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Rank the B&M Hyper coasters

HeartlineCoaster said:
^You're over-thinking now. Don't let it harm your future experiences. ;)

Looks like I haven't done this one before, but probably because it's a horribly under-represented group for me:

1. Hollywood Dream (aided by backwards)
2. Silver Star
3. Shambhala

Be interested to sample a few more soon. Doesn't really feel like I've experienced what the type is all about yet.
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Silver star over Shambhala! Now that is interesting... may I ask why?
 
zazobo said:
Silver star over Shambhala! Now that is interesting... may I ask why?
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Wasn't that long ago, so easier to dig out what I said at the time:

HeartlineCoaster said:
It was alright.

Maybe it’s just not my thing, but can’t see why it’s held in such high regard.
The lift slows to a crawl at the top making for an underwhelming first drop.
The big hills are all rather underwhelming, providing a feeling of ‘just a little more, just a little more… nope’.
The speed hill was probably the highlight, but it’s trimmed, so that’s also the lowlight. Ugh. Very noticeable towards the back.

It’s good solid fun, that B&M slogan, but didn’t find it to be anything special at all. Shamebhala.
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From memory, but a long time before, Silver Star had significant and fun airtime and a bit of character - the way it violently kicked itself out of the mid course particularly stands out in my mind.
It was a bit underwhelming in the front so it loses marks for consistency, but inconsistently great trumps consistently mediocre.


So there's some external factors here:
Had very high expectations for Shamb - even before I was big into the hobby, it was a big name and something I wanted to do, I'd even had dreams about it - not many I can say that about! Just took me years to get around to it.
A lot of people give it huge praise - #1s, top 3 in Europe, best B&M ever...

They were ridden several years and several hundred creds apart. Personal experiences and judgments may have changed. I often doubt myself these days, but I'm usually right.
 
Fair enough! I deffo agree that silver star has character, but personally the sheer speed of shambhala just makes it an all together better experience.

I also massively prefer the seat formation on shambhala vs silver star. I’m only short so I can’t see **** behind the four across B&M hyper layout.
 
HeartlineCoaster said:
^You're over-thinking now. Don't let it harm your future experiences. ;)
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What do you mean?

Also, may I ask you about why you have Hollywood Dream on top, as most people seem to have it really low? I always thought it looked good, but those who ride it often seem to slate it.
 
^I wouldn't personally want to get to the stage of knowing exactly what all rides of a certain type are going to do before riding them, then finally sitting on the lift hill and thinking "right, this one is gonna be between Goliath #1 and Goliath #2".
But I'm only messing with you. It depends on your mindset. I'm always an over-thinker.

Hollywood Dream eh? It was a lot of fun forwards. A more varied and interesting layout and set of forces. I'm not big on 'see airtime hill - expect airtime moment' layouts, so it was more my taste to begin with.
Then the backwards ride at night happened. That was stupidly good. I see nothing but my legs flying up uncontrollably in front of me and can't stop laughing through sheer joy.
So yeah. Ride on, Silver Star.
 
HeartlineCoaster said:
^I wouldn't personally want to get to the stage of knowing exactly what all rides of a certain type are going to do before riding them, then finally sitting on the lift hill and thinking "right, this one is gonna be between Goliath #1 and Goliath #2".
But I'm only messing with you. It depends on your mindset. I'm always an over-thinker.

Hollywood Dream eh? It was a lot of fun forwards. A more varied and interesting layout and set of forces. I'm not big on 'see airtime hill - expect airtime moment' layouts, so it was more my taste to begin with.
Then the backwards ride at night happened. That was stupidly good. I see nothing but my legs flying up uncontrollably in front of me and can't stop laughing through sheer joy.
So yeah. Ride on, Silver Star.
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Ah right. Thanks for the clarification @HeartlineCoaster!
 
