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What's the worst station you've been in


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SFMM's Riddler's Revenge and Viper

 

SFGAm's Viper

 

Dragster's can be brutal when filled, heck it looks brutal from the midway.

 

Kings Island's Beast because the front row line usually starts right when the queue ends and when the station is full it's hard to find the other rows.

 

Batman the Ride - as cool as the extra themeing was put into the station they get stifling hot. SFOG's was unbearable on my two visits back in June.

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Volcano's station. It has the same problem as Iron Wolf, except turned around; the back row line cuts into those going into all the other rows. This makes the wait for the back the same as all other rows.

 

 

 

What's even stranger is it often seems to leave the front row queue (as short as it is for an inverted coaster) mostly empty in the confusion, making the wait for the front row about the same as every other seat.

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There are a number of stations I consider bad, but here are what I would consider the worst (not individual rides, but things I see somewhat frequently on various attractions, although I will list examples).

 

-Any station that has loading gates, but not one per row (ex. Xcelerator at KBF)

 

-Any station that is not covered, at least where the waiting area is (ex. Flight Deck at CGA)

 

-Any station that has too large of a gap or too small of a gap behind the row railings (ex. Magnum at CP)

 

-Any station that enters the pick a row point from the side instead of the middle (ex. El Toro at SFGAdv)

 

-Any station that has bent rows (ex. Riddler's Revenge at SFMM)

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Exactly! On my visit to KD, I rode Volcano in the front, back, and middle, and the wait was the same for all three!

 

Not that the actual station is bad, but Twister at Knoebels will always go down in my heart as my least favorite station. Mainly because the exit ramps are smooth steel, and it was raining when I rode the coaster. Since I wasn't watching my step, I slipped on the exit ramp, giving my ass a nasty bruise.

 

Generall, any station of which there is no ride op outside it to hold people is awkward, no matter what the station design is. KI actually does this pretty well (except for Beast), but luxaries like this in places like Hersheypark or Cedar Fair parks are nonexistant. Six Flags parks do have people that do this, but usually their only job is to manage the Flashpass line, and they still allow the stations to become packed.

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^I was also going to say Terminator/Apocalypse at SFMM. It's just way too small to be functional without a grouper limiting entrance to the area.

 

Thought about the question in my head and didn't even think of Riddler's but you are all totally right about that one. What a clusterf**k!

 

I feel like there are more stations out there that cause my blood pressure to rise as soon as I enter but I can't think of any.

 

I may be going against the grain here, but I have never really enjoyed X (X2)'s station (I know, I know), but only because I feel like I spend HOURS in there each time I enter! A station that is soooo huge and only loads 2 people at a time gets a bit monotonous.

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Any station that has stairs in the line:

- A lot of rides at Disneyland

- Apocalypse at SFMM

- X2

- etc.

 

Most B&M stations where there is no employee controlling the lines: (basically, any stations where chaos ensues)

- Riddler

- Batman

- Scream

- Riddler (it's worth mentioning twice.)

- etc.

 

Any station where you don't know where you are if you've never been on the ride before

- Dragon at La Ronde (even though the loading station was right around the corner, I didn't know if we still had an hour to go, or five minutes).

 

On that note, ANY station at La Ronde.

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Worst for me-----(not just the station but the queue/wait experience)

 

Riddler's at Magic Mountain----the ride is great, but that line makes me want to commit crime!!!!

 

Deja Vu- (tho I am one of the people who was thrilled with ride itself)

V2 at Six Flags Great America....they should film a "Snicker's Bar" commercial here on busy days.

FireHawk at King's Island....slow, slower and slowest.....

Top Thrill Dragster

X (have never ridden it as x2)

Italian Job/Stunt Track at King's Island

 

 

In the "The Station Is Ok. but I don't like the 12-mile Trek to reach it category"

"The Boss" at SFSTL

"American Eagle" at SFGAM---it was a long way there the old way (thru the tent) and they somehow made it longer.

"Viper" 'disembarkation journey' SFGAM (though the ride is awesome)

 

I'll probably think of more, this is just off the top of my head....

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I LOVE TO DEATH any station with a side/messed up crowd flow entrance. It means that one of the best seats (Front or Back) has the shortest line of any row. It's awesome!

 

LOVE riding:

 

-Legend in the Front Row

-El Toro in the Back

-Magnum in 1-3

 

Again, assigned seating is the worst. Remember that it's the ride that matters, not the effing station. The ride is 99/100 times better at the ends of the train.

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Volcano's station. It has the same problem as Iron Wolf, except turned around; the back row line cuts into those going into all the other rows. This makes the wait for the back the same as all other rows.

 

 

 

What's even stranger is it often seems to leave the front row queue (as short as it is for an inverted coaster) mostly empty in the confusion, making the wait for the front row about the same as every other seat.

 

People still definitely line up for the front row, and it's always 10x longer than the line for any other seat. It just takes a bit longer to get there. Even I find myself waiting in the line for the back when I'm not supposed to be.

