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Most Overrated and Underrated Coasters

Marcus

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Helix
Just wondering what you guys and girls consider to be over and underrated coasters/ rides.
Overrated: The Swarm
I find it quite forceless and kind of dull, I enjoy the themeing but I often prefer themeing when a ride is more inclosed as swarm feels a little naked, it certainly isn't a bad ride however I feel it does at times get praised too much, especially by some friends of mine.
Underrated: Poseidon
For me poseidon does so much right but doesn't seem to get that much praise. It has superb themeing, the ride experience varied and can get you wet without completely drenching you. I feel a poseidon type coaster would be great in a UK park. I also don't find it to be rough.
 
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Overrated: Infusion/PMBO
I can't really decide between the two, but the former is as rough as hell and it has a poor marketing gimmick with it being over water (It's actually just a bunch of puddles). The latter, is just dull and does nothing for me.

Underrated: Th13teen
I love this coaster. It's not a great thrill ride, but it is a great family coaster with a nice theme. The drop is pretty cool and it's actually one of my favourite coasters at Towers.
 
For me poseidon does so much right but doesn't seem to get that much praise. It has superb themeing, the ride experience varied and can get you wet without completely drenching you. I feel a poseidon type coaster would be great in a UK park. I also don't find it to be rough.
As much as I like Poseidon, I felt its rougness really let it down. I felt very uncomfortable in my seat after a re-ride... #GeekPost
 
Just moved this thread to Rest of the World Parks and Attraction as it's not specifically to do with Towers!

In terms of overrated coasters, I feel that Tonnerre de Zeus at Parc Asterix is very overrated (at least from my experience).

:)
 
Can only speak on British parks as only one's I've still managed to visit :mad:

I think Swarm is underrated by definition of the fact it's really misunderstood as a ride. It's like a midway point between a B&M inverted & air.

As such, with the much discussed theme elements, I think it gets an unfair rap as a package I find it enjoyable.

Nemesis of course is over rated.

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Interesting point of view TheMan on the swarm being a cross between a B and Minvert and a flyer, everyone I seem to speak to really praises the ride even though I feel its average so I dont feel it to be underrated at all. If Nemesis is going to be overrated anywhere this is where it is going to be (not agreeing with yourself just saying this going to be a hotspot for nemesis fans).

I think sometimes we have a tendency to sometimes overlook rides that are on our door step as we have ridden them lots and so they lose their over fresh value. This also works the other way in my opinion if you have travelled a long way you are less likley to go on a ride and say it sucks as you want to justify the long trip.
 
Interesting point of view TheMan on the swarm being a cross between a B and Minvert and a flyer, everyone I seem to speak to really praises the ride even though I feel its average so I dont feel it to be underrated at all. If Nemesis is going to be overrated anywhere this is where it is going to be (not agreeing with yourself just saying this going to be a hotspot for nemesis fans).

I think sometimes we have a tendency to sometimes overlook rides that are on our door step as we have ridden them lots and so they lose their over fresh value. This also works the other way in my opinion if you have travelled a long way you are less likley to go on a ride and say it sucks as you want to justify the long trip.


Depends on what you expect from the Wingrider B&M class of rides. It's certainly not intense, and it's not as floaty as air, but it does feel pretty unique and as I say I do love that first drop. The end is extraordinarily boring though - it feels a bit like 3/4ers of a ride, so it's not me basing it on wow it's amazing, it's more that I feel it could be judged more on what it's supposed be - rather than how Thorpe marketed it.

Also, Nemmy was a troll ;)

I love it, it's impossible to over rate, it's an industry defining moment. Whether it still stands up to other coasters as one of the best in the world nowadays, I don't know, not ridden enough - but I can't imagine riding a coaster as much as I have that and STILL not getting bored with it.

Especially on a dark night when she just seems to ramp her intensity up to 11 - quite why that is I am still not sure, there's just something uniquely genuinely magical about that ride, where all things just came together to create a near perfect coaster.

Utterly impossible to over rate. :)

Just. Genius.
 
Wow, I was trolled, you would of thought the 50ft troll face would of been a give away but it wasn't enough :grin:. Yet to do nemesis when it is dark so feel I am slightly missing out, do you know if they have the blood streams for scarefest? As when I finally got back to Alton since being a child they had removed the blood. (I last went as a child in 2000/2001 before returning to the park in 2014 so it had changed quite a bit and it gave a some what unique view point having such a gap in attendence as to what had remained and what had changed)
 
Wow, I was trolled, you would of thought the 50ft troll face would of been a give away but it wasn't enough :grin:. Yet to do nemesis when it is dark so feel I am slightly missing out, do you know if they have the blood streams for scarefest? As when I finally got back to Alton since being a child they had removed the blood. (I last went as a child in 2000/2001 before returning to the park in 2014 so it had changed quite a bit and it gave a some what unique view point having such a gap in attendence as to what had remained and what had changed)

I don't think they're allowed to use it anymore.

Missing out is an understatement, it's absolutely blisteringly fast and intense (well feels it anyway) on a late cold dark autumn evening.

Most rides feel faster in the evening, but Nemesis is just peak coaster at that point.

Only other ride I've heard consistently rated as something spectacular in the dark, is Helix.
 
Air is overated. Th13teen is underated as well as the park Gardaland. Enthusiasts moan so much about areas and Oblivion: The Black Hole but there is so much theming. It immersises guests like me and I believe that it deserves to be a lot more popular. I keep deciding if I prefer Gardaland or Alton Towers. Another underated park is Chessington with enthusiasts only moaning and not considering how good the park actually is.
 
