Schrecken

I have to admit I had pretty low expectations for Verbolten so luckily I found it to be much better than I had imagined it would be. Also agree it does the job pretty well of replacing BBW. I got to ride it at least a half-dozen times this past saturday night and it took me quite a while to figure out that there were different themes as I thought that some elements were malfunctioning at first. I did get to see all three of the themes. Also noticed that on some of the trains the headlights came on at certain points yet on some of the other trains they didn't come on at all. I got my first front seat ride on a train (think it might have been the red one) that had no lights and I thought "wow, this is truly the "I can't see diddly-squat" coaster if there ever was one! Or at least it was hard to see much except the lighted themeing inside. I also got thwacked on the back of the head once with the 2nd launch (even though that was the last time I rode it that night, I was really punch-drunk tired at that point and it just caught me off guard). I think this also has to be the only coaster I've ridden that has a really strong odor (other than when a skunk sprayed around the first drop of Goliath one night as SFMM) - as soon as the train enters the event building there is a very strong "new car" smell, or at least that's what it smelled like to me. Did anyone else notice that? I didn't find it unpleasant at all but it was very noticeable. Also everyone was talking about Intamin and I had always thought that Thirteen as also a Zierer coaster for some odd reason. Didn't realize Intamin had built the first one with a drop track, even though Verbolten looks like it surely must be the better of the two rides even though I haven't been on Thirteen. Also while at the park I got at least three awesome rides on Apollo's Chariot, and 5 rides on Griffon (realized that on Griffon, at least when I have a full stomach, I need to sit in a seat that's right over the track as the jittering on the outer seats gave me a nasty case of heart burn so that I had to head to first aid and get some Pepto), and one on Nessie. I passed on Alpengeist because the last time I rode it I found it to be unpleasantly rough + I was still trying to get rid of the indigestion that got fired up on Griffon.

Verbolten - I got six or seven rides on it yesterday evening and night.

When I was 6 years old I rode Space Mountain at WDW and it quite literally imbued me with a full blown and severe case of coaster-phobia that sadly lasted for 20 years of my life (in other words, I spent the best young years of my life scared to death of anything any more intense than the old type of wild mouse you would find at a carnival (back in those days they didn't have all these new-fangled spinning and indoor mice like they have today) or a small local park. My phobia was so bad that I couldn't even watch commercials on tv for coasters and I was even super-leery about going to any parks for fear someone might try to force me on a coaster. But my worst fear did indeed come true when I got invited to SFA back in 97' (the person who invited me assured me that we were only going to do the water park so I figured I'd be safe). The only coasters they had back then was the defunct Python (that day it was closed and I really breathed a sigh of relief as I found the thought of going upside down utterly terrifying), the Wild One and Mind Eraser. So I didn't want to look like a spoil-sport and I white-knuckled it thru Wild One (I was afraid of woodies but not anywhere near as bad as inverted coasters) and thought I was home-free until we came upon the Mind Eraser. To make a long story short I was unable to avoid that one and really thought I was going to die going up that lift hill (was way to afraid to even notice that my ears were being boxed in during the ride) - it brought back all those bad memories of Space Mountain. But then I was left with a persistent desire to ride that again and even more coasters. I guess for a while after that I had some minor trepidation as I went to different parks and did different types of coasters (Hypersonic at KD also had me scared as I'd never ridden a launched coaster or one with track so steep). Since then, there have been a few coasters that have had me shaking in my shoes while in line. Two of those are at CP - Millennium Force and TTD - both of those had me in some serious fear (wanted to chicken out and thought hard about doing so) at first ride. Also had some reservations about the drop on Griffon due to it stopping on the edge, but those fears were unfounded. The only coasters today that might give me a bit of a pause are those that are launched - the only reason being that I'm always afraid it will catch me off guard. Being that I hate drop towers (not afraid of them, just find the sensation very unpleasant for some reason + there's no "recovery" that allows me to relax and breathe after the being startled by the drop like with coasters that have those startling elements, like any with launches and drops from a standstill like Griffon, whereas drop rides just leave me sitting there gasping for breath when the ride is over) I was mildly concerned about the drop in Verbolten but it was brief and I was able to figure out where it was in the ride w/o seeing any POVs and therefore I was expecting it.

