"free rolling coasters". care to elaborate?
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"free rolling coasters". care to elaborate?
Like so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJ2hDn4IjY
I wish Knoebel's would finish Flying Turns... It looks like a blast.
that type of shit looks way dangerous.
That type of shit looks way fun.
i mean, i could do with slides on the ground, but that one with the metal track? no thanks!
and besides, i like cobra rolls, heartline spins, and batwings. can't do that with uber-simplistic "six-flags over nebraska" type coasters, as tosh would put it.
The inherent problem with both of those is they depend on the rider to physically slow the car down....yeah I know, lol.
Jeremy
yep. and there's way too much stupid in the world for me to like that idea.
check off another 5. i went to busch gardens europe yesterday.
for only having 4 adult coasters in the park, i must say that all of them were rather excellent. griffon, like shik-ra, gives you the impression of flying: especially on the sides of the car. amazing ride. loch-ness monster was a very good ride; especially impressive--given its age. alpengeist was, imho, not qute as good as montu or raptor; but it did have a lot of interesting track elements and was decent. the ride from the front of alpengeist was WAY smoother than from the middle/back.
and of course apollo's chariot is about as close to a masterpiecce as you can get. it and griffon are clearly the two best coasters in the park. chariot has my favorite style of restraints (the lap wedge), giving you a high degree of freedom and visibility. the air-time on it is INSANE. very glad i rode it twice.
p.s.
for those of you going to busch gardens williamsburg, "europe in the air" flight simulator is CRAP. don't even bother. other than a semi-interesting cue line in the form of a cave, it was a HORRIBLE experience--way too bumpy & jolting. the par-excellence for flight simulators remains soarin' at epcot. the difference between these two rides was night and day. don't waste your time.
Although I love The Top Thrill, Millenium Force is simply amazing. I remember going on that thing 3-4 times the day I was at Cedar Point. The final time, it was evening, and the bugs were SO bad, that when we got off we had bugs SMASHED all over our skin and sun glasses. It was AMAZING.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan92RTTT
Just went to Cedar Point two weeks ago....VIP PASS baby!! :D
Rode every single coaster at least 2 maximum 5 times...too much of anything isn't good..I was worn out by mid day!!
MAVERICK owns!!!
My favorite ride on the Millennium force was in the evening. I got in line very late just before the park closed. The line was so long that the rest of the park and all of the rides were shutdown by the time I got on.
I got to ride Millennium force in the dark.
Absolutely awesome.
yeah, i rode son of beast in PITCH BLACK--back when it had the loop. you couldn't see ANYTHING of the track except for the lighting on the loop. it was a rather unique experience.
well i'm bumping this thread. i notched 4 more coasters today:
85. Booster Bike - Toverland, Netherlands
86. Boomerang - Toverland, Netherlands
87. Troy - Toverland, Netherlands
88. Forest Racer - Toverland, Netherlands
#88 is a quasi-coaster...you can actually control the speed on it. toverland is a fairly small park, but it's very clean overall--though the landscaping is a bit overgrown in some areas. it also has a small ropes-course & a few other cool surprises...including a 3-story tall slide that has nothing but rollers inside it. bumpy. :)
if i get to do my double-shot of UK parks next year, i'll break 100 for sure.
I work for delta airlines so on my long weekends the girlfriend and I will fly to an amusment park for the day. We just got back from cedar point this last fall top thrill dragster is by far the best I've been on so far.
It's funny that when I first met my girlfriend she had never been on a coaster and was scared as hell of them. Now she's chases them around the U.S. with me.
Well, finally made it up to CP yesterday for the first time this year, and got to ride the new Gatekeeper. Have to say, I wasn't too impressed. It wasn't terrible, just not nearly as thrilling as I was hoping. It's definitely more mellow than MF, Maverick, Raptor. It was a very smooth ride however, and the twists through the entrance towers were neat. The 2 1/2 hour wait sucked...
https://www.cedarpoint.com/gatekeeper
Those keyholes it passes through look pretty cool.
Jeremy
so CP finally got a dive coaster. that's nice. both busch parks beat them to the punch. :P
Big Bad Wolf at BG Williamsburg is still one of the coolest coasters I've ever rode. Been a good 20 years since I've been on it. Got to get back there, again.
