Time for a bit of cross-manufacturer comparison in the rankings. This dying breed of coaster has been far from a success story in the industry, the general consensus being that they aren’t very good. This makes me sad however, as some are actually very good, plus it’s a rare and unusual experience and we know how much I care about those. If conservation status ever makes the leap over to ’80s steel coasters, I’d be happy to become an ambassador (for a select few).
The type was first introduced to Japan in 1982 by local manufacturer Togo. Two of their existing coasters at the time were given modified Stand Up trains. One of these still stands today, offering both a seated and standing experience alternately on its daily cycle, but the other has sadly been lost along with the park it called home.
Arrow Dynamics had a go at a similar concept in the following couple of years over in the USA, taking a couple of existingcoasters and attempting to retrofit them with new vehicles. Neither appeared to have much success, each operating for a single season before the ideas were abandoned. It took Togo themselves to bring the first purpose built layout over to the States in the form of King Cobra at King’s Island – a layout that was to be replicated several times both in the same region and back home.
Intamin joined the fray in 1986 at Six Flags Magic Mountain with their own version that spawned a couple of sequels, all with the same name for some reason and only one of which remains. Once the ’90s hit, it was B&Ms turn to take what they had learnt from previously helping Intamin and they went on to create the largest ever Stand Up coaster in the very same park. 1999 saw the final build of this type and there has seemingly been no desire or interest in reintroducing the concept this side of the Millennium.
Where once the pioneers were attempting to enhance the traditional sit down coasters by introducing a new riding position, these days B&M have flipped that idea on its head and have been gradually converting their originals back into sit down coasters with underwhelming results. As of writing, only 10 Stand Ups remain in operation across the world and I’m 70% of the way towards completion (sadly only one original layout left to go). Here’s the lowdown on who does it best and which ones you should catch while you still can.
#7 Green Lantern – Six Flags Great Adventure (USA)
There are many problems with the B&M models as far as I’ve experienced. Firstly, they’ve aged pretty poorly, particularly given the usual smooth and sophisticated nature of their creations. Combined with this, the restraint system is pretty diabolical, with a rock hard shoulder harness rising up on either side of your head, ready to give the ears a right good bashing on the now bumpy track. Green Lantern served this up a treat, even when I knew what to expect and thought I could handle it. For me it remains the worst ride to ever come from the manufacturer. Not a good start.
#6 Vortex – Carowinds (USA)
Aside from general discomfort, the main issue I take with the B&Ms is that they don’t do the sensation of standing any real justice. While clambering into the contraption you’re obliged to park your rear end on something similar to a bike saddle, taking some of the weight off of your legs and essentially putting you in an uncomfortable sitting position rather than actually doing what it was supposed to do in the first place. This was their first attempt and, as above, it was grim.
#5 Shockwave – Drayton Manor(UK)
The only remaining Intamin edition has similar seating issues to the B&Ms but thankfully less of the tracking issues mainly, I assume, due to the fact that it does very little with its layout – a grand total of 4 consecutive inversions and 2 corners. It has been a very long time since I rode this one and I distinctly remember being unnerved by the sensation, while not necessarily enjoying it. So it has that going for it.
#4 Riddler’s Revenge – Six Flags Magic Mountain (USA)
I persisted with B&M’s largest in the world layout and it rewarded me with semi-decent returns. Being newer it hadn’t quite been reduced to the same level of quality as the earlier models in this list and in the right seats (middle), in the right row (front), with the correct stance (brace), it turns into a long, fast paced and rather relentless multi looper with some interesting forces. I think there’s some praise in there somewhere.
#3 Momonga Standing and Loop Coaster – Yomiuriland (Japan)
It turns out Togo are the only manufacturer that did the concept justice in my eyes and they began it all with this one. You truly are just standing on a metal plate, surrounded by complicated, but not invasive, restraints and it’s an extremely surreal experience. Though the layout of this one makes Shockwave look like a masterpiece, the full force and feeling of flex through the legs in that loop is a sensation like little else in this game and I have a massive amount of respect for the madness.
#2 Milky Way – Greenland (Japan)
Kick things up a gear and you get a racing coaster that, rather than inverting, contains airtime. I’ll emphasise again that riders are literally stood on a flat surface while being subjected to said forces and as such, standing airtime is a terrifying thing, way out of the common comfort zone of a happy floaty feeling.
#1 Freestyle – Cavallino Matto (Italy)
Combine the two and you get a masterpiece. After 20 seasons of service, Canada’s Wonderland decided they no longer had a place in their hearts for this model, but thankfully it was saved from near extinction by this small Italian park. And what a gem they’ve salvaged. Though I’d had unnerving airtime on a Stand Up before, my feet had never even left the floor. On this ride, the large hill after the loop throws riders clear off of their metal plate, into the confusing but not consoling restraints, with both arms and legs flailing in a moment of pure insanity. I’ve never before had to think about how I land myself on a coaster in anticipation of the next corner and for that alone, this attraction is something truly special to the hobby. Personally I’m hoping that modern technology can revitalise this feeling some day, it certainly has potential. If not, I’d better get started on that conservation fund.
4th Dimension coasters. Ridiculous contraptions – huge, complicated and expensive, there’s a reason why only 3 have been built across the world. The prototype, X at Six Flags Magic Mountain may well have contributed to the demise of Arrow Dynamics, the company responsible for creating the concept as in the same year of its opening they were bought out by S&S, who manufactured the remaining two over in Japan and China.
Eejanaika was the first time S&S put the design back into action and in doing so they decided to go even taller and faster, while simultaneously setting a world record for the most ‘inversions’ on a rollercoaster. I use quotation marks here because these are not counted in the traditional sense, although they added an extra physical inversion to the layout in the form of a Zero-G Roll (bringing it up to 3), the remaining number of times riders are inverted is due to the rotation of the vehicles rather than the track design.
Having since tried both designs myself, this makes a massive difference to the experience, though I didn’t know it at the time of riding Eejanaika. In fact it wasn’t just this coaster that was an overwhelming typhoon of sensations, the entire day at the park did that to us. Before we talk any more about the ride, it’s probably best to mention our day at Fuji-Q as whole – we are in top ten territory here and it’s often the little extraneous details that tip these coasters over the edge for me.
Fuji-Q Highland is an absolute legend of a park to the industry, perhaps for all the wrong reasons. Over the space of 15 years they built 4 consecutive monster coasters, all big named, record breaking, headline attractions that permeated the minds of every enthusiast, something I’d argue no other park in the world has achieved with such focus.
The challenge comes however in managing to ride them all in a single visit. Countless reports come in over the years about how terrible the place is, the pain of missing out on at least one of these coasters clouding judgment on the experience as a whole, I know the feeling. The fact the big 4 are all so intriguing makes the loss even harder to bear, particularly if it comes through experiencing the way the Japanese parks handle rainy days, of which they have a huge amount. We actually won out though, I still can’t believe it to this day, but the success story is here.
