An very thorough and in depth review of Monster at Walygator Grand Est
B&M inverts are admittedly not quite my kind of ride, positive forces are one of the less important things in a coaster for me. However, Monster is an undeniably fantastic coaster, no matter your preferences. Until this year, it was completely devoid of theming and the station was completely uncovered. For the 2026 season, the queue line and area leading up to it were redone. There is now some sort of vague mine theme and the turnaround into the lift hill has been repainted to a bright green that stands out from the faded pink/white colour of the rest of the track. Now that Aspro have removed the money loosing Oakwood from their portfolio (
), they seem to be investing more in their other parks, Walygator seems to be on the up.
The operations on Monster are abysmal. The park owns two trains but only ever runs one at a time. This would be fine on it's own with the parks generally low crowds, but the loading procedure is what really dampens the capacity. The previous train of riders must leave their seats, collect their bags and completely leave the station before a grouper starts letting people into the station to queue at the air gates. Once a train full of people are waiting at the air gates, they will open them and people can finally take their seats on the train. I timed a couple dispatches, and they were averaging a little over 5 minutes (this means the train is waiting in the station for longer than it's actually cycling the layout), giving a capacity of less than 300 riders per hour when accounting for empty seats. For a layout that's capable of hitting 1600 RPH, this is infuriating. I'm sure there is some reason for the loading procedure, although it isn't present on the park's other rides. The ride ops seem to be doing their best, but if Aspro want to work on improving their parks, fixing the capacity on their biggest park's biggest attraction seems an easy win.
The pre ride experience thankfully does not effect the actual ride. It isn't rough at all, but I wouldn't say it's particularly smooth. There is the slightest of vibrations through the ride, but it's barely noticeable and doesn't take away from the experience at all. The first drop is nothing to write home about, but you do get some floater airtime in the middle of the train. The pull out and subsequent vertical loop provide sustained strong positives, this was a grey out moment on all 7 of my rides. The zero-g roll is very whippy, while I personally prefer floaty zero-g rolls (the one on the swarm is one of my all time favourite elements) this is still a strong element. The transition into the cobra roll is slightly janky, I think there's a small section of straight track, but I love it. It's part of that old school B&M charm that you don't get on their newer rides. The cobra roll itself has great whip in and out and strong sustained force, with a slight lull in the middle. The rise into the mid course and the actual mid course is a bit of a dead spot, offering no real force. The trims on the mid course were removed when the ride was relocated from Expoland, making the 2nd half of the ride absolutely haul. The drop off the mid course offers strong laterals as it turns to the right, and the pull out gives more strong force. Both corkscrews are very whippy, although the turn between them is another slight dead spot. The final helix is incredibly strong and another grey out moment for me.
Overall, Monster is pretty much everything you could want in a B&M invert, strong positives, whip and mainly good pacing. It's just lacking in theming and good operations and has a couple of dead spots. It's my favourite Invert I've been on so far, but Oziris has a chance to beat it when I get on it soon.
9/10, it's number 10 on my list, just behind Goliath and ahead of Stealth.
