Enter Valhalla
TS Member
Since it looks like 2021 is likely to be another year where most of our coaster riding will be taking place in our home country (which for most people on here is the U.K.), I’d be keen to know what people’s top ranked U.K. coasters are (and why).
The travel restrictions have actually really reminded me that we do have some decent coasters here in the U.K., which for many years, I’ve overlooked in favour of ones abroad.
So for me, I’d say that the real standout coasters are:
Megafobia: A very fun and wild classic. It fits perfectly into it’s surroundings and doesn’t seem to have in any way deteriorated without age, as some woodies do.
Speed: Certainly not a popular choice like the latter of Oakwood’s coasters, but I’d say Speed is one of the best Gerstlauers I’ve ridden. Easily ahead of the likes of Saw and Smiler. A far less compact layout than your average Eurofighter and providing some fantastic airtime. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but I love this ride. And I’d love it even more if it got upgraded to include Karacho style restraints.
Stealth: Despite having ridden faster launches elsewhere, Stealth still has the edge over most other hydraulic launch coasters I’ve ridden. I’m not sure if it’s because of the faster acceleration (I’ve yet to try Do-Dodonpa), or if it’s something else but Stealth’s launch just has a real kick to it which many other launch coasters don’t have.
Roller Coaster (Great Yarmouth): Not one which you usually hear discussed in topics like this, but I’d say that this is a perfect example of what a Scenic Railway should be, and I feel it deserves far more credit than it gets. The only Scenic I’d rate above it is the one at Tivoli and, like Megafobia, it’s location really adds to the overall ride experience.
Pepsi Max Big One: I deliberately saved this one till the end because I knew a lot of people would simply stop reading if they saw that I rated the Big One along the same lines as Megafobia. But genuinely, I don’t understand all the hatred that this ride gets. Yes it’s by no means the best hyper I’ve ridden, but it’s also certainly not just a monorail. Airtime isn’t present on here, but I don’t see why that’s suck a big deal for so many people. The ride does lots of other cool things and I always come off smiling. It can often be pretty intense (weather permitting) especially on the back seats. It’s the closest we have to a decent hyper coaster in the U.K. and I think it does the job pretty well.
If Wild Mouse and The Ultimate still existed, I’ve no doubt that they’d be on my list too. I’m sorry to say that I don’t include Nemesis or Smiler on this list. I enjoy both of those rides but not to the extent that I enjoy the ones I’ve listed above.
Anyway, over to you. I’m keen to hear.
The travel restrictions have actually really reminded me that we do have some decent coasters here in the U.K., which for many years, I’ve overlooked in favour of ones abroad.
So for me, I’d say that the real standout coasters are:
Megafobia: A very fun and wild classic. It fits perfectly into it’s surroundings and doesn’t seem to have in any way deteriorated without age, as some woodies do.
Speed: Certainly not a popular choice like the latter of Oakwood’s coasters, but I’d say Speed is one of the best Gerstlauers I’ve ridden. Easily ahead of the likes of Saw and Smiler. A far less compact layout than your average Eurofighter and providing some fantastic airtime. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but I love this ride. And I’d love it even more if it got upgraded to include Karacho style restraints.
Stealth: Despite having ridden faster launches elsewhere, Stealth still has the edge over most other hydraulic launch coasters I’ve ridden. I’m not sure if it’s because of the faster acceleration (I’ve yet to try Do-Dodonpa), or if it’s something else but Stealth’s launch just has a real kick to it which many other launch coasters don’t have.
Roller Coaster (Great Yarmouth): Not one which you usually hear discussed in topics like this, but I’d say that this is a perfect example of what a Scenic Railway should be, and I feel it deserves far more credit than it gets. The only Scenic I’d rate above it is the one at Tivoli and, like Megafobia, it’s location really adds to the overall ride experience.
Pepsi Max Big One: I deliberately saved this one till the end because I knew a lot of people would simply stop reading if they saw that I rated the Big One along the same lines as Megafobia. But genuinely, I don’t understand all the hatred that this ride gets. Yes it’s by no means the best hyper I’ve ridden, but it’s also certainly not just a monorail. Airtime isn’t present on here, but I don’t see why that’s suck a big deal for so many people. The ride does lots of other cool things and I always come off smiling. It can often be pretty intense (weather permitting) especially on the back seats. It’s the closest we have to a decent hyper coaster in the U.K. and I think it does the job pretty well.
If Wild Mouse and The Ultimate still existed, I’ve no doubt that they’d be on my list too. I’m sorry to say that I don’t include Nemesis or Smiler on this list. I enjoy both of those rides but not to the extent that I enjoy the ones I’ve listed above.
Anyway, over to you. I’m keen to hear.
