#309 Wild Train - Fantasiana
What the ever living heck is this, genuinely some of the strongest airtime I've ever experienced on a ride and on such a small scale as well. One of two coasters ever to give me bruises, the other being Expedition GeForce.
#310 Fridolin's Verrucker Zauberexpress - Fantasiana
Really impressed with this actually! If I was 0.9 and got to ride this I'd be estatic, genuinely one of the most well themed coasters out there and the coaster itself is nice and smooth with fun transitions, a few fun launches and some nice interactions with the nearby scenery.
Not quite the Duplo Dino Coaster, but definitely my second favourite ART coaster.
Baron 1898
Brilliant, it's actually really small for a B&M Dive, but the theme and narrative makes for a really "complete" experience. The idea of a dive machine in a park like Efteling seems bizarre at first, but it was done the Efteling way.
Joris en de Draak
Again, not the biggest or fastest woodie our there, especially after Troy at Toverland a few weeks back, but pure GCI madness, like a smooth version of Stampida. The blue side was almost a spite, we didn't get on it during our first day, and it was down for much of our second... We got it.
De Vliegende Hollander
There's a running theme with this post, it's not the fastest Mack Water Coaster but it's probably the best themed out there. Sorry SeaWorld Orlando, the narrative makes sense on this one. Doesn't get you too wet either which is a bonus.
Python
An early Vekoma that's smooth? Yes, holy retrack batman.
Vogel Rok
On the fence on this one, it's just... fun I guess? It warranted a reride so we must have enjoyed it.
It was a super busy weekend at the park so we didn't get many re-rides, Max and Moritz were ridden for once each but we didn't get a lot of time for re-rides. The real winner in this park is Symbolica though, best dark rids out there.
Linnanmäki is probably the smallest park I’ve ever visited. There is an abundance of snackaries and games, which together with tight fit of the rides gave it a likeable fairground atmosphere. The visit was principally for Taiga but we were still able to enjoy a full day here.
You can’t really see Taiga from its entrance, but from outside the park you can get a good view. It’s mostly a spaghetti bowl with unusually large changes in elevation, taking full advantage of the hill it sits on.
It's pretty relentless. The first launch has decent poke and punches you into one of the strangest inversions I’ve come across; an ‘outer-banking’ roll (that feels totally different to Pantheon's). I dig it. From that, you enter a high speed swooping turn that squeezes on the positives, followed by a couple of much tighter turns as you ascend towards the second launch.
The descent from the top hat is truncated compared to, say, VelociCoaster, but it leads into an astonishing stall that you accelerate out of (down the hill) into a powerful speed hill, which is immediately followed by a sensational immelmann. This sequence is awesome and the highlight of the ride, but there are two further snappy twists before the break run that keep things fierce - wow, what a beast!
Overall, Taiga is like VelociCoaster with (i) the first-half meandering removed and (ii) the 'drawn-out swooping turns', such as those over the lake, swapped out for high-intensity U-turns. Indeed, no joke, Taiga is one of the most punishing rides I’ve been on with it's high positive forces. If Maverick is a thrilling racing car, then Taiga is a threshold-testing fighter jet. Depending on your preferences and tolerances, this could put Taiga at the top or the bottom of the pack of Intamin multi-launchers. I personally prefer the more tolerable i305-like twists and turns of Maverick (which has ‘more sustained yet slighter’ forces) to the tighter U-turn manoeuvres on Taiga (which often have a ‘tight squeeze and release’ sensation). Otherwise, it possibly has the best pacing of the pack.
What I didn’t really dig though was the theming and colour scheme. A deep, mysterious blue is the colour of choice for poets, dreamers and the self-important. But this characterless blue is the sort of colour that’s typically reserved for children’s bedrooms. There’s just not enough ‘badassery / violent death’ to its aesthetics, you know?
Plus, despite its decent interaction with other rides and impressive on-ride views, it’s a bit of a ‘car park coaster’ as there is a notable absence of greenery / rock work / theming / anything to break-up the fairly empty area in which it’s situated (compared to, say, the warmer vegetation that surrounds Helix). The below vid really showcases the power of the hardware as well as the slightly harsh concrete landscape. Aesthetically, it's about as far away as Untamed as you can get.
So despite all the pros and my typical preference towards 'lean and mean' rides, I find myself somewhat emotionally cool towards Taiga… to the point where I’m going to give my nod of preference to VelociCoaster for how it resonates with me as a package, despite Taiga’s impressive sequencing and VC’s greatness-sapping second quarter. If only Taiga had more 'secret sauce'!
Meanwhile, the ultra-force-tolerance, self-identity-denied Sith known as Mrs. Nitefly thought that Taiga was the bomb; it marched into her top 10 like unidentifiable hungry ants at a mysterious picnic.
Helix
Liseberg must be the easiest park to visit in the world as an international traveller. It’s a 20 minute bus journey from the airport and the bus stop is immediately outside the exit. The bus then drops you immediately outside the park and there is a reasonably priced hotel (Gothia Towers) the other side the road. SooOOOoOo easy.
It’s not really a theme park though, nor an amusement park. It’s actually a ‘sit-down-dinner’ park. Holy ****, the amount of restaurants. ‘Waiting for the bill’ enthusiasts, rejoice! At one point we even walked passed guests tucking into a two-tiered seafood platter. Pass the lobster cracker, if you wouldn’t mind?
I’ve heard many mixed reports of Helix in recent years, but nobody has (or could) say anything bad about the queue. The minimalistic maze-like walkways are intriguing and the soundtrack is superb. Then when you get to the station, the music ‘drops’ into the famous, banging tune. I was so goddamn pumped - hurrrnnn!!! I guess it’s not really the ‘theme’ that matters, but the ‘atmosphere’. Helix, your theme-less queue more than ticks the box.
