ride. The Cannon Ball is kept meticulously clean and aparkling. The trains are like new and the ride itself is as smooth as any modern wooden coaster. The track is short both in height at a little over 70 feet and in ride length which is probably not much over a minute, but it is still a fun little out-and-back woodie with surprising pops of airtime.

When I was younger, I did not have a clue about airtime, but I knew that the last hop going into the brake run would seriously toss you out of your seat if you didn't hold on tight. I am proud to say that that moment is still there and thanks to the simply buzzbar restraints, you still get some pretty good ejector at the end.

I visited again in August this year and put in four more laps on it. I had a blast riding alone and enjoying a fun element from my past vringing back memories which were always pleasant. I loved the Cannon Ball when I was smaller and still love it today despite it not being overly large or fast. I think that it is obvious by now what types of rides I prefer. I do not care about inversions, intensity, or records. I care about the visual aspect of the ride and the experience it gives me. I enjoy some rides with inversions (Montu, Volcano, Kraken, etc.), some with intensity (Voyage, Magnum, and Boulder Dash) and even some record holders (Dragster, Millennium Force, and El Toro) but I still like simple little coasters the Starliner at Cypress Gardens, the Swamp Fox in Myrtle Beach, and the king of them all, the Phoenix at Knoebels. The Canon Ball fits into that latter category of visually appealing rides that offer a superb experience. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

The final rating is difficult to give. The coaster itself probably scores in the 7 range but my experiences have been 9's and 10's. For that matter, I will go with a solid 8.

Ride the Cannon Ball below. The video does not do this little ride justice

Toboggan - Lakemont Park in PA and Trimper's Rides in NJ

2008-11-11T19:16:00.002-05:00

Date Ridden: Both in the summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 each.

Torture devices!! Some rides are simply rough. Others are intense. Some are downright painful but the two installations of the Toboggan at these separate parks are beyond all of those things.

The cars are very cramped and uncomfortable to simply sit in much less move through a course. However, add in the fact of a 90 degree vertical lift that feels as if it will tear itself apart at any time, a sickening circular downward spiral and two or three "bunny-hops" at the end and you have the recipe for an entire bottle of Excedrin.

In all seriousness, while one of my riding partners calls these things "The Great-Grandaddy of Fahrenheit", I tend to agree with the other riding partner. Break out the dynamite, a short fuse, and a box of matches. Implode these things for goodness sakes.

Overall Rating - 2 (only because I have a special coaster that ranks as a 1)

The Georgia Scorcher - Six Flags Over Georgia (GA)

2008-11-05T18:40:00.004-05:00

Date Ridden: Numerous times in the past three years. Times Ridden: Around 10 or so.

Have I mentioned that I really don;t like stand-up or flying coasters? Cause I don't.

The Scorcher is probably my favorite of all stand-up coasters simply because it is the shortest. I did discuss in my Mantis review

about the "Turtle Method" of riding which cuts down on ear bashing a great deal. However, the simple fact of the matter is that these things are just not comfortable. The elements of this specific ride are unique as the coaster at one point flies through the vertical loop but overall it seems to be lacking in fun. In addition, the location at the very front of the park makes this ride one of the longest waits at the entire park as most people enter the gates in jump

straight in line. One good tip is to avoid this at all costs until the afternoon when the lines are much shorter and spend your early hours riding Goliath, Superman, and Batman. That is if you even really want to ride this. Coaster Reviews give this ride a 7 since it is not too uncomfortable. However, this is far from a world class ride despite the unique standing position.

Raven and Legend Picture Updates.

2008-11-04T20:06:00.003-05:00

Anyone who has been consistently reading our blog knows about our wonderful trip Holiday World back in September. We had a great 4 hours with walk-on rides on all three of their world class woodies. The key for me personally was my three front seat rides on the Legend which I feel is among the most underrated coasters in existence. When ridden on the front it is a perfect 10 with high 9's on every other seat. Within the next few days, I have been forced to adjust my Top 20 thanks to outstanding rides on The Beast in Ohio and these rides on The Legend. The Legend itself offers a fast ride (it feels as fast as any woodie I have ever ridden) and some insane ejector air in the middle of the course. The only thing I have missed out on is a night ride of which are supposed to be totally insane.

As far as The Raven, it is still a short piece of coaster perfection. Great views on the front, ejector air on the back, and a smooth and fast ride through the woods keeps the coaster ranked highly. It is simply amazing that a small park like Holiday World has these three amazing coasters that are so meticulously kept. If one only rides each coaster once, the $35.00 spent would still be a bargain. There are enthusiasts who might argue for the woodies of Knoebels or maybe Kennywood, but in my humble opinion, Holiday World rules them all. Enjoy the pics.

Superman-Ultimate Flight - Six Flags Over Georgia (GA)

2008-11-03T18:37:00.005-05:00

Date Ridden: Numerous times since its creation with the last time earlier this year (2008). Times Ridden: Many

When it was first built by roller coaster designers Bolliger and Mabillard, SUF was the newest of the new. I think the original design for this was ride was, and still is, located in Chicago. There is also another version in New Jersey but all three rides feature identical lay-outs. The unique feature each coaster has is that they offer riders the flying position in which to ride. When I first rode Superman before my OCD coaster days, I thought it was great since it was something new. However, I have since discovered that riding a coaster in the flying position is uncomfortable and really not all that much fun. I would personally rather sit down and enjoy my coasters, not hang in them facing the ground.

Superman is very short with really only two notable elements: an insane feeling pretzel loop which is very early in the ride and a zero-g roll which comes right at the end. Both of these version feel very strange from the riding position and the pretzel loop offer very strong forces pinning the riders into their seats.

However, to me these coasters are simply gimmicks. There are no world-class flying or standing coasters (some people would argue about Tatsu out in California...that review will be later). The lines are normally horrid with slow load times due to the large amount of machinery necessary for these contraptions. Even a station wait is going to be around 20-30 minutes at SFOG. Overall, the Superman ride is well-themed and scores in the 8 range. It is a unique experiences if you have never ridden a flyer before but once should be enough.

Check out the offride footage below of this version of the ride in Georgia.

Xcelerator - Knotts Berry Farm (CA)

2008-10-31T18:18:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: First in 2006 and then a few different times since. Times Ridden: 9

For all of you Top Thrill Dragster fans (and Kingda Ka fans as well), let it be known those rides would not exist had it not been for the prototype located out in Buena Park, CA. Xcelerator was the first of the launch coasters and despite its relatively tame height (a little over 200 feet....hehe) in comparison to the two monsters listed above, it is still very worth of its place in the top steel coasters in the world.

That launch is well over 80 MPH so it gets you out of there and up the top hat in a hurry. Where Xcelerator differs is that there is more track than just an up and over the hill. There are a couple of overbanked turns taken at a very fast rate of speed and then a violent stop on the brakes at the end. Overall, Xcelerator is a total adrenaline rush from the launch to the brake run.

It is easily my second favorite Intamin launched coaster behind only TTD. The restraints are identical to those found on the Dragster which leads to a more intense experience than Kingda Ka. The two trains are dispatched quickly and the race car theme of the attraction is top notch as well.

As a footnote, the ride has been down for the last three weeks and is not supposed to be up for another two. It has had some issues with downtime in the past, so you do run a risk if missing out on the coaster when visiting. Keep that in mind when putting together travel plans.

In conclusion, Xcelerator is solidly entrenched in my top 10 steel coasters. it is a smooth yet intense launch coaster which is loads of fun, particularly in the front seat at night when you have an unobstructed view of Buena Park. It grades out as a solid 9.

Ride Xcelerator below.

The Georgia Cyclone - Six Flags Over Georgia (GA)

2008-10-30T18:25:00.007-04:00

Date Ridden: Various times over the past 15 years with the latest being Opening Day 2008. Times Ridden: Many

To begin with, I am very proud of my home park. We have one of the top 10 steel coasters in the world according to both Mitch's poll and the Golden Tickets, a well respected steel looper in Mindbender, and also a strong woodie which gets solid reviews from most enthusiasts in the GA Cyclone.

While the Cyclone is not among my favorite rides, it is still a solid ride which gives tons airtime and lots of fun. The ride is not rough as other reviews say. It is simply the design and layout which leads to a very intense ride. Are you going to get slammed around? Yes. Are you going to get thrown from your seat on approximately a half dozen occasions? Yes. Are you going to tossed from one side of your seat to the next? Yes again because that is the way the ride is set up.

I personally prefer the back seat to any other area of the train. Unbelievably the ride seems just as intense but maybe a little smoother back there than up front or in the middle. Plus the airtime is really extreme......not El Toro extreme but very good nonetheless.

The GA Cyclone gets a solid 8 from me and a spin or two on every trip I make down to Austell.

Goliath - Six Flags Over Georgia (GA)

2008-10-29T18:32:00.005-04:00

A good review for this ride has been a long time coming. To begin with, I was lucky enough to be able to ride this monster back in its inaugural year of 2006. It instantly jumped into my Top 10 since I had only ridden about 50 coasters total. It stayed there for a long time and is currently ranked # 11 in my overall rankings, # 4 among my steel coasters, and # 6 according to The Amusement Today Golden Tickets. It is hard to believe that a world-class steel coaster is located a mere two hours from my house.

Thanks to the closeness of this ride, I currently have 83 laps on Goliath. Yep, 83. On the first day I ever rode it with one of my younger cousins back in 2006, we put 6 laps on it which i thought was pretty decent. This past opening day however, Guy and myself rode it 50 times since there were no lines. the ops were nice enough to let us stay in our seats since no one was waiting, and well, we did. And had a great time. Around lap 38, I actually begin to feel nauseated due to the huge hills located throughout the course. We took a quick break, walked around a little and I was able to suck it up and finish up our 50 laps. Other the Cannonball up at Lake Winnie, I have ridden Goliath more than any other coaster.

The ride itself features a number of large hills with the second drop actually being longer than the first which is a rarity on a coaster. The ride actually leaves the park, travels out to the interstate, and then turns back to re-enter the park and finish its course. Highlights of the ride include the third drop which takes all the way to the surface of the pond located on the other side of the parking lot, the downward helix which is the best of its type on any B and M hyper I have ridden, and the banked curve which gives the feeling that you are about to fall out of the car. The final bunny hops are taken very quickly and offer some of the best floating air on the entire ride.

Goliath is just a great coaster. It is smooth throughout, yet offers enough intensity to satisfy even the most hard-core enthusiast. I really do not understand the theme (space ships and 60's themed music on a ride name Goliath?) and the drops are not as severe as those on Nitro up in Jackson, New Jersey. However, the ride experience itself is the best of all the B and M's I have ridden placing it in the upper echelon with a very high 9 grade. Hopefully, my home park will continue the upkeep of this wonderful coaster.

Ride Goliath below.

Ghostrider (New pictures and updated review) - Knotts Berry Farm

2008-10-28T20:26:00.002-04:00

As you read in my previous post, eight rides on Ghostrider was the highlight of my half-day trip to Knotts. I rode from the middle to the front of seven of the eight with one backseat ride thrown in. I normally like back seat rides on woodies, but Ghostrider (along with the Beast and Mean Streak) is just a little too intense/rough. From about the 4th seat and on up, it is smooth and offers a great ride. There are a number of pops of airtime, some insane laterals, and the crazy section where you drop off the mid-course break. Overall, this ride still holds a soft spot in my heart and make sure to take a couple of laps each tip out west. Ghostrider is solidly in my Top 20 despite the complaints of many enthusiasts who claim it is too rough and not taken care of. It is possibly the most popular attraction at Knotts for good reason.

Pony Express Review and Knotts Berry Farm Trip Report 10-23-2008

2008-10-27T18:35:00.005-04:00

My latest coaster trip out west was a definite success. Besides seeing some outstanding pieces of roadside American located in LA, I also had a great time visiting Knotts for about a half a day. The park was totally dead with all rides being walk-ons and half-empty trains the norm for all the coasters. With park closing at 5:30 in preparation for the Haunt, I guess people were simply not willing to pay full price for what amounted to half a day. With our

season passes, we had no problems visiting.

The trip to Knotts had a three fold purpose. First, I wanted to ride the all new Pony Express to add to the credits. Secondly, I hoped to spend some time on Ghostrider, one of my Top 20 rides out of over 300. Thirdly, I had been staring at the 9 as far as laps go on Xcelerator and was ready to hit double digits on it. Well, two out of three is not bad since Pony Express was running, Ghostrider was virtually empty but Xcelerator was down for maintenance. One of the workers said it would be 2-3 weeks before it would be running again. However, 8 rides on Ghostrider, including one where I was the only rider on the entire train, made up for the lack of Xcelerator. As far as Pony Express goes, it is a family oriented ride. The launch from 0-38 mph was very weak in terms of an adult coaster. However, I was very pleased with the ride because it continued the Knotts trend of building rides that all members of the family can enjoy. It is a unique coaster and I can just see younger kids jumping of the ride and getting straight back in line.

I love to see that excitement and kudos to Knotts for focusing on the younger generation.

In addition to this ride, I got in 8 laps on Ghostrider and 1 on Silver Bullet giving me 20 total rides for the day. Adding in the great lunch we had in Mrs. Knotts kitchen, our time spent here was wonderful. Knotts is one of the few parks I can visit and simply enjoy the ambience of the place without worrying about running around riding coasters. The park itself ranks easily in top 5 with a solid trio of coasters, the best woodie in California despite the complaints of many enthusiasts, and a good overall atmosphere. Pony Express grades out as a 6 which is above average for a family oriented ride.

Take a ride on it below.

Raptor Picture Update

2008-10-22T22:20:00.003-04:00

Greetings from the west coast. With some computer problems at home, plus the flight out here to California, I have missed a few days. I visited Pacific Park today down in Santa Monica and will hit Knott's for about half the day tomorrow. For tonight, I'll update my Raptor review with a few pics from our last trip to Cedar Point. Thanks for reading.

Mindbender - Six Flags Over Georgia (GA)

2008-10-19T20:23:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Many times over the last 20 years. Times Ridden: Lots of times in every seat.

I have a number of things to discuss regarding this wonderful old ride at my home park and I really don't know where to begin. I think I'll start with nostalgia.

Growing up and visiting Six Flags was always a fun experience and I can remember the Mindbender being the featured attraction. I was too small for it and would have never ridden it anyway. As I got older and was able to ride it, it scared me to death. It was tall, fast, and the part at the top of the lift hill where the train completely stops and then creeps around the curve before dropping into the first loop is among the scariest moments you will ever find on a thrill ride. I can remember when they re-themed the ride into that of the supervillain Riddler to go along with the Batman ride next to it. The themeing still exists today as both the track and the surrounding water elements (which the ride makes extensive use of) are colored green.

OK, enough nostalgia. As a current amusement park ride, Mindbender has its

definite pluses. Other reviewers have noted the presence of the inversions minus the OTSRs. That is a definite plus. The loops are also very intense with centrifugal force pinning you to your seat. One loop is located directly near one of the water falls which adds to the ride visually. The ride is also very smooth with no jackhammering or karate chops to the spine present.

