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Your Top Ten Coasters

Burbs said:
Someone get this boy on Helix.
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Honestly, I can't wait to ride it now that everyone's hyping it up to be way better than Icon! I also can't wait to ride Taron some day, as that's also hyped up as being way better than Icon, although having said that, Taron is an Intamin.

Icon's presently my favourite Mack coaster by some distance, but considering I've only ridden it, Cobra's Curse and Slinky Dog Dash that have been built by them post-2010, I don't think that's overly difficult; despite Cobra's and Slinky both being top-notch family coasters, in my opinion, I don't think they really stack up to the big thrill coasters I've ridden, but they weren't designed to. Icon, on the other hand, really proved to me that Mack can be a major player in the thrill industry; my #1 in the UK and my overall #2 behind Mako at SeaWorld Orlando!

The next Mack launch coaster I'm probably going to ride is Blue Fire when I visit Europa Park in 2021 for my 18th birthday; from the POVs, I'd say it doesn't look quite as good as Icon, but still a fantastic ride; definitely looks like a potential 10/10 candidate, even though Silver Star excites me most out of EP's coasters!
 
Alastair said:
What about Wodan? By far the best coaster at Europa for me, and I'd imagine most :)
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Of course I'm excited for Wodan; it looks like a fantastic wooden coaster! I'm excited for pretty much everything at Europa!

The main reason why I don't mention Wodan is because my closest comparison to it ranks lower in my present list than my closest comparisons to Silver Star and Blue Fire do. For some idea of what comparisons I'm using:
  • My closest comparison to Silver Star is Mako, my present #1.
  • My closest comparison to Blue Fire is Icon, my present #2.
  • My closest comparison to Wodan is Wicker Man, my present #11, although to be fair, that's probably not a fair comparison given their size difference; maybe Megafobia or Mine Blower would be fairer?
With that in mind, Silver Star is my most anticipated Europa coaster.
 
Matt N said:
Of course I'm excited for Wodan; it looks like a fantastic wooden coaster! I'm excited for pretty much everything at Europa!

The main reason why I don't mention Wodan is because my closest comparison to it ranks lower in my present list than my closest comparisons to Silver Star and Blue Fire do. For some idea of what comparisons I'm using:
  • My closest comparison to Silver Star is Mako, my present #1.
  • My closest comparison to Blue Fire is Icon, my present #2.
  • My closest comparison to Wodan is Wicker Man, my present #11, although to be fair, that's probably not a fair comparison given their size difference; maybe Megafobia or Mine Blower would be fairer?
With that in mind, Silver Star is my most anticipated Europa coaster.
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Fair response. I personally found Silver Star considerably underwhelming, even given the reputation it has of being one of the lesser thrilling B&M hypers. Both Shambala and Mako are leagues ahead. And on the other side of the spectrum I think the general reckoning is that Wodan is one of the best GCI's, whereas Wicker Man is undoubtedly the worst :p
 
Fair enough! I suppose Wodan looks to have a fantastically fast and sprawling layout; does it offer much airtime on those low-to-the-ground hills it has? Only asking because Wicker Man (sorry to reference the apparently inferior GCI yet again) kind of lacks it apart from the small hill after the unbanked corner. The lack of airtime is the only thing that really holds Wicker Man back for me; the pacing, transitions, smoothness and overall fun factor are all brilliant as far as I'm concerned; definitely my favourite UK wooden coaster! So if Wodan has all of that as well as some really great moments of airtime, it could rank very highly for me! Having said that, though; I've heard Wodan is quite rough...
 
Wodan is not rough, but it is very intense. It throws you around a bit and does not let up until it hits the breaks but that is what makes it so great. It is pretty much impossible for a true wooden coaster (i.e. not RMC) to be silky smooth.

There is airtime in Wodan but it varies quite a lot depending on where you sit in the train. I find that it is more noticeable towards the front of the train when you get pushed in to the hills.
 
Matt N said:
Fair enough! I suppose Wodan looks to have a fantastically fast and sprawling layout; does it offer much airtime on those low-to-the-ground hills it has? Only asking because Wicker Man (sorry to reference the apparently inferior GCI yet again) kind of lacks it apart from the small hill after the unbanked corner. The lack of airtime is the only thing that really holds Wicker Man back for me; the pacing, transitions, smoothness and overall fun factor are all brilliant as far as I'm concerned; definitely my favourite UK wooden coaster! So if Wodan has all of that as well as some really great moments of airtime, it could rank very highly for me! Having said that, though; I've heard Wodan is quite rough...
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I'm not someone who likes rough coasters by any means, however I found Wodan to be the perfect in the respect that it felt wild, out of control yet somehow refined and not at all uncomfortable. It's very much faster when riding than it looks, and indeed there is a lot more airtime than can be found on Wicker Man.