Sure, it’s a multi-launcher and you could draw fair comparisons to the Intamin set, but I feel that the abundance of inversions make Helix feel more like a welcome evolution from other ancestry: the B&M sit-down multi-looper. The inversions here feel like conscious choices rather than those redundant, for-the-sake-of-it B&M twirls and they are well spaced out with its launches plus a couple of excellent airtime hills. The good balance is reflected in the positive forces, as (unlike Taiga) there is no ‘fighter jet squeeze’; instead we have exciting, non-overbearing turns.
I did not anticipate the abundance of near misses to vegetation, which were most welcome compared to Taiga. This is showcased well in the below vid:
The ride also packs in B&M-besting smoothness. Very impressive.
… but there simply are many inversions - probably too many - and this does result in Helix feeling a little dated compared to other modern rides, as sublime as the ‘best in class’ execution otherwise is. By the end of the day, I had dubbed it “Good Smiler.”
That feels a little dismissive though. If Helix is a B&M sit-down multi-looper, then it’s by far and away the best one ever made. Solid airtime, solid setting, solid music, solid ride
Now, everyone together….
"Duh nuh nuh nuh derrr… derrrr derrrrrrrrr!!!!!"
Balder
The big surprise of the trip. There is nothing off-ride or from its unassuming layout that suggests this will be an airtime banquet but, oh boy, it sure is. This thing is designed to launch you out of your seat… many, many times. This is not gross, snappy airtime… but well measured, fun-for-all yet enthusiast-pleasing scrumminess. Yum yum yum.
And oh my, how smooth it is during those hills and valleys… other than some typical woody shuffling on the corners, it’s glass.
It makes me wonder whether El Toro (which I found last year to be super rough and in dire need of a re-track) was ever this smooth, once upon a time. If so, I could understand why it continues to rank so highly amongst other enthusiast. As it is, I think you could make a convincing argument for Balder being the superior ride - it’s unquestionably the most consistent of the two whereas El Toro is very front loaded.
All said and done, let's see where these rides place in my rankings...
All coasters in a ‘higher category’ are considered by me to be superior to all coasters in a relatively ‘lower category’, but the order of the ranking within each category is more marginal and loose.
Everything A+ rank and higher is what I consider ‘Elite’.
14 - VelociCoaster
15 - Hyperion
16 - Lech Coaster
17 - Nemesis
18 - Pantheon
19 - Expedition GeForce
20 - Twisted Timbers
21 - **Taiga**
22 - **Helix**
A Rank
23 - Fury 325
24 - The Voyage
25 - Space Mountain (Orlando)
26 - Shambhala
27 - Storm Runner
28 - The Legend
29 - Orion
30 - El Toro
Honourable mentions i.e. other ‘A Rank rides’: **Balder**, Gatekeeper, Montu, Taron, Storm Chaser (Kentucky Kingdom), Mako, Nitro, Kingda Ka, Gemini, Revenge of the Mummy, Wodan and Stealth.
Notable rides that don’t make ‘A Rank’: Skyrush and F.L.Y.
... so that's Gatekeeper and Montu out of the top 30, with El Toro next on the chopping block.
I rode Mandrill Mayhem at Chessington last week. The best way to describe the ride and area is everything is 6/10. There's nothing awful, there's nothing magnificent, it's all one flat and slightly bland stretch of 6/10.
The first 15 seconds of the coaster is fun, there's dispatch audio and you shoot backwards straight into a dip like on Furious Baco. Lovely pop of airtime here and there's more in the backwards spike. In the last few rows it's the kind of sustained airtime that makes your tummy rise and eyeballs bulge. The launch forwards through the station feels powerful and fast then the inversion is taken at a nice pace.
Unfortunately from there it runs out of steam. The approach to the spiral is mild transitions and a launch you barely feel and the spiral itself isn't exciting or interesting. The inversion taken backwards is a bit of a laugh but otherwise nothing really happens in the last three quarters of the ride. I don't understand why this layout was chosen other than the spiral looks imposing in photos.
An odd thing I found about the land is it doesn't actually feature anything Jumanji related. I've never seen the films and after 5 rides on Mandrill Mayhem and a walk around I couldn't tell you anything about Jumanji. I don't know who any of the characters are, any events of the film or anything about it's setting other than it being a jungle. It's similar to Black Mirror and especially Walking Dead at Thorpe where there's nothing specific about the IP featured (other than the term 'walker' used instead of zombie).
I found it exciting riding a week old coaster on a sunny day. The area looks good especially the market section and I think the parts round the station with fairy lights will create a nice atmosphere come the October evenings. I had a lovely day but I really don't think this area is what Chessington should have gone for.
If you don’t mind me asking @Benenen, how did you find the virtual queue? It seems to look very long whenever I check it… did you find getting slots difficult?
I found it a needless faff when I went last Wednesday (24th). The park was quiet and you could book slots up until around 4:30 and I believe the booking didn't close at any point in the day. I booked 5 slots throughout the day and the longest wait for the QR code was about 30 mins. Sometimes the code appeared immediately, others it said I had to wait until a certain time but when I pressed book the QR code appeared straight away. Once in the physical queue I was on the next train each time and didn't have to wait. Like you Matt I was checking the virtual queue website in the days leading up to my visit at different times trying to work it out but it was fine on the day.
I found it a needless faff when I went last Wednesday (24th). The park was quiet and you could book slots up until around 4:30 and I believe the booking didn't close at any point in the day. I booked 5 slots throughout the day and the longest wait for the QR code was about 30 mins. Sometimes the code appeared immediately, others it said I had to wait until a certain time but when I pressed book the QR code appeared straight away. Once in the physical queue I was on the next train each time and didn't have to wait. Like you Matt I was checking the virtual queue website in the days leading up to my visit at different times trying to work it out but it was fine on the day.
