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Rank Alton's coasters in terms of ride experience

Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Hi guys. Sorry if there's already a thread like this, but I would be interested to see how you guys rank Alton's coasters in terms of the physical ride experience or just overall, if you'd prefer. I did do a thread earlier this year about ranking the coasters in terms of theming, but this one is for the physical ride itself. To get the ball rolling, here's my ranking:
  1. Nemesis
  2. The Smiler
  3. Wicker Man
  4. Oblivion
  5. Galactica
  6. Thirteen
  7. Runaway Mine Train
  8. Spinball Whizzer
  9. Rita
I haven't ridden Octonauts, so I wouldn't like to rank it.
 
  1. Wicker Man
  2. Th13teen
  3. Oblivion
  4. Nemesis
  5. Galatica
  6. Rita
  7. Runaway Mine Train
  8. Spinball Whizzer
  9. Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure
Smiler had too long lines so I was sadly unable to ride it.
 
In terms of technical achievement

1. Smiler
2. Wicker Man
3. Nemesis
4. Galactica
5. Oblivion
6. RMT
7. Spinball
8. 13
9. Rita

In terms of enjoyment

1. Smiler
2. Wicker Man
3. Galactica
4. Nemesis
5. Oblivion
6. RMT
7. Rita
8. Spinball
9. 13 (by far)

(Also not ridden octonauts)

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
 
Best ride on the ride alone is hands down nemesis
2. Smiler
3. Wickerman
4. Th13teen
5. Oblivion
6. Galactica
7. RMT
8. Octonauts
9. Rita
10. Spinball whizzer
 
  1. Nemesis
  2. Wicker Man
  3. Oblivion
  4. The Smiler
  5. Galactica
  6. Rita
  7. Thirteen
  8. Spinball Whizzer
  9. Runaway Mine Train
For me, Wicker Man is excellent and a contender for the best ride on park. However I'll still put Nemesis at the top of the list as it's more of an intense thrill ride whereas Wicker Man is more of a fun experience.

I don't rate The Smiler personally but can see its merits and it's "ok".

Anything position 5 or after I can take or leave.
 
  1. Nemesis
  2. Smiler
  3. Wicker Man
  4. Oblivion
  5. Rita
  6. Air
  7. Thirteen
  8. Spinball Whizzer
  9. Runaway Mine Train
  10. Octonauts
Nemesis is awesome. Smiler isn't as comfortable to ride but I really like the drops, long ride time and the little airtime hills. Counting the inversions while riding is good fun. Wicker Man I've only tried twice, but in my limited experience it's a good wooden coaster, of which I haven't done many. While small, it's fast and twisty enough for me. Oblivion obviously is all about the drop. Having since tried two taller Dive Coasters, I realise how much the tunnel improves the experience. Good adrenaline rush, though I've always ridden when the queue is short.

Probably quite a big drop down to Rita. A better "launch" than Icon but a far worse "coaster". Great launch but over far too quickly, the restraints aren't great and Stealth does it better. Flying on Air is cool but the coaster itself just doesn't do a whole lot. And I was lucky enough to ride Thirteen with no prior knowledge of the coaster and it was great. Now it falls flat without the element of surprise (though it's still a fine coaster).

Sonic Spinball and RMT are both good roller coasters, but unlike the bigger rides they're fairly standard experiences.

Didn't mean for that to be so long, hopefully you appreciated my review :p

EDIT: Just read it's in terms of the actual ride experience. My ranking would probably stay the same actually but Thirteen and everything below would fall further behind
 
1 Smiler
2 Nemesis
3 Wicker
4 Spinball
5 Oblivion
6 Thi3teen
7 Rita
8 Air
9 Galactica
10 Runaway

Smiler and Nemmy could be neck and neck but because its longer I went for Smiler. Wicker and Spinball are both pure fun smile on my face rides. Oblivion still scares the pants off me and 13 has grown on me after the initial disappointment. When I rode it this year I was surprised how much fun the forest section was. Rita is short but I think I prefer the twists over the top hat (why not both!). Air is a beautiful thing but I find the ride a bit boring. It would be better with VR if it was done right. Mine train is all about the tight turn and tunnel.
 
1. Smiler
2: Nemesis
3. Wicker Man
4. Runaway Mine Train
5. Thirteen
6. Spinball Whizzer
7. Oblvion
8. Galactica.
9, Rita

Smiler tops for me, never found it rough, long ride, lots going on, love the drop into the heartline roll in the station, and the second airtime hill, well worth a queue

Nemesis is classic, and as good as it's always been. Wicker Man is a fine addition to the park, quite beautiful and a good ride too.

I adore the RMT, the ride team do a great job with the atmosphere on there and varying the ride cycle, always a lot of fun.

Thirteen is great, when it's working. Spinball is bonkers, often get injured on there, but fun.

Oblivion is way too short, but what a great drop. Galactica i like a lot, yes it doesn't do much, but it's a very nice experience.

Rita too short. Great launch, i always find it head wobblingly rough at times (on the purple train), the blue one is a better experience though.
 
michaelanthony1252 said:
In terms of technical achievement

1. Smiler
Click to expand...

DpQKcbvVAAAYAza.jpg


wtfamireading-1.jpg
 
  1. Wicker Man
  2. Nemesis
  3. Runaway Mine Train
  4. Thirteen
  5. Oblivion
  6. Spinball Whizzer
  7. Galactica
  8. Smiler
  9. Rita.
Wicker Man, what needs to be said. Amazing location, brilliant efforts made with the queue to theme it (at least near the start) and to show off the ride. Good preshow, consistent theme, and followed up by an absolute brilliant coaster. A great overall package.

