How is your tolerance of roughness?

[UP87]

Having ridden Condor and MP Express in the last year I have to say it really depends on your seat. Front-row is absolutely okay with both! Especially with Condor I was expecting the worst. My last ride on it was several years ago and after that I was exposed to a lot of "CONDOR IS SO BAD!" - but in the front-row it was more than okay and I had fun.

Same thing wis Bandit. My brother and I had a good ride while is wife and daughter had a place on the axis and were basically crying. So... stay informed and choose the right seat for the ride

 

[Dressinggown]

Spent a day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach yesterday. We tend to go on a regular basis as it's our local park but there are one or two issues with the rides and attractions:

The 'Woodies'

Big Dipper
Grand National
Roller Coaster (Nickelodeon Streak)
Blue Flyer

The history of these coasters make BPB a special place and it is to be expected that they will be a bit 'rattly' being old and made of wood. However, the Grand National takes things to a new level of pain.

From the outset the cars are violently shaky leading to blurred vision and disorientation throughout the ride. I believed that I would lose some teeth at some point. The lack of banking in the curves does not help matters.

The real issue is the way that it rides the drops and the hills. The first double drop is spectacularly rough. It is like being involved in a serious car accident. I fully expected that my limbs would detach from my torso.

The feeling of relief when returning to the station was palpable. It is unlikely that I will re-ride in the future.

Other honourable mentions go to:

Big One: Despite being partially re-tracked recently it is still rough in places.
Infusion: Rough as hell. The restraints attempt to remove rider's heads.
Steeplechase: Not particularly physically harmful but the constant fear of being dismounted to a certain death doesn't do any favours for mental stability.

BPB is still a great park though. The staff and ride operators are brilliant. A big shout for the chap who drives the Pleasure Beach Express.

Icon Is a stunning coaster. Heritage rides such as Alice, Derby Racer and Ghost Train are really good.

 

[sarahsmile]

the first “big kid” rollercoaster i ever rode was the great american scream machine at sfga before it closed, which if you ever took it for a spin.. it is.. painful. i like rough rides!! i always say i like the subtle feeling of impending doom (even though i know nothing bad will actually happen obviously). i find that the thing that gets me the worst are OTSRs on really rough rides, hitting my head around and hurting my already beat up neck. i don’t love that

 

[brokethemorning]

I mean I have Beast as my #1 wooden coaster so I have a pretty high tolerance toward rough coasters.

I tend to have a problem with roughness when it's the only thing I walk away remembering. The neat part about Beast is that the roughness is an afterthought; yes, you notice it's there but it doesn't take away from the ride. In fact, I genuinely believe it adds to it and would suck without it. For steel coasters, I don't mind some roughness as long as I'm not getting jarred a whole lot.

There are two rides that I absolutely despise because of the roughness alone: Kong at SFDK and Gold Striker at CGA.

• Kong felt like I was in a car accident and being possessed simultaneously. It jarred me around in ways I never knew were possible. It's easily my least favorite coaster I've ever ridden.
• Gold Striker was way too rough for being a relatively new coaster and a GCI. I was genuinely shocked that a GCI could be so rough, and the more I rode it, the less I tolerated the roughness.

Also want to note that restraints absolutely make or break a ride. The RMC shin restraints or whatever they are are horrendous and have caused me to be intolerant of thigh/shin pain, especially when marathoning. Storm Chaser is a notorious example of this; I can't ride more than a few times without it getting to be too much. The KumbaK restraints found on SLCs also suck. I wish T3 had the original restraints that didn't press on your thighs. I'm also not a fan of Banshee's restraints; 2018 sucked in that regard because it definitely beat the hell out of me when I marathoned it.