That’s interesting. Seeing as I’m booked in to visit on a Sunday, I don’t think I’ll have quite the same quiet park as you did, so hopefully the system scales up well to a busier day…
Alternatively, I have got my fingers crossed that they might have scrapped the virtual queue by the time I go… I’m not booked in for a visit until 17th September. Even if a physical queue was slower, it does at least guarantee that you’ll be able to ride.
299 - Wildcat's Revenge is one of RMC's best creations, but the trains can't handle the snappy transitions well so you get thrown around a bit too much. Normally I'd love it, but the hard fiberglass seats with barely any cushion leads to a pretty painful experience. The ride would benefit greatly from different trains for sure. Ideally something like the gen 1 Gerstlauer trains would be perfect. It ranks below Timbers, Gwazi and Lightning Rod for me.
Recap of my Japan trip with new cred reviews. Before getting into the coasters, Japan is an amazing country. I wish I spoke the language (it's one of the hardest to learn for English speakers, has 3 alphabets, etc.). The people there are kind and polite, the culture born out of Shinto and Buddhism is interesting, and the more modern culture pertaining to Manga, anime, and gaming is equally intriguing. And if you love sushi like I do, of course this is a great place.
Also, the main roller coaster was closed at DisneySea, but this place is a top-5 theme park for me. Amazing atmosphere and theming and some incredible dark rides (Journey to the Center of the Earth is phenomenal).
Nagashima Spa Land
First on the park, this is tough to get to unless you pay a lot for a taxi. The hotel on site where we stayed (Hotel Nagashima) was overpriced but convenient. We shortened our trip here since the lines were mostly short and I rode everything I wanted to pretty easily. Nice park, but with the atmosphere of a mid-tier Cedar Fair park. It being on the water makes it a bit nicer.
Steel Dragon 2000
I rode this twice: once in the front, and once in the middle. The front-row ride was one of the best floater experiences I've ever had... probably behind only Nitro. I haven't ridden Leviathan, but having ridden the other gigas, I could even tell then that this is probably the weakest of those, but I still really enjoyed it. However, my ride in the middle was incredibly rough until the floater hills on the return run. It probably still ranks in my top 40 (of 250), but it needs a little TLC from the park. 8.5/10
Arashi
I find most of these 4-D free-spins to be the same. This one felt maybe a bit more intense, but it was alright I guess. 6/10
Ultra Twister
Worth trying out for the (now) novelty. It would help to have airbags after the first break before going backward. Otherwise it's smooth. I can see that at the time these things were new, that this would have been a popular ride. The drop was kinda fun, but there are no real forces here. The vertical lift might be the scariest part. 5/10
Acrobat
This is a clone of SeaWorld Orlando's Manta but with a slightly less inspiring setting. I prefer Manta to this for that reason, but this is still a good ride. 7.5/10
Hakugei
I haven't ridden Iron Gwazi or Zadra yet, but of all the RMCs I've ridden, this has the best layout and one of the best settings. Every element is incredibly forceful and it doesn't feel repetitive like SV starts to feel toward the end. It also looks beautiful. Got 6 rides on it, including 1 in the front, and 2 in the back. The front was by far my favorite, but I couldn't ride it more since you can't pick your seats at these parks. In terms of ejector airtime, this ride probably has the most powerful moments of anything I've ridden. This is probably a top 10 coaster for me, but there are two things keeping it from being top 5: #1 The lap bar on all my rides (except when I rode in the front) got tighter and tighter to the point I was stapled in the last few elements. It wasn't a total buzzkill, but it was noticeable. #2. I do feel like all the ibox RMCs feel similar to an extent: some you get more airtime, some you get more whip, but I've yet to ride one that feels like a unique experience -- including this one and SV. 10/10
Tokyo Dome City
Thunder Dolphin
This ride has an amazing setting in the middle of skyscrapers and next to the Tokyo Giants' home stadium. That keyhole thing the train passes through is super cool. Not a long ride, and it does lose steam, but the novelty of the setting gives it an extra point for me. I actually enjoy it more than some mid-tier B&M hypers like Intimidator. 8/10
Panic Coaster - Back Daaan
It might be because I was on a relatively empty stomach and there was no A/C in the show building, but this ride made me nauseous. It didn't do anything crazy (it's dark going forward, and has colored lights going backward), but I would skip this one next time. 2/10
Fuji-Q Highland
Takabisha
Is it just me or has anyone else had the experience of never riding a Gerstlauer that isn't incredibly rough? I had ridden TMNT Shellraiser and thought that was a great layout but bumped my head way too much. I heard this might be different but it was actually worse in that respect. Layout is still great but I didn't enjoy this experience at all. 4/10.
Fujiyama
This might have been one of the more pleasant surprises of the trip. You'll want to ride this one toward the back of the train: I rode once in row 3, once in row 8, and once in row 11. My row 3 ride was a dud, but the other two gave some great, unique airtime -- especially on those last few hills, which have some janky, twisted profiling to say the least. While the first drop is big, the first part of the ride is a bit tame, but then the thing gets going and feels unlike any coaster I can recall. It's sorta like you get floater coming into a hill, and then get yanked sideways as you're going down. Super weird but fun. Not a fast ride, but I do highly recommend it. 8.5/10
Eejanaika
Got 5 rides on this: once in the front, twice in the back, and then in the middle cars. As someone who has X2 at their home park, I strongly feel that Eejanaika is in a different class than X2... at least for me. I haven't studied each layout, but in X2, it feels like you can anticipate the next element to some degree and you spent a significant amount of time going forward. In Eejanaika, I feel like I'm more often than not going backward and turning upside down in some different, new fashion. It's insane in the best ways. X2 feels more controlled but also feels rougher. Like my calves get beat up at the end of X2 but not in this one. Eejanaika has some roughness for sure, but it never got to the extent where something hurt or was uncomfortable. The left cars were slightly smoother than the right cars, but not by so much that your experience changes that much. I loved Eejanaika because of the unpredictable nature of it, which is really unlike any other ride I've been on. The lift hill is actually also an awesome part of the ride: the trees on the mountain side are beautiful. This was my favorite roller coaster of the trip, and ranks in my top 5-7 coasters. The only reason it's not higher is because I'm honestly not sure for how long I'll be able to ride this as I get older. I don't anticipate going back to Fuji-Q anytime soon, which means I'll at least be in my 40s the next time I'm there. This, along with X2 and I305, is the most intense ride I've been on, but I'm grateful for being able to ride it at least on one day in my life. 10/10
HoliWood Nights came and went, and as always it’s the best weekend of the year. I figured that even though I’d been there before and gotten all the creds, It’d be worth it to report back here to report the changes to the rides and how they’re running compared to last year in general.
