Given the adverse conditions going in, that's a pretty impressive outcome for RTH. The absence of the station soundtrack and sexy robot lady's soothing, honeyed tones is a real shame, I'm confident that that has cost it a few notches in the final ranking. She's wonderful .
Was the onboard audio working though? Please tell me the onboard audio was working??
Indiana Jones and the Tempil of Peril: hateful. I waited like a penitent man (penitent - penitent) and then it dawned on me at the top of the lift hill… in Disneyland, **** coasters begin with an “I”
Casey Jones: “he’s coming down the track, with his pipe of crack… for a full evac?!” - sang in time to witnessing a breakdown.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: SPITE
Crush’s Coaster: it span and whizzed. Fun but like Peter Pan’s Flight, it’s absolutely not worth the silly stand-by queues it gets.
(Hyper)Space Mountain: not bad at all! Showing its age but saved by the vest restraints which meant no head banging. More thrilling and just all-round-better than expected. What a shame that it has a Star Wars overlay though, in that wonderful Jules Verne inspired building. It’s like playing ‘Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer’ throughout a beautiful arboretum (yes that has happened to me - although I probably should have foresaw that tragedy ahead of booking to go to a ‘find Rudolph’ Christmas event at Westonbirt )
Avengers: Flight Force: ****ing crap. This is unforgivable without vest restraints. Truly a waste of time. Knock this and Rock n’ Rollercoaster down. 0/10
Heidi the Ride - good fun, better than Kentucky Flyer.
Dragon - banging soundtrack, reminded me of the Catan App.
Was looking for this thread for a while, only to find it on *gasp* the second page?? That won’t do at all!
Here’s individual cred reviews for notable coasters at SFOG and FSAA!
#217: Twisted Cyclone - I wasn’t expecting much out of this little thing, but I was pleasantly surprised! It doesn’t do a whole lot, but the drop in the back is super good and unique, and the wave turn is very nice. It’s my least favorite RMC, but it’s by no means a bad or disappointing ride.
#222: Goliath - Apparently, this was running awful on my visit, but I only thought this was the second best ride in the park. It just felt like a good B&M hyper, but nothing mind blowing. The air over the camelbacks was there, but I didn’t feel any of the alleged insane ejector on the ending hills. It’s by no means a bad or boring ride, but I do prefer Mako.
#225: ArieForce One - Wow. What a ride. Seriously, what a ride. I had doubted Joe Draves after the dud that was Steel Curtain, but he absolutely outdid himself with this one. Every element on this ride hits. The raven truss dive has insane air going in, and it’s sustained until about halfway down the loop. It’s wild. The speed hill is absolutely the best speed hill in the US, it feels like how Zadra’s looks. You somehow get air going into and out of the stall, and the stall itself is awesome. Take the opportunity to play rock-paper-scissors with the person next to you, upside down in zero-g! The outerbank has serious bite to it, and the big hill after the double up might be the craziest air RMC has ever made. The roll over the arcade has the forces to rival the mosasaurus roll, and the little outerbank just adds to the insanity. That section, from the first outerbank to the second, is some of the most brilliant sequencing RMC have done. After the turn and roll that can best be described as “pleasant”, you hit the quad down. This is almost too much. The sheer force with which you slam into those brand new RMC lap bars, 5 times in a row, was enough to give me bruises that lasted over a week after my 19-ride marathon. That may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it only adds to the experience for me. Fun Spot have a winner on their hands here with this ride, and I think the locals know it too. Even multiple weeks after opening, there have been a healthy mix of enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts enjoying the ride. ArieForce One solidified itself as a top 5 ride for me, and I’m very excited to see what’s in store for Fun Spot Atlanta. I get the feeling they’re not quite done with this place
Late to the party for this ride, but my last new cred was Stealth at Thorpe Park…
I’ve been to Thorpe 5 times now (over the course of over a decade lol) but had never been on Stealth before this trip. I’m autistic so I’m interested in coasters in a very intense, nerdy, researcher sort of way but as much as I enjoy riding them when I get the chance I still get very anxious about new sensations. I’d never been on a ride taller than 200ft before and I’d never experienced a launch either so I was pretty worried about not being able to predict how it would feel, but with the company of my best friend and the determination to complete my Thorpe cred set I steeled myself and rode it yesterday…
…and it was a lot of fun! I’d definitely ride it again. It was very intense and fairly smooth, I loved the rush and the view was incredible for an instant at the top, especially since it was such a beautiful clear day. I also really liked the atmosphere in the queue line - I think the ride benefits from having happier, chirpier theming than a lot of the other rides at the park, it was fun and refreshing grooving to some good old tunes and listening to the silly little radio announcements. I guess the biggest downside is that it’s over SO fast you barely have time to enjoy it - I can imagine it being more of an anti-climax on rerides or if it isn’t your first accelerator, even if it felt like a huge thrill and an achievement to me yesterday. Probably my second favourite ride of the day after The Swarm, which was even better than I remembered it (despite also being about twenty seconds too short).