Even if everything is open, the queues are monumental, though they may not look it. Capacity is not on your side. That focus on high intensity thrill rides and little else comes at a price in that there’s very few other attractions to keep guests occupied and spread the load. It’s a popular park obviously, a massive name in Japan, so when they all come for the same thing, you can expect to wait in excess of 2 hours for each and every headline coaster. If one closes? That’s another 40 minutes of people to add to the other 3. If 2 close? You get the picture.
We experienced all of this, and more. Standing in the longest queue of my career (Fujiyama), the only 1 of 4 open at that precise moment, looking out at Eejanaika which hadn’t yet moved for the day. I can’t think of a single other park that does this, and it perfectly summarises all that I’ve said above about Fuji-Q, they play parkwide announcements to say “attention guests, Eejanaika is now open.” People know what they want, they know what they came for, they want to spread the queues around and actually get on something today!
Have you ever run for a rollercoaster? I have, many times, but never in this way. Usually it’s only that initial surge at the start of the day, if you’re present when they open the gates, otherwise there’s no point right? Yet here we are, several hours in to our visit, having not ridden a single thing, sprinting like madmen towards the biggest and scariest of the lot. It didn’t work, they had already opened the queue well before the ride itself and we were faced with exactly what we had just abandoned – a multiple hour line of people in front of us. Desperation kicked in and there was a fastrack machine directly outside the entrance. We’ve come this far, we’ll have to pay our way through the day.
Why am I recounting this magnificent tale again? The fastrack ticket took us straight into the station without pause for breath and when I say these rides are legends, that’s not a guarantee that they’re good. They get mixed reviews – lots of love, just as much hate. They push engineering limits to the extreme, they could easily murder you (not literally) and for those reasons they’re downright terrifying. There was no time to mentally prepare for what was about to unfold, being batched directly into one of the holding pens to remove our shoes (also not reassuring) and then climbing into a contraption straight out of a nightmare.
The trains for this ride do nothing to instil you with any confidence. The restraints are completely unintuitive, requiring a staff member to come and strap you down in some complicated manner, fold in what can only be described as a waistcoat around your arms, across your chest and that’s it. Legs wildly dangling out the front, total freedom of movement in the lower half of your body, lap included. This does not feel right. Can you recheck this for me please? Oh, the’re playing the dispatch music and the staff are shouting “Eejanaika!” Too late, I’m going to die.
As soon as the train leaves the station it teases riders by tilting them right up onto their backs as it traverses the turn before the lift hill. Immediately I’m out of my comfort zone and that’s saying something because I’m not exactly new to this game, I’d ridden one before and had somehow suppressed almost every memory of the experience. The lift hill itself is, of course, backwards, with 240ft of steady ascent, desperately trying to work out what part of this restraint to hold onto (almost impossible), looking out at the mountains, trying and failing to calm down, not knowing when the ride will actually begin.
It begins by tilting you on your back again, as you feel the train behind you begin to accelerate and drag you toward your doom. This acceleration is paused briefly, as the seats now rotate you in the opposite direction, in perhaps the most calculated stroke of evil genius about the whole ride, you turn to face the floor just as it plummets towards the ground. This seat rotation is not refined or smooth, it bumps and jerks around with the most unusual and unnerving sensation. I’d like to say there was time to think ‘should it be doing that?’, but there’s no time to process thought at all throughout this ride and that’s what makes it so special to me.
I can’t really describe any of the rest of the layout with any form of conviction, because it’s all a wonderful blur of disorientation and pure, instinctive survival. I found myself holding on to whatever I could, as tight as I could as the train mercilessly threw me around like a rag doll. Not only are you travelling at ridiculous speeds and soaring through the air, like on any other major coaster, you’re also rotating this way and that with the accompanying bounce and wobble that comes as part of the package. True to the product name, there are 4 dimensions of sensation going on at the same time and that’s very hard for the mind to quantify.
Though you may think I’m mad for saying it, all of that which I just described is one of the best things ever. I love it. The more rollercoasters I experience over time, the more I get the feel for what each of them are going to do to me. In the most basic cases, having that visual cue in front of you of ‘oh, there’s an airtime hill coming next’ diminishes that very moment because your body expects it before it happens. I like to not see what’s coming, I like an unpredictable experience and I like a ride that feels out of control.
Eejanaika does ALL of that and then leaves me questioning what sensations I even like about it. It’s not an airtime machine – you can’t say I love those thigh bruising hills. It’s not intense in the traditional sense – you can’t say I love that head crushing helix. It’s not a visual masterpiece or heavily themed – you can’t say I love looking at the surroundings (once it begins). It has no moments. It is a moment. From start to finish. There are very few other rides in the world that are in any way like that (2 to be precise, maybe the Freespins to a much lesser extent) and I can personally confirm that this version takes it to the greatest intensity of any of them. That killer combination of unique and extreme is why this coaster holds a top ten spot in my heart. It’s almost impossible to compare to everything else around it, but I just know that it has to be there, somewhere.
Merlin Entertainments, the infamous chain that most enthusiasts in the UK love to hate for the current sorry state of our local theme park situation. The company acquired all of the existing Legoland parks in 2005, a major Italian park in 2006 and then the Tussauds group in 2007, which contained the other three key British players and a bonus German park. Their main efforts since those acquisitions have gone towards spreading the Legoland brand further across the globe and attempting to saturate the market with ‘Midway Attractions’ such as the almost inescapable Sea Life and Dungeons properties.
Aside from that there has been a varying degree of investment into the more thrill oriented parks since that time, with a particularly strong focus on B&Ms, doom and gloom themed attractions, becoming almost synonymous with the colour grey, the use of shipping containers and more recently wood on fire. Their time at the helm of the UK parks has coincided with my general decline in interest in visiting them, but to declare that this is entirely their fault would only be confirmation bias on my part – I’ve changed an awful lot myself since owning my first Merlin Annual Pass and we simply don’t know if things would have been done better by anyone else, though obviously they could have.
I’ve actually made the conscious decision to pass on a couple of Legoland parks (the horror) during my more recent travels simply due to a cost/time/benefit analysis. The brand of course comes at a high price with so much to offer to a local family and comparatively so little to offer me – 2 or 3 small creds. It just hasn’t been worth the detour. Those parks aside it took until the latter half of 2019 for me to finally visit all of the major European parks under the Merlin name, so now the list can begin.
#7 The other Legolands
As I alluded to in the introduction, I haven’t been visiting these parks as of late and it’s a shame. By nature, Legoland lends itself to being the quintessential theme park experience with imagination, theming and storytelling being inherent properties of their attractions. It’s not Legoland without looking like Lego or having Lego characters in it – the hand is forced. But you can tell these parks are a business model and not a passion project simply by the fact that every single one has the Dragon coaster in a castle land, the Xtreme Racers coaster in a lazily decorated land, and all with the same appearance. It would have been nice for someone to have been tasked with imagining and creating a unique signature attraction for each and every park that was built but sadly that’s not the world we live in. Where this creativity does come to life a bit more however is in the Miniland areas of each park. As evidenced by a recent documentary on British television about the Windsor property, each park has a team of dedicated model builders and creators that seemingly get to project their own imagination into at least a proportion of the designs that guests see. They usually contain a more regional showcase of landmarks and attractions so you can at least tell which part of the world you might be in by walking around one of these showcases of Lego wonder.
