Millennium Force Picture Update.

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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!!!