I visited Leipzig on Easter Sunday (09.04) which included Belantis followed by a Fairground cred:
#90 Huracan (Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter): On paper it sounds interesting but overall it was a fairly forgettable coaster. The 97° first drop is fun and popped me out of the seat a little, the 'zero-g roll' is cool. The rattle was manageable but didn't feel the urge to re-ride.
#91 Drachenritt (Gerstlauer Bobsled): I had heard some good things about this coaster beforehand, but have to say yet again I found it just OK. That being said, it's still probably the best coaster in the park The twisting drop into head-chopper is great but there's not much else to the ride. The airtime hills at the end didn't provide any airtime. One interesting thing I noticed was what seemed to be an after-installation of rubber dampening pads between the connection of the supports to the track, I haven't seen this before.
#92 Cobra des Amun Ra (Gerstlauer Family Coaster / 360): A fairly fun family coaster which had a nice pull in the back of the train, decently smooth and nice theming.
#93 X-Racer (Maurer Wild Mouse): Uncomfortable and uninspiring layout.
Non-coaster cred, and arguably the main pull to Belantis, is the Fluch des Pharao raft ride by Hafema which was actually pretty fun, the boats are rubber dingies and flex quite a lot which makes for some weird sensations. The drop is great and the whirlpool is interesting, not a massive soaker either is which always welcomed.
I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to Belantis, there's not much there. Of course if you're passing-by then Drachenritt may be worthwhile.
#196 Toutatis
- Just as amazing as I expected. Pure Class.
#197 Pegasis Express
Great family coaster, the backwards section was deceptively intense.
#198 Tonnerre 2 Zeus
I was fearing it would be really rough after reading reviews, but it wasn't bad at all, shame about the restrictive GG Timberliner lapbars though.
#199 Goudurix
I didn't want to hate it, but it's pretty bad.
#200 Ozris
Good coaster to landmark, solid Invert, not at the top of my list but a great ride with awesome theming.
#201 Sos Numerobis
Small family coaster, it did it's thing.
#202 La Trace Du Horra
The best bobsled coaster due to it's length, although Avalanche is slightly more thrilling.
Went to Walibi Holland yesterday and managed to do all coasters including their recent addition! In no particular order....
Xpress Platform 13 : 5/10
Loved the queue line for this ride and honestly preferred it more than the queue for Rock 'N' Roller Coaster over at Florida. Still not quite sure what the theme was exactly but it worked! The coaster itself however was a slight step down compared to it's overseas clone. The launch still had a great kick to it but as soon as the outdoor section hit, I felt it had lost a lot of it's speed almost straight away. It wasn't too rough but did feel like it kind of meandered through its layout. Suppose the sense of speed is carried better in the dark when you're flying past Hollywood Signs and have music playing
Lost Gravity : 9/10
Wow. Just wow. I can't believe this is built by the same folks who made Icon. Those who know me will know I don't like Icon as much as others as I find it lacking in intensity. Well Lost Gravity certainly fills that gap! The first drop on this thing is one of my favourite drops ever. The speed it carries through that little ejector hill straight after made me fly out of my seat! The layout is super funky and fun, lots of airtime and the theming is once again so quirky. I loved everything about this ride and would love to see one of these coasters come to the UK!
Untamed : 10/10
Ahh, the RMC My first ride of it was very early on in the morning when the weather was still fairly cold. This thing was great but did crawl through certain parts of the layout. Had several rides near the back end of the day however. Wow. Then I remembered why I loved Iron Gwazi so much. Ejector airtime on pretty much every hill. First drop was awesome. I got some great moments of floater and hangtime (especially on the 270° Outerbanked Whatever It's Called Roll) and the speed this thing carried was insane. Those double-up and bunny hopping moments near the end definitely gave me a teaser for Steel Vengeance and I can see why my thighs are slightly painful today too Love everything about this coaster and glad to have ticked off another RMC!