One other positive I have come across so far is in the water ride selection of the parks I have visited. Viking’s River Splash (Windsor), Jungle X-Pedition (Deutschland) and Dino Island (Malaysia) each happened to have a different piece of hardware with an alternative theme and they are above average for attractions of their nature, and that’s great. I just wish, as ever, it had translated to some of the coasters and dark rides.
#6 Legoland Billund
And it did just that for the exception to the rule. The original Legoland park built on the home of Lego itself contains a rollercoaster gem in the form of Polar X-plorer, a quality Zierer family coaster with a drop track section, showing that it is indeed possible to throw a little spice into the mix every now and then. This attraction combined with a strong showing of the now common other dark rides made this particular park feel a little more fleshed out and special amongst the brand for me. I’m looking forward to visiting the Florida property one day to try their inherited little wooden coaster, hopefully that one can fall under this category too.
#5 Chessington World of Adventures Resort
I have such history with some of these parks now and it’s rather difficult to put things in perspective. Rather than the usual spiel about how I haven’t properly visited for 10 years nor have they invested in anything that interests me across that time period, I shall focus on the positives. Dragon’s Fury is one of my favourite UK coasters and I actually miss it rather terribly. It’s one of the best examples of Maurer spinners in the world and Mega-Lite even worked on it for a year so I feel like I know it better than almost any other ride in the world. Oh, and the animals are nice. That is all.
#4 Gardaland
This Italian property appears perfectly competent as a theme park, but it lacked a certain spark. There’s no denying that the two B&Ms contributed by Merlin have made the place vastly more attractive to coaster enthusiasts, though the following Fabbri spinning mouse was certainly more questionable. The main issue we found with the place was that it just didn’t hold our interest. There’s a wide range of attractions and none of them a were standout, even the dark rides. Little niggles here and there like operational issues and queue jumpers wore us down before the day was out and though I appreciate Gardaland for what it is, there’s currently no desire to return.
#3 Thorpe Park
I do genuinely like a lot of the rides here and I’d still want to visit regularly just because it’s nearby and fun, but I haven’t had the motivation any more with latest changes in pricing, passes, operations (and investments). It’s coming close to 10 years now since we’ve had a new rollercoaster, which you’d think would be somewhat of a focus for the ‘thrill capital of the UK’. Sadly Thorpe Park have been having a bit of an identity crisis as of late, one year focusing on becoming more family friendly, pushing them away again the very next and then overly relying on intellectual properties to attract guests as opposed to good, solid, tried and tested attractions.
#2 Alton Towers
On paper this should be the best by now, but Wicker Man was a personal blow to me and I’ve just grown so tired of the place. I’ve already praised the lineup on here for being so nice and varied and they have 2 of Merlin’s best (Nemesis, Hex), though I never really found anything joyously rerideable here even in its heyday. On quiet days now I get bored and leave early. On busy days I get annoyed and leave early. There’s a lot more of the latter now and very little balance. Sure, this may well apply to all of these parks if you went enough times, but I don’t feel like I’ve overdone Alton to be honest. It just never feels worth the effort once I’m in it. First timers? Go nuts, but watch out for the hideously short operating hours. It has the potential to be a world class park, but it’ll try its hardest not to give you that experience.
#1 Heide Park
I think more so than any of the other parks in this list I found this one just a nice place to be. Being German it can’t help also being well operated and there’s a good selection of rides, many of which are stand outs for what they are. The B&M combo here is by far the best investment from Merlin in my eyes – the presentation, the soundtracks and the hardware all surpass anything else they’ve done in the chain for me. In the same corner we have Scream, one of my favourite drop towers out there. I’d get excited just standing in the presence of one of these monsters and that’s a highly sought after trait in a park for me. It’s a shame they’ve ruined Colossos, which is now by far the worst of it’s type, it has/had the potential to be the best single attraction across the entire company, but I suppose it’s still worth a few goes to flesh out the day. I hope that now the mess of cleaning it up is out of the way, the focus can shift to investing in something truly great again, but it’s anyone’s game at this point – one truly exceptional attraction at any of the top 4 parks in this list could potentially tip the scales for me. The question is, who and what will it be?
If you know what my favourite ride is then there will be no suspense as to how this list turns out. Using what I consider to the best trains in the business, these LSM launch coasters began life as a prototype at Mack’s own testing ground and world renowned theme park – Europa Park. That particular example has spawned at least 7 other clones throughout Russia, Asia and soon to be Australia (with a twist), but with the subsequent addition of multi launch and passing launch features there’s some other massively varied layouts out there already for this model, and what a model it is.
I have successfully ridden all of the unique layouts across the world so far, if we don’t count Slinky (RCDB hasn’t and I’m not going to argue it just yet). It felt like a bit of a personal mission to make this happen as I have been so enamoured with the ride type over the past few years. In the earlier stages I may well have declared it my overall favourite kind of coaster but I think as none of them ever come close to touching the #1, a couple of other manufacturers have slipped into the foreground since. Not to say these aren’t amazing of course, nearly all of them can be found in my top 10% in one form or another – let’s take a look.
#10 Manta – Sea World San Diego (USA)
Ahh, the sight of those trains has me excited already. This one was, temporarily, the last in the set for me and the first ever multi launch version of these creations. And therein lies the problem, for whatever reason the train has a little pause to itself as it hits the second rolling launch, slowing down before speeding up again and this threw me quite a lot. It doesn’t just upset the pacing, it stunts what should be one of the highlights of the whole experience – that sudden surge of extra momentum to let you know the ride is far from over. I still liked Manta a lot though, it’s a highly attractive package with some decent twists and turns. Fun for everyone. Of course something had to come last, even if it was really good.
#9 Star Trek: Operation Enterprise – Movie Park Germany
It feels rather harsh putting this one down here too because I massively enjoyed it. The queueline theming almost outdoes the ride experience if you’re a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation like myself, but that’s not to say the triple launch features, reverse spike, top hat, inversions, weird speed bumps and Borg cube don’t all add to it as well. It literally has a little bit of everything and that really is the core selling point of the rides in this list.
#8 Capitol Bullet Train – Motiongate (UAE)
A similar vibe to the above but it felt like the layout flowed a lot better. Each element really hits the spot from both the dead straight reverse spike to the loop and the twisty airtime hill to the Zero-G roll. Mack always seem to nail these inversions for me, they may well be the manufacturer that actually introduced me to enjoying them and that’s yet another reason there’s such a strong showing here.
To plump the list out a bit and because the accompanying theming packages are really rather variable I’m going to list out all the Blue Fire clones I’ve tried individually. I’m not cheating and posting the same ride many times!
