aCoasterStory Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Pleasant: -Tennessee Tornado: wasn't expecting an Arrow to be so good. -Phoenix: don't know what I was really expecting from it, but I know it wasn't that it would be my favorite wooden coaster ever (which it now is). -Expedition Everest: rode this in Feb of 2006 (they were doing a soft open prior to its official grand opening in April)--had zero expectations coming in as it wasn't even "officially" opened yet, but we got to ride it 7 or 8 times in a row right before closing, and it was a great ride. I still say it is the best combination of theming and ride experience anywhere at a theme park. Went back last year & I'm pretty sure I got somewhere between 25 and 30 rides in on it the day I was at AK. Great experience. NTAG: I had no real expectations going in, but it immediately skyrocketed to my top 5 of all time. GREAT ride. I really need to ride the other RMC creations. Unpleasant: -Skyrush: the restraints about killed my legs...and it stole my phone right out of my pocket -The Voyage: was expecting the #1 wooden coaster to actually be fun. It was so rough & painful. And I *hate* massive laterals during airtime moments. -Alpengeist: I guess for a coaster as massive as it is, I was expecting more forces. I grew up riding my local Batman clone, so I expect inverts to be a lot more on the intense side. Comparatively, Alpengeist was a snooze. -El Toro: only ride I've ever ridden where ride ops had to force the restraints down to clear me to ride. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't stapled into the seat so uncomfortably. -Kingda Ka: I was expecting it to be a taller, faster, at least as good if not a little better version of TTD. I don't know what it is, but the only good seat on Kingda Ka is in the front; the rest all shake too horribly. And the restraints are sucky. Transformers: Rode this during its soft open at USF this past year. Was terribly disappointed. The pre-ride story shown on the video monitors in the queue was horribly written and wasn't at all coherent; it made absolutely no sense if you watched it and tried to figure out what the storyline was supposed to be. The ride wasn't much better. I thought it was at best a retread of Spider-Man (which I think is the superior ride experience, btw). I just don't get how they couldn't make it any more engaging, or at least a noticeable upgrade on a ride that's 15 years old. -Intimidator: I would have hoped a Dale Earnhardt-themed ride would have been at least a bit intense. I mean, he was the Intimidator after all! It's not a bad ride by any stretch, but I don't think it lives up to its namesake. I305, on the other hand, is exactly what a Dale Earnhardt-themed ride should be. -X-Flight/Gatekeeper: I really enjoyed Wild Eagle, but I was let down by both of it's bigger brothers. I think a lot of the difference in enjoyment comes from a different in expectations. You don't expect a super-intense ride at Dollywood; Wild Eagle is smooth, fun, and you do kind of feel like you're soaring like an eagle through the forest. From a theming & marketing standpoint, you would expect X-Flight & GK to be much more intense, but they aren't. The wingover drops are cool, don't get me wrong, but I was just expecting *more* from these rides. A big area where I think they could have improved would have been to have more 'snap' when going through the keyhole elements. Those transitions are just too fluid. And GK was oddly bouncy for a brand-new B&M (not to mention the unpleasantness of the tightening vests, which I didn't notice on the other two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 ^Tennessee Tornado looks like it should be horrible, but is actually great--the best of the old Arrow rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Rides I thought would be good but were bad: Millennium Force - I was so pumped for this ride, since I followed Golden Tickets and saw Millennium Force was #1. I was let down a lot, as I think it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. There wasn't enough airtime and the forces were not as intense as I hoped. Iron Wolf - This looked like a good ride. I rode it and hurt a lot after. Vortex (KI) - This ride looked so intense amd actually started out good, but the ending was extremely painful. Maverick - I loved the layout of this ride before I rode it, and I heard great things about it. I do love the layout of this ride, except the OTSRs completely killed it. It was forceful and had amazing airtime but I got smacked too many times in the head, which ruined it. Rides I thought would be bad but were good: Shockwave (KD) - I have heard terrible things about Shockwave, but while it wasn't an amazing coaster, it was actually a really good ride. Raptor (CP) - I thought this ride looked really fun, but when I rode it I was surprised. I had no idea the ride would be that