Jeremy
it's gone. i never got to ride it. they only had 4 coasters when i went there in 2011. alpengeist, griffon, apollo's chariot and loch ness monster.
flight deck at KI and iron dragon at CP are very similar rides though.
NO way! Man, that makes me sad. Rode it as a kid, and really wanted to experience it again as an adult. :(
Jeremy
Yeah, that was probably the best part. I read that if a person of the maximum height allowed outstretched their arms, they would come within less than a foot of the towers. Pretty crazy.Quote:
Originally Posted by HilbillyHomeboy
well i'm scheduled to ride on this bad-boy next week. yikes:
http://69.195.124.67/~inparkma/wp-co...1-1024x682.jpg
What? Where? Looks intense, to say the least. :)
Jeremy
the smiler, alton towers. 14 inversions. beat out the previous record by several inversions.
should be about 15 coasters this week...if all goes well. *crosses fingers*. i will notch my 100--which, while it doesn't make me a world-class enthusiast--puts me well ahead of the average theme-park attendee.
now replaced by "verbolten" as of 2012. i just checked.Quote:
Originally Posted by HilbillyHomeboy
i think i need to hit a trifecta of parks in germany next year. that, plus my uk trip will knock-off most of the top-ranked european coasters.
ok. Made a few additions to my list:
89. Sonic Spinball – Alton Towers, UK
90. The Smiler - Alton Towers, UK
91. Oblivion - Alton Towers, UK
92. Thirteen - Alton Towers, UK
93. Air - Alton Towers, UK
94. Rita - Alton Towers, UK
95. Nemesis - Alton Towers, UK
96. X – Thorpe Park, UK
97. Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park, UK
98. Saw the Ride - Thorpe Park, UK
99. Flying Fish - Thorpe Park, UK
100. Colossus - Thorpe Park, UK
101. The Swarm - Thorpe Park, UK
hit the 100 mark. :D Here's my thoughts on this week's 2-park trip:
1. Busch Gardens, Williamsburg has less coasters. Cedar Point has more coasters. BOTH have shorter wait times than either Alton Towers or Thorpe Park. We waited TWO AND A HALF HOURS just for Saw the Ride. I would not have gotten to ride all of those coasters if we had not used fast-pass tickets to bypass some of the cues. The waits were obscenely long. There was zero justification for this, as far as I'm concerned. We didn't even wait 2.5 hours on Millenium Force--the year it opened.--and it's still top 2 steel coasters in the world (as opposed to Saw, which isn't even in the top 50). It's worth noting that we were able to ride all 4 (at that time) coasters at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg--TWICE--without any fast-passes. I can only think of three explanations for this. A. The demand in the UK is sky-high & that's just how it is. B. The parks in the UK are horribly laid-out & the rides are not managed well. C. The park owners are so greedy that they over-book the park & the guests have to endure it. In any event, you have been warned. Would NOT recommend visiting either park without also recommending fast-track tickets for at least half the coasters.
2. Alton Towers is a MASSIVE park. It's shaped like a pair of antlers, with main pathways up both sides, but NOTHING in the middle. It's a pain in the royal-ass (literally) to get from one side of the park to the other, so my advice is to stick to one side and finish it before moving to the other. Sure, you can wander the valley in the middle but it is a HIKE...and a 15 minute trek either way. The park would be VASTLY improved by the addition of a bridge in the back, joining the two branches. Also, it is a rather unique park in that it is buried amidst small villages in the English countryside. It has some form of restriction on noise & ride height--so you cannot even see glimpses of the park until you are virtually inside the main gate. Parking & traffic are royal pains. As with any European park, you pay when you leave the lot; so save the headache & pick up a parking pass in advance (or when you arrive), so that you don't have to suffer on the way out after a long, grueling day of cue lines.