Goliath : 7/10
This coaster was only running one train operations most of the day so I hadn't managed to get on this as much as I'd wanted to. Still, that didn't take away from how good this coaster was! The lapbars and trains were super comfy and I loved how exposed I felt on this. The first drop felt pretty intense and that first airtime hill gave me some surprising ejector. The rest of the layout was great going over the water and fields but I do wish it did a little bit more other than just stretched out helixes. The bunny hop hills on the way back were super fun but I think was made this coaster ranked lightly lower than Lost Gravity was that it felt like something was missing and I think that's to do with the middle section of the ride. Nonetheless, great coaster!
Condor : 3/10
I wasn't expecting much from this as Infusion back at home is my least favourite coaster ever It was pretty much exactly the same experience but without the headbanging (due to the different restraints). The new trains definitely helped with the comfort of the ride but didn't take away any of the roughness and severe jolts this thing had. Was a good laugh but wasn't a coaster I'd rush back on.
Speed of Sound: 6/10
Didn't expect to like this one as much as I did but it kind of reminded me of Revolution on steroids The restraints are decent on this and it ran fairly smooth considering it's an older Vekoma model. The first drop on this really caught me off guard and actually made me a bit more nervous for the backwards section. Once it hit the top of the lift hill and paused for a second, that drop going backwards was once again another big shock! I loved how you couldn't quite tell when it was going to let you go (really added to the fun of this coaster). The backwards section was super intense especially on the first loop. This was a super fun coaster and one I actually wanted to get on several times (to my suprise ).
Eat My Dust : 5/10
Not much I can really say about this coaster but the area itself was nice and decently themed. The coaster fits in well and I loved the design of the trains. As it was new, it ran butter smooth and did actually carry a little bit of laterals going round that first drop. Good coaster for the young ones to get on but that's all that can really be said. Awful name however
Drako : 4/10
Like EMD, not much can be said considering it was a kiddie coaster. This one ranks slightly lower due to the fact that the trains were slightly uncomfortable and it had quite a rattle to it. Was good fun but nothing else.
#204 Ride to Happiness
I'll be honest I was disappointed with my first few rides, but after many re-rides it delivered, although I wish it didn't have that nasty rattle.
#209 Anubis: The Ride
Great Launch, decent layout and quite smooth for Gerstlauer
#205 Hedie: The Ride
Fun and very smooth for a wooden coaster. Not much airtime though.
Guardians of the Galaxy- The last cred I rode, and I have to say that Disney isn't going to be able to just carry themselves on good theming and mediocre rides unless they want to get swallowed whole by Universal. Yeah, I know that will never happen but my point is, two of the four coasters I rode at Disney that were new for me had fantastic theming, but were very average rides, at best. It's fun and I think it's a good addition to Epcot, but it's not even a top three ride in the park, in my opinion.
Tron- Short, and only sort of fun. I was also at risk of losing a shoe the entire time which may have detracted from my enjoyment. A lot of the people coming off were making comments that they wouldn't wait more than ten minutes for it, so it's not just being a pretentious enthusiast and disliking the ride because it's not an RMC or whatever.
Seven Dwarves Mine Train- OMG I loved it. So cute and the perfect family ride, truly.
Slinky Dog Dash- See review above. I feel the same about Slinky Dog Dash. Disney absolutely nails the family coaster genre and this is no exception. Not to mention every time I'm in a the Toy Story area of the park I can't wipe the smile off my face.
I managed to get on 5 new coasters this month, which is far more than I have in a long time.
Tower Coaster, Zip World Aberdare
This one is obscure I think. It's some weird powered coaster which is disappointing as I thought it would be one of those alpine coasters that I haven't been on yet. It's also an extra charge at the tower but it was on offer so it wasn't as steep. As a ride, it was okay. Just kind of goes around a bit up and around the hillside with some corners and helices. You do get 3 rides on it, but it's not really interesting enough to warrant any more than that anyway as the most interesting part was the setting. Also this was my 50th coaster because I happened to get 48 and 49 last year with both Icon and Wickerman.
Kamelen, Tivoli Gardens
Kiddie coaster that I decided to kick off the day with. Going round 5 times felt like I was stuck on it forever. I don't know if it's always 5 goes or if the ride attendant was trolling us.
