The "Pleasant/Unpleasant Surprise" Thread

[Koasterking48]

Here are mine:

Pleasant

Mean Streak: This ride is, by far, Cedar Point's most hated roller coaster. Every one bashed this ride and I held the same opinion for a while. 2006 was the first time I ever rode the ride. I have been to Cedar Point every year since. I have ridden Mean Streak once every year, thinking that the ride will be different each year. Then in 2012, Cedar Point finally re-tracked the ride. Best decision the park has ever made for this ride. There is a HUGE difference between 2011 Mean Streak and 2012 Mean Streak. Now instead of being a 2/10, I'd say it's now 6.5/10.

 

Expedition Everest: I've read some bad things about this ride. They are complaining how little airtime the ride has and it is very disorienting. The whole point of the ride (and most Disney coasters in general) is to tell a story and to feel like you are racing through the Himalayas, not popping out of your seat on an airtime hill. My personal experience was excellent and I can easily say it is the best roller coaster at Disney and one of the best attractions out of all four parks.

 

Gemini: By far the biggest surprise of my first CP trip. And to think, I almost never rode it! I had to chose between taking a second spin on Magnum, or ride this wooden supported Arrow contraption in 2006. I decided it looked decently fun, so why not? Turns out it was a very smooth and entertaining ride. Definitely did not disappoint! I am, however, a bit upset over how little this ride's line is because it's so much fun!

 

Unpleasant

Mantis: Standups are by far my least favorite of B&M's designs (yet they're leagues ahead of other manufacturers!). I expected Mantis to be smooth and harmless. I was wrong and found my legs begging for mercy by the end of the ride. I don't know if it's because I'm a little taller than average (6' 4''), but it's the worst B&M I've ever rode.

 

Big Thunder Mountain: I was so mad about how uncomfortable this ride was. Most mine trains are smooth sailing, but this ride was very rough. The refurbishment didn't do much for me, though the effects were nice to see in working order. Hopefully when I visit MK again, it will be more enjoyable.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Koasterking48

[Lareson]

Here are mine:

Unpleasant

Mantis: Standups are by far my least favorite of B&M's designs (yet they're leagues ahead of other manufacturers!). I expected Mantis to be smooth and unharmless. I was wrong and found my legs begging for mercy by the end of the ride. I don't know if it's because I'm a little taller than average (6' 4''), but it's the worst B&M I've ever rode.

 

You're not the only tall person that felt like that. I'm 6' 3" and when I got off of Mantis, my legs felt way weird. Had to sit down for a bit cause it felt like I was going to fall over. I haven't rode any other standup besides Iron Wolf (think my ears had a majority of the pain vs my legs) so I don't know if it's just the way Mantis is laid out, or all of the taller standups do that.

[Coaster Curt]

I have enjoyed reading this thread because of all the diverse opinions regarding some of the same coasters.

 

Surprises:

 

Blue Streak, this coaster was by far a highlight of the CP trip, never expected the airtime.

 

MaXair, I was very reluctant to ride this thinking it would end the day because I would be feeling sick. Very fun and nothing that induced any sort of sick feeling. Really looking forward to riding this again.

 

Unpleasant:

 

Mean Streak, people said it was a horrible ride and sadly they were true. I expected a nice ride after it was retracked in places and it is by far the worst woodie I have ever been on.

[Randomman295]

Got two more "pleasants" to add to this:

 

Disaster Transport: I've never heard a good review of this thing. When I rode it for the frist (and last) time a few years ago, I was treated to a blazing fast bobsled that had just the right amount of "fun intensity".

 

Manta at SWSD: Never heard any real raves about this ride. I followed the construction very closely, and was admittedly excited to ride, but I never saw it on any top tens or even among the best new rides of 2012. I thought it was near perfect and one of the best all-around coasters ever. It's enjoyable to pretty much anyone, and delivers a great ride in every seat.

