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

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

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

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.

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)

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

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)

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)

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

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

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.