Rank the Intamin Launch Coasters

[nadroJ]

Maybe this is all of them? I should note that I ADORE launch coasters, particularly of the Intamin variety, so even the ones at the bottom are coasters I've enjoyed.

1. Taron, Phantasialand - duh?

2. Formula Rossa, Ferrari World - excellent launch, loads of speed, endlessly rerideable. But only in the front row haha.

3. Maverick, Cedar Point - really fun launches and an excellent layout to follow. As close to a perfect coaster as one could wish for.

4. Red Force, Ferrari Land - Very good at going fast.

5. Stealth, Thorpe Park - As above, but punchier launch.

6. Top Thrill Dragster, Cedar Point - As above but for some reason not as fun as Red Force? Don't ask me why.

7. Furius Baco, Port Aventura - Underrated. The one-two punch of the gut-wrenching launch plus airtime hill plunge down in to the valley is *chef kiss*

8. Kingda Ka, SFGAdv - Fun, big, but rattly. Not rerideable, one and done but still fun.

9. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures, IoA - Launches are tied into the narrative perfectly. Animatronic blast-ended skrewts.

10. Steel Venom, Valleyfair! - One of my most reridden coasters of my 2019 rode trip. Just a hoot with some forceful launches and weird sensations.

11. Wicked Twister, Cedar Point - As above but a bit less.

12. Possessed, Dorney Park - As above but a bit less.

13. Vertical Velocity, Six Flags Great America - As above but it was raining.

14. Cheetah Hunt, Busch Gardens Tampa - Random ride, doesn't really know what it wants to do. Some fun racing transitions and at its best when not distracted.

15. iSpeed, Mirabilandia - Don't particularly remember what happens but I do remember I wasn't particularly enamoured.

16. Kanonen, Liseberg - Good fun, I miss it, but Helix is aeons better and no need for both in the park.

17. Rita, Alton Towers - Underrated with a good launch and some fun airtime but not my favourite.

18. Desert Race, Heide Park - As above but not as good.

19. Speed Monster, Tusenfryd - Aside from it being my 600th coaster, I have zero memory of this coaster, hence bottom of the list.

 

[Gavin]

Sorry if this is a slightly random question, and one that probably doesn’t have many people who could answer it, but out of interest; has anyone ever ridden Senzafiato at Miragica or Skycar at Mysterious Island? I’ll admit that these are two Intamin launch coasters that very much intrigue me; I’ve never heard much about them, and I actually think they look like really strong coasters, at least in terms of the Accelerator Coasters!

In terms of my current ranking, I’d go with:

1. Stealth
2. Rita
3. Cheetah Hunt

I’ll be very interested to see how VelociCoaster, Pantheon and Toutatis (amongst others) stack up in people’s lists once they’ve opened! I’m hoping to possibly get on VelociCoaster next year, and I’m very excited to hopefully ride it!

I've done Skycar. It's fun, but short. The launch isn't particularly strong, but there's a decent pop of airtime on the hill that goes through the loop.

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Matt N]

Apologies for resurrecting a thread that hasn’t been posted in for 3.5 years, but this was, perhaps surprisingly given the recent spate of new launched Intamins, the most recent thread I could find on this topic.

Last time I posted in here, it would seem that I had only registered riding 3 Intamin launch coasters; Stealth, Rita and Cheetah Hunt. As it turns out, I had forgotten about 2 that I’d ridden at the time in Gringotts and RC Racer, which would have taken my count to 5, but I also feel like I’ve done a fair few other new Intamins with launches since I last posted. I make it that I’ve now done around 11, if I’m not mistaken, and I would rank them as follows:

1. Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Universal’s Islands of Adventure: This is just a sublime coaster! To be completely honest, I’d struggle to think of a single thing I’d really criticise about it; it’s just so good! The first half, while not as fast as the second half, still has lots of really interesting twists, turns and manoeuvres, as well as some nice bits of airtime, and that whole second half is just absolutely stellar; every single element hits, and it’s genuinely hard to pick a highlight out of the plethora of standout moments! In particular, that whole sequence of the second launch followed by the top hat is just absolutely wonderful, and that mosasaurus roll is such a phenomenal way to end the ride! And in general, VelociCoaster is so fast, it has brilliant airtime, it’s smooth, and in general, I just adore it and would definitely place it as one of my very favourite coasters! 10/10, #3/134
2. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Universal’s Islands of Adventure: Hagrid’s may not be the most intense of coasters, or have the plethora of standout moments of thrill that VelociCoaster does, but what it is, possibly more so than any other coaster I’ve ridden, is purely fun. Hagrid’s is an immensely fun and enjoyable experience that will just put a huge smile on your face, and it’s no slouch in terms of the thrills either; the launches are punchy, some of the fun and unique tricks really add to the experience, and the ride does pack a surprising amount of speed through some of those twists and turns! The predominant thing I would say about it, though, is that it is hugely fun, and it is very much proof that a coaster does not need to be intense to be amazing, in my view! 10/10, #8/134
3. Stealth - Thorpe Park: Stealth may be short, but I feel that it uses its length wonderfully! That hydraulic launch is amazingly punchy, the speed is insane, and the airtime over the top hat is excellent! It maybe hasn’t got the most comfortable of trains compared to some of the newer Intamin launch coasters, but I don’t personally feel that this overly detracts from the ride, as there’s not a huge amount of lateral movement on it and I also don’t find those Intamin OTSRs overly offensive in terms of comfort. In my view, Stealth is an absolutely fantastic coaster, and rides like it do make me sad that the hydraulic launches are seemingly dying out; there really is nothing quite like that hydraulic launch! 9/10, #14/134
4. Red Force - Ferrari Land: Red Force, like Stealth, is an absolutely fantastic coaster; the speed is brilliant, the airtime is brilliant, and just being on a coaster that huge and that fast is quite something! To its credit, the new Intamin lap bars are also a big improvement on the old OTSRs of Stealth. However, there is one main reason why I would place it marginally below Stealth… and that is that I simply don’t think the LSM launch is quite the same as the hydraulic launch on this ride style. Red Force is undeniably fast, and I do like the way it builds up speed as the launch progresses, but I perhaps don’t think it feels as fast as it is simply because it lacks that initial kick that the hydraulics have. It also has a bit of a weird rattle along the launch that Stealth doesn’t, but that doesn’t really factor into why I rank Stealth higher. Overall, though, Red Force is still an excellent coaster, and that speed and height are brilliant! 9/10, #15/134
5. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts - Universal Studios Florida: Gringotts may only be an “Intamin launch coaster” on a technicality, but it is still an Intamin coaster with a launch, so it still counts in my book! It may not have much in the way of coaster elements, but it is an absolutely sublime dark ride experience, in my view; the 3D is excellent, with excellent screen quality, and the physical theming and effects are also stunning and mesh with the screens wonderfully! The coaster elements it has are also quite neat; the tilt track into the twists and turns is fun, as is the launch at the end! Overall, Gringotts is a stunning blend of dark ride and roller coaster, in my view! 9/10, #19/134
6. Cheetah Hunt - Busch Gardens Tampa: I admittedly haven’t ridden it since 2016, but I seem to remember Cheetah Hunt being a pretty fun ride, with some nice airtime, some fun twists and turns, including some nice, punchy s-bends, and a long length! It could probably have done with better restraints than those old Intamin OTSRs, however. 8/10, #28/134
7. Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence - PortAventura Park: While the on-ride theming of Uncharted does leave much to be desired, the coaster itself is excellent! I thought the various launches were nice and punchy, and great fun, there were some really fun twists and turns in there, the ride packed a nice sense of speed, it was smooth, it was punchy, and I thought that some of the tricks were also great fun! The theming, however, is weak for a coaster that’s quite obviously designed to be heavily themed and story-driven, and if it was better, I think that would raise the ride up a tier to be more on par with the likes of Gringotts and Revenge of the Mummy. Nonetheless, I think Uncharted’s brilliant track and train coaster still makes it a great ride! 8/10, #30/134
8. Gold Rush - Drayton Manor: I had quite low expectations for Gold Rush, but I have to say that it notably exceeded those expectations; Gold Rush was a brilliant family coaster! The switch track technology makes for a fun and novel experience, the ride has some fun twists and turns, good punchy launches and a long ride length, and it’s overall just a very good, fun family roller coaster! I would have liked it a tad more if it actually gave some small pops of airtime rather than merely threatening airtime like it does in a number of places, but that is a very pedantic critique; Gold Rush is a fab family coaster, in my view! 8/10, #32/134
9. Rita - Alton Towers: While it’s pretty low on the pecking order of Intamin launch coasters, Rita is still a great coaster, in my opinion! While its launch hasn’t quite got the punch of Stealth’s, it still serves as a very punchy way to start the ride, and Rita also has some surprisingly strong moments of ejector airtime! It admittedly has not got the most interesting of layouts, and those Intamin OTSRs are possibly a bit worse here than they are on Stealth due to the ride having a layout more focused on strong lateral movement, but I don’t find Rita overly rough or uncomfortable by any means and I think it’s still a great coaster overall, despite its low ranking in this list! 8/10, #33/134
10. RC Racer - Walt Disney Studios Park: Here’s where the quality drops significantly. I admittedly haven’t ridden RC Racer since 2011, so this opinion is potentially very outdated and my memory of the ride is vague at best, but even at the time, I don’t remember it being anything overly spectacular or memorable. 4/10, #85/134
11. Furius Baco - PortAventura Park: I personally did not find Furius Baco quite as bad as some of its most vehement haters had led me to believe it would be… but I still wouldn’t say I was a massive fan. While the launch was as punchy as those hydraulic launches always are, and the ride packed a decent pace throughout, it was really pretty rough, even in the inner seats that I sat in both times I did it. It perhaps wasn’t overly rough in the sudden jolting/jerking sense, which is the sort of rough I find worse than rattling, but it was very, very bouncy, to the extent that it almost bordered on jolting/jerking and I definitely found it a bit too rough for my personal taste. 4/10, #87/134

