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Coaster selections where their quality defies their size

Matt N

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. Often, when picking your favourite coaster selection, you can be spurred towards picking a park with a huge quantity of credits as your favourite; the more creds on offer, the better, right? But sometimes, parks can defy this logic. Sometimes, a park can have tons of credits on offer, but you’re not overly enamoured by many (or any) of them, and on the other side of the coin, a park can sometimes have relatively few credits, but still feel like it has a really strong coaster selection due to just how many of those credits you really like. So my question to you today is; what parks have you visited that defy the expected rule of “higher quantity of credits = stronger coaster selection” in either of the ways I specified above?

In terms of my own answers for this; I might struggle with this, as I’ll admit that this isn’t something I often think about (and I’m also yet to visit a park with a phenomenally huge coaster selection; my current highest number of ridden creds at a park is 10).

For quantity over quality; I’m going to throw in a slightly controversial choice and go with Blackpool Pleasure Beach as my nominee for this. Don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciate and admire the history of Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s coaster lineup, but for my personal tastes and what I personally enjoy in a coaster; I have to say that I think BPB’s selection, while big and varied, would be a vastly less compelling proposition for me if it didn’t have Icon. My current average rating out of 10 for the 10 Blackpool credits I’ve ridden (I’ve only done one side of Steeplechase) is 4.6/10, and that includes the 10/10 rated Icon. I’ll admit that’s possibly a harsher metric to assess Blackpool’s coaster selection by than how I actually feel about it, but for me, too many of the rides there are either incredibly rough or just not really my type of coaster for the park’s coaster selection to sit super highly for me. That’s not to say that Blackpool’s coaster selection is bad by any means, but given the park has 10 coaster credits that I’ve ridden, there’s not too much there that I truly love, or that sits highly in my coaster rankings.

For quality over quantity; I’ll admit I struggled a little more with this one, so this might look like a slightly out-there choice to some, but I’m actually going to go with Paultons Park for this one. You might think I’m insane, but hear me out for a second. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing at Paultons that sits super, super highly for me; no top 10 candidates or anything. But for what the park aims to be (a family park aiming to provide fun for everyone), and given the size of their selection, I think they have a pretty solid coaster selection, personally; I wouldn’t say there are any real weak links within Paultons’ lineup. All 4 of their bigger coasters, while nothing earth-shattering in the sphere of thrill rides, are really good, solid, fun rides that just about anyone can enjoy, in my opinion; even including the somewhat smaller and less interesting Cat-O-Pillar, which I rated a definite peg lower than the other 4, my 5 ridden Paultons coasters have an average rating of 6/10 (although I did not ride Dino Chase, and I am also missing the new for 2022 Farmyard Flyer), which is surprisingly my 2nd highest average coaster rating for any park in the UK (highest is Alton Towers, with its 10 ridden credits scoring an average of 6.8/10). Do I think Paultons has the 2nd strongest UK coaster selection overall? No, and the stat I just gave above does show the flaws of using average rating out of 10 as a way of assessing the quality of a park’s coaster selection. Do I think Paultons has a really high-quality selection of coasters given the selection’s size and general target demographic, however? Definitely! They have a very strong selection of all-round family fun coasters, in my opinion; while nothing there is earth-shatteringly thrilling by any means, all of their coasters are good fun, in my opinion, and certainly put a smile on my face!