As a point of comparison, I found the likes of Thunderbird at Power Park to be midway between WM and Wodan. Slightly closer on the scale to the latter.
 
I'll admit that my comparison with Wicker Man probably wasn't the greatest, but I would personally say that Wicker Man has pretty relentless pacing in comparison to other wooden coasters I've ridden; the only one I can think of that beats it in terms of pacing is Mine Blower, and even then I wouldn't say that Mine Blower tops it by a huge margin. I've done 7 wooden coasters, including Megafobia and all the BPB woodies; I would personally say that Wicker Man has stronger pacing than all of those!

Good to hear that Wodan isn't rough, though! All of your comments do make me more excited to ride in 2021!
 
Having recently returned from my first ever trip to Europa park I preferred both Blue fire and Wodan over Silver star. I rate Shambhala and Mako much higher than Silver Star.
 
@Matt N you've rode Mine Blower - I'd say that's almost identical to Wodan in terms of roughness. Both ride exactly how a good woodie should do.

And once again I'm personally Silver Star > Shambhala.
 
RicketyCricket said:
@Matt N you've rode Mine Blower - I'd say that's almost identical to Wodan in terms of roughness. Both ride exactly how a good woodie should do.

And once again I'm personally Silver Star > Shambhala.
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Ooh, Mine Blower was fantastic, so I should love Wodan if it rides similarly! Although bear in mind I only sat in the very front row on Mine Blower...
 
Okay, in no particular order and these are likely to change my top 10 is currently:

Blue Fire (Europa Park)
Wodan (Europa Park)
Silver Star (Europa Park)
Manta (Seaworld Orlando)
Space Mountain (DLP)
Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom)
Taron (Phantasialand)
Nemesis (Alton Towers)
Icon (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
Sheikra (Busch Gardens Tampa)
 
WickerMan99 said:
Never been to America or Germany so my list won't be too interesting but here goes anyway.

Edit - wasn't happy with my list so made it a top 15 instead.

1. Dragon Khan
2. Shambhala
3. Wicker Man
4. The Big One
5. Swarm
6. Stealth
7. Nemesis (But its gotta be in the front row)
8. Kumali
9. Air
10. Infusion
11. Velocity
12. Irn Bru Revolution
13. Oblivion
14. Furius Baco
15. Saw - The Ride

Total Coaster count: 48
N.B. I haven't been on Icon yet.
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So heres my list after going to gardaland.

1. Dragon Khan
2. Shambhala
3. Wicker Man
4. The Big One
5. Oblivion: The Black Hole
6. Swarm
7. Stealth
8. Nemesis (Front row only)
9. GalacticAir
10. Kumali and Infusion
11. Furius Baco (Inside seat only)
12. Raptor
13. Saw - The Ride
14. Velocity
15. Oblivion

N.b. Havent been on Icon/Red force yet
Total credits: 54
 
It might be worth me telling you all that I'm keeping all of these lists in a spreadsheet so that I can work out TowersStreet's favourite roller coasters of 2019 at the end of the year, so if you have a list that you'd like to post, please post it as it will help massively with my little experiment! I did the same thing last year if you guys remember, so please post your lists to get your favourite coasters up in a high ranking! I will keep a tally of the lists until 31st December 2019, at which point I will start calculating averages; I hope to be able to give you the results on 1st January 2020 this year, as I'm logging throughout the year instead of trawling through all the posts at the end of the year!

P.S. If anyone's forgotten how I did this last year, here's my post revealing 2018's results: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/your-top-ten-coasters.160/page-20#post-248268

Currently, 11 of you have ranked 59 different coasters in your lists; I wonder what it will be by the end of the year?
 
