Last Cred Review
- Thread starter Snoo
- Start date
CanobieFan
Strata Poster
Coaster #1,071 Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
I was so proud of myself for avoiding all the spoilers and leaks or watching the POVs that have come out in the last few days, as to not ruin the ride for myself. I'm managed to get three rides this afternoon during the preview and hope to get a few more tomorrow. I also got lucky to not get any repeat songs.
I was so proud of myself for avoiding all the spoilers and leaks or watching the POVs that have come out in the last few days, as to not ruin the ride for myself. I'm managed to get three rides this afternoon during the preview and hope to get a few more tomorrow. I also got lucky to not get any repeat songs.
Matt N
CF Legend
As most of you probably know, I recently got 12 new credits at Europa Park (didn't do B-a-a-a, as I don't generally do kiddie creds).
Going in alphabetical order:
Alpenexpress Enzian
This is a fun little ride for what it is! It's surprisingly fast, the helixes are good fun, it's got a good, unique layout; what more can you really ask for from one of these Mack powered coasters? To be honest, it's up there with RMT at Towers as one of my favourite ones; a fun little ride!
6/10
Arthur
A very pleasant surprise! I was expecting quite a tame, kiddified ride, but I thought it was really good fun, and a definite hidden gem within Europa's lineup, in my opinion! The theming is fantastic throughout, the dark ride scenes are all very well done, it's long, and the coaster sections have surprising vigour; the ride definitely feels faster than it supposedly is, in my view! All in all, a really fab little family coaster that certainly put a smile on my face!
7/10
Atlantica SuperSplash
I was hoping I might quite like this, as the drop sequence looked fun and I thought you might get some nice airtime on the backwards drop, main drop and airtime hill, but I'll digress that I found it underwhelming, and I wasn't really a huge fan. Speaking honestly, I found the backwards drop (the main "coaster section") a bit pointless; it didn't really offer any interesting sensations, and just kind of... exists. And while the main drop and airtime hill are OK, I wasn't really wowed by them; surprisingly, I didn't actually get any airtime on the airtime hill. Granted, Atlantica looks beautiful and is well themed, and it did fulfill its water ride credentials by getting me decently wet while remaining within the realms of fun wetness, so I'm probably being a tad harsh, but I wouldn't even say it was a favourite of mine within the water ride category. Overall, I wasn't hugely inspired by this; it felt more like a one-and-done than a truly worthwhile rollercoaster experience, and I probably wouldn't go out of my way to ride again unless the queue was short or I had a lot of time on my hands.
4/10
Blue Fire
This was great fun, a really excellent roller coaster... but I'll digress that I was a tad underwhelmed by it. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time on Blue Fire; the inversions are neat, particularly the final heartline roll, it's very smooth on the whole, the launch is surprisingly punchy, and overall, it is a really nice ride! However, I'd heard many say that they vastly preferred it to Icon, my #2 coaster prior to visiting Europa and a true 10/10 ride for me, and I'll admit that I felt that it was lacking a certain je ne sais quoi to take it to the same level as Icon, let alone surpass it, and I can't quite place my finger on what it was missing. I will say that for a Mack launch coaster, I felt it lacked airtime; I only felt one airtime moment on there, and it wasn't an overly strong one compared to what you get on something like Icon. 1 or 2 of the transitions also felt slightly weird and unnatural to me (I'm referring to the pull up into the MCBR and the whip out of the final heartline roll; both felt slightly off to me, for some reason...). Nonetheless, Blue Fire was a great coaster that I thoroughly enjoyed riding!
9/10
Cancan Coaster
A very fun ride! I really enjoyed this coaster; it's very smooth, has some fun twists and turns, is surprisingly punchy in areas, is quite long, and overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it! An excellent all-round family coaster, in my opinion!
8/10
Euro Mir
Oh dear... I didn't enjoy this at all. I get why people like it, as it is admittedly quite forceful for a ride of its type, and it looks beautiful and has a catchy soundtrack, but I found this far too rough, personally. The ending is possibly among the roughest sections of coaster I've ever ridden, and it felt like the ride bashed me about like mad whenever it exerted force. Not one I was keen on at all, personally.
2/10
Matterhorn Blitz
I found the elevator lift on this quite fun and unique, and it was possibly the smoothest wild mouse I've done, but it's not a ride style I generally enjoy (I don't especially enjoy the strong laterals), so it was never going to rate that highly for me, I'm afraid.
4/10
Pegasus
This was quite a surprising coaster! Going in, I was expecting something more akin to a Vekoma Rollerskater, but I was really surprised at how thrilling Pegasus was! There were 1 or 2 surprisingly decent pops of airtime, the ride was fast-paced, the twists and turns were really fun, it was very smooth; all in all, an excellent little family coaster!
7/10
Poseidon
Ouch, this was really rough. As with Euro Mir, it felt like the ride jolted about like crazy whenever it exerted force (although possibly slightly less bad), so I didn't find it overly enjoyable at all. Granted, it looks beautiful, is a long ride, and certainly earns its water ride credentials, getting you decently wet while staying within the realms of fun wetness, but the sheer joltiness was a bit much for me, I'm afraid.
2/10
Schweizer Bobbahn
While not quite as strong as Blackpool's Avalanche, in my opinion, I thought Schweizer Bobbahn was a fun little ride! There were some fun helixes, and it picked up decent speed by the end! However, it didn't feel quite as fast as Avalanche, and there was a slight rattle present that Avalanche didn't have that detracted slightly for me. Overall, however, I thought Schweizer Bobbahn was a fun little ride!
