Rankings and Reviews | Heartline Coaster

Rollercoaster Ranking – Six Flags Magic Mountain

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 Gonzales** **Hot 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.

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 Disney parks. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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&S 4D 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.

‘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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Heartline Coaster 20 November 2020

What do I look for in a rollercoaster?

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.

Heartline Coaster 18 November 2020

Ride Review – Twisted Colossus

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 too well. 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 tinest 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.

Score Card

Heartline Coaster 15 November 2020

Top 10 coaster reasons to visit the USA

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Heartline Coaster 13 November 2020

Top 20 coaster reasons to visit China – Part 2

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.

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.

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.

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.

**#2 Jungle Trailblazer – Fantawild Dreamland Zhengzhou**

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.

Heartline Coaster 12 November 2020

Top 20 coaster reasons to visit China – Part 1

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.

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.

The idea of Kano n en 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.

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.

Heartline Coaster 11 November 2020

Top 10 coaster reasons to visit Germany

As we enter the top three countries the overwhelming quantity of coasters starts to climb again. Part of what makes Germany so good is the amount of trips you can make out of their lineup. Coupled with their world beating ride operations and the almighty autobahn it’s a cred hunters paradise. Whilst I will still of course be considering unique and interesting draws, the sheer number here will largely lend itself to being a list of highlights and personal favourites.

Wiegand appear to have been having tremendous success in supplying their comparatively lightweight and easy to install systems to practically anywhere in the world that contains a hill. Alpine Coasters in particular are spreading at a rate of knots and leaving enthusiasts divided in their wake – are they creds or not? (yes they are) and how can we keep up?
With Germany being home turf, the country has seen a lot of other interesting types of build from the company and this one is by far the most exciting to date. With no rider controls and an overly relaxed position, this airtime machine is unique, incredible and very German. Bucket list material for the weird and wonderful.

As both my personal favourite in the park and one of the most pacy B&M Dive Coasters out there, I’ve opted for the Krake to represent Merlin’s contribution to the German coaster scene. The aesthetic of this ride, situated within the lovely centrepiece of Heide Park’s lake, is particularly strong with fantastic music, a great looking set piece to dive into and the satisfying splash effect for extra viewing pleasure. It may be short, but it packs an all important punch.

When it comes to GCIs in Europe you can’t do much better than this terrifically themed and amazingly aggressive wooden coaster. Once the soundtrack soars and the statues in the station turn to look you in the eye, you’ll know you’ve come to the right place.

Whilst I still take issue with the park, I can’t deny how much I enjoyed Dynamite this year. The world needs more Mack big dippers for their crazy antics in exposed seating and right now Europe has the monopoly on them. Sadly the only one sold on native soil is at Plohn, so good luck. It’ll be fine.

**#6 Star Trek: Operation Enterprise – Movie Park Germany**

Sticking with Mack for now, they joined the fray for the recent spread of triple launch coasters with this installation at Movie Park Germany, giving them a fantastic signature attraction to decorate the entrance plaza. The queueline is highly themed and contains some preshow action, a somewhat loose storyline and the main highlight is the replica of the bridge from the Enterprise in the Next Generation series. If you’re a fan of the greatest era of the franchise, or coasters I guess as you’re reading this, not one to miss.

Phantasialand was bound to come up at some point wasn’t it, but I won’t bore you again with my misgivings about the place. All that matters is that Black Mamba is one of my preferred B&M inverts, ridiculously well themed and full of force.

I’m not one to get overly excited for B&M hypers these days but we don’t have much to choose from in this part of the world. Silver Star was my very first and it set the bar reasonably high. While the presentation is easy to mock (Europe has the odd ‘car park coaster’ too), the airtime in the back row of this ride cannot go without a mention.

**#3 Expedition GeForce – Holiday Park**

Nor can the legendary ‘best coaster in the world’ for a million years in a row. Though the pacing issues and lack of variety in the overall experience of GeForce mean it pales in comparison to the more recent generations of hardware, this ride still packs some of the best ejector airtime in the business and no enthusiast should feel complete without at least one marathon on this bad boy.

Time for a consecutive controversial placing in 2nd for these lists. The thing is that if you know much about Europe and this hobby then I probably don’t need to sell you any more on this park, or specifically this ride (they’ve also got that new one that I missed by a week… bah). Immersive theming, a killer soundtrack and the most exhilarating second launch in the world. Everyone wants Taron. But what does everyone need?

Kärnan. That’s what. Terrifying, intense and completely one of a kind, this should be the singular attraction that tops the list for why you’d visit Germany for coasters. One of my most memorable experiences across the entirety of what I’ve seen and done in this hobby was created by this insane contraption and that was before they made it even better. This attraction keeps topping lists on here, I suppose I should write about it properly one day.

Heartline Coaster 9 November 2020

Top 10 coaster reasons to visit The Netherlands

Seemingly the underdog in my list of countries due to ranking so highly, but having much lower quantities than those that surround it – quality must be doing all the talking here. Let’s take a look at the most interesting and exciting offerings in the Netherlands.