#7 Battle of Blue Fire – Quancheng Euro Park (China)
Not China’s best effort, this one had generic dance music blaring in the indoor pre-launch section and then other than a few big crystals around the entrance, some barren land and a metal roof. I wouldn’t normally complain about things like that but we’re literally comparing the same piece of hardware four times in a row here. It’s nice that they kept a nod to the original’s name in at least. I think. I returned the favour by wearing a Europa Park shirt while riding. Not sure if anyone got the reference.
#6 Velociraptor – IMG Worlds of Adventure (UAE)
You call that barren land? This is barren land. Scorching hot desert in fact, the kind that you don’t notice while the ride is in motion but as soon as you hit that brake run, every speck of exposed skin screams at the ride to hurry up and get back inside. The pre-launch on this version had some dinosaurs on screens, hence the name, but the effect was ruined somewhat by poor timing and the door opening too early, whitewashing the projections.
Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. That’s more like it China. The indoor section (and name) again left a little to be desired, with some rather uninspired decoration of ancient(?) artifacts on a plain background, but those elephants… They’re even tied into the lore of the evening show in this park. And I absolutely love stuff like that.
#4 Blue Fire – Europa Park (Germany)
Sorry, I haven’t actually spoken about the ride yet. Well here’s the original and still the best. The launch and starting overbank are far from the strongest sensations, but they look pretty. From there it’s the classic blend of variety that make these some of my favourite rides, with graceful inversions, some surprise airtime moments then one final in-line twist that’s everything but graceful. It whips your head around with some serious intensity, waking you right up if you dare to think the rest of the ride is forceless. In my earlier, weaker days that element was almost too much for me but now I just love it even more. Why does Europa’s remain the strongest? The most elaborately themed pre-launch section, that lovely Icelandic decoration, German operational efficiency (4 trains at once? easy (the others all use 1)) but more important than any of that, for the one time out of many that it actually worked – on board music! I love the soundtrack to Blue Fire and that it’s specifically tailored to the coaster experience, synchronised with the elements and the duration of the ride. It creates an absolutely masterful moment.
#3 Icon – Blackpool Pleasure Beach (England)
Now we get serious, entering the true realm of the multi launch masterpieces and first up is my home favourite. I’ve laid out the reasons before on why this is the only coaster in the country that I actively seek out regular rerides on any more and that’s a true testament to the exciting and varied sensations it provides each and every time. Also another cracking soundtrack.
#2 Copperhead Strike – Carowinds (USA)
Just inching the lead on the above, the size, speed and footprint of these two multi launchers may lend themselves to some similarity but they’re also vastly different packages. Copperhead’s strengths lie in it’s own little pre-launch show like forebearer Blue Fire, the wackiness of the inversions – inventing brand new sensations with an insane roll out of the station and floptime in the vertical loop. On top of that we have the super weird rolling launch over a hill and seemingly random bursts of airtime anywhere in between. I don’t believe this one is paced quite as well and I almost wish they went a little harder to really show the US market what these rides can really do, but I had an absolute blast on it anyway, it recompleted the set for me (tick!) and it suits the park remarkably well.
#1 Helix – Liseberg (Sweden)
I’m guessing you saw this one coming. As the best rollercoaster on the planet for me, Helix redefined my hobby, almost 1000 different coasters ago now, and it hasn’t been touched since. Location, layout, pacing, power. This is THE Mack launch coaster. Please, let’s have another one this good some day.
Currently home to more rollercoasters than anywhere else on the planet, Magic Mountain has long been an absolute must visit for any coaster enthusiast. It happened to be my first real US mega park visit, throwing me in at the deep end on an overwhelming number of attractions to tick off in a day – and it failed me. It was busy, most of the operations were slow and some rides were out of action.
I anticipated such an outcome however and allowed a full second day to really get a measure of the place. Even if you did manage completion in a single visit there’s no way you’d get very well acquainted with any of the highlights. It was on this day that I found myself bouncing around the many standout attractions and appreciating the quantity of both significant and interesting coasters that they have.
You know I like to acknowledge that sort of thing in these park lists and particularly after visiting a few other Six Flags since, this fact stands out far more than any other park in the chain which tend to stick to a formula of 1-3 ‘headline attractions’ and then a lot of cloned filler. So here we go – let’s tackle the biggest of them all.
Just before we begin, note that Apocalypse will not be included as it was closed for the construction of West Coast Racers during my visit. Two for the price of one when I get back at least. Green Lantern was broken and about to be relocated (couldn’t care less). Oh, and some kids’ coaster is missing, not through lack of trying.
#15 Speedy GonzalesHot Rod Racers
The Zamperla 80STD model has become one of the foremost family coaster clones over the last 20 years, with roughly 45 of the things existing in many places throughout the world. They’ve become a bit of an ordeal for me, the more I travel and the more I find, and the layout is a bit poxy. I don’t even recall seeing Speedy himself anywhere on this thing, he’s probably a little insulted by this being his namesake. Give me a Wacky Worm any day.
#14 Road Runner Express
The Vekoma junior model has become one of the foremost family coaster clones over the last 30 years, with roughly 113 of the things existing in many places throughout the world. There’s a handful of different layouts and a few custom ones thrown in there so it’s not so bad, though I’ve likely done this particular version a dozen or so times as it has even been favoured by certain Disneyparks. I don’t even recall seeing Road Runner himself anywhere on this thing, he’s probably a little insulted by this being his namesake. At least old Wile E. is there.
#13 Superman: Escape from Krypton
On to the bigger stuff and perhaps starting with something a little controversial now, I just don’t really get excited by speed or height on coasters in their rawest form. The backwards launch of this one bumbles along at what feels like a hugely underwhelming pace, probably not helped by lack of wind in the face and then you end up vertical for a while, looking down and in my case, feeling nothing. Reverse the process, this time with lots of braking and it’s done. Classic example of breaking records for the sake of it.
#12 Gold Rusher
And for all of those reasons and more, I’d much rather ride a classic mine train. It has corners for a start, many lifts, some good terrain, a bit of interaction and comedy tracking. Things are getting solid now.
#11 Viper
Characterised by it’s unusual looking very high up loops, Viper is the first of many rides here that feels like a bit of a legend. I didn’t expect to get on with it at all, most Arrow loopers I’ve experienced are more trouble than they’re worth, but this one was surprisingly… rerideable. The entry to that first loop sure is weird and it gets a little crazy in the ducking and diving towards the station at the end. Nothing on the coasters of today but nothing really wrong with it either.
#10 Riddler’s Revenge
I said interesting in the introduction but I didn’t necessarily say good. This one did have things wrong with it, but I learnt to adapt and appreciate it for what it is. As my first experience with the now rather rare B&M stand-up coaster, a ride type I had sought after for a good while beforehand, I went in unprepared for how terrible the seating position and restraint combo is – not at all what I expect at all from the most rider friendly manufacturer out there. While not really doing any justice to the ‘standing‘ aspect of such hardware, it’s a huge multi-looper with a solid layout that feels like it goes on forever. In the right part of the train and using some tactical bracing techniques, I found it was possible to at least enjoy it.