Nemesis, again, stunning to view off ride and from within the queue. It lost out to Wickerman though due to no attempt to explain the story to the first time rider.

Runaway Mine Train, it's a pleasant ride, it does its job, but it's theme and landscaping while not spectacular, are complimentary to the ride and the area in general.

Thirteen. I don't get it. Has something taken over thunder rock, why are we there, why are we taken into the crypt? A bit of back story is missing. For me, a few sections of Corkys track should have been left around the queue as they Thirteen had 'taken over' and you were the next victims.

Oblivion. Before the Smiler crash I would have put this at number 4 but the toned down theme doesn't impress me.

Spinball Whizzer. Very loosely themed, does the job but could be better. Love the actual ride though.

Galactica. Bizarre. Why is a space themed ride in Forbidden Valley.

Smiler. I don't see any theme. It's a concrete pit with as many inversions as would fit dumped in and somehow connected together with little thought put in to the quality of the overall ride. Then as an attempt to make it a themed experience they stick some stupid screens and flashing things in the middle. Nah I'm not buying it.

Rita. No effort what so ever. A dragster strip doesn't belong in a prehistoric section of the park. Nor does it belong in Dark Forest. No attempt to make it park of the area or tell any story because there is none to tell, it simply doesn't belong there.
 
Ignoring theme (or lack thereof) and just how much I rate the actual coasters:

Smiler/Nemesis/Rita/Spinball/Wicker Man/Oblivion/RMT/Thirteen/Galactica/Octonauts

I'm not going to explain any of that, it's just personal preference. I'll never understand why Rita is so unpopular though.
 
John said:
Ignoring theme (or lack thereof) and just how much I rate the actual coasters:

Smiler/Nemesis/Rita/Spinball/Wicker Man/Oblivion/RMT/Thirteen/Galactica/Octonauts

I'm not going to explain any of that, it's just personal preference. I'll never understand why Rita is so unpopular though.
Click to expand...

My problem with Rita is, the launch has been destroyed by countless rerides on Stealth and Baco, the layout is dull at best, it offers nothing in terms of views since the removal of the Corkscrew (anything of interest from Thirteen is hidden) the restraints are uncomfortable on the corners, airtime is very limited and it's far too short.

Don't get me wrong launched coasters can get away with being short so long as they actually do something, Stealth and it's endless clones have faster launches, a vertical hill and vertical drop, a top hat and an airtime hill packed into about 15 second's. Rita spends at least double that aimlessly rattling round a figure of eight track.

Again, Baco, another figure of eight (basically) but the airtime after the launch is insane, the G forces of the S bends are brilliant, the near miss with the tunnel matches that of Oblivion, the barrel roll offers one more thrill before a rather nice swop over the lake to finish, probably in about as long as Rita takes to do.....well....nothing.
 
1. Nemesis
2. Wicker Man
3. Oblivion
4. Rita
5. Galactica
6. Thirteen
7. Spinball
8. RMT
9. Smiler
10. Octonauts
 
1. Nemesis - unbeatable
2. Wicker Man - themeing and fun factor, great addition to the line up
3. Smiler - was running incredibly well last season
4. Air - underated, a very enjoyable coaster
5. Thirteen - my Mrs loves it so I ride it a lot nowadays, gone up in my estimations. The indoor drop always gets me.
6. Oblivion - gone off it massively, doesn't have the fear factor anymore
7. RMT - good speed into the tunnel
8. Rita - great launch, would get some amazing airtime with lap restraints. Too uncomfortable to enjoy for me.
9. Spinball - worst of all the Mauer spinners
10. Octonauts - *shrugs*
 
Nemesis - Top for fun, fear, thrills and intimidation after 25 years. A work of seminal genius. I wish she was immortal.

Smiler - ticks the boxes for fun and thrill, mantains a much coveted world record, delivers a great ride length, but lacks the fear , intimidation and sustained G Forces to top Nemesis.

Wickerman - Perfect coaster for the maximum possible demographic. Enough thrills for the fun seakers and enough fun for the thrill seakers. A well themed, entertaining all round experience.

Oblivion - Matches Nemeis for fear and intimidation, but Nemesis does so much more.

Thirteen, it was mismarketed on launch as a thrill coaster (though it worked for them), and I got caught up in the hate hype when it opened, but I was wrong. It's great fun, well themed, has a little more airtime than many people suggest, but would benefit from a longer outdoor section.

Galactica - Vastly better without the VR. Genuinely gives the freedom of flight that JW set out to achieve. Not scarey, but a little uncomfortable, especially, if you get stuck on the break run.

RMT - An ordinary ride system made great fun, via theming, staff raport and interaction with the rapids and tunnel. The last of AT coasters that I enjoy every single ride.

Spinball - Long wait times, uninspired layout, cramped seating position, uncomfortable lateral G Forces on some rides. Doesn't do a lot for me, but the first drop is OK. Doesn't feel like it belongs in a huge theme park. Closer to an attraction in a big travelling fun fair.

Rita - A launch that is more unpleasant than entertaining, boring figure of 8 layout, virtually no vertical motion, uncomfortable restraints, cramped, tiny ride cars and bruises every ride. Does nothing for me, but I know some people love it. Despite this I would rather have an extra coaster, than a replacement coaster.
 
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