The "Oh Sh*^" moments vs. a good ride

[Skramp]

It seems that most parks now are going for those one or two moments of a ride where riders say "oh sh*^" instead of just planning a good ride. Like the "high five" moment on the new Colossus, or the way overbanked turns. It might just be me, but when you're flying around at 70 mph, those moments dont seem as intense as designers think they will be. I would rather just have a great overall ride, then have some ride with one or two "crazy" moments.

 

What does everyone else think?

[cfc]

The "high five" element of Dauling Dragon is, indeed, an intense moment that lives up to the hype (assuming the park duels the coasters, of course).

[screaminkid2005]

I always thought the back seat of Cyclone at SFNE had a nice Oh Sh*t moment on the first drop. The ejector air on it was amazing!

[iloveblueberries]

Please elaborate on how Twisted Colossus is only focusing on that one moment of the ride and it will not be a great ride as a whole? I mean what the fudge?

 

The non-stop airtime hills, two giant ass drops and racing elements don't do it for ya?

[MrSum1_55]

I completely disagree with the high five on Colossus. It is an Alan Schilke design, so you know that it is going to be a great ride the whole way through. And, SFMM has not even been marketing the high five as the main element. The main element of the ride they seem to be selling seems to be the dueling, followed by the length of the ride, followed by the amount of airtime, and finally followed by the high five. And, the second and third ones are not lame gimmicks at all. No ride with this many selling points can be classified as a one trick pony.

 

In terms of other RMC creations, you could argue that Outlaw Run, IRat or Goliath are a bit too short. Yes, it would be great if these coasters were longer, especially the last two. However, the general consensus seems to be that Goliath is RMC's weakest creation, yet many people are still saying that it is a top-10 worthy coaster. I picture RMC's designs as having a similar vibe to Phantom's Revenge, being that they are big, short, and kick ass until the very end.

 

However, if you want to talk other coasters at SFMM, then I am right there with you, especially on YOLO. It has three launches, the world's tallest loop, and a top hat over the loop. If someone had told me that a coaster had all these features without describing the layout to me, I would picture it as being Cheetah Hunt on a massive amount of steroids. But, the actual design is not even close to this. The most impressive sounding features are really the only features on the ride. This is not even to mention the fact that they took a good looking area and made it look hideous.

 

Also, the concept of gimmicks is not really that new of a thing. Top Thrill Dragster, the coaster that I consider to be the original one trick pony, is more than a decade old now.

[iloveblueberries]

^ You didn't consider the reverse free-fall coasters that came before dragster to be one trick ponies? Or were you one of those people who simply didn't consider them coasters?

[tatsu_dude]

I agree, oh s**t moments aren't what make a ride great, but every new coaster these days is gonna have at least one. Even rides like Maverick and NTaG which are regarded as new-ish, awesome coasters have the super steep drops and overbanks and stuff. A park needs something to market to the GP, and those moments are what the GP will eat up. And honesty, us enthusiasts eat most of them up too, but a ride isn't going to be awesome just because it has a gigantic loop or a backwards launch or a steep drop. The elements have to be combined in the right way to make a truly amazing ride.

 

Edit: ^^ beat me to the YOLO punch!

[rubysparkles]

I'm a sucker for the "oh sh**" moments, but only really the ones that mean that the ride is unique. I think the best example is that top of my list at the moment to visit is Gravity Max. Not an overall amazing ride according to other enthusiasts but has a major unique moment at the beginning. That's probably why I'm more excited by Twisted Colossus than Wicked Cyclone. It has unique elements.

 

I mean my favourite coasters are ones that either have an "oh sh**" moment or just make me say "holy sh**" the whole way through.

[ZeroGravity55]

I think the problem here is that you're only looking at the insane elements of the ride. You chose TC as your example, well lets just use RMC has an even bigger example. Every one of their rides has these insane looking elements. Some even make you say, "WTF, how did they do that"? If you read Robb's media day report from Outlaw Run, he said that the inversions on the ride felt natural and they didn't feel forced into the design of the ride (ex. Son of Beast). So yes, while they're oh sh** moments, they fit into each design naturally. Leaving those elements out of the rides, RMC would still have great rides. They're not afraid to design ejector airtime into their rides and the pacing of every single on of their rides looks incredible. So the oh sh** moments just don't make the RMC rides great and you could make the same argument for Intamin rides, and maybe The Gravity Group rides as well. They're only designers who are pushing the envelope right now and that is why their rides fill the top 10 of the Mitch Hawker steel and wood polls.