3. Thorpe Park is a much smaller park, but still a fair size. Traffic and accessibility is much better. I found it considerably easier to navigate. Both parks are owned my Merlin Entertainments, and neither is a "top 5" park for anything that Golden Ticket Awards tracks--which should really say something about the entire experience. It was, however, worth the visit..if only to ride The Swarm & Colossus. There's a reason Cedar Point is "Best Park", Holiday World is "Cleanest Park" and Busch Gardens Williamsburg is "Best Landscaped/Themed Park". Alton could give Busch Gardens a run for the money...but it's like the park owners don't care. Sad.
Continued below.
Ride reviews:
-X is an old Vekoma indoor coaster. I only rode it to check off another number on my list. Fairly short cue (especially compared to everything else). Not really worth much.
-Flying Fish isn't technically a coaster, since it's driven along the track, but it mimics the effect nicely. Decent kiddie coaster.
-Stealth we passed on because of time constraints. It's only about half the height of Top Thrill Dragster / Kingda Ka & virtually the same layout. I wasn't too heartbroken about it. I needed more fast-passes to make it & it broke down when we were in line. We bailed on the cue, but serendipity was on our side, because as we were off to try and find fast passes, we ran into a couple who GAVE us free passes for...
-The Swarm. One of the newest types of coasters, The Swarm is a winged coaster (like Gatekeeper & Wild Eagle at Dollywood). A very smooth & exhilarating ride & well themed with the "post apocalypse" motif. The last two cars are now (as of 2013) facing backwards, which I believe is a first among winged coasters. Had I had more time & opportunity, I would have loved to have ridden the outside of the very last car. Visually, not only is there not a floor, but also the illusion that there's no track. The first drop is a roll-over inversion, which I've never experience before; very, very cool. It also includes cameras on the train itself, so you can see video of yourself on the ride (for purchase, of course). Nearly worth the price of park entry alone.
-Nemesis Inferno is a standard-fare B&M invert. I would rate it above Alpengeist, but that's all. It's cousin is more highly regarded by almost every review site. Still, not a bad ride & even a vanilla B&M invert is worlds better than a Vekoma invert.
-Colossus was the world record holder on inversions for 10 years (10 total) and it's still a masterpiece today. the 4-in-a-row heartline rolls are probably why. It's just a fantastic coaster.
-Saw the Ride. Well it was interesting & the theming wasn't too bad. The wait was abhorrent. The fact that trains only carry 8 people, and that there are periods of time where there are NO CARS ON THE TRACK...is a very bad thing. It wasn't until I got to the station when I realized that there were actually more than 2 cars total on the ride (I think there were 5 or 6). The problem is they are too spaced out & the trains too short. It's not really much different from any other Gerstlauer Eurofighter coaster in that regard. Had the cars been double-capacity (like those on The Smiler) it might have drastically improved the horribad wait time. The experience on the ride was actually rather well choreographed, and I'm sure fans of the Saw movies will love it (I refuse to watch them). Not a bad coaster, just completely horrible everything else. 2.5 hour wait on a coaster with an advertised wait-time of 50 minutes when we arrived. Get. The. Fuck. Out.
Moving on to Alton Towers:
-Oblivion is a waste of time/space/etc. The world's first dive-coaster it might be, but it's pathetically short & has ZERO track elements other than the subterranean drop. I was sorely disappointed. Griffon and Shei-kra put it to shame so badly that it's absurd. Still, it's smooth--it's just not worth an hour wait or more (We fast-passed it).
-The Smiler is mind-boggling to follow. There's so many pieces of track going every which way that it's very difficult to keep "track" of it all, even when you're watching a car whizzing along it. It drops you into a heartline roll before you leave the station. I wasn't able to keep count of the inversions because they are flying by so fast and furious. It's literally the coaster equivalent of one of these:
http://www.part-time-scientists.com/...sdc-day3-2.jpg
I enjoyed it. You do get a "breather" during the ride when you get to the 2nd lift hill (a vertical one). The Smiler is pretty much two Eurofighter coasters smushed together, but I think the result works fairly well. I don't know how highly it will be rated amongst critics/pundits...but where else can you ride a coaster with FOURTEEN inversions? And yes, I smiled. :)
-Rita is a vanilla LIM coaster. There's nothing spectacular about it, but it is enjoyable. If launched coasters are your thing, Volcano: The Blast Coaster at Kings Dominion or Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point are going to be much higher on your list.
