zazobo
Hyper Poster
LOLOLOLOL. What would you rather have on a B&M hyper?
Your Least Common Opinion?
- Thread starter Jarrett
- Start date
LOLOLOLOL. What would you rather have on a B&M hyper?
streetmagix
Mega Poster
I also dislike the clamshells. Give me something similar to Mack Mega Coaster or Taron style lapbar and I'd be much happier.
hendrixmarshall
Roller Poster
The one post about older rides being not that great...Cyclone is great, the one at Lakeside (Denver) is great. Dragon Challenge when it Challenged was great. Magnum (3rd car) is great, Alpie, Montu, Raptor, Millie, Apollo's & Raging Bull in the back seat, Lightning Racer, Phantom...even the Whizzer is great. I'm betting Tennessee Tornado is great, too. (12 days!)
Making a blanket, uninformed opinion because its new is just a blast on what you think. Go ride 'em first, then state your opinion...
Making a blanket, uninformed opinion because its new is just a blast on what you think. Go ride 'em first, then state your opinion...
Matt N
CF Legend
What's the matter with the clamshells, out of interest? I've only ever experienced them on Mako at SeaWorld Orlando, and personally, they're the best restraints I've ever experienced! So comfy!
streetmagix
Mega Poster
The Mako ones are pretty good to be fair. On the other B&M hyper coasters I've ridden (Shambhala, Silverstar, and Hollywood Dream) I've had to be stapled in for it to lock, killing a lot of the airtime and causing pain in my legs. I'm big but not massive (6 foot 4, around 38inch waist but big thighs) but I've had to do the walk of shame from Shambhala a few times and had to slam the clamshell on Hollywood Dream with a great deal of force (the ride hosts won't help you at USJ).
Matt N
CF Legend
Ah. I've never ridden Shambhala, Sliver Star or Hollywood Dream. How are Mako's different, out of interest? They all look the same to me!
streetmagix
Mega Poster
The design is the same but they allow Mako to sit at the highest 'click' for it to be secured. The others require the clamshell to come down lower. I know Shambhala really suffered early on and even after modifications, the number of people getting rejected is still pretty high. Guessing it's to do partly with the design from B&M (Mako is the newest one of the 4 I've ridden) and the local H&S laws.
Matt N
CF Legend
Ah right. Thanks @streetmagix! I can understand this, actually, even though Mako is the only B&M hyper I've done, because on my first ride, I was able to have a pretty loose lap bar. Like, not loose enough to be unsafe, but the airtime was insane! Well, the airtime was insane even with a tighter lap bar, but you get what I mean!
Carowinds is a bit poo, but Fury is definitely worth a trip.
Error
Strata Poster
Blue Streak at Cedar Point is the most underrated attraction at that park.
RMC is caring more about the amount of airtime over adding different styles of airtime, and that's a bad thing.
GCIs are massively fun.
Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom shouldn't be the only one of its kind.
Top Thrill Dragster was a one trick pony and should be removed.
RMC is caring more about the amount of airtime over adding different styles of airtime, and that's a bad thing.
GCIs are massively fun.
Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom shouldn't be the only one of its kind.
Top Thrill Dragster was a one trick pony and should be removed.
Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
What I agree with in bold, some of those actually aren't that out there in my opinion. Yes, TTD is a one-trick pony, but I don't think they should remove it because it's a good ride and it does draw a crowd.
Now as for RMC, I disagree. They have airtime in all sorts of directions, paired with all kinds of visuals. Now I will agree the magnitude at which they deliver is pretty much locked (only strong ejector, no floater at all in the main ride), but they've definitely come up with some interesting ways to do airtime. Lightning Rod's wave turn is one of the wackiest sensations out there, for example.
Error
Strata Poster
You asked for least common opinions, I give you RMC isn't the perfect company everyone makes them out to be.
Allow me to explain: Steel Vengeance is ranked #6 for me and will likely never get higher than that. If anything, it's going to get even lower. This is mostly due to the problem I have with Steel Vengeance: it's all about ejector airtime. Now, in theory, this is excellent. But in practice, and in my two ride experience, it was just painful. You are given very, very little time to recover from each element. Even worse, some sections are constant jolts instead of gentler lifts. Nearly half of all the hills have double ups or double downs to add extra airtime, making it feel forced and unnatural.
I'll give credit where it's due: RMC made my two favorite coasters, Outlaw Run and Lightning Rod. I liked both of these rides simply because they were much shorter, and none of the layout felt forced or overdone. There were places to get a quick breath in before more airtime, and that's good. There's some floater airtime mixed in with ejector, and that's good.
Additional uncommon opinion: Steel Vengeance isn't the best ride in the world.
Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
Yeah I actually get that. I’d consider RMC more polarizing than universally loved as they definitely have their haters (both for ride experience and their mark on the industry), but “they’re good but not perfect” is definitely an uncommon stance. From what I’ve seen (with the definite few exceptions), you either really love them or you really hate them.
