Favorite type of B&M Coaster?

[BaMiTsPaT]

I Put hyper because I love Nitro, Intimidator, and AC, but their inverts are an extremely close second!

[XYZ]

1: Hyper

close 2nd: Inverted

[Intarider]

The Invert is their best product in my opinion, at least the good old ones (like Raptor or Montu) with great forces (Black Mamba was a bit forceless). Their hypers are quite fun, but when you have one of the best Intamin hypers next door, you see that other manufacturers (Intamin) can do that stuff way better.

 

However I haven't ridden many B&Ms yet, so my opinion might change sometime.

[flizt]

No other B&M coaster models deliver real airtime other than Hypers. Inversions are fun, but floating in your seat is much better imo.

[Dietcokevan]

"Old B&M" Inverts. Nemesis speaks for iteself.

[jjune4991]

This one was really difficult because I have been on all but the new wing-rider. I love the inverts here in Florida, with Montu being my favorite coaster, and the 3 hypers I've been on are fantastic with great airtime. However....I can't believe the wonderful feeling I get when I go through Manta's pretzel loop. It is by far the best inversion I have ever felt. That is the only reason I put flyer as my vote. So for me, it's flyer, invert, hyper, sitdown/floorless, dive, and stand-up. I hope I can ride a wing-rider in the near future!

[CoasterRollin]

Yeah, it was definitetly difficult to come to a final decision. I chose hyper because (1) B&M makes extremely comfortable trains, (2) they run silky smooth, and (3) they are consistently some of the most enjoyable experiences I have at theme parks. Granted, I've only ridden Apollo and Nitro, but they are among my favorite coasters.

 

What was making this decision very difficult to make was one ride: Kumba. Kumba is the only sit-down I've ridden from B&M, but it blows just about every other postive-g-force/inversion oriented coaster out of the water, in my opinion. I would have voted for sit-downs if I could have had 2 choices.

[osm]

For me it's the hypers, Behemoth is an amazingly smooth airtime machine that got me into coasters, and Nitro is almost as good. I like the inverts too, but they haven't been as special as the hypers. I suppose I haven't ridden the most highly regarded ones (my favorite is Raptor). I've liked every B&M I've ridden a lot except for Mantis, so the standups would be my least favorite.

[rcdude]

As far as B&M coasters go, I've been on:

 

1 Diving Machine

5 Floorless Coasters (including both Medusas)

2 Flying Coasters (including a Superman)

9 Inverted Coasters (including 4 Batmans and Raptor)

4 Mega Coasters

5 Stand-Ups

 

Although my favorite B&M, Intimidator, is a Mega Coaster, I'm gonna have to go with Diving Machine. I've only been on Griffon (which I really like), but I think the Diving Machines have more variety than the Mega Coasters. All four Megas I've been on feel pretty similar, just at different sizes. I also really like Flying Coasters, although the smaller ones (such as Superman-Ultimate Flight) can be a little bit of a dud. Overall, however, I like most B&M coasters, but am not so crazy about the Stand-Ups (except Riddler's Revenge).

[HowieP]

I also say Inverted. I still have yet to do a Floorless, a Dive Machine, and the new Wing Rider, but I have ridden one Hyper (Raging Bull- SFGA), one Flying (Superman: Ultimate Flight- SFGA), two Stand-Ups (Mantis-Cedar Point) (Iron Wolf- Soon-to-be-formerly of SFGA), two Sit-Downs (Kumba- Busch Gardens Tampa) (The Incredible Hulk-Islands of Adventure), and three Inverts (Batman: The Ride- SFGA) (Raptor-Cedar Point) (Montu- Busch Gardens Tampa).

[Sir Clinksalot]

I went with Inverted. The awesomeness of B&M Inverted's such as Dueling Dragons, Top Gun, Great Bear and the Batman Clones cannot be denied.

 

I also really like Hypers, but since I have only ridden two of them (until next week) I couldn't really vote for that.

[rollin_n_coastin]

Love their loopers -- sitting or floorless

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

I voted floorless but I forgot about Apollo's Chariot and Nitro until someone else mentioned them. Those two were really great and I would love to go back to them someday. I have a soft spot for floorless B&Ms over inverts and flying coasters (except maybe Tatsu, Tatsu is awesome) but I'm going to have to say the Hypers for #1 and floorless 2nd.