[DoinItForTheFame]

You know... I agree, and disagree. There are certian rides where the OH SH!T moments make the ride.

 

Examples:

Top Thrill Dragster - When the brake fins drop, you drift back slightly, you really get that OH SH!T moment. Also, when you crest the tower in the front row, again you get that OH SH!T moment.

 

Outlaw Run - This ride is FULL of OH SH!T moments. From the first drop to the double barrel roll into the brake run. It is a relentless coaster.

 

With that being said, if it is a coaster that is FULL of OH SH!T moments, then it (in my book) Is a GREAT ride (IE: Outlaw Run.) If it is a one trick pony (IE: Top Thrill Dragster) Then it is still a good coaster as long as the OH SH!T moments are enough to to take your breath away, and make you wanting to do it again, and again.

 

If it is just your average coaster with a few "OMG" and/or a few "well... that was funish" and/or "What a great drop, but the rest of the ride sucked" Then it is a ride it once for the credit, and then move on coaster.

 

Yep, that sums up my opinion.

[805Andrew]

There are some Oh Sh!t rides that aren't one trick ponies and don't let up from start to finish. El Toro is a perfect example of this.

[The Yeti]

I could agree that rides like Maurer Sohne Sky Loops or S&S El Locos are just there to create that "oh sh*^" moment that you're talking about. I haven't ridden either one, but the Sky Loop "element" actually looks amazing. A Sky Loop with a larger layout like Abismo certainly looks like it should fall in the good ride category.

 

Some of the Eurofighters definitely look like gimmicky, "oh sh*^" rides, but sometimes a gimmicky ride could essentially be a prototype for something better to come. Though I understand it may suck if that prototype is at your home park and you see larger, better versions being built elsewhere.

 

I'm not sure what the original poster considers a good ride, but Twisted Colossus has how many airtime hills? The Top Gun element is hardly a gimmick, it's literally one of the coolest things anybody has set out to build on a rollercoaster. It's a coaster over four minutes long, and I don't care if it requires two lift hills - at least it looks better than The Beast.

 

I must add that B&M Dive Machines (especially those 200 footers out there!) deserve to fall in the good ride category. The rides are simply a marvel to watch, and the excitement that builds up for the first drop is just incredible. I've only ridden Sheikra, but I'm pretty sure if I was at Alton Towers I'd ride Oblivion and enjoy it more than most of the other coasters at the park.

[flaffstar99]

The elevator on the Spinning Coasters winjas fear and force... Allways the "Oh shit, where's the track o.O "-moment. It comes rly late to the ground

[rcjp]

There are some Oh Sh!t rides that aren't one trick ponies and don't let up from start to finish. El Toro is a perfect example of this.

True. Having not ridden el toro I can say skyrush is like this.

I also think there are two types of Oh Sh!t moments: the ones that come when people look at the description of a ride (I imagine TTD must have been like that with its 400 ft + height) and the ones during the actual rides which sometimes, nobody expected to be Oh Sh!t (I'm thinking of superman at warner's first drop in the back which packs a great punch and probably no many people were expecting it)

 

So basically for me if a coaster has lots of Oh Sh!t moments it will be great while one or two (TTD and KK) might make it good. On the other hand there are coasters with little Oh Sh!t moments (at least for us enthusiasts) which are still awesome: I love Dragon Khan and its only real moment like that is the zero g.

 

I could agree that rides like Maurer Sohne Sky Loops or S&S El Locos are just there to create that "oh sh*^" moment that you're talking about. I haven't ridden either one, but the Sky Loop "element" actually looks amazing. A Sky Loop with a larger layout like Abismo certainly looks like it should fall in the good ride category.

Abismo is my only skyloop and it's definitely a good ride (especially when you consider its length)

[MrSum1_55]

I am still having issues wrapping my mind around how you could say TC relies too much on a single gimmick. Even if they removed the high five on it and made it so it did not race, it would still be the best coaster on the west coast, and it would still most likely rank as a top 15 steel coaster.

[coasterbill]

So basically for me if a coaster has lots of Oh Sh!t moments it will be great while one or two (TTD and KK) might make it good. On the other hand there are coasters with little Oh Sh!t moments (at least for us enthusiasts) which are still awesome: I love Dragon Khan and its only real moment like that is the zero g.

