Best first drop on a steel coaster?

[mpmbee]

Skyrush, insane airtime in the outside back seats. Love it!

[gerstlaueringvar]

Big Boom at Nasu Highland at the back. Its sketchy train and restraint add so much more to the experience!

[boldikus]

El Toro's drop is amazing in the front, but even better in the back when halfway through the turn you're already accelerating (gotta love those long trains!) The drop radius is so huge that you feel like you just keep falling steeper and steeper, and finally you pull up.

 

I agree, no drop can ever beat El Toro's drop. Easily my favorite first drop on any coaster.

 

... but you might want to re-read the thread title.

 

Was tempted to answer El Toro but yeah...

[coaster1000]

This is hard! I'd say Millennium Force and X2 tie for no. 1 for me, with Maverick in the very back seat closely behind. (Very) honorable mentions go to Expedition GeForce and Schwur des Kärnan... Now, I just need to get back to the States and ride Skyrush!

[canadianparkfan]

Top 3

 

I305's for me, but barely. It's only *great* because of the cable lift really, and the crest is tight so that helps. The pullup is really high up though so that kinda kills it. Also, for some reason it was lackluster in the front, in the back you get launched over the top and dragged down.

 

El Toro's drop is amazing in the front, but even better in the back when halfway through the turn you're already accelerating (gotta love those long trains!) The drop radius is so huge that you feel like you just keep falling steeper and steeper, and finally you pull up.

 

I don't remember much about it, but Behemoth's drop being slightly longer and steeper and longer than Nitro's really made it a lot better. It was fantastic in the front, and I can only imagine how good the drop is in the back because of the longer trains.

Behemoth's drop (and the whole ride tbh) is better in the back row. Then again, haven't rode in the front for awhile, so I'll have to give it a go next time I visit.

 

Personally like Leviathan's drop better. It just seems to go on and on and on forever, with a nice dose of floater air all the way down.

 

Honourable mentions go to Skyrider (RIP), with some really cool stand up-ejector airtime in the back row, and drop tower, with some awesome forceful floater, borderline sustained ejector, air... I know the second one wasn't a coaster, but it had to be mentioned

[K1ngdaKa88]

I have only been on one Eurofighter, but It's drop is Awesome! I love it how I got pulled out of the seat. The Eurofighter is Huracan at Belantis in Germany and the rest of the coaster is ouch, but this thread is only about the first drop and that one is awesome!

[rcjp]

Skyrush, insane airtime in the outside back seats. Love it!

And the way it delivers its strongest air near the end is awesome (and unexpected).

I'd say this one (for its intensity) or shambhala's for its length and sustained air are my favourites.

[DoinItForTheFame]

I'm going to stick with Top Thrill Dragster. The sheer height, and the spiral on the way down make the drop amazing. Not to mention the lap bars only!

[oriolat]

Out of the ones I have ridden, I'd say Expedition GeForce. Even though I have been on it plenty of times that first drop always gets me. There is something insane about droping 85º with that evil twist that makes it scary/awesome.

[JonnyRCT3]

Millennium Force at night. Nothing else like it.

 

Honorable mention is Gemini in the back seat. The radius at the top just snaps into the max vertical angle thanks to that coat-hanger design.

So it feels like you're being catapulted over the hill. And that head-chopper makes the airtime terrifying.

[I305forever]

Skyrush by a mile.

[Coaster Hero]

El Toro's drop is amazing in the front, but even better in the back when halfway through the turn you're already accelerating (gotta love those long trains!) The drop radius is so huge that you feel like you just keep falling steeper and steeper, and finally you pull up.

 

I agree, no drop can ever beat El Toro's drop. Easily my favorite first drop on any coaster.

 

... but you might want to re-read the thread title.

 

Whoops! I did read it but then I asked myself "what are my 3 favorite drops?" and of course El Toro made the list haha. Anyway, if El Toro were to be removed from the list then Behemoth would be #2 and Nitro would be #3

 

Superman at SFA's drop was surprising. Looking at it, it doesn't look like much but it was actually pretty powerful, even being in the 3rd row.

 

Unfortunately I haven't got the chance to go on Skyrush yet, but looking at the drop shaping it looks to be incredible. It has the insane speed from the cable lift launching you over the crest but then there's a really quick radius change in the drop which decreases would theoretically give you a second insane pump of ejector airtime before pulling up. One day I need to try that thing!