6/10
Silver Star
Euphoric. Breathtaking. Phenomenal. Those are just some of the superlatives I would use to describe Silver Star; I absolutely adored this coaster! Going in, my expectations were mixed; with Mako being my favourite roller coaster prior to visiting Europa Park, I had very high hopes for Silver Star, but part of me also wasn't expecting it to be on quite the same level as Mako, as a lot of enthusiasts don't seem to overly rate it. Comments like "the world's largest family coaster", "I got more thrills on Pegasus", "dull as dishwater" and "the worst rollercoaster in Germany" loomed at the back of my mind, so I was very nervous to see if the B&M Hyper experience lived up to my memories of it from Mako 6 years ago. Let's just say; I had nothing to be worried about, as Silver Star well and truly blew me away! The airtime is absolutely phenomenal, with strong sustained airtime over every hill. The ride delivers right to the end, with the ending packing a real punch. The ride is very smooth and comfortable (albeit not quite as glass smooth as Mako, although that's to be expected given that SS is 20 years old, whereas Mako was brand new when I rode), and all in all, it's so much fun, and intensely rerideable! In terms of SS vs Mako; Mako remains my #1 coaster after a bit of careful thought, as it's slightly smoother (SS is still very smooth on the whole, but Mako has this glorious "100% smooth as glass" feeling that SS can't quite match) and some of its airtime moments like the first drop and first big hill still have slightly more impact than any individual airtime moment on Silver Star, from memory. However, it is extremely close, and Silver Star is still an easy steal for the #2 spot; it's still very smooth on the whole, and its airtime moments are all still extremely impactful. Overall, I absolutely loved this thing; it left me speechless and crying with laughter every time, and it was just absolutely exceptional!
10/10
Wodan Timbur Coaster
This ride is relentless! In fact, I don't think relentless quite does it! It is well and truly demented from start to finish, but strikes just the right level of intensity; it never feels too much, and the positives aren't too strong, but it feels phenomenally fast like no other coaster I've ridden, it hurls you out of the seat with airtime at every opportunity, it's very smooth & comfortable by traditional wooden roller coaster standards, and it's just so fun and rerideable! Overall, Wodan is truly nuts, and just feels totally demented, but is outrageously fun and phenomenally rerideable, in my opinion; a truly exceptional ride! It's my new favourite wooden roller coaster (sorry, Wicker Man...), and my overall #3 behind only Mako and Silver Star!
10/10
If you're interested, my ranking of these is:
Going in alphabetical order:
Alpenexpress Enzian
This is a fun little ride for what it is! It's surprisingly fast, the helixes are good fun, it's got a good, unique layout; what more can you really ask for from one of these Mack powered coasters? To be honest, it's up there with RMT at Towers as one of my favourite ones; a fun little ride!
6/10
Arthur
A very pleasant surprise! I was expecting quite a tame, kiddified ride, but I thought it was really good fun, and a definite hidden gem within Europa's lineup, in my opinion! The theming is fantastic throughout, the dark ride scenes are all very well done, it's long, and the coaster sections have surprising vigour; the ride definitely feels faster than it supposedly is, in my view! All in all, a really fab little family coaster that certainly put a smile on my face!
7/10
Atlantica SuperSplash
I was hoping I might quite like this, as the drop sequence looked fun and I thought you might get some nice airtime on the backwards drop, main drop and airtime hill, but I'll digress that I found it underwhelming, and I wasn't really a huge fan. Speaking honestly, I found the backwards drop (the main "coaster section") a bit pointless; it didn't really offer any interesting sensations, and just kind of... exists. And while the main drop and airtime hill are OK, I wasn't really wowed by them; surprisingly, I didn't actually get any airtime on the airtime hill. Granted, Atlantica looks beautiful and is well themed, and it did fulfill its water ride credentials by getting me decently wet while remaining within the realms of fun wetness, so I'm probably being a tad harsh, but I wouldn't even say it was a favourite of mine within the water ride category. Overall, I wasn't hugely inspired by this; it felt more like a one-and-done than a truly worthwhile rollercoaster experience, and I probably wouldn't go out of my way to ride again unless the queue was short or I had a lot of time on my hands.
4/10
Blue Fire
This was great fun, a really excellent roller coaster... but I'll digress that I was a tad underwhelmed by it. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time on Blue Fire; the inversions are neat, particularly the final heartline roll, it's very smooth on the whole, the launch is surprisingly punchy, and overall, it is a really nice ride! However, I'd heard many say that they vastly preferred it to Icon, my #2 coaster prior to visiting Europa and a true 10/10 ride for me, and I'll admit that I felt that it was lacking a certain je ne sais quoi to take it to the same level as Icon, let alone surpass it, and I can't quite place my finger on what it was missing. I will say that for a Mack launch coaster, I felt it lacked airtime; I only felt one airtime moment on there, and it wasn't an overly strong one compared to what you get on something like Icon. 1 or 2 of the transitions also felt slightly weird and unnatural to me (I'm referring to the pull up into the MCBR and the whip out of the final heartline roll; both felt slightly off to me, for some reason...). Nonetheless, Blue Fire was a great coaster that I thoroughly enjoyed riding!
9/10
Cancan Coaster
A very fun ride! I really enjoyed this coaster; it's very smooth, has some fun twists and turns, is surprisingly punchy in areas, is quite long, and overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it! An excellent all-round family coaster, in my opinion!
8/10
Euro Mir
Oh dear... I didn't enjoy this at all. I get why people like it, as it is admittedly quite forceful for a ride of its type, and it looks beautiful and has a catchy soundtrack, but I found this far too rough, personally. The ending is possibly among the roughest sections of coaster I've ever ridden, and it felt like the ride bashed me about like mad whenever it exerted force. Not one I was keen on at all, personally.
2/10
Matterhorn Blitz
I found the elevator lift on this quite fun and unique, and it was possibly the smoothest wild mouse I've done, but it's not a ride style I generally enjoy (I don't especially enjoy the strong laterals), so it was never going to rate that highly for me, I'm afraid.
