Matt N
CF Legend
Hi guys. As with the parks topic the other day, I notice that the overrated coasters thread is getting a lot of traffic, so once again, I thought I’d spread some slightly more positive vibes and shed some light on those coasters we like more than most. So, what coasters do you like more than most?
I’ll get the ball rolling with some of my choices… I could pull up quite a few nominees for this, but to keep it fairly short, I’ll stick to 5 coasters.
Coasters you like more than most
I’ll get the ball rolling with some of my choices… I could pull up quite a few nominees for this, but to keep it fairly short, I’ll stick to 5 coasters.
Coasters you like more than most
- Wicker Man, Alton Towers - To most, this is seemingly an average, disappointing woodie that doesn’t live up to the cross valley plans. For me, though? My favourite ride at Alton Towers, my favourite UK and favourite all-time woodie, and one of the most fun coasters I’ve ever ridden! Yes, it might not be the most intense coaster on the planet, but I think Wicker Man delivers a lot, personally; it’s fast paced from start to finish, it has really fun twists and turns, it has really comfortable trains, it’s fairly smooth in wooden coaster terms, it’s developed some surprisingly excellent airtime in recent years, particularly towards the back, and overall, in spite of most seemingly finding it a poor woodie, I think it’s the pure pinnacle of fun, and a coaster I could literally sit on all day without getting bored or feeling any unwanted side effects!
- Icon, Blackpool Pleasure Beach - The second of the 2018 UK duo also makes it in here for me! Icon is a ride that seems to have few strong fans, and many who are apathetic towards it, but one that I personally have a lot of love for! Yes, it isn’t the most intense ride on earth. Yes, the launches aren’t the strongest. However, it is the UK ride that puts the biggest grin on my face! There’s a huge number of things I like about Icon; there’s a plethora of excellent airtime moments, including some that really surprise you, the ride always feels fairly exciting (even if it’s not the fastest in sections), the trains are gorgeous, the inversions are lovely, the twists and turns are profiled to perfection, it’s really smooth, and overall, I find Icon a hugely fun coaster that puts a huge smile on my face every time! In spite of many people’s general antipathy towards it, Icon is my favourite UK coaster, and my #2 coaster of all time behind only Mako at SeaWorld Orlando!
- Rita, Alton Towers - Another Alton Towers staple, and I’ll admit that this is one I would never have included in a million years a few years back, but since getting back on it for the first time in 4.5 years back in 2020, all of my recent rides on Rita (4 separate rides across 3 separate visits) have been really quite excellent, with no real roughness issues, brutality, sore ears or headaches at all; even the worst recent ride I had only had a mild bit of bumpiness to it! My September 2021 rides in particular were really fab! I got my first front row ride, which was really quite smooth, and even my back row ride straight after only had a very mild rattle to it, which while it did make it marginally less smooth than the front row ride, was barely noticeable whatsoever; I’ve had rougher rides on Nemesis! And even notwithstanding anything to do with Rita’s smoothness; man, it’s really been putting a smile on my face lately! That launch, while not quite there on Stealth’s, admittedly, is still a rush like no other, and I actually think the ride doesn’t have a bad layout after the launch; I’ve experienced some legitimately brilliant pops of ejector on Rita, and although the drawn-out turns aren’t the most inspired, admittedly, and do partly hold it back from ranking higher for me, I think the euphoria of the launch and the airtime pops are enough to make it a really enjoyable ride that I certainly enjoy more than most! Overall, I like Rita a lot; I often feel quite sorry for it, what with how it’s seemingly become the unloved stepchild of Alton Towers’ coaster collection! And perhaps controversially, in spite of the two rides’ reputations, I notably prefer it to Stealth…
- Rock’n’Rollercoaster, Disney’s Hollywood Studios - Even though most enthusiasts seemingly view this as pretty middle-of-the-road to poor, I’d had this ride hyped up to me a fair amount by my dad and sister prior to riding (they’d done the Paris version many years before and absolutely loved it to bits), and while I perhaps didn’t revere it quite as highly as they did, I must admit that unlike most enthusiasts, I most certainly see where my family were coming from on this one, as I thought Rock’n’Rollercoaster was certainly a pretty rockin’ ride (pun intended) myself! For starters, the launch felt really intense for an LSM launch; had I not known any better, I’d have presumed it to be hydraulic, and it’s easily up there as one of the most intense-feeling launches, if not the most intense-feeling launch, I’ve ever experienced! Also, I thought that the ride seemingly hurtled through the layout at fair pace, packing a thrill around every corner; those inversions and turns felt awesome! And while it had a bit of a rattle which took away ever so slightly, I didn’t think it was overly rough at all (although sitting in the front row may have helped with that)! Overall, I’ll admit that I liked Rock’n’Rollercoaster a lot; certainly more than most seem to, anyway, and it’s controversially my favourite Disney World coaster!
- Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Universal Studios Florida - Most seem to think of this as complete and utter rubbish, but based on my most recent rides in 2016 (admittedly 5.5 years ago now, so my opinion may change when I reride)… I didn’t dislike it at all! Yes, it’s not one of my all-time favourite coasters as it was when I first rode in 2014 (on my first ride, HRRR really blew me away, becoming my then favourite coaster in Florida and 2nd favourite coaster of all time behind Swarm!), nor do I regard it quite as highly as some of the others I’ve mentioned in this category, but I like it, and I hold it as a solid top 25 (out of 79) and 7/10 coaster! I think the ride seems to pack a tangible sense of speed and exhilaration throughout, and I seem to remember the non-inverted loop being a really excellent ejector airtime moment, with a couple of other (admittedly notably weaker) airtime moments sprinkled within the layout too! I also don’t remember it being particularly rough, in spite of its reputation; it rattled a little, but I don’t remember it feeling overpoweringly rough by any stretch, and I have a fairly low roughness tolerance. I’ve certainly ridden many rougher coasters than HRRR, from memory! I’ll admit that HRRR perhaps doesn’t have the most interesting or eventful of layouts past the first element, and I would rank it a little more highly if it were less rattly, but on the whole, I remember quite liking it, and I certainly seem to enjoy it a lot more than most based on all the trash talk directed towards it!
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