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Your Least Common Opinion?

One time I was at Cedar Point, one of the operators on Valravn seemed to have a particular axe to grind against Fury. I forget exactly what happened, but he saw my Leviathan t-shirt and started loudly proclaiming that it was far superior to Fury. He continued this with every other guest he saw with some non-Fury coaster t-shirt.

I'm not one to shy away from controversial opinions myself. In the coaster world:

  • Grizzly is the best coaster at Kings Dominion. Two words: Phoenix vibes. (caveat: I-305/Pantherian wasn't running, but also, see below.)
  • Millennium Force doesn't come close to cracking my top 5 even at Cedar Point. Maybe not even my top 10. Fight me.
  • Ride of Steel at SF America beats Ride of Steel at SF Darien Lake, hands down. Far smoother and better illusion of speed.
  • In fact, Viper and Predator are more solid in overall experience than Ride of Steel, unless you enjoy 12 minute dispatches on 1-train ops.
  • On the topic of Intamin hypers, they kind of stink. Their strength instead lies in launch coasters like Maverick, Cheetah Hunt, Pantheon, etc., which I do rank favorably despite their shortcomings.
  • I didn't hate Time Warp.
  • Sure, The Shed is corny, but I like it. Tell me you'd rather sit in 120° heat index on the brake run. More parks should do "post-ride engagement" like that.
I could probably think of many more if I gave it time...
 
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Okay I just came back from Emerald Park and I rode my first Vekoma STC. Hot take, it is better than a lot of B&M inverts and I feel will rocket above B&M in the market in the future. The ride feels butter smooth, good forces, good layout, elements flow well into each other, and the ride even has a great mix of forces (positives, laterals, airtime pops).

After riding three neo Vekomas, I would say the other manufacturers should be weary. Vekoma are producing seemingly reliable, smooth, and brilliant products. For smaller parks Fianna Force would be a godsend. It would easily be the #2 at Thorpe for me, better than Nemesis at Alton. Such a fun layout with good length.
 
So, I've had some time to let all the impressions of the Giga-Trip sink in, and I think I can deliver some new unpopular opinions:

1) Leviathan is the best Giga-Coaster*. It does more than Fury when it's going fast + has better airtime moments. (*I couldn't do I305/P305/Pantherian!)
2) The Voyage is a below average wooden coaster and does not deserve the hype at all. It isn't even the best wooden coaster in the park. It has the weakest floater airtime I've ever experienced, it's rough and you just want it to be over at some point. Gosh, never was I so dissapointed in a coaster. I guess it gets the hype from the untrimmed night rides that people can get once a year.
3) Candymonium might be the worst B&M Hyper. Gosh, once it could be fun, it just gives you the trimm of hell.
4) Apart from the Cobra Roll (which is insane), Alpengeist is fairly forceless, borderline boring.
5) Lightning Rod has been neutered so much, it is just boring (and rough) for most of it. The last 2 drops of the quad down are ok-ish, but nothing special.
6) Twisted Cyclone @ SFOG is actually one of the better RMCs. Very comfy and simply fun, with a great flow. Doesn't feel forced like some others
7) Twisted Timbers is easily the worst RMC, with unpleasant transitions, unnessecary turns and overall trying to do way too much. Gosh, this thing hurts, but not in the good way a ride like Arie Force One does.
8) The airtime on Skyrush isn't half as crazy as people make it out to be. It is nice ejector, but the only crazy moment is that "kink" durin the first drop. It is a decently fun ride, but not the "craziest airtime ever!!111oneeleven" machine many people claim.
 
Old Intamin OTSR Restraints are better than the vest restraints. To me there less restrictive and allow me feel the forces, hence why I prefer Stealth to Storm Runner.

Ride to Happiness isn't the best coaster in Europe nor the best coaster in Belgium or even the best Mack. It's inconsistent, rattley and has a couple of deadspots. I still think it's impressive, but find it a tad overrated.

Valravn is the best coaster at Cedar Point outside of the big four (Top Thrill 2, Millennium Force, Steel Vengeance, Maverick).

Candymonuim is one of the best B&M hypers and I would say it's equally as good as Wildcat's Revenge.

Icon is better than most enthusiasts give it credit for, if it was in a far away, harder to reach location it would be rated alot more favourably.
 
My most uncommon one:

I LOVED Green Lantern First Flight at Six Flags Magic Mountain. It still is within my Top 3 of all time, since I am all about intensity and thrill. I do absolutely not understand why Coaster Fans hated on it so much. I get why it might be too much for an average visitor, but I cant imagine how thrill seekers do not love this ride. The forces you got to experience were at the limit and absolutely unique. There is nothing else that compares to that. You really had to "prepare" yourself for those drops.

Other opinions:

Europapark is heavily overrated. No way this is the best theme park in the world, not even in Germany. Phantasialand is way better in my opinion. With Voltron they saved their 2nd place in Germany, but before that, they have not even been 2nd anymore. For a park of this size, even with Voltron, they still offer way too less thrill. All of their attractions are average or even below average. Also the theming is not superior. Its good, but not better than Disney, Universals and definitly not as good as Phantasialands.

Efteling is also overrated. Its nice for families with children under 14, but it clearly lacks of thrill rides and I expected it to be way more beautiful. I was pretty disappointed, it doesnt live up to its hype. There is one really outstanding dark ride (Droomvlucht), but everything else is average I would say.

I like Universals a lot more than Disney.

Goliath (SFMM) and Silver Star are the most boring coasters of their size in the world.
 
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Mine was: Millennium Force was the best coaster on Earth. Even after Maverick, I305, El Toro, Skyrush. This is no longer true but: Millennium Force is still an S tier coaster. I get the enthusiast arguments and yes through age its not impressive as it was, but S tier coaster still.