So why only an 8? Despite the positive listed above, Mindbender is just not that great. I realize that the coaster is an engineering marvel for its time, but there is absolutely no way it is in the top 25 steel coasters in the world as the Golden Tickets continually place it. Having ridden over 300 coasters, I would place it in my top 50 but not any higher. I'm going with an 8 because I feel that rides like Goliath, Apollos Chariot, and Nitro deserve 9s and this creation from the 70s is nowhere near their class. I love the Mindbender and the memories that it brings back to me, but still cant justify a higher rating despite what most critics say. I'll always ride a couple of times on each trip as the line is virtually non-existent and appreciate the place it holds in many coaster enthusiasts hearts. I just don't understand the critical acclaim that it receives. Oh well.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Mindbender below.

Ravine Flyer Picture Update

2008-10-18T19:20:00.002-04:00

I've added a few pics of the coaster ranked Best New Ride of 2008. The coaster is well worth all the praise it has been receiving. It is almost a perfect combination of an classic older ride with the highly intense and newer thrills of a Gravity Group design. It is amazing that such a small park as Waldameer has such a great ride.

Just and FYI: the park is only about 2 hours east of Cedar Point. It is well worth the easy drive if you are in the Sandusky area. You have some options of buying tickets specifically for the coaster (they run about 4 bucks a ride) or purchasing an all you can ride wristband for a little over $20.00 The RFII is worth every penny and every second spent driving. The park is easy to find as it is only a few miles off the freeway. The park itself has a laid back and family oriented atmosphere and the view from the top of the lift hill of the ride itself is unparalleled. It is definitely a destination coaster for any enthusiast.

Mantis - Cedar Point (OH)

2008-10-17T19:24:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2006 through 2008. Times Ridden: 6

I like to sit down in a coaster. I do not like to fly, hand, or most assuredly, stand up. Coasters are made to sit comfortably in, not be a torture device with some type of gimmicky restraint system. For that reason, I do not like Mantis. As far as stand-up coasters go, it probably ranks toward the top. B and M did a decent job with the elements. Intensity is definitely not lacking either. However, I simply can not get comfortable unless I am sitting comfortably and that is impossible on Mantis.

When going up the lift hill (and it is very tall), you know that pain is on its way. We here at Coaster Reviews use what we call "The Turtle Method", which means we stand and lean as far out as possible with our heads so we do not bang our ears on the restraints when going through the elements offered by the ride. However, while this helps to avoid a headache, it does nothing for the neck pain that takes place afterward as well as possibly being dangerous. With the head flopping around all over the place, I would definitely not recommend that riding style, however I specifically prefer it to getting my ears bashed.

I really do not hate Mantis. The ride itself looks wonderful, is very intense, and normally has a very short line. I simply do not like stand-up coasters. The GA Scorcher at Six Flags over Georgia is probably my favorite stand-up simply because it is the shortest in length and ride duration. I had rather sit down and enjoy my coasters. That's just how I am.

Overall Rating - 6 (mainly for intensity and aesthetics).

Ride Mantis below. If you watch the people in the camera,, you will see the numerous examples of "ear-banging" into the restraints. Trust me, that hurts.

Wildfire - Silver Dollar City (MO)

2008-10-16T17:53:00.002-04:00

Date Ridden: May of 2007 Times Ridden: 5 in a wide range of seats including once in the front and twice in the back.

Wildfire is a very solid B and M sit down looper located in a gorgeous area of the country. I am well aware that SDC is not known for its thrill rides. The park was packed on the day we went, but Wildfire was a walk-on as there were a number of elderly visitors interested only in the numerous exhibits and shows. Two trains were being run and there was no problem in getting numerous rides. The ride ops were even nice enough once our ride was over to let us off and line up on the side we exited at in order to fill in empty seats on the next train. I never left the station in getting my 5 consecutive rides.

What about the ride itself? Well, my favorite part was the initial drop into the large loop. I was surprised at the length of the drop (in excess of 100 feet)and was pleased with the ride overall. The corkscrews at the end were a little uncomfortable which makes this ride a slight step below other B and M loopers like Hulk and Kumba. However, I am going with the 9 because, once again, the location and visuals are worth a bump up. The coaster itself is probably an 8 but located on the side of a mountain giving a beautiful view of the Ozarks is worth an extra point. An 8.5 would probably be a little closer to the truth, but I had tons of fun getting re-rides as well as enjoying the view. I definitely recommend this as a coaster to ride on the front row thanks to visuals. Take a trip out to Silver Dollar City and enjoy this little B and M gem in the heart of the mountains.

Overall rating - 9.

Ride Wildfire below.

Nitro Picture Update

2008-10-15T18:03:00.002-04:00

For today, I have uploaded some extra picturs Guy had of the # 3 ranked steel coaster in the world. Our last visit, there was a little problem with some downtime and we waited around 30 minutes for our one ride. The ride itself is among the more intense B and M hypers out there but seriously lacks the cosmetic appeal as the paint is horribly faded, the sign on the building is rusted, and the trains have taken a beating. The ride nowhere near as dilapidated as Ride of Steel coasters in Darien Lake or Great America, but this thrill machine could still use some TLC. With Nitro and El Toro, Great Adventure has arguably the top steel/wooden coaster combo in the world, but that is a topic for another article. Enjoy the pics.

The New Mexico Rattler - Cliff's Amusement Park (NM)

2008-10-14T20:30:00.002-04:00

Date Ridden 7-8-2007 Times ridden - 2 (3rd from the back and middle of the train).

Following our day out at Lagoon, I was excited to be heading to a small park with a coaster that I had planned our trip around. I was looking for another Ozark Wildcat and was slightly disappointed. While not as smooth, the massive laterals made this wood hybrid (wooden track and steel supports) a fun ride. I was surprised at the intensity this little coaster packed. It was so much that Julia would not ride again. After hitting this when we got in, we rode everything else in the park and I rode this one again before we left. We did the entire park in a little over two hours. Kudos also to the ride ops who handled a line cutting incident by some teenagers with quick consequences. As we were waiting for our first ride, four people (two boys and their girlfriends I guess) came from one stall and two of them jumped in front of us. I pointed this fact out to the ops and they immediately led all four line jumpers out of the station. I am not sure if they were removed from the park but thanks to the lady who LOUDLY and FORCEFULLY made them get up and had them taken out.

Now about the ride. First the line is much different. There are actually three lines which go into the station. The line on the far right is for the front two cars only. The line on the far left is for the back two cars only. The middle line is for the rest of the train. Amazingly, all three lines are normally equal which means the middle line moves MUCH faster. The Rattler only has one train, so wait times can get very lengthy for the front or the back...especially since most people just jump in whatever line looks the shortest. If it is absolutely necessary that you ride a front or back seat (and on some rides I am that way....I only like inverts on the front and usually woodies on the back) then prepare for a longer wait. Otherwise, just jump in the middle line and prepare to ride after a 1 or 2 train cycle. I do feel like my ride in the third from the back was my best ride so it may be necessary to wait the extra time. I was personally short on time and was not willing to wait. Highlights of the coaster include the twisting drop, the lengthy tunnel, and like I said earlier, the massive laterals. The trains are very comfortable so being pummelled from side to side is a pleasant sensation. There are a number of pops of air on a few of the hills but nothing like El Toro or Kennywood's Jack Rabbit. The Rattler is a fast little coaster which makes Cliffs a destination for coaster enthusiasts. I pre-judged this ride as a 9 based on its looks and specs but after riding have decided it is more of an 8.......more along the lines of the Thunderbolt at Kennywood or Rampage at Alabamas Adventure than the Raven or Dolly's Thunderhead which are solid 9s. Still a fun ride.

Overall Rating - 8.

Ride the Rattler below.

Mystery Mine - Dollywood (TN)

2008-10-13T20:30:00.002-04:00

Date Ridden : 5-28-2007 Times Ridden : Only 1 in the back row since the ride ops dont give you a choice....boo!!

This was the first of the tri-fecta of new steel coasters for 2007 I would be riding in a 1 month time period last year. In driving up to Pigeon Forge from my home in northwest GA, Julia and I encountered heavy holiday traffic. I really do not like going to Gatlinburg or PF but this would be my best change to get to Dollywood and its dynamic duo for the entire year unless I wanted to trek up there alone. We were about an hour late to the park and after a long trek through the parking lot (no trams for me!!!) we entered and headed straight to MM. I figured it would only get more crowded as the day progressed so I was going to get this ride in for certain. The line was backed up all the way outside of the queing area. However, it moved quickly and we were in the train after about a 45 minute wait. I was not happy that the ride ops placed us in a car and didnt allow us to choose our seat but oh well. No use in complaining about things that can't be controlled. Following our ride in the mine, our car stopped and we looked at each other at exactly the same moment. We were both let down immensely. Please dont get me wrong....I loved the ride and its heavy theming. The finale with the turn and dive maneuver was outstanding (much better than the move used by the former Manhattan Express in Vegas) but I guess there was so much publicity for this ride that it was impossible to meet the expectations. Dollywood has an exceptional ride with the vertical lifts, the indoor segments, and the outdoor intense moments. But in comparing this ride with its two competitors for 2007 new ride of the year (Maverick and Griffon) it is seriously lacking. As of now, its gets an 8 as a very good ride but not outstanding. Its probably in my top 75 (out of over 300), but not much higher than that.

Due to the indoor dark segments, an online video of this ride is not available.

Space Mountain - Disneyland (CA) and Magic Kingdom (FL)

2008-10-12T19:52:00.003-04:00

Despite actually being two totally different rides, I decided to combine both rides into one review for the ease of posting as well as reading. The first part of the review is from the California version which was re-done a couple of years ago. The second part of the review is from the Florida version which I rode last New Year's Eve.

Date Ridden: October of 2007. Times Ridden: 1

Despite the upgrades, I still consider Space Mountain to be a classic roller coaster ride. It is a perfect example of what makes Disney, "Disney". You (or they) take a family roller coaster with sub-par stats and make it a wonderful ride that thrill seekers can enjoy with younger family members.

The ride is glassy smooth, seems much faster than it is, and provides an overall exhilarating experience. There are obviously no inversions inside the mountain but that is by no means a negative since I think inversions are overrated on roller coasters anyway. The quick turns and drops are thirlling but not terrifying adding once again to the entire family experience.

One final thing. This ride is a freaking capacity machine!! We used our fast pass on it, but still had to go through a portion of the line. We never stopped as the line continuously moved. I think I counted either 7 or 8 trains running, with once again, the velcro pocket inside each train being a major boost in speeding up loading and unloading. Major props to the designers at "The Mouse" who created a very solid ride. I still dont think any park is worth a $90.00 admission price though.

Date Ridden: Once many years ago and once on 12-31-2007. Times Ridden: 2

To start with, I like this ride. It is very different from the version I rode in CA, but it is still solid nonetheless. The posted wait time was over 2 hours but we were on in about 45 minutes as the park was packed out with people (like us) ringing in the new year. I like the single passenger bobsled type trains as they were very comfortable. I also liked the "station" where you could see the trains whizzing about above you. To me it is a different ride, yet still unique enough to get a solid 8. Again, Disney takes a ride that scores around a 7 and gets a 1 point bump from me for themeing and enjoyment.

The ride seems much faster than it actually is with its quick dips and turns. I was pleased with my ride experience and will always remember the fun this ride gave me on New Years Eve of 2007.

Due to the nature of the ride (being inside in a dark setting), no video is available.

Maverick Picture Update.

2008-10-11T15:55:00.005-04:00

Following our recent trip to Cedar Point, Guy came home with some great pics of the last year's top new ride. While Maverick is not one of my favorites, there is no doubt that it is very intense and among the most popular rides in existence. It is normal to see the line backed totally out of the queing area with waits of up to two hours common. I only rank it has the 5th best ride at Cedar Point as I prefer Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Magnum, and Raptor over Maverick. However, the elements it offers are unique and thrilling. The restraints really hurt the ride however. Check out the Maverick review (http://coasterreviews.blogspot.com/2008/07/date-ridden-6-21-2007-times-ridden-5.html) for the updated pictures.

Sooperdooperlooper - Hersheypark (PA)

2008-10-10T16:29:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1

The more I go back and look at the coasters in the land of chocolate, the more impressed I become with what Hersheypark has to offer. With two outstanding woodies, a launch coaster, a unique Intamin 90 degree launched coaster, a B and M invert and couple of nice older rides, this is a destination park for any enthusiast. The Sooperdooperlooper fits into the latter category but is fun nonetheless.

At my home park, Six Flags Over Georgia, we have the highly rated Mindbender which is extremely similar to this specific ride. Both are very smooth, both feature inversions without over-the-shoulder restraints, and both offer a fairly lengthy ride. Like Mindbender, SDL uses the terrain in which it is built wisely with many trees and a couple of ponds adding to the experience. Nothing disgusts more than a great ride which is simply sitting in the middle of a parking lot without any terrain whatsoever.

SDL features a very lengthy train so based on my one ride and my experiences on Mindbender, the back of the train offers a bit of airtime and a little more intensity. Despite its age, the ride is fun and very smooth without a any hint of roughness. Also, since this is one of Hershey's older coasters, the line is normally very short with only station waits or near walk-ons. On the day we were there, the trains were running half-empty due to the lack of people in line.

Is the SDL the best ride in the park? Definitely not but it is a can't miss while visiting Hershey. It interacts well with other coasters and offers an experience unique to the casual coaster rider. It gets a solid grade from the Coaster Reviews staff.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Superdooperlooper below.

Voyage Picture Update

2008-10-09T17:56:00.003-04:00

As you can read in our latest trip report, the Voyage is still great. It is worthy of its top ranked spot as the best wooden coaster in the world. by putting up 13 laps in one day, we can honestly say that it is running better than it was last year. It is intense, fast, and out of control, yet smooth and very re-rideable if you stay toward the middle and front of the train. It is absolute must-ride for any coaster enthusiasts no matter how far away you live. http://coasterreviews.blogspot.com/2008/08/voyage-holiday-world-in.html

Afterburn - Carowinds (NC)

2008-10-08T16:45:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2007 and 2008. Times Ridden: 3

Afterburn was formerly known as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster before Paramount sold out to Cedar Fair. Despite the name change, very little actually changed about the coaster other than the new sign as all of the flying material was left due to the similarity of the two names. The ride itself is a wonderful example of an inverted coaster. I place it right up there with Montu and Talon as the smoothest of all the B and M inverts that I have ridden.

Probably my favorite element of the ride is Batwing inversion which takes the place of the cobra roll and is, in my opinion, a much better element. Afterburn has the addition of the Batwing going underground (like on Montu) however there is a cloud of cool mist the train absolutely flies through. This is a great element particularly on a hot muggy southern day.

Also both times I have been, the ride was a virtual walk-on. While it is the park's signature ride, the capacity is much better than on the other coasters at Carowinds so the wait is normally minimal. I have had a blast each time on Afterburn however the sweltering heat has caused us to leave the park early both times. That does not take anything away from this wonderful coaster which finishes consistently among the top ranked inverts each year in many different enthusiasts polls.