Overall, I think Intamin launch coasters are excellent. The fact that all bar 2 of the 11 I’ve ridden sit within my top 25% and score either a 10/10, a 9/10 or an 8/10 in my personal rating/tier system speaks volumes about them being a very strong category of ride, on the whole!

 

[JoshC.]

Oooo, the last time I posted in this thread, I had 3 Intamin launches. Now I've got 21...

Cred	Park	Overall Rank
Toutatis	Parc Asterix	1
Taron	Phantasialand	2
Taiga	Linnanmäki	3
Manta	SeaWorld Abu Dhabi	17
Kingda Ka	Six Flags Great Adventure	18
Mahuka	Walibi Rhône-Alpes	24
Juvelen	Djurs Sommerland	31
Batman Gotham City Escape	Parque Warner Madrid	32
The Storm Coaster	Dubai Hills Mall	38
Stealth	Thorpe Park	58
Uncharted	Port Aventura	61
Speed Monster	TusenFryd	71
Rita	Alton Towers	77
Red Force	Ferrari Land	108
Desert Race	Heide Park	115
Storm Runner	Hersheypark	119
Turbo Track	Ferrari World Abu Dhabi	139
Gold Rush	Drayton Manor	144
DrageKongen	Djurs Sommerland	150
Furius Baco	PortAventura Park	208
Tornado	Bakken	254

Maybe chucking Tornado in there is unnecessary, but it doesn't make much of a difference. Similar with Uncharted. But I don't care.

