The "Pleasant/Unpleasant Surprise" Thread

[Mrenata]

Pleasant ones:

 

Fluch Von Novgorod: What an AMAZING eurofighter. It launches, it drops, it's well themed, and there's a nice surprise at the end. I had no idea of what to expect, since barely no one talks about it, but it was awesome and made my top 10 with honors!

 

Blue Fire: When I visited Europa Park, I was looking forward to riding Wodam and Silver Star, and Blue Fire ended up being the most awesome coaster at Europa Park and it's also on my top 10!

 

Mystery Castle: I'm not very found of Intamin Drop Towers, but OH MY GOD, Mystery Castle is probably the best drop tower in the world!

 

Winjas (fear): Was expecting another standart spinning coaster. but Winjas Fear blew me away

 

Blue Streak: What an awesome old woodie! I'm so glad I got to ride it. It had tons of airtime and it wasn't rough at all!

 

Steel Eel: I couldn't stop ridding. I must have ridden it like 10 times in a row. Another amazing coaster that for some reason is not very popular

 

 

 

Unpleasant ones:

 

 

Millenium Force: I'm still trying to understand why do people like it so much. It's short and you can barely feel any airtime in it. I'd rather ride Magnum a thousand times!

 

Expedition GeForce: I was expecting the best ride of my life and it was only bleh. Didn't even make my top 10.

 

Wodam and Colossus: Maybe I wasn't lucky on my trip to Europe, maybe it was the cold weather, but I was expecting 2 of the most awesome woodies in the world and they were less fun than Cannonball!

 

Skycoasters and Slingshots in general: They look insane, but they don't feel insane. I've ridden the tallest slingshot and the tallest skycoaster, and they were less thrilling than a booster ride.

[thrillseeker4552]

I have a few.

 

-Mean Streak at CP. Everybody said it was a horrible ride and was excessively painful. I found the ride to be fun and fairly smooth. Sure, it wasn't GCI smooth, but wasn't bad at all.

 

-Mantis at CP. Again, everybody said that the ride sucked in every seat. It was a smooth ride with small pumps here and there. I thought it was just as good as Riddler's Revenge.

 

-Millennium Force at CP. Lots of people said that the hills didn't have any airtime. I was surprised when I rode it for the first time. I tried the front, middle, and back, and the middle had the best airtime. The last hill (the one parallel to the station) had ejector in the middle seat. Maybe I just got a good day.

 

-X2 at SFMM. I rode the coaster once over 2 1/2 years ago. I hated it. I rode it once and only once. I when back to SFMM yesterday and gave it another shot and I was amazed. The ride was fantastic! It easily went from my least favorite ride to my top 5!

 

-Last one. Viper at SFMM. Like X2, it's been a while since I have ridden Viper. I gave it a shot in the front seat and it was awesome (as awesome as an Arrow can get). The loops were fun and the ride was fairly smooth; and being a 5'2" kid, with the restraint as tight as it will go and still being loose, I had lots of freedom from head-banging. I even had ejector airtime (yes, ejector) on the transition from the upward climb to the brake run. It was a lot of fun!

 

EDIT: I would also like to add TTD as an unpleasant surprise. I was THRILLED for this coaster from all the hype it gets (and how much better it is than KK). I rode it in the middle row and was very disappointed. It was over too soon to thoroughly enjoy the ride. Not to mention, I was disappointed with the launch. Xcelerator's is WAY more intense. Still a great ride, but I'll take Maverick or Xcelerator over it any day.

Edited June 15, 2013 by thrillseeker4552

[SFOGdude25]

I laugh at the huge variety of opinions here. Coaster riding is SO subjective. This is why it's best to not let other opinions determine/bias yours.

Here's my list.

Pleasant:

-Comet at Hershey: It's nice to see this coaster show up several times in this thread, and for good reason. I was expecting a mediocre oldie with no air, but this thing had decent air on almost every hill! It was a lot of fun!

