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Your Least Common Opinion?

I mean don't get me wrong, Forbidden Journey is a technical masterpiece, but Gringotts is waaaaay better. Not even a doubt in my mind. I was floored by Gringotts. Forbidden Journey, whilst impressive, didn't leave me wanting a re-ride.
 
Forbidden Journey was actually 3D for some time at Hollywood (from opening IIRC) but they remove it because they decided it made too many people sickly.

And yes - you are loopy if you think Gringotts is better. Yes, Forbidden Journey is a frantically paced journey through loosely tied together ‘miscellaneous scenes’. Take it as a ‘montage’. I appreciate the complaint, but it’s fine. It’s certainly thrilling and incredibly impressive to this day - plenty of animatronics and moving things to see. Gringrotts is mostly just ‘more universal screens’ with stopping and starting. It’s not in the same ballpark! I remember feeling quite underwhelmed.

I can’t really say I’d be up for multiple re-rides on FJ though... it can definitely make one a little sickly.
 
Another uncommon opinion of mine, while we're talking about Harry Potter; I like Diagon Alley (and potentially Hogsmeade) more than Pandora: The World of Avatar. Don't get me wrong, Pandora is absolutely breathtaking, but I find the Potter areas even more breathtaking; they just do a bit more for me than Pandora does. People talk a lot about Disney magic, but I think that things like walking around the brick wall into Diagon Alley and seeing the absolutely stunning Gringotts bank lobby in the queue line for Gringotts were potentially some of the times where I've felt the most magic in a theme park I've been to.

Also, another potentially uncommon opinion; Gringotts and FJ are probably my two favourite theme park queue lines.
 
Pokemaniac said:
It would have benefitted greatly from taking it a little more easy. Cut away a couple of the monster scenes and have some breathing room. A little less dark terror and a little more whimsy. Its queue line might be the greatest ever built, but the ride experience itself is too dark and noisy for me to really like. Gringott's faired a lot better in this regard.
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I find this to be a problem with a lot of Universal dark rides.

They're all action, action, action, and no relief.

I think the Transformers ride is the worst for this. The first time I rode it I had absolutely no idea what was going on. There was way too much happening.

I find that these rides work better when they start off relatively calmly and then follow the "something goes wrong" storyline.

Perfect example of doing it well is the Jurassic Park River Adventure. It starts out as a gentle tour of the dinosaurs, then it goes wrong, and the action builds to peak at the end of the ride.

Both Potter dark rides would have worked better following a similar formula in my opinion.
 
I deeply disliked Transformers the ride for that reason. Although the same ride system as Spiderman I found the former fun, well paced and exciting and the latter loud, chaotic and slightly nauseating.
 
You can like, and be disappointed in Thorpe at the same time.

I Loved, and still do love the original X, including the dark ride walkthough esc queue (still miss the CRT TV and rotating tunnel). Literally have the t-shirt. I enjoyed the disco that was added in later years. I'll try the walking dead one day but the apathy is strong. A lot regressed between those periods.

Bandit was hilariously appalling in 2008, can't imagine whats happened to it since then.
 
I’ve been having a proper think about this lately, and I’ve come up with a few more for this thread:
  • Logger’s Leap was a hugely saddening removal from Thorpe Park; I enjoyed it immensely, and I’d probably say it was my all-time favourite UK water ride.
  • Even though I think it’s pretty impressive from a technical standpoint, I’m not sure I overly enjoyed Valhalla. As I say, while I found it very impressive, I found the overbearing wetness too much, and when combined with things like putting your feet into the huge pool of water at the bottom of the boat and the boats bashing against the side of the trough, amongst other somewhat uncomfortable parts of Valhalla, it did make it somewhat of an endurance test for me as opposed to an attraction I loved. I’m certainly not averse to wet rides, as I loved things like Popeye at IOA, but the way in which Valhalla gets you wet was a way that I just didn’t find overly enjoyable, and I can’t quite explain why.
  • I found Shockwave at Drayton Manor to be OK. While the standup riding position was odd and the ride was a little rough around the edges towards the end, I actually thought the layout was decent and on the whole, I didn’t dislike it!
  • Avalanche is my 2nd favourite coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach; such a fun family coaster!
  • Nemesis is only my 4th favourite UK coaster, behind Icon, Wicker Man & The Swarm.
 