 

And an "unpleasant":

 

Jouney to Atlantis at SWSD: My sisters rode this long before I did on a girl scouting trip, and I recall them saying it was a really fun coaster. All three of us rode it again last summer and ended up hating it for its bumpy coaster section, terrible restraint system, completely non-sequitur "plot line", terrible audio, loud trains, disappointing conclusion, and horrible capacity. The only fun part about this ride was the first splashdown, and not much else.

[Koasterking48]

^ I have to agree with you on Manta. If people consider this a family coaster, it's one of the best in the world!

[StookyBill]

Pleasant:

 

Th13teen was a surprise for me. I only rode for the first time last year and I guess after two years the silly amount of hype AT had but into their advertising for it had faded from memory. On top of that, I originally thought the free-fall drop wouldn't be as forceful as it was and was expecting it to disappoint me but I really enjoyed the free-fall section and everything that happens after. My girlfriend and I re-rode this several times and is a favourite of mine at AT.

 

Unpleasant:

 

X:/ No Way Out; I went onto this ride expecting to feel a great sense of

"Woah, WTF is goings on? This is crazy/weird "...

 

...instead I came off thinking,

"Wait, did I really queue an hour for that ride? At least it has stopped raining out here " .

[Bane]

Pleasant;

 

Furius Baco. I read so many horror stories about it, and I really did expect it to be dreadful, yet I really loved it and it's currently my favourite coaster.

 

Unplesant;

 

Colossus at Thorpe Park. I thought it'd be a really good coaster, and it turned out to be a really unpleasant experience, the restraints are really uncomfortable and the whole ride experience just does nothing for me, other than give me a rotten headache.

[Woodie Warrior]

Pleasant:

Raging Bull @ Six Flags Great America. At the time I didn't know what a hyper coaster was, so my night-ride on this blew me away.

 

Unpleasant:

Raven @ Holiday World. There's so much buzz about this ride, but this was my first time I was actually bored on a roller coaster. The Legend and The Voyage are both better, in my opinion.

[coasterbill]

Pleasant

 

Flight of Fear: I know these coasters are generally loved by everyone now, but when they opened they were ridiculed because of the headbanging caused by the over the shoulder restraints. I dreaded riding this coaster but after I had put it off as long as I could I got in line. I'm so glad I did. When I got in the train I was surprised to see that the old restraints had been replaced with lap bars. It ended up being my favorite coaster at Kings Island (I have not been back since they built Diamondback).

 

Unpleasant

 

X: The most disappointing ride I ever had on a coaster was X. I've only been to California once in my life and it was in the summer of 2002. I was so excited to ride X, but found out that a few weeks earlier that it was closed due to stress fractures so I assumed I wouldn't get to ride it. The day we went to Magic Mountain was the day it re-opened after being closed for almost a month, and after a 2 hour wait we finally got to ride it. That was the roughest ride I've ever had on any coaster ever (except the Great Adventure Viper which should go without saying). What an unbelievable piece of crap.

 

Magnum XL 200: The first time I rode this was in 2001, back when Paul Ruben was on every channel 24/7 talking about how amazing it was and every coaster countdown show put this at #1 or #2. This ride is extremely painful. I know if you ride it in certain rows it's better, but I don't feel like memorizing which rows are acceptable and which aren't before riding a coaster. I don't hate this coaster and I know it's iconic and appreciate the fact that it started the coaster arms race, but it was a huge let down.

[Koasterking48]

 

Unpleasant:

Raven @ Holiday World. There's so much buzz about this ride, but this was my first time I was actually bored on a roller coaster. The Legend and The Voyage are both better, in my opinion.

This ride is very overrated. I have no idea why it is so highly acclaimed. Is it the "surprise" drop at the halfway point? I really don't get it. And the Legend has been getting very rough over the past few years. I'm not sure when you last rode it, but this season, it was very rough.

[Woodie Warrior]

 

Unpleasant:

Raven @ Holiday World. There's so much buzz about this ride, but this was my first time I was actually bored on a roller coaster. The Legend and The Voyage are both better, in my opinion.