-Fahrenheit at Hershey: I don't get all the hate for this ride. The back seat is pure fun!

-Hurler at Carowinds: Don't get me wrong, it's still not that good, but I was scared that it would be jackhammer/shuffle city, but it wasn't near as rough as I thought it would be.

-Firehawk at Kings Island: I know I'm in the minority here. No, it's not really that special, and its operations are terrible, but I really enjoy this ride. It's just fun, I can't really explain it.

-Steel Force at Dorney: This one had me giggling like a little girl on all the hills. They gave just enough air to give me butterflies, not to mention it was super smooth.

Unpleasant:

-Intimidator at Carowinds: This was just plain disappointing. Sure, the air on this thing was good, but the layout was so static and unimaginative, that it almost made me bored to tears. Airtime may be a good ingredient for a coaster, but to me good coasters are not built by airtime alone.

-Hydra at Dorney: It would've been fun if it wasn't so rough. There was just too much headbanging going on for me to really know what was going on. It was my 100th coaster, though!

-Mantis at Cedar Point: This is one of those that I ride every time I go just to see if it has gotten better, and it never does. It's sad, too, because I really enjoy its little brother Georgia Scorcher.

-Vortex at Kings Island: One word: OUCH! I hit my head really hard on the head rest through the loops on my last ride. The pain was enough to make me not ride it again.

[dominoes]

Swarm: Pleasent. I had been informed that it was fairly boring, fairly slow, and fairly forceless. Instead, I got a great ride with a suprising amount of force. Great ride!

 

Stealth: Pleasent. I first rode the ride when I was quite a bit younger, and hated it. I then gave worked up the courage to ride it again, and loved every second.

 

Nemesis: Unpleasent. I was told it would be amazing and "the best ride evaaaaaaar". Instead, I got a fairly good Invert, but I still prefer Vampire and Air. Plus, on the inversion voer the station, my hand hit something on the train, so that scared the flip out of me.

 

Nemesis - Sub Terra: Unpleasent. Got of it sore after being confronted with strobes, incredibly loud audio, and a painful pokey thing in my back. The seatbelt was uncomfortably loose, and the "scare maze" at the end consisted of nothing.

[Team Thriller]

Pleasant - Apocalypse SFMM

 

I wasn't expecting much but this ride was really awesome. It's hard for me to decide which one is better, this or Prowler.

 

Unpleasant - Xcelerator

 

It was great! Loads of fun, an amazing top hat, and an awesome launch, but best steel coaster in California? Not in my opinion. It got way to over hyped for me.

 

-- James

[Voxelmatic]

Oh... I forgot one!

Pleasant Surprise: Hollywood Rip Ride Roket

Based on what my friends had said, I was expecting a boring, rough ride. However, that was an opinion reserved for Hulk. HRRR was very smooth, all four times I rode it that day. It also had tons of airtime, and the music was a nice touch in my opinion. Very fun family ride!

[XYZ]

Some more Pleasant/Unpleasant Surprises for me:

 

Pleasant:

Supreme Scream: Everyone said how this is a boring S&S tower, but it was a lot of fun and has a very good freefall sensation.

 

Xcelerator: I knew this was going to be good, but it was very good. It is now my favorite coaster in California mostly due to the launch.

 

Technic Coaster: Other than the drop, I thought this would be boring. The reviews said the wild mouse turns aren't strong, but I think that the turns are pretty forceful. Plus, the final two drops are not as good as the first one, but they are fun.

 

Pleasant/Unpleasant: X2 (SFMM): This coaster always puts me in an odd position as I still have mixed reviews with X2 even after a good number of rides. X2 can have headbanging and cannot have headbanging which dramatically affects the ride experience. X2 seems to rely a lot on the wow factor. Though that wow factor disappears quickly as the experience becomes familiar. Now whenever I go on X2, it just feels like a thrill ride that flops you around which isn't tons of fun that SFMM fanboys claim X2 to have. I just think X2 is overhyped on intensity and the overall experience.