Voyage is, of course, still the greatest coaster experience in the world. Somehow, the park made it even better than last year with over 1000 feet of new track from the Gravity Group. The precut track, especially the section on the first drop, valley, and camelback, has improved that section of the ride infinitely, with the first camelback now giving perfect floater all the way over. It’s better than most B&M hyper camelbacks. With that done, the roughest section of the ride is now the second camelback and third valley, which I hope they can get to this offseason. Because the ride isn’t losing energy jackhammering over the first camelback, the first half of the ride is taken noticeably faster, and the trim on the midcourse needs to hit a lot harder to slow it down to the same speed. Of course, this isn’t an issue for ERT. There is seriously nothing like trimless Voyage. Every time I try to put words to it I start to tear up.
Legend is running insane this year. As far as I can tell, they didn’t do much or any trackwork this offseason, but it really doesn’t matter. They must have done something to the trains or wheels because it is HAULING through that layout like no one’s business. There’s air in places there wasn’t before, all the insanely strong lats are even stronger, and, get this, the drop had actual forces this year. What a world we live in! I was so impressed by my Legend rides this year compared to last year that I moved the ride up 15ish spots to sit right at the edge of my top 10%. I’m still deciding on where to place it, but it’s vastly improved upon last year. I am still in the “Raven is better than Legend” camp, but it’s a lot closer than it was last year. Wherever I end up putting them in my final post-HWN rankings, they won’t be more than 5 or so spots apart.
Raven is also having a good year, but it’s overshadowed by just how well it’s two wooden neighbors are running. That being said, the second half of the ride seems faster and more out of control than last year. ERT night rides elevate this ride greatly, as always. I’m a huge fan of this ride, it’s air, and it’s pacing, and I’m very relieved to find that it’s still a top-20 worthy ride a year later.
In addition to Holiday World, I went to Beech Bend for a couple of hours on Saturday morning before returning to the main event, and I was pleasantly surprised! The park, while fairly fairground-y and asphalt-y, had some great rides, and while I wouldn’t describe it as notably pleasant to be in, it certainly wasn’t unpleasant. The staff all seemed to like their jobs, and some of the old-timers indulged us with stories about the park’s past rides. They had a very silly Haunted House dark ride, with an excellent final spook, and an insane spinning flat called “SCAT-2” which is in my opinion the most intense thing there. My thoughts on the coasters are as follows:
#231 - Kentucky Rumbler was an awesome surprise! I had known going in that this was definitely a “good” ride, but I was not expecting such an upper-tier GCI from this park. The layout is varied and interesting, the air throughout is strong for a GCI, and oh my god the drop kicks @ss! Best GCI drop I’ve done by a mile. The back row isn’t usually worthwhile on GCIs, but the awesome drop makes it a must-do on this ride. Kentucky Rumbler slots in nicely in the top 40 at #36, which makes it my third favorite GCI - below Mystic Timbers and Thunderhead. I am interested to see whether I prefer Wodan to this in a few weeks!
#232 - Spinning Out is an SBF Visa spinning coaster. The ride experience reflects that. Pretty much the only thing making this ride interesting is the fact that this is a 3 loop model as opposed to the usual 2. It’s cool to say I’ve done one of those, I guess.
#233 - Wild Mouse is the least interesting cred here. It’s a Zamperla spinning mouse, and it didn’t spin much. Also very rough and trimmed hard. Not great.
And just like that, the best weekend of the year is over, and I patiently wait until next year. I intend to solidify HoliWood Nights as a yearly tradition for me as I go into college and gain independence. The Voyage is too good to go a year without doing.
HoliWood Nights came and went, and as always it’s the best weekend of the year. I figured that even though I’d been there before and gotten all the creds, It’d be worth it to report back here to report the changes to the rides and how they’re running compared to last year in general.
Voyage is, of course, still the greatest coaster experience in the world. Somehow, the park made it even better than last year with over 1000 feet of new track from the Gravity Group. The precut track, especially the section on the first drop, valley, and camelback, has improved that section of the ride infinitely, with the first camelback now giving perfect floater all the way over. It’s better than most B&M hyper camelbacks. With that done, the roughest section of the ride is now the second camelback and third valley, which I hope they can get to this offseason. Because the ride isn’t losing energy jackhammering over the first camelback, the first half of the ride is taken noticeably faster, and the trim on the midcourse needs to hit a lot harder to slow it down to the same speed. Of course, this isn’t an issue for ERT. There is seriously nothing like trimless Voyage. Every time I try to put words to it I start to tear up.
Legend is running insane this year. As far as I can tell, they didn’t do much or any trackwork this offseason, but it really doesn’t matter. They must have done something to the trains or wheels because it is HAULING through that layout like no one’s business. There’s air in places there wasn’t before, all the insanely strong lats are even stronger, and, get this, the drop had actual forces this year. What a world we live in! I was so impressed by my Legend rides this year compared to last year that I moved the ride up 15ish spots to sit right at the edge of my top 10%. I’m still deciding on where to place it, but it’s vastly improved upon last year. I am still in the “Raven is better than Legend” camp, but it’s a lot closer than it was last year. Wherever I end up putting them in my final post-HWN rankings, they won’t be more than 5 or so spots apart.
