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Coaster Poll Round 1 Group 5
- Thread starter Martin
- Start date
Cheese
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Helix, Liseberg
My top two here are Colorado Adventure and Jetline. Colorado is the family coaster, proudly telling Big Thunder Mountain where to go and stick itself since 1996. Jetline is...frankly, not as good as Knightmare was on a purely track and train basis, but it's still great and is a much better all-rounder. Where it lacks Lisebergbanan's charm, it makes up for it with positive Gs.
So, the others:
Piraten - I haven't done an actual Intamin Megalite, despite eyeing this particular one up for years. I imagine it's great, but probably not as comfortable or efficiently operated as the Mack ripoff.
Cu Chulainn - looks pretty damn good, but not so good that I'd go to a park which hasn't got very much specifically to do it, and reviews from those that have done that seem to indicate that I'm thinking along the right lines.
Karacho - You know how top scans are boring when they're slow and unpleasant when they're set to face melter? Gerst Infinity coasters seem a bit like that. An example of the latter would be Karnan, though the insanity of it at least gives some redeeming qualities. Sadly this is the former; it needs a bit more power in the launch to make it do something interesting, and the lap restraints still dig into your thighs between the launch and brake run.
Olympia Looping - this would be a great ride even if it stayed in one place, and the fact that the thing comes apart, goes back together again in a different place and rides so well every time is phenomenal. It only loses points for those 'hunchback starter kit' restraints.
So, the others:
Piraten - I haven't done an actual Intamin Megalite, despite eyeing this particular one up for years. I imagine it's great, but probably not as comfortable or efficiently operated as the Mack ripoff.
Cu Chulainn - looks pretty damn good, but not so good that I'd go to a park which hasn't got very much specifically to do it, and reviews from those that have done that seem to indicate that I'm thinking along the right lines.
Karacho - You know how top scans are boring when they're slow and unpleasant when they're set to face melter? Gerst Infinity coasters seem a bit like that. An example of the latter would be Karnan, though the insanity of it at least gives some redeeming qualities. Sadly this is the former; it needs a bit more power in the launch to make it do something interesting, and the lap restraints still dig into your thighs between the launch and brake run.
Olympia Looping - this would be a great ride even if it stayed in one place, and the fact that the thing comes apart, goes back together again in a different place and rides so well every time is phenomenal. It only loses points for those 'hunchback starter kit' restraints.
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
This is tough. I'm definitely going for Piraten as I've always thought that the Mega Lites look brilliant. Then I think I am going to go for Cu Chulainn as it is a long woodie with decent pacing throughout.
Karacho just misses out. Olympia Looping is good but I feel it is overrated somewhat, plus the restraints ruin the ride experience.
Karacho just misses out. Olympia Looping is good but I feel it is overrated somewhat, plus the restraints ruin the ride experience.
John
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
For the first time in several groups I'm going to choose different rides than @Cheese, no really - we're not the same person.
I've not done Karacho and though I'm a big fan of Smiler I've not heard great things about this one. It seems a bit too lethargic really.
The other 5 are all in contention for my votes.
Jetline was the first one I discounted, Knightmare was in my UK top 5 but Jetline felt a little too controlled by comparison due to the magnetic trims on each MCBR. It's still a good ride but not quite as bonkers as it should be.
Piraten is excellent, but it didn't quite live up to the hype when I rode back in 2014. I don't quite see how the mega lites consistently came so high in the Hawker poll, I suspect it's largely to do with the fact that they tend to be in smaller parks that people wouldn't expect to have a great coaster coupled with the fact that it's a good ride for its size.
That leaves OL, CA and CC, of which I've done the first two. This was a tough decision for me as they're all so different and its tough to pick one to exclude.
Cu Chulainn looks great, my slight concern is that I've not had good experiences with Gravity Group rides but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt this time.
Olympia is just what I'm looking for from a Schwarzkopf - high Gs from start to end. The restraints are poor, but pushing up on the shoulder bar keeps them in check in my experience, which makes the comfort level perfectly acceptable. It also gets my vote.
Which means Colorado Adventure just misses out, a ride which until a few years ago would have been my first pick from this group. I absolutely love the ride, but recently it hasn't quite lived up to my memory of it from my early rides. I'm not sure if it's just me or if it really isn't running as well as it used to, either way I can't justify giving it a vote from this group, though in most of the previous groups it would have been an easy pick.
I've not done Karacho and though I'm a big fan of Smiler I've not heard great things about this one. It seems a bit too lethargic really.
The other 5 are all in contention for my votes.
Jetline was the first one I discounted, Knightmare was in my UK top 5 but Jetline felt a little too controlled by comparison due to the magnetic trims on each MCBR. It's still a good ride but not quite as bonkers as it should be.
Piraten is excellent, but it didn't quite live up to the hype when I rode back in 2014. I don't quite see how the mega lites consistently came so high in the Hawker poll, I suspect it's largely to do with the fact that they tend to be in smaller parks that people wouldn't expect to have a great coaster coupled with the fact that it's a good ride for its size.
That leaves OL, CA and CC, of which I've done the first two. This was a tough decision for me as they're all so different and its tough to pick one to exclude.
Cu Chulainn looks great, my slight concern is that I've not had good experiences with Gravity Group rides but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt this time.
Olympia is just what I'm looking for from a Schwarzkopf - high Gs from start to end. The restraints are poor, but pushing up on the shoulder bar keeps them in check in my experience, which makes the comfort level perfectly acceptable. It also gets my vote.
Which means Colorado Adventure just misses out, a ride which until a few years ago would have been my first pick from this group. I absolutely love the ride, but recently it hasn't quite lived up to my memory of it from my early rides. I'm not sure if it's just me or if it really isn't running as well as it used to, either way I can't justify giving it a vote from this group, though in most of the previous groups it would have been an easy pick.