Overall Rating - 9

Ride Afterburn below.

Wicked Twister - Cedar Point (OH)

2008-10-07T18:01:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Numerous times since 2006. Times Ridden: 9

While claiming the fact that it is Cedar Point's third fastest and tallest coaster, Wicked Twister stands alongside the beach with a wonderful view. It is a very modern LIM launched coaster with some unique elements. It is a very intense ride that, despite its short length, still makes it a fun ride.

A majority of the time, the park is slack in this area so you can normally get a walk-on or a station wait on all but the most crowded of days. The seats are very comfortable and the launch is extremely powerful. After the second launch through the station, the train reaches its top speed in excess of 70 mph and its top height toward the top of each twisted spike. The best seats are on either end as these seats get the most twist action. The middle seats are a little more balanced but do not get the forces that the ends receive.

Wicked Twister has had some issues and downtime in the past, but on each trip we have always been able to get at least one ride on it. It is fast and fun, particularly in the rain as one of our rides was. The ride itself is a nice thrill and an excellent adrenaline rush whenever you do ride. It gets a solid rating here on Coaster Reviews and is an underrated ride at the Coaster Capitol.

Overall rating - 8

Ride Wicked Twister below.

El Toro Picture Update

2008-10-06T18:34:00.003-04:00

I have updated the El Toro review (http://coasterreviews.blogspot.com/2008/07/el-toro-six-flags-great-adventure.html) with a few extra pictures I found. Riding this ultra smooth monster this past summer was an absolute blast. The back seat is definitely the money seat as the airtime is totally insane. It is only a matter of time before this ride moves up in the Amusement Today rankings to challenge the Voyage for the best wooden coaster on the planet. Thanks for reading and enjoys the pics.

Trip Report - Beech Bend, Kentucky (8-31-2008)

2008-10-05T09:42:00.002-04:00

Following a wonderful trip up through Kentucky and Indiana with some roadside Americana and Indiana Beach as our main destination, we catually had as much fun on a park we had already visited once a few years ago. Back in 2006, we stayed at Beech Bend for a couple of hours and got in three laps each on the all new Kentucky Rumbler wooden coaster which became one of my instant favorites. Since we were going back by there on the way home, we decided to stop in once again.

It was a Sunday afternoon, so we were able to get in with an unlimited ride wristband for only 12 bucks. We spent a couple of hours in the park with all rides being walk-ons. I rode the Rumbler 9 times while Julia rode 7 times herself. We also took a front seat spin on the scar Looping Star which seemed to be running much better this time around. The Rumbler itself (which was reallly the only reason we stopped in as the other rides are portable fair types) is still running well with great laterals and some surprising pops of airtime. It solidified itself in my personal Top 20 thanks to a smooth ride with wonderful elements.

It came a slight rain while we were there and one of our rides came with some stinging rain in our face. Like normal I loved it.

One problem I have is that after each ride, the operators make you walk all the around the station to get back in line, even if there is no one waiting. That in itself limits re-rides as we got about 6 an hour as opposed to our Holiday World trip where Guy and myself were rding about 12-13 rides per hour.

Still, all in all, Beech Bend is a fun family-oriented park that is worth visiting. There is a water park that is included with admission if that is your thing, and individual ride tickets are sold as well. If you do not get the unlimited wristband, a ride on the Rumbler is 5 bucks.

One final unique factor about Beech Bend is its location. It is located on the outskirts of Bowling Green basically in the middle of a field. It is a gorgeous drive and when the park appears over a hill, it will take your breath away. It is an amazing fact that an amusement park was built in this location.

Overall Beech Bend is wonderful little park with short lines on both occasions we've visited and a great family oriented atmosphere. Stop by if you are in the area.

Millennium Force Picture Update.

2008-10-04T13:25:00.004-04:00

If you get a chance, check out our first ever post on the blog back in July of this year. (http://coasterreviews.blogspot.com/2008/07/millenium-force-cedar-point.html) Thanks to our recent trip to Cedar Point, we ended up with a number of new pictures so those will be posted to rides that have already been reviewed. Guy got some great pics of Millennium Force in action. Also, for you enthusiasts out there (thanks especially to The Coaster Critic who has listed us as a link on his award winning site) feel free to drop us a comment with recommendations or suggestions.

My next coaster trip will be to Knotts Berry Farm and Pacific Park in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for reading!!

Starliner - Cypress Gardens (FL)

2008-10-03T20:04:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: January of 2008. Times Ridden: 15 including 12 in a row without having to leave the coaster station house.

Let me begin by saying that there is now a reason to visit Cypress Gardens down in Winter Haven, FL.

Starliner is a classic ride with a beautiful setting, comfortable seats and restraints, and (Im serious) some vicious air time!! I did not really know what to expect from this simple looking little out and back woodie but "Floridas Original Scream Machine" won me over after my first ride in the back seat. The air time varies from ride to ride and definitely from seat to seat. In the front there are usually two pops of ejector air on the way out and 0 on the way back. However, the visuals are great and the ride is still fun.

On the back seat however, you usually get 3 (and sometimes 4) pops and 1 decent pop on the return. Included in all areas of the car is one massive ejector moment on a small bunny hill right before the turn-around. And let me tell you, it is really good! Its definitely not El Toro good, but for a "true" woodie with this much age, it is a superb coaster moment.

Now...how did I get 15 rides on this thing in 1 day (actually in less than two hours)? Before our trip to Florida, we heard that the park clears out on Sundays after concerts. So guess when we went? Sunday after a concert on MLK weekend. That was some very good advice. I kid you not, there were maybe 20 people in the park. Most ride ops, including those on Starliner, were just standing around waiting on someone to come up so they could have something to do. The ops on Triple Hurricane were sitting in the cars chatting when we walked up. Not only were we able to turn in 15 laps on Starliner, but we also rode every other coaster there and most of the flats. We also rode 6 consectutive rides in the same seat! I love it when ride ops let you stay on if no one wants your seat. There were 6 of us on the ride and we were fine in the middle. Eventually the temperature dropped and the back group left. Not us!! We tied up our hoodies, put on our gloves, and rode another 3 or 4 times in the very back until the park closed. Even though I was freezing to death, I could not think of anywhere I had rather have been than riding this piece of coaster history.

Is this ride really a 9 placing it on par with Raven, Legend, and the OZCat out in Branson? Uh....no. Its probably more of a high 7 or low 8 but as I look back on my experience I could probably actually give it a 10. This past January was a great trip with 10 rides on Montu (see review), 8 rides on the Dueling Dragons at IOA (including the Storm Ride...also see review) and then closing things down on our final day with 15 laps on this beauty. Taking into account all of those factors, I decided on a 9 to balance the quality of the coaster with my experience on it.

As far as wood goes, Starliner is the best ride in the south. I like it better than the Gwazis at BGA. Its more fun than the woodies at 6 Flags over GA. Unfortunately I missed out on Cheetah at Wild Adventures since it was down for repairs but I dont think it would really compete either. As many woodie fans as are on this site, I would think that some of you would be willing to take a trek south to ride this one. Its not the gretest ride on earth, but this little out and back woodie is one thing that every coaster should be (and not every coaster is).......fun.

Ride Starliner below.

The Mighty Canadian Minebuster - Canada's Wonderland (Ontario)

2008-10-02T18:11:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1

The Minebuster is simply an average wooden coaster at a below average park.While it is definitely a rough and tumble ride, it is still has that typical woodies feel that I enjoy. The first part of the ride is actually fairly smooth, however, the airtime is lacking and there is not really that much of a sensation of speed. The car seems to pick up the pace in the second half of the ride, but it is here where you really start to get bashed around even while trying to ride defensively. After riding, I absolutely despised since it finished with such roughness and I was in a foul mood in a park with about 10 million rude and disrespectful people. As I look back, the ride was not that bad and deserves the average grade. It is definitely not a reason to visit CW (if there actually is a reason) but if for some unknown reason you find yourself there, it is worth riding for the credit. I guess.

Overall rating - 7.

Ride the Minebuster below.

Son of Beast - King's Island (OH)

2008-10-01T17:58:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: First in 2006 with loop present and most recently on 9-20 without the loop. Times Ridden: 5

Welcome to the Coaster Review's analysis of probably the most criticized coaster of all time. The Son of Beast is consistently ranked at the very bottom of every wooden coaster list available. Despite still holding the records for both the tallest (only wooden coaster in the world of 200 feet) and the fastest (over 80 MPH), this coaster is despised among enthusiasts and the general public as well. It is considered to among the roughest, longest and most painful coasters ever created. At one point, the ride even locked up while running leading to a painful instant stop which sent the entire train of riders to the hospital with chest contusions. In addition, at one point this was the only wooden coaster on the planet that actually had a vertical loop. The loop has since been removed as lighter trains have been installed in order to make the ordeal a little more pleasant. Despite this fact, SOB (a great acronym according to most people) is still despised. Well.....except by the two members of the coaster reviews staff who have ridden it.

I like it. I was blessed to be able to ride SOB back in 2006 during the final year the loop was there as well as 2007 which was the first year without the loop. I liked it both times, but this past year I liked the ride even more thanks to a front seat ride at night.

There is no airtime to speak of, but airtime is very painful if it slams you int0

the lad bar at 80 MPH. The SOB is big, fast, and yes, even violent. There is no relaxing and enjoying the scenery on this baby. You better lean forward, brace your feet, and hold on tightly. I totally respect the fact that KI and the designer (Dinn) went for something different. Granted, they may have tried a little too hard, but still this is a unique ride with some very intense elements. In this "cookie-cutter" time period of wooden coasters, the SOB is completely different from any other ride out there. It has to be. It's over 200 freaking feet tall!

Each year people keep calling for this ride to be torn down, demolished, blown up, etc. I recognize that the violence of the ride is difficult if one is not prepared for it but would still hate to see it go. Eventually, I am sure there will be more problems with the structure, track, and probably the cars and the ride will have to go. It is simply too big and too fast to continue to exist in its current state. However, as long as its there, we will take a couple of spins on it trip. However, next time it might be a good idea to stretch and "get loose" first.

Overall Rating - 8

Check out the awesome video below which is the SOB with the loop still in it.

Trip Report - King's Island (9-20-2008)

2008-09-30T19:26:00.003-04:00

To begin with, Guy and myself knew that the middle day of our three day trip up north was going to be crowded. We hoped Friday and Sunday would be slack (and boy, were they ever) so Saturday we had a plan. We wanted to ride the infamous Mean Streak at Cedar Point followed by a 4 hour drive to KI where we would get some pics and ride both the Beast and Son of Beast at night. That would be three of the most maligned coasters of all time in one day. Our plan was a success and we took some really good pics, many of which I have already posted. For the purpose of this post, I will concentrate on our time spent at King's Island.

We arrived at the park around 5:00 P.M. and walked over the entire thing taking pics before we even rode a coaster. Around 7:30 we finally got in line for the Son of Beast, one of the lowest ranking wooden coasters in the world despite its 200 foot tall lift hill and 80 MPH speed. We waited about 10 extra minutes for the front and had an outstanding ride. The ride was a little bumpy and devoid of any airtime but still fun and fast. Following this we jumped straight on Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun). By this time it was dark so we headed back to the Beast. There we found a lengthy line (about 30 minutes plus an extra 20 for the front seat) but the ride was definitely worth it. After our ride, we still had about 30 minutes before the park closed (we had already spent about 45 minutes eating some Skyline Chili....the world's best so they say) but we decided to head on out since we wanted to be rested for Holiday

World the next day.

This was the most crowded we had seen the park in our numerous visits. We have never spent an entire day here, but next year with the addition of the new hypercoaster Diamondback, we may have to try to work it into our schedule. The park has the top ranked kids area in the world according to Amusement Today mainly due to its unheard of total of 3 family oriented roller coasters. The woodies are excellent, particularly at night. There is a flyer, Nighthawk, which offers a unique experience for this section of the country. As a side note, Guy TIVO'd an episode of The Brady Bunch in which they visited King's Island during its opening year of 1973. The episode was great (minus the horrible acting) showing a number of really old rides (they were new then) as well as some great footage of The Racer which was the parks only roller coaster at the time. My, how times have changed.

In summary, we had a great time at the park. We did not intend to ride much since we have ridden everything there multiple times. However, we still had a nice relaxing few hours following our insane Millennium Force laps the night before, and the insanity we knew was coming the next day at Holiday World. King's Island is a great place which will get even better next year as Cedar Fair is seeming to put lots of money into it.

Swamp Fox - Family Kingdom (SC)

2008-09-29T20:15:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 on the very front car of the first train sent out for the day.

I have ridden a LOT of roller coasters. I have ridden small coasters, medium coasters, and big coasters. I have ridden famous coasters and obscure coasters. I have ridden old coaster and I have ridden new coasters. While I have not come close to riding every coaster in the United States, I have ridden enough to decide what is most important to me: and it may not be something most coaster enthusiasts agree with.

I do not care about tallest, fastest, longest, etc. I am about the EXPERIENCE. Answer me this. What would be more fun? Waiting three hours in the humidity laced heat of Jackson, NJ to ride the world's tallest and faster coaster Kingda Ka or continuously looping Florida's Original Scream Machine (The Starliner) located in Cypress Gardens, FL? Would I rather wait in the long line for a 20 second ride (granted a good one), or put in 10 laps on a 70 foot tall ancient woodie in under an hour? Coasters are about fun people and it doesn't take the the world's fastest or tallest anything to have fun.

I said all of that to say this: the small Swamp Fox located in Myrtle Beach is fun. As you go up the lift hill, you can see the Atlantic Ocean less than 100 yards in front of you for as far as the eye can see. Instead of dropping straight over, the train circles slowly around a half-circle giving each ride a startling view before diving down the first drop. It is a great first drop which leads into a surprisingly airtime filled ride with my all time favorite restraint: the simple buzz bar.

This may not be a good review because I absolutely love these old wooden coaster built decades ago along the seaside. The Giant Dippers in Santa Cruz and Belmont, Great White up the coast in Jersey, the aforementioned Starliner, and the legendary Cyclone take me back to a previous time when coaster riding was not about breaking records but about having fun. And it seems that the more I ride, the more I love these quaint woodies and the small amusement parks where one can buy a wristband and ride 100 times if they wish. To me, that is more fun than waiting forever for one ride.

Thanks to all the small parks like Family Kingdom who do a wonderful job of upkeeping these old rides. i do not know how much longer rides like the Swamp Fox will be around, but as long as they are, I will make them vacation destinations. So give the old Swamp Fox a twirl. I seriously doubt it is the # 8 ranked coaster in the U.S. as the sign proclaims, but it is smooth, fun, and offers a couple of pops of ejector air. Surely that is worth a visit if you are in the area.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Swamp Fox below.