Matt N said:
I've decided to rank all of them based on how good they look in POVs. So here's my personal thoughts (having only ridden Mako) on how good I think they all look:
Ridden in bold.
  1. Behemoth
  2. Nitro
  3. Apollo's Chariot
  4. Shambhala
  5. Goliath (La Ronde)
  6. Diamondback
  7. Goliath (SFOG)
  8. Hollywood Dream
  9. Mako
  10. Intimidator
  11. Silver Star
  12. Raging Bull
Would those of you who've ridden some of these B&M hypers agree with this ranking?
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Interesting! I'm intregued to know what about Behemoth's POV makes it look like the best to you?
Of the hypers I've ridden, I'd personally say Behemoth is my least favourite! It's very rattly and just feels kinda bland when you ride it.

Nitro is excellent, so that placement seems about right to me. From the others I've ridden, I would rank Silver Star, Mako and Diamondback above Shambhala. Shambhala has not aged well and only has decent airtime in the front row.
 
I keep hearing that Shambhala hasn't aged well. It is my favourite coaster but I haven't ridden it since 2012. Am I going to be disappointed if I go and ride it again?
 
Jamesss said:
I keep hearing that Shambhala hasn't aged well. It is my favourite coaster but I haven't ridden it since 2012. Am I going to be disappointed if I go and ride it again?
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I last rode it in October 2017 and it was even better than in 2013. Very smooth still too. Of course disapppintment may occur but I wouldn’t worry about it aging badly, unless it has started to more recently...
 
Serena said:
Interesting! I'm intregued to know what about Behemoth's POV makes it look like the best to you?
Of the hypers I've ridden, I'd personally say Behemoth is my least favourite! It's very rattly and just feels kinda bland when you ride it.
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I'd personally say it was the huge number of airtime hills, as well as it looking quite forceful! But as I said about Mako, POVs might not tell the full story with this ride type; your signature implies that Mako is your favourite B&M hyper, and I too think it is outstanding (well, it's my overall number 1!), but it doesn't look quite as good as some of the others from POVs.

I am personally intrigued to know; where are you all hearing that Shambhala hasn't aged well, out of interest? Most people I see on the internet still seem to speak just as highly of it as they did in 2012; the only slightly underwhelmed reviews I see are from people who never really rated it to start with, people who aren't really into B&M hypers and from the CF group who went to PortAventura and rode it in December 2017 (I think?) when it was reportedly extremely cold.
 
Matt N said:
I am personally intrigued to know; where are you all hearing that Shambhala hasn't aged well, out of interest? Most people I see on the internet still seem to speak just as highly of it as they did in 2012; the only slightly underwhelmed reviews I see are from people who never really rated it to start with, people who aren't really into B&M hypers and from the CF group who went to PortAventura and rode it in December 2017 (I think?) when it was reportedly extremely cold.
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I wasn't on that 2017 CF live when it was cold. But the last time I visited PA a few years ago I found Shambhala pretty disappointing. My main issue was that it really lacked airtime in any row but the front and just felt kinda sluggish. But maybe I just caught it on an off day. I mean, people moaned about Silver Star before, but it's brilliant now.

And yes, Mako is my favourite B+M hyper too. Love it!
 
Matt N said:
I'd personally say it was the huge number of airtime hills, as well as it looking quite forceful! But as I said about Mako, POVs might not tell the full story with this ride type; your signature implies that Mako is your favourite B&M hyper, and I too think it is outstanding (well, it's my overall number 1!), but it doesn't look quite as good as some of the others from POVs.

I am personally intrigued to know; where are you all hearing that Shambhala hasn't aged well, out of interest? Most people I see on the internet still seem to speak just as highly of it as they did in 2012; the only slightly underwhelmed reviews I see are from people who never really rated it to start with, people who aren't really into B&M hypers and from the CF group who went to PortAventura and rode it in December 2017 (I think?) when it was reportedly extremely cold.
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What you said. That December in 2017 was cold as balls. I have to admit Shambhala wasn't running in tip-top condition but otherwise it still rides smoothly and provides plenty of airtime even for a B&M. It also has the best turnaround on a hyper with that ampersand element, which almost feels like an inversion.