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It's sooo hard to compile a top ten list. I still have several others which could make it but I had to limit to ten so here goes:

1. Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point
2. Taron - Phantasialand
3. Voyage - Holiday World
4. Lightning Run - Kentucky Kingdom
5. Der Schwur des Karnan - Hansa Park
6. A Mega-Lite - Happy Valley Chengdu, Happy Valley Shanghai, Tobu Zoo or Djurs Sommerland
7. Maverick - Cedar Point
8. Phoenix - Knoebels
9. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure
10. Flying Aces - Ferrari World Abu Dhabi
 
1. Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point
2. Maverick - Cedar Point
3. Helix - Liseberg
4. Lech Coaster - Legendia
5. Lightning Rod - Dollywood
6. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure
7. Skyrush - Hershey Park
8. Twisted Timbers - Kings Dominion
9. Storm Chaser - Kentucky Kingdom
10. Manta - Sea World Orlando
 
Right, it's the end of my coastering year and my indecisiveness, as well as having reridden some things, has led me to reshuffle my list once again. There's been no major changes, but I just decided to change a few things:

(The rides I moved are in italics):

The Top 10 (w/descriptions):

  1. Mako (Orlando) - Nearly 3 years after my first ride, this wonderful beast of a coaster still remains at the top spot for me! That might seem ludicrous given how many more rides I've ridden since, but when I delve into the ride experience, it's easy to see why this ride remains my #1; it's glass smooth and insanely rerideable, yet also forceful enough to feel as though you've gotten a kick out of it! But the main reason why it did so much for me was because it is an absolute airtime machine wherever you sit! This ride probably still has the greatest airtime I've ever experienced on a coaster; that first drop and those big hills provide ludicrously good sustained airtime, in my opinion! Mako is pretty much everything I enjoy in a coaster summed up in one ride, and even though it's nearly 3 years since I last rode, I am fairly certain that it is still my favourite coaster; plummeting over those airtime hills and down that first drop for the first time are still some of the greatest memories of my entire life! 10/10
  2. Icon - A phrase I would use to describe Icon is "jack of all trades"; I don't think it is the best coaster I've ridden in any particular category, but it is immensely good in quite a number of categories! I will admit the launches are not the greatest, but I don't think that really matters given how awesome the rest of the ride is! Icon is an extremely smooth coaster, it has very good ejector airtime, the turns are nice and whippy, the trains are excellent and the ride is very well paced, as well as being forceful enough to feel as though you've gotten a kick out of it! Overall, I think Icon is a wonderful coaster, and as with Mako above, it is exactly my sort of ride! I value fun and rerideability hugely in a coaster, and Icon is outstanding at both of these, in my opinion! 10/10
  3. Montu - An absolutely outstanding inverted coaster! Montu packs some absolutely fantastic forces and elements into its layout, in my opinion, and despite being such a big, sprawling beast of a coaster, it has just the right amount of intensity for me! It's also fantastically smooth for a coaster of its age and intensity, and some of the inversions are brilliant and unique, as well as having brilliant pacing, which I find staggering given that it's quite a long coaster! Overall, Montu is a simply fabulous coaster! 10/10
  4. SheiKra - Enthusiasts may often criticise Dive Coasters for being one-trick-ponies, but SheiKra's trick is executed fantastically, in my opinion! The vertical drop 200ft above Busch Gardens is simply fantastic, in my opinion! The ride is also decently forceful, very smooth and has a number of other fantastic elements to it that really make it a fantastic ride! Overall, SheiKra is awesome, if you ask me! 10/10
  5. The Swarm - In my opinion, The Swarm is potentially one of the most underrated coasters in the UK! Many slate it, but I absolutely adore it! It's glass smooth, decently forceful while not being too forceful, the hangtime is fantastic and it's genuinely one of the most relentlessly fun and rerideable coasters I've ever ridden! I also think that The Swarm grows on me each time I ride it, despite how much I loved it upon my first ride back in 2014! Overall, The Swarm is definitely my favourite Thorpe coaster, and such a thrilling, yet smooth and rerideable coaster, in my opinion! 10/10
  6. Mine Blower - Do not let this ride's unassuming stats fool you; Mine Blower is awesome! It's got some brilliant moments of ejector airtime and has fantastic pacing! The ride's signature inversion is also fantastic, and provides a seriously nice moment of hangtime in somewhat stark contrast to the relentless nature of the rest of the ride! Even though it wasn't the smoothest coaster I've ridden, I also didn't find Mine Blower as unbearably rough as expected; I only found it to have the slight rattle you'd expect from a wooden coaster and the odd minor jolt! However, do bear in mind that I only rode in the front, so it might vary further back. All in all, Mine Blower is a brilliant wooden coaster that's definitely worth taking a detour from the main parks of Central Florida for, in my opinion! 10/10 (Update: I decided to upgrade Mine Blower to a 10/10 because in all honesty, my level of enjoyment from it definitely matched my other 10/10 coasters, and I can't really think of anything inherently wrong with it!)
  7. Nemesis - As soon as I came off Nemesis for the first time in 2013, I knew it was a special ride for me! Even though my coaster count has increased exponentially since I first rode it, Nemesis has somehow managed to stand the test of time within my rankings! It shares many positive attributes with Montu above; it too is a fantastically paced coaster that is staggeringly smooth for its age and intensity! Nemesis is also potentially one of the most unique and artfully designed coasters I've ever ridden; even though Montu ranks slightly higher for me, I still absolutely love how Nemesis keeps on building up speed and intensity throughout the layout! It may be one of my most ridden coasters, and I may rank Montu marginally higher, but I don't think the raw thrill of Nemesis will ever grow old for me! However, the reason why I have moved it down and downgraded it to a 9 from a 10 is because despite it being very smooth for its age, I do often find that some of the transitions are slightly jarring to me. Nemesis is still a fantastic ride, though! 9/10
  8. Kraken - Another one that I personally find to be very underrated! I never hear much positivity regarding Kraken, but I thought it was brilliant! Some great inversions in there, and I remember it being very well paced with power right through to the end, even though I don't remember it being quite as forceful as some other B&Ms I've done! Overall, a brilliant B&M coaster, in my opinion! 9/10
  9. Kumba - I don't initially remember Kumba ranking insanely highly for me when I first made a top 10, but the more I think about it, the more I remember this ride being fantastic! Kumba certainly packs a punch throughout, and is reasonably smooth with some great inversions! Overall, a really good sit-down looper from B&M, in my opinion! 9/10
  10. Wicker Man - I know it may only look small, but don't be fooled; Wicker Man certainly packs a punch! I absolutely love the ride's relentless pacing and amazing transitions, and I just think it's an immensely fun wooden coaster in general! If there was one thing I would change about Wicker Man, I would add more moments of airtime, as I feel the ride's airtime is somewhat minimal in comparison to other wooden coasters I've ridden, but this is probably me being picky, as GCIs aren't really about airtime! Overall, I think Wicker Man is a superb wooden coaster; definitely my favourite UK wooden coaster! 9/10
The Top 30:

