Your coaster ranking Hot Buttons?

[Buckeye Brad]

At HoliWood Nights last weekend, I heard tons of comments regarding people's coaster rankings. This got me thinking...

 

When (if) you rank coasters, what criteria hold the most weight? What criteria are absolute deal-breakers or home-runs?

 

1. Layout (out-and-back, twister, etc)

2. Elements (ejector airtime, laterals, tunnels)

3. Setting (woods, water, midway, parking lot)

4. Park a rollercoaster is located in

5. The typical (year-in-year-out) perfomance of a coaster

6. The best ride you've even gotten on that coaster

7. "Dead" spots (does one dead spot penalize an otherwise perfect coaster?)

8. Re-rideability (e.g. Voyage vs. Raven)

9. "Bomb" /underdog factor (Son of Beast had a huge budget, huge specs, reputable park, and high hopes; Cornball Express surprised many)

10. Others...?

 

#6 is interesting to me. Let's say a coaster is in your "top 10-15". One day that coaster happens to deliver an unbelievable ride, the best coaster ride you've ever had. This might be due to rain, grease, recent trackwork, darkness, etc. Might that coaster jump to your #1?

 

I'm not really trying to start a poll, just interested in the method to your madness. I've only ridden ~50 coasters (13 wood), so ranking them doesn't do much for me personally. I just think in terms of "Awesome", "Fun", and "Better than Nothing".

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

-Buckeye Brad

[jamesdillaman]

I always think of the rerideability of a ride. If it's one that I'll ride once (Son of Beast) and not feel like I want to do it again, it won't rank highly at all on my list. If, however it's one I can ride again and again, such as MF or Raven, it would rank highly in my opinion.

-James Dillaman

[Meteornotes]

Ride Quality - How good is the whole ride? Does it consistantly deliver?

Operations - How well does the park run the ride?

Setting/Location - Does the ride look nice? Is it in a decent park?

 

For the longest time, Phoenix was my favorite coaster because it always delivers a great ride, the operations are excellent, it looks great, and is in one of the best parks ever. A ride that is fun but features five minute+ dispatches and/or is in a park where you feel that you may actually come away with the plague is not going to get ranked as high, at least for me.

 

dt

[Electerik]

When (if) you rank coasters, what criteria hold the most weight? What criteria are absolute deal-breakers or home-runs?

 

1. Layout (out-and-back, twister, etc)

2. Elements (ejector airtime, laterals, tunnels)

3. Setting (woods, water, midway, parking lot)

4. Park a rollercoaster is located in

5. The typical (year-in-year-out) perfomance of a coaster

6. The best ride you've even gotten on that coaster

7. Others...?

 

I suppose the elements (2) combined with the layout (1). While I don't mind short rides, any real dead spots usually do hurt a ride in my eyes. (For example, I would take Carowinds' Top Gun over BGA's similar but longer Montu any day of the week.)

 

#6 is interesting to me. Let's say a coaster is in your "top 10-15". One day that coaster happens to deliver an unbelievable ride, the best coaster ride you've ever had. This might be due to rain, grease, recent trackwork, darkness, etc. Might that coaster jump to your #1?

 

That's one I struggle with a lot. I think I tend to do sort of an average. Like, how many good rides have I had on it versus poor ones? On the other hand, I've had a lot more great rides on, say, SFMM's Revolution than bad ones--but that's only because I don't ride it much now that it has OTSR. Still, I can't very well continue to rate it highly, now can I?

 

On the flip side, I still tend to rank GhostRider rather highly, despite the increased roughness of late. So perhaps the degree of deterioration (or improvement) is a factor, as well.

 

I've also noticed that my personal top 10 seems to have a certain balance to it, with similar rides not being ranked all that closely to one another. For example, Voyage knocked Shivering Timbers from my number 7 spot all the way off the list. Does that really make sense? Probably not. But it does seem to be the way I do it.

 

I have seen some folks' top 10 lists that are completely dominated by one particular manufacturer. You know, which is fine--it's their list. But I can't imagine mine being like that. Mine's all over the frickin' place. Heck, I don't even distinguish between wood and steel!