intense! It is one of my favorite coasters ever. Alpengeist - Same scenario as Raptor, except I think Alpengeist is better. Blue Streak (CP) - I thought Blue Streak would turn out to be a tame coaster. I had no idea what I was in for... Grizzly (KD) - This coaster just looked okay to me. However it turns out to be one of my favorite wooden coasters of all time! Dominator - This was the first coaster I rode in 2012, so after not having ridden a coaster in 10 months or so, I had no idea what to expect. The layout looked so-so for me. Easily one of the best coasters I had ever been on, and a great way to start off 2012! It was waaaaaay more forceful and intense than I thought! Whizzer - I think Whizzer is the #1 most ridden coaster by me, I have been on it many times, but ever time I ride it, it always gets better and better to me. I'm surprised on how awesome a family coaster could be! Apollo's Chariot: I had heard multiple things about this coaster, most of which were about how Apollo's Chariot wasn't as intense as other hypercoasters. I rode it, and it is thr best B&M hypercoaster I had been on! The airtime on this ride was unbelievable. And finally, Magnum XL-200 - When I went to Cedar Point in 2009, I expected Millennium Force to be the star of the park. I actually had no opinion of the Magnum, I just expected it to be another coaster. In fact, when I was waiting over an hour in line for it, I considered leaving it. Then I rode it. Magnum XL-200 was BY FAR the best roller coaster. I had ridden. It wasn't the smoothest or most comfortable of roller coasters, but it somehow worked for it. I love the whole 80s look of the coaster as well. The airtime was amazing, and it got more and more intense as the ride progressed. The tunnels were perfectly placed on the ride, and when it ended, it felt complete and left me wanting more at the same time. By far the best coaster I had ridden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 -Skyrush: the restraints about killed my legs...and it stole my phone right out of my pocket It really is a shame that Skyrush has such crappy restraints given the awesomeness of the ride itself. I rode it last summer and didn't place it in either the "pleasant" or "unpleasant" categories as, basically, I was amazed by the intensity and airtime of the ride but then very disappointed by the restraints which stop it from being my no 1 ride. I do really wish they do something about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rctneil Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Better than expected for me were: Whizzer at Great America Gravity Max at Lihpao Land Space Mountain at Disneyland Powder Keg at Silver Dollar City Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood Space Fantasy at Universal Studios Japan Fireball at Happy Valley Shanghai Riddler's Revenge at Six Flags Magic Mountain Worse than expected for me were: RC Racer - Hong Kong Disneyland Ninja at Six Flags St Louis Legend at Holiday World The Smiler at Alton Towers - (my last ride of the year was on the front row and it was amazing though!) Thunderbolt at Dreamworld Those are just a few of the ones that come to mind for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 ^I thought RC Racer was fun for what it was. Space Fantasy was, indeed, even more fun than I'd expected, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rctneil Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 ^I thought RC Racer was fun for what it was. Space Fantasy was, indeed, even more fun than I'd expected, too. I have to give it credit as it does what it was intended for and can't fault it for that, my issue was that for me, it didn't provide the type of ride I had expected. But overall it was fun. and yes, Space Fantasy is amazing! Not quite sure why as it was weird but just super awesome cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 FOTR, both pleasant and unpleasant. For forcefulness and roughness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 ^So, on the whole, how was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 ^So, on the whole, how was it? Much more forceful than X-Flight and GateKeeper, but much rougher than X-Flight and slightly smoother than GateKeeper. I rank FOTR higher than the other two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfelice Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) Add The Legend at Holiday World to my pleasant surprise list. It's not a huge airtime machine, but the laterals and pacing make for a very intense ride. The helix towards the end was absolutely nuts to solidify an amazing ride. In terms of comfort, The Legend is just fine. I couldn't find any shaking, shuffling, or potholes. It does come in third in my personal rankings of HW's coasters, but when that third is out of three top ten woodies for me, that's pretty impressive. I might get some flack for this one, but an unpleasant