#9 Ninja
Another Arrow I didn’t think I’d be too fussed about, as my only real experience with yet another dying ride type had been the already converted Vampire in the UK with floorless trains. It’s a classic, but it doesn’t do much. The use of terrain for this particular installation combined with the size and, I assume, target audience, puts it in a totally different league. The low down turns taken at high speed produce a substantial amount of force as the original floorfull trains swing outwards to compensate and I like the way the layout doesn’t hold back, runining itself out of steam and resorting to a second lift hill to return to the top of the mountain.
#8 New Revolution
I believe I named this one discount Lisebergbanan at the time and I stand by that statement even now. It has the Schwarzkopf vibe, sailing through the terrain and trees with a massive headline attraction interacting overhead. I’m beyond glad the trains were recently upgraded for this one (and that I missed the brief virutal reality overlay it had) as I imagine any form of shoulder restraint (or screen on my face) would have put me off it. As it stands, the world’s first modern vertical loop now has everything it needs to be appreciated fully.
#7 Batman: The Ride
I’ve already covered this famous clone a few times on here and the Magic Mountain edition was a decent example, though not the best. As a highly solid B&M Invert layout that’s always enjoyable it’s not worth writing home about, particularly across the Six Flags repertoire.
#6 X2
Let’s throw some more controversy into the mix. I think most people that don’t rate this ride extremely highly find it too intense or even rough. I’m the opposite – I was utterly underwhelmed. How? There’s so much to unpack about X2 that I’ll probably save for another time, but know that I came into this legendary attraction from a very unusual position. I had already ridden both of the S&S4D coasters out there and this is the original Arrow prototype. Tons of expection both on ride experience and the overall presentation package (station music, soundtrack, atmosphere) led to tons of disappointment. None of this delivered on any level for me (mostly because it wasn’t even there) and the ride itself has got nothing on it’s two children. Don’t get me wrong though, if you’re anyone else in the world, I’m sure you’ll love this insane creation.
#5 Goliath
‘Better than it ought to be’ trumps ‘not as good as it should have been’ on this list. As another legend of the industry, something about this one drew me in. On paper it’s not even very good – the layout seems a poor use of 255ft by modern standards with many, many corners and only really one airtime moment to speak of. I found the golden spot was in the back row though and there’s something about that drop profiling that makes this massive plummet to earth feel a lot more significant than others of this size, and bigger, that I’ve often lamented about. The speed hill was also decent fun from this position, but the second half is trimmed heavily by a mid course brake run and is rather uneventful. I believe it used to pull some serious Gs and I’d like to have given that a spin.
#4 Scream!
I’ve become very unenamored with this ride type since riding Scream! as they’re all starting to blend into one, much like a few other B&M creations. You know it’s going to be good, great even, but there’s little to get excited about when you keep coming across the same elements in the same style presented in a slightly different way. Having said that, when this car park coaster was running (they seemingly can’t be bothered to even open it half the time) I had great fun on my laps with it, particularly at night. There’s a nice flow to the whole experience and it has some above average B&M inversion moments.
#3 Tatsu
B&M feel completely different when it comes to their flying coasters however. Much more boundary pushing and just about as intense it gets, this type is where they truly excel for me. My expectations for Tatsu were high and I did love it, though mostly for the unorthodox late game pretzel loop off the side of the mountain. The location is amazing and the views are fantastic, but the first half feels a little too repetetive and I feel like it could have used the terrain better in order to be a real standout both in this park and on a global scale.
#2 Full Throttle
To have some questionable picks down the bottom you’re inevitably going to balance with a couple more at the top. I feel like Full Throttle hasn’t been that well received amongst enthusiasts due to early onset hype/potential, maybe even the obnoxious marketing? I never paid attention, turned up 5 years too late and absolutely fell for the thing. Sure it’s short, but it has a clever trick up its sleeve to compensate, one that’s definitely right up my street. The trains are great, the launch is punchy, the stupid size of the loop and sensation of running through it is mindblowing and then coming back over the same piece of track from above gives some ridiculous airtime before being comically and forcefully trimmed. I just think it’s really cool and can’t bring myself to find much fault with this one.
#1 Twisted Colossus
The inevitable winner, I’ve recently raved about this one on here at great length. One of my most favouritest coasters in the whole wide world. RMC at their best, Six Flags at their best, I could spend all day on this one and quite easily forget the remainder of the park, which is quite a statement in itself.
Tall, fast, well themed? Which aspects are the best ones to focus on when designing, building or, most importantly, seeking out a rollercoaster? The real world has boring answers like cost, capacity and marketability, but here in my own enthusiast world I like to dream about all of that being inconsequential. What if all the manufacturers made rides just for people like me?
Spreadsheet alert. This one isn’t going to be me opening up about personal preferences, I’m going to let the numbers do the talking again.
I did a (somewhat inconclusive) project like this a couple of years ago to find out which statistics or features of a rollercoaster would appear to be the most important to me out of the following: Height, Length, Speed, Elements, Inversions, Age & Theming
Does the list look familiar? It will if you’ve read this one.
The same data set that goes into making those cards was put to good use again here and two years (and 300+ creds) later I’ve decided to revisit and see if firstly I can do it better and then if my preferences have changed at all. Here’s how the slightly more refined process went down.
Every significant and unique coaster I’ve ridden sits in this list and has all of those key stats ready and waiting to be manipulated. We need to first decide which rides I would personally consider the most important in defining what I like about them and I settled on that golden Top 10% ~ish.
By hinging around my excitement rating, the control for how much I like something, we can see here that so far I’ve rated 87 coasters a 16 (out of 20) or higher and 122 coasters at 15+. 10% of my total count right now of course sits around 100 so we’ll err on the side of caution and just take the top 87 coasters to represent what I like best from a ride.
Here’s the sum of each stat against each rating and the total sum of each stat, so for example the combined height of all my coasters rated 20 is 815.4ft and the combined height of every coaster in the data set is 43,025.6ft.
Now we need to know what percentage of the data set (population) our chosen rides (rated 16 and above) represents – in this case 22.96%. Why has my top 10% suddenly got bigger? This is only because the data excludes everything insignificant or cloned, sorry Wacky Worms. Though I’ve ridden over a thousand coasters, there are only 379 ‘worthy’ entries that we’re dealing with here. How depressing.
Finally we can also see above the summed % of how each stat is represented across my chosen favourite rides – 22.96% of the coasters carry 26.26% of (or 1.25 times) the total length. We can assume from this that as rides get longer, they tend to get better. In fact, every statistic has a positive correlation here, taller = better, faster = better, well themed = better and though that’s a bit of a boring answer in itself, it makes sense. I like an all round package and increasing any one of these factors is unlikely to make me like something less all by itself.
The important question we’re asking today though is which ones are the most important? And what better way to present the final results than in the traditional list format.
