I was lucky enough to attend Media Day for The Lawrence Eagle Tribune and SFNE has hit one so far out of the park with this project that the ball landed in England.
I have yet to experience another RMC aside from this one but have ridden nearly 200 coasters and this is right at the top of the list. From the chain to brake run you are hit with one amazing element after another, and every one of those is taken with authority. Glass smooth, comfortable trains, and beautiful to behold, this is a legend in the making. There are some seriously good coasters within a (long) day's drive of my house but every once in awhile one opens that leaves you shaking with excitement on the brake run. Something that makes someone like me and most of this site's members giddy with excitement. Something that you can say "Hell yes, I WILL get up at 2:00 AM and drive 14 hours to ride and do it again and again". For me, that list was I-305, EL Toro, Skyrush, Maverick, and Montu. Balls to the wall intensity and bests of their kind. This is on that level and 2 hours from my home so I couldn't be happier.
In my interview with the park's management I told them that it was as if they said "Let's take the best parts from some of the World's best coasters and throw them all in one layout: Millennnium Force's opening in smaller form, Kennywood's Jack Rabbit double down, El Toro's Rolling Thunder crossover hill twice on two of the INSANE banked airtime hills inside the structure, and NTG's "magic carpet" ending on the final run to the station. Even walking through the queue is a joy since you can see the fine craftsmanship in the project and photograph the awesome structure.
I rode close to 20 times and every row was excellent. My personal favorite was back car first row due to the power of the drop, and extreme air off the crests. Despite the extreme intensity it is also a very reirideable coaster and I have a pretty good way of explaining why:
My last coaster was Skyrush. On May 25 2012. I was lucky enough to be one of the first 24 and got the back car outside left seat. Needless to say, that was the most epic ride of my life. A month later I ruptured a disc in my back and spent the summer on my living room floor. I went to the event yesterday and honestly wondered if my first ride on Wicked Cyclone would be my final lap on a coaster. One marathon session later, I felt great and my passion for this hobby has been reborn.
I will be doing an article of this for 10 newspapers and the closing line will probably be 'Those of you in the Northeast, gas up your car and drive. Those elsewhere, go online.....book a flight, and do it now".
Extra highlights:
Achievement Unlocked 500G: Meeting Robb Alvey. We have been going to theme parks all over the Eastern/Midwest US for over a decade and always told my wife that someday we would run into him. The man is cool as hell in person and took a few seconds to talk with us near the ride entrance.
Meeting Alan Schilke: Another awesome moment. I talked with him several times in the station and he couldn't be more down to Earth. People of all ages were congratulating him on this project and he must have been in 500 selfies that day. On one of my rides in the back car he was in the row behind and at the brake run I leaned over and jokingly said " I think you just put Intamin out of business with this one" and he smiled. (Please let that never happen of course)
Marathoning a legit top 5 coaster: This will not be an easy feat to accomplish in the future because this coaster is going to draw like no tomorrow and be a massive success for the park.
Riding the New England Skyscreamer: Awesome ride, and extra thrilling in high winds. I will definitely hit this a few times on each visit.
Here are a few shots that I took, with some filters applied for dramatic effect.