Daemonen, Tivoli Gardens
Finally a coaster that actually matters. I've never been on a B&M Floorless Coaster before, and while it's not that big, I geniunely enjoyed it a lot. I mean the floorless factor is a bit gimmicky, but it's smooth, rerideable, looks great, and surprisingly the first drop has some nice whippy airtime in the back. The loop isn't that forceful, and the immelman is forgettable, but the Zero-G is pretty great. The pre-drop section is funky and builds up anticipation. It was the coaster I did the most at Tivoli and I got in a few late rides as well.
Maelkevejen, Tivoli Gardens
I felt like this only needed 2 rounds and not 3. It's another powered coaster. Surprisingly I felt a bit peaky after this, because I am getting old and have problems with motion sickness anyway. Apart from the views, I didn't care much for this one.
Rutschebanen, Tivoli Gardens
I wish I had ridden this more, but it was hard splitting time between this and Daemonen, and I did prefer Daemonen. I was initially a bit disappointed with this at first because I'd heard it was insane for its age and size, but then I rode in the back (well 2nd to back as I could never get the very back even though there was never a queue) and the airtime was nuts. Very smooth as well. Surprises included the ultra fast cable lift and the super dark tunnel at the end. Definitely one to do even if only because of the historical significance. I'd compare this most closely to Rollercoaster at Great Yarmouth of the ones I have been on, mostly because of the brakeman - it has however been a very long time since I went on that.
Ride to Happiness (Plopsaland)
Probably the coaster that makes me shout, giggle and whoop the most. It's so euphoric, I especially love when you enter the zero G roll or flying snake dive facing sideways and the inversion whips you head over heels like you're on a Top Spin. Great airtime especially at the end and no dead spots other than the needed breather just before the second launch. Love this coaster so much. Unfortunately the operations this season ruin it, I visited last Tuesday on an off peak day and the coaster was scheduled to open at 12. By 12 the crowd that had built up stretched all down the bridge then it ran one 16 seater train for the whole afternoon. I was calculating the throughput from the main queue to be around 220pph as most trains had a whole carriage allocated to fast track who entered through the exit and took their seats while the airgates were still closed. The queue varied from 25 to 45 minutes during the afternoon and it was agony to wait in as it did not move. I think the days of marathoning this are now in the past unless Plopsa revert the recent cutbacks to operations.
Toutatis (Parc Asterix)
Years after watching the iconic 2018 IAAPA Intamin video it felt surreal to actually be here pulling down the lapbar and dropping out the station. Toutatis delivers on 5 years of hype, the layout really clicked with me. I love how many different types of airtime are crammed into one layout with tight transitions linking them. I only managed 3 rides as the queue hovered around 70 minutes all day however I enjoyed the rope drop scrum and sprint that ensued at 10AM. I had a painful stitch but managed to only wait 10 minutes for my first ride, pleased with my performance there.
Kondaa (Walibi Belgium)
I rode this in 2021 but only twice as it was Halloween and on a 150 minute queue all day. My thoughts at the time were mixed, I think because I was so focused on whether I was enjoying it I didn't actually take the layout in and as such ranked it around number 20. Last Thursday was the redemption day, a quiet Walibi Belgium with Kondaa running 2 trains and a single rider line. I didn't wait more than a few trains at most so rode somewhere between 15 and 20 times throughout the day. I realise now the layout is really clever, there's modern Intamin twistiness but it's not done fiddly enough to dilute the rest of the experience. Like Toutatis I loved the mix of strong sustained ejector hills mixed with sections of more quickfire pops of air. It comes together to make a long, varied and intense coaster.
Wakala (Bellewaerde)
This was a last minute addition to the holiday, the original plan was to return to Plopsaland to marathon Ride to Happiness before getting the channel tunnel in the evening but since that wouldn't be happening due to the ops I decided to visit Bellewaerde instead. The highlight of the park is Wakala. When Mr N describes his preffered coasters as being fun and rerideable rather than out and out intense this is the kinda coaster he means. There's nothing too thrilling on offer here but it glides its way round the track with enough momentum to give sustained but weak airtime and funky forces on the wonky transitions. The vibe of the detailed canoe trains and thumping dispatch audio make this great fun and addictive to marathon.
^ I had the opposite experience at Plosaland two weeks ago. They had two trains on RTH, it was so quiet that they were sending out empty trains. Makes me wonder why they wouldn't do the same on a busy day.
