Worst Coaster Layout

[Cyrbuzz]

When I was a kid I thought the simple Corkscrew coaster like the one at Michigan's Adventure was awesome. Now as an adult I think those layouts are all too brief. I mean drop, turn, two corkscrews and done. Now if a vertical loop or two preceded the turn like some others by Arrow do that would make these layouts better.

[Vital808]

does anyone know why Anaconda even has a MCBR?

Three train operation?

 

The design of Anaconda always bothered me. 3 train ops would be the obvious answer, but the layout seems way too short for that to even make any sense. Not to mention I don't think the brake run at the end has room to stack two trains, but I could be wrong about that.

[Mr Stratosphere]

How about Desperado?

[thrillrider]

I always thought that mean streak had a boring layout, and the ending of adventure express at kings Island is always a let down.

[VF15]

Definitely Mean Streak. I have never seen a coaster besides MS have such a meandering and boring layout.

[hendrixmarshalljames]

How about Desperado?

 

I have a soft spot for Desperado...my first 200+ footer. After that I was hooked. I think it had the record for tallest, fastest and longest for a little while...Not the most creative track layout ever, but I wouldn't put it into the category of Anaconda, Manhattan Express, or Hurler...I think Mr.Twister in Denver deserves to be on this list, though...

 

Kind of like mean streak...fun too look at, but you just think "what a waste of track'

[Jcoaster]

Hurler at King's Dominion may be the most uninspired piece of crap I've ever ridden.

[HeartlineCoaster]

My vote goes to Ring Racer. Straight lines and warehouses.

[Sythe]

What's with all of the hate on anaconda??? Gosh people... I think it's cool that anaconda tried something different than just inversion after inversion, even if the butterfly element isn't exactly the best solution to that. I think the arrows that just have two loops, two corkscrews, and a helix have much worse layouts *cough* dragon fire and Carolina cyclone *cough*

[coasterbill]

I love Anaconda, I guess I'm the right height that it never throws me around. It's ugly as hell though and the layout looks like a complete mess.

[cfc]

I think Anaconda is a wretched ride with a butt-ugly layout, which makes me consistent.

[LuminousAphid]

I will put a vote in for one of my home park's coasters, though I count wild mouse coasters as almost a different category than full-size coasters...

 

Klondike Gold Rusher is just a painful, boring mess. Nothing about it is fun, except maybe the first drop and the final little camelback. It's a Zamperla "Zig Zag Coaster"

 

http://rcdb.com/1658.htm

 

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[DrachenfireOP]

Did any of the people hating on Anaconda ride it in the 91-93 era by chance? It actually was pretty good back then because the MCBR didn't slow the trains at all. Going through the second half of the ride at the intended speed was actually pretty fun. Now that they bring trains to a near full stop, it's just... weird. Don't get me wrong, it's about the "worst" example of Arrow transitions around, but it's definitely worse now than it was at full speed. Then again, going through the corkscrews at the current speed makes you "hang" instead of being pushed into the seat, which I actually think is kinda awesome.

 

My candidate for worst layout would go to XLR-8. Talk about a snooze fest. No real drops. No real swinging. Just some slow, uneventful turns at a nice, boring pace. The terrain it went over was flat and boring, and it had no theming to redeem itself. Later they did that thing where they ran the trains backwards, and it didn't help the ride at all. With coasters like Eagle Fortress and Big Bad Wolf around in the same era, it just plain sucked. If XLR-8 came before the bat or BBW, I'd be more understanding since it WAS one of the early ones. But Arrow/Huss had already done The Bat and was working BBW side by side, and XLR-8 was the best they could come up with on their own?

 

Of course, that's defunct, so my nomination for currently operating ride goes to MeanStreak. There's plenty of Arrow/Schwartzkopf coasters from the 70s-80s that don't have great layouts, but it's not fair to hate on them with modern eyes, because at the time they were built, they were at the edge of the thrills. But MeanStreak came along in an era where some of the best wooden coasters ever had already been built. It looks awesome from off the ride, and then you get on and it's just... boring... and it's also rough as hell. It wasn't super fun pre-trim era, and now with the trims, they took a crappy ride and made it worse. I didn't ride it in the early 90s, so maybe it was better opening year, but man that ride manages to be too rough AND boring at the same time, which should just not be possible. I mean, Blue Streak gives a better thrill for crying out loud.

[Physical]

A lot of coasters with layouts I would call "bad" aren't bad coasters. Take Phoenix at Knoebels for example, it's a very boring, unoriginal, uninspired, standard double out and back layout. But it's still a phenomenal coaster.

 

If we're talking bad coasters with a bad layout, Hurler at KD springs to mind, same with Shockwave when it was operating.

[BuffaloWingRider]

A lot of coasters with layouts I would call "bad" aren't bad coasters. Take Phoenix at Knoebels for example, it's a very boring, unoriginal, uninspired, standard double out and back layout. But it's still a phenomenal coaster.

 

If we're talking bad coasters with a bad layout, Hurler at KD springs to mind, same with Shockwave when it was operating.

Yes, that. Amazing coasters like full throttle and Gatekeeper have layouts that just make me think what were they thinking? A super steep 160 foot drop right into a break run? TTD has this too but they already spent 25 million on the ride, Full Throttle could have done more because it only cost 6 million. A giant airtime hill on a wing coaster that provides no airtime? Those are some layout flaws in some coasters that have decent layouts.

