Following my recent trip to Florida, my top 10 has changed quite a bit. The composition of this new list did take a fair amount of deliberation, and even now, I should add that I'm still slightly undecided on some of the placements.
This trip presented me with some very interesting conundrums in terms of coaster ranking, as in many cases, I was comparing incredibly different types of ride that were all truly, truly excellent in their own way. It really did test me, and I often second guessed the relative placements of certain rides. Nonetheless, I
think I've managed to come up with a final post-Florida ranking.
For clarity, I gained
8 new roller coaster credits during my trip, taking my total coaster count to
99. Of the new coasters I rode,
4 of these made my top 10 and 10/10 tier (which I should add are now one and the same; my 10/10 tier currently encompasses ranking spots 1-10), and the other "new addition" to my 10/10 tier is a previously ridden coaster that exceeded my previous memories of it.
Some of the placements may seem strange. I'm more than happy to answer questions on any placements you find questionable, but I should state that at a basic level, my favourite coasters are rides that have the perfect blend of fun, thrills and rerideability. Out and out intensity is not everything for me; it's the fun factor and rerideability that ultimately matters. There are certainly tangible things that typically correlate with me ranking a coaster highly (for instance, most rides in this list have notable airtime moments to at least a certain extent), but the most important thing for me is a good blend of fun, thrills and rerideability, and I think one entry to my top 10 in particular taught me that the qualities of "what I like in a coaster" are perhaps less tangible than I had previously thought they were.
So, without further ado, my current top 10 is as follows... (new entries are in
italics, relocated coasters are
underlined)
- Mako - SeaWorld Orlando: Even 7 years after my first ride, this coaster still reigns supreme for me, and my recent revisit to SeaWorld (where I had 5 rides on it) reinforced that! The sustained airtime is absolutely biblical (particularly in moments like the first drop, first airtime hill and speed hill), the sense of speed is wonderful, it's blissfully smooth, and overall, it's just such a fun, thrilling and rerideable coaster that I could (and indeed tried my darnedest to) sit on all day! I truly love this ride, and on my recent revisit to SeaWorld, it didn't disappoint! 10/10
- Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Islands of Adventure: It may not quite be #1, but my goodness was it close, and VelociCoaster would certainly be a worthy contender for the top spot! There is so much that this ride does well; it packs a great sense of speed throughout, with the second section in particular feeling ridiculously fast, there are quite a few sublime moments of ejector airtime that really whip you out of the seat, there are some truly brilliant inversions, and overall, it's just a truly stunning, spectacular coaster, in my view! In terms of some specific highlights; it's hard to pick from the wonderful array of sensations on offer. But if I had to choose a few, the second launch is absolutely obscene, packing a euphoric thrill like few other rides I've ever experienced, the top hat is sublime, packing some breathtaking ejector airtime on the back in particular, and the mosasaurus roll is an absolutely mind-blowing inversion that throws you out of the seat with some sublime sustained negative g-forces and ensures that you fly into the final brakes blown away! Overall, VelociCoaster is a truly stunning coaster, in my opinion; its blend of stunning airtime, impactful elements, fun, comfort and rerideability certainly make it a firm favourite of mine! 10/10
- Silver Star - Europa Park: I had quite low expectations for this coaster given that it's not overly well liked, but I have to say that I was blown away; I absolutely adored this coaster! It has wonderful sustained airtime, it's smooth and comfortable, it has an awesome sense of speed, the ending is absolutely brilliant, packing some phenomenal ejector airtime (particularly the MCBR exit), and overall, this is a stunning coaster that I absolutely loved! I did rank this below Mako of the two B&M Hypers I've ridden due to my feeling that its airtime, while stunning, never has quite the same impact as some of Mako's strongest moments, in my view, and while smooth in its own right, it isn't quite as blissfully smooth as Mako. I also felt it to be slightly less consistent, as I did have 1 or 2 slightly weaker rides on it during my trip to Europa. Nonetheless, Silver Star is a stunning coaster with phenomenal sustained airtime, and I love how it is incredibly rerideable and keeps the thrills going right to the end with that awesome post-MCBR section! 10/10
- Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Islands of Adventure: Dismiss this as a “family” coaster all you want, but I think such quick dismissal would be a huge mistake, because this ride is phenomenal, in my view! Of the rides in my top 10, I’ll admit that this one probably has the least tangible reason to be there. However, the key reason why Hagrid’s ranks so highly for me is that purely and simply, it is a phenomenally, impeccably fun roller coaster! In terms of some specifics, the low-to-the-ground turns were a lot more thrilling than I expected and the launches were surprisingly punchy and great fun, but unlike many coasters, my love of Hagrid’s is for a much broader reason than any specific features of the ride layout. It is just so, so fun, and the ride will always leave you laughing hysterically and smiling on the final brake run, and that for me is really important. Riding Hagrid’s taught me a crucial lesson about my taste in coasters; it taught me that a coaster does not necessarily need greatness in the form of tangible elements for me to love it, and that fundamentally, all a coaster needs to be is fun. Hagrid’s is not the most intense ride by any means, but if you want pure fun, I’d struggle to recommend many better coasters than this one! 10/10
- Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park: Wodan strikes the perfect balance between pure demented insanity and amazing fun factor and rerideability, in my view! It’s an absolutely relentless coaster, with phenomenal pacing right to the end, and it has quite a few really surprising pops of ejector airtime, including an excellent first drop, but it’s also a really smooth and comfortable wooden coaster, and it just manages to be a ridiculous amount of fun! Overall, Wodan is such a fast, airtime-filled and fun coaster that I absolutely loved on my visit to Europa Park! 10/10
- Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa: This ride is phenomenal! In terms of some key strengths, it’s absolutely relentless in pacing and has some of the strongest ejector airtime I’ve ever experienced, and some of the big hitters in the layout like the first drop, outerbanked turn, death roll and wave turn are truly sensational elements that are right up there with the best, in my opinion! The first drop in particular is insane; whipping you far out of the seat with ejector airtime for a surprisingly sustained period of time never gets old! However, my reason for not ranking this coaster higher is that it’s almost a little… much at times. Iron Gwazi is not a rough coaster by any stretch, but it’s certainly fierce in places, and I did find the final few elements in particular to be toeing the line in terms of what I can handle from a violence and intensity standpoint. It does quite a bit of what I’d refer to as “snapping”, where it changes direction and exerts high forces very rapidly, and while this looks good on paper and probably looks good in NoLimits or whatever, it doesn’t ride quite so well in practice for me, and I did find Iron Gwazi ever so slightly uncomfortable in those snappier portions of the layout. If I’m being picky, I also wasn’t the biggest lover of the trains (and these could well have contributed to the slight discomfort I experienced in areas), although they’re admittedly far from the worst trains I’ve ever sat in. Nevertheless, these are minor niggles rather than total deal breakers for me, and the high points of the ride are high enough for me to override them to a certain extent; while I perhaps didn’t love Iron Gwazi quite as much as I’d hoped to for the aforementioned reasons, it’s still a phenomenal ride that I thought very highly of! 10/10
- SheiKra - Busch Gardens Tampa: I had remembered liking this ride back in 2016, but my reride in 2023 was even better than I’d previously remembered! I love a B&M Dive Coaster, and this was a fantastic one! The sustained airtime over both drops was absolutely phenomenal, and the sheer size of them produced a brilliant sensation of speed throughout the ride! You typically think of Dive Coasters for their initial vertical drop, but interestingly, I actually thought that the second vertical drop on SheiKra delivered just as much as the first if not more! Overall, SheiKra was phenomenal, and a really pleasant surprise; I often said that I preferred Oblivion, but I’d now say that I comfortably prefer SheiKra, as I do feel that the added height and length really add something to it! 10/10
- Icon - Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon is often maligned, but I absolutely love it, personally! Yes, the ride is not the most intense coaster by any means, but I just find it incredibly good fun! There’s some excellent ejector airtime on there, with some particular highlight moments being the top hat, the drop down into the second launch and one incredibly fun drop during the second half of the layout! I also think that the ride is fast-paced and thrilling throughout, and it’s also incredibly smooth and comfortable, with the overhead lap bars ensuring that the inversions in particular are negotiated comfortably in a way that ensures maximum floaty negatives! Overall, I love Icon for its fun airtime, fast pace, fun twists and turns and overall rerideability; it’s just such a wonderfully fun coaster, in my opinion! 10/10
- Ice Breaker - SeaWorld Orlando: I had pretty low expectations for Ice Breaker, as its reviews are generally middling to negative, but I have to say that it massively exceeded expectations for me; it was a phenomenal little ride that I absolutely loved! I should say that the much-maligned “comfort collars” have been removed, so I experienced the ride without them, but I found it to be fantastic, with a fun and punchy swing launch, a backwards spike with some brilliant floater airtime, some surprisingly excellent pops of ejector airtime in places, some fun twists and turns, and a smooth and fun ride experience throughout! The trains are a little tight to get into and out of, but I found the restraints unobtrusive when I was sat down enjoying the ride, so I didn’t find them to be an issue overall. All in all, I thought Ice Breaker was a fantastic ride that hugely exceeded my expectations; it may not have quite been my favourite coaster I rode in Florida, but I dare say that coaster-wise, it was possibly the sleeper hit of the trip in terms of how much it exceeded my expectations! I expected very little, but I ended up absolutely loving the ride, personally! 10/10
- Wicker Man - Alton Towers: It may now only be in my top 10 by the skin of its teeth, but Wicker Man is a fantastic GCI coaster that I absolutely love! It may not look like much on paper, but I find it to be an enormously fun and rerideable coaster that never fails to put a huge smile on my face! I find it to be a really fast-paced coaster with some really fun twists and turns and some surprising pops of airtime, with some particular favourite elements of mine being the initial s-bend drop, where you gain brilliant speed incredibly quickly, and the big drop out of the high u-turn and following airtime hill, with both elements providing some excellent airtime that really whips you out of the seat! Overall, I find Wicker Man a hugely fun and rerideable wooden coaster with awesome airtime, twists and pacing, and I think it’s a ride that is definitely far more than the sum of its parts, personally! 10/10
In terms of other notable new Florida additions, the only major new coaster addition I can think of that is missing is Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, which I found to be a big disappointment and is ranked at #52 out of 99.
Overall, I thought that this trip was brilliant, personally!
, until next time
