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1st Time Disappointment!

Crosscoaster

Crosscoaster

Roller Poster
I'm just curios... but does anyone else experience a massive feeling of disappointment when they first ride a new coaster for the first time?

Its something that really confuses me and hit me when I visited Liseberg last month with Helix. I think the problem is, you go into a coaster expecting it to change your life... however, when you ride it it just feels like another coaster. It usually takes me 3 or 4 goes to see if I like it!

Not sure if anyone else has experienced this? But it does happen on every new coaster that I go on... maybe its just a sadness that i'm actually riding the thing rather than building it up for [insert length of time]!
 
All depends on expectation I suppose. Most of the time I find myself enjoying coasters more than I thought I would but there are a few that I thought would be incredible but I haven't enjoyed because of being rough or poor restraints. Cough X2 cough
 
Expecting something fantastic and getting your hopes up can absolutely make a ride disappointing. Just a couple days ago I got to ride Superman at SFNE for the first time (well, first time since I was a kid). I was expecting one of the best coasters I have ever been on, but my morning run was nothing special and really disappointing. That said, it redeemed itself later with a couple of night rides in the back and was as great as I had hoped.

Crosscoaster said:
But it does happen on every new coaster that I go on... maybe its just a sadness that i'm actually riding the thing rather than building it up for [insert length of time]
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I wouldn't say it applies to everything though. I feel like I'm more often pleasantly surprised than disappointed.
 
I agree with Helix, I wasn't convinced first time I rode it. I thought it needed more speed. After riding it a few times, I fell in love and now rank it as one if the best coasters in the world.

Part of the problem is having high expectations.

Whenever a park announces a new coaster, their PR machine calls it the best thing since squeezy bottle red sauce, fanboys are pumped with enthusiasm and everybody else is just happy to get a plus 1. Then we follow it closely for eight months, salivating at the sight of mud and track arriving on site. After all that is over and you're sat waiting to go up the lift hill for the first time, the foreplay expectation is over. When you build up something in your mind, it can lead to disappointment.
 
The two big ones for me: Millennium Force and El Toro

While I knew Millennium Force was overhyped before riding, I was still expecting it had the chance of landing in my top 5-6. Currently, it's my number ten, but I doubt it will even stay in my top ten with trips to Dollywood and SFOG. And then there's El Toro... I like it more than I used to (currently my number 6), but the roughness lets it down. The airtime is as good as I hoped for, but it gives me a headache every time I ride, and fails to make my top 5.
 
The coaster that immediately comes to mind is Apollo's Chariot, but apparently it's because I didn't ride it in the back.

I wasn't massively disappointed with Maverick, but I expected it to take my #1 spot. Don't get me wrong, it's a SUPER fun ride, but it just lacked that "kick" I was expecting it to have. I was expecting this extremely-intense that would kick my ass in every way possible, but intensity-wise, it was comparable to Verbolten (Albeit with extreme airtime).
 
Dueling Dragons was my largest disappointment. Indeed, I had hyped myself up on it, expecting an entirely different experience than on other B&M inverts. Riding Incredible Hulk, an outstanding B&M, as soon as we got into the park did not help either for expectations. At the end of the day though, Dueling Dragons was simply a... B&M Invert.
 
For me, it's definitely got to be the Voyage. First time I rode it, I was honestly quite a bit let down. Sat in the back row, and found it a bit too rough for my liking and it had very little airtime to me. I was stapled in pretty hard though, thank you ride operator. However, as I rode it more and more throughout the day, it grew on me a whole lot more, as I got better rides on it and the airtime and relentlessness got better, and by the end of the day, I decided it was worthy for my top 5. I don't think it is as good as some people make it out to be, but it's still a great ride and is the best woodie not made by RMC I have been on by a good margin.
 
Intimidator 305 for sure. I rode it in 2011 when the tallest (and best) coaster I had ridden was Goliath @ SFOG. I was young enough to think bigger = better, so I was bummed that it was kind of meh. At the time it was top 5, but I really wanted it to be like number 1. Just a bit too intense without too much else to it.

Others include Diamondback (really shaky on my ride), Intimidator (mehhhh), Kraken (really meh for a B&M looper), Space Mt DL (loved DW's but this one was just alright), Kingda Ka (loved TTD so it sucked when this was awful), Saw (don't know why I was expecting much), Colossus Thorpe (been wanting to ride it for a long time but mostly hated it), and finally Nighthawk (enjoyed Firehawk but thought this was just awful).
 