The Loch Ness Monster - Busch Gardens Europe (VA)

2008-09-28T17:08:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2007 and 2008. Times Ridden: 2

The Loch Ness Monster is a sit-down steel looper located at the # 2 ranked amusement park in the world according to Amusement Today. The ride is the oldest operating coaster at Busch Gardens celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Based on the looks of this classic ride, you would never guess its age.

BGE ranks right up there with the best of all operating amusement parks when it comes to the upkeep of their rides. For that reason, while not the best coaster in the park, the Loch Ness Monster offers a very fun experiences with many unique elements in a ride that doesn't beat you to death due to the OTSR's. The unique interlocking loops are smooth, the closing helix in the tunnel is fast and intense, and the other transitions are not bone-jarringly uncomfortable. The ride is good.

However, with the high-tech thrill rides being built today (many of them at this park), old Nessie is one of the weaker attractions here. It is not an airtime machine like Apollo's Chariot, does not have a 200 foot vertical drop like Griffin, nor is it the world's tallest and fastest suspended coaster like Alpengeist. Most of the time, this coaster has no line so you are not going to spend your entire day waiting. I would not recommend more than one or two rides, but make sure you do get at least one spin on it. The interlocking loops themselves make for a great photo op along with bridge area as well.

Overall the Loch Ness Monster score in the 7 range which is not bad for BGE's "worst" coaster. At many other parks, it would be the feature ride. Here, it is simply another coaster to hop on and get a credit.

Overall Rating - 7

Ride Loch Ness Monster below.

The Beast - King's Island (OH)

2008-09-27T19:31:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Four different occasions since 2006. Times Ridden: Six total with three of those being in the front seat.

The Beast is one temperamental thrill ride. Of our six rides, 4 of them have been among our most memorable rides of all time (in a good way) while the other two have been absolutely horrible. First let's discuss the bad.

Last fall on our way back from Cedar Point, we stopped in on Sunday to get a quick ride on the Beast before heading home. What occurred can best be described as torture. The ride itself is world's longest wooden coaster both in length (well over a mile) and in ride time (over 5 minutes). The ride was so rough that at one point Guy and myself crashed heads. I was actually hoping the ride would break down and we could walk back to the station through the dense forest the track takes you through.

Also, on our first trip to Cedar Point, we caught a back seat ride that was almost as bad. These two rides are probably the two worst rides I have ever had on a wooden coaster. However, the Beast also delivers the goods in a mighty way.

When riding in the front car (approximately an extra 15 minute wait), there are very few wooden coasters that can match it. The ride itself takes you out through the woods, through numerous pitch black tunnels, traverses two separate lift hills, and finishes with a 720 degree double helix that seems to be among the fastest elements ever placed on a wooden coaster of this size. If you go back and read our Magnum review, you will find that we had much better rides on the 200 foot steel monster when we avoided riding above the wheels. That is a theory that we have yet to test on the Beast but will try out on our next trip up there. There has to be some reason for the drastic differences in the half-dozen rides we have had.

A few days ago, we worked it out where we would be at KI for one of the famous night rides on this creature. We waited the extra time for the front and it was definitely worth it. It was on this ride that the Beast proved its top ten status as the 8th ranked wooden coaster in the world. There were areas of the track back in the wilderness that were completely dark with the riders having no clue which direction the train was going to go next. The ride itself is totally devoid of any airtime, but the speed, laterals, and intensity more than make up for it. The train (despite the presence of numerous trim brakes) seems to move really fast and take the few turns at breakneck speeds.

The total experience is an absolute must for any coaster enthusiast. I would really like to give the Beast a 10 based on the outstanding rides I have had, but am going to keep it at a 9 due to the fact that two rides were horrible. I am also debating on whether this deserves a spot back in the Coaster Reviews Top 20. Based on our last ride (or probably any ride it night) it probably does. Do not be surprised if you log on one day to find the Beast sitting proudly around the # 15 overall position in our rankings. It is a great ride and deserves all of the acclaim that it receives.

Overall Rating - 9

Ride the Beast below.

Trip Report - Cedar Point (9-19 and 9-20)

2008-09-26T19:05:00.008-04:00

What an unbelievable weekend! After a leisurely drive Thursday night with a stop at Red Lobster, an hour spent at Books-A-Million, and a good night's sleep, we awoke on Friday morning ready to finish our 5 hour drive to the park. We needed to there by 5:00 P.M. for ERT

and, based on last year, thought the park crowds might be slack. And were they ever.

We started off the day with 10 consecutive rides on Millennium Force without having to leave the station. I was not aware of a shortcut gate that was present until the ride operators opened it for those who wanted to ride again without having to walk all the way around. We used this gate and usually got right back on the train we had exited since they were running three trains through the course at breakneck speed. We could actually have stayed here all night and ridden the ride close to 100 times if we had wanted. Alas, we were at Cedar Point, so there was more to do. We walked around the park, getting rides on Maverick, Dragster, Magnum, Skyhawk, and MaxAir. In between those, we hung out at the back of the park in front of Carn Evil (a great name) waiting on the new haunt, Terror Island, to open so we would have the chance to walk over an area of the park generally not accessible to the public: Millennium Island. It was themed up with scary pirates and tons of mist so we were ready to head out of there since neither Guy nor myself are excited about the scary haunts. We eased up toward the front of the park, took a spin on Raptor and then meandered over to Blue Streak. It was running very well and, since it was a coaster we had not ridden as often as most of the others, put 10 quick laps on it. We had a blast there as Blue Streak is very similar to our local Cannonball at Lake Winnie. This was an example of some "Old School" fun before we grabbed a quick snack and headed

back to Millennium Force.

It was here that we had our best rides of the night including possibly some of our best ever rides on one of our favorite coasters. Our 11th and 12th rides were totally insane as the coaster seemed to have really warmed up and was flying along the course and out through Terror (Millennium) Island. The mist was unbelievable as there were large portions of the ride where you could not even see the other riders in the train. We rode seven more times giving us a total of 17 rides on this one coaster in one day. All together in a little over 2 hours, we rode

Millennium Force 17 times. I have been at CP where the wait for one ride was longer than the entire time we spent riding the coaster.

We left and spent a couple of hours the next day getting pictures. We did hold out for a ride on the front car of Mean Streak and it was actually a good ride. Mean Streak catches a lot of flack from coaster enthusiasts but we both like it as long as we lean up and ride in the front seat only.

The crowds were horrible on Saturday so I suggest visiting on Fridays in Spetember. The one problem that you will face on Fridays as that the less popular rides (Mantis, Gemini, etc) are not open. There were around 10 of the 17 coasters operating when we were there. They were all open on Saturday but evidently there is not enough staff to run them along with the numerous haunts on Fridays. We did not really care as we had already ridden these rides and were more interested in riding the higher ranked coasters and getting some good pics.

Our final tally included 17 rides on Millennium Force, 10 on Blue Streak, and 1 each on Maverick, Magnum, Dragster, Skyhawk, MaxAir, Raptor, Wildcat and Iron Dragon. That was 35 total rides in approximately 7 hours on Friday and 1 ride on Mean Streak on Saturday. That was as good a time as we have ever had during our numerous trips to Cedar Point. Ride on!!!

2008 Golden Ticket Awards - Steel Coasters

2008-09-25T17:15:00.005-04:00

In part one of this three part series, the Coaster Reviews staff looked at the top ranked wooden coasters in the world. This post will deal with their steel counterparts, many of which are very high up on our ranking as well.

Steel coasters obviously have a different feel from the wooden variety. As I first began

riding coasters on an obsessive basis approximately three years ago, I found that steel coasters heavily populated my top 20. For one thing, there are many more steel coasters than wooden ones. In addition, steel seems to be much easier to keep running as wooden coasters are really bad if not taken care of. Steel was my preferred ride type until this summer after my rides on Phoenix, Cyclone, Boulder Dash and Ravine Flyer II. Now, despite my love for Millennium Force, I prefer wooden coasters generally speaking. That still does not take away from the fact that there are some wonderful steel coasters in existence which I have ridden. The 2008 ranking based on enthusiasts votes are listed below.

1) Superman-Ride of Steel - Six Flags New England in Agawam, MA - 1363 points.

2) Millennium Force - Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH - 1107 points.

3) Nitro - Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ - 838 points.

4) Apollo's Chariot - Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, VA - 718 points.

5) Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park (not World) in Hassloch, Germany - 651 points.

6) Goliath - Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, GA - 646 points.

7) Magnum XL-200 - Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH - 518 points.

8) Phantom's Revenge - Kennywood in West Mifflin, PA - 428 points.

9) Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH - 366 points.

10) Montu - Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, FL - 343 points.

Some interesting notes are that 3 of the top 10 are located in Cedar Point with Maverick falling to 12th giving them 1/3 of the top steel coasters in the world. My own Goliath moved up in the rankings finishing only a few points out of the top 5. It ranks as my 4th favorite steel coaster.

GeForce in Germany is the only overseas steel coaster in the Top 10. It is supposed to be a smaller version of the # 1 ranked Superman ride.

Coaster Reviews has ridden all 9 of the U.S. coasters ranked in the top 10 and we definitely agree on numbers 1 and 2. Superman and Millennium Force are far and away the two best coasters we have ridden and the point totals prove this fact.

In conclusion, steel coasters are generally known for their smoothness and those listed above are among the smoothest in the world. Apollo's Chariot and Montu are Busch Gardens coasters which are probably the two easiest to ride coasters in the world due to their silky smoothness. All of them are great though. And if you are interested simply hop in your car, fill it with some liquid gold (aka gas) and take the short 16 hour journey up to Agawam, MA. Then you can say you have ridden the best coaster in the world. That's what we did. And loved every minute of it!!!

Jokers Jinx - Six Flags America (MD)

2008-09-24T20:48:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1

The JJ is an outside launched coaster located at one of the weaker Six Flags parks in the chain. As documented in my review of their signature ride, Superman: Ride of Steel, our day there was very disappointing. In contrast to Superman, the Jokers Jinx is well kept with a clean and neat station. The one thing I did not like was the presence of the Locker Nazi at the front who would not even allow hats in line. Most of the time, I simply fold my cap up and stick it in my pocket. The Nazi tried to make me put my hat and Julia's fanny bag up in a locker. We obviously refused, left the area, and came back later with our gear hidden in the pockets of our jackets. I will do a lot of things at theme parks but paying 2 bucks for a locker is not one of them.

The ride itself is arguably the best ride in the park. To the best of my knowledge, it is a virtual copy of the indoor Flight of Fear coasters located at two of the former Paramount parks. The launch is very fast, the inversions are smooth with minimal head banging. The ride is well-themed and the addition of the new Batman movies has probably made the ride a little more popular. I would not call this ride a "can't miss" but it is still one of the better rides at the park.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Joker's Jinx below.

Magnum XL-200 - Cedar Point (OH)

2008-09-23T21:03:00.008-04:00

Date Ridden: Numerous times since 2006. Times Ridden: 16 currently.

As most coaster enthusiasts are aware, Magnum was the first coaster that broke the 200 foot barrier back in 1989. At that time, I was a junior in high school and was not aware that the Coaster Wars had begun between Cedar Point and Magic Mountain in California. The building of Magnum was the first shot fired which led to other larger and faster coasters such as Superman: The Escape, Goliath, Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster. However, Magnum started it all and is arguably still the best of those coasters listed above in the minds of many.

Magnum is still smooth with an abundant amount of airtime, particularly on the bunny hills leading back to the station on the return trip. The view of Lake Erie cresting the top of the lift hill is gorgeous and the speed (over 70 mph) is still top notch. The kidney shaped turnaround is probably the least enjoyable element as it is a very awkward transition and uncomfortable way of turning around the train. The designers (Arrow) did a much better job with some of the later coasters such as Steel Force in Pennsylvania and Mamba in Missouri with the downward spiraling helices which turned around the trains. Those two coasters however, are still considered inferior to Magnum mainly due to their lack of airtime on the return hills.

One word of advice. Magnum gets some bad reviews due to what many riders call "roughness". I can offer some agreement with these statements however I think I have discovered the problem. When entering the station, you will that the train are designed to hold three rows of two seats per "car". The back seat in each of these cars has a steel box in the floor. These boxes, according to a ride operator, contain the wheels. It is in these cars, riding directly above the wheels on the track, are the places of some of the roughest rides I have had. I recommend therefore,

to avoid the third row in each car which includes the very back seat on the train: one of the most popular seats on large hyper coasters. So keep in mind when you enter the station, do not sit in any of the third rows of seats on the train. The other seats are much smoother and offer just as much airtime without the jerkiness riding above the wheels gives.

Lastly, Magnum is a great coaster to close down the park on. As crowds thin out, the middle rows of the train are normally blocked off since the very efficient station crew always runs three trains and the ride is not as popular as it once was. When the car is not full, the opportunity is there for the mid-course brakes to not kick in leading to an insane second half of the ride. That happened to us once and was one of our best coaster rides ever. The bunny hills were literally throwing us out of the seat since the train was only half full and the brakes did not slow us down at all. Zipping through the cool night air and flying over airtime filled hills at well over 50 mph is an awesome way to close down Cedar Point.

Despite many coasters which may be considered "better", Magnum still holds a place in the Coaster Reviews Top 20 and should stay there for many years to come. It is a fun ride which started the wave of giant steel coasters we still see today.

Overall Rating - 9.

Ride Magnum below.

Trip Report: Holiday World 9-21-2008

2008-09-22T21:09:00.010-04:00

Wow. Let me say it again......Wow!! Talking to Guy on the way home last night, I told him I needed a short review for today since I knew we would be suffering from a "coaster hangover" following our late night jaunt through Indiana. However, after thinking about it today, I had to write up the first ever Coaster Reviews Trip Report following the greatest weekend of coaster riding we have had in our three years of being OCD coaster nerds.

We spent Saturday night in a local Comfort Inn placing us approximately 10 minutes from the park on Sunday morning. We arrived about 10 minutes before opening time to an empty parking lot. There

were maybe 20 cars there. We walked to guest services to pick up our tickets (there were problems with our online order but it was fixed very easiy) and entered the park to a walk-on ride on the back seat (our favorite spot) on The Raven. We then eased on around and took two front seat rides on The Legend. I was for hanging out there for a while since these are two of my favorite coasters in the world and they were totally empty. However, Guy was seriously in need of riding The Voyage.

The station was empty. We proceeded to spend the next hour riding the top ranked wooden coaster in the world 10 consecutive times without leaving the station. The ride ops were nice enough to allow people to re-ride if no one was in their line waiting for a seat or move to a different

seat that was empty. This fact allowed us to never leave the train for a solid hour.

To make a long story short, we did the same thing with 8 straight rides on the Legend, 11 straight on The Raven, and finished off with two more on the Voyage following a Goblin Burger and some free drinks at the Pepsi Oasis. We finished with 35 rides on three of the top woodies in the world in under 3 hours of ride time. We obviously did not want to leave the park, but with a five hour driving awaiting, we had to go home from one of our greatest days at a theme park ever.

