chickenbowl

*Due to late-season openings becoming the norm lately, I'm going to count "debut season" as the first 12 months of operation. 2002: Technic Coaster - Legoland* 2005: Silver Bullet - KBF* Space Mountain - Disneyland 2006: Tastu - SFMM (Opening week) 2008: Sierra Sidewinder - KBF* Big Spin - SFDK (Opening week) 2009: Apocalypse - SFMM 2011: Green Lantern - SFGAdv Gotham City Gauntlet - SFNE Green Lantern - SFMM Road Runner Express - SFMM 2012: Manta - SWSD (Opening day!) Skyrush - Hershey Verbolten - BGW Wild Eagle - Dollywood Superman Ultimate Flight - SFDK 2013: YOLOcoaster - SFMM Coast Rider - KBF Gold Striker - CGA 2014: Undertow - SCBB* Escape From Gringott's - USO Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - WDW Speedy Gonzales - SFMM (Opening week) 2015: Twisted Colossus - SFMM (Before opening to the public!) Batman The Ride - SFFT Rewind Racers - Adventure City 2016: Flight of the Hippogriff - USH Valravn - Cedar Point Spinning Out - Beech Bend Storm Chaser - Kentucky Kingdom Coaster at Goats on the Roof - Pigeon Forge Phobia Phear Coaster - Lake Compounce Flying Dinosaur - Universal Studios Japan Joker - SFDK 2017: Lightning Rod - Dollywood* Mako - SeaWorld Orlando* 2018: Electric Eel - SWSD (Opening day!) HangTime - KBF (Before opening to the public!) RailBlazer - CGA (Before opening to the public!) Twist-N-Shout - Central Park Fun-Land Twisted Timbers - Kings Dominion Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point Adrenaline Peak - Oaks Amusement Park 2019: Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster - Six Flags Fiesta Texas* Tidal Twister - SeaWorld San Diego (not an actual coaster) Panic Coaster - Back Daaan - Tokyo Dome City Hakugei - Nagashima Spa Land I missed basically every "major" US coaster opening this year. It's alright though, because I'll hopefully make up for it in 2020!

I've ridden 21 inverts, here's my top 5: 1. Chinese Fireball* 2. Pyrenees 3. Alpengeist 4. Black Mamba 5. Montu

I would be wondering the same thing. Here's a little breakdown: The first drop (albeit shorter than Toro) is steeper and felt like Skyrush. The next hill is sustained ejector much like GeForce's first straight hill. You proceed to enter a death curve at crazy speeds and do the figure-8 thing. The airtime into the Midcourse is otherworldly in the front. The latter "half" is much like Balder, yes, but the big difference is it feels like 1.5x speed. My complaint with Balder was that it felt quite slow through a lot of the turns. T Express fixes that and turns it up. Ejector on every hill T Express feels way longer than both those coasters and has more spots of airtime in total. It has a more complete layout than Toro, and it also has the best setting in the group. I was under-hyping the ride before I rode, but it completely blew me away.

Here's a little update after an extensive Japan/Korea trip. I feel like Top-25 may give a bit more perspective: 1. Steel Vengeance 2. Lightning Rod 3. T Express 4. Intimidator 305 5. Maverick 6. Hakugei 7. Outlaw Run 8. Skyrush 9. Twisted Timbers 10. El Toro 11. Expedition GeForce 12. Phoenix 13. Coaster (Playland) 14. Wildfire 15. Medusa Steel 16. Fury 325 17. Wonder Women 18. RailBlazer 19. Iron Rattler 20. Helix 21. Twisted Colossus 22. Mega-Lite (HV Shanghai) 23. Kawasemi 24. Prowler 25. Superman the Ride Some notes: - Yeah, RMC is dominating the list. 11/25 spots. - Trusty, old Intamin isn't too far behind. 9/25 spots. Also T Express is truly insane. - I love me some wood coasters. 8/25 spots. Pretty good ratio I'd say. - Only 1 B&M makes my top 25 anymore. - Two different "clones" make it in! - Eight years ago, Superman the Ride (aka Bizarro aka Superman: Ride of Steel) was my #1 coaster. Now it's my #25.

Thanks for the correction, it just proves my point even more! And I'm glad you liked Twisted Timbers so much I agree, the coaster has a very diverse layout in my opinion.

I'll elaborate in about a week when I write up my trip report for it, but it blew me away! The POVs don't do it justice, the coaster hauls though every element.

This is a little spoiler for those following my not-yet-current trip report here's my semi-controversial, updated rankings of the RMCs: 1. Steel Vengeance 2. Lightning Rod 3. Hakugei 4. Outlaw Run 5. Twisted Timbers 6. Wildfire 7. Medusa Steel Coaster 8. Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster 9. RailBlazer 10. Iron Rattler 11. Twisted Colossus 12. New Texas Giant 13. Joker 14. Storm Chaser 15. Goliath 16. Wicked Cyclone I will say that RMC is my favorite manufacturer and all 16 coasters are in my top-60. I even give 5 of them perfect scores of 10/10. Can't wait to ride more! I'm currently missing Untamed, Twisted Cyclone, and Zadra. Now that RMC is building international more frequently, it's becoming quite difficult to keep up! A return to Europe is definitely in the cards.