Now for me, I love a ride experience that keeps the elements hitting you consecutively with no time to process what happened. That’s just a matter of opinion and nothing more. Have you ridden Wicked Cyclone? I actually smiled a bit reading that because I got literally the exact same complaint about it posted in my RMC fan group on Facebook two weeks ago.
Literally the same thing worded very similarly but about a different coaster.
Error
Strata Poster
You have RMC's logo for an icon, you wear shirts and hats with their logo, and you LITERALLY SCREAMED LIKE A LITTLE GIRL when one of the RMC people showed up for Steel Vengeance's announcement.
Forgive me for not taking your defense of RMC seriously, but you have a very, very obvious bias.
Forgive me for not taking your defense of RMC seriously, but you have a very, very obvious bias.
Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
Haha, I will admit I’m the poster child for RMC fanboys everywhere. However, as much as I do like them, I do admit I see room for improvement, as I do with all things. They have things they could improve on both for ride hardware and ride experience. Even Steel Vengeance isn’t the perfect coaster in my eyes.
Not even trying to defend, honestly, after all these are just opinions. Just trying to offer another viewpoint. An opinion can’t be wrong by definition, and I read that post and responded knowing such. Someone could come along and say that Zamperla is the greatest manufacturer of all time and they would be no more right or wrong than I am about RMC.
I like their work because their rides line up with my taste in coasters a lot and because the way they’ve chosen to innovate got me interested in aspects of the industry I previously wasn’t. But I understand others haven’t seen it that way. I actually enjoy reading criticism of them because that’s room for improvement in my eyes, it sheds light on problems maybe others haven’t seen. Especially the way you chose to do it in your post.
Catmaydo
Roller Poster
You're not the only one. That's not to say that the Swarm is bad in any way; it's fun, but I found after the first ride, it was just a nice, gentle floaty trip around the set remnants of Lost.
I have this opinion that I might not even be able to explain or defend, but I'll try anyway:
Basically: I can't really get excited for any coaster made before 1990 or so. The revolution in computer-aided design really helped coaster designers work out the limitations their craft previously had been straddled with, and looking back at coasters from before then, it shows. Whether it's Arrow with its one-size-only elements, or bumpy old woodies whose makers long since filed for bankruptcy, or Vekomas with square turns and square wheels, old coaster seem a little bit poo in comparison to newer ones. New seats and restraints are more ergonomic, track flow is a lot better and more varied (instead of limited to traditional elements), transitions are smoother, and so are brakes. And of course, the efforts spent on theming have become ever more impressive over time for parks that care about that. There are notable exceptions of course, but it seems like you can generally trust any post-2010 or even post-2000 coaster to offer a lot better ride experience than any equivalent pre-1990 ones. Especially if you take age into account as well.
Of course, I know that this position could be objectively wrong from many standpoints, but I feel that a ride's lifespan naturally reaches a point where it's time to end it or give it a total makeover to modern standards. Whenever an old coaster is announced to be knocked down for the construction of a new one, my immediate thought tends to be "Ooh, cool, I wonder what the new one will be like!" rather than any lament for the old one. It was pretty sad to see the Blackpool Wild Mouse go before I could ride it, of course, but I don't think there are that many oldies left that could evoke similar feelings. The world marches on, and when comparing the new to the old you can usually see the advancements that have happened in the field in the meantime.
Basically: I can't really get excited for any coaster made before 1990 or so. The revolution in computer-aided design really helped coaster designers work out the limitations their craft previously had been straddled with, and looking back at coasters from before then, it shows. Whether it's Arrow with its one-size-only elements, or bumpy old woodies whose makers long since filed for bankruptcy, or Vekomas with square turns and square wheels, old coaster seem a little bit poo in comparison to newer ones. New seats and restraints are more ergonomic, track flow is a lot better and more varied (instead of limited to traditional elements), transitions are smoother, and so are brakes. And of course, the efforts spent on theming have become ever more impressive over time for parks that care about that. There are notable exceptions of course, but it seems like you can generally trust any post-2010 or even post-2000 coaster to offer a lot better ride experience than any equivalent pre-1990 ones. Especially if you take age into account as well.
Of course, I know that this position could be objectively wrong from many standpoints, but I feel that a ride's lifespan naturally reaches a point where it's time to end it or give it a total makeover to modern standards. Whenever an old coaster is announced to be knocked down for the construction of a new one, my immediate thought tends to be "Ooh, cool, I wonder what the new one will be like!" rather than any lament for the old one. It was pretty sad to see the Blackpool Wild Mouse go before I could ride it, of course, but I don't think there are that many oldies left that could evoke similar feelings. The world marches on, and when comparing the new to the old you can usually see the advancements that have happened in the field in the meantime.
Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
This is exactly how I feel! There are a few older coasters that I absolutely love (Wild One, Blue Streak, Magnum, Beast to an extent) but generally I strongly prefer newer rides. Don't think anything in my top ten combined was built before 2000. It's a pretty unpopular opinion but I'm definitely in the same boat with you on this one.