Holiday World in general is a great place to visit with unlimited free drinks, friendly operators, and a wonderful family atmosphere. The owners and operators have not forgotten that theme parks are supposed to be ralaxing and enjoyable experiences that friends and families should cherish. There is no sense of hurrying (except when sending out the next coaster train). And those fact are not even taking into account the world class rides that are located there. There are very few negatives on any tip to Holiday World. They well deserve their Golden Ticket Award for the World's Most Friendly Park. Next year should be even better with the addition of the all new Pilgrim's Plunge. I am sure that at some point next year, I will find myself walking through the front gate excited about a great day of amusement park fun. It is simply put one of the best theme parks in the nation. It is right there with Cedar Point and Knoebels as parks at which I have enjoyed myself the most. I expect it to stay that way. We may have great experiences at parks in the years to come, but topping this half-day will be tough.

2008 Golden Ticket Awards - Wooden Coasters

2008-09-17T19:44:00.007-04:00

Today will be my last post until Monday since Guy and myself are headed up north on our typical three-day, three-park trip in which we will be visiting Cedar Point, King's Island and Holiday World. We will be riding the Coaster Reviews # 1 ranked coaster Millennium Force as well as the longest coaster in North America, The Beast. However, our highlight will probably be our Sunday rides on the # 1 ranked wooden coaster in the world, The Voyage. Thinking about this weekend has led me to write this short article listing the top coasters in the world.

Each year, Amusement Today posts the top ranked coasters in the world

based on the votes of a number of well-traveled coaster enthusiasts. This year there were no true surprises as most of the well-known coasters ranked in similar places on the lists as they have in the past. Listed below are the ranks and scores of the top wooden coasters on the planet.

1) The Voyage at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana - 1225 Points.

2) Thunderhead at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee - 1047 Points.

3) Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, Pennsylvania - 1029 Points.

4) El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey - 993 Points.

5) Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut - 861 Points.

6) Hades at Mt. Olympus Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin - 677 Points.

7)Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon, Michigan - 523 Points.

8)The Beast at Kings Island in Kings Mill, Ohio - 471 Points.

9)Lightning Racer at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania - 447 Points.

10)The Raven at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana - 428 Points.

Of the coasters listed above, the Coaster Reviews staff has ridden 8 of them with only Hades and Shivering Timbers not in our ride count. The others are definitely world class rides with all but The Beast ranking in at least one of our Top 20's. The Beast has actually given us a couple of perfect 10 rides but a few really rough ones have kept it on the outside looking in. We are seriously looking at getting one of the famed night rides on it this Saturday.

In conclusion, the opportunity to ride any of the above coasters is a complete privilege as they are all superb with a variety of different elements. So whether you like the speed and intensity of The Voyage, the laterals of Thunderhead, the racing aspect of Lightning Racer, the chaos through the woods on Boulder Dash or the Raven, the silky smoothness of El Toro, or the massive airtime of the Phoenix, you can't go wrong with any of them. Put some gas in the car and go find one of these beauties. you will definitely not regret the experience.

Thanks for reading. Coaster Reviews will return on Monday the 22nd with more pictures and more reviews.

Revenge of the Mummy - Universal Studios (CA)

2008-09-16T17:56:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Fall of 2006. Times Ridden: 1

Hmmmm.......I was trying to decide what coaster to review today and I ran across this picture of the Mummy out on the west coast. Without a doubt, this is the inferior ride when compared to the Orlando version, but it is by no means bad. The theme is top notch, the ride is smooth, and the special effects are Disneyesque.

Since the ride is totally indoors, weather is not a factor and this thing runs year around. The opening launch is pretty strong and the ride to the end of the lay-out is fast and furious. Once the ride stops and the bugs come to visit (fairly realistic feeling), the train simply reverses course and travels the track backwards.

The ride is short but fun. By the time we rode once as the park was opening, the line had backed up and we went elsewhere in the park. The ride is so similar to a Disney ride in that the first experience is by far the best. Once you have ridden it once and seen all the surprises, then the coaster elements aren't really enough to make you want to stand in an hour long line.

That being said, if you live in the west coast or are just visiting Universal Studios, do not miss the Mummy. The ride has no inversions and is smooth throughout in the large multi-seat trains. The experience the first time is well worth it.

Overall Rating - 8

Unfortunately, due to this being an indoor coaster, no video is available.

Superman - Ride of Steel - Six Flags America (MD)

2008-09-15T19:17:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 in the middle of the train.

As most enthusiasts are aware, there are three of these Ride of Steel rides. The number one ranked ride in the world is at Six Flags New England. Another is located at Darien Lake and this final on is in Maryland. The Darien Lake version and this one are clones with identical lay-outs. The ride in New England is a beast as I have already reviewed. I loved the Darien Lake ride and it landed just outside my top 20. Unlike many enthusiasts, I enjoy straight track sections and the sensation of massive amounts of speed. That is why Millennium Force at Cedar Point still ranks as my number one coaster because no coaster I have ever ridden gives that sensation of speed for that long spread out over a mile of track. I was hoping this Ride of Steel would challenge my top coasters as I knew I loved the lay-out. Unfortunately, there were problems.

The ride itself is located at the very back of the park as far from the front entrance as is humanly possible. This is not an issue, as we normally go to the back of the park first to beat the crowds and then work our way around to the front. However, the ROS was not operating when we entered the station house. They were still running test trains so we grabbed an open back seat spot in the line and waited patiently. I noticed immediately that only one train was being run. I quickly calculated that re-rides would be difficult as there were many people beginning to enter the line to ride the park's signature ride. Watching a few test runs gave me time to look at the station, the ride ops, and the train. I was not impressed with any of the above. The station was shabby and dirty when compared to other parks (and even other rides I found out later as the park's other coasters were well-kept and clean). The ops were sitting around laughing and eating while totally ignoring the guests. Lastly, the train they were running did not look as if it were made from "Steel". It was bashed in pretty severely on the front. looking as if it had rammed a light pole. Then, when they allowed the gates to open and guests to finally enter, there was a problem with the retrains not coming locking so they had to block off half of the train! Yes, our seat was one of the non-locking ones so we had to get in another line and wait about three cycles before we got on. The ops placed nasty trash cans in the aisles that did not work so only half of one train was running.

Since we were busy, we only rode one ride and it was superb. Despite the bashed up train, the ragged seat belts, the chewed up lap bar, and the nasty garbage cans in the station, the ride itself delivered. I had a blast dropping down the first hill and enjoying the smooth, air-time filled ride known for its great series of camel backs at the end.

I simply do not understand why parks that have world class coasters do no perform regular upkeep on them. The rest of the park was clean, the ride ops were friendly, and overall experience was pleasant. However, on their signature ride, the experience was lessened due to poor maintenance and operators with no personality. Now I do understand that all coasters have problems and issues that must be dealt with. I may have visited on the only poor operating day of the year for this coaster. However, running only half of one train is totally unacceptable on a ride of this caliber.

Hopefully over the winter, Six Flags will dive in and give this coaster some much needed TLC. Seriously, this ride could easily rank much higher if it offered a more pleasant overall experience to its guests.

The ride itself received a 9 but I am subtracting a point for the poor experience, operators who were rude, and the horrible smelling station.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Superman below.

Mind Eraser - Darien Lake (NY)

2008-09-14T21:09:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1

Ouch. If only this coaster lived up to its name, this could possibly be a more positive review. As it is, despite being featured on the Travel Channel with coaster guru Paul Reuben, this is one of my least favorite adult coasters. There are a number of these Vekoma suspended looping coasters and one of them rank very highly. They are simply torture devices that a rider has to fight to survive without a headache for the rest of the day.

Many coasters, including the highly ranked Maverick and Storm Runner offer a couple of incidences of head banging/neck chopping due to the restraint system. This is not due to roughness or poor coaster design. The rides are simply intense and feature restraints that are necessary for the elements the coaster was designed with. Normally in these cases, the rider can prepare for these elements and virtually eliminate the uncomfortable issues with different riding styles or techniques.

However, on Mind Eraser one gets the Pinball Bang in which one's head is continuously bounced from one side of the restraint to the next. It is among the most painful things a coaster rider can endure and is prevalent on virtually all of these Vekoma coasters I have ridden.

This ride does offer a great first drop, particularly from the front row, but the back-to-back corkscrews and other inversions are absolutely horrid. I have found the best chance one has to hold your head all the way to one side of the restraint and try to keep it there the entire ride. It is tough on the neck but is still better than being bounced back and forth.

I would recommend one ride only on Mind Eraser. Any more than that would border on insanity. Of course most people consider coaster enthusiasts crazy anyway.

Overall Rating - 4

Ride Mind Eraser below.

Steel Force - Dorney Park (PA)

2008-09-13T20:26:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 2 including once in a fairly heavy rainstorm.

This may be the smoothest coaster that I have ever ridden. I realize that is a bold statement to make but keep in mind I do have both Apollo's Chariot and Montu in my ride tracker. I am not saying that Steel Force is better, but I do seriously believe that as far as smoothness is concerned this is a world class ride.

Despite (or maybe because of) the smoothness, the detractors of this coaster claim it lacks intensity. I do not really agree with that statement as I think Steel Force has enough elements and forces necessary to produce a well-rounded ride. This ride is much better than its brother Mamba at Worlds of Fun. It is a great out-and-back design with a super first drop, a very fast helix at the turnaround, and a series of bunny hops on the way back that look much better than they actually are.

While the ride is nor perfect, I do feel that, along with Talon, it offers as solid a 1-2 punch of steel coasters as there is in any park. Both are fast, fun, and normally contain very short lines as multiple trains are normally running. I had a blast on both trips to Dorney with my two rides on Steel Force being the highlight of each trip. On the second trip in July, it was the only coaster running in the rain so I'm not sure if they close it down in adverse conditions. Due to these factors, this is a coaster that barely escapes my Top 20 ranking falling somewhere in my Top 25-30 rides. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to get back to Dorney Park to get in a few more laps.Steel Force is just a really fun hyper coaster with high re-ride scores.

And oh yeah, it does have a really cool logo.

Overall Rating - 9

Ride Steel Force below.

Wicked - Lagoon (UT)

2008-09-12T21:53:00.002-04:00

Date Ridden : 7-7-2007 Times Ridden : 1 (Ridiculous Line)

For its location (Utah....basically the middle of nowhere as far as coasters go),Wicked is a great ride. Upon entering the park we walked on three other coasters in the first 15 minutes and worked our way around to Wicked. For some reason there is a very small queuing section so the line was already backed well out on to the midway. We went ahead and got our ride after about a 45 minute wait as the line moves very quickly. I am seriously glad we did. More on that later.

The ride itself offers no preferential seating as the ride ops make sure very seat is filled. This really does not matter as far as this ride goes as the trains are only two rows with four seats per row. You either get a front or a back seat. I do prefer riding on the end seats on all coasters that have 4-across seating. I got the back row far left seat. The ride turns out of the station into an enclosed section and merely slows down before the "launch" instead of completely stopping. The launch itself was weak which is my main gripe with the ride. It was more of a push up the 105 foot hill instead of an actual launch. I think the top speed on this thing is around 40 MPH and that is on the drop following the launch. I enjoyed my ride as there are some wonderful elements including the heartline roll type inversion that is taken at a slow speed and gives some great hang time. The over banked turns are nice but seem weaker in the short stubby cars.

After hitting 5 of the 7 coasters in the park including the Ace Classic woodie Roller Coaster twice we left the park for a bite of lunch. When we returned it was utter chaos!! I did not expect tiny crowds but the number of people there with their ice chests and, get this, BBQ grills was unfathomable. The water park which is included with park admission was filled to capacity and people were in line waiting to get in it. The river rapids ride wait was over 2 hours. We waited 1 hour each for the two kiddie type coasters so we could have the credits and before we left I wanted one more spin on Wicked. When we walked over i could see the line curling around the midway and out of sight. Based on the 45 minute wait from that morning, I would say it was easily 2 to 3 hours. I never really even saw the end of the line. There were so many people there it was difficult to breath. All of the lines for virtually every attraction had spilled out of the queing areas and people were lumped up all over the place. We decided to head on out toward Roswell where the Alien Convention was in full swing (no I don't believe in ETs by the way). However, after my visit to Lagoon I was about ready to "phone home" and let you guys know to stay away from Lagoon on the weekend following the 4th.

In conclusion, Wicked is a good solid ride, hence the 8 rating, but scores lower in my book than the other new rides of 2007. Its popularity is immense in this part of the country but I don't think Id make a special trip out for this ride only.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Wicked below.

The Great American Scream Machine - Six Flags Great Adventure (NJ)

2008-09-11T20:54:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 in the front of the train.

My home park of Six Flags Over Georgia contains a wooden coaster by the same name as this ride, so far that reason alone, we decided to make sure we got in at least one lap on this sit-down looper with 7 inversions during out latest trips to New Jersey. While not disappointed (I did not have the highest of expectations), I was not blown away either.

Six Flags Great Adventure boasts some of the top coasters in the world. They have the world's tallest and fastest coaster in Kingda Ka, the # 4 ranked wooden coaster in the world in El Toro, the # 3 ranked steel coaster Nitro, and the GASM which is tied with numerous other coaster for the most inversions this side of Atlantic Ocean.

Make no mistake about it, this is not a comfortable ride. There are some serous forces generated throughout the 7 inversions and the restraints give you a good half dozen bashes to the side of the head. A headache is a distinct possibility so make sure you load up on Advil before riding. Still, there are some positives. Despite being located in one of the busiest parks in North America, the line here is normally very short. If you time it right, you can take your headache medicine, get in line, ride, then by the time the pain begins your medicine is kicking in. That is always an advantage.

On a serious note, it is always fun to ride one of these older coasters that survived the great Inversion War of the late 80's and early 90's as parks battled one another to field the coaster with the most inversions. The GASM has survived and is worth a spin when you visit. Like we said earlier this week, average is not bad.

Final Rating - 7

Ride the GASM below...without needing the Advil.

The Carolina Cyclone - Carowinds (SC)

2008-09-10T19:37:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2007 and 2008. Times Ridden: 2

There is nothing wrong with being average. Despite most of my reviews receiving scores of and 8 and above, over half of my 328 coasters score in the 7 or lower range. These are normally coasters at parks that are not as famous and, let's face it, not as good, as the others I have ridden.

The Carolina Cyclone is one such coaster. To begin with, it is a steel looping coaster, not a wooden coaster like the original Coney Island Cyclone. The ride consists of vertical loops and corkscrews and, despite its age, is still relatively smooth.

The restraint system is not the greatest in the world, but is still not a horrible ride so there is not a lot of head banging and ear bashing. One good thing is that we have only ridden this specific coaster in the first third of the train. I have found that on sit-down steel loopers, the back is to be avoided at all costs as the force of whipping the train through the inversions leads to a great deal of discomfort on any looper not built by B and M. I avoid riding in those positions.

So anyway, I guess an average coaster deserves only an average review. When at Carowinds, don;t forget about the old girl toward the back of the park. The lines are never long and the ride is ok. I do not regret any of my rides on the Carolina Cyclone......because there is nothing wrong with average.

Overall Rating - 7

Ride the Carolina Cyclone below.

