Worst Arrow coaster

[cloudeleven]

Anaconda at KD

[cloudeleven]

I have a soft spot for Arrows because their Loop-Screw was my first upside down coaster at age 11 (Revolution at Libertyland in Memphis).

[Jason Maier]

I did ride Drachen Fire as a youngblood (12 or 13) . . . . and it banged me around.

 

And didn't it also have a sign in the station that said . . . remove your earrings before riding?

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Without a doubt, Ninja at Six Flags St. Louis. I will also give a dishonourable mention to Corkscrew at Cedar Point, which suffers even more disgrace by being literally right next to the best Arrow.

[coasterbill]

X2, I know I'm in the minority but that thing is one of the most brutal, punishing coasters I've ever experienced. I rode it in it's opening season, thought it was a train wreck, rode it 10 years later after the "conversion" and after hearing about how wonderful it was for 10 years and felt the same way. F*ck this thing. Kill it with fire.

[cparkes92]

It has to be the two Corkscrews I've ridden (Cedar Point and Michigan's Adventure)

[Samuel]

X/X2, the car crash simulator. Hideously jerky and thwacky. I love the ambitious concept, but I don't think it was ready to roll out the door on such a steroidal scale. I can't find fun anywhere throughout the ride experience, and it hits the brakes with me exhausted and somehow mad at the coaster every time.

 

Vortex at King's Island. Yikes, it shows its age. The banking and transitions look and feel like wild guesstimating, and they hurt. Even the benign parts of the layout, like the relatively straight first drop, have jolting potholes for some reason. And that fast turn-and-slam into the MCBR is just vicious. I enjoy the clickety-clack of a signature Arrow lift, but I wouldn't mind seeing the station get reused for the third time on a new coaster.

[Trevor Hamilton]

Nessie and Tennessee Tornado. Hands down the worst Arrows and probably the worst coasters in general.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding it's Anaconda

 

EDIT: My well informed but not full on nerd brother saw me typing this and said "F*ck that it's Magnum"

[pryonisys]

Out of the ones I've ridden Drachen Fire is probably at the top, although Double Loop (used to be at Geagua Lake) was a piece of garbage in my opinion also.

There are quite a few Arrows I enjoy too though, so I'm not one to just trash them just because everyone else does.

[defrocker]

While I'm not going to disagree with those that are saying Vortex, because it is a little violent, I think its sister coaster out west is worse. Viper has to be one of the few coaster experiences I've had where I couldn't wait for it to be over.

 

And y'all lay off the Anaconda hate train. One little ear-bash doesn't make it a horrible ride.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ I actually enjoyed Viper quite a bit. I found the inversions all smooth and really intense, but the turns were definitely a tad uncomfortable. Vortex and Anaconda are two other coasters I didn't find that bad.

 

The worst Arrow I have been on is Michigan Adventure's Corkscrew. The trains on that one are much more cramped that the other Arrows I've been on and I had my knees against the seat in front of me the whole ride.

[Steely Dan]

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Edited August 22, 2017 by Steely Dan

[Imagineer Josh]

TBH, the only Arrow coasters I've ridden that I just didn't like were Vortex at Kings Island, Corkscrew at Cedar Point, and Wild Thing at Enchanted Village. Those were the only three that I've ever suffered headbanging or any sort of pain on.

[gerstlaueringvar]

Runaway Mine Train SFOT and Mini Mine Train SFOT.

[bgtlover]

Vortex @ Kings Island.

Corkscrew @ Cedar Point is a close 2nd for me as well.

[coasterbill]

Yeah... still X2

[joelwee]

Corkscrew at Cedar Point, definitely. It's definitely more fun to watch than it is to ride, especially when seagulls play chicken on the airtime hill after the first drop.

 

I rode Vortex @ Kings Island on the same trip and didn't think it was that bad. It reminded me a lot of Viper @ SFMM, but it wasn't quite as fast.

[cal1br3tto]

Worst I rank: anything that is, or has been, named Ninja and is not a suspended coaster.

 

(Dishonorable mention: Anaconda.)

 

Actual worst by default because it is a kiddie coaster: Mini Mine Train (SFOT).

[bgtlover]

Corkscrew at Cedar Point, definitely. It's definitely more fun to watch than it is to ride, especially when seagulls play chicken on the airtime hill after the first drop.