Yeah, probably Voyage. I still like it, but I was expecting it to be somewhere in my Top 5. A bit too much ridiculousness and goes on for too long.
 
Wildfire at Kolmarden. Not being on the enthusiast circuit for years and years now, it was the first time I've gone out of my way to ride a new roller coaster for a long time. It was average. The first drop is incredibly tame. The next couple of elements are ridiculously good, and you momentarily get over the poor first drop, but then it slows right down to a crawl for a little turn, then slows down even more for a badly placed and pointless corkscrew thing. Then after a couple of snappy turns and a funky little Zero-G-like thing it slows right down again to yet another badly placed turn and airtime hill. It lacks pace and I hit the break run thoroughly underwhelmed. I feel like if they lowered those few elements 5-10ft it could be a world beater.
 
Personally I think it is difficult to translate the feeling of riding a roller coaster into words, and vice versa. Before riding a coaster you have your own thoughts and opinions on it, as well as other's opinions. However when you actually ride it, it can be a disappointment as it doesn't feel like those thoughts and opinions. When riding a coaster for the first time I try to ignore all my previous opinions on it, and just focus on how it makes me feel in the moment. This generally reduces disappointment as I don't think things like 'Hmm, was expecting more airtime on that bit' or '[insertnamehere] said it was really aggressive, but I don't think it is'. Ultimately the feeling of riding a coaster is a very personal experience, and if your own experience is different to others opinions it can seem disappointing, even if you greatly enjoyed that experience. Maybe.
 
It's always the ones you follow all the way from rumour to opening which do it. I was underwhelmed by both Helix and Wildfire on my first runs, fortunately the re rides were a lot better.
 
It tends not to happen with me since I tend not to have high expectations and only really follow construction topics as quick "unread" posts on here, rarely bothering with POVs etc.

Having said that, maybe Goliath at SFGAm? Don't get me wrong, it was excellent - probably top 10 material if I bothered anymore - but it was a lot shorter than I was expecting (hadn't watched a POV) and with it being my first RMC I'd been looking forward to it way more than any other coaster in a really long time.

I wasn't disappointed exactly, but I think I'd built it up in my own head a bit.

On the same trip, there were coasters that I really liked and had been expecting to be mediocre to crap. Even though Goliath was miles better than they were, I'll probably remember them more.
 
Oh, definitely Ravine Flyer 2. I had heard plenty of chatter saying the ride was top 10 material: exciting, snappy, and full of airtime. Welp, that's 2 minutes of my life I'll never get back. It was fast, but it was also Jackhammer City with very little airtime. I had a migraine when I got off. And I can usually stand rough wooden coasters!
 
the biggest one for me was boulder dash - I'd heard so many good reports on it, but found it totally underwhelming (and it was mirrored on my second visit) - also - looking at POVs I still can't really see how it's so good.
 
Taron... everyone sais back right is the best, but that ride was a letdown.. front left at the other hand was insane

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Definitely TH13TEEN at Alton Towers, don't get me wrong as a family coaster it's just fine, but for not only a ride marketed as a thrill ride, but also designed by the great John Wardley and in the same park as and line up as Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, etc, it was just unbelievably disappointing. Luckily I think they redeemed themselves with The Smiler despite the Gerstache, but it's still a stain in the Wardley legacy.
 
I've actually been worrying about this subject recently. Due to visit PA for the first time next month and after reading countless reviews on Shambhala, I feel as though I've willingly let the hype escalate to unattainable levels. Been turning a blind eye to it as of late, though.

The biggest example of first time disappointment for me was on my first ride on Black Mamba at Phantasialand. I think I expected to be utterly blown away by this invert, after all, it has clearly taken inspiration from the legendary Nemesis. The only difference is that Phantasia had the opportunity to go even further than Nemesis with better theming, terraining and perhaps an even more intense layout due to hindsight. After my first ride I came off fairly disappointed by the layout most specifically. Although the ride is longer than Nemesis, it definitely isn't as forceful and by the end it was dragging on quite a bit. Mamba comfortably sits in my top 10 after countless re-rides, but I think that is because I've learnt to appreciate that the ride experience is different. It is a solid coaster, just not as thrilling as the original B&M inverted beast.
 
I'd say Afterburn at Carowinds. I had been told it was one of the better inverts, and my first ride I thought it was ****.

As I moved back in the train though it got so much better and more intense. Currently only behind Batman clones as my favorite invert.

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