4/10
Pegasus
This was quite a surprising coaster! Going in, I was expecting something more akin to a Vekoma Rollerskater, but I was really surprised at how thrilling Pegasus was! There were 1 or 2 surprisingly decent pops of airtime, the ride was fast-paced, the twists and turns were really fun, it was very smooth; all in all, an excellent little family coaster!
7/10
Poseidon
Ouch, this was really rough. As with Euro Mir, it felt like the ride jolted about like crazy whenever it exerted force (although possibly slightly less bad), so I didn't find it overly enjoyable at all. Granted, it looks beautiful, is a long ride, and certainly earns its water ride credentials, getting you decently wet while staying within the realms of fun wetness, but the sheer joltiness was a bit much for me, I'm afraid.
2/10
Schweizer Bobbahn
While not quite as strong as Blackpool's Avalanche, in my opinion, I thought Schweizer Bobbahn was a fun little ride! There were some fun helixes, and it picked up decent speed by the end! However, it didn't feel quite as fast as Avalanche, and there was a slight rattle present that Avalanche didn't have that detracted slightly for me. Overall, however, I thought Schweizer Bobbahn was a fun little ride!
6/10
Silver Star
Euphoric. Breathtaking. Phenomenal. Those are just some of the superlatives I would use to describe Silver Star; I absolutely adored this coaster! Going in, my expectations were mixed; with Mako being my favourite roller coaster prior to visiting Europa Park, I had very high hopes for Silver Star, but part of me also wasn't expecting it to be on quite the same level as Mako, as a lot of enthusiasts don't seem to overly rate it. Comments like "the world's largest family coaster", "I got more thrills on Pegasus", "dull as dishwater" and "the worst rollercoaster in Germany" loomed at the back of my mind, so I was very nervous to see if the B&M Hyper experience lived up to my memories of it from Mako 6 years ago. Let's just say; I had nothing to be worried about, as Silver Star well and truly blew me away! The airtime is absolutely phenomenal, with strong sustained airtime over every hill. The ride delivers right to the end, with the ending packing a real punch. The ride is very smooth and comfortable (albeit not quite as glass smooth as Mako, although that's to be expected given that SS is 20 years old, whereas Mako was brand new when I rode), and all in all, it's so much fun, and intensely rerideable! In terms of SS vs Mako; Mako remains my #1 coaster after a bit of careful thought, as it's slightly smoother (SS is still very smooth on the whole, but Mako has this glorious "100% smooth as glass" feeling that SS can't quite match) and some of its airtime moments like the first drop and first big hill still have slightly more impact than any individual airtime moment on Silver Star, from memory. However, it is extremely close, and Silver Star is still an easy steal for the #2 spot; it's still very smooth on the whole, and its airtime moments are all still extremely impactful. Overall, I absolutely loved this thing; it left me speechless and crying with laughter every time, and it was just absolutely exceptional!
10/10
Wodan Timbur Coaster
This ride is relentless! In fact, I don't think relentless quite does it! It is well and truly demented from start to finish, but strikes just the right level of intensity; it never feels too much, and the positives aren't too strong, but it feels phenomenally fast like no other coaster I've ridden, it hurls you out of the seat with airtime at every opportunity, it's very smooth & comfortable by traditional wooden roller coaster standards, and it's just so fun and rerideable! Overall, Wodan is truly nuts, and just feels totally demented, but is outrageously fun and phenomenally rerideable, in my opinion; a truly exceptional ride! It's my new favourite wooden roller coaster (sorry, Wicker Man...), and my overall #3 behind only Mako and Silver Star!
10/10
If you're interested, my ranking of these is:
- Silver Star
- Wodan Timbur Coaster
- Blue Fire
- Cancan Coaster
- Arthur
- Pegasus
- Alpenexpress Enzian
- Schweizer Bobbahn
- Atlantica SuperSplash
- Matterhorn Blitz
- Poseidon
- Euro Mir
JJLehto
Hyper Poster
Iron Gwazi: Great ride! I do put it behind SV and Twisted Timbers but just because it doesn't have quite as many elements/the same start to finish unrelenting force, but what is there is brilliant. Great speed & pace, loved the 2nd half is where it picked up more, the rolling drop thing is awesome, got some nice sideways air, really a flawless ride. Even enjoyed the layout and flow (which sometimes RMCs feel like they just strung together random elements) There is nothing bad to be said, and the fact it isn't my fav RMC isn't a knock just preference/how insane others are. That said, the ops were terrible. Not sure if this is a ride thing or park thing, (I've seen plenty to indicate it may be the latter) but wow, I thought it was 1 train ops it moved so slow. I mean a line IN the station was 45 mins! But again, I'm willing to put this on the staff not ride.
Rush
Giga Poster
Untamed (Walibi Holland); suggested synonyms: wild, exhilarating, demonic, masterpiece.
It's been ten days and the bruises on my thighs are finally changing complexion from plum purple to an equally appealing radioactive yellow. Maybe it's not supposed to be marathoned but when you have a world class RMC and an empty single rider queue it would be rude not to? I had no idea what was going on in that double twisty-inversion thing and whether I was getting airtime or hangtime, but I liked it. I don't think I've quite experienced anything as outrageously aggressive as this thing and after each ride I kept telling myself surely this can't get any faster. To which Untamed replied, "I will get faster and don't call me Shirley". I also kept forgetting about the last (and most brutal) airtime hill right before the roll amongst the wooded structure which elicited an inhumanly "weaARRgHHH" from me every time!
It's rather good.