#7 Elements (1.109) In the Top Trumps cards these are combined with inversions to give a single, more competitive number for gameplay but it’s easy enough to split them here for analysis. Not to be confused with the naming of a section of a ride like ‘airtime hill’, because that’s far too woolly, what’s my definition of elements here? Primarily it’s the less common features found on coasters, mainly launches, but it also includes, though not limited to, holding brakes, turntables, splashdowns, drop tracks, elevator lifts, racing etc. While these can add that extra spark to a coaster it turns out they are the least important to me when it comes to making a good ride. I am admittedly not big on launches, particularly standing ones. Aside from that, gimmicks, or unique selling points, often lead to compromise in other areas and aren’t always inherent to a quality end product, I guess.
#6 Theming (1.134) I’m a little disappointed that I appear to think so little of this one. I’m a self-confessed sucker for a good theming package but it cannot be denied that a lot of the top rollercoasters out there just don’t really have any, and that’s fine, the thrills alone are enough to satisfy us simple folk. Always a bonus though.
#5 Speed (1.144) Not a huge surprise to me, as all the fastest coasters in the world don’t tend to do a whole lot with it. Up, down and done, they’re built to break records, not change lives. Looking slightly beyond that, I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan of the ‘sensation of speed’, which does seem to work well on others. Personally I need a little more than just sitting on a ride with the wind in my face thinking “this is fast”. I’m jaded like that.
#4 Inversions (1.178) Either something has changed in me in the last two years (maybe all those RMCs) or I was getting my calculations wrong before, because the numbers originally showed no correlation between inversions and enjoyment, allowing me to dismiss them as mere nothingness – something I can give or take on a coaster. It turns out now that they are reasonably important to me and I see some truth in that, you just have to get them right, give them purpose. Corkscrews aren’t up to much these days, but Norwegians and Pretzels? Yes please.
#3 Height (1.235) Physics. Without height, you can’t have drops, and drops are good. You can’t even have terrain and we know how much I love that on a coaster. I’d definitely say there’s a certain point when you get diminishing returns (a spreadsheet topic for another day), somewhere between 200 and 300 feet, but that mainly comes down to layout limitations with material and build cost. They want to go high, yet they can’t afford to make it last. And I said we don’t want to think about those things.
#2 Length (1.250) So make it last instead. A long ride is a good ride, as long as it’s good, right? Definitely makes sense to me, if a coaster can do more with its layout then it can give me more reasons to enjoy it and more time to appreciate it. As much as I admire something full on and well paced, there’s nothing worse than hitting the brakes and saying “is that it? I wanted more.”
#1 Age (1.444) The results show that above all else I care about how new something is. What we build today is on the whole a lot stronger than what we used to get. Technologies have improved, boundaries are being pushed and I get the sense that there’s a real appreciation amongst the industry these days for making the best all rounder, not just to make that big blue one that goes loop de loop. Anyone with a keen eye may have spotted that the % of age was in the opposite direction to everything else in the data I showed above. Well I had to tweak a few things for this category to essentially prove the point that newer is better, with an inverse correlation to old age (collectively the data set has existed for 6907 years!)
This particular winner doesn’t make much sense against my earlier question of what aspect to focus on when building a coaster – focus on it being new? That’s inherent surely. I guess the closest answer to that is that I would like everyone to keep doing new things, no clones or relocations please. Though boring again, that’s a good way to sum up the above conclusion that a bit of everything is what I’m after as most new designs are ticking that box already. We’re in a golden age of coasters right now and if I ever get unleashed on the world of creds again then soon the new builds will be all I’ll have left to cling to. Can’t wait.
My favourite RMC of the moment seems to be a rather divisive one. Due to the original wooden coaster that it ended up replacing (regular Colossus), it’s so far the only one that exists to use the duelling concept and contain two lift hills within the layout. The second lift is sometimes regarded as a pacing issue and of course if you don’t actually experience the duelling aspect in action then you’re likely going to feel a bit short changed. I know that feeling all toowell. But how did I get on with it?
Well it was a very strong start. Due to the ridiculous size of Six Flags Magic Mountain, the fact that they currently own more rollercoasters than anywhere else in the world and reasonably high crowd levels (on new year’s eve no less), I didn’t actually get around to riding Twisted Colossus at all until the evening, in the dark.
Personally I think there’s a lot to be said for avoiding spoilers before you experience anything (across many other mediums as well) and this became particularly apparent for me in this instance. I had no idea what this ride did, what it’s layout contained and the resultant first lap was one of the greatest I’ve had on any coaster in recent memory. Lack of being able to see, lack of knowing what comes next and lack of anticipating each element as it comes often enhances how the sensations hit you and this was a dizzying blur of powerful airtime and delightful inversions. I still didn’t know what this ride did, but I left the park that night absolutely buzzing from it. What a way to end 2018.
As was always the plan for a park of this magnitude, I returned several days later in the trip to get further acquainted with the better attractions and dust off a couple of the more elusive ones. The bulk of the day was spent specifically back on this ride because I simply couldn’t get enough of it. Of course now seeing it in the light I can tell you what it’s really about.
The ride begins with one of RMC’s signature features, a quirky little pre-lift section of tiny lumps and bumps in the track which happen to provide far more force than you would believe possible from the size. This section alone would make many other coasters blush. (Apologies for lack/quality of photos here, I was far too overwhelmed by this park at the time)
Following the lift hill, the first drop is unnervingly sharp, steep and contains the subtlest of twists to the right. This combination provides what I’d describe as standing airtime, with most of the body being pinned up out of the seat and all the weight being supported by your feet against the floor of the train. In other words, amazing.
Without time to recover, you run into the tiniest of speed hills and this is where I begin to notice that the ride is trying to cut my thighs in half. Again, almost immediately, the train is thrust up into a much larger hill, the crest of which creates such an insane and sustained lurch out of the seat that it felt like my head couldn’t keep up with the rest of my body. This actually hurt my neck as the two were seemingly pulled away from one another. In other words, amazing.
To enhance it further, that moment also has to begin turning into one of the ride’s signature elements, the high five – two opposingly banked hills, one on each side of the track that would seemingly allow the riders of two duelling trains to touch hands with each other. Things continue to move at a very fast pace and there’s another huge drop through the structure, complete with head chopping supports, another tiny speed hill, a mega airtime hill, a glorious zero G roll, a crazy double up and one final twisted pop of airtime before you hit some brakes.
If I read through that list of elements I’d think that sounds like a fantastic ride and on most other attractions it would probably now be finished. Not in this case though, we’ve hit the second lift hill and it’s only going to start all over again.
Déjà vu. The green side of the track begins in exactly the same manner, except perhaps with an even steeper first drop. The larger hill at the end of the first straight begins to turn even quicker and hits even harder before you bank the opposite way – to complete the high five and then sharply twist back to the other direction again. This is even more intense than the first half and the directional changes here are one of the standout moments across all RMCs for me, with that really out of control feeling that I just love to find on coasters.
As if that wasn’t enough, the sensation continues into a twisted double down, you just can’t keep up with the rate at which the forces are thrown at you in this portion of the ride and I couldn’t ask for more than that. As if to break this with a moment of serenity, the train negotiates the world’s only ‘top gun stall’, a wonderful RMC inversion that keeps riders upside down for much longer than feels natural, a moment that often gives a little pause for thought – wow.