Superman at SFMM is IMO the loudest I've ever heard. I had a friend who told me that back in the age of pay phones they actually had one right under Superman somewhere in the passageway that goes underneath it. Apparently the phone had been installed there before they built Superman and that they took it out for very obvious reasons! Other rides/coasters that I found to be unusually loud include the Blackbeard's (whatever, can't think of the whole name) at SF Great Adventure - it was IMO incredibly noisy for a family/kiddie coaster, kind of like the sound a Jr. B&M might make if there was such a thing. Also, any of the S&S swings make a fearsome and powerful rush of sound (which I really like - it adds much to the atmosphere of the ride and makes for a more intimidating experience), kind of like the breathing of some giant creature (could make for some interesting themeing, though, not sure what it could be themed to - Godzilla, perhaps?)

They'd need to redesign Formula Rossa so that the trains inverted when attempting to take a corner over 60 MPH. That, and a revision of the launch to hit a top speed (of about 90MPH) after 35-40 seconds. Actually, at one time there existed the perfect park for Smart Cars - it was located in Florida and was called Circus World - and out of those tiny cars would have come a half-dozen clowns! But seriously, Ferrari (or any kind of car, or perhaps even sports cars in general) seems like a very thin concept to build a theme park around, especially since (unlike most theme parks) there is likely little if anything to draw families with small children to visit the park (not speaking from experience, just what I have heard and seen about the park).

The only coaster I've ever had such an experience on was Space Mountain at WDW when I was 6 years old. That was the first coaster I had ever ridden, and due to the fact that it was completely dark in there, I could have sworn up and down that there were at least a few 90 degree drops somewhere along the track. I truly felt like I had survived something totally life-threatening. I can even remember that my hands ached from holding onto the lapbars so tight. Since then the only coaster experience I've ever had that has really scared me (and not in a good way) was when I rode Firehawk at KI the first year it was open. I was with a friend and one of her friends, and we had the opportunity to ride it several times in a row w/o having to wait in a long line, as it was in the fall and the park wasn't very crowded. We rode it maybe three times and on that last ride something totally creeped me out, not sure what it was but perhaps it was the parts of the ride where the g-forces push the rider hard against the harness + the fact that the harnesses aren't rigid like those on most coasters (that's a good thing in general for Vekomas as there can be no head-banging). The worse thing was, the more I rode it the more creeped out I became, not the other way around as is usually the case (if there is a ride that might scare me when I ride the first time). I ended up having to fib that I had a bad headache and sit it out while they rode a few more times. To this day I have a hard time riding any Vekoma flyer more than once because of this feeling. I have had a few unpleasant experiences on some flat rides here and there, most recently on the Paratroopers at Indiana Beach. Every time the ride made a single revolution there was this place where I kept hearing a loud "thunk" that just didn't sound right to me and I had no desire to ride that ride again that day. I have ridden many of these kind of flat rides and never heard any kind of really loud noises like that.

I would have to say the whole "wing rider" concept, regardless of the specific coaster or manufacturer. Having ridden the original X when it opened, this idea of sitting off to the sides of the track just doesn't seem that novel or ground-breaking to me. It's IMO rather like an update or upgrade on an older idea, like bringing back the hula-hoop or something. I really liked X, so I think that the likes of Skyrush will be a lot of fun (even without the tumbling and spinning), but still it seems like there is a lot of hype for something that, in principal, has been done before. As for Verbolten, I really wasn't very happy at all when I first heard about it. But then I got to thinking about it, and it honestly isn't that different, stat-wise, from that which was there before it. At least the park isn't hyping it as some kind of major thrill ride; though I suppose perhaps the GP might be expecting more, not knowing much about coasters and coaster manufacturers. It isn't really over-rated if you see it for what it is, or rather, what it will most likely be. Zierer is, IMO, the Buick of coaster manufacturers, so if you are looking for something extremely thrilling, you probably aren't going to shop around at a Buick dealership, or, likewise, expect a knock-your-socks-off ride from a company that is known for family coasters (at least in so far as every existing coaster and known project goes). I may get down to BGE next spring, and if I do I will be expecting something that is a rough cross between an indoor heavily themed wild mouse and something rather like Jaguar! at KBF (and perhaps a bit of the Mummy at Universal). That way I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointed.