It's been ten days and the bruises on my thighs are finally changing complexion from plum purple to an equally appealing radioactive yellow. Maybe it's not supposed to be marathoned but when you have a world class RMC and an empty single rider queue it would be rude not to? I had no idea what was going on in that double twisty-inversion thing and whether I was getting airtime or hangtime, but I liked it. I don't think I've quite experienced anything as outrageously aggressive as this thing and after each ride I kept telling myself surely this can't get any faster. To which Untamed replied, "I will get faster and don't call me Shirley". I also kept forgetting about the last (and most brutal) airtime hill right before the roll amongst the wooded structure which elicited an inhumanly "weaARRgHHH" from me every time!
It's rather good.
The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland
So, I recently made it to Plopsaland and rode the most hyped coaster in Europe at the point of writing this: The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland. To get things out of the way: Yes, it is indeed called the Ride to Happines by Tomorrowland, even though it has nothing to do with the Tomorrowland at the Disney parks. Even worse, it looks like a wish.com version of Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris, but they still call it Tomorrowland. I will never get it. But to safe you some time and to point out how ridiculously stupid the name is, I will shorten The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland to TRTHBTML (As TML is the official short for Tomorrowland). [/Sarcasm]
Jokes aside, I was very, very sceptical about this ride. At first, I tend to get sick on rides who go backwards, but Spinning rides as well. In addition to that, many people really hyped this ride to heaven and above. Luckily, I still managed to have quite low expectations regarding the ride, and expected all the hype coming from the fact that it's spinning.
As it was quite busy on our visit, we purchased the new Express Pass (9 rides on any attraction for 35€ each - Front row costs 2 rides), but as my friend visited for the first time, we "only" used 4 of our shots on TRTHBTNML which ran on a single train that day, since the other train stalled atop of the panaromic curve a few weeks ago and has been removed from the track. Advertised queue time was 90 minutes, even though the queue was not really long. Luckily for us, the members of staff really didn't care about the seating rule with the express, and put us once in the first row, once in the 2nd and once in the back row, with one ride in row 4.
The good:
- The trains are really fancy, with the automatic check of the restraints being my highlight. The design is pretty much the same as for time traveller, but I still liked it.
- Once you figured out how the restraints work, you are able to get a decent amount of room between you and the restraint - and it is locked into position so it won't come down!
- The Jojo-roll is actually a great inversion, and does a great job combined with the spinning.
- It has some really crazy airtime moments, it might even edge out Lech Coaster for the craziest airtime pops
- The double inverting dive-loop works very well with the spinning. Not only does it feature constant (albeit light) airtime, but it really disorientates you throughout.
The Ok stuff:
- The spinning was actually ok, even though it added little for my personal experience. If you are lucky, you get just a little spin, but you might get it spinning quite rapidly over the course of the ride.
- TRTHBTML had a few elements which did not really add to the ride. The first half has little to offer once you drop of the panoramic curve (which has an world-class drop in the last row!), and especially the tranisition into launch 2 was very forceless. In addition, the airtime hill on the second launch was disappointing to me. Really more of a Flowjector moment than anything else.
- The onboard sound is not really present when you are actually on ride. Cameras pick it up decently, but you will barely here more than an occasional drum.
The Bad:
- Operations.... Plopsaland is not famous for good ops, and TRTHBTML is no exception. With an average of 4 to 5 minutes between each train, we are talking of about 200 people per hour on our visit - which includes 2-6 people with express per train.
- The theming is really not very well executed. It looks good from a distance, but once you get closer you really see that it was made on a tight budget. Lots of details are just painted on or just plastic, and the pond next to it features what must be the worlds ugliest waterfall; thanks to the black foil laid out inside the pond. And tbh I don't get why they used the lamps for the indoor Maya-area for the ride area... looks off to me.
As you can see, I have suprisingly little to complain about the actual ride, and I can just tell you, the airtime on this thing is in parts insane. The back row might feature a great pop of ejector once you get of the panoramic curve, but the first (or second) row is where the real fun is. Getting atop of the curve is probably the strongest airtime I have yet experienced, and it feels suprisingly sustained. But my favourite element is the double up into the brakes, My legs hurt after a few rides, and I really, really loved it. 2 worldclass airtime pops back to back, that was really awesome.
Talking in a scoring, I think I'd go with 8/10. It is very good, but now what I'd consider world class.
@pvnks I do quite the opposite and keep the restraint as loose as the seatbelt allows me too. However, I should mention that my thighs are suprisingly thick, and mostly muscle, so I need a decent amount of room to get a decent ejector pop out of my seat.
Before they installed the belts, I managed to keep the restraint even more open, but tbh I often chickend out on the lift as well
So, I recently made it to Plopsaland and rode the most hyped coaster in Europe at the point of writing this: The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland. To get things out of the way: Yes, it is indeed called the Ride to Happines by Tomorrowland, even though it has nothing to do with the Tomorrowland at the Disney parks. Even worse, it looks like a wish.com version of Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris, but they still call it Tomorrowland. I will never get it. But to safe you some time and to point out how ridiculously stupid the name is, I will shorten The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland to TRTHBTML (As TML is the official short for Tomorrowland). [/Sarcasm]
Jokes aside, I was very, very sceptical about this ride. At first, I tend to get sick on rides who go backwards, but Spinning rides as well. In addition to that, many people really hyped this ride to heaven and above. Luckily, I still managed to have quite low expectations regarding the ride, and expected all the hype coming from the fact that it's spinning.
As it was quite busy on our visit, we purchased the new Express Pass (9 rides on any attraction for 35€ each - Front row costs 2 rides), but as my friend visited for the first time, we "only" used 4 of our shots on TRTHBTNML which ran on a single train that day, since the other train stalled atop of the panaromic curve a few weeks ago and has been removed from the track. Advertised queue time was 90 minutes, even though the queue was not really long. Luckily for us, the members of staff really didn't care about the seating rule with the express, and put us once in the first row, once in the 2nd and once in the back row, with one ride in row 4.