Twisted ejection, crazy double up and one final burst of airtime before you hit some brakes. Now it’s over and more often than not I’d have my head in my hands by this point. I could barely process how amazing this coaster was and moments like that are almost always a powerful indication of a top ten ride.
You may have noticed that I haven’t even mentioned any duelling whilst describing the layout and that’s with good reason. It’s because I believe even without that aspect this is the greatest RMC I have ridden to date. The raw power of each element, the perfect blend of variation between each one and that particularly out of control section of the ride that I did mention all make this their best hardware package in my eyes. So now we’ve established that, let’s talk about how you go about making a coaster of that magnitude even better!
The holy grail moment. It begins in the station. During my visit, the ride operators and attendants here were leagues ahead of any others in the park, always fighting to get the most out of the passenger throughput and with good reason. The design of the layout requires 3 trains to run optimally and with this you’ll always have one in the station and one on each of the two lift hills. They can see this coming and would often playfully announce “today you’re going to be racing… orange!” during station despatch.
As you surge through the wacky prelift section you see, up ahead on the green lift hill, an orange train working its way to the top, every rider turned round in their seat to look back at you and shout “COME ON!” The green chain lift slows to a crawl and your own blue chain lift pushes on to bring the two trains level with each other. Everyone cheers and cries “YES!!!” and subsequently begin to physically try and thrust their own train forwards using their bodies. The race is on. And it’s all planned that way, it’s simply glorious.
The roles are reversed once your own train hits the green lift hill. There’s nothing there? What’s going on? You turn round and see another collection of riders being delightfully bounced across the prelift section. They’ll have to hurry up. Your chain lift slows. “HURRY UP!” I probably sound like a 6 year old at this point but it’s that level of basal joy that makes it so special for me.
Déjà vu again. To me there are very few things better than moments of interaction with other attractions riding rollercoasters. Focusing on other moving objects is a distraction from your own experience, in this case from one of the most intense coasters on the planet, and just like with riding it in the dark or not knowing what’s coming next on that extra special first lap, it enhances what you feel during the ride.
The side by side racing at the start is only the beginning as of course there’s the high five still to come. The greatest moment for me however is the ‘mega airtime hill’ I described on the blue side interacting with the top gun stall on the green side. On one hand you’re being violently ejected out of your seat up towards another train of riders gleefully dangling above your head. On the other you’re bizarrely floating upside down over another train of riders getting violently ejected, screaming and shouting as they go. It simply doesn’t get much better than that.
I’ve officially run out of photos now but I haven’t run out of things about this ride that make me happy. One final point I feel needs mentioning again relates to an earlier comment about the restraints trying to cut my legs in half. This was again far more noticeable on Twisted Colossus over any other RMC and a true indicator of its overall intensity to me. There’s a very exclusive selection of coasters that are physically exhausting (even damaging) to ride but also earn it – the reward of having a marathon and not worrying about the consequences of bruised thighs until later is fully justified. This ride falls firmly into that category and that has since become a staple feature of any good US coaster road trip for us. I rode it ’til it hurt and then I just kept on going. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Following on from my cold and calculated list of top ten countries for coasters, I thought it would be good to follow up with some warm and fuzzy (weather permitting) examples of the actual coasters that each one has to offer, a top ten within a top ten as it were.
In order to put some closure on this series for now I have to tackle America and to be honest I’m still in my early stages of stateside exploration. Before anyone thinks “where’s Steel Vengeance?” I won’t be speculating here on what I think the answers should be (secretly hoping for the Gravity Group woodies to win out) as that’s likely a topic for another time and this lot below will purely be based on what I’ve experienced so far myself. As home turf to the current coaster Gods that are RMC, a traditional top ten of personal favourites here would be suspiciously similar to another list, so in the interests of keeping this fresh I’ve reluctantly skipped a whole bunch of their creations and opted to mix up the ride types a little by heading deeper down into my spreadsheet.
#10 Verbolten – Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Not everything over here has to be the biggest and baddest (wolf?). I’ve got a soft spot for all things with a good theme, a dark ride section or even multiple launches. Verbolten happens to tick all of those boxes and is very unlike anything else you’ll find on this list, or anywhere.
#9 Storm Runner – Hersheypark
Feels like it took forever for me to find an Intamin accelerator that actually had a layout worthy of it’s launch and after much nervous anticipation (they often break themselves) the moment finally happened on Storm Runner. With unique elements and crushing forces, this one really stands out to me as something special.
#8 GhostRider – Knott’s Berry Farm
From what I can tell, getting GCI in to retrack this legendary CCI was the best thing that could have happened to it. I only ever tried the end result (nowhere near enough times) and was amazed by how exciting and varied the layout was, exactly how I like my woodies.
#7 Fury 325 – Carowinds
While honestly not the coaster for me, I cannot deny the unique style of ride this B&M Giga brings to the table nor how much fun I had on it. It’s all a bit much when the staff are literally shouting in the station that it’s the best coaster ever, but I guess you have to be bold to draw attention sometimes and this creation certainly does that.
#6 Copperhead Strike– Carowinds
My heart lies with the Mack multi launch at the other end of the park though. Quirky in both theme and ride experience there’s a lot going on here and like Verbolten above it pretty much has everything I look for in a ride.
#5 Railblazer – California’s Great America
I can’t stay away from RMC forever can I? There’s only one layout of these off the wall single rail coasters (for now) and I don’t think you can really appreciate how ridiculous and amazing they are until you see one in action before your very eyes. As someone who cherishes the dwindling amounts of new ride types and experiences to be found in this hobby, the sensation of watching this thing zip around the course at unnatural speeds would have been enough to make this list, let alone riding it.
#4 Lightning Rod – Dollywood
Now I’ve started on them I probably won’t be able to stop. This particular RMC stands out across the whole industry for obvious reasons, namely for the launched lift, being the fastest wooden coaster on the planet and having the legendary quad down element. Also Dollywood.
#3 El Toro– Six Flags Great Adventure
Winner of the Intamin woodie collection, this monster does everything you could ever want with the ride type and provides some of the best airtime on the planet. That statement alone is the holy grail to most enthusiasts and it’ll make you wonder why that big dull green thing in the background even exists.
#2 Skyrush – Hersheypark
You can only use phrases like ‘some of the best airtime’ if there’s also a the best and that’s probably Skyrush for me right now. It’s certainly the scariest anyway, with the unnerving power of the winged seating and those one of a kind, make or break restraints that I happened to get on with ridiculously well. An evening on this thing – ain’t nothin’ else like it.
#1 Twisted Colossus – Six Flags Magic Mountain
But that phrase applies to this one at all times of the day and night. Combining the ridiculous intensity of an RMC layout with the insane joy I get from duelling coaster interactions is just about the best thing I could have hoped for in a ride. To me it’s still their greatest achievement, but I’ll be more than happy when, not if, it gets topped. Here’s to many more life changing rollercoaster road trips.
Following on from my cold and calculated list of top ten countries for coasters, I thought it would be good to follow up with some warm and fuzzy (weather permitting) examples of the actual coasters that each one has to offer, a top ten within a top ten as it were, except this one’s a twenty!
