Best coasters in Texas???

[JFrombaugh]

Don't forget that Great White is a shortened B:TR, and not quite an *exact* clone. Less track but the same elements equals an even more intense version of an already intense layout. Some other TRs on the site affirm this.

 

I've ridden both Great White and the BTR at SFOT...they both felt the same to me!

 

I've ridden almost all of the coasters in Texas and I'd say that they're definitely worth your while if you're making a trip there, but the only ones that I'd consider to be in the Top Ten tier are Boardwalk Bullet and SKC.

 

The others are all "good" but not really anything you can't ride elsewhere...I mean we've got two Boomerangs, two Gerstlauer spinners, three BTRs, etc...

[paintballer]

Does Texas have the most B:TR clones anywhere now?!?

[fmulder21]

OH NO. No. No.... I would rate freakin' Rattler as better then BB... Wouldn't waste my time going down there If I were you...

Your kidding right?! I rode the POS yesterday...My back hurts.

[almightyfire]

I guess i have gotten immuned to Texas Parks. None of them have enough excitement in one park to make an out of state trip to. Each park has maybe 2 rides that will make you drive to if you LIVED in Texas. It depends on what you are looking for. I missed the Texas Giant this year but for ME that is the only coaster that does it for me here. I never liked Titan or Goliath (not any airtime maybe in one spot), I am not a big fan of loops so Superman is just ok to me. Rattler doesnt have any airtime at all. Poltergeist and Mr. Freeze are probably the most intense to me. Boardwalk Bullet is enjoyable but not worth the drive for ONE ride if u live more than 30 mins away. Now when The Boardwalk gets a nice flume ride and a Euro Fighter then it would be worth the ride because the The Boardwalk has more to offer than the amusment park experience.

 

I did the Steel Eel when it first opened and I didnt see ANYTHING special AT ALL. It was too slow for me. Heck I love Runaway Mine Train better than any coaster in Texas. We do not have a Voyage, El Toro, X, Tatsu, Alphenghist, T-express or Nito here in Texas. The coasters in Texas to me are like a B side of a record. Its good but not good enough to be the hit.

[Rastuso]

Yep, that's pretty much it. I find little reason to hit the Texas parks, especially with the heat. The closeest thing to a destination coaster is Shockwave, which really is a fantastic coaster, especially with the lap bars.

 

And I agree whole heartedly about Steel Eel. I simply don't see how anyone can say it's great. It's not that tall, it's heavily braked at the midcourse, and the return bunnies are triangles, and just not fun.

 

-RO

[Guest]

I'm almost afraid to see what SFoT looks like now. I'm going on the Texas Trip next year (my first TPR trip..woohoo) and while everything sounds great, the last time I was at SFoT was in 1980, just after Judge Roy opened. You know you're aging when you see best Texas coasters and the first three out of your mouth are Big Bend, Texas Cyclone and Shockwave.

Question: when you talk about a woodie being rough, are you talking a little discomfort or actual pain? I know that's kind of a dumb-sounding question; the reason being I rode Compounce's Wildcat last summer and needed 5 chiropractic visits to undo what Wildcat did.

Please say you are kidding...

 

Lake Compounce's Wildcat was a kitten... It didn't hurt a bit when I rode it on the East Coast Trip (heck the boomerang hurt me a heck of a lot more). I will suggest you never ever go on any of the wooden coasters at Kings Dominion and frankly Morey's Piers' Great White was quite uncomfortable as well. I really hope you are kidding about the 5 visits...

 

You rode Wildcat in a middle bench then, because it is absolutely brutal in the back rows of any of the cars. Far rougher than anything at Kings Dominion....

[supertrooper]

Mr. Freeze is my favorite, then I guess Shockwave, but that's about it. I've live in Dallas for 9 years and have been to SFOT maybe 4 or 5 times. It just doesn't do it for me for some reason.

 

SKC is okay, but kind of underwhelming, and Rattler is horrendous. I liked Steel Eel, but it wasn't thrilling.

 

I have to agree with the Texas coasters aren't all that great sentiment.

[thrillgeek]

Well.....I'll make my own judgement when I ride them. I just hope they'll all be open when we get there.

[texcoaster]

They SHOULD all be open.

 

Boardwalk Bullet reopened tonight, and was running rough, but pulling some good circuit times (especially with a mostly-empty train).

 

None of the other rides are up yet, and some of them were not salvageable. Rumors are rampant about what the dead rides will be replaced with, and if the most-often heard rumor is true, then Kemah will have a nice, well-rounded selection with at least one good ride for every age group.

 

Known for sure: Aviator, train, Bullet, and the observation tower are salvageable and will reopen. Everything else is just speculation at this point. SOMETHING will open in the empty spots, but it's not for sure WHAT.

 

....although I seriously doubt you'll see another Chaos show up there.

[Mozart67]

kenshinmac wrote:

Mozart67 wrote:

I'm almost afraid to see what SFoT looks like now. I'm going on the Texas Trip next year (my first TPR trip..woohoo) and while everything sounds great, the last time I was at SFoT was in 1980, just after Judge Roy opened. You know you're aging when you see best Texas coasters and the first three out of your mouth are Big Bend, Texas Cyclone and Shockwave.

Question: when you talk about a woodie being rough, are you talking a little discomfort or actual pain? I know that's kind of a dumb-sounding question; the reason being I rode Compounce's Wildcat last summer and needed 5 chiropractic visits to undo what Wildcat did.

Please say you are kidding...

 

Lake Compounce's Wildcat was a kitten... It didn't hurt a bit when I rode it on the East Coast Trip (heck the boomerang hurt me a heck of a lot more). I will suggest you never ever go on any of the wooden coasters at Kings Dominion and frankly Morey's Piers' Great White was quite uncomfortable as well. I really hope you are kidding about the 5 visits...

 

 

You rode Wildcat in a middle bench then, because it is absolutely brutal in the back rows of any of the cars. Far rougher than anything at Kings Dominion....

 

You nailed it perfectly, SFNE! We were second to last in the train and left the park after that ride. The ride itself wasnt bad until one of the nonbanked curves towards the end of the run and it just wasnt my idea of a good time.

Ken, I don't want you to think that it disfigured me or anything; hell, after a rough Boomerang or a Zyklon, I need to see a chiro; just have a trick back that acts up sometimes. I did, however, miss a day's work because of Wildcat, and the 5 appoinments were basically one adjustment and 4 prevention. (Still went to SFNE the following weekend anyway, though..)

If Giant, Judge Roy, etc. are rougher than that, I'll just sit those out. I got the Roy credit opening year, so I'm set anyway.

[texcoaster]

Roy was bottoming out a little in the valleys, but not that bad. It's the ONLY time I've ever ridden it when it was anything other than glass-smooth, so I'm sure it will get some TLC in the off season.

 

Giant is easily doable in the front seat.

 

I'll add my "hear hear" to your Wildcat experience, though. What a disappointment that ride was! Felt like it had square wheels.