 

Well, I suppose I should just post it now (for illustrative purposes only):

 

01. Millennium Force

02. GhostRider

03. Apollo's Chariot

04. Cornball Express

05. Goliath (SFMM)

06. SheiKra

07. The Voyage

08. Top Gun: The Jet Coaster

09. Mad Mouse--Arrow (Myrtle Beach Pavilion)

10. Top Gun (PKI)

 

Weird, uh?

[ECZenith]

Airtime is a big factor for me. I compare all other coasters to my #1 SROS which hasn't budged from the top spot since 2000. Of course, I have other top 10 coasters with no air at all, and love them for their uniqueness... like SheiKra and Tatsu.

 

When it comes to non-coasters, the theming better be good or I won't care much about it.

[CoasterCrazy]

Here are the things I rank a coaster by:

 

Airetime

Layout

Location

Theme

Loops

Weightless

Speed

G-forces

Intensity of the ride

Height

[Electerik]

Of course, I have other top 10 coasters with no air at all, and love them for their uniqueness... like SheiKra and Tatsu.

 

Wait, SheiKra has no airtime? What the hell did I ride?!

 

Seriously, though, I wonder if this is one of those definition-type things. Because I definitely got (what I would call) air on both vertical drops.

[Buckeye Brad]

Well, I suppose I should just post it now (for illustrative purposes only):

 

01. Millennium Force

02. GhostRider

03. Apollo's Chariot

04. Cornball Express

05. Goliath (SFMM)

06. SheiKra

07. The Voyage

08. Top Gun: The Jet Coaster

09. Mad Mouse--Arrow (Myrtle Beach Pavilion)

10. Top Gun (PKI)

 

Weird, uh?

 

Yeah, that is weird.

But weird is good! If you've got Cornball Express ranked higher than The Voyage, I am pumped to get to Indiana Beach and check it out!

-Buckeye Brad

[w. josh]

Of course, I have other top 10 coasters with no air at all, and love them for their uniqueness... like SheiKra and Tatsu.

 

Wait, SheiKra has no airtime? What the hell did I ride?!

 

Seriously, though, I wonder if this is one of those definition-type things. Because I definitely got (what I would call) air on both vertical drops.

 

Honestly, I would have said "no airtime" too until getting a back seat ride. There's a tremendous amount of airtime, especially on the second drop, in the back; but if you've only gotten rides in the front two rows, I don't know if you'd really notice.

[alpengeist04]

It's LES for me, Layout, Elements, and Setting. Though, dead spots do effect the ratings, too.

[phazan]

I don't make rules for myself. IMO it's kind of silly. I just rank my coasters by how much fun I had on them.

I think a lot of people get carried away thinking of rules for everything about coasters (Ex. what is a credit and what is not). Roller coasters are fun to ride, and I don't look for certain things, and if I find a roller coaster most people hate and I like it, then I like it. I don't think like 'Well, it's a Vekoma, so I'm rate it a little lower'. I just ride the ones I like and have fun. And I also don't stereotype certain coasters.

But, that's just my opinion.

[mummyjohn]

I sorta use all of them, I guess. But the biggest for me are 'best ride,' but rerideablility probably takes the cake. Batman the Ride I could do again and again, and that's my favorite ride. This one time though, on Xcelerator, a friend of mine and I wer there on an uncrowded day and rode it 18 times...without getting off.

[Darien Laker]

I guess I just base it on overall ride experience. My top ten really does vary between different types, not all of them being intense or smooth. I guess there are a lot of factors that have to work together just right to make a top ten ride. Even nostalgia can count for some older rides.

[XII]

I use all of them. I just have fun and look for good stuff! Also I rate stuff lower if the park does stuff like add trims or bolt unnessecary OTSRs

Edited April 2, 2016 by XII

[rollermonkey]

Pain is a real detractor.

 

Airtime, originality, inversions?, sensation of speed are all major factors for me.

