The roughness of coasters on TPR

[robbalvey]

I've never understood the overall notion on this site that every ride generally should be glass smooth or its horrible. Unless we are discussing Ghostrider pre-revamp I don't understand. Even apocalypse at SFMM gets so much hate. It's very shaky but I've never seen it as "painful". Is it a matter of just preference for a smooth ride or am I missing something. I've always thought a somewhat rough ride adds to the overall experience for me.

Maybe some people just don't like rough rides? What's wrong with that. If everyone in the world though exactly the same way you did then their opinions would really suck!

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

My non-enthusiast friend actually prefers his wooden coasters rough. I guess they feel more "authentic" to him? I really, really don't understand. His favorite coaster currently is Apocalypse, even after riding El Toro. Before that, his favorite was Gwazi.

 

Personally, I can handle roughness to an extent as long as it doesn't hurt me too bad. I don't necessarily rate a smoother coaster better if the elements aren't better. I would rather ride an exciting, rough coaster than a boring, smooth one.

 

I also usually try to give a courtesy ride to every coaster (within limits) and have found that even some of the notoriously rough ones have their good days and fun rides.

 

Also, it sometimes makes the ride more thrilling to me to not know if it's gonna beat the crap out of me that day or not. But I have my limits, I'll usually only do those coasters once even if I get a good ride, and I'm still not gonna pass up better coasters for them or rank them higher just because I got a good ride on one day.

 

For example: Scream at SFMM. Last time we rode it was in the rain and actually pretty thrilling. It only bumped me hard once. I accepted that I enjoyed it that day, but we didn't ride it again. Next time I go to SFMM, I might ride it if there's no line and I've done everything else and/or have a lot of time to kill.

[Philrad71]

^ I think that your friend needs therapy!

 

But seriously, everyone is different when it comes to tolerance for roughness. I personally think that a lot of it has to do with age. I used to ride everything and anything when I was younger and I never really noticed the roughness at all. Fast forward to 44 years old and you start noticing and feeling every bump, jolt and slam - and not in a good way.

 

If there is a coaster that I have never ridden but had read poor reviews on TPR (ala Gwazi), I would still ride just to see if it was bad as a lot of people were saying. Most times I get off the ride and said, "Yep, that was as bad as folks on TPR said". A glutton for punishment, I suppose...although one and done, check it off the bucket list mentalities for those types of rides suits me just fine.

[Password121]

Almost every time I've gone to a park for the first time with a non-enthusiast they always point out how much they love "the old rickety wooden coasters," and then after riding whatever particular ride best fits that description they're like "never mind that's a piece of sh*t."

 

It's interesting, nonetheless.

[DILinator]

* From first-hand experience, I've ridden Magnum and thought that it was truly the best coaster at Cedar Point during some trips, and at other times it's aggressively unpleasant and in the "once was enough" category. So right there I have two real, yet conflicting experiences on it. It's been the same story for me with GG woodies -- top-ten rides or brace yourself.

 

This is something I'm glad to see somebody else say, because it's always frustrated me about Magnum! It can be a really fun coaster, but it can also be ridiculously rough, or even just "meh", from ride to ride... I've determined that the roughness increases with each row in each car (ie. the first row on the last car, is less rough than the last row on the first car), so I think where you sit really plays a part. I either wait for the front, or sit in row one of the last car, and I enjoy my rides in both of those places! Getting a middle row anywhere other than first car tends to lead to "meh" rides for me, and sitting in the last row is always a mistake, in my opinion...

 

What this entire conversation boils down to, is personal preference, and tolerance. Each person, individually, has their own tolerance and preference levels when it comes to roughness, what constitutes roughness, and what they're willing to "endure", for the sake of the ride experience. Personally, I avoid most of the old Arrow loopers these days, because I know the ride experience they deliver isn't something I enjoy (Loch Ness Monster aside - still love that ride!). If SOB still existed, I'd never ride it again, because I also know what that will give me - and it isn't good, and will likely linger past my visit to the park! There are probably other woodies that I would consider "too rough", but none come to mind as being unrideable. Even Mean Streak, I am more willing to ride than most people I know! I just ride in the front seat, and lean forward most of the ride, except for the few airtime moments, where I lean back and put my hands up! (And no, I didn't get that idea from anybody here, as it has been my practice since long before I knew this site existed.) So again, it's all about personal preference, and really isn't something anybody can definitely say is, or isn't a factor, for anybody else...