 

I rode Vortex @ Kings Island on the same trip and didn't think it was that bad. It reminded me a lot of Viper @ SFMM, but it wasn't quite as fast.

Corkscrew was definitely awful. It's very picturesque though, as most coasters with corkscrews over the midway are. It was the worst for me until Vortex a couple days later. Maybe I picked a bad seat. I think I was in the 3rd to last car (semi middle), thinking it would soften the blow. I couldn't wait to get off...lol

[Schrecken]

IMO the worst Arrow (and possibly one of the worst coasters ever, period) that I've ever ridden was Drachen Fire. I'll never forget the first (and only) time I rode it back in 96'. I was there with a friend and the park was pretty crowded - even Nessie had an hour long line, and so did BBW. But to reasons yet unknown to me, DF was, quite literally, a walk-on. At the time Alpengiest had yet to be built, and DF was the park's newest coaster, so I could not imagine why there was no line. Well, it didn't take my friend and I long to find out why....after suffering thru that horrid ride, we sat things out for about a half hour until our necks and heads quit aching.

 

I've been in a few car accidents over the years, and one of them came very close to approximating the feel (and after-effects) of riding DF - the time I was in a small car going about 20mph and I t-boned a much larger vehicle that ran a stop sign. The only difference on DF was no sound of crunching of metal....

 

And there is only one other coaster (besides DF) I've ever been on that also closely approximated the effects of such an accident on my neck - Son of Beast. And we all know what happened to it.

 

As for other Arrows, I'm not very fond of any of those that have corkscrews (yes, the namesake at CP). I've always felt that such muli-element Arrows would have made much better rides if they had all been "Phantom-ed" - maybe keep the vertical loops, but replace corkscrews and other inversions with airtime hills. OK, you may have ended up with negative G thigh-slamming (ala Magnum) but at least you wouldn't have got your ears boxed in. For instance, I always liked Anaconda's first drop into the lake and the two vertical elements were OK, but the rest of the ride sucked royally!

For non-loopers, I also found the mine train at SF Great Adventure to be unusually rough compared to other Arrow mine trains I've ridden. I don't know if it's the worst Arrow mine train, but I'm not in a big hurry to ride it again, let's put it this way.

 

As for the odd-balls, I actually liked X the year it opened - I didn't find it rough at all. Actually I thought one of the other Arrows in that park (Viper, not the Gold Rusher) was rougher and caused more head-banging.

[DILinator]

^ I loved Drachen Fire! I rode it twice, and I was much younger and less tolerant of "rough" coasters then. So sad it's gone, and attribute it to too many whiny softies like my brother and you! 100% agreed on SoB though... Only coaster that legitimately f-ed up my body for days after riding it!

 

As for worst Arrow coaster still in existence, it HAS to be... Magnum XL 200! (Just kidding, just kidding... It's not even the worst Arrow coaster in the park. That dubious distinction goes to...)

 

Corkscrew at CP. In all seriousness, it's got to be this pile of steel crap! I'm kind of glad it exists, and people still ride it, for the picturesque views of it you get over the midways. Plus, it's not like you can take it out, and replace it with much of anything better. (Unlike another HORRID Arrow coaster, Vortex at KI, which is sitting on PRIME coaster land!) I will never again ride Corkscrew, however, because I just don't hate my body that much...

[Jason Maier]

Drachen Fire by far . . . . I even recall it had a warning sign recommending riders to remove their earrings . . .

[JJLehto]

That I've been on (Missed the infamous Drachen Fire and X2 was closed when I went)

 

Anaconda

 

Slow, boring and rough.

 

Least Great American Scream Machine and Viper did stuff.

Corkscrew so small it wasn't soooo bad

The runaway trains I tend to enjoy, as do the Suspended coasters which I've not found rough.

Vortex, that certainly rivals Anaconda for worst

But Anaconda has it all: Its rough, its slow (my god it just crawls through everything post MCBR and even for arrow standards those corkscrews such) and just boring...kills off all the speed, dumb layout, with all that classic arrow awkwardness, boring.

Ugh what a terrible ride.

[DILinator]

Drachen Fire by far . . . . I even recall it had a warning sign recommending riders to remove their earrings . . .

 

You mean like Maverick? Definitely a sign of a terrible coaster about to be boarded!

[joelwee]

^ Rougarou had those signs, too. It also had other signs that said: "Due to the popularity of this ride, seats will be assigned" just as you walk into the empty station.