[robbalvey]

bump

[WOFanatic]

Personally ambiance and atmosphere plays a big part to me. You will never see a parking lot coaster on my top ten list. This is why Outlaw Run is my favorite coaster. Nice station, nice queue, nice plaza, and of course barrel rolling through the woods. Epic. I also love the element of surprise. When an element gives me a complete different feeing or experience I don't expect from it, you can count on it to move up a few ranks. Example: Outlaw Run's sideways airtime hill.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Good bump. This is a cool topic I hadn't noticed.

 

I have two lists, because I am a nerd and making lists makes me happy. The more important list I have is of which roller coasters I've ridden and when. It's not about how many; it's about which ones. I grew up with Silver Dollar City, so for me the quality of a park is greater than the sum of its rides. I would rather ride a mediocre ride in a good park than a good ride in a mediocre park.

 

The second list is of my favourite rides and my favourite parks. I don't anguish over it, really. I kind of have a Gilligan's Island approach. I list the top several, and everything else is "and the rest." The list is very subjective. If I think back on a ride and think, "I'd really like to do that again," it's on the list. My top parks are places I would go back to right this second, even if they've changed nothing since I was there last.

 

For posterity, because it may and probably will change, right now these are my top rides and parks:

 

Wood - 1) Outlaw Run 2) Voyage 3) Goliath (SFGAm)

Steel - 1) Wildfire 2) Mamba 3) Thunderbird (HW)

Parks - 1) Silver Dollar City 2) Holiday World 3) Frontier City

 

Note that Goliath is high on my list. I could ride that over and over. If I went back to SFGAm and rode only Goliath, I would have a good day. But overall I'd rather go back to Frontier City than SFGAm. The rides aren't as big, sure, but there are so many intangible factors that I just had more fun there.

 

Whatever criteria you use, it's really all about having fun and doing what makes you happy.

[A.J.]

My favorite coasters have to be laugh out loud fun. Not OMG CRAZY, not tear-inducing. I have to want to ride them over and over again not because of the sheer experience, but the sheer enjoyment.

[VF15]

A coaster's intensity, airtime, layout, inversions, smoothness/roughness, and sense of speed can all contribute to how much I like a coaster and where I'll rank it, but for the most part, my rankings are based on which rides are the most fun and the ones that put the biggest smile on my face.

[thrillseeker4552]

The more roller coasters I ride and the older I get, the less interested I am in ranking them. I have still ridden few enough where counting them is simple (see my signature), but I think praising one coaster as "my number one favorite" is a little silly. I like many different rides for many different reasons, so it's hard to pick the solid number one as there are many reasons to like a coaster.

 

I like Millennium Force for its speed and pacing. I like Maverick for its quick direction changes and abrupt airtime. I like Twisted Colossus for its length, comfort, and unique elements (especially when dueling). I like Tatsu for its ridiculously intense pretzel loop.

 

At then end of the day, it's all a personal preference that really has no effect on anybody else. As long as people are doing what makes them happy, nothing else should matter.

[Angle O. Descent]

My hot buttons:

- Completeness: any coaster that has a substantial amount of size, speed, and overall forces will always be a favorite of mine

- Momentum: maintaining pace throughout is also a key factor for me, as trims and brake runs can be a thrill kill

- Efficiency: I have a soft spot for coasters that have that "pound for pound" intensity which can't be measured with numbers

[canadianparkfan]

Big factors for me:

 

-Forcefulness

-Pacing

-Length of ride

[gerstlaueringvar]

Usually just layout and theme.

[Schrecken]

For a coaster to make it into my top ten, first off, it has to be (from my own perspective, of course) thrilling - basically a blast to ride, for whatever reason. I have a preference for heavy-duty airtime, high speed (or at least the feeling of) and aggressive pacing, but those aren't the only criteria.

Second, it cannot have any major rideability issues, like painful headbanging, or severe roughness/rattling, or uncomfortable restraints. If I have to work hard to defend myself against these kinds of issues, the coaster won't be worth it to me, no matter how great it could be without them. However, the coaster doesn't have to be so mild that I could ride over and over dozens of times in order to make rank. For instance, Skyrush is my #1, even though I may only be good for 3-6 rides consecutively, without a decent break, especially if I sit in the back wing seats.

 

Those are pretty much my main two considerations when it comes to ranking coasters.