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Firehawk- Its just so slow. I think we waited longer for this ride then everything else on the trip. The station attendents went very effective at directing people so there was chaos and confusion.

Top Thrill Dragster- It was quite chaotic, but i can understand considering the volume of riders

Boomerang- There was no queue line at all, so the station was a mess

Invertigo- The metal barriers that come out when the ride is launched are rather ugly and out of place

 

-I like all of the rides listed, besides the station/lines

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While Riddler's Revenge at SFMM isn't the worst looking station, its definitely the worst station experience for me, especially on past visits with one train operations cough* 2004* cough. Its complete chaos at the top, and as with no line control people get packed like sardines in there. I wish they had a ride attendant at the bottom of the building controlling the amount of people going into the building (like they do on X2). The techno music in the station is enjoyable until you've been in the station for over 20 minutes, then it gets irritating.

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Invertigo- The metal barriers that come out when the ride is launched are rather ugly and out of place

 

I've never understood why Invertigos (and possibly other Boomerangs, though I don't know since I haven't been on one yet) need the giant prison gates, when Intamin Impulse rides can function just fine with the regular air gates.

 

I think the worse I've been in is The Beast's. I love the ride and the station atmosphere, but the sole fact that they have a few rows of switchbacks in the station just make it a gigantic cluster when people don't know where they are going in the line.

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People still definitely line up for the front row, and it's always 10x longer than the line for any other seat. It just takes a bit longer to get there. Even I find myself waiting in the line for the back when I'm not supposed to be.

 

Not always, bottlenecks tend to do weird things, and I have definitely witnessed a front row queue nearly empty while the rest of the people in line are stuck behind groups waiting for the back.

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I hate Cheetah Hunt's station solely because it's just one big building of switchbacks. I personally get so much more satisfaction when I leave one queue house and move on to the other (ex. Kraken).

 

I also find a lot of trouble in SheiKra's station since people are let in right where the line for the front row starts. And since the GP adores the front row, there's always a stampede of people in line for that one while there's only 4 people waiting for the second and third rows. Plus, there's not even an extended line for first row, they're all the same and it just gets crazy very easily.

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I've never understood why Invertigos (and possibly other Boomerangs, though I don't know since I haven't been on one yet) need the giant prison gates, when Intamin Impulse rides can function just fine with the regular air gates.

 

From what I understand, Impulses have a laser beam on each side, directly in front of the gates and in front of the exit, that will E-stop the ride if anything crosses it's path during the ride cycle. Invertigos must not have this feature, instead they have the prison gates. My guess is they are a safety precaution to prevent anyone from going into the train's path while it is flying through the station.

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Trailblazer at Hershey is beyond stupid...

 

When you enter the station there are a million switchbacks on the left and a million switchbacks on the right but they're not for the front and back of the train because once you get to the end of the switchbacks you're back in the middle anyway and can just go wherever you feel like.

 

X Flight (Geauga Lake) and Riddlers Revenge are (were) probably the biggest clusterfuck stations I've ever seen with a just a mess of people with no idea where to go.

 

And I thought about mentioning El Toro but actually I love that station. It looks great, and for some reason everyone is afraid to pass the almighty garbage can that separates the front and back of the train, so you never have to wait more than one or two cycles for the back.

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I LOVE TO DEATH any station with a side/messed up crowd flow entrance. It means that one of the best seats (Front or Back)

-El Toro in the Back

 

Quoted for accuracy. A few "excuse me pleases" get you on the ride a few trains quicker and sitting in arguably the best spot on the train.

 

Though, I'd be just as happy if they redid the station to reverse the flow or widen it as it would be more fair to the general public who always seems afraid to walk towards the back.

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A dose of reality-check for parks with bad stations:

 

My list? I'll keep it to the worst offenders:

 

Goliath at SFoG: Superelevated platform, long steep ramps to get to it, no holding area outside of the exit, and have to go through a crowded, cluttered gift shop to get to it.

HersheyPark's Wildcat: Steep ramps, tight switchback corners, and no crowd control along said ramps- with people standing around looking stupid, blocking traffic.

Grizzly, KD: Ramps are crowded, gates swing outward into a small area, and no place to go to get out of the way from the oncoming stampede of people NOT paying attention.

 

Honorable mentions go to SFoG twice:

Dahlonega Mine Train

Log Flume

 

Both for having -stairs- everywhere.

 

Now I can hear people say "What does this have to do with PLATFORMS?" Well, look at it from my perspective: The handicrapped people such as myself tend to have a very different view of how a coaster's platform looks. For me, the ideal platforms are designed where there is no congestion, clutter, and places where the handicrapped can -easily- stand/roll to the side out of the way of people exiting the ride. In some cases, parks have added elevators to access the platform easily- and without the difficulty of long, drawn out or steep ramps.

 

(I do have a list of 'best platforms' myself... and both HersheyPark and Disney score -very high- on that list...)

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