My top ten:
1.
Nemesis - Do I really need to justify this?
Haha! Well it was my first big coaster and I love the layout, setting (jagged rocks and rivers of blood ftw!
), backstory, soundtrack, theming (what's left), history of how it came to be, its terrific roar, the way it interacts with people queuing or stood around it and the intensity! Living under 40 minutes from it is a great bonus! I'd say that the front is my favourite place to sit as the views are incredible and it feels much more forceful to be pushed through the inversions and helix over being sat at the back. Long live Nemesis!
2.
Kumba - My Nemesis substitute whilst I was in Florida!
Very intense, beautiful surroundings, fast, well-paced, dramatic background music, the same fantastic roar as Nemesis and I'm one of a few who actually like its colour scheme. That cobra roll over the rapids walkway is to die for and I love the little flick to the left before the drop into the tunnel!
3.
Oblivion - Such a dramatic ride and it executes its job so beautifully and precise! The way it dominates X-Sector is just stunning and the theming, music, videos and build up to the drop is perfect. I rate it above Sheikra because it's just so much more intense, even though Sheikra has the amazing splashdown, second big drop and an inversion. If SW7 detracts from Oblivion's story and nature when the main 2013 season begins, I'm going to be extremely annoyed. :l
4.
Vampire - I honestly adore Vampire. The way it swoops over-head and through Transylvania is brilliant, the interaction between the two trains swinging past each other is mesmerizing, the station and theme tune are AMAZING
and I just love the jolts and swinging sensation. I also love the story of how it struggled to stay at the park and how nearby residents hate it! XD Everything about it is just so 90's and that's another reason why I love it! My favourite family coaster of all time!
5.
Grand National - Like an OAP after the medicine has kicked-in!
I love sitting at the back and being whipped straight over the hills, though I do also enjoy sitting at the front for the double dip drop. It's just an utterly mad coaster! A true classic that I hope will remain at the Pleasure Beach for years and years to come!
6.
Gwazi - My first modern(ish) wooden roller coaster and I bloody loved it!
I honestly don't understand why people hate it so much. Sure, it's not the best wooden coaster by a long shot, but it's still a really fun ride. It's not smooth, but it's not horrible and bone breaking!
Seriously, I laughed my head of on both occasions that I went on it. There's a decent amount of air time, it's got good pacing, has some nice twists and turns and with a near walk-on queue throughout peak season, who can argue?
7.
Montu - A
little overrated in my opinion, but a fantastic experience nonetheless. The loop and entrance into the batwing are the highlights of this coaster with the next best features naturally being the theming around it, the trains and the view of the ride from the car park at the end of the day as the sun catches it is breathtaking! It'd be joint with Kumba but it dies after the second loop which is a real shame. :/
8.
Stealth - The little Lucozade Alert Plus energy shot of the coaster world, delivering a nice amount of adrenaline in a very short and neat (but brilliant) package!
I love the theming, the radio station playing around the area. The views from the top are superb, as is the sensation of being pinned to your seat as you launch forward once the lights change to green! Mini Kingda Ka ftw!
9.
Saw - Nowhere near as rough as many make it out to be and I feel most of the hate towards it comes from the fact that it's at Thorpe Park. XD The dark section is bloody epic and the build to the drop is so good! My favourite aspects have to be the drop beneath the spinning blades outside, the immelmann, the theming in the queue and the entire inside part of the ride. It' rank higher if it had a more inspiring layout and more interaction with onlookers wouldn't have gone amiss either.
10.
Manta - A very aesthetically pleasing coaster (apart from the scrawlings on the walls of the queue :/ ) which makes for a fantastic welcoming attraction as you enter Sea World Orlando. The splash effect as the train swoops past is wonderful, but, come on... you know it's all about that pretzel loop!
That element is one of my favourite experiences of all time on a roller coaster and it's a shame there isn't one closer to home. :/
Rides that just missed out (in no particular order, apart from the first
):
Revenge of the Mummy - If I could add an eleventh, it'd have to be this!
The dark ride style section before the intense coaster bit is brilliant! The backwards drop needed to be bigger and steeper but the ensuing upward launch through the mist into complete darkness was awesome! I really like the sounds, effects, animatronics and the queue as well.