 

Unpleasant:

Viper (SFMM): Many enthusiasts like Viper and I thought it would be decent, but it was very uncomfortable. I experienced no headbanging because it was impossible for me to have headbanging as the OTSRs are pressing against my shoulders. Viper became the 2nd worst coaster in SFMM for me.

[Angry_Gumball]

How about one that's a blessing and a curse...I revisited those 'potato sack slides' just last night, last time I rode one was when I was probably 11...so imagine 100 lbs later or so revisiting one of these...Going down I felt the airtime gradually increasing from each hump until the final hump that became quite painful after landing the wrong way So yea, you get amazing airtime yet you smash your poor tailbone into oblivion simultaneously.

 

Similar experience with a Gravitron/Star Ship, haven't ridden one since I was like 10 or 11. Again a ride equally amazing and messed up at the same time. Forces were intense yet it felt like my face was being ripped off! In the end, carnival rides seem to be a good candidate for this thread.

[kailisun98]

Pleasant

X2 at SFMM: I expected it to be rough and horrible but it was actually quite smooth and fun

Riddler's Revenge at SFMM: People said that it was rough and unpleasant but it was the smoothest B/M Stand up I've been on.

Unpleaseant

Incredible Hulk: unnecessarily rough for a Bolliger and Mabillard

Superman at SFMM: WAY OVERRATED. It was good but not That good

[cfc]

^The Hulk seems to change moods hourly; then again, he is the Hulk. I've had good rides and bad rides on it, too.

[Noporian]

PLEASANT:

 

Kvasten @ grönalund

I wasn't expecting much since it was a simple family vekoma invert, but the trains are the most comfortable i have ever been on and the theming is amazing with the fire and water effects! I really gave it a 10/10!

 

Katapulten @ grönalund

I went on it just with a pokerface, since i really don't like S&S towers at all really, but this was fun. REAL FUN. The fact it goes up launch, does the space shot thing and goes slowly up and then shoots down (these actually launch downwards). The downwards launch was really strong too which made it awesome to me.

 

X-Flight @ six flags great america

I really think b&m wingcoasters are quite popular now and it seems they are making duplicates. I had ridden SWARM before it but i wasn't expecting much on this.

 

Salama @ linnanmäki

For some reason i was expecting this ride to spin more. But it always has a full line (about maybe 10 mins) yes 10 mins is long in here.

 

Unpleasant:

 

Leviathan @ Canada's wonderland

This thing is way overrated to me. i really didn't enjoy it, neither did i really enjoy any other b&m hypers in north america when i visited. I wonder why they actually made a second b&m hyper in there? they already had Behemoth.

 

Jetline @ Grönalund

It's really nice but the ending helixes were a big bad surprise. The brakes were too fast too.

 

Twister @ Grönalund

This "woodie" (i wouldn't say it's a woodie, it has all steel except for the railing and catwalk) didn't please me as much as i hoped. It was slightly too rough.

 

Kingdaka @ Six flags great adventure

Why is this ride so popular? It's really boring only a launch uphill, drop, brakes. There's more to a rollercoaster.

[cfc]

^I'm not a big fan of the Stealth/Kingda Ka type of Intamin launched coasters, either. Xcelarator, Storm Runner, Rita, Speed Monster, and Superman Escape are all much better.

[Angle O. Descent]

Most pleasant surprise for me was Verbolten. I wasn't even planning on riding it when I went to Busch Gardens, it was the last ride of the day, but ended up blowing me away, especially with the track drop!

 

Unpleasant surprise was Leviathan. B&M Giga sounded amazing to the ears, and although it was still a good ride, it was disappointing for what it was supposed to be. Not in the same class as MF or I305. It was just under-designed... two airtime hills... that's it?