 

I agree with this... there's no real formula for what makes a coaster awesome, it just depends what you like. There are plenty of coasters with absolutely no "Oh Sh!t" moments that I love like Millennium Force... then again every coaster that I consider to be loaded with them (Maverick, Skyrush and El Toro for example) are near the top of my list also. The only coasters with great "Oh Sh!t" moments that I don't like are Goliath at SFNE and X2 because as awesome as the first drop on both of those coasters is, the rest of the ride sucks.

[Sharman19]

The perfect "Oh S@%#' moments would be an S&S drop tower. You say those words after you hear a brief air pressure release, and then you get shot up in the air, or fall downwards. Also Wicked Twister would might be a runner up. going up the towers, and bracing yourself for the launch. Any accelerator coaster by Intamin would also win. The brake fins lower, and you brace yourself. I've only ridden TTD, and the launch has some "Oh S#^&" factor to it.

 

There are so many ride with these moments, that I can't go on about.

[coasterbill]

The perfect "Oh S@%#' moments would be an S&S drop tower. You say those words after you hear a brief air pressure release, and then you get shot up in the air, or fall downwards. Also Wicked Twister would might be a runner up. going up the towers, and bracing yourself for the launch. Any accelerator coaster by Intamin would also win. The brake fins lower, and you brace yourself. I've only ridden TTD, and the launch has some "Oh S#^&" factor to it.

 

There are so many ride with these moments, that I can't go on about.

 

I actually think the drop tower with the best "holy sh!t" moment of anticipation is Demon Drop. I don't know why, but nothing else comes close.

[Genx24]

^ Agreed that Demon Drop has a great "Oh sh--!" moment, but for me, in terms of drop towers, nothing comes close to the "Oh sh--!!" moment that waiting for the drop on Zumanjaro provides.

[coasterbill]

To each his own, I think the best part of Zumanjaro is when you realize you're still falling and if you have your legs out it feels like they're about ready to rip off. In my opinion the anticipation isn't on the same level as Demon Drop and the drop doesn't hit you as quickly or stop as suddenly as a Larson tower but the length of the drop is really cool because it feels like you're dropping forever.

[boldikus]

There are some Oh Sh!t rides that aren't one trick ponies and don't let up from start to finish. El Toro is a perfect example of this.

 

THIS.

[Genx24]

^^ Actually, I should re-phrase. It's not so much the waiting for the drop on Zum, as it is the moment when I realized "oh sh--, this thing is still going up!"

Edited October 3, 2014 by Genx24

[boldikus]

The perfect "Oh S@%#' moments would be an S&S drop tower. You say those words after you hear a brief air pressure release, and then you get shot up in the air, or fall downwards. Also Wicked Twister would might be a runner up. going up the towers, and bracing yourself for the launch. Any accelerator coaster by Intamin would also win. The brake fins lower, and you brace yourself. I've only ridden TTD, and the launch has some "Oh S#^&" factor to it.

 

There are so many ride with these moments, that I can't go on about.

 

I actually think the drop tower with the best "holy sh!t" moment of anticipation is Demon Drop. I don't know why, but nothing else comes close.

 

You are bumming me out that I forgot about Demon Drop this past weekend, even tho I did Stuntmans FreeFall years ago. Dominator was my first S&S and the drop side was probably my biggest Oh Sh!t moment of the entire day at Dorney.

[rcjp]

The perfect "Oh S@%#' moments would be an S&S drop tower. You say those words after you hear a brief air pressure release, and then you get shot up in the air, or fall downwards. Also Wicked Twister would might be a runner up. going up the towers, and bracing yourself for the launch. Any accelerator coaster by Intamin would also win. The brake fins lower, and you brace yourself. I've only ridden TTD, and the launch has some "Oh S#^&" factor to it.

 

There are so many ride with these moments, that I can't go on about.

 

I actually think the drop tower with the best "holy sh!t" moment of anticipation is Demon Drop. I don't know why, but nothing else comes close.

I agree. while the noises S&S towers make do build up the anticipation, nothing works quite like the silence on those 1st gen ones.

[gerstlaueringvar]

definitely the two seconds before the catch car releases the drop car on a drop tower. Feels like forever! I don't know if the Larson/ARM towers give more or less oh sh!t feeling though.

 

Mr. Freeze is a big surprise, the launch is so gentle that I didn't expect the positive G force to be that much! It's like California Sleepin's launch followed by a loop on Batman clone. Facing the ground 200ft up is also pretty intimidating.