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Coaster Poll Round 1 Group 4
- Thread starter Martin
- Start date
Sm1lingAdvocate
TS Member
Twister and RnR.
Twister is one of the rides that 90% of us seriously underestimate before going on. Probably the second best coaster at Grona Lund and the 7th best in Sweden.
Twister is one of the rides that 90% of us seriously underestimate before going on. Probably the second best coaster at Grona Lund and the 7th best in Sweden.
John
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I've done most of the rides in this group - everything apart from Red Force, which I've heard fairly negative reviews about. If it's anything like Kingda Ka, which is far too rattly to really be any good then I'm going to discount it straight away.
Sticking with the launch coasters, RnRC is a ride I used to really rate back in 2009 when I first rode, but since then it's plummeted down my rankings. The light show and on board audio is all well and good (providing you don't get the utterly dreary Sweet Emotion which kills the ride stone dead), but the actual coaster is very poor - it spends far too long ambling around doing very little after the initial inversions (which admittedly are very good). It's only my 3rd favourite coaster at DLP behind SMM2 and BTM.
After ruling out those two, I considered each of the other 4 coasters in this group.
Valkyria is a coaster I wasn't expecting to enjoy, as I don't rate any of the other small dive coasters I've done. To further lessen expectations going in I'm not a fan of B&M vest restraints either, especially on Valravn where they hold you in tight on the drop which really lessens the experience compared with the excellent drops on Oblivion or the incredible Griffon. Thankfully in this case whilst the vests distract from the drop slightly the rest of the layout is arguably the best on any dive coaster to date, better still they didn't bother with a 2nd dive unlike the larger versions, so there's more time focused on what the ride does well. The inside seats are naturally weaker than the outside seats, which is a slight issue compared with the larger models which have more good seats.
Moving on to Lost Gravity. Arguably Mack's take on the Eurofighter concept, only without the signature vertical lift/beyond vertical drop combo. The layout is excellent, with a good mix of elements and forces. The only thing holding it back is that it doesn't quite feel refined enough, particularly in the outside seats which are a little on the uncomfortable side.
That leaves the coasters I gave my votes to: Twister and Alpina Blitz
Twister looks very unassuming - it's not a tall ride by any means but it uses the height to excellent effect. All the elements are tiny so the pacing is excellent and it's full of the sudden twists and pops of airtime that I usually associate with the final third of a GCI. The extremely tight space they had to work with means the ride is constantly cutting through itself and under other rides which enhances the sense of speed, they barely even had space for a brake run so despite the moderate speed it still feels like it's got a lot to give when it reaches the end.
Alpina Blitz may not have the fame of Mack's most spectacular new ride for 2014, but it still showed just how far they had come with their modern coasters compared with the rides they were building 10 years earlier. This version of the Mega Lite coaster is just as good as the intamin version, but benefits from the vastly superior trains Mack developed for Blue Fire which unlike Intamin's contraptions never detract from the ride experience. It's a real shame other parks haven't gone with this ride system, as it seems like a layout that could easily be copied and added to any number of mid-scale parks.
Sticking with the launch coasters, RnRC is a ride I used to really rate back in 2009 when I first rode, but since then it's plummeted down my rankings. The light show and on board audio is all well and good (providing you don't get the utterly dreary Sweet Emotion which kills the ride stone dead), but the actual coaster is very poor - it spends far too long ambling around doing very little after the initial inversions (which admittedly are very good). It's only my 3rd favourite coaster at DLP behind SMM2 and BTM.
After ruling out those two, I considered each of the other 4 coasters in this group.
Valkyria is a coaster I wasn't expecting to enjoy, as I don't rate any of the other small dive coasters I've done. To further lessen expectations going in I'm not a fan of B&M vest restraints either, especially on Valravn where they hold you in tight on the drop which really lessens the experience compared with the excellent drops on Oblivion or the incredible Griffon. Thankfully in this case whilst the vests distract from the drop slightly the rest of the layout is arguably the best on any dive coaster to date, better still they didn't bother with a 2nd dive unlike the larger versions, so there's more time focused on what the ride does well. The inside seats are naturally weaker than the outside seats, which is a slight issue compared with the larger models which have more good seats.
Moving on to Lost Gravity. Arguably Mack's take on the Eurofighter concept, only without the signature vertical lift/beyond vertical drop combo. The layout is excellent, with a good mix of elements and forces. The only thing holding it back is that it doesn't quite feel refined enough, particularly in the outside seats which are a little on the uncomfortable side.
That leaves the coasters I gave my votes to: Twister and Alpina Blitz
Twister looks very unassuming - it's not a tall ride by any means but it uses the height to excellent effect. All the elements are tiny so the pacing is excellent and it's full of the sudden twists and pops of airtime that I usually associate with the final third of a GCI. The extremely tight space they had to work with means the ride is constantly cutting through itself and under other rides which enhances the sense of speed, they barely even had space for a brake run so despite the moderate speed it still feels like it's got a lot to give when it reaches the end.
Alpina Blitz may not have the fame of Mack's most spectacular new ride for 2014, but it still showed just how far they had come with their modern coasters compared with the rides they were building 10 years earlier. This version of the Mega Lite coaster is just as good as the intamin version, but benefits from the vastly superior trains Mack developed for Blue Fire which unlike Intamin's contraptions never detract from the ride experience. It's a real shame other parks haven't gone with this ride system, as it seems like a layout that could easily be copied and added to any number of mid-scale parks.
Cheese
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Helix, Liseberg
It has to be Alpina Blitz and Twister. Alpina Blitz is short but sweet, with stacks of airtime making up for the Mack rattle in the forceful first bend, and Twister packs loads of fun into an incredibly small space.
So, the others:
Lost Gravity - I wanted to love this, but the outside seats seem to wobble about a lot, to the degree that if the ride was any more intense it could get unpleasant (maybe it will with age). Perhaps those folks in Waldkirch knew this and that's why it feels a bit restrained despite its looks.
Red Force - if I didn't vote for Stealth then I'm sure as hell not voting for this, particularly as most reviews seem pretty poor.
Valkyria - when this was announced alongside Loke I was more interested in the flat, as Krake and Baron are rubbish. I was wrong to turn my nose up at it based on those other examples. If you just want a coaster that dives then Oblivion still does that better, but the layout following the drop on this is actually fast, fun and interesting. I'd have liked to vote for it, but it's just not as good as others in this group.
Brok'n Roller Coaster - APPALLING. The launch and inversions are the only interesting bits. The soundtrack and pretty lights can't mask the fact that the rest is just tediously trundling around in the dark.
So, the others:
Lost Gravity - I wanted to love this, but the outside seats seem to wobble about a lot, to the degree that if the ride was any more intense it could get unpleasant (maybe it will with age). Perhaps those folks in Waldkirch knew this and that's why it feels a bit restrained despite its looks.
Red Force - if I didn't vote for Stealth then I'm sure as hell not voting for this, particularly as most reviews seem pretty poor.
Valkyria - when this was announced alongside Loke I was more interested in the flat, as Krake and Baron are rubbish. I was wrong to turn my nose up at it based on those other examples. If you just want a coaster that dives then Oblivion still does that better, but the layout following the drop on this is actually fast, fun and interesting. I'd have liked to vote for it, but it's just not as good as others in this group.
Brok'n Roller Coaster - APPALLING. The launch and inversions are the only interesting bits. The soundtrack and pretty lights can't mask the fact that the rest is just tediously trundling around in the dark.