You might be a coaster nerd if you actually own a piece of a roller coaster - in my case a leftover extra piece of the fiberglass body of one of the trains from Goliath at SFMM; I got it when I worked for a company that was called in to do some repair work on the trains. The piece was a sample that was provided to my company by the train manufacturer to test paint finishes on, and it sits displayed proudly on a shelf in my garage today. You might also be a coaster nerd if, when you hear someone mention a town, city or part of the country or world, you remark "Oh, I know where that is, that's near (fill in the name of park here)." So your sense of geography is defined by where various parks are located. You might also be a coaster nerd if you happen to hear a song and think to yourself that that would be an awesome tune to use as the score to an on-ride video or that the song simply makes you think of a coaster due to certain words or phrases, even though said song has nothing to do with coasters.

In my case it would be parks, as I am within three hours of at least three large parks and one small one (Adventure Park in New Market, MD). Closest to me (but not my favorite of the three and I haven't been there in a couple years at least) is SFA, about an hour away. Then there's Hershey and Kings Dominion, both about 2.5 hrs away. SF Great Adventure is a little over 3 hrs away, and Dorney is about that far too. BGE is about 4 hrs away and Kennywood is a little over 4 hrs. So for day trips I have 4 parks I can get to and back in a day, and 4 that I can do an over-nighter trip when I visit them. That said, I tend to think of KD as my home park, since I go there most often (it is also in my ACE region, whereas Hershey isn't) and a couple of the coasters there are some of my top favorites.

I'd like to read the article but all I get is a 404 error, the link is bad or something.

I used to be a committed backseat rider, especially on woodies and non-looping steel coasters, but that was back in the days before I started having back problems. I loved the feel of being snapped over the top of the hill (as opposed to, on some coasters, the feel of just creeping over the top in the front seat) and the powerful forces often felt in the back seat. But now I won't dare ride any further than maybe the middle on a woodie, and on some no further than the 2nd seat, even though it may be a ride that I really love. I had a lapse of reasoning this summer and got about 3/4 the way back on Hoosier Hurricane at IB, and I paid for that mis-judgment with over a half hour of an aching neck and back and a mild headache. On El Toro I was able to just hang out in the middle of the train during an ERT session this fall, but I didn't trust getting any further back than that, even though El Toro is a very smooth-riding woodie. I also ride in non-wheel seats on all woodies to minimize roughness. Sadly my back seat riding on woodies is over forever unless perhaps medical science can figure on a way to adequately repair a deteriorating spine. As for loopers and suspended coasters, I usually have always been more inclined to do the front (even before I had back problems) due to the view, especially on suspendeds. Also, head-banging has always been an issue on most coasters with OTSR's for me, and usually I find it to be less bad in the front. I used the single rider line this past summer on Maverick, and I had a slight panic when I was placed in a seat fairly close to the back, wondering if I would get my head bashed in back there. But it was actually a decent ride back there, and I was able to (having been forewarned many times) to avoid most of the head-banging. Same thing happened on Dominator (though I was with a friend who had to use the wheelchair entrance, and for that they will just place you wherever they can find available seats), we ended up near the back, but again it wasn't bad back there. So it's very rare that I do any backseat riding these days, unless it's certain steel coasters or smaller steel family coasters where the forces aren't that great to begin with.

Coasters with heavy-duty slam against the lap bar airtime for me would include El Toro, Phantom's Revenge, Magnum (though that last one can be a bit painful depending on where you sit), the double-down on Jackrabbit (also one of the most unexpected moments of airtime, as one time I rode it with a friend and neither one of us was expecting it and she whacked her elbow really hard on the side of the seat and she said that it ached the rest of the day) and also on Phoenix, especially after it had rained late in the afternoon and it was really running fast. I recall Ghostrider as having some killer backseat airtime on the third drop, but it has been more than a decade since I rode it so I don't know if it's any good now or not. Other coasters that give a more gentle and sustained airtime would include (whole coasters and ones where just certain parts have such airtime) Goliath at SFMM (the drop and camelback), SROS at SFA (though some places on that coaster could qualify for ejector-level airtime), Voyage (the triple-down especially), Millennium Force, Wild One at SFA (though it had quite a bit more air before it was re-profiled years ago, especially right before the turn around) and most of the B&M hypers I've been on have some good air, like Apollo's Chariot, Intimidator at Carowinds, Nitro, Goliath at SFOG, etc.

