Last Cred Review

[Niles]

 Ride To Happiness

 
Welp  i had the chance to ride another very good coaster, as i find mack launches weak and spinning coaster a bit megh/gimmicky i went in with low expectations despite what i have heard.

And well yea, its fantastic, somewhere in my top 15.



The area is nicely done, the music, buildings and theming all come together great and like BGCE them plopping this beast in the centre of the park really gives you something great to watch.


I would not call this coaster rapid or out of control, the spinning is chill yet fun to get unusual sensations on elements going sideways or backwards, queue times of 10mins~ are also a fantastic bonus considering the woodie was at 80mins for most of the day.



Coaster Experience

You sit down in a very comfortable chair with speakers and make your way through the slow roll which is a fun/unique way to start a ride. You then come to a holt and slowly spin then you get a burst of speed into the top hat, now its a way better launch than Icon but Anubis across the lake personally still has a better kick and i wish you got going straight away but it still is fun.

The top hat is awesome, front seat going up you get air or back seat off the drop you get great air, either place you sit this ellement will deliver. This does however lead to the weakest moments of the ride.

Up until the next launch is cool but nothing to crazy, the spinning helps but i found these elements pretty basic. Then oh dam the second launch forces you into this brilliant twisting ellement throwing you like a rag doll its absolutely fantastic, after this its powerful airtime, rapid turn then more brilliant air till you slam into the breaks.

Both halves feel very different, i wish the second went on a bit longer but all in all for the park its a real stand out and an amazing coaster.

 

[Peter Immelmann]

Very nice pictures these are!

 

[Niles]

Kondaa !!



Why have not more parks invested in Intamin Megas? At 50m/164ft it feels high, fast and forceful but unlike a hyper you can get more elements for the same cost.

Its a brilliant coaster and i love it somewhere in my top 10.


Im getting very jealous in the UK with these parks in Spain and Beligum getting new stand out coasters which also have great theming for the ride and land around them, its all so cool.


All but two of the elements hit hard giving great force and i came off laughing. I only got two rides, one in the middle and one in the back but even in the middle it delivered.

Coaster Experience

Love these lap bar only trains, the drums start to play and Kondaa roars as you head up the lift giving you a great view of the park.

Flying out of your seat off the twisted drop into a great airtime hill followed by a amazing outerbank is an aggressive start. The non-inverting cobra roll is just ok, a wee bit slow but does look great off ride.


You descend into a great low to the ground hill and turn into a...ok stall and into a turn. After this its a fantastic low to the ground section full of air and twists, its rapid and throws you around all the way to the end.

This coaster reminds me of Steel Vengeance, first third is big and powerful, the final third of the layout is vicious and rapid with the middle being solid and fun.

Walibi knocked it out the park, its way above the other rides in the park and im glad its not to bad a drive away.


This was a great final coaster of my trip and i hope to do a trip report soon

 

[Changa]

We went to ferrari land last night sooo:

Red Force
My god, this is such an amazing experience! I got 3 rides on this throughout the evening in row 3, 5 and 6 (sadly I couldn't get a front row ride despite trying) thanks to relatively short queues (which were very pleasant thanks to the shading and foliage) and a very fast single rider line.

While the launch doesn't have nearly the acceleration of stealth or TTD, its still a fantastic experience! The acceleration is still very solid, but its the length of the acceleration that stands out due to how unnervingly long it is. Similarly to Formula Rossa, while the force of the launch is manageable, it just keeps accelerating far beyond what I expected and threw me off completely every time. Also, the fact that you're still accelerating when you hit the pull-up eliminates that half-second of clarity you have to prepare once you max-out on the hydraulic launches, which has its own level of chaos. That coupled with the shake of the train and the INCREDIBLE roar under the power of the magnets makes the launch just as complete of a package as the hydraulic launches. While I prefer stealth, ttd and mavericks launches (maverick having that euphoric extra-punch midway through the launch), it's still a sensational adrenaline rush.



The top hat itself matches the rush that comes from the launch, while its fundamentally the same as the other ones but scaled up. The way in which the turn, crest and drop are drawn out was so graceful despite the intensity that it was so easy to enjoy the experience. The airtime over the top was fantastic in each row that I tried, and the drop itself was one of the best I have ever experienced. Not having TTDs spiral made the drop feel larger due to the twist not distracting from the endless sensation of falling and letting the height speak for itself. Similarly to the launch, the pull-up from the drop seemingly comes far lager than expected and hits like a ton of bricks once it finally arrives.

I get why so many other rides are held in higher regard for how much more they fulfill the potential for rides and give you more for your time. But I couldn't praise this enough as an experience, as while it is incredibly short, every second of it is fantastic. It is a very comfortable, very graceful beast of a ride that effortlessly delivers a fierce adrenaline rush without a minute of downtime all evening.

10/10

We're about to head into PA for the first time this afternoon. So if I can ramble this much about a 15 second ride, I'll probably have a lot more to write about later!