I actually love the compactness and Layout of Vekoma SLCs - Blue Tornado, often referred as the worst, I think is the best SLC in EU! I don't mind the roughness...
Condor on the other hand.... absolute worst, ...and it stinks!
 
Desert Race at Heide Park > Taron
At least layout wise

The hydraulic launch is so much better than Taron's LSM (is it true that Taron's was reduced?). Also I guess size doesn't matter kids ^^
Never rode Rita but I think it would behave the same?
 
Lightning2 said:
Desert Race at Heide Park > Taron
At least layout wise

The hydraulic launch is so much better than Taron's LSM (is it true that Taron's was reduced?). Also I guess size doesn't matter kids ^^
Never rode Rita but I think it would behave the same?
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Lol, what? U serious?
 
Taron does all the things Desert Chase/Rita does, but more often and 100x better.

High speed turns, hills and twists. That's basically what both rides do. But Taron has the better restraints, whippier elements and proper good airtime. And that second launch <3

Wouldn't say DC/Rita has the better layout, but I guess if that type of ride isn't your cup of tea per se, you're going to prefer a shorter version of it?
 
To be fair, I can see why someone might like Desert Race more if they like hydraulic launches; while my favourite coaster with a launch has LSMs, there is not a launching sensation out there that can quite parallel the thrill of the hydraulic launch, in my opinion!
 
UP87 said:
Additionally there is the legendary boost mode which is used to warm up Taron. But this mode is not allowed to be used with any riders.
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Whoa... wait... what is this boost mode of which you speak? Not disputing it, just curious.... and I need it. Do you have any evidence of such a mode?
If true, this could be one of those goon Holy Grail moments, on a par with a TTD rollback, or a trimless Voyage.
Boosted Taron.... just imagine. ?
 
Howie said:
Whoa... wait... what is this boost mode of which you speak? Not disputing it, just curious.... and I need it. Do you have any evidence of such a mode?
If true, this could be one of those goon Holy Grail moments, on a par with a TTD rollback, or a trimless Voyage.
Boosted Taron.... just imagine. ?
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Yeah it's real. Been talked about in a few German documentaries from the construction and behind the scenes stuff.
 
After a return to Alton Towers on the weekend, I gained 1 or 2 new uncommon opinions, some of which I feel might be very uncommon. There’s also a few of my less common opinions that I don’t think I’ve posted before:
  • Nemesis is my least favourite of Alton Towers’ 3 B&Ms.
  • On this subject, I would personally take Nemesis Inferno over Nemesis.
  • Wicker Man is my favourite ride at Alton Towers by a considerable distance, and only narrowly below Icon in terms of my favourite UK coasters.
  • Shockwave at Drayton Manor is actually quite good fun, and the stand up riding position, while a little odd, was not as uncomfortable as expected.
  • Back row is my least favourite row on Megafobia at Oakwood.
  • I found Olympia Looping quite painful, and when combined with the excessive intensity, is amongst my least favourite coasters (not quite at the very bottom, but definitely among my bottom 15-20).
  • I prefer Galactica at Alton Towers to Manta at SeaWorld Orlando by a considerable amount.
  • Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is my favourite of the outdoor roller coasters at Universal Orlando (if we’re including indoor coasters, then Mummy and Gringotts are still ahead of it for me).
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is my favourite roller coaster at Magic Kingdom.
  • I would personally take Diagon Alley over Pandora: The World of Avatar, even though both areas are absolutely stunning.
  • While I really enjoyed Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me and there are numerous dark rides I prefer.
  • I prefer Thirteen to Expedition Everest.
 
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