The good:
- The trains are really fancy, with the automatic check of the restraints being my highlight. The design is pretty much the same as for time traveller, but I still liked it.
- Once you figured out how the restraints work, you are able to get a decent amount of room between you and the restraint - and it is locked into position so it won't come down!
- The Jojo-roll is actually a great inversion, and does a great job combined with the spinning.
- It has some really crazy airtime moments, it might even edge out Lech Coaster for the craziest airtime pops
- The double inverting dive-loop works very well with the spinning. Not only does it feature constant (albeit light) airtime, but it really disorientates you throughout.
The Ok stuff:
- The spinning was actually ok, even though it added little for my personal experience. If you are lucky, you get just a little spin, but you might get it spinning quite rapidly over the course of the ride.
- TRTHBTML had a few elements which did not really add to the ride. The first half has little to offer once you drop of the panoramic curve (which has an world-class drop in the last row!), and especially the tranisition into launch 2 was very forceless. In addition, the airtime hill on the second launch was disappointing to me. Really more of a Flowjector moment than anything else.
- The onboard sound is not really present when you are actually on ride. Cameras pick it up decently, but you will barely here more than an occasional drum.
The Bad:
- Operations.... Plopsaland is not famous for good ops, and TRTHBTML is no exception. With an average of 4 to 5 minutes between each train, we are talking of about 200 people per hour on our visit - which includes 2-6 people with express per train.
- The theming is really not very well executed. It looks good from a distance, but once you get closer you really see that it was made on a tight budget. Lots of details are just painted on or just plastic, and the pond next to it features what must be the worlds ugliest waterfall; thanks to the black foil laid out inside the pond. And tbh I don't get why they used the lamps for the indoor Maya-area for the ride area... looks off to me.
As you can see, I have suprisingly little to complain about the actual ride, and I can just tell you, the airtime on this thing is in parts insane. The back row might feature a great pop of ejector once you get of the panoramic curve, but the first (or second) row is where the real fun is. Getting atop of the curve is probably the strongest airtime I have yet experienced, and it feels suprisingly sustained. But my favourite element is the double up into the brakes, My legs hurt after a few rides, and I really, really loved it. 2 worldclass airtime pops back to back, that was really awesome.
Talking in a scoring, I think I'd go with 8/10. It is very good, but now what I'd consider world class.
@pvnks I do quite the opposite and keep the restraint as loose as the seatbelt allows me too. However, I should mention that my thighs are suprisingly thick, and mostly muscle, so I need a decent amount of room to get a decent ejector pop out of my seat.
Before they installed the belts, I managed to keep the restraint even more open, but tbh I often chickend out on the lift as well
Last edited:
Ethan
Strata Poster
Y... You know it's a music festival, right? Literally not trying to be associated with Disney parks in the slightest.
I am very aware of that fact, I was hoping that the sentence after it would make it clear enough. I edited my post to avoid further confusion. Sorry for that.
Nick13
Mega Poster
Wildfire, Kolmarden - this was my first new RMC since Untamed in 2019 and it did not disappoint. The location and views were incredible, it’s definitely one of the most impressive looking RMC’s. In the morning, it was great fun with some good pops of airtime and fun inversions. In the afternoon, it was on another level of intensity, ejector airtime and it was hauling all the way to the brake run. It was a walk on all day Saturday and I managed 8 rides until I ended up feeling pretty sick!
Monster, Grona Lund - I love a good invert and was looking forward to this one. The park was a lot busier than Kolmarden the day before so only got 2 rides, on the front and back rows. It’s a very unique layout which was pretty cool. The drop is very whippy in the back and the first couple of inversions were very good. The front row is great for the near misses and interaction above the main pathways. It’s not a very intense ride but is good fun and so impressive how they‘ve managed to fit it into the park. The underground station is very cool and nicely themed too.
Monster, Grona Lund - I love a good invert and was looking forward to this one. The park was a lot busier than Kolmarden the day before so only got 2 rides, on the front and back rows. It’s a very unique layout which was pretty cool. The drop is very whippy in the back and the first couple of inversions were very good. The front row is great for the near misses and interaction above the main pathways. It’s not a very intense ride but is good fun and so impressive how they‘ve managed to fit it into the park. The underground station is very cool and nicely themed too.
It might be a little bit of cheating, as I rode this originally in 2018, but I really need to talk about Nemesis.
I was very vocal about my critique of this ride: mainly the lack of speed and intensity after the zero-g roll.
I got the chance to ride it again this Tuesday, thanks to very unfortunate flight schedules for my Poland trip.
Holy sh*t, whatever happened to Nemesis compared to 2018, I get the hype. My feet hurt in the end of every single ride… wow.
It was (by far) the weakest Invert for me, but now it is a very strong second place, just topped by Monster.
Not only did the positives get me, but the laterals in the zero g and the final corkscrew were also very intense.
What a redemption story, now I really get the Hype. Easily the best ride at Alton towers, maybe even top 10 worthy.
I was very vocal about my critique of this ride: mainly the lack of speed and intensity after the zero-g roll.
I got the chance to ride it again this Tuesday, thanks to very unfortunate flight schedules for my Poland trip.
Holy sh*t, whatever happened to Nemesis compared to 2018, I get the hype. My feet hurt in the end of every single ride… wow.
It was (by far) the weakest Invert for me, but now it is a very strong second place, just topped by Monster.
Not only did the positives get me, but the laterals in the zero g and the final corkscrew were also very intense.
What a redemption story, now I really get the Hype. Easily the best ride at Alton towers, maybe even top 10 worthy.