 

[CanobieFan]

Did a quick Kansas City weekend trip last minute over the weekend. Got five new credits including two at the top of my US to-do list. Also added a new State House visit (non coaster hobby) and 2 new Zoo's (another hobby)

Coaster 1,109 Zambezi Zinger! Fun, almost too whippy... waayyy too loud! Only new for me ride at Worlds of Fun

https://twitter.com/x/status/1708644325922316381

Coasters 1,110 to 1,113 were all at Adventureland, a park I hasn't visited since 2011
Flying Viking, a fun new generation Zamp ride, but poor operations and a unique loading process meant it was a one and done i would have reridden otherwise.

Dragon Slayer probably the best S&S freespin, if there is such a thing. Got more flips on it than I have on all the Six Flags ones, combined.

Phoenix, lackluster MS spinner. Normally I love these but this was as bad as the Hershey one. Spinning coaster that doesn't really spin.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1708319298807091237

And then the other Adventureland credit worth mentioning, Monster! Ended up being coaster #1,111 for me..... but I accidentally miss-tweeted the number, oops. Awesome ride tho' and *stunning* at night.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1708317652219772966

 

[Hyde]

Valravn at Cedar Point. Say what you will about B&M dive machines being average-to-ok-at-best. I will always enjoy these one-trick ponies!

 

[Skyye]

Mamba at Worlds of Fun (Cred #95): Went to Worlds of Fun this past Sunday and Mamba was the last credit I had to get (except Cosmic Coaster, which I couldn't get since I didn't have a child). It was running a bit on the slower side (it was kinda crawling over the hill after the drop), but the airtime during the bunny hills was still there, which was better in the back. I also really enjoyed the sense of speed at the bottom of the helix and the headchopper moment at the same spot. I want to go back sometime during the summer so I can hopefully ride it again. Solid 8/10

 

[JoshC.]

 Fønix - Fårup Sommerland

Am absolute joy to ride from start to finish. The drop is super, the stall loop offers lush hangtime. The second inversion is crazy whippy. The third through the station is cool. And there's pops of airtime throughout the whole ride. It's much more a back row ride than a front row ride.

It's at the lower end of my Top 10%, but that's not discredit to the ride. It's absolutely fab, but so is everything up there for me.

I rate it higher than Lech due to its ease of re-riding (I got 10 rides in today!)

 

[Howie]

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
It's ace. Really good fun. Nothing too intense of course - it's not tall, it's not fast, it's not particularly forceful - but the pure entertainment value here is off the scale. The onboard music obviously plays a big part in that and your own personal enjoyment level may or may not depend on which song you get - for the record we got 'One Way Or Another' by Blondie, which worked really, really well - but some of the other tracks available might not be as good.
One slight criticism though; the batching and loading procedure is badly thought out and a bit clumsy. There's a pre-show, which is fine in itself, but it holds about 200 people so instead of going straight on to the coaster afterwards you're herded into yet another queue which, depending on operations, could be another 10 - 20 mins or so before actually getting on the ride. It really interrupts the flow of the narrative and totally bums you out. I think the whole thing would work much better if the pre-show wasn't there at all, or was just delivered on screens in or above the queueline pre boarding.
That being said, once you're loaded and on your way, all criticisms melt away and you'll exit the coaster with a grin a mile wide.
Excellent, excellent stuff. Imma give it a solid 9/10.

 

[endermanloveH20]

Insane
I literally don't know how to describe it other than pain
Not worse than a coaster we don't utter the name of.

 

[Howie]

Pipeline: The Surf Coaster.
Almost certainly the best stand-up coaster on the planet but... hmm, yeah, that's not really saying much, is it? It's kinda like saying VAT is the best tax, or that syphilis is the best of the venereal diseases. At the end of the day it's still a stand-up coaster and stand-up coasters were and always will be a turd idea. There's a reason these things died out in the 90's y'know. They're just not comfortable, especially for those of us blessed (or is it cursed? ) with external genitalia.
The bicycle seat hurts your plums, plain and simple. Every airtime moment is essentially the same as getting a flying wedgie, and that ain't any kind of fun.
Still, on the plus side it's smooth, the launch is quite punchy, the layout flows nicely and the whole thing is presented quite well with its beach/surfer dude aesthetic. I should also point out that Mrs Howie rather liked it.
Turns out then the old saying is true - you can't polish a turd, but maybe you can roll it in some glitter.
6/10.

But Pipeline isn't the only new-to-me coaster at SeaWorld, also had my first rides on Ice Breaker today. Wasn't particularly excited for it to be honest but it was a lot more enjoyable than I expected. The train design is awful - ugly, cluttered, cramped, difficult to get in and out of and lots of seat belt and restraint faff - but once it gets going it has a fun, action-packed little layout peppered with loads of airtime pops and snappy transitions. Pretty smooth too. Fully expected this to be a one-and-done but nope, went straight round and had 2 more goes. Good stuff.
7.5/10.