Part 1 already had some cracking rides but there’s still room for improvement, here’s my personal top ten favourites in the country so far.
#10 Coaster Through the Clouds– Nanchang Sunac Land
This massive Intamin hyper certainly blends in with the weird and wonderful look of certain coasters in China with it’s unusual turnaround at the top. While the layout seems to focus more on speed, the airtime in the first drop and on certain hills is a force to be reckoned with, and I only ever experienced these in the front! I need to visit again myself for that back row.
#9 Flash – Lewa Adventure
I’m more of a Mack hyper man myself though and this ride is a perfect testament as to why. Beautifully executed inversions, powerful airtime and a twisty section to finish – I love a variety of sensations in my layouts and this one has a bit of everything.
#8 Extreme Rusher – Happy Valley Beijing
China have been keeping these fantastic S&S air launch models all to themselves for a good while now and it was only last year that somewhere else gave it a try. As a fantastic evolution of the original in Japan which was only really built for speed, these combine THE fastest accelerating launches in the business with highly competent layouts full of airtime and other powerful forces. The world simply needs more of them.
#7 Wooden Coaster – Fireball – Happy Valley Shanghai
The original woodie in China remains one of the strongest for me. The Gravity Group combined some traditional big airtime hills in an out and back layout and then switched it up for the second half with a fantastic demonstration of what they do best.
#6 Jungle Trailblazer – Oriental Heritage Wuhu
And that was just the start of a fantastic run of coasters they’ve built in the region since. In some ways the first portion of this layout is a modernisation of the above, complete with new trains and the rarely seen inversion.
#5 OCT Thrust SSC1000
My favourite version of the S&S air launch layouts (though not the best looking one) has every element hit with maxiumum impact, never faltering. Intamin accelerators wish they could be this good.
#4 Fjord Flying Dragon – Happy Valley Tianjin
Did I mention I love Gravity woodies yet? This was the third and so far final time (sadly) that OCT/Happy Valley decided to purchase one from the manufacturer and it’s just astoundingly well tailored to my personal tastes.
#3 Wood Coaster – Knight Valley
But it’s not quite up there with the top 3, all of which currently sit in my top ten overall coasters. The set begins with this obviously lunatic inspired layout off the side of a tropical mountain. The fact that this one exists at all is nothing short of a coaster lovers dream.
My ultimate Gravity Group coaster remains the most intense woodie experience of my career. Everything they do best wrapped up into one perfectly paced package.
#1 Python in Bamboo Forest – Nanchang Sunac Land
And finally my ultimate GCI coaster. Thus far the biggest they’ve ever made and miraculously not a single foot of track is wasted. The terrain layout of this ride seemingly defies physics and remains a non-stop world class experience from first drop to brake run. Due to the location I can’t even show it to you properly, so you’ll just have to go and see for yourself.
Following on from my cold and calculated list of top ten countries for coasters, I thought it would be good to follow up with some warm and fuzzy (weather permitting) examples of the actual coasters that each one has to offer, a top ten within a top ten as it were, except this one’s a twenty!
There’s a reason China came 2nd in that list and why so far I’ve visited it more (and ridden more) than anywhere else for coasters. New parks appear on a yearly basis and almost all of them start life with an exciting headline attraction that I generally consider world class. The main issue so far is that these parks aren’t fleshed out over time, so they mostly end up stuck with just the one real pull, but there’s just soooo many of these that we’re gonna have to do a 2 parter. I’ve removed some cloned layouts and started with a bit of token intrigue, but otherwise this is just a straight list of my favourites, no time for messing around with so much to see and do.
#20 Mine Coaster – Quancheng Euro Park
With the largely over exaggerated and unfounded reputation of ‘CRAZY knock off Chinese coasters’ you can’t visit the country without at least trying a homegrown build for yourself. I’ve done the legwork to save you the suffering and can tell you now it needn’t be an SLC, they don’t require any further confirmation. My personal favourite at the moment is from the lesser known Beijing Jiuhua Amusement Rides Manufacturing Co., Ltd. with this surprisingly intense and, as far as I’m aware, (almost?) entirely unique mine train model. I found it both enjoyable and refreshing, in a sea of 500 Vekoma/Golden Horse mine train clones at least.
#19 Starry Sky Ripper – Joyland
Now let’s move onto some proper coasters. The B&M flyer that changed the game for the ride type, introducing the ridiculous 540° twist and loop combo that feels ridiculously out of control and intense in such an unusual riding position. Superman’s got nothing on World of Warcraft.
#18 Euro Express – Romon U-Park
The idea of Kanonen with a lift hill didn’t get me particularly excited but having lap bar restraints and then sticking it indoors amongst some mind blowing theming and interaction makes it a vastly superior experience in every way.
#17 Jungle Dragon – Happy Valley Chongqing
China’s woodie game is insane and has played a major part in my ever growing appreciation for attractions of this type. A large part of what I relish about visiting is tracking down these monsters and spending as much time as physically possible on them, so the list is going to be full of this stuff. We begin here with a quality terrain GCI sprawled across a large hill. The unique bonus feature about this one is that you have to take a lift from the queue to get to the station.
#16 Parrot Coaster – Chimelong Ocean Kingdom
As the most accomplished B&M wing coaster I’ve experienced to date, I admire the range of forces provided by the parrot as it weaves it’s way through the attractive theming and landscaping. This is such a good looking coaster and it’s great to ride too.
#15 Dauling Dragon – Happy Valley Wuhan
The first on here of much Gravity Group goodness out there, this time in a duelling format. It probably won’t be easy to experience this pair at their best unless you come on a very busy day (which will present you with a totally different set of issues). Even if you only manage the one side like I did, it’s still a fantastic ride.
#14 Jungle Trailblazer – Oriental Heritage Jinan
It was inevitable that this name was going to appear and it’ll be cropping up a few more times before we’re done here. I’ve already described the key differences of all the Jungle Trailblazers elsewhere on the site so all you need to know here is that each and every layout is worth the effort.
#13 Harpy – Xishuangbanna Sunac Land
I was never sure if this one was worth the additional effort of an internal flight. It’s about as far away from the rest of the world as you can get in terms of cred hunting but I can confirm that I was super glad I made the effort. Don’t be fooled by the similarities to a certain clone, it has a couple of surprises up its sleeve and is also perfectly paced.
#12 Dinoconda – China Dinosaur Park
If you ever hope to complete the current set of 3 Arrow/S&S 4D coasters then you’ll have to give Dinoconda a spin. These super rare contraptions are very unlike anything else in the world and if you have any appreciation for the most extreme types of hardware in the hobby I highly recommend savouring the moments of pure disorientating madness on these as often as possible.
#11 Soaring With Dragon – Hefei Sunac Land
Yes, there’s a lot of dragons out here, but how can you resist the face on the front of this one? This Intamin triple launch coaster is huge, fast and full of wonderful sensations. How can there still be 10 more to come? Click here to find out.