I can’t technically count this, as I haven’t ridden the two new coasters that are making me include this, but I were to revisit now they’ve added the two Intamins, I dare say that Islands of Adventure might also qualify for “quality over quantity”. Based on my 2014 & 2016 visits, across which I’ve accumulated Hulk, the two Dragon Challenge coasters (now defunct), and Hippogriff, the selection’s current average score for me is 5.5/10, but if I removed the two defunct DC coasters from the equation and assumed a rating of 10/10 for both of the new Intamins (I’ll be generous here, as they both look stunning and are rated highly on the whole!), the selection’s average score would go up to 8/10! And even if I left in the two defunct DC coasters, it would still be 7/10, which is still among the higher average scores I have! I also feel that for a park with only 5 coasters, Islands of Adventure now looks to have a pretty well-rounded selection in terms of demographics catered for; you have Pteranodon for the smallest guests, Hippogriff as a step-up from Pteranodon, Hagrid’s as a step-up from Hippogriff, and then you have VelociCoaster and Incredible Hulk in the top thrill band! When I last went, there was very little middle-ground between Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge/Hulk. While this is of course conjecture on my part as I haven’t done VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s and I’m also missing Pteranodon (although I’m not sure I ever intend on getting that one), IOA looks like it would certainly be in with a fair shout for “quality over quantity” if I were to revisit!

But what parks would you say defy the “more credits = stronger coaster selection” rule for you?
P.S. Sorry for the slightly confusing title; the one I was originally going to go with was too long, and I couldn’t think of a better way to sum the thread up more succinctly. I essentially mean “coaster selections that are quantity over quality and coaster selections that are quality over quantity”.
 
Energylandia is the definition of quantity over quality. In fact, it ought to be their official tagline.

Phantasialand is an obvious candidate for quality over quantity. Obviously this is dictated by the size boundaries, but I wouldn't say any of their coasters are appalling (Crazy Bats/TOTNH apologist. Sorry not sorry). Obviously top level theming takes the precedent rather than ride quantity.
 
A weird one, but Pleasurewood Hills, considering it's a small park has a solid lineup. A classic boomerang (with newer trains), a Maurer wild mouse, a well themed Tivoli and even a very rare Schwarzkopf to top it all off. Nothing too mad but for a small park it's definitely a nice lineup
 
I'd go ahead and say that Disneyland Paris has a very good line up. Hyperspace Mountain and BTM are fantastic coasters and indiana Jones is a fun ride that isn't horrendous. It also has a kids cred to provide something for everyone

I agree with this, Disneyland Paris gets a bad rap from people in general just because it doesn't have as many rides as Magic Kingdom and hasn't had many new attractions in years, but it is a magical park with so many good rides (and so many examples where the like-for-like equivalent ride is the best of all the Disney parks). I agree, it's coaster line up is pretty good considering the castle park only has 4 coasters (inc. Casey Jr) and Disney is not your "typical" park designed for "top thrills".
 
I agree with this, Disneyland Paris gets a bad rap from people in general just because it doesn't have as many rides as Magic Kingdom and hasn't had many new attractions in years, but it is a magical park with so many good rides (and so many examples where the like-for-like equivalent ride is the best of all the Disney parks). I agree, it's coaster line up is pretty good considering the castle park only has 4 coasters (inc. Casey Jr) and Disney is not your "typical" park designed for "top thrills".
Disneyland Paris is far superior to Magic Kingdom in pretty much every department. It's a lot more spacious, better themeing and better ride hardware.

Big Thunder and Phantom Manor are better versions of their Florida cousins. Arguably Space Mountain too.

Magic Kingdom is more 'magical' I guess and that's down to the staff.
 
Cedar Point has a great strength in depth, has about 6 coasters that would probably be the best in another park. Then you've got a good selection of other coasters.

Kennywood has a really strong line up, 3 great wooden coasters, Phantoms Revenge, and an excellently themed spinning wild mouse coaster in The Exterminator. Steel Curtain looks good when it operates as well, was still under construction when I visited.

Energylandia is bizarre, has a great top 5 but then also has 3 roller skaters, and 2 junior boomerangs. Wonder if Vekoma just give them away for free when they sell them another coaster.
 
Having just come back. Parque Warner Madrid.

Batman and the GIB are great, Superman is decent, middle row on Coaster Express is pretty alright, Corracaminos Bip, Bip and Tom y Jerry are decent smaller coasters.
 
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