This ride is very overrated. I have no idea why it is so highly acclaimed. Is it the "surprise" drop at the halfway point? I really don't get it. And the Legend has been getting very rough over the past few years. I'm not sure when you last rode it, but this season, it was very rough.

My first trip to Holiday World was this year. The roughest ride was The Voyage but it was still the best. The Legend and Raven didnt feel very rough.

 

But yes, Raven is actually the last coaster on my wooden list. All wooden coasters from SFSTL and SFGAm beat it.

[WFChris]

Pleasant: The Swinging Cars on Mickeys Fun Wheel. Seriously. I don't exactly go to the Disney Resort for thrills, but this ride totally raised our heartbeats a bit. I think we were more 'thrilled' by this than Tower or Screamin'. Yes. Really.

 

Unpleasant: Hyping up the best woodie on the west coast, Ghostrider, and taking my first ride on it in over 10 years to find that it has turned into Psyclone the 2nd. Because of that piece of junk, one of my friends outright refuses to ride woodies, including brand new awesome enthusiast bait woodies.

[A.J.]

Expedition Everest: I've read some bad things about this ride. They are complaining how little airtime the ride has and it is very disorienting. The whole point of the ride (and most Disney coasters in general) is to tell a story and to feel like you are racing through the Himalayas, not popping out of your seat on an airtime hill. My personal experience was excellent and I can easily say it is the best roller coaster at Disney and one of the best attractions out of all four parks.

Something that's also surprising about Expedition Everest is the intense spiral inside of the mountain. If you didn't know any better, you would think that it's an inversion.

[larrygator]

Something that's also surprising about Expedition Everest is the intense spiral inside of the mountain. If you didn't know any better, you would think that it's an inversion.

 

Really? Are you auditioning to become a member of the GP.

[leviathanlover]

Leviathan was great last year and I don't think I even mentioned it in my previous post, but it was a pleasant surprise to me when it opened, and then I rode it on opening day this year and the ride was an even better pleasant surprise than last year. All the trims were off and that made the ride clear the last two elements so much faster than last year and it blew me away because I had no idea how much those trims killed the last part of the ride. To whoever commented about Leviathan only having two airtime hills, ummmmmm, doesn't MF only have two airtime hills too. And I305 only has 3, so I don't know what you are complaining about. Also, the first drop and speed hill on Leviathan give insane amounts of airtime, so your argument is very poor.

[Angle O. Descent]

^ I believe that was me.

 

Take a look at my post. Who was I "arguing" with? Nobody. I was commenting on the topic. That is the purpose of the thread.

 

Please don't bash other people's opinions... it will not make you many friends here.

[cfc]

Pleasant surprise: Someone bumping one of my old threads.

 

Unpleasant surprise: Two members bickering a bit in it. Let's keep it friendly here, everyone.

[XYZ]

From my first visit to SFGAdv a month ago:

 

Pleasant Surprise:

Bizarro: I expected an average B&M floorless, but this was really good and was a much better ride than Scream! It's my 2nd favorite B&M after Medusa (SFDK).

 

Dark Knight: It gave me more of a thrill than I expected and the theming was pretty good. Plus, I like the continuous loading in the station.

 

Green Lantern: I expected an average B&M stand-up, but it became my favorite stand-up. I liked it more than Riddler's Revenge as it was much smoother than I expected.

 

Kingda Ka: Many give OK reviews for this one, but I think it is underrated, it's a very good coaster. It's my 2nd favorite coaster at SFGAdv and is very re-ridable.

 

Superman Ultimate Flight: It was more intense than I thought and the pretzel loop was insane in the 7th row. (I'm used to Tatsu's pretzel loop in the first few rows)

 

Houdini's Great Escape: This is such a great family ride. I knew somewhat of Vekoma Madhouses but I didn't know that they would give the illusion of inversions.

 

 

Unpleasant Surprise:

Nitro: It had a very bad case of the rattles and the airtime was OK. I put Nitro at the same level as Goliath (SFMM) until I get a smooth ride on it and I expected much more from Nitro.