Nitro still reigns supreme for me, though. That is one fierce and intense ride!
 
Ah right. Thanks guys!
Serena said:
And yes, Mako is my favourite B+M hyper too. Love it!
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The 3 rides I had on Mako in August 2016 were some of the best rides I've ever had on a coaster; it might not be the most intense coaster out there, but it definitely has the most airtime of any coaster I've ridden by far, it's forceful but not insanely so, it's glass smooth and it's just so, so fun and rerideable! I rank my coasters based on how much fun I had on them and the buzz I felt coming into the brake run; I felt more buzz coming off of Mako than I've ever felt coming off of any attraction, and it still holds the number 1 spot for me 2.5 years after that first ride, despite some tough competition from rides like Icon (I know it's controversial that I prefer a B&M hyper to a Mack launch coaster, but Mako did more for me than Icon for some reason. Icon is still brilliant and a solid #2, though!)! A ride does not have to be the most intense coaster in the world for me to like it, and Mako was the coaster that converted me to preferring airtime in a coaster! Inversions are great, but nothing has topped being hurled over those airtime hills on Mako for me! There was just so much airtime, and I was hooked as soon as we hurtled down that first drop and I was hurled out of my seat! I can't wait to reride it some day; hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later!

My love of Mako really makes me want to ride more B&M hypers worldwide; it's currently the only one I've ridden, but it's definitely my number 1 coaster, and it's enough to tell me that B&M hypers are one of my favourite ride types; Mako just ticked all of my boxes! My next one will probably be Silver Star when my parents are apparently taking me to Europa Park for my 18th birthday in 2021. I can't wait to ride it! And I must admit that Shambhala is also one of my most anticipated coasters worldwide!
 
I've mentioned it before on here but I'm also team Silver Star >>>> Shambhala. It's also the most efficiently operated coaster in the world.

Admittedly I've not been on Shambhala in a few years, but both visits to PA it left me a tad underwhelmed. It's still a great coaster, but just lacks any decent airtime.
 
Silver Star is good but no way does it rate it above Shambhala. It's a car park coaster with a slightly repetitive layout and good, not great, airtime.

Of the three B&M hypers I have done:

1. Shambhala
2. Mako
3. Silver Star
 
Jamesss said:
Silver Star is good but no way does it rate it above Shambhala. It's a car park coaster with a slightly repetitive layout and good, not great, airtime.

Of the three B&M hypers I have done:

1. Shambhala
2. Mako
3. Silver Star
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Shambhala is nothing more than a first drop. The figure 8 turnaround is dull, and the ending is boring.

Silver Star has some decent ejector after the MCBR, and provides a far stronger ending. It's more consistent overall.
 
I adore both- but Shambhala is certainly a better overall package than Silver Star.

Speed, height, first drop, theme, seat formation, lovely Spanish weather, can see the sea from lift hill... I will admit though, ops on Shambhala are faaaaaaaaar inferior to Silver Star.
 
Based on my experience Shambhala is not in any way the greatest hyper around, the lack of airtime was Raging Bull levels.
Silver Star is consistently good, and whilst the surroundings of the coaster aren't greenery or scorched earth the ride actually had airtime and wasn't a big white and teal monorail.
 
DelPiero said:
Based on my experience Shambhala is not in any way the greatest hyper around, the lack of airtime was Raging Bull levels.
Silver Star is consistently good, and whilst the surroundings of the coaster aren't greenery or scorched earth the ride actually had airtime and wasn't a big white and teal monorail.
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I can only comment on the shammy experiences I’ve had. I’ve been four times (ie four diff trips) and visited over a number of days over each trip and it’s always run like a dream.

I can’t say the same for silver star, it had a pretty solid vibration on it in places when I rode it last year.
 
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