Go on then, I’ll stick the critically acclaimed tallest, fastest, longest wooden coaster in the Benelux (what a claim…) on here. While I personally don’t rate it as anything particularly special in the GCI world, unless you’ve only done the UK’s meager offerings, everyone loves this thing and I’m sure you will do too.

This isn’t here at all for the coaster aspect but for the incredible dark ride section that houses the first half of the experience. The music alone is worth travelling to hear in person and it’s just one of the most gorgeous attractions in a world class park.

Go on then, I’ll stick the once critically acclaimed tallest, longest, fastest steel coaster in the Benelux (not for long…) on here. I used to love this ride because it basically taught me what airtime was (thanks again to the UK’s meager offerings). Now it’s a bit dated in terms of ride experience, particularly as the park has grown around it, but Goliath is still a bit of a classic that deserves some love.

Maurer X-cars aren’t the most consistently rewarding ride type out there, but this little pocket rocket is full of fabulous sensations. You probably shouldn’t spend more than an hour at this park for coasters, and enjoying this will comprise 90% of the visit.

On hardware alone this ride wouldn’t stand out in a sea of middling dive coasters, but the theming is a significant cut above all other attractions of this type and as a dark ride fan I can’t let that major part of this experience (or the park) go under appreciated.

**#5 Gold Rush – Attractiepark Slagharen**

As one of a string of swing launch coasters that started cropping up over the last few years, this Gerstlauer Infinity replaced a stock Schwarzkopf model and helped put this park on the map for coaster enthusiasts. As with Formule X, this could easily end up being treated as a pop in and say hello to the coaster type affair, but with fun and forces all over the place it’s well worth the visit.

Toverland knocked it out of the park on this one. For an average park that didn’t impress me to suddenly buy a B&M and theme it to this scale, I was simply staggered at the result and couldn’t get enough of it. The queueline alone would be recommendation enough then of course there’s a huge surprise before the lift hill and, you know, the actual coaster is pretty decent too.

My personal favourite woodies in Europe and kickstarter of my love affair with both GCIs and racing coasters. Music, theming, airtime, fun, this thing has it all and it’s just so well presented.

You may well be reeling at this one coming in second. Yes, it’s my favourite coaster in the Netherlands, but we didn’t bond on a personal level. I see Untamed as synonymous with me falling out with the park and though it’s a world class piece of hardware, as all RMCs are, it’s in the lower half of what they can offer. You could honestly do better.

But you can’t do better than this for a Mack Big Dipper. There’s only 2 in the world right now and that’s just criminal in my eyes. Vicious, quirky and an all round bag of laughs, Lost Gravity has the power to make me doubt my feelings about the RMC in the same park. Chuck in the theme song, a couple of flamethrowers and a winged version of the best coaster seat in production, you’ve got no excuse to not visit the Netherlands now.

Heartline Coaster 8 November 2020

Top 10 coaster reasons to visit Japan

The first few lists in this series fell into place relatively easily as there wasn’t a huge amount to choose from. Japan is the first of a different story though, I’ve ridden over 100 coasters here and still have a fair few that I really want to visit. Whilst I will still of course be considering unique and interesting draws, the sheer number here will largely lend itself to being a list of highlights and personal favourites.

We’ll start with something distinctly Japanese. Togo are the kings of stand-up coasters and I think it’s a real shame the ride type has seemingly died out. The best local example of this hardware is one half of this racing coaster at Greenland that happens to include some terrifying standing airtime.

I have a huge amount of respect for Fuji-Q and the way all 4 of the headline attractions almost have equal billing in terms of legendary ‘big name’ status throughout the industry, something almost no other park has achieved on the same scale.
I’m going to jump at another opportunity to demonstrate why I don’t like clones here and say that Takabisha would have had this slot in the list as I preferred it to the Donp. BUT, there’s one in a mall in America now, to satisfy all those who would look at a coaster in Asia and say ‘they should build one of those over here’, instead of ‘they should build something unique’ and taking the opportunity to travel abroad (win win). So why would you bother going to Japan?
Fortunately they still uniquely have the world’s fastest accelerating coaster. Is it thrilling and fun? Yes. Is it worth travelling for? Yes. Is it as good as I wanted it to be? Sadly not.

**#8 Steel Dragon 2000 – Nagashima Spa Land**

Another giant that I found slightly underwhelming, but simply by merit of its existence you can’t deny a Giga coaster, particularly when it’s also the longest coaster in the world. The first half leans much closer to ’90s hyper in execution in that it’s all visual with no sensation, but the second half with its ridiculously long consecutive sequence of decent airtime hills is great fun.

Honestly if I’m looking for that style of huge ride with not much going on, I’d much rather ride this monster (and visit this park). I have a bit of a thing for the Japanese Jet coaster, characterised by having shallow drops and layouts that are… less than inspired, they’re just so quaint and happy fun time. Bandit is by far the largest example of these, is a terrain coaster and is actually rather intense to boot. Then you chuck in the experience of ‘Wet Bandit‘ and it’s on a whole different level.