[Hockeydad]

Pleasant:

Losr Coaster Of Superstition Mountain - Indiana Beach

This coaster was just goofy fun...everything about how this coaster moved was just crazy. I can't remember another I laughed so much on a ride.

 

Unpleasant:

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit - Universal Studios Orlando

I looked so forward to riding this coaster, and it was just such a disapointment. The whole pick you own tunes thing was cool, (I picked the Beastie Boys "Sabotage"). But the ride was pretty rough in a lot of spots, and it seemed lose a lot of speed in other spots. The queing was terrible too.

[cfc]

^Rip Ride Rockit does seem to draw a large share of mixed reactions. I like it, myself (especially the non-inverting loop), but it can give you a shaky ride in the backseat.

[Schotcher]

Not in the same class as MF or I305. It was just under-designed... two airtime hills... that's it?

 

Sounds like Millennium Force to me.

[CorkscrewFoley]

Pleasant for me were Backlot Stunt Coaster at CW. I figured I would get the cred, and go over and bust my B&M hyper cherry on Behemoth...which was another pleasant surprise. To the poster who mentioned Leviathan as an unpleasant, I actually found it enjoyable, and better than Millennium Force.

[gisco]

A pleasant surprise for me was when I was first getting into riding coasters. At the time I had ridden less than 50 coaster when I visited IOA and didn't know a lot about them. When riding Hulk for the first time I was surprised when we were shot out at the top of the lift hill.

[Lareson]

My pleasant surprise was riding Mean Streak for the first time this year, in the back car. I thought it was going to be a heck of a lot more shudder in it, but it wasn't that bad, hardly any at all. They did a really great job with the retracking on it the past couple years.

 

Unpleasant surprise was riding red Racer this year. Rode blue last year and that wasn't so bad and was expecting a similar ride. But riding red this year, I don't think I ever had a coaster ever give me a bruise like that one did and it being very rough. My left arm was hurting the rest of the day and sometime after.

 

Maybe next year will have new surprises in store with trips I'm planning on going on.

[azza29]

Pleasant surprise was Tower of Terror II - I thought that turning the car around would just be a gimmick, but it made the ride ten times better, especially from the front seat.

 

Unpleasant surprise was Lethal Weapon. Rode this before I knew much about coasters so I wasn't aware of Vekoma SLCs' reputatiton for being rough. Don't remember much about the ride apart from my head constantly banging between the OTSRs.

[Jew]

Finally rode Manta---definitely a pleasant surprise. Nothing spectacular, but a fun little ride.

[Aceattack52]

Originally written by drikcoil:

 

1. Great American Scream Machine (SFoG) Very, very rough and hard. Needs something done to restore this once great ride.

2. Superman (SFoG) Nice start but it quickly fades out after that.

 

I have to disagree wit you on your placement of the Scream Machine on the "dislike" list. I think that although it is rough and crazy in that sense, they shouldn't do anything to it. People complain all the time that Six Flags parks have lost their heritage and things like that. The Scream Machine is the second oldest coaster in the park, just after the Dahlonega Mine Train. It was built right around that revival time when the public was really getting into bigger and better coasters. I feel like the Rocky Mountain treatment makes it into almost a different ride. Doing all new track might be good because I think it will still maintain the older feel while giving a smoother ride, but that would have to be done right to meet both criteria. The Scream Machine is less of a ride for me than it is a large piece of park history. That's why I feel pretty strongly about it. I don't care what they do to the Cyclone, that thing is junk in its current condition, they should finish with the new track. Does anyone know if that is going on? I thought they said they would continue that work during this off season.

 

For superman; I couldn't agree more. The pretzel loop and barrel roll are really the best and only good parts. The rest of the ride is turns and helixes and things like that. What would something like a corkscrew be like on a flying coaster?

[the ghost]

Just one of each for me for now... maybe I will think of some more in the future.

