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What is your favourite traditionally constructed (non-RMC or Intamin prefab) wooden roller coaster?

Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
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Hi guys. Within the last decade or two, two key inventions happened within the field of wooden roller coasters; the Intamin pre-fab woodie and the RMC Topper Track woodie. These innovative models altered the way in which wooden coasters were built and really pushed the boundaries of what the building material, and it's woodies from these two models that mostly seem to top wooden coaster polls. With that in mind, my question to you today is; what is your favourite traditionally constructed wooden roller coaster? What is your favourite woodie excluding the RMC woodies and Intamin pre-fabs you've ridden?

Personally, I've never ridden an RMC or Intamin woodie, so my favourite traditional wooden coaster is my favourite wooden coaster full stop; Wicker Man at Alton Towers! I love Wicker Man because it's fast, it has fun turns, some really excellent airtime moments in places, and is also relatively smooth & comfortable for a woodie! Whether Wicker Man remains my number 1 woodie after I ride Wodan in 4 days' time remains to be seen, but I think it's a great ride regardless of how Wodan stacks up for me!

But what is your favourite traditionally constructed woodie?
 
It has flitted between several over the years - Tonnerre de Zeus has been in there, Boulder Dash up there, Wodan up there, The Voyage came close, Troy was there back in the day...

I think, on balance, I would probably give it to Wodan. The ride gets amazing TLC from the Europa-Park team and rides as good today as it ever did. It's also very consistent.

Back row on Wodan - it doesn't get a lot better, although frankly it's great the front too.
 
I would probably say Ghost Rider at Knotts since it’s retrack in 2016 (rode it 2019, massive improvement from before the retrack, whenI rode it in 2913). Wodan would be a close second.
 
Some great rides on Dan's list but none as spectacular as Phoenix at Knoebels.

BPB's Wild Mouse was right up there though
 
Wodan is absolutely brilliant and seems to be very consistent (although it should be noted that it is a totally different beast, in a good way, once it has warmed up).

I think the problem with a lot of second tier woodies is their inconsistency - Zeus, Wicker Man, Megafobia all suffer from this to varying extents.

Troy is possibly my most anticipated coaster in Europe at this point. I have heard many good things.
 
I must admit, all the Wodan talk in this thread is making me very excited for Wednesday! I’ll be very interested to see how it compares to Wicker Man… I’ll report back in here when I’ve ridden it!
 
D4n said:
Wodan is absolutely brilliant and seems to be very consistent (although it should be noted that it is a totally different beast, in a good way, once it has warmed up).

I think the problem with a lot of second tier woodies is their inconsistency - Zeus, Wicker Man, Megafobia all suffer from this to varying extents.
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Never had a bad ride on Wodan. Regardless of seat or time of day.

Back row late day WM, great fun. Early front row in the cold, it's pretty much does nothing for me.
 
See, I find Wicker Man pretty consistent, myself. Regardless of ride conditions or row, it always seems to deliver! I'll admit that the back is a definite preferable row for me, but even front row tends to be pretty fun these days!

I'll agree with Megafobia, though. That might possibly be the most inconsistent coaster I've ever been on, based on my experiences; a ride at the end of a 2016 summer's day was surprisingly different to a ride on a dreary 2019 morning even in the same seat (the front row), and even middle and back on the same day in 2019 provided vastly different experiences to the front.
 
Wicker Man is largely pants in the front half of the train. It's decent enough in the back rows once warmed up - but it's not GCI's greatest creation. That isn't to say I don't really enjoy the overall experience - I do - but in the GCI's I have done, Wicker Man is not near the top of the pile. It's not the worst either - Invadr is poorer, as are some of the rough old ones.

Wodan is a different level - much taller, much faster and doesn't really have any dull moments.
 
I'd say Wodan just edges Troy for me. Both are excellent though. Mystic Timbers a close 3rd.
Shout out for the Coney Island Cyclone and just how insane it is, GCI have done some great restoration work on it.
 
When I first rode Wodan in August 2012, I found it to be very good. My most recent rides in October 2017, though, which were at park close after it had been running all day? Ooh, boy, it's a completely different beast. It's aged incredibly well, and I'm desperate to get back on it again.
 
Phoenix or Wodan. Utter masterclasses and somewhat unexpected to the first time rider.
 
Without a doubt my favourite wooden coaster that I've ridden would have to be Wodan. It's been great every time.

I also really like Wicker Man and for me it's got better since it was new. I was at Towers on a glorious sunny day about a month ago and for the first time ever I got to ride on the front row, and it delivered a great experience. Obviously not as great as Wodan, but really fun and enjoyable.

I'm also going to mention original Gwazi at Busch Gardens because it seems to have become unpopular as it aged. But when I first rode it getting on for 20 years ago it was still relatively new and I was honestly blown away by the experience. It was crazy and fun.
 
Python in Bamboo Forest has to be my top traditional woodie. I’m a big fan of GCI and this is the tallest, longest and fastest one of theirs. It’s relentless all the way through, I counted about 20 pops of airtime when I went on it in 2019.

The only downside if they dispatch every 10 minutes so I’m sure it would be even better if it had chance to warm up
 
For me it’d be Tonnerre de Zeus followed very closely by Wodan. I do worry the new trains will have an impact though. My only experience of them was Mine Blower and I found that ride pretty trash. As others have said, Wodan is consistently excellent these day (less so in its early days with the wheel experiments).

D4n said:
Troy is possibly my most anticipated coaster in Europe at this point. I have heard many good things.
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I’d be interested in hearing what you think of Troy when you get on it. I was really pumped for it, but being completely honest I came off it thinking “Well it was good. But not amazing.”. I found it a bit overhyped. There’s nothing “bad” per-se but I didn’t think it was as amazing as was made out.

I came to the conclusion that a lot of the hype I saw was when it was new. At the time it was the only modern GCI woodie most people had gotten on, and was something very new and cutting edge in Europe. By the time I came to ride it in 2016 I’d already ridden Wodan, which I find better.

Keen to get back and re-ride. Knowing what to expect this time I’m thinking I might appreciate it a little better, as I wanted so badly to love it more.
 
Has to be Phoenix for me, although Ghostrider, Wodan and The Voyage would be right up there as would TdZ, sometimes....
 
My top 5 traditional woodies would be:
  1. Wodan
  2. Troy
  3. Tonnerre de Zeus
  4. Joris en de Draak (both sides about the same for me although Water just about has the egde)
  5. Wicker Man
 
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