#288 Polar X-Plorer - Legoland Billund is a really really fun family coaster with some weak floater airtime and some surprising moments of positive gs. I really like the trains, they're very very open and offer tons of freedom.
The train enters a mountain with a drop track that actually offers a very good and sudden freefall sensation. It's definitely one of the better ones I've experienced. Unfortunately the mountain isn't very well themed on the inside, but that doesn't really bother me that much.
Unfortunately, what follows is a rather slow and meandering return trip to the station that I think would've been much better if the train was launched into it; you go over a very slow hill and round a corner before coming into the final brake run.
Really good coaster actually, probably one of the better coasters for families out there.
^ I had the opposite experience at Plosaland two weeks ago. They had two trains on RTH, it was so quiet that they were sending out empty trains. Makes me wonder why they wouldn't do the same on a busy day.
There might've been an issue with the other train? I had a similar experience as @Benenen last year, when the coaster opened late and ran only one train the entire day (though it was a bit less crowded, the slow moving queue was still painful to wait in) and there were Mack's engineers around it for most of the morning.
There might've been an issue with the other train? I had a similar experience as @Benenen last year, when the coaster opened late and ran only one train the entire day (though it was a bit less crowded, the slow moving queue was still painful to wait in) and there were Mack's engineers around it for most of the morning.
A quick run through of our time at Walibi Holland…
Overall, we were pleasantly surprised! There was a lot of greenery and the rides felt perfectly spaced out within it, with the mostly low-height fencing helping the park feel ‘open’ and spacious. Chill out dance music played all throughout the park. Overall, the vibe I was getting was of a wonderful, summer BBQ in a park with friends. I’ll have some halloumi, a corn on the cob and a burger, please!
As soon as we entered, the Vekoma coasters all simultaneously retreated into the ground Stingray-style, knowing they could not withstand my steely spear of criticism. They need not have bothered, as we had no intention of entertaining such dross. May they stay underground and be forgotten. Amen.
The supporting rides were generally fun: a great log flume, a ferris wheel and a very pretty antique cars (although shame about the graffiti on the car roofs) bolstered the headliners. The park was clearly missing dark rides but on this gorgeous, blue sky day we were happy to wallow in the sun like two content hippos in a mud bath. Ahh.
Dem coasters:
Lost Gravity
‘Smiler meets Swarm’ theming and pleasingly smoother than its Gerstlauer looks would suggest (hooray for Mack). A great first drop. Otherwise fine but forgettable. A one and done considering what else was in the park.
Goliath
This was rad. It mostly looked like a mini-Millennium Force but also had equal parts i305 (positives) and Expedition GeForce (airtime) in there too. Not as good as any of those because of the reduced scale, but still quite impressive. Good job, Goliath! This was good enough to warrant two rides, which is a statement of its quality considering what else was in the park.
Untamed
Untamed was the reason for our visit and gave us those “OOoOoOoO new RMC” butterflies (moths?) in the stomach as we approached. It looks wonderful with its ‘overgrown + love ’ theming. Very earthy and simple, but very effective. That train is delightful and there was full ‘coaster moth’-ception as I rode, but I might had to give the edge to Gwazi’s snapper as my favourite (that green against the purple track just ‘pops’).
It’s a killer ride. The double inversion element at the start is ace, but really hits its stride from its turnaround: there is a powerful double up that leads into a rapid but well measured slab of RMC goodness, very much like Steel Vengeance in its ‘in the structure’ second half albeit never quite as outrageous with the visuals (but of course, nothing is).
I would say Untamed is my favourite of the smaller RMCs I’ve ridden, besting Twisted Timbers and Storm Chaser. The elements were generally more rounded and forgiving, probably because we rode those American beasts in scorching temperatures, but I’m quite certain Untamed is the least aggressively-profiled of the set. I would still say the three in a row hills of Twisted Timbers is better than anything on Untamed, but I just prefer Untamed’s balance.
Naturally, it lacks the speed and bombast of the ‘big boys’ (Steel Vengeance, Iron Gwazi, Lightning Rod and Zadra). It didn’t best those, but I never expected it to.