I have quite a few coasters I missed out on, including some that were running and had short lines. I missed out on several when I was in my teens and early 20's due to a severe case of coaster-phobia, including the old Swartzkopf shuttle loopers at KD and BGT. I also missed out on the woodie that was at the now defunct Circus World, but even if I had wanted to ride it I was a child then and might not have made the height restriction. I also passed on a couple of carnival-type coasters at the LA County fair years ago, as SFMM was my home park and I really had no desire to ride those coasters and I wasn't much into keeping credits then. I also missed Xcelerator at KBF as it literally opened maybe two or three days after I moved back to Maryland. Kiddie coasters are also ones that I routinely pass on, unless I'm with someone who really wants the credit (and they have to be the ones where childless adults are allowed to ride). As of late, in the last few years, I've also passed on a few coasters due to things like crowding and heat combined with unpleasant characteristics such as head-banging and extreme roughness. I was at SFOG a couple of years ago (that summer when there was that terrible heat wave in the southern US) and I passed on Ninja (at the time I thought it was an old Arrow looper and I didn't feel so good because of the heat and I just couldn't deal with a head-thrashing, but being that it is a Vekoma it would have been the same sort of thing so just as well). I also believe that I missed the Georgia Cyclone; not sure if it was down or if we were just too hot and tired. I also missed several at SF Great America this past summer due to the park looking like Times Square on New Year's Eve. I did not want to miss most of these but simply was unable to do everything I wanted to do in a full day. American Eagle was down so I would have missed that anyway, but I missed V2, Demon and Iron Wolf. I probably wouldn't have done the kiddie coasters anyway. And when I went to SF Great Adventure this past September, I passed on Rolling Thunder as my back was acting up bad that day and I didn't want to make it any worse.

Wow! this thread is to coasters what the Library of Congress is to historical documents - I've been quite literally spending days and hours going thru all of the stuff you have here. Thanks for sharing all of this awesome stuff!

I'd also like to see Hurler replaced with something like El Toro, but so many parks seem loathe to get rid of crappy coasters (though for some reason they were quick to be rid of Hypersonic). I was at the park a couple of weekends ago and I was able to essentially ask this very same question of a park representative (sorry I don't remember the guy's name as I suck at remembering peoples' names!) about why parks often won't scrap bad coasters. I asked specifically about that bright blue and green conglomeration of scrap iron otherwise known as Shockwave, and also about the Hurler. Basically I was told that the park is trying to improve and better maintain their collection of woodies (though some might consider Hurler too far gone to benefit from such help, but I do think that Rebel Yell ran more smoothly than I remember it being when I rode it a couple of years ago, however, I haven't ridden the Hurler in ages so I don't know if that's any better or not) and that the reason they keep the Togo lawn ornament around is that it is a very low maintenance ride. He said it has run great from day one, I suppose rather like a car that runs like a top even though it's a crummy rust bucket that almost no one wants to ride in. In other words, cheap to keep running, no matter that even most of the GP just pass it by. He also noted that the cost of building a new coaster has gotten so high that it's much easier to keep the old clunkers going (he didn't put it in those terms, of course!) than have a new ride built. So, if what this rep says is true, then unfortunately it looks like we can all count on these old clunkers wasting space at KD (but at least this park isn't land-locked and short on space like KBF and some others) for a long time to come.

I can think of a few that are no longer in existence and some that have been moved. Ones I have been on that are no longer around, period: Python at SFA BBW at BGE Flashback at SFMM Psychlone at SFMM Two Face at SFA Hypersonic at KD The old Space Mountain at DL All the ones at Geauga Lake that weren't moved and two really obscure credits; coasters that I don't even recall the names of but I did ride them and they are no longer there (and almost certainly have been turned into scrap iron long ago given how long ago it was): There was a wild mouse at Trimper's in Ocean City, MD, around 1980 or 1981, and I rode that - it was removed not long after that and I'm sure it's long gone. The other was also at Ocean City, perhaps at the same park, and all I remember was that it was a steel sit-down coaster with no inversions and it had red track. According to the rcdb.com, there are a couple contenders for the coaster with the red track, either this one http://www.rcdb.com/2604.htm?p=17155 or this one http://www.rcdb.com/2603.htm?p=17156. Unfortunately I don't know which it was as it was night time when I went down there and rode it - that, and I was only around 10 or 11 years old. Anyone else here remember these? Others that I've ridden that have been moved or just have been SBNO for a long time (other than the ones at GL) but still operate include: Laser - Dorney Park Son of Beast - KI There was also a super-saturator type water coaster at HP that is no longer there, can't think of the name of it and I don't know if it was sold or scrapped. That's about all I can think of right now.