Raven is also having a good year, but it’s overshadowed by just how well it’s two wooden neighbors are running. That being said, the second half of the ride seems faster and more out of control than last year. ERT night rides elevate this ride greatly, as always. I’m a huge fan of this ride, it’s air, and it’s pacing, and I’m very relieved to find that it’s still a top-20 worthy ride a year later.
Pretty much summed it up. This was my second event after doing it a few years ago, and it was a grand ol' time. It's amazing how well they take care of their woodies. What's even crazier is how good Legend and Raven have gotten. Raven has always been pretty good, but Legend used to be bad. Now they're genuinely amazing. Voyage is obviously still king.
Wildcat’s Revenge: This was essentially my first RMC as the only other one I’ve been on was NTG in 2012 long before becoming an enthusiast. I was absolutely blown away with this coaster! I got two rides yesterday, one in the middle, one in the very back. I was initially concerned about the tight seating and lap bars but this was no issue and I still felt the amazing airtime. Every hill has wild airtime, the inversions were floaty and the coaster had some decent positive Gs early in the layout. After hearing RMC coasters get hyped up for years, I was ready to be disappointed but this coaster delivers in every way and I loved it. The park was running all 3 trains and I only had to wait thru one short 5 minute technical delay. I can’t wait to get on another RMC creation.
Now I’ve completed my first trio of days at Universal Orlando for my current Florida trip, I may as well post reviews of the new coasters I’ve ridden (VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s) as well as updated reviews of the existing coasters that I’ve re-ridden for the first time in 7 years!
New coasters Jurassic World VelociCoaster (#92)
This was a phenomenal ride! The second launch, top hat and mosasaurus roll are absolutely top-dollar elements, the ride has quite a few very nice pops of airtime, some very nice inversions, and a nice sense of speed throughout, the restraints are sublime and incredibly exposing, and it’s overall a wonderfully fun, thrilling and rerideable ride that ticks all of my boxes! However, I must admit that it didn’t quite live up to some of its obscene hype for me, and I’m not entirely sure why. The first half had some good speed to it and some fun twists and turns, but it was somewhat less eventful than I’d expected aside from one nice pop of ejector airtime, and overall, the ride, while sensational, wasn’t quite as sensational as I was hoping for based on the reviews. With that being said, it is a truly excellent coaster that sits firmly in the top tier of coasters I’ve ridden, and there’s a chance that a re-ride without the mantle of high expectations could make it go up for me. 10/10 (#5/93)
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (#93)
I had high expectations for Hagrid’s, but in many ways, it still surprised me! The ride felt so much faster than I was expecting, with the launches being surprisingly punchy, and the low-to-the-ground corners were fantastically thrilling! Above all else, though, Hagrid’s is just a phenomenally fun coaster. Upon hitting the brake run, I was smiling and laughing hysterically in a way that few other rides I’ve ever been on have been able to match. Unlike other rides in my top tier of coasters, which are rides where I can pinpoint specific elements and firm reasons why that ride makes my 10/10 tier, Hagrid’s makes the 10/10 tier for me simply because it is so, so fun in an indescribable way. Fun is ultimately what I seek from a ride, and Hagrid’s provides fun in absolute droves like few other rides I’ve ever ridden. It’s a truly phenomenal coaster, and although it may be a “family” coaster, it is possibly the ultimate family coaster you will ever ride, in my view, as it wowed me, an adult coaster enthusiast, just as much as it wows younger kids who only just meet the height restriction. If you want a good, fun roller coaster, I can think of few better coasters to satisfy that brief than Hagrid’s; it’s an absolutely spectacular ride, in my view! 10/10 (#3/93)
For those interested, the current composition of my top 5 following these new coasters is as follows:
Mako - SeaWorld Orlando
Silver Star - Europa Park
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park
Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Universal’s Islands of Adventure
This is very open to change, however, particularly as I reride Mako, try various new rides at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens later in my trip, reride these two coasters later in my trip, and generally think things over. I’ll post an updated coaster ranking when my trip is over.
Existing coasters Incredible Hulk
This was a good ride; that launch into the zero-g roll never fails to deliver, in my view, and the ride maintains good speed throughout! However, it’s not one of my absolute favourite coasters. The ride, while not unbearably rough, is a bit fierce, with some headbanging in a few sections, and it’s perhaps a little too intense for me in terms of sustained positive g’s in 1 or 2 areas, with the section between the cobra roll and the exit of the loop in particular providing one of the most extended grey outs I’ve ever had on a ride, which I didn’t find especially pleasant. Nonetheless, it’s a good ride, and one that I was glad to reride! 7/10 (#27/93)
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
I was looking forward to getting back on this, as I’d always remembered enjoying it on previous visits. Indeed, it was the first coaster I ever remember experiencing airtime on, and even though I liked it somewhat less in 2016, it was still a coaster I remembered really enjoying. However, I’m afraid to say that this one did not hold up 7 years and many coasters later. Don’t get me wrong, the layout is decent, and there are a couple of decent pops of airtime, but there was less airtime than I’d remembered, and it was rather jolty and uncomfortable, much more so than I’d remembered. The ride rumbled considerably throughout, and the entries into the brake runs almost felt like punches in the stomach. On a side note, it also now crawls and creaks over the top of the lift hill in a manner reminiscent of Speed at Oakwood… since when has it done that? Overall, while HRRR doesn’t have a bad layout, and it’s not the roughest coaster I’ve ridden, it’s a bit too rough for me, and it just feels a bit outclassed by other coasters I’ve ridden in the height/airtime/lap bars genre nowadays. 4/10 (#62/93)
Revenge of the Mummy
I’d remembered this being decent in 2016, but I dare say that it was even better than I’d remembered! The launches are great, there are two surprisingly decent pops of airtime, the coaster itself maintains a good sense of speed, and the layout has some very fun twists and turns! Not to mention that the themed experience is wonderful, with the use of fire in particular being absolutely spectacular! Forget Valhalla, forget Wicker Man, this is easily my favourite theme park fire; it’s absolutely immense! Overall, Revenge of the Mummy was an absolutely awesome ride! 9/10 (#11/93)
Coaster reviews from SeaWorld and Busch Gardens will be coming later in my trip, and if I feel the need to, I may insert updated thoughts on the Universal coasters too.