Back to Fuji-Q but sticking to Togo, this is what happened when they stretched beyond Jet coaster, went for some more world records and tried out some hyper style significant drops. The result is a little off, but in a way that I greatly appreciate, particularly in the final moments when it just totally loses any sense of control. It’s very different and a hugely welcome change to the underwhelming cookie cutter hypers out there.

**#5 Hollywood Dream (Backdrop) – Universal Studios Japan**

Another hugely welcome change to the hyper scene, this one isn’t even tall enough. It also follows a rather untraditional layout which I’m all for. The best ride I’ve ever had on a B&M hyper, a ride type I respect more than love, was on this one, backwards, in the dark, music blaring from the onboard speakers. How many places can you have all of that at once? We’re in game changing territory now.

Another exceptional B&M coaster in Japan, this time in the form of an invert. It’s my overall favourite of the type, perfectly blending all the things I love about them most. Not to be missed.

**#3 Flying Dinosaur – Universal Studios Japan**

These are all segueing rather nicely, from my favourite B&M invert to my number one B&M flyer. I consider this to be the finest creation to ever come from the manufacturer, being ridiculously intense and pushing the human body to limits it may or may not be able to handle.

I literally came back to this country just for this ride, in a park I’m not too keen on, so that should say enough about how significant Hakugei is to me. As the first RMC to break into the Asian market, they really pulled something special out of the bag here with their conversion of the classic woodie White Cyclone. It’s a top ten worldwide for me right now and I hope it caught the eyes of several neighbours.

But there’s another coaster in my top ten out here and it happens to be the greatest working example of an S&S 4D coaster, one of the rarest and most sought after ride types in the world. No other piece of hardware in existence can do to you what Eejanaika does. I can’t process it or describe it, I almost can’t handle it, but I know that I love it beyond description. X2 needs to bow down to this one, there is no comparison.

Wait, no heartline coaster? Not just yet. I’m still saving myself for this bad boy.

Heartline Coaster 7 November 2020

Top 10 coaster reasons to visit Sweden

As home to my current favourite coaster and park, there won’t be much surprise in how most of this list turns out. Like Spain it’s actually a hard one to do as Sweden’s strength is in its consistency of ride quality and there really isn’t that much to choose from, with most being spread across just a handful of parks. I learnt today that there’s a lot of Wacky Worms outside the big 3 parks, a project for the future no doubt, but in the meantime here’s their most interesting, unique and enjoyable rollercoasters – probably with favouritism, it can’t be helped.

Which all means I’m stretching a bit to start here. Sweden’s only powered coaster? Not much of a claim. It does have a charming indoor section with some unusual decoration though. A solid and unique family coaster.

I didn’t think much of this Gerstlauer Bobsled but it is a custom layout and has the potential for some good interaction with neighbouring Jetline. As a bonus bit of intrigue they like to play POVs of rides from around the world on queueline TVs – I do like a bit of fan service.

And here’s that neighbour. It’s had an interesting history, with almost too many manufacturers getting involved. Designed by Schwarzkopf, made by Zierer, built by BHS and modified by Maurer – there’s plenty of claims for the spreadsheet you can worm around there. It lacks a bit of punch in comparison to the Swedish brother further down the list and this is likely due to location constraints, but those limitations make the visual spectacle fascinating all by itself.

Pure one of a kind. An S&S Free Fly with winged seats that freely rotate around an entirely different axis to what you’d usually find on Free Spins and more famously the 4D coasters. If you enjoy trying new models and any sense of completionism then this is definitely one to make the effort for. Tranan does feel like a prototype/proof of concept as it doesn’t do a huge amount with this special technology, I’m a little sad that it hasn’t been taken any further as of yet.

Though admittedly my least favourite coaster from the Gravity Group, it’s still a great little woodie and reason enough to go to Gröna Lund on its own. If anything it will give you a greater sense of appreciation for how many sensations the manufacturer is able to create from so little potential energy. Like Tranan, a taster of better things to come.

The announcement of any new B&M dive coasters has almost become a bit of an eye roll moment for enthusiasts and I have to admit I’m guilty of the same mindset. It’s a very predictable ride type which, while amazing for local patrons to experience for the first time, once you’ve done one you feel like you’ve done them all.
In spite of all that Valkyria to me is the best B&M dive in the world and I was beyond happy with the result. It feels different. It moves with purpose throughout the layout. It looks fantastic. Even if you’ve done all the others, you need this one.

This ride still blows my mind every time I see and ride it. The efficiency and amount of trains it runs is sheer delight, but it’s the landscaping, terrain and interaction that really make it a world class attraction. There’s just nothing else out there like it. Visit Sweden specifically for this hillside.

Tons of airtime, one of only 4 Intamin prefab woodies in the world. What more reason do you need?

Location, location, location. While I’m not Wildfire’s biggest fan, entirely due to what I feel like is a bit of wasted potential, RMCs feel like that new set that is both reasonably achievable and that everyone wants to finish. And rightly so. Even the worst of them is incredible.

Forget everything you read above. Visit Sweden for the next level of rollercoasters. Here’s why.

Heartline Coaster 6 November 2020

1 … 7 8 9 10 11 … 14