 

Sky Screamer: I haven't been on a Sky Screamer for a few months and I expected a little more thrill than the one at SFDK since SFGAdv's Sky Screamer is taller. I got a very subdued ride, though at least I had rather lower expectations to begin with.

[Angry_Gumball]

Unpleasant surprise: I didn't really think the OTSRs would have affected the ride much other than lack of freedom on SFMM's Revolution but in the end I felt like I was getting in a fight with someone and constantly being knocked in the head...I left the ride with a headache, never again..got the credit and that's it. Fun layout, horrible restraints.

 

Pleasant surprise: Gold Striker! I honestly expected 3 *floater* moments of air as GCI's aren't really known for ejector airtime...but the more I ride Gold Striker, the more I'm actually feeling that thigh-crushing, sustained moments of ejector air! *Imagines if this ride only had buzz bars* Even more surprising: the pops of air you get heading uphill into the turnarounds...especially in the front rows! They're pretty intense and you're actually yanked back into your seat rather quick after being launched upward!

[Angle O. Descent]

^^^ Thank you, understood.

 

A recent pleasant surprise: Wildcat at Hershey Park

A recent unpleasant surprise: Rolling Thunder at SFGA

[Randomman295]

I have a couple more to add to this from recent trips.

 

Pleasant:

 

-Ghostrider (Knott's): I came into this knowing it would be bumpy, and with it standing at my second lowest spot of favorite coaster (only beaten by Journey to Atlantis), I wasn't expecting it to redeem itself. A single ride and some defensive riding later, I ended up really liking the way the bumpiness actually added to the intensity. I rode it a few times more and it managed to get out of my bottom ten.

 

-Sierra Sidewinder (Knott's): I forgot what this ride was like. I was expecting a simple, short, and rattly spinning coaster, but this ended up being one of my favorite rides of the trip due to it's insane smoothness and great layout.

 

Unpleasant:

 

-Boomerang (Knott's): I completely forgot how bumpy this ride was. I need not say more. This sucker is no longer on my top 50.

 

-Xcelerator (Knott's): I went to Knott's again with great memories of Xcelerator's launch and top hat, and although those delivered, the rest of the ride was just lackluster. The overbanks were redundant and forceless, it was really rattly, only one train operation, and the brake run just hurts if you're not ready for it. Granted, I was ready for it the next lap and it was better, but Montezooma's Revenge and Silver Bullet were much better. Maybe it was amazing when it first opened, but other than that, I have no idea why this ride is "The best roller coaster in California" as considered by many on this site.

 

-Pony Express (Knott's): The ride is great, but the operations are terrible and the brake run doesn't want you to breathe.

[cfc]

Hmm--I have trouble understanding how finding "unpleasantness" in a Boomerang could constitute a "surprise."

 

Now, the Boomerang at Power Park actually is a "pleasant surprise."

[Airtime&Gravity]

Batman: Dark Knight at Six Flags New England was a big surprise for me. I don't recall hearing many good things about this ride, and I was expecting a fun but forceless ride. I found the ride to be fairly intense, and while it's no Batman: the Ride, it was still far more intense than I thought it would be. The ride didn't let up until the end, and while it doesn't place in my top 10, it is one of my favorite coasters with inversions. However, the ride did seem pretty rough. I don't recall much head banging, but the ride train did seem to shake a lot through the course.

 

Comet at Great Escape was a letdown. The ride was fairly smooth, but there was little airtime when I rode it. It was fun, but I recall hearing reviews that talked about it being a pretty decent, albeit not great ride. Maybe I was just spoiled riding Phoenix five days earlier.

Edited June 14, 2013 by Airtime&Gravity

[cfc]

I nominate Conneaut Lake Park as a "pleasant surprise." Yes, the place is still pretty run down, and some of the rides are in pieces. But there were quite a few operating that day, and Erik and I ended up staying longer than anticipated. Blue Streak is a bit on the rough side (particularly in the backseat), but still fun.

[TyRush]

I hadn't been on Talon since i was 8 so riding it at CFK, was a very nice surprise! Very powerful and those low to the ground turns and corkscrew are amazing