Hello everyone, it's been a while. I figured I should follow through on this trip report because although there's been a lack of updates, I have been chugging away on riding all these darn RMC's. In an effort to catch up (and because I didn't take many pictures of Twisted Timbers) I will include TWO RMC's in today's update - Let's get started! Twisted Timbers. 2018 was actually pretty nuts for US parks, we got a whopping FIVE RMC's. For most (including me), the hype surrounding Steel Vengeance overshadowed the other three. But once I saw a POV of Twisted Timbers, I knew it must be tackled sooner rather than later. The planned trip utilized the Cedar Fair platinum pass and involved a heck of a drive between Doswell, VA and Sandusky, OH. After waiting for an afternoon storm to pass, I managed 11 night rides on Twisted Timbers, and holy hell my expectations were BEYOND exceeded (I expected a top 15-25 coaster, NOT top 10...). I'll start off by saying that the new generation trains are smooth. Like glass (Or like the early Gerstaluer trains). They simply feel really good rolling around, no hiccups, no bumps in the track seams - perfect. Much like Medusa or Storm Chaser, Twisted Timbers' first drop didn't do much for me and is likely my least-favorite part of the layout - I think I prefer to move faster through rolls like that. But what follows is one of the most spectacular flow of elements on an RMC. Starting with speed-lateral hill #1, then a nice forceful overbank, speed-lateral hill #2, then three by-the-book straight ejector hills, and finally speed-lateral hill #3. What an incredible sequence! The rest of the layout has more laterals, more inversions, and lots of wonky stuff! All very speedy and awesome! This coaster is just so much fun. So much airtime, such great pacing, and SO much better than the pile of garbage that sat here before. For a ride that ONLY makes right-hand turns, it feels like so much more. After I rode this, I declared it my favorite IBox yet! But the fun is just beginning... Steel Vengeance. Yeah, yeah, I know - I'm late to this party. What can I say that hasn't been said 1000 times at this point? Steel Vengeance is insane. It has more airtime than anything in the world. It's incredibly long and incredibly fast. These are things we all know at this point. I guess I'll just try to add another perspective on this coaster for those who have yet to make their exodus to Ohio. In my experience, Steel Vengeance is perfect. There's literally nothing I would change about. The airtime, speed, laterals, pacing, comfort, setting, length - Everything exactly what I want in a coaster. If feels as if RMC threw in everything they learned from the previous dozen coasters they designed and blended them into one enormous package. Starts off with a massive first drop - sustained ejector in the back row for 200 ft is unbelievable. The two massive hills are highlights, both with sustained ejector. The second more outward-banked hill is particularly insane. The upward roll is so fast and has legit airtime coming out the top. The mini-stall is taken at an insane speed. The drop off the mid-course is an amazing highlight. The entire second lap packs in so many airtime moments that it's impossible not to lose track. There is not a wasted foot on this ride, any possible moment for airtime has it. And the night rides I got were somehow even better. It's hard to fathom how good this coaster is. Sorry if this whole post just sounds so exaggerated and fanboy-ish, but I sincerely believe Steel Vengeance to be the best coaster on the planet. If you're a fan of long, well-paced, airtime-focused, fast coasters, get your butt to Cedar Point immediately. RMC Rankings as of Sept. 2018: 1. Steel Vengeance 2. Lightning Rod 3. Outlaw Run 4. Twisted Timbers 5. Wildfire 6. Medusa Steel Coaster 7. RailBlazer 8. Iron Rattler 9. Twisted Colossus 10. New Texas Giant 11. Joker 12. Storm Chaser 13. Goliath 14. Wicked Cyclone At least I got to peer at this elegant, little first drop! [RMC #14] Yeah, uh... That's pretty massive Made it! Time to put FL+ to use Time for night ERT! Excuse me, I think you're going too fast. My view of a dormant Twisted Timbers as we wait out the lightning I can't get over the size and steepness of this drop Holy crap, that was insane... Up next: A return to Texas! [RMC #13] OMG. 11 night rides in a row wholly makes up for a rain delay!

2019 update: 1. Cedar Point: Steel Vengeance(1) + Maverick(5) = 6 2. Kings Dominion: Intimidator 305(4) + Twisted Timbers(9) = 13 3. Six Flags Fiesta Texas: Wonder Woman(17) + Iron Rattler(19) = 36 3. Liseberg: Helix(20) + Balder(32) = 52 5. Hersheypark: Skyrush(8) + Storm Runner(51) = 59 Some other combos I haven't ridden that I think are/will be worthy of mention: Jersey Devil + El Toro Zadra + Hyperion I'm also interested in what additional parks could be considered in the best "One-Two-Three Punch" - BGW? Kings Island?