Hulk - If it hadn't been for the rubbish that proceeded the MCBR, this would have probably been joint second with Kumba. The launch is just sublime and it looks fantastic when stood across the lake from it or directly underneath. It has two of the most forceful loops and cobra roll that I've ever experienced on a B&M, or any coaster as a matter of fact, and that dive before the rise into the MCBR is terrific fun!
Duelling Dragons / Dragon Challenge - Two great coasters on some unsightly land with horrendous views from the top of the lift. I'd say the red side is my favourite as it packed more of a punch (especially the immelmann). An utterly gorgeous queue and they're both still very intense coasters, just not quite enough to make me add them into my top 10. The lack of duelling doesn't help its cause. :/
Colossus - Very much a Marmite coaster, but I am one of the few that enjoy it. It has one of the best soundtracks of any roller coaster on the planet in my opinion and that music. Combine that with a huge looping coaster that's shrouded in trees, walkways and Atlanteanesque buildings and I think they did a pretty damn good job with turning one of Intamin's standard looping coasters into something much more grand.
Sheikra - I've already touched on Sheikra when I compared it with Oblivion. Yes, it's bigger and longer and this, that and the other, but to me it felt very soft for such a huge ride. The second big drop is probably the highlight of the ride for me, but it's definitely all about the splashdown when you're not strapped-in!
Air - I remember watching Blue Peter on TV when John Wardley took Simon Thomas around on it and it really caught my eye. A very relaxing ride but it knows how to turn it up a notch with the fly-to-lie section and then final turns and dips next to the car park. Again, it's one of Wardley's greatest creations which interacts with its surroundings perfectly and really does take you on a journey. A truly great ride and I'm proud that my local park was able to build what is still one of the most advanced coasters on the planet! Yay for Air!
Big Dipper - Not quite enough air time on this for me, though I do adore its layout and the history of all the alterations to it. You also have to enjoy the way it's woven into the park around the Big One, Steeple Chase, Infusion and the train, etc... It also has a lovely old station and the turn after the lift look marvellous from below! I also say it's the smoothest of the big wooden coasters at the Pleasure Beach too.
Kraken - A very eye-catching ride which immediately draws your attention as you drive past the park. What let this ride down was its opening. It's simply too soft and the first drop could have been steeper. I also dislike the long trundle into the MCBR and final brake run too. However, the good points are the theming and the intense second half. The drop from the MCBR into the loop and then the tunnel is all very fast and intense and it really does make for a good ending to the coaster. That corkscrew isn't half bad either!
Wild Mouse - So cute and yet so, so brutal!
Hilarious and unforgiving; Blackpool's Wild Mouse is one of my absolute favourite rides out there. I love its uniqueness and its history, so if Mandy does ever decide to wield her axe in its direction, I don't think I could bring myself to go back.
I'd miss having to duck on the lift to avoid decapitation and having to brace in case the ride packs in and goes over the edge of one of the turns! XD This ride is very much the opposite of the ride I'm about to move on to.
Swarm - A sheep in wolf's clothing, tbh. I came very close to dropping this vastly overrated attraction into the section below, however, the first drop beneath the plane wing, the fireball, the station building (minus the vehicle wedged on the side) and the trains saved it. Beyond the first drop, the layout is uninspiring (what's with the brake run before the final helix? :l ). It's just too short and doesn't make you feel like you've been caught by alien machine... things... which (according to the adverts) can fly very fast over great distances. Swarm is just too compact, has a horrific queue and a boring entrance (that sign :l ). As much as people praise its theming, the old vehicles for it cost next to nothing to purchase which leaves the odd stall, the station and the trains. it needed to be much more immersive if they were really trying to create a sense of an alien civilisation bringing about the end of the world, but it could have been worse I suppose. It's good by UK standards, but is that really what we should be doing? :/
Two coasters that were good and bad at the same time:
Cheetah Hunt - I really don't know what happened with this ride. It has such a fantastic start and middle but the end is just mind numbingly dull. The twisting section, launches and air time hills are the highlights for this attraction.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit - Such a beautiful ride in the evening but the pointless middle section, crap ending and the queue really do ruin this coaster for me. It does have a very good "double tale" though.
I'm sure I'd have commented on Nemesis Inferno too, but I still haven't got around to riding it yet. XD I also need to go to some European parks and maybe the odd Cedar Fair and Six Flags park too! :/