  1. Mako (SeaWorld Orlando) (10/10)
  2. Icon (Blackpool Pleasure Beach) (10/10)
  3. Montu (Busch Gardens Tampa) (10/10)
  4. SheiKra (Busch Gardens Tampa) (10/10)
  5. The Swarm (Thorpe Park) (10/10)
  6. Mine Blower (Fun Spot Kissimmee) (10/10)
  7. Nemesis (Alton Towers) (9/10)
  8. Kraken (SeaWorld Orlando) (9/10)
  9. Kumba (Busch Gardens Tampa) (9/10)
  10. Wicker Man (Alton Towers) (9/10)
  11. Nemesis Inferno (Thorpe Park) (9/10)
  12. Megafobia (Oakwood) (9/10)
  13. Stealth (Thorpe Park) (8/10)
  14. Incredible Hulk (Universal's Islands of Adventure) (8/10)
  15. Rock'n'Rollercoaster (Disney's Hollywood Studios) (8/10)
  16. Galactica (Alton Towers) (8/10)
  17. Revenge of the Mummy (Universal Studios Florida) (8/10)
  18. Oblivion (Alton Towers) (8/10)
  19. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (Universal Studios Florida) (7/10)
  20. Cheetah Hunt (Busch Gardens Tampa) (7/10)
  21. Space Mountain Alpha (Disney's Magic Kingdom) (7/10)
  22. Thirteen (Alton Towers) (6/10)
  23. Expedition Everest (Disney's Animal Kingdom) (6/10)
  24. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (Universal Studios Florida) (6/10)
  25. Slinky Dog Dash (Disney's Hollywood Studios) (6/10)
  26. Avalanche (Blackpool Pleasure Beach) (6/10)
  27. Big Dipper (Blackpool Pleasure Beach) (6/10)
  28. Manta (SeaWorld Orlando) (6/10)
  29. The Smiler (Alton Towers) (6/10)
  30. Cobra's Curse (Busch Gardens Tampa) (6/10)
So, those are my updated rankings! I'm hoping for some new additions next year, but I don't know exactly what those would be or where they would come from. Also, it is worth me noting that my ratings out of 10 are relative to my entire count.

Also, guys; you now only have two months left to post your lists before I'll be compiling the results for TowersStreet's favourite coasters of 2019!
 
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