[DarienLaker]

(Superman) Ride of Steel coasters at Darien Lake and Six Flags America. Both rides have that same "boring" mostly a straightaway and helices layout. I think that the layout of the "Ride of Steel" coasters could have used an inversion or at least a tunnel.

[kickflipbacktail]

Personally I'd say Ninja at SFoG.

This ride is just a mess of awkward transitions and is the only ride I've ever ridden that caused actual lasting pain after.

 

Id also argue that Dollywood's Tennessee Tornado has a pretty mediocore layout. However I actually enjoy this ride and it's my favorite arrow coaster I've ridden. The layout is extremely basic but the way it attacks it is still great.

[cfc]

^I agree that Ninja looks very frightening and painful, and lives up to the latter. I remember seeing Tennessee Tornado's layout as I topped the lift hill and thinking there's no way this could be any good--yet I was pleasantly surprised at how good it really was.

[DrachenfireOP]

^ Yeah same here. After riding it, Tennessee Tornado isn't really that bad of a layout (though I too was dubious), but it is the ultimate "too little too late" coaster. They just put SO damn much into the failed pipeline concept. If they had moved in TTs direction in the early 90s, they might have stayed competitive. Instead, they spent millions into a prototype, and pushed it to the end even after it became clear no one was willing to buy one.

 

It really wouldn't have taken much to keep Arrow competitive, but they just refused to admit it until it was already too late and bankruptcy was inevitable (again).

 

Also, while Ninja isn't the most pleasant coaster out there, it's a very inventive layout. Unfortunately, the "inventive" nature of it is less "fun thrill ride" inventive and more "leaked CIA interrogation technique" inventive.

[DarienLaker]

There is one thing that I don't get about roller coaster in general, how could a good coaster have a bad layout (like Ride of Steel at Darien Lake and Six Flags America)? and how could a bad coaster have a good layout (like Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Williamsburg)?

[kickflipbacktail]

There is one thing that I don't get about roller coaster in general, how could a good coaster have a bad layout (like Ride of Steel at Darien Lake and Six Flags America)? and how could a bad coaster have a good layout (like Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Williamsburg)?

 

I never got to ride Drachen Fire (I was 2 when it closed) but I think it had an incredibly inventive layout. I really wish that Busch Gardens would hire Mack to remake it as a mega coaster (of course that will NEVER happen ) I guess it must have just rode like garbage.

 

As for Tennessee Tornado, I guess I put it on here because the layout really is nothing special, but combining the historic (for me being so young) effect of riding an arrow looper combined with its location makes it a good coaster. That's me at least.

[coasterbill]

Tennessee Tornado has an awesome layout and an awesome first drop. I have no idea how anyone could have a problem with that layout, it flows incredibly well.

[kickflipbacktail]

Tennessee Tornado has an awesome layout and an awesome first drop. I have no idea how anyone could have a problem with that layout, it flows incredibly well.

I just think the layout was really bland. Don't get me wrong. It's a good ride and it does extremely well with what it has to work with, but in concept the layout is meh. If you took the same layout, and replaced it with say B&M sitdown trains, it would be incredibly dull.

 

Edit- I don't want it to seem like I dislike TT. I think it's a wonderful ride, I just think it's layout is weak, how it handles its layout however is a different story.

[canadianparkfan]

There is one thing that I don't get about roller coaster in general, how could a good coaster have a bad layout (like Ride of Steel at Darien Lake and Six Flags America)? and how could a bad coaster have a good layout (like Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Williamsburg)?

 

I never got to ride Drachen Fire (I was 2 when it closed) but I think it had an incredibly inventive layout. I really wish that Busch Gardens would hire Mack to remake it as a mega coaster (of course that will NEVER happen ) I guess it must have just rode like garbage.

 

As for Tennessee Tornado, I guess I put it on here because the layout really is nothing special, but combining the historic (for me being so young) effect of riding an arrow looper combined with its location makes it a good coaster. That's me at least.

Well, with the advent of Kickstarter/crowdfunding... Anything's possible... If that doesn't work, there's always the next powerball/lottomax Jackpot

[DrachenfireOP]

There is one thing that I don't get about roller coaster in general, how could a good coaster have a bad layout (like Ride of Steel at Darien Lake and Six Flags America)? and how could a bad coaster have a good layout (like Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Williamsburg)?

 

I never got to ride Drachen Fire (I was 2 when it closed) but I think it had an incredibly inventive layout. I really wish that Busch Gardens would hire Mack to remake it as a mega coaster (of course that will NEVER happen ) I guess it must have just rode like garbage.

 

As for Tennessee Tornado, I guess I put it on here because the layout really is nothing special, but combining the historic (for me being so young) effect of riding an arrow looper combined with its location makes it a good coaster. That's me at least.

 

A lot of people will tell you it rode like garbage. I honestly didn't find it much worse than other Arrows tbh, but I am very clearly in a minority of people who liked DF and who likes current standing Arrows. If you like Vortex at KI you probably would have liked DF, though the trains on DF were less comfortable by far (you were very boxed in.) I also really wish the train lights that made it a red streak in the night had caught on.

 

Mack would be a fun re do, but I still want to see RMC pay tribute to that layout on that site.