surprise for me was Geauga Lake's Big Dipper. Perhaps it was in the "dog days" of it's final season? No matter what the circumstances were, it was a brutal ride. I'm pretty resistant to wood coaster roughness, but this one ended up more uncomfortable than pleasant. Maybe I could be telling a different story if I caught this one a few seasons earlier. Edited February 10, 2014 by ajfelice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 ^Legend surprised me, as well. I'd heard from many people that it was pretty bad, but I ended up rather liking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravity55 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 ^ To like The Legend, you have to be one of those people who enjoy riding the classic scrambler ride. Some people enjoy getting slammed side to side and others don't. A lot of people mistake the extreme laterals as roughness, because they can leave you with a good battle scar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xcoaster Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Pleasant The Legend @ Holiday World - Ok, I wasn't expecting it to be bad, but for years I'd always heard people say that Raven was so much better, and later, that Voyage was so amazing, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found that Legend was actually my consistent favorite at the park. Skyliner @ Lakemont Park - I expected this to be a one-and-done, but I found that it actually delivered some pretty decent airtime when riding in the front car, so I ended up taking at least half-a-dozen walk-on rides. Wild One @ SFA - I'd heard nothing about this one, and it turned out to be a very fun ride with an unusual layout and some great headchoppers. Saw @ Thorpe Park - I'd heard it was an incredibly rough, awful ride, but I thought it was just fine and actually a lot of fun. Granted, I only managed one ride on it, so maybe I just got lucky, but I didn't think it was any worse than any other Eurofighters. Air @ Alton Towers - I'd always heard it was far too tame and by far the worst of the flyers, but I actually really liked it, as it delivered lots of soaring above the landscape without any of those body-crushing pretzel loops. Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rock-It @ USF - I never heard much good about it, but I ended up really liking it and riding a bunch of times. Blue Streak @ CP - I love the airtime you get in the front car. I had heard some good reviews of it, so I wasn't too surprised, but I still didn't think it'd be one of my favorites in the park. Grizzly @ KD - It hasn't been running as well on my last couple visits, but on my first few visits I was very impressed and re-rode many times. Dominator @ KD - I'd never heard too much about it when it was at Geauga Lake, but it turned out to be one of my favorite B&M designs. Thirteen @ Alton Towers - I thought it was a really fun ride for what it was. I understand all the controversy and what not, but it didn't detract from the ride at all for me. Boardwalk Bullet @ Kemah - I'd heard it was unbearably rough, but I thought it was actually a pretty good ride. Unpleasant Voyage @ Holiday World - This was back when everyone was still raving about it, and I'd yet to hear much about the roughness. My first ride on it was so incredibly rough that I was a little afraid to ride it again. Later I did get some amazing smooth-ish rides on it as well, so it kind of balanced out, but I was just so taken aback after that first ride by how violent it was. Huracan @ Belantis - Roughness on Eurofighters can tend to vary a lot by installation (and where you're sitting), but this one was just terrible, and the layout was pretty uninspired. Most people in our group opted to only ride it the one time (I went back later to give it another try, still bad), and we ended up passing up on ERT. Swarm @ Thorpe Park - I actually really liked Raptor @ Gardaland, so I was looking forward to this one. I only got one ride, so maybe it was just me, but I found the layout to be mediocre and short with very little scenery interaction. Iron Wolf @ SFGAm - I didn't realize how rough a B&M could be. Maverick @ CP - Ok, so first off, I actually love this ride now, but on my first ride I wasn't prepared at all for the neck chopping action, and I didn't enjoy it very much. Since then I've gotten used to the restraints and it's become one of my favorites, but initially I was a little let down by what I was expecting to be an instant favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrozooka0 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 PLEASANT: Incredible Hulk (IoA): Had heard that this thing had a tendancy to beat the crap out of people every now and then, and was expecting a rough ride. Not Ninja rough, but rough nonetheless. What I got instead was an amazing ride with a glass-smooth first half, and a second half that was only rough when