Like most RMCs, there was the usual ‘find the best row’ BS that you have to navigate. From our five rides, I assume that the best seats vary throughout the day in line with how fast it was running. Our final ride at the end of the day (6pm-ish) in the back row was verging on too aggressive (and painful) whereas our penultimate row ride at around 4pm was truly majestic. Up front earlier in the day, it was also very aggressive, with fellow riders behind us letting out yelps of “Oww!” as we hit the break run. I think this just goes to show how thin of a line that ‘sweet spot’ really is; those minor differences in speed and acceleration can take a ride from very good to stunning. From my limited experiences, this ‘find the best row’ quest is something I do associate more with the smaller RMCs than the larger ones.
My rankings, then. Serious business…
That penultimate row ride had me grinning from ear-to-ear and enabled Untamed to pip the Ride to Happiness, in my book. After much agonising, I’ve also decided to place it above The Beast. Yes, The Beast is probably quite crap by any conventional assessment but it had us in hysterics with its ridiculous plodding and ‘fear-for-your-life’ helix. When things are neck and neck, I feel obliged to favour the objectively better hardware. So that puts Untamed at 11. Very impressive!!
The number 10 spot remains held by i305. At this point, it seems unlikely that anything is going to crack my top 10 again. I just have to ask “is it better than i305, that ridiculous giga?” and of course the answer is “no”. It just seems unfair to most decent rides to make that comparison. The standards are just impossibly high now.
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
A Rank
21 - Fury 325
22 - The Voyage
23 - Space Mountain (Orlando)
24 - Shambhala
25 - Storm Runner
26 - The Legend
27 - Orion
28 - El Toro
29 - Gatekeeper
30 - Montu
Honourable mentions - other ‘A Rank rides’: 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.
This new entry has finally pushed forum-favourite Taron out of the top 30. Oof. Will the Phantasialand classic redeem itself (in my eyes) later in the year? And where will Helix place? Let’s see…
#1,099 Pipeline the Surf Coaster!
It's fun but not amazing. Definitely need to ride it a few more times to see where I'd rank it. For now I think scorcher is still my favorite stand up
I'm so close to my 300th coaster, I can almost taste it.
#297 Darkoaster a really fun little ride, the theming feels incomplete in some spots, but I've heard there's more to come. Capacity is a bit low and the line does move slower than most coasters. It feels good to have something back inside that building again for once.
And a few more new creds since my last post Matterhorn Bobsleds rode both sides a few times and I think I like it a little more than MK Space Mountain. Night rides are a blast.
Ghostrider is a great ride plagued with an awful crew. I was at Knott's on a rainy day in March where it was so slow, I managed to get a private car on Mine Ride and a zen ride on Hangtime, but Ghostrider was still pulling a 30 min wait
Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland is better than it's Florida counterpart. It feels much faster and there's easily double the animatronics at Disneyland
Space Mountain may not be at intense as it's Florida counterpart, but it makes up for that with a smoother ride and onboard audio. Disneyland's wins in the accessibility department as well thanks to the single rider line and the lack of a half mile walk back to the park from the exit
Incredicoaster IDK if I remember much about this apart from the long line it had throughout the day
Silver Bullet was really solid and surprisingly pretty forceful throughout. The ride sticks out like a sore thumb though. They need to change the colors from orange and yellow to something a little more low key
Hangtime was a blast. Probably one of the better Gerst coasters out there. Their lapbars are so much better than the old OTSRs.
Montezooma's Revenge and Xcelerator were both closed, which is a huge disappointment. I skipped a bunch of creds this past trip for more rides on my highlights instead so no kiddie coasters, no Pony Express, no Sky School, and no Coast Rider.
I've got one new credit next weekend, Pipeline! Extremely excited about that one
I went down to Atlanta for coasters for the first time this Saturday. Between Fun Spot and SFOG I got some great rides. I unfortunately missed out on a huge one, Goliath, because of one train ops, a massive line, and some poor planning. I'll be back for redemption, but this review is all about the star of the show and the best ride in Georgia...
#247 ArieForce One - hoooooooooly **** this is a borderline #1 coaster for me. I got 11 laps on this beast on a hot day and I was floored. Every single moment of this ride is a great moment.
The first drop has some zip and doesn't get talked about. The view from the top is also really nice overlooking the vast landscape of trees. Very forceful vallley before the raven truss dive. This thing is whippy throughout the train. You get a little hangtime towards the middle and back of the train. Next is a speed hill that hits pretty well, a tiny bit of laterals in there too. The zero g stall goes on for days. My favorite part of it is the pull out which gives amazing laterals. That goes right into the outerbank which feels straight up wrong. You're flying out of your seat but diagonally to the left for the entirety of this element, which is probably 3-4 seconds.