Last edited:
CanobieFan
Strata Poster
In Vegas for EDC and got two new credits while at it. #1,072 annddd #1,073. Kinda funny for an event that's +18 to have a Wacky Worm but whatever, credit, also funny seeing lines upwards of 30 minutes for it, with no children in site. (Helm & Son's amusements)
One of the final credits of my crazy May... Shambhala
I heard lots of great things about good old Shammy B. Best ride in Europe, Best Hyper in the World, some people even claimed it to be the worldwide number 1. Contrary, friends who rode it just last year, found Silver Star (yes, THAT Silver Star) to be a better ride.
So how does it compare?
Well.... I really enjoyed it. As a B&M, is does not feature any ejector airtime, but it didn't feature much of the 0,0g moments I do not enjoy. Personally, I'd say its airtime moments (in the back) start with floater and get into a decent Flowjector, even a mild ejector on every major hill. And every airtime moment is several seconds long, even the bunny hop delivers about 2 seconds of solid airtime.
A major advantage for Shamabla is the insanely long train. Even though it has 8 cars, every car features 2 rows of 2 (first row on the inside, second row on the outside), making it very long. Not quite 16 rows long, but a single car is easily 1,5 rows in lenghts, if not more. This lenghts helps it to deliver those flowjector pops I adored so much during the ride.
In addition, I did not feel the trimms during my rides, even though we had 28 C° and sunshine during our visit.
My favourite element has to be that first drop. My favourite drop of all coasters is Hyperion, as it is not only long, but also delivers intense and sustained ejector airtime. Shambhala does not feature ejector airtime, but its drop has a similar feel. It just feels so long, you wonder if it is ever going to end. The tunnel gives a great contrast to the bright daylight around you, and the airtime hill just delivers so much airtime... just amazing.
The awsome curve rides decent, however, I would prefer it to be a little bit more intense.
On the flipside, Shambhala rides quite rough for a B&M Hyper, with a clear rattle in the valleys. It is not unpleasant, but it is strong enough to distract a little bit from the ride itself.
Of course, I have to negative things to say about it:
1. Even though I like the trains, the restraints leave a lot to be desired. They are the typical B&M clampshells, BUT, they click later than any other ride. As B&M requires 3 clicks to be "secure", it essentially requires the restraints to be closed a bit more than you'd expect. If you don't get 4 clicks on a classic B&M, you won't fit into Shambhala. My legs are quite thick, but my major issue is that it is mostly muscle. I was able to fit in, but required external help to get the restraint closed.
If you have bad luck with the staff, you might not be able to ride it.
The fact that I enjoyed it despite being stapled, speaks a lot about the ride itself.
2. The ending is lackluster, you hit the MCBR, just to go into a turn and a half height airtime hill and the final brake-run. Not that PA operations would usually be able to take advantage of the MCBR anyway.
My overall rating would be either 8.5 or 9/10. It is by far the best B&M I have ever done, and really gets me hyped for other B&M hypers. Using my comparison-system (every candidate for the Top 10 is compared to all of the others, the sorting depends on the amount of wins in each duel) for my Top 10, I actually rank Shambhala as my overall #4.
I heard lots of great things about good old Shammy B. Best ride in Europe, Best Hyper in the World, some people even claimed it to be the worldwide number 1. Contrary, friends who rode it just last year, found Silver Star (yes, THAT Silver Star) to be a better ride.
So how does it compare?
Well.... I really enjoyed it. As a B&M, is does not feature any ejector airtime, but it didn't feature much of the 0,0g moments I do not enjoy. Personally, I'd say its airtime moments (in the back) start with floater and get into a decent Flowjector, even a mild ejector on every major hill. And every airtime moment is several seconds long, even the bunny hop delivers about 2 seconds of solid airtime.
A major advantage for Shamabla is the insanely long train. Even though it has 8 cars, every car features 2 rows of 2 (first row on the inside, second row on the outside), making it very long. Not quite 16 rows long, but a single car is easily 1,5 rows in lenghts, if not more. This lenghts helps it to deliver those flowjector pops I adored so much during the ride.
In addition, I did not feel the trimms during my rides, even though we had 28 C° and sunshine during our visit.
My favourite element has to be that first drop. My favourite drop of all coasters is Hyperion, as it is not only long, but also delivers intense and sustained ejector airtime. Shambhala does not feature ejector airtime, but its drop has a similar feel. It just feels so long, you wonder if it is ever going to end. The tunnel gives a great contrast to the bright daylight around you, and the airtime hill just delivers so much airtime... just amazing.
The awsome curve rides decent, however, I would prefer it to be a little bit more intense.
On the flipside, Shambhala rides quite rough for a B&M Hyper, with a clear rattle in the valleys. It is not unpleasant, but it is strong enough to distract a little bit from the ride itself.
Of course, I have to negative things to say about it:
1. Even though I like the trains, the restraints leave a lot to be desired. They are the typical B&M clampshells, BUT, they click later than any other ride. As B&M requires 3 clicks to be "secure", it essentially requires the restraints to be closed a bit more than you'd expect. If you don't get 4 clicks on a classic B&M, you won't fit into Shambhala. My legs are quite thick, but my major issue is that it is mostly muscle. I was able to fit in, but required external help to get the restraint closed.
If you have bad luck with the staff, you might not be able to ride it.
The fact that I enjoyed it despite being stapled, speaks a lot about the ride itself.
2. The ending is lackluster, you hit the MCBR, just to go into a turn and a half height airtime hill and the final brake-run. Not that PA operations would usually be able to take advantage of the MCBR anyway.
My overall rating would be either 8.5 or 9/10. It is by far the best B&M I have ever done, and really gets me hyped for other B&M hypers. Using my comparison-system (every candidate for the Top 10 is compared to all of the others, the sorting depends on the amount of wins in each duel) for my Top 10, I actually rank Shambhala as my overall #4.
Fairly Odd Coaster (Nickelodeon Universe, Mall of America) - Yowza does this Gerstlauer Spinner haul! Would swear the chainlift is somehow dialed up at a faster speed than the other Gerst Spinners I've done. the layout is also surprisingly conducive to the indoor park layout, and weaves/interacts with rides surprisingly well.