compared to other B&Ms. UNPLEASANT: Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (Universal Orlando): Was expecting the fun ride that many other posters on this site discribed. Instead, I experienced a ride that bashed my head against the back of the seat, with the intensity being of the painful variety. At least the Non-Inverting Loop was cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarPoint27 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Pleasant: Gemini at Cedar Point, i loved this thing and i had a blast riding it. Unpleasant: Magnum XL 200 at Cedar Point. So i went to Cedar Point expecting this ride to be nothing but amazing, sadly it was a let down, the first couple hills were really rough, on the first drop i went to put my hands up and my head smacked against the back of the seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Pleasant: Gemini at Cedar Point, i loved this thing and i had a blast riding it. Unpleasant: Magnum XL 200 at Cedar Point. So i went to Cedar Point expecting this ride to be nothing but amazing, sadly it was a let down, the first couple hills were really rough, on the first drop i went to put my hands up and my head smacked against the back of the seat. Magnum trains don't even have head rests Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnastyGnoric7 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Pleasant Flying Falcon at Hersheypark, it is a fun ride and the ride's location makes it even better Unpleasant Wipeout at Knoebels, Ugh this ride bangs you worse than a Vekoma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rctneil Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 When I popped into Gulliver's Milton Keynes a few years back I totally expected Python to be rough and horrible from first looks but it turned out relatively nicely for what it was. I was also expecting 10 Inversion Coaster at Chimelong to be as bad as it's cousin at Thorpe but it wasn't. It actually ran quite well. (even though the seats are uncomfortable) On the uncomfortable end of the spectrum, I expected Timber Wolf at WoF to be ok but it threw me about like anything. I had to literally be forced on it the second day I was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 ^Chimelong's coaster was better than Thorpe's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker27 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Mean Streak was a PLEASANT surprise, sure it was bumpy and my back was sore for 3 or 4 days. But, honestly, I was expecting to have a leg amputation after hearing all of the reviews. I heard it was worse than Son Of Beast even. But I rode it 4 times in a row, it was a nice bumpy ride though. Mantis was an extremely Unpleasant surprise for me, maybe because I'm of the Male gender? I was hoping the ride would end as soon as it started... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Pleasant Unpleasant Wipeout at Knoebels, Ugh this ride bangs you worse than a Vekoma. I think Trabant style rides are completely pointless crap and have since I was a kid. I don't know why anyone thinks these rides are enjoyable (including kids), they're boring and actually slightly uncomfortable. I don't know if I'd call them a disappointment though because that would imply that I at one point had decent expectations for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor6 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I might get some flack for this one, but an unpleasant surprise for me was Geauga Lake's Big Dipper. Perhaps it was in the "dog days" of it's final season? No matter what the circumstances were, it was a brutal ride. I'm pretty resistant to wood coaster roughness, but this one ended up more uncomfortable than pleasant. Maybe I could be telling a different story if I caught this one a few seasons earlier. Start flack: Wow! I've never heard anyone complain about the Big Dipper at Geauga Lake. I rode it pretty much every season until the final weekend in 2007, and I can't recall ever having a brutal ride. I just remember a fun, family friendly wooden coaster. End flack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Mean Streak was a PLEASANT surprise, sure it was bumpy and my back was sore for 3 or 4 days. But, honestly, I was expecting to have a leg amputation after hearing all of the reviews. I heard it was worse than Son Of Beast even. But I rode it 4 times in a row, it was a nice bumpy ride though. Mantis was an extremely Unpleasant surprise for me, maybe because I'm of the Male gender? I was hoping the ride would end as soon as it started... I think only Bandit at Movie World is worse than Son of Beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker27 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Sadly I've never had the change to ride SOB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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