After my harrowing journey to PortAventura (detailed here) we were on a time crunch, and were only able to get on each of the main coasters and Hurakan Condor once. A revisit is definitely warranted, but even if it wasn’t, I would love to come back here. Everything about the park besides the queues was lovely. The queues were nightmarish, with line jumping and cigarette smoking running rampant. The rest of the park experience was great, though. There’s almost nowhere in the park where I wasn’t in awe of the scenery. It really feels like Universal-meets-Busch in the best way.
Of course, the park wouldn’t be what it is without its rides:
#234 - Dragon Khan was our first ride of the day, and we waited an hour in the queue. I thought it was great! Super reminiscent of Kumba, and the zero g roll is awesome. It’s a great example of classic B&M. I love how the cobra roll goes over the brake run.
#235 - Shambhala is absolutely the best V-train hyper, and the third best B&M Hypercoaster overall. All of the hills hit, especially the speed hill after the turnaround. So good.
#236 - El Diablo: Tren de la Mina was harmless and silly. Good fun, and no super unpleasant moments. Just doesn’t do a lot.
#237 - Tomahawk sucked lol. The trains are cramped and there is zero semblance of force anywhere in the layout.
#238, 239 - Stampida is interesting in concept, but falls flat in execution. There’s some floater and some laterals, but the KumbaK trains rattle through the layout and don’t pace as fast as heavier PTCs would. I like the moment where the trains turn and face each other. Other than that, forgettable. I marginally prefer the red side.
#240 - Furius Baco is awesome! This is my favorite ride with a hydraulic launch. That launch is so powerful and it’s uphill. The acceleration starts so strong, and it maintains it for the duration of the launch. The layout, while leaving a little to be desired, packs in a solid air moment and a fun inversion. This was the only ride at the park to make it into my top 20 at number 19. I am officially a member of team Baco. That ride rocks.
After PortAventura closed at 7, we made our way to Ferrari Land, where the skies immediately opened up. It poured rain until about 9:30, and Red Force was down the whole time. We did an indoor simulator (very bad) while we waited, and eventually, with 15 minutes until we needed to leave to catch the train back, we were able to queue up for the star attraction again.
#241 - Red Force was a lot better than I was expecting! The launch seriously rattles and the brakes are uncomfortable, but everything else was awesome. I loved the constant acceleration on the launch, and the air over the top hat was awesome in those restraints. Great ride, and nicely rounds out the top 3 here.
I had my first visit to SeaWorld Orlando in 7 years yesterday, and I got on 3 new coasters as well as 3 coasters I had ridden before.
New coasters Pipeline: The Surf Coaster (#94)
With another SeaWorld visit comes another brand new B&M coaster. Last time I went to the park, Mako, a B&M Hyper Coaster, was brand new, and on my revisit, Pipeline, the world’s first B&M Surf Coaster, was brand new; things have gone full circle in the last 7 years! Unlike Mako, however, this one didn’t quite do it for me, sadly. It has lots of really great elements on paper; the launch is fun, there are a few surprisingly strong airtime moments, and the layout is overall decent. However, the discomfort of the ride ruins it for me; I don’t feel that B&M have managed to solve this aspect of older standup coasters with Pipeline. It’s not at all rough, but the standing position is inherently a bit uncomfortable, and I did experience some pain when the seats “jumped”. The vests were also quite uncomfortable, and they really pinched at my collar bones when the airtime came on the ride. In short, I’ll concede that Pipeline has a good layout with fun elements, but rightly or wrongly, I simply felt that the discomfort was somewhat of of a deal breaker for me. 5/10, #51/96
Ice Breaker (#95)
I didn’t have overly high expectations for this, but I have to say that they were comfortably exceeded; I thought Ice Breaker was an absolutely phenomenal ride! The swing launch that kicks things off is great fun, with punchy launches, some really fun floater airtime in the reverse spike and ejector airtime that progressively grows to be surprisingly strong towards the end of the launch. After the swing launch ends, the top hat is another absolutely awesome element, with some great airtime that really whips you out of the seat! The rest of the layout is really good fun, with a nice pace, some fun turns, and a couple more surprisingly excellent pops of ejector airtime! The ride is also perfectly smooth, with not a hint of roughness anywhere! The trains are a little bit tight to get in and out of, but the restraints were perfectly unobtrusive for me when I was sat down, so this didn’t detract from the ride for me. I should add that the often-maligned “comfort collars” have been removed, however… I can’t imagine Ice Breaker being much fun with those in place. Overall, I thought Ice Breaker was a fantastic little ride, and a real sleeper hit of the trip for me; it was great fun, and I absolutely loved it! 10/10, #7/96
Super Grover’s Box Car Derby (#96)
This is what it is, really. I don’t normally ride children’s roller coasters, but I rode this for tactical coaster count related reasons that should hopefully become apparent later in the trip. It was OK for a kiddie coaster, although perhaps not one of the better ones I’ve done; it had a few moments of mild speed, but it only did one lap, and was also surprisingly jolty in places. 3/10, #80/96
Existing coasters Mako
I was excited to reride my all-time number 1 coaster, and wow, it did not disappoint! I had 5 rides over the course of the day, with 3 in the back, one in the front and one in row 2, and this coaster is still absolutely sensational like no other coaster I’ve ever ridden! The sustained airtime in places is absolutely biblical, the sense of speed of wonderful, it’s so smooth and rerideable, and without going on too much, it’s still comfortably the most thrilling, fun and rerideable coaster I’ve ever ridden. If you’re looking for an intense positive g-machine or something with lots of bells and whistles, Mako may not be for you, but I simply look for a fun, thrilling and rerideable experience in a coaster, and Mako still provides that for me better than any other coaster I’ve ever ridden. What a ride! 10/10, #1/96
Kraken