Following is my favorite sequence of the ride. The first part of the double up gives a nice pop, but the hill directly after gives the most sustained moment of ejector airtime I've ever experienced on a coaster. Directly after is an intense valley leading right into the arcade roll. I've never been on Velocicoaster or Maxx Force to compare other high speed or ejector barrel rolls, but this is a truly incredible moment, especially considering it comes right after that ejector hill. I'll reiterate that those elements in sequence are my favorite elements in a row, and maybe my favorite sequence on any coaster.
After the barrel roll is an ejector pop with a slight tilt to the left. I'm not a huge fan of these trick track pops on RMCs, so luckily there's only one. Being the only one, it feels fresh and more fun than having a flurry of them. The turn and following barrel roll are almost a break compared to everything else on the ride but are still intense. You almost come out of your seat on the barrel roll a little, and the change in direction afterwards is cool and disorienting.
The finale is divisive, but I'm a big fan. You get 6 moments of airtime in a row. I understand it being unpleasant to some. After 10 rides your legs will be feeling it. If you have room, your ass will be feeling it from slamming back into the seat, similar to the ending of Phantom's. If you like the ending of Phantom's, you'll love this one. It feels wrong and it feels like the coaster is trying particularly hard to launch you out of your seat. It feels out of control. I'm thankful that there aren't laterals involved or else it would be truly painful.
The brake run is a gut punch. If you aren't able to handle it, sit in the 2nd row of a car so you can brace yourself by holding onto the seat in front of you. If you're in a front seat, there's nothing to stop you besides your gut and it will hurt.
Overall, I prefer RMCs middle front. Rows 3 and 5 usually give me the best rides. I don't like the feeling of getting yanked and pulled around on those tiny elements in the front and back rows. This ride doesn't have much of that so it's really great in every row. If I had to pick a row for this it would be row 2 for being in the front but being able to brace myself at the end.
I'm having a tough time placing this. I have zero complaints about this ride. There are some of my all time favorite moments of any coaster on here. It's automatically a top tier ride, which has it in the realm of Fury 325, i305, Gwazi, and SteVe for me. It doesn't have the crazy sense of speed and freedom of the clam shells that I get from Fury. It doesn't have the uniqueness and intensity of i305. It might be the best RMC I've done. I only got 2 rides on Gwazi in the cold rain. I think I can confidently say it's more fun than SteVe. That leaves it at #3-4 for me overall.
The ride is pretty forceful. Not as forceful as Scorcher or GL but it has its moments. Looks like B&M has found a sweet spot where their rides are a bit more forceful, but still pretty accessible and smooth. Unfortunately it's not gonna be as snappy as older B&Ms.
The bouncing seats really add to the airtime throughout. Expect lots of coming out of your seat. The two airtime bumps toward the end are my favorite moments on the ride.
Theming is mediocre. Apart from the sign out front, some murals and using coolers for item storage, nothing really sets it apart. Darkoaster has the better theming.
The vests are terrible. They crush your collarbones and with how slow ops can be at this ride, it's really uncomfortable. And slow ops really bog down the experience. When the ops are efficient, they dispatch fairly quickly, but it seems that even small issues hold up the train.
Overall I like the ride a lot, but the vests make this a once per visit ride over a ride back to back
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(yes that has happened to me - although I probably should have foresaw that tragedy ahead of booking to go to a ‘find Rudolph’ Christmas event at Westonbirt 
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The twisting drop into head-chopper is great but there's not much else to the ride. The airtime hills at the end didn't provide any airtime. One interesting thing I noticed was what seemed to be an after-installation of rubber dampening pads between the connection of the supports to the track, I haven't seen this before.
My first ride of it was very early on in the morning when the weather was still fairly cold. This thing was great but did crawl through certain parts of the layout. Had several rides near the back end of the day however. Wow. Then I remembered why I loved Iron Gwazi so much. Ejector airtime on pretty much every hill. First drop was awesome. I got some great moments of floater and hangtime (especially on the 270° Outerbanked Whatever It's Called Roll) and the speed this thing carried was insane. Those double-up and bunny hopping moments near the end definitely gave me a teaser for Steel Vengeance and I can see why my thighs are slightly painful today too 