FistedColossus
Hyper Poster
Steel Vengeance - Yeah it's still incredible 
Back row at night is just obscene. Might need a thigh transplant.
Must admit after a couple of early rides I was concerned I'd hyped it up too much before. When it warms up though the ejector moments seem to quadruple.
Back row at night is just obscene. Might need a thigh transplant.
Must admit after a couple of early rides I was concerned I'd hyped it up too much before. When it warms up though the ejector moments seem to quadruple.
FistedColossus
Hyper Poster
Me again!
Lightning Rod - Holy crap what a ride. Got some serious thinking to do with the top 5.
I love the restraints, get a fair bit more wiggle room than you do on the newer RMCs. I had high hopes for the quad down but didn't realise how much airtime there is elsewhere on the ride. It is 10/10 from start to finish.
Lightning Rod - Holy crap what a ride. Got some serious thinking to do with the top 5.
I love the restraints, get a fair bit more wiggle room than you do on the newer RMCs. I had high hopes for the quad down but didn't realise how much airtime there is elsewhere on the ride. It is 10/10 from start to finish.
A few highlights from a quick Virginia trip:
Pantheon
A top 20 (of 230-ish) coaster for me. The airtime -- especially going backward -- between the spike and top hat is great. The top hat was a bit disappointing compared to Velocicoaster's. Stall was very, very good. I didn't care about the lack of theming since the setting feels awesome and secluded, but I did care about the queue smelling like horse poop from the barn next door.
Two main negatives:
1. The ride is a bit short.
2. The ride was down A LOT. I was there two days and was hoping to get a night ride but didn't because there was just a bit of wind in the air. If anyone is traveling to BGW, try to hit this one early on since it doesn't run reliably. It was probably down more than it was operating... and this was over a holiday weekend.
Intimidator 305
This surpassed my expectations and might make my top 10. I was expecting an uncomfortable ride since I generally way prefer airtime to positive Gs as I approach 40 but I305 was (mostly) super smooth and the intensity wasn't too much. I haven't heard many people talk about how the floater airtime hills perfectly break up the pace of the intense moments. The only rides that had a slight vibration were with emptier trains. Front row was where it was at for me. I might be an outlier in that I prefer Millennium Force is my favorite giga and I prefer that to this and to Fury, and I actually might prefer I305 to Fury as well since it's so unique. I only got 2 rides on Fury a couple years back, and I got like 8 rides on I305, so I need to revisit Fury to be sure...
Twisted Timbers
This ride is perfect for what it is. It felt like it has the strongest ejector airtime per second of any roller coaster even though it's a shorter ride. If I had to nitpick, there's not a huge variety of elements, but the airtime is so close to perfect in every row that it doesn't really matter. The setting for this one is great too. This and Storm Chaser are very similar and are hovering in the 8-12 range in my rankings.
Also for what it's worth, Kings Dominion feels like it has so much untapped potential. Other than Cedar Point and maybe Islands of Adventure, it has the best top 2 coasters of any park I can think of. But the rest of the park is very forgettable outside the Eiffel Tower entrance plaza. It really needs a few places for guests to relax and maybe have a drink, etc. I think of that bar at Kings Island near Diamondback as something this park can really use. Grain and Grill is okay but the food options here are disappointing. Not even a place to get ice cream, etc.
Pantheon
A top 20 (of 230-ish) coaster for me. The airtime -- especially going backward -- between the spike and top hat is great. The top hat was a bit disappointing compared to Velocicoaster's. Stall was very, very good. I didn't care about the lack of theming since the setting feels awesome and secluded, but I did care about the queue smelling like horse poop from the barn next door.
Two main negatives:
1. The ride is a bit short.
2. The ride was down A LOT. I was there two days and was hoping to get a night ride but didn't because there was just a bit of wind in the air. If anyone is traveling to BGW, try to hit this one early on since it doesn't run reliably. It was probably down more than it was operating... and this was over a holiday weekend.
Intimidator 305
This surpassed my expectations and might make my top 10. I was expecting an uncomfortable ride since I generally way prefer airtime to positive Gs as I approach 40 but I305 was (mostly) super smooth and the intensity wasn't too much. I haven't heard many people talk about how the floater airtime hills perfectly break up the pace of the intense moments. The only rides that had a slight vibration were with emptier trains. Front row was where it was at for me. I might be an outlier in that I prefer Millennium Force is my favorite giga and I prefer that to this and to Fury, and I actually might prefer I305 to Fury as well since it's so unique. I only got 2 rides on Fury a couple years back, and I got like 8 rides on I305, so I need to revisit Fury to be sure...
Twisted Timbers
This ride is perfect for what it is. It felt like it has the strongest ejector airtime per second of any roller coaster even though it's a shorter ride. If I had to nitpick, there's not a huge variety of elements, but the airtime is so close to perfect in every row that it doesn't really matter. The setting for this one is great too. This and Storm Chaser are very similar and are hovering in the 8-12 range in my rankings.
Also for what it's worth, Kings Dominion feels like it has so much untapped potential. Other than Cedar Point and maybe Islands of Adventure, it has the best top 2 coasters of any park I can think of. But the rest of the park is very forgettable outside the Eiffel Tower entrance plaza. It really needs a few places for guests to relax and maybe have a drink, etc. I think of that bar at Kings Island near Diamondback as something this park can really use. Grain and Grill is okay but the food options here are disappointing. Not even a place to get ice cream, etc.
