Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. You may remember the other day that I created a thread about parks you like more than most and parks you like less than most, and as a follow-up to that one, I thought it might also be fun to tackle that topic from the perspective of roller coasters; so, what are some roller coasters you like more than most and roller coasters you like less than most?
I’ll get the ball rolling with some of my choices for each category… I could pull up quite a few nominees in both categories for this, but to keep it fairly short, I’ll stick to 5 coasters for each category.
Coasters you like more than most
I’ll get the ball rolling with some of my choices for each category… I could pull up quite a few nominees in both categories for this, but to keep it fairly short, I’ll stick to 5 coasters for each category.
Coasters you like more than most
- Wicker Man, Alton Towers - To most, this is seemingly an average, disappointing woodie that doesn’t live up to the cross valley plans. For me, though? My favourite ride at Alton Towers, my favourite UK and favourite all-time woodie (I can sense some controversy there… more on this below), and one of the most fun coasters I’ve ever ridden! Yes, it might not be the most intense coaster on the planet, but I think Wicker Man delivers a lot, personally; it’s fast paced from start to finish, it has really fun twists and turns, it has really comfortable trains, it’s fairly smooth in wooden coaster terms, it’s developed some surprisingly excellent airtime in recent years, particularly towards the back, and overall, in spite of most seemingly finding it a poor woodie, I think it’s the pure pinnacle of fun, and a coaster I could literally sit on all day without getting bored or feeling any unwanted side effects!
- Icon, Blackpool Pleasure Beach - The second of the 2018 UK duo also makes it in here for me! Icon is a ride that seems to have few strong fans, and many who are apathetic towards it, but one that I personally have a lot of love for! Yes, it isn’t the most intense ride on earth. Yes, the launches aren’t the strongest. However, it is the UK ride that puts the biggest grin on my face! There’s a huge number of things I like about Icon; there’s a plethora of excellent airtime moments, including some that really surprise you, the ride always feels fairly exciting (even if it’s not the fastest in sections), the trains are gorgeous, the inversions are lovely, the twists and turns are profiled to perfection, it’s really smooth, and overall, I find Icon a hugely fun coaster that puts a huge smile on my face every time! In spite of many people’s general antipathy towards it, Icon is my favourite UK coaster, and my #2 coaster of all time behind only Mako at SeaWorld Orlando!
- Rita, Alton Towers - Another Alton Towers staple, and I’ll admit that this is one I would never have included in a million years a few years back, but since getting back on it for the first time in 4.5 years back in 2020, all of my recent rides on Rita (4 separate rides across 3 separate visits) have been really quite excellent, with no real roughness issues, brutality, sore ears or headaches at all; even the worst recent ride I had only had a mild bit of bumpiness to it! My September 2021 rides in particular were really fab! I got my first front row ride, which was really quite smooth, and even my back row ride straight after only had a very mild rattle to it, which while it did make it marginally less smooth than the front row ride, was barely noticeable whatsoever; I’ve had rougher rides on Nemesis! And even notwithstanding anything to do with Rita’s smoothness; man, it’s really been putting a smile on my face lately! That launch, while not quite there on Stealth’s, admittedly, is still a rush like no other, and I actually think the ride doesn’t have a bad layout after the launch; I’ve experienced some legitimately brilliant pops of ejector on Rita, and although the drawn-out turns aren’t the most inspired, admittedly, and do partly hold it back from ranking higher for me, I think the euphoria of the launch and the airtime pops are enough to make it a really enjoyable ride that I certainly enjoy more than most! Overall, I like Rita a lot; I often feel quite sorry for it, what with how it’s seemingly become the unloved stepchild of Alton Towers’ coaster collection! And perhaps controversially, in spite of the two rides’ reputations, I notably prefer it to Stealth (more on that later…)…
- Rock’n’Rollercoaster, Disney’s Hollywood Studios - Even though most enthusiasts seemingly view this as pretty middle-of-the-road to poor, I’d had this ride hyped up to me a fair amount by my dad and sister prior to riding (they’d done the Paris version many years before and absolutely loved it to bits), and while I perhaps didn’t revere it quite as highly as they did, I must admit that unlike most enthusiasts, I most certainly see where my family were coming from on this one, as I thought Rock’n’Rollercoaster was certainly a pretty rockin’ ride (pun intended) myself! For starters, the launch felt really intense for an LSM launch; had I not known any better, I’d have presumed it to be hydraulic, and it’s easily up there as one of the most intense-feeling launches, if not the most intense-feeling launch, I’ve ever experienced! Also, I thought that the ride seemingly hurtled through the layout at fair pace, packing a thrill around every corner; those inversions and turns felt awesome! And while it had a bit of a rattle which took away ever so slightly, I didn’t think it was overly rough at all (although sitting in the front row may have helped with that)! Overall, I’ll admit that I liked Rock’n’Rollercoaster a lot; certainly more than most seem to, anyway, and it’s controversially my favourite Disney World coaster (more on that later…)!
- Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Universal Studios Florida - Most seem to think of this as complete and utter rubbish, but based on my most recent rides in 2016 (admittedly 5.5 years ago now, so my opinion may change when I reride)… I didn’t dislike it at all! Yes, it’s not one of my all-time favourite coasters as it was when I first rode in 2014 (on my first ride, HRRR really blew me away, becoming my then favourite coaster in Florida and 2nd favourite coaster of all time behind Swarm!), nor do I regard it quite as highly as some of the others I’ve mentioned in this category, but I like it, and I hold it as a solid top 25 (out of 79) and 7/10 coaster! I think the ride seems to pack a tangible sense of speed and exhilaration throughout, and I seem to remember the non-inverted loop being a really excellent ejector airtime moment, with a couple of other (admittedly notably weaker) airtime moments sprinkled within the layout too! I also don’t remember it being particularly rough, in spite of its reputation; it rattled a little, but I don’t remember it feeling overpoweringly rough by any stretch, and I have a fairly low roughness tolerance. I’ve certainly ridden many rougher coasters than HRRR, from memory! I’ll admit that HRRR perhaps doesn’t have the most interesting or eventful of layouts past the first element, and I would rank it a little more highly if it were less rattly, but on the whole, I remember quite liking it, and I certainly seem to enjoy it a lot more than most based on all the trash talk directed towards it!
- Nemesis, Alton Towers - Starting with a big, controversial one! Don’t get me wrong, I like Nemesis a lot, and I fully understand why it’s so coveted and iconic to so many people, but I don’t place it on the same godly pedestal that most enthusiasts seem to; it’s not my favourite UK coaster, and perhaps controversially, I (narrowly) prefer Nemesis Inferno. I think it’s more down to it not really being my absolute favourite type of ride more than anything else.
- Stealth, Thorpe Park - Another big, controversial UK choice! I used to love this coaster, and don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to like (the launch is sensational, the top hat airtime is excellent, and even the bunny hill into the brakes can really deliver sometimes), but my last few rides on it have been really quite bumpy, and had me coming off of it with a bit of a headache (although it’s not unbearably rough by any means; certainly smoother than Colossus). I also find the restraints dig in quite a bit by the end of the ride. As I implied above, I’ve been finding Rita noticeably smoother and more enjoyable than Stealth as of late, and I’ll admit I find it surprising that Rita has the reputation as the “rough” Intamin Accelerator in the UK! In terms of Stealth; most covet it as their favourite Thorpe coaster and among their favourites in the UK, but I’d genuinely say it’s 4th out of the big 5 at Thorpe for me based on my last visit, purely due to the increased roughness and headache factor (it’s below Inferno, Swarm and Saw, in case you’re wondering)
- Megafobia, Oakwood - Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some enjoyable rides on Megafobia, but like Nemesis, I don’t personally place it on anywhere near the same pedestal as I know many do. For many, I know that this is easily their favourite UK woodie, one of their favourite UK coasters, and one of their favourite woodies of all time, but I don’t personally hold it in that regard. My favourite row is the front, and up there, it does have some fun airtime pops, but I’ve honestly felt like Wicker Man’s have been feeling stronger lately, and that ride also has really consistent fast pacing, fun transitions, and a consistently fairly smooth ride experience, which Megafobia lacks. While Wicker Man blitzes through the layout, Megafobia feels like it has numerous dead spots throughout, and notably loses pace towards the end. I also find Megafobia pretty temperamental; on my last Oakwood visit in 2019, I had 4 rides, with 2 in the front, 1 in the middle, and 1 on the back, and the ride