Steel Hawg - Indiana Beach (IN)

2008-09-09T19:02:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Labor Day weekend of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 in the front seat.

Wow!This is my second Indiana Beach coaster review and there will probably be more to come as the week progresses. As far as this ride is concerned, I have to say I am impressed. When I saw the lay-out and the restrain system, I was ready for some serious pain as this little coaster looked seriously intense. The steepest drop in the world and some crazy inversions and transitions on this ride looked like total insanity. I was not far from wrong but the coaster is not as rough as I thought. At least for me it wasn't.

I may catch some criticism for this, but Steel Hawg looks and rides like a Mad Mouse/Wildcat on steroids. I understand that it is not a mouse ride per se as it does not contain the switchbacks or quick turns but I still got that feeling while in line and while riding. It basically has three elements. They include the steep 120 degree first drop, the twist and dive inversion similar to the one found on the former Manhattan Express in Vegas, and the zero-g roll right at the end. These three elements are each very unique due to the small size of the 4-seater cars. The restrains are not really the "over the shoulder" types that one normally sees on looping coasters. Instead they use a hydraulic type system to lower the top shoulder restraints into place as well as the lap bars. For me, the restraints were ok, but Julia, who is a bit shorter, said she had terrible problems. That made me wonder, so for the rest of the day I asked a variety of people in the park who had ridden the ride if they thought it was comfortable. I made special note of their sizes and heights. For the most part, riders between 5'9 and 6'0 were satisfied while those much shorter or taller said the ride was uncomfortable. I am around 5'11 so I fit just fine. Larger guests in general said they felt cramped and would not ride again. That might be something to keep in mind as the restraints are very unique.

As for the ride itself, I have to say I was impressed. The first drop was pretty darn good despite being very short. It is nowhere near as good as the steep drops on Maverick or Fahrenheit since the lift hill on the Hawg takes you up and around a curve before you drop. Still, the forces are there and it is actually pretty scary. The twist and dive produces some serious hang time and the zero-g/barrel roll at the end is smooth as well.

The ride is very short but still offers enough unique elements for me to give it an 8. It is by no means a landmark coaster or a destination ride. It is probably the 3rd best coaster in the park but it does offer some elements rarely seen on larger rides. Be prepared for about a 30 minute wait as the capacity is horrible. They have four cars but were only running two when we were there. Everything else in the park was a walk-on but we had to wait a while on this.

It is still tough for me to look at this as anything but a pumped up mouse despite its unique thrills. I enjoyed the Hawg immensely but just can't go above an 8.

Overall Rating - 8

Check out Steel Hawg below.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - Disney's Hollywood Studios (FL)

2008-09-08T18:19:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: 1-1-2008 Times Rdden - Once in the back seat.

Hmmmmm.....this ride seems to receive either outstanding reviews or poor reviews so I'll try to shed a little light on why I think its pretty good.

First, the launch is excellent. I prefer the back part of the train (limo in this instance) on launched coasters because to me it makes the launch seem longer and faster. The launch compares favorably to that of the Flight of Fear rides at KD and KI in that you are blasted into darkness. Entering the trains and beginning the ride builds up a great deal of anticipation for what is a very good launch. The ride itself is solid with only a few cases of minor head or ear banging. I once again used what I call "The Turtle Method" to avoid getting my ears bashed too badly.

The ride theme is excellent, the soundtrack is outstanding (if you like Aerosmith obviously....the song I heard on my ride was Dude Looks Like a Lady) and the entire experience is a pleasurable one. I felt the pre-show was lacking as the band performs much better as musicians than they do as actors. However, at least there is an attempt made to theme the ride and it does rate as well above average.

I'll give this an 8 but I do not think it is on par with Everest or California Screamin. It is more of a 7.5 type of ride but I'll go with an 8. Make sure to get your fast pass or make use of the single rider line. With this ride being close to Tower of Terror it is easy to knock off both of these attractions at once. I would recommend getting your fast pass for this ride (the wait is usually longer here) and then riding TOT which I think is better anyway. Just a suggestion that we found worked well.

Overall Rating - 8

Check out the video below dealing with the Rock-n-Roller Coaster on Modern Marvels.

Leap-The-Dips - Lakemont Park (PA)

2008-09-07T20:50:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1

Welcome to a short review on the most significant coaster operating today. Well, that may be a little dramatic, but Leap-The-Dips is the oldest operating coaster in the world. It has been in existence since 1902 and thanks to some TLC from the current ACE organization is still running wonderfully.

The ride itself is known as a side-friction coaster in which the car continuously bounces along the track at a whopping 7 MPH meandering along and at times "leaping the dips" which are tiny 4 -5 foot drops along the track. There is only 1 car which seats two riders in the front and two in the back. Think of the typical Santa Clause sleigh minus the package of presents in the back and you have the Leap-The-Dips car. There are no restrains/seat belts as one climbs in, is pushed to the lift hill by the 14 year old ride op, and off you go. The ride seems fairly lengthy mainly because it is so slow. However, for a coaster of its age and historical importance it is a fun and smooth ride.

Lakemont Park itself is a small park with three coasters including the Starliner which overlooks the local minor league baseball field. We entered on a weekday morning and paid 3 bucks for a ride all day wristband. We only had about an hour but it was an hour and 3 dollars well spent. I am confused as to why the park does not market this ride more. Being the oldest coaster in the world, they have an excellent drawing card to bring in visitors as the park is located right off the freeway. A few billboards and a cheap ride ticket for the Dips would bring in even non-enthusiasts who wanted to simply say they had ridden the oldest operating coaster.

I absolutely loved the ride. I actually debated on giving it a 10 as there is nothing in the world to compare it to but decided on a 9. It is definitely a ride I personally will never forget. I hope and pray that this wonderful little piece of Americana continues its run for another 100 years.

Overall rating - 9

Leap-The-Dips below.

Alpengeist - Busch Gardens Europe (VA)

2008-09-06T12:41:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2007 and 2008. Times Ridden: 2 with once on the front and once toward the back.

OK, this thing is huge. Alpengeist is one of the top ranked inverted coasters in the world mainly due to its enormous size. It is an absolute must-ride on the front seat as the view dropping down the almost 200 foot first drop is spectacular.

Everything about Alpengeist is big. The Cobra Roll is gigantic as is the vertical loop. The ride is themed very well like everything else at Busch Gardens. Along with Montu (another Busch Gardens coaster) there is probably more attention to detail paid than on any other invert I have ridden.

Now, what does all this mean? First it means that despite some flaws, Aplengeist is a great coaster. The problem with the ride being so huge is that the inversions seem forceless at times. It is like the ride is crawling through them offering good hang time but little else. On most cobra rolls, the whipping action pins the rider to the seat. On this ride, there is actual hang time as the train meanders through the element.

For the reasons listed above, this is a commonly criticized coaster. It does not in my opinion rank above Montu or Raptor, but is a unique attraction due to its enormous size and gigantic elements. I enjoyed the ride immensely although it does slow down significantly toward the end. It is still fun and is a can't miss attraction while at Busch Gardens. Thanks to the wonderful first drop, it grades around a 8 which I will bump up to a low 9.

Overall Rating - 9.

Ride Alpengeist below.

The Cornball Express - Indiana Beach (IN)

2008-09-05T20:10:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Labor Day weekend of 2008. Times Ridden: 10 all over the train.

The Cornball Express was our reason for visiting Indiana Beach. This coaster is constantly ranked among the top wooden coasters in the world and I really wanted to see what the hype among enthusiasts was all about. Based on the short, intense layout, I was fully expecting a Top 20 ride with possibly a perfect score. Unfortunately, I did not get that but Cornball is still pretty good.

The ride has 3 or 4 serious moments of air time in both the front and back seats. My first ride was toward the middle and it was very underwhelming. The front is probably the best seat (I rode it at night for my final ride) but the back is excellent also. One problem is that the single train has really taken a beating and needs some serious TLC. When riding the back seat, there was a screw that kept popping out on the car in front of me causing a piece of trim to flap around right in front of me. I was constantly taking off my shoe and hammering it back down into place so as not to get my eye put out. I mentioned this to a ride operator who just smiled and said they would work on it before the next day. The ops themselves were very friendly and allowed re-rides without having to walk around if there were empty seats. That is always a plus, but it is also important to make sure all screws are locked down tight.

Each seat on the train had numerous signs of wear and tear on the restraints and the seats themselves. Some of the seatbelts were very ragged as well. All of the problems seemed very minor. I think just fixing a few areas could really make this thing look and ride like the world class coaster it has the potential to be.

Let's face facts. This ride could score a 10. It has enough airtime, a smooth track, and only a buzz bar/seat belt restraint system. These three facts, plus the fast and friendly station crew (despite their adversity to a simple screwdriver) make this a fun experience. The view of Lake Shafer was gorgeous as well.

In conclusion, riding in the middle of the train gets a solid 8 while the front and back are very high 9's. I do score rides based mainly on my experience and I had a great time on the Cornball Express. I will give it a 9 with a little more love by the park bumping up into the ranks of the top wooden coasters in existence. As of right now however, it is not there.

Overall Rating: 9

Ride The Cornball Express below.

The Flying Super Saturator - Carowinds (SC)

2008-09-04T19:17:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: May of 2007 Times Ridden: 1 (facing backwards)

So far I have reviewed a number of large and impressive coasters since they are my preference when it comes to theme park thrills. However, once in a while along comes either a flat ride (Maxair/Delirum or Skyhawk, a totally immersive attraction (Tower of Terror or Indiana Jones and the Forbidden Eye), or a 3D dark ride extravaganza (Curse of Dark Castle/Spiderman) that offers a top of the line blast of a good time. Sometimes even a log flume (Rip-Saw Falls) can do the same thing. I prefer coasters, but I really enjoy these other attractions as well.

Now where was I going.....oh yeah. The Super Saturator.... Is it a coaster or simply a "theme park experience". As a coaster, this ranks in the family coaster range of a 5 or 6 on par with Swamp Thing at Wild Adventures/Cypress Gardens or Runaway Reptar at Carowinds itself. However, I am not going to critique it as such. I am going to base my grade (a solid 8 ) on the entire attraction and the amount of fun one can have by participating.

First, you WILL get soaked. There is no question about that. Most riders take the easy way out and simply bomb the people in line since they are sitting targets. We were drenched well before getting on the ride itself. I am assuming that most people know each rider has a "water bomb" that can be used one time by pulling a lever. While you are riding, bystanders are manning water cannons and pushing buttons activating water explosions in order to further soak you. You have the option of attempting to hit these people instead of the Innocent and defenseless targets standing in line. While waiting in line, we noticed one girl (rather large in skin tight white leotards and a white top) firing a water cannon toward the end of the ride. She was absolutely soaking people and most all of the riders had already emptied their bombs by the time they reached her. She was a having a blast. It was at this point that me and my partner/girlfriend made a vow.....white leotard girl would pay and pay severely.

We watched as other cars moved along the track. We watched as they released their bombs and decided on the precise point at which we were to send down the water laden "Fat Men" from our Enola Gay suspended coaster car. When the time came (we had decided upon the back seat so we could see her reaction) we dropped and released......and did we ever connect!!

She never knew what hit her as she had no clue we were armed as we came by. The que line let out a huge cheer as we moved back toward the station house....alas we were pummeled by an 8 year old at the final point blank water cannon (he hit me directly in the eye) but it was still worth it. As we exited, the spandex lady had left probably due to the necessity of changing clothes into something less revealing.

We on the other hand, found a spot in the sun and attempted to dry off since it was a semi-cool day. Our wait for the ride was only about 20 minutes but it still had terrible capacity as we were almost on the steps once we walked through the line. Its sad that this ride is no longer running since it was great fun for the entire family. I am going with the 8 due to the uniqueness and the overall fun factor. High thrills were not an expectation for the SSS, but loads of laughs were. And this little ride delivered.

Overall Rating: 8

watch the Super Saturator in action below.

Vortex - Canadas Wonderland (Ontario, Canada)

2008-09-03T19:09:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1

Vortex is a suspended coaster (some people call them "basket rides") in the far, far north. It is among the top coasters at CW and ranks second to the Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg among suspended coasters. It offers an enjoyable climb up the top of the signature mountain in the middles of the park, a great first drop, and lots of speed and swinging which is what a good suspended coaster does.

The line is normally backed up out of the que but does move very quickly. A full que seems to be about a 30-45 minute wait which is not bad. The ride itself seems to be well maintained and the station crew does a wonderful job of hurrying people on and off. There are no signature or stand-out moments on the ride but there is nothing that bad either.

Despite its location at one of my most despised parks, Vortex is the perfect example of the average coaster. It does not offer an outstanding ride, but does not offer a horrible experience either. It is not a fast ride but is not slow either. I was not really comfortable in the trains, but was not really uncomfortable. Everything it is designed to do, Vortex does and for that it should be commended.

I enjoyed my single ride on Vortex but do not plan to visit again anytime soon. CW in general suffers from horrible park operations, poor customer service and massive amounts of people. Visit the park at your own risk but if you do, take a pin on this ride. It is one of the only decent rides at the entire park.

Overall Rating - 7

Ride Vortex below.

Lightning Racer - Hersheypark (PA)

2008-09-02T18:07:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 4

Every so often, you hear of a coaster that sounds so unique and interesting that when it is finally ridden, there is the inevitable let down. On our summer trip of 2008, Lightning Racer unfortunately fell into that category due to a number of reasons. However, lets look at some of its positives first.

Lightning Racer is considered to be a dueling or racing coaster due to the fact that it contains two coaster trains which run simultaneously along two different tracks. The coasters in this case (named Lightning and Thunder) begin on staggered lift hills and are constantly flying beside and around the other coaster train. This technique is done to perfection with IOA's Dueling Dragons (see my review) and this ride is almost as good. Unlike other racing coasters, (Gemini at Cedar Point, Gwazi at BGA, etc.) it is never known which side will win. We rode each side twice and won both times on the Lightning side and once on the Thunder side. There are a variety of factors which cause once side to finish first and probably the way I leaned forward and yelled at the top of my lungs are not among them. Regardless, the racing aspect is great fun and adds to the overall experience.

Both sides are also silky smooth with nary a hint of roughness. There are very few, if any, pops of airtime but there are tons of laterals which make up for it. The quick directional changes and transitions are smooth, fast, and fun as well. So what is the problem?

This sounds dumb but I really don't know. I do have a few ideas but am not really sure if any of them are legit. This ride is a capacity machine since it runs two trains on each side. However, on our visit they had the entire middle of each train roped off. They only opened about 4 seats on the front and 4 on the back. I am not sure if this is standard procedure on slack days but this led to wait time in the station. Now granted, the wait time was not significant (less than 10 minutes) but as an enthusiast I was wanting re-rides. I do not think there would have been a problem filling each train on each ride so that was not an issue.

It's also known among coaster enthusiasts that wooden coasters run better when the trains are full. The added weight usually adds speed and thus the elements are more enjoyable. Since wooden coasters do not have inversions (except for the former Son of Beast at King's Island) the laterals and speed are very important. Since Lightning Racer was not running full trains, I think some of this was lacking.