[Jpizzle]

Skyrush is hard to beat as far as steel goes. I thought Wicked Cyclone's first drop was pretty great too.

[Paradox]

Leviathan's drop has some great floater!

[coasterkid124]

Superman at SFA's drop was surprising. Looking at it, it doesn't look like much but it was actually pretty powerful, even being in the 3rd row.

 

Totally agree with this. The angle of the drop doesn't have as much to do with the force as the shaping does. Intamin does a great job with that. Skyrush's first airtime hill looks forceless from POVs, but in reality it is the most intense airtime I have ever experienced.

[Superbatboy]

Millennium Force, X2, Maverick, Fury 325, and i305 come to mind, hard to pick just one

[Virus]

I really, really like Gatekeepers first drop. Or any B&M hyper/giga drop. They are just fun and you get some decent airtime.

 

This isn't really a 'First Drop' but Full Throttle's top hat provides the best ejector I've ever experience.

[GCI Wooden]

X-Flight (Back, Left), Renegade, Raging Bull (Back) and Steel Hawg were very fun.

[RollerManic]

Millennium Force has the longest seeming drop that is unmatched. El Toro's drop is great in the front or the back - I mostly just like how it transitions from a downward sloping pre-drop turn into the 71* drop. That's kind of funky in my book.

[Password121]

I-305's drop in the back is very underrated. Actually people don't really talk about it that much but I-305 is very much a back seat ride IMO, especially for the drop. The front is okay, but feels so much shorter than MF's drop, while the back on I-305 feels so much more powerful than the same seat on Millennium--ejector (or "what would be ejector," for the ridiculous people that think OTSR's automatically mean no airtime because you don't physically leave your seat).

 

For any coaster though it's absolutely El Toro. I haven't gotten on Skyrush yet but it's the best sustained ejector airtime on the east coast excluding the next three airtime hills on the same coaster. (Oh yeah, that's why El Toro is so good. Lol.)

[tylerthecreator]

What about dive coasters? Do you count the stop before the drop as part of the drop? If you do then it adds a lot to the drop. Ive never been on Skyrush, so I can not compare a dive coaster drop to it, but Ive enjoyed Griffons first drop more than any B&M hyper Ive been on.

[Coaster Hero]

I-305's drop in the back is very underrated. Actually people don't really talk about it that much but I-305 is very much a back seat ride IMO, especially for the drop. The front is okay, but feels so much shorter than MF's drop, while the back on I-305 feels so much more powerful than the same seat on Millennium--ejector (or "what would be ejector," for the ridiculous people that think OTSR's automatically mean no airtime because you don't physically leave your seat).

 

THIS . This is my secret for I305, it's one thing in the front, but it's a whole 'nother monster in the back. The drop is lackluster in the front (for all that the ride is hyped up to be) , it feels over so quickly because the transition into the flat turn means the pullup has to be high. In the back though, as I said before you get dragged down so that makes it a lot better. Also, that last sentence is the best sentence I've read all week. Tired of people thinking OTSR's automatically mean no airtime, even though lapbars are infinitely better.

 

If I had to chose from any coaster though (even ones I haven't been on) i'd probably choose MF from the looks of it. The drop radius is enormous and the pullup is ridiculously low and late. It really looks like one of those drops that feels eternal

[RollerManic]

I didn't care for i305's first drop. The airtime is good but being in a dirt field takes so much senation away from the drop. Visuallizing the true size of the first drop is hard when theres not much to compare to. It seems like it's no more than a 100ft drop. Combine that with flying through the drop really quickly, and you forget its even there. The trains are kind of bulky too and thua any other row but the front really lacks the already-small view.

Another thing is that the apperance of size is a very relative thing. When you look across the park at i305, you mostly see the yellow lift spine dwarfing the red track, and it makes the ride realatively small by a lot.

[coneyislandchris]

^ I guess different strokes for different folks and all that, but for me, i305's first drop is #1 and nothing else even comes close. The height, speed, and force all combine to make it amazing and one of those things that just doesn't get old. My #2 and #3 respectively are Skyrush and Bizarro SFNE. El Toro definitely gets a special ineligible mention as well, since it's wood but feels like steel.

[blk_mamba]

The I-305 drop to me is the most intense and best drop I have been on. Some people don't like it b/c they gray out but I like how the ride isn't just a out back coaster even right after the first drop it starts with that huge banked curve into air time hill.