Kraken never gets an overly good rap, but I’d remembered it being a surprisingly decent B&M coaster back in 2016, and I have to say that that impression stayed much the same in 2023. It keeps its speed well and has some good inversions, I quite like the ending through the tunnels, and despite there being a slight rattle, there was no real head banging present either; what’s not to like? It’s not my favourite coaster in the park, and indeed, B&M loopers in general are not my absolute favourite ride style these days, but I did really enjoy my lap on Kraken; it’s a really good, solid coaster! 8/10, #20/96
Manta
I hadn’t remembered being massively enamoured by Manta back in 2016, but I decided to give it another ride regardless. My reride reaffirmed my prior suspicions that I’m not massively keen on this coaster; it looks pretty, and I can understand why people like it, but I just find the flying position uncomfortable, and Manta felt even more uncomfortable than Galactica, for some reason. Maybe it’s the higher forces? Perhaps controversially, I’m also not at all keen on the pretzel loop; it admittedly wasn’t quite as bad as I’d remembered back in 2016 (although I was seated in the back then, whereas I was further forward yesterday), but while something like Galactica’s fly to lie is a bit uncomfortable but bearable, Manta’s pretzel loop gets a bit much for me in terms of forces towards the end. Overall, I’m not a massive fan of this coaster; I prefer Galactica of the flying coasters I’ve done, and I’d say it’s my least favourite B&M overall. 4/10, #67/96
Ok so this isn't really a new cred for me as I've ridden this a few times before, but as it's quite a rare one I thought it would be nice to add something on here about it.
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Green Dragon - Greenwood Adventure Park
This coaster is based in a kids adventure park in the foothills of Mt Snowden (Yr Wyddfa) in North Wales. It is only a kiddie coaster but it is very much custom and well above the standard Wacky Worm offerings. It is the world's only people powered coaster, you climb a hill, climb aboard a sort of funicular railway carriage. That carriage then moves back down the hill and the transfer of power pulls the coaster train up to the loading platform. After exiting the funicular carriage, or pre show if you will, you then have to climb back up to the loading platform, it’s a decent work out!!
The coaster itself is a bespoke design, terrain based with a helix, it has zero inversions (obviously) and no airtime. Sounds boring right? Well its not, it’s unique, fun and I absolutely love it! I think a lot of this is due to the fact that I’ve been going there for years and it was one of the first coasters that my children rode but it doesn’t change the fact that I think it’s ace.
Is it worth the journey to North Wales, possibly not unless you are a cred hunter who wants something unique in their collection. Is it a ton of fun at a quirky little park? Yes it is.
Conclusion is that if you have kids and live in the North West of England or North Wales please visit Greenwood. I’ve had some fabulous days out here and would recommend it all day long.
Rating - 10/10 for me probably a 5 or 6 for people whom the coaster doesn’t mean anything to.
Here is a snap of my and my youngest having a ball on it today!
I've also uploaded a POV to YouTube, only 41 seconds long if anyone wants to watch it, link below!
If you had told me even 3 days ago that I’d be riding Expedition GeForce on this trip, I’d have called you a liar. But I found myself merely 50 miles from Holiday Park, and quickly looked at the train schedule to see if it was feasible. Lo and behold, the schedule lined up perfectly, and the plan was a go. The journey there went smoothly, and we arrived at the park at 3:30 pm, giving us a cool 2.5 hours to get the creds. Of course, we were really there for one thing and one thing only, so we made a beeline to…
#243 - Expedition GeForce went down while we were in the queue. D’oh!
Disappointed but not surprised, we bailed, and walked briskly all the way across the park for our real first credit of the day,
#243 - Sky Scream is definitely my favorite Sky Rocket II I’ve done. The lack of comfort collars allows the forces to be felt so much more, and eliminates a great deal of pain. I wish they were all like this.
#244 - Expedition GeForce, once it went back up, is an incredible experience. No other ride has this sheer quantity of good, strong ejector. It’s sustained for what feels like multiple seconds over every hill. My only gripes are that it doesn’t do a whole lot of trying to kill you, except for that first drop, and there’s a serious rattle in the wheel seats. Row 13 left side is the way to go here. This ride is an easy 9/10 and rounds out my current top 10, sitting in the #10 spot.
#245 - Tabalugas Achterbahn was cute and fun. I liked the dark sections, but it’s not something I need to ride ever again.
The experience getting back to our apartment via train was nothing short of disastrous, with every train in either direction being cancelled for the rest of the night. My thoughts about Deutsche Bahn going into this journey were “They can’t do worse than Renfe.” Lo and behold, they did. Needless to say I’ve been burned pretty bad by European rail transit at this point.
Zambezi Zinger - After months of anticipation of wondering what World's of Fun's new project was, months of construction and finally nearly a one month delay due to what is still some unknown reason, I finally was able to get on the Zambezi Zinger on Monday, June 19th!
I arrived to the parking lot at approximately 12:30pm and upon seeing the fullness of the parking lot, I went to the park's website to purchase a fast lane plus but to my disappointment, either the park was not selling fast lane plus's for the day or all of the passes had been sold out. Disappointed and nervous about getting on the ride that day, I made my way to the entrance, entered the park and headed for the Zinger. The park was doing timed entry for the ride. I was able to get a ticket for the entry period of 6:30pm to 7:00pm... I was hoping to be out of the park by 5pm. However, that turned into a blessing in disguise. I had only been to Worlds of Fun once this year and that day was partially ruined by a weather delay related to lightning in the area. The 19th was hot and humid but no chance of rain in sight. I ended up getting 5 rides on essentially trim-less Mamba which was running great, 5 rides on Prowler, 3 rides on Patriot which may have been my best rides ever on the invert and 2 rides on Timber Wolf which was also flying... the heat and humidity had to have been perfect conditions for the trains to fly through the course! And even had I not got on ZZ, I would have considered that day a success.