EmmaUK
Mega Poster
So my recent Orlando trip led to a little +4:
i. Velocicoaster - wow, what a ride! Poss new No1? Toss up between this and Shambhala
ii. Hagrids Motorcycle Million Word Title Ride - Much better than I expected. As someone I was with pointed out, not as good a coaster as Velocicoaster, but prob a better ride than it
iii. Freedom Flyer at Fun Spot - Meh. Capital M
iv. White Lightning. I liked it. My girlfriend hated it
Anyway, I'm mainly on here to post about what came next in Jamaica, as they're a bit rarer in terms of creds. Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios has a cheeky little +2.
The first, Ragamuffin. An inverted single rail type jobby that allowed the individual cars to swing freely each time it turned. And swing it did. Violently at times. It had amazing views down maybe 1000ft or more down to the beach.
Next up, the Jamaican Bobsled Ride.
Its impossible to ride this without shouting to your companion "Sanka, ya dead?" "Ya Man"
Lucky egg in pocket we boarded a sled each. And whilst not the longest mountain coaster, it was a lot of fun. As always, you press forwards for no brakes or backwards to apply them. So it was forwards all of the way. It picked up decent enough speed and had a couple of decent moments of airtime (yes, really!) and decent forces on the corners.
Sadly, its one of those where you sit on the sled as it gets towed back to the top again at the end, which was a bit of downer.
Not the best mountain coaster I've been on. Of the two that I've done. But there's worse ways to spend the afternoon.
A little word about the visit. To get up here took a very long and exposed chairlift to get to the top of mountain, and the cost for the chairlift, and 1 go on each coaster, was something like $130 pp. So not cheap.
And you have a cope with a lot of these:
Like loads of them. And because scale is difficult in a photo like this, they were like 3 inches across. Next door at Dunns River Falls they have a tranquility walk. Ha! 1000s of them. Everywhere
i. Velocicoaster - wow, what a ride! Poss new No1? Toss up between this and Shambhala
ii. Hagrids Motorcycle Million Word Title Ride - Much better than I expected. As someone I was with pointed out, not as good a coaster as Velocicoaster, but prob a better ride than it
iii. Freedom Flyer at Fun Spot - Meh. Capital M
iv. White Lightning. I liked it. My girlfriend hated it
Anyway, I'm mainly on here to post about what came next in Jamaica, as they're a bit rarer in terms of creds. Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios has a cheeky little +2.
The first, Ragamuffin. An inverted single rail type jobby that allowed the individual cars to swing freely each time it turned. And swing it did. Violently at times. It had amazing views down maybe 1000ft or more down to the beach.
Next up, the Jamaican Bobsled Ride.
Its impossible to ride this without shouting to your companion "Sanka, ya dead?" "Ya Man"
Lucky egg in pocket we boarded a sled each. And whilst not the longest mountain coaster, it was a lot of fun. As always, you press forwards for no brakes or backwards to apply them. So it was forwards all of the way. It picked up decent enough speed and had a couple of decent moments of airtime (yes, really!) and decent forces on the corners.
Sadly, its one of those where you sit on the sled as it gets towed back to the top again at the end, which was a bit of downer.
Not the best mountain coaster I've been on. Of the two that I've done. But there's worse ways to spend the afternoon.
A little word about the visit. To get up here took a very long and exposed chairlift to get to the top of mountain, and the cost for the chairlift, and 1 go on each coaster, was something like $130 pp. So not cheap.
And you have a cope with a lot of these:
Like loads of them. And because scale is difficult in a photo like this, they were like 3 inches across. Next door at Dunns River Falls they have a tranquility walk. Ha! 1000s of them. Everywhere
Nick13
Mega Poster
A few new ones for me on the first 3 days of a Canada & US trip:
Leviathan - I loved this, not as much as Fury 325, but the first drop followed by the overbank turn and low airtime hill was great, shame about the trim towards the end and fairly short ride, but really good fun ride, especially on the back.
Yukon Striker - definitely the best dive machine for me now, it looks so good as well. Loved the drop into the water and uniq layout. It also goes into the mid ride brakes with such speed that the whole train violently shakes from side to side!
Behemoth - just another hyper really, was good fun but shame about the trims again.
We were actually only heading to Wonderland for 2hrs straight from Toronto airport to pick up cedar fair passes and a few rides, but the place was dead and we got on 11 coasters including 2x Yukon and 3x Leviathan! Nothing much to note on the other creds… did my first volare and it was disgusting.
Dragon Mountain - we spent the next day at Niagara Falls and stopped by Marineland to check this out. After trekking through the huge empty park we got to the coaster and walked into the huge cavernous station to find 3 bored ops waiting for guests! Did a few rides on front and back, it’s surprisingly smooth and seems like they have looked after the ride well even with being closed for over 2 years. The layout Is just ridiculous, they could have done a lot more with the amount of land available there, but it was still a fun ride and certainly unique!
Leviathan - I loved this, not as much as Fury 325, but the first drop followed by the overbank turn and low airtime hill was great, shame about the trim towards the end and fairly short ride, but really good fun ride, especially on the back.
Yukon Striker - definitely the best dive machine for me now, it looks so good as well. Loved the drop into the water and uniq layout. It also goes into the mid ride brakes with such speed that the whole train violently shakes from side to side!
Behemoth - just another hyper really, was good fun but shame about the trims again.
We were actually only heading to Wonderland for 2hrs straight from Toronto airport to pick up cedar fair passes and a few rides, but the place was dead and we got on 11 coasters including 2x Yukon and 3x Leviathan! Nothing much to note on the other creds… did my first volare and it was disgusting.
Dragon Mountain - we spent the next day at Niagara Falls and stopped by Marineland to check this out. After trekking through the huge empty park we got to the coaster and walked into the huge cavernous station to find 3 bored ops waiting for guests! Did a few rides on front and back, it’s surprisingly smooth and seems like they have looked after the ride well even with being closed for over 2 years. The layout Is just ridiculous, they could have done a lot more with the amount of land available there, but it was still a fun ride and certainly unique!