I've ridden Green Lantern, Insane, Arashi, and Batman at SFFT. I hated them all

The public blueprints include a station layout with air gates included. The setup of the air gates is three sets of three rows, indicating a train accommodation of 3-cars, 3 rows each. The closest manufacturer to fit this bill is Premier

Looks like we have a name for 2020: My edit on this teaser poster:

Great list! Happy to have ridden 19/25 of the overall best coasters! One thing I'm confused by - Why is it that on the "Top 25 Overall" Wildfire places ahead Outlaw Run and I305 places ahead of GeForce, but when separated into "Top 25 Steel/Wood" these places become switched? Is there something different about the ranking algorithm that changes between Overall and Wood/Steel separated?

Looks solid as hell, will likely be my favorite in Japan when I ride in August!

The info is legit. The info was released at a Community Forum by the park. 153ft tall with 143ft vert drop. Will be faster, longer, taller than HangTime! I can't believe I'm getting a B&M in my backyard!

Well, we are CONFIRMED. Found on the City of Tampa building permits website was this permit - BDE-19-0439598 Filed on behalf of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment by general contractor "Rocky Mountain Construction" Any normal person would've been convinced after the park explicitly teased it, but this is proof for the the weirdos who were convinced that BGT was going to give GCI a third try at the ride...

Update! First Tier, Second Tier, Third Tier North America Phantom's Revenge Twisted Cyclone Wonder Woman B&M Hyper (Hersheypark)^ Copperhead Strike^ Mindbender Galaxyland Quimera (La Feria) Ride of Steel (Darien Lake) Ravine Flyer II Maxx Force^ Rampage Time Traveler Steel Curtain^ Europe Zadra^ Hyperion Intamin Mega (Walibi Belgium)^ Intamin LSM (Parc Asterix)^ iSpeed Nemesis Shambhala Taiga^ Piraten Icon (Blackpool) Colossos Katun Alpina Blitz Storm (Etnaland) Colossos Lech Coaster Karnan Olympia Looping Elsewhere T Express Hakugei^ DC Rivals Hyper Coaster Flying Aces Mountain Flyer (Knight Valley) Flash Nefeskesen Atlantis Adventure Superman Escape Coaster Through Clouds Do-Dodonpa Formula Rossa Pyrenees Starry Sky Ripper Python in Bamboo Random new B&M Hypers in China^ ~ The rest of the Mega Lites A ton of these haven't opened and/or haven't even been built, but I'm basing it off of what we know about the layouts!

I've only ever ranked the top 20% of coasters I've ridden (Which means for every 5 coasters I ride, only 1 is ever worth getting compared against others). I don't think the inclusion of most credits is necessary in a poll like this. 99% of people who look at the poll will only care about which coasters made the Top 25 or so anyway, right? My ballot only really consists of these top 20% coasters that I care to rank. But to be fair, I do include some coasters I find particularly overrated and put them at the end (even though I don't otherwise rank them). Just to voice my opinion a little bit.

I forgot I made this thread! lol. Here's my update: 1. Phoenix 2. Coaster (Playland) 3. Helix 4. Lightning Run 5. Steel Dragon 2000 6. Superman el Ultimo Escape 7. Beast 8. Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit 9. Shock Wave (SFOT) 10. Magnum XL-200 HMs: TN Tornado, American Eagle, Giant Dipper (SCBB), Karacho, Lost Gravity, Rutschebanen (Tivoli), Blue Fire. I foresee Mack soon joining the top-6 dominating companies!

The real Intamin/RMC battle has begun. These new designs feel so contemporary and amazing! I can't wait to see how they turn out

That's probably true, but my understanding is that the faulty hardware on the submarine vehicles is what 'killed' the attraction (the touchscreens were often broken too). They seemed to only get up to 2-3 subs (seating 6 per) operating at a time. This was well under the theoretical goal. It's clear that the ride was ill-conceived from the get-go - The scope of theme-ing and ride experience was likely contained by a tight budget. But the actual operating up-time and rider capacity was considerably lower than the park planned/wanted/paid for. From my experience, when the ride was operating it often had the longest wait times in the park. The demand for this type of attraction is there... This one was just a failure. SIDE NOTE - Journey to Atlantis closed today for a 7-month rehab (opening May 24, 2019). We don't know the full scope, but I'd love to see a re-theme and re-name!

FYI, Sub Quest hasn't been open since last December (barely open before that, mind you). The marquee has been taken down and mention of the ride removed everywhere (park maps/website/etc.). The park has seemingly given up on the attraction. I wouldn't be surprised if the park is in litigation with Chance Rides for failing to deliver a product. So yes, Tidal Twister will certainly be a better addition (given that it opens at all). I'm just surprised SWSD went with another prototype attraction after the miserable failure of Sub Quest. Best of luck, guys.

Between the Tide Pool exhibit and the Bayside Stadium (Northwest corner of the park)

Looks like we have the world's second Skywarp coming to SWSD! https://seaworld.com/san-diego/rides/tidal-twister/

I don't either (I'm sure it'll be a ton of fun), but it still seems really, really weird to me. It may be a tad redundant, but I'm not complaining! Hershey's lineup is solid as hell and I can't wait to get out there again in 2020. To me, it's still not as weird as Leviathan/Behemoth or Fury/Intimiadator