-Nemesis is a fan-favorite & very well themed as it "hugs" the landscape very cleverly. While it didn't seem to stand out particularly (in my mind) it's probably among the better B&M inverts. I didn't find enough to warrant a hands-down victory over its cousin at Thorpe Park, but still very worth a ride. I think Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa probably still takes the cake on the best B&M invert (Raptor at Cedar Point is close 2nd).
-Air is a B&M flying coaster. Boy those Swiss certainly make better coasters than the Dutch. I'd rate it above Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags over Georgia, but it still doesn't compare to Manta at Sea World Orlando. It's very worth riding. I enjoyed it more than Nemesis.
-Sonic Spinball is a spinning coaster, similar to Primeval Whirl at Animal Kingdom. Deceptively intense for a coaster of its stature.
-Thirteen wasn't the last coaster we rode at Alton Towers, but it was one of the best. Another long cue-line, but I found the ride to be an intense surprise--as I had not researched it before going. It claims the world's first--and so far only--coaster with a vertical free-fall mid-ride. Intamin built (another Swiss company, see I told you the Swiss were awesome at coasters), it's a very smooth ride & the forward & backward elements were a surprising and welcome change. Along with The Smiler and Air, I would rate it as one of the top reasons to visit the park.
Thanks for reading!
very nice! I think I may swing by Six Flags MM in Valencia, CA this weekend if I get a chance..
#102-106 Walibi World, Belgie. I can't really recommend it. Most of the coasters are Vekoma, which is NOT a brand I'm fond of, as they ride a bit rougher than any of their B&M, Intamin or even Gerstlauer.
-Psyche Underground: Standard Schwarzkopf loop coaster--just indoors. Nothing spectacular, but still fun.
-Calamity Mine: fairly run-of-the-mill mine-cart ride. Reminded me of Adventure Express at Kings Island, though it's a Vekoma ride, not Arrow.
-Cobra: Vekoma boomerang. Think Invertigo at Kings Island, but without being inverted. Most uncomfortable ride I've had since I rode Ninja at Six Flags over Georgia--which, incidentally, is also a Vekoma.
Werewolf: Not bad. Nothing truly impressive for a wooden coaster (I've been on Beast, Son of Beast, Troy, Raven, etc) but I've ridden worse (Grizzly at Kings Dominion). Cars had ample padding so you didn't feel too beaten up if you were bouncing around in the car a bit.
Vampire: Probably the best in the park. Vekoma invert. It did ride better than T2 at Kentucky Kingdom (which is also a Vekoma invert), but still far inferior to B&M (Raptor, Montu, etc).
It's understandable that they sourced their rides from the benelux area...but I still say that the Swiss are WAY, WAY better at making coasters than the Dutch. Probably because the Dutch are drunk more. :p
I really hope to ride Knoebel's new Flying Turns this year... Otherwise, meh. I've ridden 95% of my local coasters, and all of King's Dominion.
Look what we've got in Bowling Green for the 2015 NG!
http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum.../cci12_817.jpg
Might have to make that a side event for the coaster fans.
Eh....if I was in town for NG. I've ridden on better reviewed ones though. Troy in Toverland NL being the most recent. Holiday World has 3 higher ranked wooden coasters, for what it's worth. One of my favorite parks....and highly underrated--since it is really just a humongous water-park with some world-class coasters thrown in for good measure.
I'm not saying I would go to Bowling Green just for the coaster, but since we'll be in town for a few days... why not?
thats a nice looking coaster...
BTW I rode X Flight in Six Flags gurnee...it was meh..
Didn't get to ride Goliath..the worlds tallest and fastest wooden coaster right now..
I thoroughally enjoyed The Swarm, which has similar elements to X flight. The first drop is featured only on 3 coasters in the world currently, the 3rd being Gatekeeper.
I'm a huge fan of B&M coasters, especially the era that began with Millennium Force.
P.S.
Goliath SF:Great America is not the tallest wooden coaster. It does have the tallest drop & fastest speed though. The tallest in the world...hopefully I will be riding next week.
Colossos (Heide Park) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Colossus, which is the 10-inversion steel coaster at Thorpe Park, which is an excellent ride in its own right.
