Coasters or rides with two very different halves.

[Heth]

I wasnt quite sure how to word the title, but posting in the 'marmite coasters' thread got me thinking about rides which are half bad and half great. What rides have the biggest variation in quality over their own ride duration?

The ride that comes to mind for me is Saw The Ride at Thorpe Park. It starts off with a great indoor section. It's smooth, well themed and fun. Then the rest of the ride is a jerky nightmare which my neck doesn't thank me for.

What other rides are half great and half awful?

 

[Matt N]

Great topic idea!

In terms of my contribution, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any ride with two halves as different from one another as the halves of The Ultimate at Lightwater Valley. I haven’t done it, but the first half looks like a fairly sedate affair, whereas the second half looks as though it legitimately tries to murder you!

 

[Howie]

Yeah, T'Ultimate wins this one easy.

I'd like to also nominate Steel Vengeance. SteVe's MCBR marks a very notable switch in ride style, from massive drops and gigantic, drawn-out camelbacks to bat-sh*t crazy, rapid-fire intensity and extreme comedy. The first half is Zadra, the second half is Untamed. Funny thing is though, you'd think that that would detract from the ride experience as a whole, interrupting the flow, as it were... but it doesn't. Not for me, anyway. It gives you that brief moment to process what just happened, before plunging you headlong into round two. I could literally hear Schilke's voice in my head - "If you think that was fun, wait til you get a load of this.'

Such an awesome ride, can't wait to experience it again someday.

 

[Furiustobaco]

Euro Mir springs to mind, it is basically just gentle turns, and shallow drops.. Until that final helix, which has such great positive G's that you grey out most of the time (i have several times anyway)?
If it wasn't for that finale, it wouldn't be a coaster i would rank so highly.

Titan is a similar story (i don't rank it at all though), that finale is so brutal and intense. On a hot texas day, jesus that was crazy. This was constrasted with a snooze fest of a first half.

My most controversial one, is one people may disagree with heavily. Magnum. I am kinda Eh on the ride's first half, it gave weak floater on the first two hills, and the turn-around is just kinda okay. Then the ride hits airtime alley, and instantly becomes one of the best coasters in the world.

 

[Tonkso]

Colossus. Thorpe's classic starts off quite well, some decent inversions and airtime hills and then...
heartline.
heartline.
heartline.
...

How much better would people rate that ride if that string of heartline twists was a bunch or airtime hill/bunny hops instead?

 

[Pokemaniac]

How much better would people rate that ride if that string of heartline twists was a bunch or airtime hill/bunny hops instead?

Considering the rattle and awful restraints of that coaster, I would have rated the last section much higher if it was just a no-fuss direct beeline towards the station so it could end quicker.

 

[oriolat2]

Smiler, just by the ride's nature. Basically two infinity coasters glued together.

The other ride with two very different halves is Beast: first one, forest, straighaways and some airtime, second half, helix helix helix.

Speaking of helices, Helix.

 

[Kw6sTheater]

The Voyage's two halves, separated by the MCBR, are similar to Steel Vengeance's halves in my opinion; the first is composed of several large, drawn-out hills and a few wide turns, which is very enjoyable, but doesn't feel too exhilarating or intense - while the second throws and slams you around like a rag doll, with so many ejector airtime pops and sudden laterals with an unrelenting pace throughout.

Maverick's two halves also feel fairly different, again separated by an MCBR - the first half feels more drawn-out besides those crazy S-curves, whereas the second half is non-stop, whippy madness with that 70mph launch, the sudden, snappy turn out of it, the back-to-back Stengel dives and the sustained ejector speed hill right before the brake run.

 

[davidm]

Veil of Dark (when I rode it anyway, but its update sounds similarly schizophrenic) ; https://rcdb.com/6453.htm
Zola7 ; https://rcdb.com/1523.htm

Am I taking the thread title too literally?

 

[Hyde]

• Beast - the double helix finale is the second half, and was a great finish at that.
• Maverick - naturally
• Steel Vengeance/Mean Streak - I’ll throw up both iterations, as the “swooping through the supports” feature was even more pronounced in the OG.
• Iron Rattler - relatively short of a ride, but I’ve always liked the notion of having large sweeping drops, juxtaposed to the low to the ground overbanked turns.
• Mystery Mine - another “And now for something completely different” type of ride.
• Really a lot of “train goes backwards” or “finale in the tunnel” type coasters.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Dragen at Legoland Billund springs to mind here. The first half is a dark ride in the vein of, say, Pirates of the Caribbean. The second half is a rollercoaster. It might as well be two separate attractions.