The weirdest coaster I've ever ridden is this one: http://www.rcdb.com/113.htm?p=209 I've never seen a coaster with a spiral lift hill and it is that, and not the rest of the ride (which IMO is a fun family-type coaster), that makes this one an oddity.

I know a lot of people never liked the red/pink and teal scheme on SLCs but I swear this one takes the cake for an awful (I never thought the red and teal were so bad) combo of colors - looks like dog excrement that has been exposed to the elements for a few days: http://www.rcdb.com/149.htm?p=19146

One time I was at SFMM in the fall and it was just starting to get dark and since the park wasn't very crowded I decided to get a couple of rides on Goliath. I only waited maybe 20 minutes or so before I got to take my first ride that night, and everything was going great until the train plunged into the tunnel. Well, at that moment my nose was assaulted by the putrid stench of skunk spray that didn't fade until the train pulled into that first overbanked turn. I rode Goliath a few more times that night before I left the park, and I know that is the only coaster I've ever ridden with one hand up in the air and the other clamping my nose shut on the first drop.... I don't know if the train had actually hit a skunk earlier or just that one was nearby and got scared when a train came thru and sprayed somewhere close to the tunnel, but it was really, really strong. Speaking of riding with one hand up, I also remember when I rode Space Mountain at WDW with my mom when I was six years old. I was scared half to death but I vividly recall her grousing at her friend for taking us on it because she said she had to spend the whole ride holding on to the lapbar with one hand and her wig with the other! So no, she didn't lose her wig, but only because she held onto it for dear life. Had I been able to see her during the ride I might have been laughing my head off instead of being scared out of my mind. Then there was the guy on Ghostrider who I ended up riding with a couple of times because we were both single riders - at the top of the lift hill on every ride he took out his two-way radio and gave a blow-by-blow description of the ride (all the way thru - this was before GR had gotten rough) to his friends who were staying in the hotel across the street (non-coastering family members he was on a trip with). And finally, I rode Phantom's Revenge one night and I had a disposable camera in my front shirt pocket and somewhere along in the ride my camera flew out of my pocket and the guy behind me just happened to catch it. I didn't know it was missing until the guy tapped me on the shoulder and gave me my camera back. It's a wonder he caught it, especially since it's pretty dark down in that gully.

I'd also have to nominate Son of Beast for this dubious distinction. I rode it when it had the loop and it was the part after that which was awful. It literally gave me a pounding headache and my neck was really sore for at least an hour or more. I've been in two car accidents (one where the pickup truck I was riding in t-boned a car that ran a red light and shoved it under a tractor trailer!) and I swear that and a few other coasters have done my body much worse. Actually bad coasters can be worse since neither accident lasted more than a few seconds, but SOB made me really wish I could have stopped the ride and gotten off. I almost never feel that way about any coaster, even ones that I don't care much for. Other honorable mentions are Hurler (passed on the one at Carowinds, I didn't want to aggravate my back) at KD, Shockwave at KD (thought I was going to end up with a busted tail bone), Grizzly at CGA (rode it way back in the 90's and it was bad back then), Vortex at the same park (at that time I couldn't believe that a B&M could be a head-banger, but sadly it's not the only one, as I incurred a good Vekoma-esque head-bashing on Raptor this summer), Mean Streak (actually rode it again this summer and it was "rideable" in the front seat; not as rough as I remember it years ago), and Hoosier Hurricane at IB (made the mistake of riding towards the back and I paid dearly for that, my neck ached for close to an hour). Others too generic and numerous to mention would include SLCs (lots of jittering and head-banging) and most Arrow loopers (the worst of which I've ever been on was Drachen Fire - I should have been forewarned when every other coaster and ride at the park had hour-long lines and this one was a walk-on!).

