Post-Junket, it's time for another revision. Yes, I know Junket was four months ago, but I just haven't got around to updating my top 10 until now.
1. Shambhala, PortAventura
Smooth, lots of airtime, photogenic, and the views from the top of the lift hill are simply stunning. If you can, go as close to the front as you can get - the front is easily the best place to ride it.
2. Blue Fire, Europa-Park
As a package, Blue Fire is so, so difficult to beat, My favourite launched coaster. I don't know whether or not the last inversion was a mistake, but it seals the coaster off with perfection.
3. Nemesis, Alton Towers
It's twenty years old now, but it's still a brilliant coaster. Far left seat on row 1 late at night is right up there with the best possible coaster experiences I've ever had.
4. Wodan, Europa-Park
My favourite wooden coaster. It's just so unbelievably relentless for the entire duration of the ride, and back in April, it was the fastest I've known it. Completely bats**t crazy ride!
5. Monster, Walygator
I didn't expect much from Walygator, but I was pleasantly surprised that the park was in relatively good order - the recent investment in the park's paid off. Its main attraction, a second-hand B&M invert at the back of the park, has an interesting method of keeping people out of the ride area. It's called a hedge, and it's about a foot tall. If that.
When I went, operations were pretty poor, with just one train in operation, and they didn't even batch people into the bays until everyone on the train that had come into the station had left the exit platform! Despite that, it's a cracking ride. It doesn't stop giving up until the end, and I think my favourite bit is probably on the exit of the second half of the cobra roll. Back in April, when I was there with Slaphead, Hils and Mike, we did the other coasters in the park, plus a few other rides, and then just whored Monster for a couple of hours. Well, the other coasters weren't all that great, so why not?
6. Oz'Iris, Parc Astérix
The attention to detail in the queue line is superb. The ride itself is pretty well-paced, too, and was very re-rideable. Throughput was surprisingly good, and the single rider queue was used efficiently by the ride staff. Just a shame that the staff didn't seem to do much to stop queue-jumping, although that's more of a comment on the park itself as a whole.
7. Silver Star, Europa-Park
Two years ago, this was top of my top 10 list. It's now down in seventh. This is due to other new coasters being better, and others improving for me over time as well. I also think that it was to do with the fact that the ride rendered me speechless for a good few minutes after I got off it for the first time. Still, there's no discounting the fact that it's a damn good ride, and it's visible from a few miles away. Playing 'Spot Sylvia' on the autobahn/train when travelling to EP's great fun, too.
8. Oblivion, Alton Towers
Yes, it's short. Yes, it's a bit of a one-trick pony. But it still packs a mighty punch, towering over X-Sector. Throughput may be a bit poor on the ride thanks to some interesting health & safety rulings, but this doesn't matter too much, as it hardly ever has a large queue anyway!
9. EuroSat, Europa-Park
Another mad coaster, I used to dislike it because it was rough (probably because it was boiling hot in the middle of August when I first went on it, and the dome felt like a sauna). Now, however, I like it in spite of any roughness it may have. It's fast, crazy, and the trims are rarely on. Just make sure you brace for the final brakes, as they're
very harsh.
10. Alpina Blitz, Nigloland
I found Nigloland to be a relatively charming park when I visited in April, and with a brand-new Mack coaster, it's definitely a park on the up. The baggage system used is very intuitive, and means that guests don't faff around on the ride platforms. Also, a very interesting system is used to allow disabled guests to access the ride. Basically, there's a sort of bridge-type thing which extends from either side of the track and goes over it, giving level access to the station on either side. Given that the exit goes over the track via steps and a bridge, and then via steps under the queue line, this was a necessity. The ride? It's a lot of fun. Seeing the same trains as Blue Fire on a non-inverting ride is odd, but they're brilliant trains. It's compact, yet gives a good amount of airtime, and is quite intense in places. I can see this model of coaster being very popular, and would love to see one appear in the UK at some point.