Then again, I was looking for a better version of Dueling Dragons and this ride is definitely not that. Since wood is my preferred material of choice when riding coasters, I was fully expecting this ride to dive into my top 10 among the great woodies. Alas, it is not even in my Top 20 despite the high score I will still give it. Maybe another day the Coaster Reviews Staff can make it back to Hershey and give this thing another whirl or two. Until then, Lightning Racer gets a solid 9 and, despite its shortcomings, is still the best ride in the Land of Chocolate. And it has a short wait.

Overall Rating - 9

Ride Lightning Racer below.

Storm Runner - Hersheypark (PA)

2008-09-01T21:37:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 in the second seat.

Here again, is a unique Intamin ride. Storm Runner, has a powerful launch, a great Top-Hat, and an intense inversion called a Flying Snake Dive. This thing has to be seen to be believed. However, like so many Intaim rides that have been built recently, the restraint system causes a point to be taken away in my book.

Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster are 2 Intamin rides that have received perfect 10's from me. That is not due to the fact that they are located at Cedar Point but rather due to the simple lap-bar style restraint system they have. However with Kingda Ka and their other looping sit-down coasters, these restraints just cause me to have to fight to be comfortable and that is not what a perfect coaster does.

Maverick, Farenheit, and Storm Runner are all very similar to me. They are outstanding rides that could be 10's if their restraints were a little more comfortable. I still recommend the method I described in my Maverick review of placing the elbows against the back of the car and pushing forward slightly when entering an inversion. However, on Storm Runner, I was not prepared and took two seriously hard shots to the neck going through inversions.

I will still give the ride the benefit of the doubt and score is as a 9. I know that with another ride, I would have been prepared and enjoyed the elements much more. Some positives of the ride include the launch, the top hat, and the unique inversions. Just be prepared when you enter them or you will leave with a sore neck.

Overall Rating - 9.

Expedition Everest - Disney's Animal Kingdon (FL)

2008-08-28T18:42:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Dec. 31st of 2007. Times Ridden: 2 with once in the 3rd row from the front and once in the 2nd row from the back.

To begin with, nobody beats Disney for capacity. We started off Animal Kingdom by doing Dino-land and easing our way back to Everest. Julia and myself got our fast pass and then, since the line only said 30 minutes, decided to go ahead and ride it once. Within 20 minutes we were seated toward the rear of the train and ready. Later on when we used our fast pass we were on the ride in less than 1 minute as there was no one in the fast pass line. Disney rules for capacity always and forever.

As for the ride itself, I am hesitant to use the phrase "mine train" as the premise behind the ride is an expedition up to the top of Mount Everest that goes awry. However, the ride feel is similar to that of Big Thunder Mountain. I do not mean this in any bad way as I feel that Disney is the master of the mine train type of ride and this for some reason seems to have that type of feel, particularly in the very slow beginning. However, the rides theme is top notch and that slow beginning is necessary to what you will encounter later in the ride.

The dual lift hills take the train up very high and from the front offers a great view between the mountain peaks. This is at the point which the track has been destroyed by the Yeti who is angry over the lack of respect paid to his temple. Examples of this destruction can be found all throughout the area surrounding the ride. After the first third of the ride is over and you take the backwards portion through a switchback on the track and into the mountain itself, it begins getting a little more intense. The backwards potion stops you in the mountain where you can see the cut scene of the angry Yeti which is just a little too cartoonish. Still, it is very fun to watch and leads into the third and final leg of the trip which includes the dive down past the Yeti himself.

This creature is absolutely amazing as he seems very lifelike and extremely angry. The back of the train is better at this portion as you get a little better look at him while zooming past.

So anyway, whats the deal? Everest as a ride rates out as a 7 but gets a bump up for the attention to detail and the creature itself. When riding, try the front of the car first to see the views at the end of the first portion and then try any car toward the back giving you a longer view of the beast at the end of the ride. Disney coasters are always less about thrills and more about the experience itself. In this case, the formula works as the Mouse has a great ride at one of the weaker Disney parks. Everest gets a solid 8 from me and ranks # 2 behind California Screamin as my favorite Disney coaster.

Great Bear - Hersheypark (PA)

2008-08-27T19:41:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1

When dealing with an invert made by famous coaster designers Bolliger and Mabillard, you know what you are going to get. The ride will be smooth, the inversions fun, and a wonderful overall experience. Those expectations are met with The Great Bear at Hersheypark.

Here at Coaster Reviews, we try not to review a coaster if we only have only ridden it a few times. Some coasters are instant hits (Cyclone at Coney Island), while others take time to appreciate. However, Great Bear is what it is. It is nothing different from any other typical B and M invert which is a good thing. While it may not jump to the top of the ranking it is still a fun ride with very few, if any weaknesses. The problem with travelling all over the country is that once you have ridden one of these rides, the rest seem very similar. For that reason, Great Bear seems to rank alongside the numerous Batman rides throughout the country instead of at the top along with Montu, Raptor, and Talon. It is a wonderful ride with beautiful landscaping and a smooth comfortable experience. There just isn't anything that really stands out.

When visiting the World of Chocolate, this is still a "can't miss" attraction. The lines seem to be fairly short here and Great Bear will give you a great experience. If you have never ridden a B and M invert before then you will be in for a great time. If you have, then you know what to expect. And that, coaster riders, is a good thing in this instance.

Overall Rating: 8.

Ride Great Bear below.

Dueling Dragons: Fire and Ice - Islands of Adventure (FL)

2008-08-26T19:16:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: 1 time in the front car of both sides in January of 2007 and multiple times in other cars in January of 2008. Times Ridden: 10 total (5 for Fire and 5 for Ice)

This past January was one of the most amazing weekends of coaster riding in my life. Guy and myself rode the famous Montu 10 consecutive times, spent about 45 minutes straight on the the Starliner at Cypress Gardens and then....well it is tough to explain. I'll just say that it is a blessing to have friends ready to attend these parks with and to enjoy all of the fellowship that goes along with it. And did we ever have something to talk about on our 8 hour journey back to GA.....without a doubt the most intense and scary coaster ride of our lives. If I have you hooked please read on...

Most everyone knows the concept of the Dueling Dragons at IOA. This unique attraction consists of 2 superb B and M inverts which duel at various stages through their rides. The two coasters combine to make my favorite attraction in Florida but each coaster is in itself a unique experience. I am going to try to review each coaster separately in order to focus on what each side.....fire and ice.......has to offer. With all of that said lets check out Fire first.

After driving all night and visiting Kraken at Sea World first (see Kraken review) we grabbed some lunch and headed out to IOA for about 5 hours of coaster riding. We were looking for a lengthy wait on Hulk (which is normally the most popular attraction at the park) and the capability to ride the Dragons numerous times since the line is normally short. Amazingly we were able to get 2 quick rides on Hulk and them moved to the back of the park where the line for the DDs was approaching 40 minutes.

Since this is a capacity machine with 4 total trains running, our wait was only about 30 as we wound our way through the lengthy que (wait times varied as I think they had some issues with the ride......we had 30 minute waits sometimes and would run around to get back in line and get straight on during others......it was really weird..we got in 8 total rides) and jumped on the fire dragon first. We rotated our rides back and forth on the two coasters but the ride I wish to focus on was our final ride of the night on Ice. I will get to that ride later.

After multiple rides, I think I prefer Fire slightly even though I will give both the same rating. With Fire you have a little more intensity and a little more speed without really losing anything in the dueling aspect. You get two superb duels with Fire (as opposed to 3 that are noticeable on Ice) and they are both excellent as you can see the riders below you on the zero g roll and the double loops sneak up on you a little more on this side. However, as the park was about to close, we were running around the line to get back in for hopefully one more ride. They had closed off the short cut, so we simply leaped the barricade so as not to have to run all the way around. We sprinted through the castle and into the loading area as the gates were popping open. We ran straight through and got on the last car. There were only 4 people on the front and the two of us in the back when a phone call came down to the operators and everything was delayed.

It had been raining off and on all day and we knew that storms were in the forecast but we had no idea that a huge thunderhead had blown up. Suddenly one of the ops stated that management said to go ahead and send the trains as the last ones of the day. We were pumped as they sent us out to the lift hill...and into an unbelievable experience.

For anyone who is reading this, I kid you not, it seemed we had entered a freaking hurricane! It was pitch black, the wind was gusting at unbelievable speeds, and it was absolutely pouring rain. I am still amazed that they sent us out into that. As we dropped down the lift hill, I had to pull my hoody over my face and keep my hands in front of my eyes because the rain was hurting so bad. If there was ever an actual battle between dragons, it could not have been more intense than that ride we received. The thunder was crashing, the lightening was flashing every few seconds, and the rain was a torrential downpour. I was simply trying to survive and praying that we would make it back to the station. It would not surprise me if someone lost their job for sending that train out. I doubt that I will ever have a ride that intense ever again. We left the park once this ride was over, walked to the car, and then drove into Orlando to grab a bite to eat. When we got to the restaurant, I actually took off my shoe and literally dumped the water out of it. It was totally insane.

When comparing the two coasters, Ice offers a different layout with one extra duel (easier to see that is) plus a superb near miss with the castle wall as the coaster enters the cobra roll. I always pull my feet in much like I do on Montu with its near miss of the temple ruins. Ice is a little better at dueling as it has a longer run up at the double loops. It is much easier to see this inversion/duel on this side of the coaster.

Ice is still an intense ride, but it does slow down a little toward the end. There is one final duel in the last part of the ride that is much more visually noticeable on Ice since you are going slower (but by no means slow....Ice is still very quick all the way to the end).

Once again, while the front row offers the best visuals, you still get the dueling aspect in all seats as we rode in virtually every seat on the train. I really like the back seat on Ice as you get some great visuals of the other train going through inversions at numerous points throughout the ride. I would recommend on your first time through each side, go ahead and wait the extra time on the front car. After that, simply ride the first available row and try to get a wide variety of seats. That way one can get everything that this compact little ride has to offer.

Also take some time to hang out at some of the lookout points. This ride is almost as much fun to watch and appreciate from the viewpoint of a coaster enthusiast as it is to ride. It is amazing at some of the things this coaster does.

Whew, that took some time. I welcome comments or suggestions and highly recommend this attraction for anyone no matter how far you have to drive. Fire and Ice offer an experience that is impossible to get on any other ride in the world to the best of my knowledge. The attention to details is superb and all-immersive. I am a huge fan of fantasy literature as well (we high school English teachers tend to like that kind of stuff) and this ride gives the feeling that you are stepping back into the middle ages. I only hope and pray that they do not change ANYTHING about this ride when Harry Potter land comes. I enjoyed the books, but hope that IOA does not mess up the best themed ride on earth by trying to change it. I am somehow afraid they will though.

Ice and Fire get a solid 9 from me. Ride the front for a perfect 10 but good seats are located throughout the entire train. Go to Florida and ride this beauty. Now. Hurry!!

Corkscrew - Cedar Point (OH)

2008-08-25T20:05:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Every summer since 2006. Times Ridden: 6

Corkscrew, located at the Coaster Capitol of the World, is a classic. It was the first coaster in the world to contain three inversions and is among the most picturesque rides in the world with its two corkscrews directly over the main midway. It is very well taken care of with a dark blue color scheme and three trains which run virtually all the time. The three trains make this ride a virtual walk-on regardless of how crowded the park is.

Alas, despite its positives, Corkscrew is a below average coaster. For some reason, the seats have a hump right at the neck which leads to a very painful ride. I don't think the ride has gotten rough just because of its age, I think it runs as well it did all those years ago. It simply runs the way it was built: not very comfortably.

That being said, you simply have to ride this at least once any time you visit the Point. It is a classic and not to be missed despite its rough sections and uncomfortable seats. Diving over the midway within a few feet of the people walking by is great fun no matter when you ride. I have found that the middle of the train seems to be a little smoother than the very front and very back cars. Regardless of where you ride, just make sure to give the old girl a whirl. The ride time is only a little over a minute and it is worth it to say that you have ridden the first coaster in the world with three inversion.

Overall Rating - 6

Ride Corkscrew below.

Hydra- The Revenge - Dorney Park (PA)

2008-08-24T17:30:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 2 with the best ride being in the very front seat for Guy's 100th coaster.

What the heck is a "Jo-Jo Roll"?

In preparing for our Summer of 2008 trip, I focused on a number of the newer rides as well as some of the more famous older ones. However, I did not pay much attention to what I thought was a small, compact floorless coaster located in Dorney Park and overshadowed by the likes of Talon, Steel Force and Voodoo. Hydra was that coaster.

First, let's have a little history lesson. Years ago, Dorney Park had a wooden coaster named Hercules at the exact location in which Hydra now stands. Hercules was a wooden coaster known more for its roughness than anything else. Many coaster enthusiasts enjoyed it but it was a little uncomfortable for the average park goer based on ride reviews I have read. I never had the chance to ride it. The coaster was demolished and replaced with a coaster named after the creature that Hercules destroyed in the Greek myths: The Hyrda. Hence the name, Hydra - The Revenge.

Now that we have the history lesson over, let's talk about the rides' signature element: that Jo-Jo roll. The only way to understand it is to simply see it. To the best of my knowledge there is not another inversion like this in the world. Dropping out of the station into the slow moving inversion with the absolute best hang-time of any ride ever is a different experience. After that, the journey up the lift hill, the first drop, and the other inversions are taken with that typical B and M smoothness despite the compact lay-out of the ride.

I liked Hyrda but the coaster still falls a little short of both Talon and Steel Force hence the lower rating. It is well above average and offers a unique experience for even the most seasoned coaster enthusiasts. Don't miss it when you visit Dorney Park.

Overall Rating: 8

Ride Hydra below.

Ride of Steel - Darien Lake (NY)

2008-08-23T18:18:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 3

As most coaster enthusiasts are aware, Ride of Steel at Darien Lake was formally Superman- Ride of Steel until Six Flags sold the park to another developer leading to the dropping of the Superman name. The ride was also given a new logo minus the "S" symbol. However, despite this name change the ride itself remains a wonderful ride and is consistently ranked among the top steel coasters in the world. It was also one of the coasters I was most looking forward to riding. Intamin, my favorite steel coaster designer, had already designed two virtually perfect rides (Millennium Force and Superman in Agawam) and this looked to be a very similar coaster. However, I was in for a disappointment.....and it had little to do with the coaster itself.

The problem with my Ride of Steel experience (and the reason this ride did not make my top 10) was this. Why would a park run two trains to improve capacity but refuse to allow people on one train so "it would not have to run half empty". That is the quote that I was given by what looked to be a park manager in a shirt and tie when asked why on a virtually deserted day in the park, along with two train operation, wait times were still over 15 minutes. Does running a train empty save more electricity than running one half-empty? On each ride on the empty train, the ride ops unbuckled every seat belt then buckled them right back before lowering the lap bar. It was among the most asinine things I have ever seen in my entire life. When we saw the park, I thought we would easily get 10 rides on this, their signature coaster, as well as riding everything else there. However, after 3 rides in 45 minutes with no one even waiting in line (sometimes they even held up the one train they were allowing people to board until more showed up to ride) along with our Motocoaster incident (see review) made for a poor afternoon and a virtual waste of 25 dollars.