I've never made the 2 hr mark so far; the longest I've ever waited for any ride is about 1 hr and 45 minutes, and that was for SUF at SF Great America this summer. That entire day would rank at the top of my list of worst waits, as the park was nearly as crowded as Times Square on New Year's Eve. That, and the crappy way they were handling the fast pass lines - by stopping the regular lines for up to 15 minutes at a time while just waiting for a whole herd of FP uses to accrue there before letting them go ahead. Anyone with a brain would just gradually merge incoming people into the main line - fewer people at at much shorter intervals, rather like cars merging onto a freeway This made what would have been fairly long lines (maybe an hour or slightly less) far, far worse. In addition, the signs announcing the wait times were rendered totally meaningless by the idiotic handling of the merge points of the lines. SUF was the worst of the bunch due to slow loading and it did break down for maybe 15 minutes or so, but sadly I also waited over an hour for Dark Knight and that had to be the biggest waste of time I've spent at a park in a long, long time. The line for SUF also is mostly in the sun and it was so hot that someone passed out, and there were these two little kids behind me that had to have had ADHD as they were bouncing and bumping around like a bunch of wild animals (no parents in sight, either!). I also waited well over an hour (didn't time it, but I'm sure it was under 2 hrs) for MF earlier this year; a wait that was made less bearable by a couple of miserable teenage boys that were behind us in line. They amused themselves by cursing like sailors and repeatedly spitting thru the fence when we got up to the ramp that leads up to the station. There was some wind and the spit blew back and spattered on my friend's glasses. And then there was someone smoking and that stench had to drift back to where we were standing, even though we couldn't see the smoker. Earlier we waited a hour or so for TTD, but thankfully the crowds over there weren't quite as miserable to deal with. The only other bad waits that I can recall was my trip to SFOG last summer - the waits themselves weren't too awfully bad (maybe 40 minutes at the longest; I think we waited that long for Goliath) but the heat was truly hellish. I don't think the inner circle of hell could have been hotter than SFOG was when we were there last summer - and SFMM was my home park for nearly 5 years!

Since I've been posting here and there for the last couple of months I thought I'd officially introduce myself. The first coaster I ever rode was Space Mountain at WDW the year after it opened, but unfortunately it scared me half to death (I was 6, and I could have swore that thing had several inversions back then!) and I avoided coasters like the plague for the next 21 years of my life. So I had missed out on a lot of coasters in my teen and young adult years until someone dragged me on a coaster when I was 27 (actually that's not entirely accurate, my cousin dared me to ride Rebel Yell with him when we were about 13 and I felt compelled to go so I wouldn't look like a chicken even though I ended up white-knuckling it all the way) and from then on I was hooked. I'd like to share this picture I took of Goliath at SFMM back when it was my home park and I worked for a company that was hired to refurbish the fiberglass part of the trains. I had been working there for a couple of days with a co-worker and had brought my camera (an old SLR that uses film; makes me feel so old!) to take pictures of the coaster and the work we were doing and one day the Discovery Channel was there doing some shooting (the park was closed to the public as it was during the week in winter) and they needed as many employees as they could round up to fill a train. So naturally I volunteered, and luckily it was right during my lunch break so I didn't have to worry about goofing off on the job. I then asked a few of the park employees if I could take my camera on the ride with me and they said yes, so I got this (and some others) rare legit shot from the front seat: Goliath at SFMM Now I've moved again and my home parks are SFA, KD and Hershey (all within about 2.5 hrs from where I live), so I've had the opportunity to do most of the west coast parks and many of those here on the east coast.

As I recall Windjammer at KBF also had this problem - if it was windy they couldn't run it!

I have been most impressed with the dive machine (even though Griffon is the only one I've ever ridden) and I have ridden pretty much every type of coaster B&M makes (save for the wing rider). Second to that would be hypers, as I'm not as crazy about inverted coasters now as I used to be in general. I really like the freedom of lap bars as opposed to OTSR's and B&M hypers are a great way to experience that, especially those that have a lot of airtime. Least favorites would be stand-ups, though I did like Riddler's Revenge when it first came out.

Of the coasters I can realistically get to, I'd say that Skyrush sounds most interesting to me and something I'd look forward to riding. Of all new coasters, I'd say Leviathan, due to the fact that it will be the tallest B&M to date.