Looks like I need to get myself up for some scarefest or whenever the park is open later (as the main attraction would be the coasters in the dark), trying to look at altons opening times for the next year and I guess they havn't posted them yet as it didn't really seem to make sense.

The lack of blood was one of the most disappointing things for me when returning to forbidden valley as last time I was there I dont think I was tall enough to ride Nemesis but the 2 1/2 hour queue ment there was no chance anyway, I remember seeing the rivers of blood and bricking it looking at the size of the ride, at that point in time the only other parks I had been to were chessington and legoland and they had nothing like nemesis. The queueline was packed out and seemed to strech across the entire valley. They were advertising a new coaster coming soon, I thought it was going to be like a bobsleigh at the time as the landscaping at the time made it look like so and there were no pictures or peices of track yet, I might some time type a little bit on here about the differences I noticed from such a gap in visiting times.
 
Another underated park is Chessington with enthusiasts only moaning and not considering how good the park actually is.

You have this all wrong.

It is the decline of the park that enthusiasts are concerned with, rightly.

Go and find the pics of Dragon Falls when it first opened, then look at it now. It was absolutely stunning and world class theme especially for the time. It SET a standard.

As well as Vampire/Prof Burp etc.

Chessington was another world class level park, that's now a patched up miss match of it's former glory.

What's happened to Chessie is nothing short of disgraceful.
 
Air is overated. Th13teen is underated as well as the park Gardaland. Enthusiasts moan so much about areas and Oblivion: The Black Hole but there is so much theming. It immersises guests like me and I believe that it deserves to be a lot more popular. I keep deciding if I prefer Gardaland or Alton Towers. Another underated park is Chessington with enthusiasts only moaning and not considering how good the park actually is.
I also feel chessington is underrated as I find it a lovely little park, I don't think it is overlooked by the general public as it gets really busy in summer time and I have gone in the easter break and known it be pretty packed.
 
You have this all wrong.

It is the decline of the park that enthusiasts are concerned with, rightly.

Go and find the pics of Dragon Falls when it first opened, then look at it now. It was absolutely stunning and world class theme especially for the time. It SET a standard.

As well as Vampire/Prof Burp etc.

Chessington was another world class level park, that's now a patched up miss match of it's former glory.

What's happened to Chessie is nothing short of disgraceful.
I do think you are right, I still enjoy the park a hell of alot but that may be down to a bit of nostalgia, last time I went on dragon falls it certainly looked ran down.
 
Overrated: (controversial!) big thunder mountain (DLP) - don't get me wrong, some of the theming is amazing, but there is virtually no story line, and its a pretty dull ride asides from the theming (it's a kids coaster, but still). Just my personal opinion, but I think it's overrated.

Underrated: th13teen - just really echoing @TedTheHuman here, but I find it more fun than many other coaster (including Rita). And the drop gives it more anticipation than nemesis.
 
Underrated: th13teen - just really echoing @TedTheHuman here, but I find it more fun than many other coaster (including Rita). And the drop gives it more anticipation than nemesis.

Different kind of ride, but I do love that anticipation!

Always makes me giggle, & I will not forget the first time I took a couple of people on there who didn't know what went on and did actually think the ride had finished when it entered the crypt, and that it was a bit lame :tearsofjoy:

I just looked at him and said "Sorry".

He looked at me puzzled...

He wasn't a coaster fan really anyway.

Stupidity over marketing that ride. AGAIN.

RUINED it. If you're going to do something like that, accept you can't market it like normal - not let GM effing TV or whatever it was do a LIGHTS ON PREVIEW ffs.

*facepalm*

So yeah for those who don't know, especially, it was a fantastic experience.
 
Overrated: Actually a very difficult decision, a toss up between a certain Swedish woodie that was considered to be the "world's best" for a number of years when airtime aside, it's mediocre at best. However just nipping it to the winning post is...

Shambhala.

No matter where I rode it, what time of day I rode it or how loose the restraint was when I rode it, I couldn't find this "GREATEST RIDE EVA!111!!!" attitude some bizarrely label it with. Now there's no doubting half its UK fan base are all 12-year-olds idolising our notable globe-trotting entrance host who haven't actually been on it, and that's where the problem lies. The cascade of thoughts and opinions onto an audience of brain washed numpties makes the ride sound much grander and titular than it actually is, and I was sadly underwhelmed by a country mile whilst riding, despite its merits and overall enjoyment factor.

Underrated: Lisebergbanan.

An utter riot of fun and joy. Not only is it lively and entertaining to ride, but it boasts a grand and memorable station (even if its repetitive cattlepen does dampen its spirits) and to boot, is perched atop a beautifully themed restaurant. Its location integration will ensure there is never a ride quite like it, and I could happily spend hour after hour on board enjoying it for everything it offers. If Lisebergbanan was a physical human being, I would imagine it to be a humble gentlemen who you'd strive to meet up with over a pint once a week and hear its fascinating stories, laughing at its jokes and basking in its general amicable presence. This ride is criminally under discussed across the world.
 
Overrated: Expedition GeForce (top of Mitch Hawker for how long?). Fair enough, it has a great drop and a fantastic first hill. But the whole coaster is marred by the series of turns following it, which just seem like a waste of space. They should've stuck to out and back hills, and made it a dedicated airtime coaster rather than one with a few standout moments but that leaves you disappointed in the middle.

Underrated: Chinese Fireball at IOA. Tried to pick something here that hasn't been mentioned yet. This coaster has a feature that as far as I have yet seen, no other B&M invert has - a huge airtime hill (following the Immelman). And what a glorious one it is at that, and what follows is as far as I'm concerned a very solid invert. Probably not up to Montu standards as far as Florida goes, but it's most certainly up there amongst the top 10 in the world. And please B&M, do more of those hills on inverts!
 
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