experience wildly varied dependant on what seat I sat in. In the front, there were some fun airtime pops and the ride wasn’t especially rough (although still perhaps a touch rickety for me to fully rate it in places); this was my favourite seat. In the middle, the ride was still not particularly rough, but just felt profoundly average, and didn’t really have much of anything sensations-wise. In the back, it had 1 or 2 more intense pops of airtime (the first drop and drop out of the turnaround in the back are some of the strongest airtime pops I’ve yet experienced), but the back was actually my least favourite row, because I found it a bit too rough for me to enjoy; to paraphrase Fawlty Towers, back row Megafobia “[gave me] a damn good thrashing”, and the roughness was considerably more overpowering in the back than in the front and middle to an extent that I didn’t expect. Overall, I don’t dislike Megafobia by any means, but I don’t personally hold it on the same pedestal among woodies as most do; of the 7 woodies I’ve done, it places 3rd for me, and a notable peg below the top 2. Controversially, Wicker Man reigns supreme among UK woodies for me by a considerable distance, even when excluding the theming!
- Expedition Everest, Disney’s Animal Kingdom - A lot of people absolutely love this, and while I do enjoy it every time I ride it, don’t get me wrong, I don’t seem to like it to the same extent as most, and it never fails to leave me feeling slightly cold and underwhelmed for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on. I’ll admit that I’ve always found the long wait for the switch track to move itself on Everest to kill the mood slightly (I personally think that Thirteen executes the backwards trick far more slickly, and I dare say that ROTM at Universal does too), and for such a long ride, I do think the actual “proper coasting” section feels surprisingly short and lacking in dynamic manoeuvres compared to even other Disney coasters, but those are extremely harsh criticisms on my part, as Everest is a Disney coaster aimed at families after all, and a Disney coaster built before switch track technology was commonplace, at that. Don’t get me wrong, Everest is a fun family coaster that I enjoy, and has spectacular theming and cool tricks, but something about it always leaves me slightly underwhelmed, and I can’t quite place what.
- Olympia Looping, Travelling - I’d heard a hell of a lot of hype for Olympia prior to riding, so that may have killed it slightly for me, but I’ll admit that I was pretty underwhelmed when I finally rode it at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland in January 2020. I won’t deny that the ride is an absolute masterpiece when you take into account its travelling status, and I feel honoured to have ridden such an influential piece of coaster history, but even though I was hoping for something that would rank pretty highly (it was almost my sole reason for visiting HPWW), it wasn’t really my cup of tea at all. I won’t deny that the ride lived up to its billed intensity, but it provided this in a very different way to what I was anticipating; it didn’t make me black out or even grey out, but it was a very weird, dizzying kind of intensity that’s difficult to describe. It wasn’t particularly enjoyable at all for me, and I felt quite nauseous and dizzy getting off. The second main con was the trains/restraints, which I wasn’t personally keen on at all. The trains are very tight legroom-wise (even for me, who isn’t especially tall at 5’9.5”), and the shoulder bars really dug in during the ride to a pretty painful extent; on my second ride, I was wincing in pain going around due to how much the shoulder bars were digging in. Overall, I get why people like Olympia, and I fully appreciate its iconic status and history, but it didn’t live up to the hype for me; when combining the weird, nauseating intensity and the painful shoulder bars, it’s not a coaster I’m especially keen on at all from a ride experience perspective. I just don’t think it’s really my kind of ride.
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