 

Pleasant: Revenge of the Mummy(USF): I didn't expect for this ride to be at all unpleasant or anything, but I expected it to be quite mild. I have lived near Disney all of my life and had ridden the Hollywood version the previous year at HHN, and although fun it did not offer much in terms of thrills or airtime. I had always felt that indoor coasters meant that the ride would have to be fairly mild in terms of thrills, speed and airtime but the interior effects and theming usually make the experience awesome, but the ride itself would not be particularly memorable... I WAS DEAD WRONG! The Florida version is in my top 10 and did absolutely everything I like in a ride... it had a fun launch, some amazing effects, and what really got me was the airtime. I cannot claim this ride has ejector airtime... it felt like it did to me, but I was expecting something similar to the Hollywood version because I forgot the layouts were so different and I found myself being suddenly and shockingly ejected! As an(I would like to think) well versed enthusiast rides(at least in terms of layouts) are rarely surprising to me and I was pleasantly surprised with this one!

 

And even as a Disney fan this brings sad yet angry tears. Unpleasant: Disneyland's Famous Matterhorn Bobsleds:

Here are some things to know about the ghost aka me... I like roller coasters. I like dark rides. I like classic rides. Build me the first modern steel coaster, add tons of tunnels full of various lighting effects, a few mining tools, and an angry yeti and you have an awesome coaster with dark ride elements... I AM IN HEAVEN! For about 5 years Matterhorn had been my favorite ride at Disneyland... the mountain is beautiful and so cool and the ride experience was just so different... IN THE OLD CARS! The new cars are awful and uncomfortable and there is a sad part of my brain that keeps me getting back on the same uncomfortable coaster trying to find a comfortable way to ride and get my favorite ride back. This has been my least favorite move on a Disney ride or any ride ever because I can no longer put the ride as one of my favorites and will now only give it pity rides hoping to some how find a way to comfortably ride it. It could be worse and it is not like my least favorite ride in the world... but it is certainly no longer the historically awesome coaster it once was.

[jray21]

And even as a Disney fan this brings sad yet angry tears. Unpleasant: Disneyland's Famous Matterhorn Bobsleds:

Here are some things to know about the ghost aka me... I like roller coasters. I like dark rides. I like classic rides. Build me the first modern steel coaster, add tons of tunnels full of various lighting effects, a few mining tools, and an angry yeti and you have an awesome coaster with dark ride elements... I AM IN HEAVEN! For about 5 years Matterhorn had been my favorite ride at Disneyland... the mountain is beautiful and so cool and the ride experience was just so different... IN THE OLD CARS! The new cars are awful and uncomfortable and there is a sad part of my brain that keeps me getting back on the same uncomfortable coaster trying to find a comfortable way to ride and get my favorite ride back. This has been my least favorite move on a Disney ride or any ride ever because I can no longer put the ride as one of my favorites and will now only give it pity rides hoping to some how find a way to comfortably ride it. It could be worse and it is not like my least favorite ride in the world... but it is certainly no longer the historically awesome coaster it once was.

 

Really? A seat made out thick plywood with no padding at an awkward angle isn't comfortable? Those seats really are terrible. I really can't believe they didn't do more to them to make them even just a little comfortable.

[stashua123]

The Blue Racer has always been the rougher one I hope KI does some much needed TLC on both racers(re tracking,repainting, Train work)

 

 

My pleasant surprise was riding Mean Streak for the first time this year, in the back car. I thought it was going to be a heck of a lot more shudder in it, but it wasn't that bad, hardly any at all. They did a really great job with the retracking on it the past couple years.

 

Unpleasant surprise was riding red Racer this year. Rode blue last year and that wasn't so bad and was expecting a similar ride. But riding red this year, I don't think I ever had a coaster ever give me a bruise like that one did and it being very rough. My left arm was hurting the rest of the day and sometime after.

 

Maybe next year will have new surprises in store with trips I'm planning on going on.