ZZ Review - I was able to get into the queue line at 6:15pm and after not even a 10 minute wait, I got on the train in row 5 of 8. The spiral lift is a unique aspect of the ride and the one thing I'll note is that when you're watching the spiral lift off ride, the train looks like it is just creeping up the hill but on the ride, the train feels like it is climbing pretty quickly. A few thoughts on the ride experience:
The first drop, despite being only 74 feet, pitches down pretty quick and I imagine it delivers some good airtime to riders in rows 7 and 8 as I got a pop of air in row 5.
The snaps on this are more aggressive than just about any wooden coaster I've ever been on. I can see why the height limit was raised from 40" or 43" (whatever it was) to 48", it is a pretty aggressive ride. Nearly all the snaps caught my off-guard with the aggressiveness and the ones at the bottom of each airtime hill were jolting in a good way.
The train against the rails is loud! The tunnel is especially loud as it is essentially encased in metal.
Despite being a new ride, it was kind of bumpy. Perhaps it was because I had been worn down from over a dozen rides, 20,000+ steps and being in the heat and humidity all day but I was expecting a smoother ride.
Airtime junkies will likely be disappointed. The first drop likely has some good air in the back rows, but the first airtime hill did nothing in row 5 and the 2nd airtime hill offered only mild floater.
Be conscious of the restraints as for me, the restraint sat very close to my "parts" and had I not been paying attention to give myself a little space, it could have easily created some discomfort.
I only had one ride on it so it is tough to rank out of ten and while it is a nice addition to my closest to home park, I feel confident both Mamba and Prowler, both 9 of 10's, will remain the top 2 at the park for me.
New coasters Jurassic World VelociCoaster (#92)
This was a phenomenal ride! The second launch, top hat and mosasaurus roll are absolutely top-dollar elements, the ride has quite a few very nice pops of airtime, some very nice inversions, and a nice sense of speed throughout, the restraints are sublime and incredibly exposing, and it’s overall a wonderfully fun, thrilling and rerideable ride that ticks all of my boxes! However, I must admit that it didn’t quite live up to some of its obscene hype for me, and I’m not entirely sure why. The first half had some good speed to it and some fun twists and turns, but it was somewhat less eventful than I’d expected aside from one nice pop of ejector airtime, and overall, the ride, while sensational, wasn’t quite as sensational as I was hoping for based on the reviews. With that being said, it is a truly excellent coaster that sits firmly in the top tier of coasters I’ve ridden, and there’s a chance that a re-ride without the mantle of high expectations could make it go up for me. 10/10 (#5/93)
I haven’t ridden a new coaster since SeaWorld, but I feel compelled to provide some updated thoughts on VelociCoaster after I managed to reride it today…
On my first ride on 12th June, I absolutely loved it, and thought it was a great ride, but I was unsure whether it was right up there for me. After the first go, I settled on the #5 spot for it, between Wodan and Icon. It was a great ride, but I wasn’t sure that I enjoyed it discernibly much more than something like Icon on that first go.
Well, I managed to reride it today, in the front row… and WOW! I’m not sure what was wrong the first time I rode it, but I definitely enjoyed it more today!
The first launch is fairly snappy, the speed and airtime were brilliant in the first half, there were some airtime moments I didn’t notice in the first half the first time around, and overall, the first half seemed faster, more fun and like it had a bit more going on.
The second launch was absolutely obscene in the front row, even more so than I’d remembered from the other day, and while the top hat perhaps wasn’t quite as strong up front for me, you still got an absolutely sublime pop of ejector going up into it. The zero-g stall was an element that I weirdly didn’t remember that well from my first ride, but it was brilliant this time, with some really nice out of your seat floater action going through it! The first wave turn had a nice little pop of airtime going through it, the big turning sequence was so fast, with the little off-axis flick providing a surprising pop of airtime, and that mosasaurus roll is an absolutely mind-blowing finale; that’s easily my favourite inversion ever, with the fast barrel roll really flinging me out of the seat and leaving me stunned!
I know this isn’t a new coaster for me, as I rode it for the first time last week, but today’s ride on VelociCoaster was truly mind-blowing and definitely gave me a new perspective on the ride, so I felt compelled to talk about it! I didn’t think it was right up there after my first ride, but after my second… it is right up there!
I’m still not entirely convinced that it’s necessarily my #1 coaster, as I still think the fun, rerideability, speed and sustained airtime of the two B&M Hypers I’ve done (particularly Mako) still really hits the spot for me like nothing else I’ve ridden (which my ride on Mako last Friday confirmed for me), but it’s right up there for sure, and I won’t lie, the thought of “could this be my favourite?” did cross my mind after riding VelociCoaster today… I’ve tentatively settled on #3, behind only Mako and Silver Star, but even then, I still wonder if I’m ranking it too low based on how truly brilliant it was…
But in conclusion; what a ride! Today, VelociCoaster convinced me that it’s top 3 material at minimum, and it’s definitely won me around more than it did the other day; today’s ride was absolutely astonishing!
there were some airtime moments I didn’t notice in the first half the first time around, and overall, the first half seemed faster, more fun and like it had a bit more going on.
It's an overwhelming ride. The more you ride it, the more things you recognize, and the more you appreciate it. Try to get more rides if you can before you leave... it'd be a shame if you only got a handful of rides after coming all this way. Hell, drop your family off at City Walk somewhere so you can go whore.
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