It's that time of week again, time for the Friday Fives. And this week, I'm going with My Top 5 Roller Coasters and My Worst 5 Roller Coasters. Yes, even for a roller coaster enthusiast like me, there is such a thing as a bad roller coaster.
My Top 5 Roller Coasters
5. Great Bear, Hersheypark
This is a bit of a sentimental choice, as it was the first coaster I went on to a) go up a significantly large first hill, and b) go upside down. I remember doing something just short of praying as the tow cable slowly brought us up to the top of the hill - I was just a bit nervous - and wondering if I had really made the right choice in the split second before the track let us go. But man, was that fun. The loop was awesome, the train made a sound like a bear roaring as we zoomed around the track...just an all-around good time. Okay, so my memory of it is a bit rosy because it was the first serious coaster I went on, yadda yadda yadda. But it was a significant step, and for that, it gets #5.
4. Expedition Everest, Animal Kingdom
I know, I know - this is not exactly an extreme coaster. BUT it's insanely fun, to the point where it should be illegal to have that much fun on a roller coaster. The backwards section is genius, and as with all things Disney, the atmosphere and level of detail is fantastic. Threat of a mythical 18-foot Yeti? No big deal - we rode this three straight times within 10 minutes during one trip.
3. Montu, Busch Gardens Tampa
Honorable mention here goes to SheiKra, which was a thrill to say the least. But as the total package, it can't match Montu. Maybe it was the time of day that we rode it - at twilight, as the sun was setting -, maybe it was the fact that we all but walked straight on, but I have an indelible memory of riding this sucker. Just a sublime experience. I will never forget how natural the whole thing felt. It's one of the smoothest rides I've ever had, and the inversions are expertly placed.
2. Kingda Ka, Six Flags Great Adventure
Honestly, if you've ridden the tallest, fastest (at the time - since overtaken the German-built Ring Racer) roller coaster in the world, it better be on your Top 5. And Kingda Ka did not disappoint. It was more of an experience than a ride, to be honest. With a wait of 2 hours, it better have been worth it. Boy, was it ever. The launch at 128 mph was incredible, the view 456 feet up was incredible, and I distinctly remember thinking on the way down through the 3/4 turn, "I feel like I'm being flushed down a toilet". I'm definitely glad the line didn't scare me off.
1. Superman: Ride of Steel, Six Flags Darien Lake (now Ride of Steel, Darien Lake)
To beat out the record-holder for the top spot, a coaster better be nothing short of jaw-droppingly incredible. And to this day, I cannot remember a coaster that was more so than this one. It combined the insane fun of Everest with the sublimity of Montu. The lack of inversions was more than made up for with the mammoth first drop. It was so good that, like Everest, we rode it 3 times in a row - 4 in all on the day we went. I've never ridden a coaster closer to perfection than Ride of Steel (Then again, I've never ridden Millennium Force).
My Worst 5 Roller Coasters
5. Rock N' Roller Coaster, Disney-MGM Studios (I don't care if the park is another name now, that's what I'll always call it)
To be completely honest, this wasn't objectively a horrible coaster. The Aerosmith soundtrack is nothing to complain about, and the launch was pretty cool. However, I feel like it got unfairly knocked down several pegs because of a series of unfortunate events. Namely, us going to Busch Gardens the day before, and riding a bunch world-class coasters (the aforementioned Montu and SheiKra, along with Kumba). Next to those, Rock N' Roller Coaster felt like a second-rater. That, and all the previews I had ever seen for it had like cool computerized scenery and stuff - while the real thing was a not-quite pitch-black cement warehouse with poorly lit street signs placed randomly along the sides of the track.
4. Superman: Ultimate Flight, Six Flags Great Adventure
Again, not objectively a bad coaster. Actually, the concept for this one is really clever (the inverted train tips forward so you're "flying"). The loop felt unlike anything I've felt on a coaster before - lying face-up towards the sky skimming along the ground is quite something - and swooping toward the ground off the first hill was pretty cool. However, another set of unfortunate circumstances made for a horrifically tense ride. In my usual display of my vast amount of common sense, I had forgotten to take off my glasses and hat prior to the ride. I remembered this being towed up the first hill, and I scrambled to get both off before we "took off". I managed to do this barely in time, and was clutched both tightly in my hands. A bit tense still, but feeling relieved, I began to tentatively enjoy the ride as we flew towards the ground. Then I noticed another problem - my medical necklace was dangling wildly outside my shirt. Knowing this was one necklace I could not afford to lose, I pinned it as close to my chest as I could without dropping my hat and/or my glasses. And just in time too, as we screamed into the loop, wherein I felt a little bit weightless while looking up at the sky. By the time we pulled back into the loading area, I had been sweating bullets the entire way - and consequently not enjoying the ride at all.
3. Batman: The Ride, Six Flags Great Adventure
This one, along with being largely unremarkable, is the piece de' resistance of many similar inverted coasters. As someone who's 6'5" with ridiculously long legs, I take up a lot of vertical room even while sitting down. Inverted coasters, like this one, that are shoehorned into a small compact space are pretty much the bane of my roller coaster riding. Instead of enjoying the ride, I'm left worrying that my legs will catch a pylon or other support, and be chopped off or otherwise horrifically injured - even though there is about zero chance of that happening, try telling me that at 50 mph whipping around tight turns with my legs flailing out. Batman is the quintissential example of this coaster, and that earns it #3.
2. Mind Eraser, Darien Lake
My experience on this coaster is best described by the comment I made to my mom after getting off the ride. It went something along the lines of this: "Well, they definitely nailed the name on that one." I don't think I've had a worse headache after riding a roller coaster, let alone any headache at all. It's not that it even shook that much, it was more that the ride was just a rough one. A lot of sudden rough jolts, turns, drops and rises did not make for a very fun trip at all. The fact that it was one of the dreaded compact inverted coasters only made it that much worse.
1. The Predator, Darien Lake
Just thinking about this one is bad news for me. We all agreed that a name change for The Predator was in the best interest of the park ownership. Something along the lines of The Chiropractor would be a more apt description of the hell that was the ride. For that's what it really was - it wasn't a ride on a roller coaster, it was a visit to the chiropractor. My God, I've never ridden a bumpier ride. It wasn't even bad circumstances on this one - the track was just that horrendous. Catching air out of your seat on a flat section is never a good thing. One word can sum this one up - Ouch.
No comments:
Post a Comment