[cal1br3tto]

I can't very well rank them, but here are some opinions.

 

Flying: I adore pretzel loops. Otherwise, flyers are pretty tame and relaxing, but the lift hills are some of the most intimidating in the business, and flying through the other inversions can be mildly disorienting at night.

 

Sitting: Wildfire has an excellent setting and some fun inversions. Granted, I can't really use it to judge the category by, but it was once an honorable mention for my top 10 and is still easily within my top 50.

 

Mega: I was impressed with Raging Bull's backseat first drop and its twisty, somewhat-airtime-filled layout. (I did ride it under favorable conditions and may have a strong first-B&M-hyper bias towards it.) I also love the pops of sustained airtime on Diamondback. However, I was a bit underwhelmed by the others I've ridden. Many hypers from other companies have similar layouts with superior airtime, or better layouts that make up for their smaller amounts of air.

 

Floorless: I've still never met a floorless I didn't like. I love my top three, and I don't think my least favorite three are all that much worse. They can be a bit tame, but I tend to like their inversions.

 

Inverted: You can't truly go wrong with a B&M invert. There are several I thought were somewhat forgettable, but there are plenty more I found to be pleasantly forceful and/or interesting.

 

Stand-Up: My two least favorite B&Ms are stand-ups. But I have no real problems with this controversial ride type, apart from a little too much headbanging on the older ones and some overwhelming positive Gs. I enjoy the lengthy layouts, fun inversions and interesting forces on the newer models.

[coastermaniac]

I love floorless; they're just so fun and enjoyable.

[harper83087]

Inverts for the win although I need to branch out a bit more seeing I haven't been on too many of the others.

 

8 Inverts (Raptor, Montu, Dueling Dragons, Great Bear, Batmans at SFMM and SFGAm, and Alpengeist)

2 hypers (AC and RB)

2 Sitdown (Kumba and Hulk)

2 Stand-up (Mantis and Riddler's)

1 Floorless (Scream)

1 Flyer (Tatsu)

 

I *really* want to get on Sheikra and Griffon and with the addition of the two wing riders next year hopefully I can check those off my list soon too.

[Anything]

Inverted, although The Swarm next year may change that.

[Schrecken]

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.

[xVicesAndVirtues]

Some of the categories are so close, making them hard to rank, but for the most part I'd go in this order:

 

Inverts: I've been on more Inverts than any other B&M coaster type, and this is undeniably their best-selling product that's stood the test of time. Having been on 12 (BTR@SFGAdv and SFoG, Dragons, Talon, Raptor, Alpengeist, Great Bear, Montu, Le Vampire, Flight Deck, and Afterburn), there are some that can be a little bit tame or hit-or-miss, but for the most part, nearly all of them are extremely thrilling and unique. I can't deny the crazy directional changes, wing-overs, and pacing of these coasters. I'd call Talon, Raptor, and Dragons the superstars of this category.

 

Sitdown Looping: Sometimes I feel a bit unfair for ranking this category so high, as I've only been on Hulk and Kumba in this category. But, both coasters deliver awesome, fast-paced experiences with high positive g forces, and I think they really represent when B&M was absolutely in their prime. Plus, there's just something for me about being able to feel the vibrations of the wheels under my feet as the train speeds along. I'd love to see a comeback in this category.

 

Speed: Each of these coasters pretty much delivers, despite some of them meshing together and being a little bit difficult to distinguish. But, the floater (and once in a great while, if you get lucky, borderline ejector) airtime, combined with some cool elements such as hammerhead turns, really make this a great category of coasters, and I can't wait to experience the giga version of one. Having been on 5 (Nitro, Apollo's Chariot, Goliath @LaRonde, Goliath @ SFoG, and Intimidator), the ones that really stick out above the rest for me are Apollo's Chariot and Nitro. Oldies but goodies.

 

Floorless: I think this is a category with potential, and I've seen a few of these that really do deliver. The front-row experience is obviously the only place where the "floorless" matters, but the back rows can provide an intense ride on a select few of these. Having been on 6 (BTDK, Bizarro, Hydra the Revenge, Kraken, Dominator, and Medusa), I'd applaud Hydra for incredible uniqueness and Dominator for feeling so awesomely out-of-control and fast with an El Toro-like ending. But, Bizarro is always so forgettable for me that I always tend to get off wondering why I just waited an hour for it. The rest are totally hit or miss.