So I'm back from Heide Park. In no particular order:
107. Indy Blitz. 2/10. Kiddie coaster. Nothing special here.
108. GrottenBlitz. 3/10. Kiddie coaster. Slightly better than above.
109. Big Loop. 4/10. Vekoma imitation of an Arrow looping coaster. Similar to Corkscrew at Cedar Point, but slightly rougher.
110. Limit. 5.5/10. Vekoma Invert. I've ridden plenty of these in my day, (Vampire, T2, etc) and this one isn't really any different. Given the choice, stick to B&M inverts. There are rougher Vekoma inverts though, T2 especially.
111. Desert Race. 7/10. Intamin launch coaster. Very similar to Rita at Alton Towers. Very short, if only because it doesn't have the time on the lift hill.
112. Bobben. 8/10. Bobsled coaster. These are getting to be a little bit harder to find (Disaster Transport was scrapped at Cedar Point). Not over-the-top thrilling, but arguably the smoothest I've been on, and fun to ride. I was in the front car, so that could be a factor too.
113. Krake. 8.5/10. About as long as Oblivion, which is disappointingly short. Features a very cool loop over the water, which means if the hang-time on the water is right, you can get the spray from your own train going past. 6-wide, so narrower than the far-superior Shei-Kra & Griffon.
114. Flug Der Damonen. 9/10. Visually, the trains are identical to the ones on The Swarm at Thorpe Park--which is somewhat surprising, even though they are both recently-released winged-coasters. Perhaps that is the default factory adornment...or perhaps Merlin Amusements (who owns both) is cheap. Six-Flags cheap. Anways, not a bad ride. I was 2nd from the back on the right side, and it was a little rough in some sections, which I was NOT expecting for a BRAND NEW 2014 coaster. Most of the ride was very smooth, but those jarring/shaking sections were discomforting to say the least. I still have yet to ride in the front on a winged coaster, thanks to the fuckwad kid (single rider) who decided to claim the lead spot for himself. Fucking 12 year olds.
115. Colossos. 10/10. It is worth your time to go to Heide Park just to ride this coaster. Seriously. Quite possibly the best wooden coaster I've ever ridden. After riding it the 1st time, my wife remarked that she thought it was the best she'd ever ridden (which might be a slight exaggeration, but still...) It's like a wooden version of Apollo's Chariot. It is JUST FREAKING AWESOME. 61 degree drop, and STILL the overall highest wooden coaster in the world. Very, very smooth. Highly recommended.
I saw the ninja-edit, there, Tom. Figure out last-minute that Empire is actually a satire news website?
Well I just read today that Cedar Point is closing the Mantis. Sad, but not unexpected. Like Chang at Kentucky Kingdom (which is now closed, and the coaster is now known as Green Lantern at Six Flags: Great Adventure). It always did make the blood rush to my feet while I was riding it. Compared to other B&M coasters (Raptor, for example), it just couldn't compare. I believe that stand-up coasters are going to die out. I'm actually a bit sadder about what happened to Disaster Transport...since I have always been a big fan of bobsled coasters.
I believe that stand-up, bobsled and suspended coasters will all die out eventually...and that will be a sad day. Fortunately, Iron Dragon is still up and running--my favorite suspended coaster of all time. And while I can mourn the loss of a stand-up, I feel that newer coasters more than make up for the stand-up. Floorless, dive, winged, inverted, etc--all better than stand-up.
I do hope that Cedar Fair can either transfer Mantis to another park, modify it (sit-down trains), or sell it to a park where it will be a welcome addition. B&M's, unlike Vekoma's, shouldn't be put to rest.
https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...bd&oe=5496458C
Colossus roller coaster catches fire at Six Flags Magic Mountain - SFGate BlogQuote:
A fire broke out Monday afternoon on the recently closed Colossus, an old-school wooden roller coaster at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia (Los Angeles County).
The blaze was reported just after 1:30 p.m., on the Colossus, the Los Angeles Times reported, but was quickly extinguished with no injuries. The ride closed last month after 36 years, and is to be replaced by a hybrid wood-steel ride called Twisted Colossus set to open next year.