Mystic Timbers is the best coaster at Kings Island.

(Maybe this was more a GP/people needing clicks for their channel?) I dont miss Kingda Ka at all. For those who somehow missed out on it I am sorry, and yes I lived 40 mins away but sorry, it kinda sucked. All the issues of TTD BUT was never as smooth and got worse over time. By the end it was like being in a car crash. If ya did it once to get the cred, you're good. For those who had to travel, TTD was far better just go there. All the long live/hail to the king stuff nah, a king I'm glad has been toppled.

Goliath @SFoG is a superb coaster. Maybe it was my day but it had strong, sustained floater on basically every hill, with some good pops at the end, great force in the helix, long ride, and very re-rideable. The rattle? And I guess even though this personal preference, its the uncommon opinion thread soooo:

Enthusiasts, despite being more seasoned, are too sensitive to rattle! Taking rides down a notch bc "there was some rattle" "there is some in this one part" maybe it's tolerance plain and simple but sometimes I've seen comments/reviews oof that rattle...and later I barely even notice it.
 
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Following a trip report I read from @Rob Coasters recently where I heard him moan about assigned seating and the lack of a front row queue on Nemesis, I’ve got a potentially uncommon opinion: I prefer assigned seating to free-for-all seat selection.

Perhaps “prefer” is a strong word. But I do definitely get the logic behind assigned seating over a free-for-all.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely have seat preferences on numerous roller coasters, and I love when I get that ideal seat! But so often, I find that a lack of assigned seating can make a station completely chaotic. One example that comes to mind is Silver Star at Europa Park; when I went there, the platform was a complete free-for-all, and I found it hard to figure out quite where to place myself to be in a given row. Whereas when there’s assigned seating, everything is nice and orderly and just feels easier. And besides, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of being assigned the seat you want!
 
@Matt N - a little bit more context to my view, but if the queue is sorted into a "front row" queue and an "any other row" queue, then I am happy. I don't mind if the "any other row" queue ends up assigning seats, just as long as there is a dedicated front row queue.
This may result in people asking "then there should be a back row queue", but in my eyes the operator would likely be more lenient in accepting a back row request than a front row request.

Silver Star's station sucks, but so does absolutely and unapologetically preferring the front row on something by a landslide and the option to wait for it isn't there.

Perhaps more coaster stations should be done like Swarm's, which provides free choice of row without utter chaos? Stealth's way of doing it isn't too shabby either.
 
@Matt N honestly I agree, I do get the logic and it absolutely makes things quicker and less chaotic. But I also hate it lol That said, at least at US parks I have found when I ask, I'd say 8/10 times they let me. Maybe this is part of it

Rob Coasters said:
@Matt N - a little bit more context to my view, but if the queue is sorted into a "front row" queue and an "any other row" queue, then I am happy. I don't mind if the "any other row" queue ends up assigning seats, just as long as there is a dedicated front row queue.
This may result in people asking "then there should be a back row queue", but in my eyes the operator would likely be more lenient in accepting a back row request than a front row request.

Silver Star's station sucks, but so does absolutely and unapologetically preferring the front row on something by a landslide and the option to wait for it isn't there.

Perhaps more coaster stations should be done like Swarm's, which provides free choice of row without utter chaos?
Click to expand...
Because if I ask, it's for back. I feel like I've deff seen people ask for front and ops will generally let them but yeah least for me they rarely deny when I ask for back. Or they say OK but I need to wait for the next ride, which I do (and never argue a no) ya know basic decency!
EDIT: Ah I agree fully with your more nuanced statement, a "front only" wait and "all else" that's assigned is a good balance. I'd of course be a ok with a back only wait as that's usually my choice but to the above point, ops usually let me have it anyway
 
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Yeah - I think the answer is a separate line for the front - and possibly back, and a batch host for the others.

I LOATHE the free-for-all stations that you find so much in America (although Vampire and many of the Blackpool coasters do it too) where the station ends up unpleasantly crowded and half of your wait seems to be at the airgates.
 
Not having a front row for major coasters feels wrong and it's as if it is being phased out. Nemesis was so good on the front even compared to the other seats, but I've never got it on Reborn because you don't get to choose. Had row 2 twice but it's really not the same.

I have the same issue with Black Mamba and Na Fianna Force. I'm sure I would have liked Black Mamba way more in the front I think. At least FLY has a front row queue - it's a completely different (better) ride in the front than the back.

A lot of people prefer the back on many coasters, but I like the front more for the unobstructed view and the feeling of almost being isolated, like it's just you and the ride, even if the forces are slightly worse. Except on Colorado Adventure, you have to go back on that. The back row rides on that I felt were more enjoyable than FLY in the back!
 
@Flash Shift Completely agree and would hope that's not too uncommon - surely we all like the option of trying the front row, if only once to be able to moan about it being better on the back?

A subtle thing I've noticed while hunting a Hyperia front row (which I did manage once, surprisingly through single rider) is that when a ride with rows of 2 doesn't offer a front row queue, it's also slightly harder to obtain by chance if you're a group of 2 or fewer (as you're less likely to "not fit" on the current train and get the front row of the next). Although I guess the opposite is true for the back row, so whether this is a good or bad thing might depend on preference.

Still, I'd rather avoid the silliness and have dedicated queues and/or honoured row requests.
 
To be fair, those extreme speed coasters can't do much in terms of force. The duration of forces is limited, hence they can't pull many sustained positive forces. They are also limited due to a significant variation in speed. I personally enjoy Formula Rossa, but mostly because of how long it keeps its (trimmed) speed. But forcewise, there is not much wo write home about.
So objectively speaking, they are never the best ride at the park.
 
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