 

Flyers: This is where I'd say the "lower tier" of B&M coasters starts for me. Don't get me wrong, the Flying Coaster is a great new way to experience a coaster, and everyone on this site will agree that Pretzel loops are orgasmic, but the rest of the experience tends to be...forgettable. I've been on S:UF at both Great Adventure and over Georgia and Manta. Manta is the obvious winner here, and I really enjoy the whole layout, especially the strange flying airtime out of the MCBR.

 

Dive Machines: Griffon and SheiKra. For some reason, Griffon definitely delivers a noticeably better ride experience than SheiKra, despite them being nearly identical sans a loop. The holding brake before the drop is enough to make me crap my pants like a schoolgirl on an Intamin drop tower, especially on the outer edge on Griffon's extra EXTRA wide trains. But, after the cool drop, the rest of the layout on both coasters is so tame, although I slightly enjoy the hangtime in the immelman loops on both. Maybe if B&M could further develop this coaster design, throw in an airtime hill or something to keep the riders from falling asleep.

 

Stand-Up: Okay, bottom of the barrel here. This is another category that I really see as having great potential that it never really got the opportunity to live up to. Of the 5 I've been on, including Mantis, Vortex at CGA and Carowinds, Georgia Scorcher, and Green Lantern, I really only loved Mantis. Green Lantern and Scorcher are both "okay", but rough in spots, and I absolutely hated Vortex at CGA. The whole standing concept is cool, I really like the bigger models with the huge soaring inversions, but it's when you get down to those little tight turns and directional changes on the smaller ones, that's when you really need to hold onto your ears and balls.

 

Now, I just need to experience my first WingRider. Dollywood 2012 here I come.

[Jerrykoala2112]

As far as B&Ms go. I like a few in each category....

 

Hypers - Goliath at SFOG was really fun! Nitro is good too. Although Apollo's Chariot and Diamondback didn't deliver.

Flying - Manta is definitely unique and interesting. Superman's are alright, they don't do much for me other than the loop.

Sitting - I've only been on Kumba and Wildfire. I really enjoyed both, as they both play with the terrain pretty well.

Floorless - Kraken, Dominator, and Superman Krypton are truly awesome. Bizarro and Dark Knight on the other hand, very lackluster.

Inverted - I really don't like the Batman clones, but I love Alpengeist, Dueling Dragons, and Great Bear!

Stand Up - Iron Wolf and Mantis can be really uncomfortable. Definitely my least favorite category.

 

Personally, Wing Rider would be the best category. It's still VERY new, but how the rides are shaping up for next year, I won't be shocked if I enjoy all the Wing Riders.

[simon8899]

I voted for floorless as I like looping-coasters with many inversions. Inverted are also great but like the floorless type a little more.

 

Not really such a big fan of flying and mega - but thats not only B&M. Flying moslty press on my stomach with the "airy" resuslts in compressions - and mega-coasters for me are just going up and down, and I just like all kind of inversions far more. If I've to go up and down I'd prefer a woodie.

[Tmcdllr]

While I absolutely love the flyers I have to vote for the Inverted coasters just because of the intensity.

[805Andrew]

Of the B&M's I've been on, I rank them in the following order:

 

1. Tatsu, SFMM

2. Dragon Khan, Port Aventura

3. Riddler's Revenge, SFMM

4. Batman the Ride, SFMM

5. Scream, SFMM

6. Medusa, SFDK

7. Silver Bullet, Knott's

8. Flight Deck, CGA

9. Vortex, CGA

 

All of these are very good except for Vortex.

[BlueFireCoaster]

^Tatsu is probably my favorite B&M as well.

 

Batman models are a close second.

 

Unfortunately whenever I travel away from my homepark, hardly any of the B&M's stack up against the my original favs. Although I am hoping some day I get out to Parc Asterix as that looks like it may hold its own...

[alpengeistfan1]

The Batman clones don't do it for me, there's nothing really special about them. I like more spread out inverts like Great Bear and Alpengeist. But my favorite type has to be hyper, nothing better than the fun feeling of Nitro and Apollos Chariot. Also, the seats are BEAST.