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Are Taller Coasters better than Mid-Size ones


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Most Wooden coasters below 100ft tall can deliver great rides, the trains, track and structure does not take a beating as much as mega-size ones,

 

so it could be better for a park to install 2 smaller woodies than 1 big one.

 

Most Mega woodies ( over 150ft high) have been re-profiled over the years which could make them costly to run.

 

Texas Giant: High lateral forces on the original turnaround have been reduced, different trains and a trim brake down the 1st drop.

 

Mean Streak: 1st drop reworked twice, a trim added to the 1st drop and 1,400ft of track replaced in 1995.

 

Rattler: Helix changed, the 1st drop reduced, the bottom of that drop raised by 42ft and the 2nd hill lowered by 19 feet.

 

Colossus: re-profiled and different trains make the ride nothing compared to when it was new.

 

Hercules: 1st drop re-profiled. trains with different wheel arrangements, altered lapbars and trims added to 1st drop.

 

Beast: Final helix re-profiled and trims added.

 

SOB: Loop removed and the world's noisiest lift-hill

 

Only "Le Monstre" at La Ronde in Montreal is running without changes to it's original design.

 

The comeback of smaller wooden coasters means more rides out there for all of us .

 

Are taller woodies better..?

 

Your views...!!

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GCI coasters prove that they can be the top of the wooden industry.

 

BUT! Intamin proves again and again that they can make things HUGE and make them smooth and airtime-filled to compete for the number one spot in the wooden coaster world.

 

Love the GCI's, love the Racer, don't see anything that special about Beast, Son of Beast, or Mean Streak.

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Stop being racist towards tall wooden coasters. Will we ever stop the hate

 

Sweeping generalizations such as the one in the original post do nothing to help keep the coaster peace in these troubled times! Come on, everybody, try to love one another right now, etc etc.

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To me, a good wooden coaster needs to have quick transitions, direction changes, sharp hills,etc. All of which can't be done properly on a massive wooden coasters.

 

Giant wooden coasters tend to be more drawn out, with long gradual hills and transitions. All you end up with is a fast moving bumpy boring ride.

 

There are dozens of <=100foot wooden coasters out there which totally blow most of the wooden giants out of the water.

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Another thing is that there are so many more <=100 foot coasters out there than there are 100+ foot coasters, so obviously more of the little ones are going to be awesome because there's a much larger sample size to choose from.

 

Granted, even if you make changes to even out the sample sizes, the smaller coasters probably still get the nod over the larger ones, but generally larger wooden coasters are there for the excitement of being on something so massive that's made of wood, rather than for their exciting quick transitions and fast pace.

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Yeah, I do see the point that massive woodies like Mean Streak and Texas Giant are marvels just to look at, but for me, it's about how they ride. The Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is a perfect example of a small but good ride. The coaster is only 70 feet tall, but it's got fast paced turns, crazy lats, and in the back you get plenty of airtime. And for it's small height, it can reach speeds of up to 55 miles per hour, a speed that some steelies can only acheive if they're more than 100 feet! Giant Dipper is my favorite woodie out there and it's not even tall. So I'd rather ride a small agressive woodie, than a massive boring one.

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I personally don't find any of the big woodies aesthetically pleasing in any way except for maybe Voyage and the Intamins. I'd much rather look at the pieces of art that are GCIs, much rather ride them too.

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I don't care for many of the taller wooden coasters I've been on except for Collosus at Magic Mountain. I haven't done El Toro, or Voyage though. The other taller ones I don't like are American Eagle, Son of Beast, Beast, Mean Streak, Texas Giant, The Boss, and Gwazi might be in that category too.

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