OK, after that rant, how is the ride? It is wonderful. Some enthusiasts criticize this version of the ROS for having too much straight track but I feel that these portions are excellent for giving the rider that sense of speed that I love so well. The coaster is smooth with two great downward spiraling helices (not my favorite element on a hyper coaster but these are pretty good) and a wonderful finish with three great airtime hills. It was a little shaky at the top of the lift hill (not sure where the "shimmy" comes from but it was a little disconcerting the first time) but that did not detract from the ride.

The coaster is pleasing visually with the lift hill seeming to come straight up from the ground since it is in an area of the park that is slightly lower than normal when one first walks around to where the ride is located. There are no dead spots nor rough sections to speak of.

I was really disappointed when we pulled out of the Darien Lake parking lot. What I had hoped would be one of my favorite ride experiences was spoiled by poor park operations and a "carnie-like" attitude toward one of the greatest steel coasters on the planet. I do give props to the ride operator who let us stay on and get a third ride since there was no one waiting on our seat. If not for him, it would have been 2 rides in 45 minutes with no lines. Unbelievable.

To all Darien Lake management personnel: take a trip about 4 hours south to Knoebels in PA and watch the crew run Phoenix. You can definitely pick up some pointers.

Overall Rating - 9 (for the ride quality).

Ride ROS below.

Blue Streak - Cedar Point (OH)

2008-08-22T16:40:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Every summer since 2006. Times Ridden: 5

Blue Streak is pretty much the best woodie Cedar Point has to offer. It is a quaint, old out-and-back design that really only has one problem: the restraints. In the cars, it is still possible to see where the original one position buzz bars were located, but now they are gone with individual lap bars and seat belts installed. To me personally, this always causes problems with the trains.

To begin with, the cars were not designed to use the new restraints. The intent of the original ride was to give the rider that out of control feeling one gets on all of the great seaside woodies from years ago. The lap bars on Blue Streak are especially uncomfortable almost ruining the entire experience. I am not a large person (under 6 feet tall and around 165 pounds) but I feel crowded in the Blue Streak trains.

Other than this one problem, the coaster design itself is above average. The ride is not rough, the out-and-back layout is fun with pops of air on both the trip out and the trip back. The scenery is nice with a good view of Lake Erie. The coaster itself could just be so much fun set among all of the steel materpieces Cedar Point offers if only it had been left as it was originally intended to be: with buzz bar restraints and an out of control feeling. What could have been a top ranked wooden coaster is now merely average. I will continue to ride Blue Streak on each return trip to the Coaster Capitol. Howver, I will also continue to rue the day that Cedar Fair neutered their best woodie.

Overall Score - 7

Ride Blue Streak below.

Kraken - Sea World Orlando (FL)

2008-08-21T21:15:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: January of 2007 and 2008 Times Ridden: 20 (yep....20) including 13 consecutive rides in 3 hours on 1-19-2008.

Happy Birthday to me on the best "non-gimmick" coaster in Florida!!! I was blessed to be able to spend the first part of my 36th birthday lapping Kraken on a cold and misty morning. And let me tell you, it was definitely worth the overnight ride from north Georgia to Orlando.

I remembered from 2006 that Kraken was an outstanding coaster, but riding something 13 times in a row gives one a greater understanding for rides that are this good. The pacing on this thing is simply perfect. The large drop into the vertical loop, the dive loop and the zero g roll lead to a virtually perfect first half. The drop off the mid-course brakes down into the two tunnels and the final corkscrew are superb. We even were lucky enough to ride on a virtually empty train in which the mid-course brakes did not kick in leading to an insane second half.

Add to that, the fact that it was so overcast and misty (it was impossible to even see the course layout from the top of the lift hill) led to some of the best rides I have ever had on any coaster. And amazingly, they were not even the best rides of the trip!! We had a wonderful journey to Florida and Kraken got us off to a great start. My only gripe was that for the first hour they were only running one train which led to 20 minute waits in between rides. Once the second train was added, the fun really began as everything else was a walk-on. Kraken gets a solid 9. Make sure to ride the front seat as without a doubt it is the best seat by far on the train.

Overall Rating - 9

Ride Kraken below.

The Incredible Hulk- Islands of Adventure (FL)

2008-08-20T18:32:00.004-04:00

Date Ridden: January of 2007 and 2008. Times Ridden: 5 with once in the front, once in the back, and three times toward the middle/back portion of the train.
With the release of the new Hulk movie, I think it fitting to give this ride its review.

Living here in the Peach State of Georgia, coaster season closes in late October and starts back up in May. However, thanks to Orlando, I can get my coaster fix on each MLK weekend with a trip down to sunny Florida. I won't mention the humidity and spoil it for you.

IOA is one of our destinations each year with Hulk being the first ride we normally jump on in cartoon oriented Super-Hero Land. I, like most other enthusiasts, feel that B and M hit one out of the park with the creation of this green machine. However, I may be able to defend this ride from a different view point......that of the B and M computer geek designer. Read on as I sneak a peek inside his head.......

Computer Geek thinking aloud... "Ok, the Hulk is this gigantic green monster that is really intense. He jumps high, is strong, and can run really fast. But wait a minute....to start with he is this wormy-looking little geek scientist (hmmmm.....me?) until he gets angry. So, the ride should start off slow and then just go berserk when the geeky white dude turns big and green. Can we do that? Yep, we just need some tires and a propulsion system that shuts down half the power in Orlando when it launches."

Coaster Designer Geek continues to think...."OK, the insane launch out of the tunnel into the inversion....the dive into the mist....and the huge cobra roll. All that seems to be symbolic of the Hulks' anger. Now, what happens after he gets mad? Why, he calms down of course! So after the mid-course brakes we can design this ride as a snooze-fest symbolizing the return of the giant green guy into the geeky scientist once again."

End of Coaster Designer Geeks' thoughts.

In all seriousness, I like Hulk and give it a solid 9. It is a gorgeous attraction that is visible from anywhere in the park. I personally like the back of the train a little better since it seems the launch is longer so I would recommend riding there if possible. Also, the technology used for the launch still amazes me. I can't help but think of all those rotating Goodyears beneath the track each time I ride.

In summary, Hulk is a great coaster worthy of its top 20 ranking in many steel coaster polls. I personally like the Dueling Dragons better, but IOA does indeed have a solid trio of 9's making it a coaster lovers paradise.

Overall Score - 9

Morph into the Hulk below.

Superman: Ride of Steel - Six Flags New England (MA)

2008-08-19T18:27:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: June of 2007. Times Ridden: 7 with one ride in Row 2, 2 rides in the very back, and the others spaced out toward the middle and back.

Where do I start? Ok, I guess I'll start with the crazy idea Guy and myself came up with in March of this past year. We had already ridden the famous Millennium Force and was bound and determined to ride what we called "The Number 1 Ride in the World". ROS continually defeats MF not only in the Golden Tickets but also in the much more accurate Mitch's Poll (an online coaster poll highly respected among enthusiasts) each year. We had to know what all the fuss was about.

So we came up with the idea of riding both coasters within a 12 hour span.

We started off leaving GA on a Tuesday night, driving all night to a small coaster place known as 6 Flags Great Adventure (sic) with a couple of "decent" coasters. I have done my El Toro and Nitro reviews so there is no need to get into them. Kingda Ka was great but still a slight disappointment in my book. Anyway, we stayed for 4 hours and then took off up the interstate with our google directions taking us to Agawam. In between, we worked our way across the George Washington Bridge in 5 O'clock traffic in which 12 lanes on one side of the toll booth were being funnelled into 4 lanes on the other side. We think of this incident fondly as "The GW Car Orgy".

This put us seriously behind schedule but we decided to head up to Superman anyway. By the time we got there, they were not even taking up money for parking anymore so with our passes riding Superman cost us nothing but gas to get up there. We were able to get in 7 rides in 90 minutes. We rode absolutely nothing else in the park. We did not even walk around the park. We went straight to Superman, rode it until they made us leave, and then made it out to our car. We then drove another 8 hours to Sandusky (where we stayed for a couple of days in an actual hotel room with a bed to sleep in instead of a car with duffle bags as pillows in the back seat).

Ok how about the ride? It is as great as everyone says it is. It offers unbelievable airtime, particularly in the back seat. It is smooth as silk. The pacing never lets up from the first drop into the tunnel, all the way through the airtime hills going back, around the helix, into the mist-filled tunnel and over the camelback humps at the end. It is virtually a perfect ride with a wonderful view of the park (it was the only way we were able to see the entire park) and the river. We wanted to ride the front but with our limited time along with the huge line (about 20 extra minutes) we decided to get as many laps as possible. Plus on Intamin hypers, the second seat is almost as good since the seats on the back rows of each car are elevated. We were in the line for the 3rd seat but ended being offered the seats in the second row due to a group wanting to ride together.

My favorite part of the ride is probably a part however that does not even contain any airtime. The helix that takes you on a dive into a refreshing tunnel of mist was probably the part I looked forward to the most on each lap. As far as airtime, which is what the coaster is about, the hill on the way back from the overbanked turnaround which takes your picture (I dont remember if it is the 2nd or 3rd) has the sickest amount of the entire ride. You are absolutely ejected from your seat on this portion.

In conclusion, Superman ranks in my top 5 (although it is virtually tied with Millennium Force in my opinion...it may even be a little better but read my MF review and you can see why I list it as # 1) and deserves its Golden Ticket. Intamin has a winner with this one without a doubt. I look forward to getting back up to Agawam and checking it out again.

Overall Rating - 10

Ride the # 1 ranked coaster in the world below.

Time Warp - Canada's Wonderland (Ontario, Canada)

2008-08-18T20:22:00.005-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1.

This thing is basically horrible.

So far, Coaster Reviews has analyzed some of the best rides in the world. Well, believe it or not, there are some bad rides out there. This is one such example.

The concept is unique. Time Warp (aka Tomb Raider until Cedar Fair bought out the park and eliminated the Paramount names) is a flying coaster which only holds 4 people per train. The ride itself never actually stops so loading is an adventure in itself. You, the rider/victim stand in a certain location and hop aboard as the train moves slowly by you. The ride op then slams it shut and away you go. The lift is different in that it sends you in a circle taking the train up to the top before it is finally dropped onto the course. Up to this point, the ride has not been great but not bad either. That is about to change.

Time Warp is really uncomfortable and I could not wait to get off of it. Your head constantly bangs into the side of the restraint, the inversions are among the most painful out there, and there is not one single comfortable moment once the ride starts its descent. From a distance, Time Warp looks like a fun little coaster that has some different elements. On board, it is a torture machine that no one on the Coaster Reviews staff will ever ride again.

Time Warp is well below average. I would recommend the video below being as close as anyone ever gets to actually riding it.

Overall Score - 4 for the unique elements. The ride quality would actually be a 2 or 3.

Ride Time Warp below.

Talon - Dorney Park (PA)

2008-08-17T18:09:00.003-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 3 with the best ride being in the front seat.

Talon, an inverted coaster located in Allentown, is among the most underrated coasters built by famous coaster designers Bolliger and Mabillard. When talking about inverts, most coaster enthusiasts start with Montu down in Florida and progress on to the gigantic Alpengeist in Virginia and Raptor in Sandusky, OH. However, Talon holds its own with each of those mentioned above and even has some elements that the staff at Coaster Reviews actually think are better.

To begin with, it is silky smooth with not one single instance of uncomfortableness. The twisting drop is wonderful, particularly when taken in the front seat as the train drops and seems to actually skim the ground. The inversions are taken fast and quick with the zero-G rolls being the best elements on the ride. Most inverts offer a cobra roll which is by far my least favorite inversion. Talon does not have one including an extra loop and high speed helix instead along with an Immelman maneuver as well.

The color scheme is bright and easy to see from most areas of the park and the ride is very popular. Dorney also does a good job of running two trains which keeps the line moving quickly.

On my first to visit to the park, I was looking forward to riding some of the other coasters but Talon really blew me away. Despite limited time, we jumped back in line and waited a little extra on the front seat. It was fun with an unobstructed view and the feeling of the wind hitting you in your face. Despite many enthusiasts views to the contrary, I found it to be a unique experience with a different layout from B and M's other inverted creations. This is a very strong ride at a park with a number of really fun and different coasters including the massive and smooth Steel Force, and the compact floorless Hydra. I found Dorney to be an outstanding park. Obviously, Talon was one of the reason why.

Overall Score - 9

Ride Talon below.

Volcano: The Blast Coaster - Kings Dominion (VA)

2008-08-16T18:21:00.006-04:00

Date Ridden: Summer of 2007 and 2008. Times Ridden: 4.

Volcano is an interesting coaster located about 8 hours northeast from my home in the northwest corner of Georgia. It is one of the world's only inverted launched coasters and hits my top spot for favorite inverted coaster. It lands solidly in the Coaster Reviews Top 20 with a number of very unique elements which I will attempt to explain below.

The beginning of the ride is quite possibly the best start to any ride in existence. A 0-70 MPH launch out of and around the man-made mountain (it actually used to be home to a Smurf ride before it was re-designed) and then back into the mountain and another launch 90 degrees straight up and out of the volcano with fire roaring around you!!! Now that is creativity and Intamin (designers of the Coaster Reviews # 1 ranked coaster, Millennium Force) dipped into their back of tricks to pull this one off.

Next, the three barrel rolls while the train flies around the mountain are taken at such a slow speed that the hanging sensation is heightened, making the riders feel like they are about to fall out and tumble down the mountain more than 100 feet below. These are three of my favorite inversions (despite not being the greatest inversion fan there is) found on any coaster.

Lastly, there is a large banked drop at the end where the ride dives back into the mountain and comes to a stop. While an overlooked portion of the ride, this is a great ending to a very thrilling experience.

Despite it's many exciting features, there are a few issues with Volcano that bump it down a point. To begin with, due to the short layout of the course, there are only two trains which hold 16 passengers per train. While not a capacity nightmare, get ready for a 45-90 minute wait due to this fact plus the rides popularity. Secondly, and I've already mentioned this, the ride is a little short for a truly world-class coaster. I do not mind short rides if they are thrilling, and Volcano certainly is, but another 1,000 feet of track would bump this monster up immensely.

One final recommendation would be to definitely ride in the very front car. Of my four rides, two have been in the front and one of those was at night. Being launched with nothing in front of you but air was a great experience. Also, as is normal on inverted coasters, the view from the front is totally unobstructed making for a better visual experience.

In conclusion, Volcano is the top coaster at Kings Dominion and a truly world class ride. It does not get the respect it deserves in many coaster circles due to its short length. However, it is fun, exciting, and a total "blast". There is nothing like being shot out of a volcano to close down a great day of coaster riding.

Overall Score - 9

Ride Volcano below.