There's some absolute cracking Intamin launches out there, isn't there?

 

[CookieCoasters]

I prefer Maverick to Taron.... I think I just prefer the more varied layout; the fact it can have a great drop, launch, inversions and airtime hills all-thrown in. Plus, I find the transitions to be more aggressive on Maverick tbh. Both come even more alive at night, that’s for sure, but I still prefer Mav

Maverick
Taron
iSpeed
Storm Runner
Xcelerator
Top Thrill Dragster
Stealth
Red Force
Juvelen
Tornado (Bakken)
Volcano - The Blast Coaster
Speed Monster
Impulse Coasters
California Screamin’
Kanonen
Desert Race
Cheetah Hunt
Rita
Superman: Escape from Krypton
Kingda Ka
Furious Baco

The bottom two are absolute tripe.

Some more to add since my last post in 2018, plus a new favourite...

Taiga - Easily the best all-rounder. Will be hard to beat.
Maverick
Toutatis
Velocicoaster
Taron
iSpeed
Formula Rossa
Xcelerator
Storm Runner
Top Thrill Dragster
Atlantis Adventure
Stealth
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Red Force
Zokkon
Juvelen / Yukon Quad
Tornado (Bakken)
Volcano - The Blast Coaster
Sandy's Blasting Bronco
Timmy's Half-Pipe Havoc
Flash: Vertical Velocity (SFDK)
Possessed / Wicked Twister / Flash: Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) / Steel Venom
Incredicoaster
Kanonen
Speed Monster
Avatar Airbender
Desert Race / Rita
Cheetah Hunt
Superman: Escape from Krypton
Turbo Track
Kingda Ka
Furius Baco

 

[Will]

1) iSpeed (2009)
2) Taron (2022)
3) Tornado (2013)
4) Speed Monster (2019)
5) Red Force (2017)
6) Superman Escape (2018)
7) Jet Rescue (2018)
8) Tower of Terror II (2018)
9) Stealth (2023)
10) Juvelen (2023)
11) RC Racer (2012)
12) Desert Race (2009)
13) Mick Doohan's Motocoaster (2018)
14) Kanonen (2016)
15) Rita (Not actually sure. I generally skip it)
16) Furius Baco (2017)

Thanks to being spited by the two biggies stateside, Maverick is apparently the only addition since my last post. Could be great if they put comfortable trains on it and the launch isn't as unpleasant as many of the older models, but I'm only going to slot it in at #6...

Juvelen probably deserves to climb as well, now that I've had one or two better rides on it

Apparently Dragekongen is also launched. I have no recollection of it.

Kind of hoping Pantheon can top this list, but doesn't look like it will hugely impress me.

 

[soleil]

Those I've ridden... first 5 listed in order, top three with my top 10 ranking

Toutatis @ Parc Asterix (3)
Volcano - Blast Coaster @ Kings Dominion (4)
Cheetah Hunt @ Busch Gardens Tampa (10)
Furius Baco @ Port Aventura - a divisive coaster which I enjoyed
Juvelen @ Djurs Sommerland
DrageKongen @ Djurs Sommerland - underrated, I remember some good forces on this one.
Rita @ Alton Towers
Stealth @ Thorpe park

Maverick @ Cedar Point - a spite as it was down for most of the day
(Top Thrill 2 @ Cedar Point - another spite from this year's trip... Intamin or Zamperla though? RCDB mentions both)

 

[Flash Shift]

Taiga, Linnanmaki
Stealth, Thorpe
Gold Rush, Drayton (yes really)
Speed Monster, Tusenfryd (I haven't ridden this for ages so it could be above Gold Rush, I can't remember it well)
Rita, Alton Towers

 

[Will]

Kind of hoping Pantheon can top this list, but doesn't look like it will hugely impress me.

It has - and it did.

A real surprise package - may even be the best coaster here.

(Yes, I'm posting from a queue line)