But Pipeline and Icebreaker aren't the only new-to-me coasters at SeaWorld, also had my first rides on Mako today. About 10 rides, as it happens. Oh Helllll yes... now we're talking! Top tier hyper, this. First drop is disgustingly good. Second hill is also disgustingly good, both feeling a lot taller and steeper than their modest* stats would suggest (*modest by B&M hyper standards anyway). Next big hill and turnaround maintain the awesomeness beautifully. Then came the hill with the trim brake and it bit hard, spoiling the moment somewhat, but the rest of layout didn't seem to be affected too much, plenty more fast, floaty, swoopy loveliness followed.
That was based off my first ride in the back row. Subsequent rides just got better and better. In the front, the trim brake is much less noticeable and if anything, the airtime feels stronger at the front than the back, giving you that wonderful feeling of being pushed over the hills, as opposed to be being pulled down the drop. It's only a subtle difference between the two sensations but overall I think I prefer the pushed over kinda airtime.
By the end the night, the coaster was absolutely flying, the trim brake didn't seem to be biting at all and a combination of front and back row rides in quick succession in the pitch black sealed Mako's place as a truly elite coaster, snapping at the heels of Shambhala in the fight for best B&M hyper.
Best coaster in the park, best coaster of the trip to date (yes, even ahead of Velocicoaster at the moment, although I've only had 1 daytime ride on VC so far so that could change later on) and worthy of a Top 10 placement. I'm not quite ready to give it a final ranking just yet, but we're definitely talking Top 10 potential here, it's that good.
Superb.
An easy 10/10.

But Pipeline, Ice Breaker and Mako aren't the only new-to-me coasters at SeaWorld, also had my first rides on Manta today. Yes, it's been a long time since I've been here, 2007 was the last time. Safe to say the park's changed quite a bit since then.
Manta is good. I liked it. As B&M flying coasters go, it's one of the best I've been on. Not quite as insane as the mighty Tatsu, but a considerable step up from Galactica and the Superman clones. Had 2 goes - 1 front and 1 back, front row was far superior. Pretzel loop in the back was brutally, chest crushingly forceful to the point of almost being too much, but overall an intense, well presented coaster.
8/10.

 

[Matt N]

Pipeline: The Surf Coaster.
Almost certainly the best stand-up coaster on the planet but... hmm, yeah, that's not really saying much, is it? It's kinda like saying VAT is the best tax, or that syphilis is the best of the venereal diseases. At the end of the day it's still a stand-up coaster and stand-up coasters were and always will be a turd idea. There's a reason these things died out in the 90's y'know. They're just not comfortable, especially for those of us blessed (or is it cursed? ) with external genitalia.
The bicycle seat hurts your plums, plain and simple. Every airtime moment is essentially the same as getting a flying wedgie, and that ain't any kind of fun.
Still, on the plus side it's smooth, the launch is quite punchy, the layout flows nicely and the whole thing is presented quite well with its beach/surfer dude aesthetic. I should also point out that Mrs Howie rather liked it.
Turns out then the old saying is true - you can't polish a turd, but maybe you can roll it in some glitter.
6/10.

But Pipeline isn't the only new-to-me coaster at SeaWorld, also had my first rides on Ice Breaker today. Wasn't particularly excited for it to be honest but it was a lot more enjoyable than I expected. The train design is awful - ugly, cluttered, cramped, difficult to get in and out of and lots of seat belt and restraint faff - but once it gets going it has a fun, action-packed little layout peppered with loads of airtime pops and snappy transitions. Pretty smooth too. Fully expected this to be a one-and-done but nope, went straight round and had 2 more goes. Good stuff.
7.5/10.

But Pipeline and Icebreaker aren't the only new-to-me coasters at SeaWorld, also had my first rides on Mako today. About 10 rides, as it happens. Oh Helllll yes... now we're talking! Top tier hyper, this. First drop is disgustingly good. Second hill is also disgustingly good, both feeling a lot taller and steeper than their modest* stats would suggest (*modest by B&M hyper standards anyway). Next big hill and turnaround maintain the awesomeness beautifully. Then came the hill with the trim brake and it bit hard, spoiling the moment somewhat, but the rest of layout didn't seem to be affected too much, plenty more fast, floaty, swoopy loveliness followed.
That was based off my first ride in the back row. Subsequent rides just got better and better. In the front, the trim brake is much less noticeable and if anything, the airtime feels stronger at the front than the back, giving you that wonderful feeling of being pushed over the hills, as opposed to be being pulled down the drop. It's only a subtle difference between the two sensations but overall I think I prefer the pushed over kinda airtime.
By the end the night, the coaster was absolutely flying, the trim brake didn't seem to be biting at all and a combination of front and back row rides in quick succession in the pitch black sealed Mako's place as a truly elite coaster, snapping at the heels of Shambhala in the fight for best B&M hyper.
Best coaster in the park, best coaster of the trip to date (yes, even ahead of Velocicoaster at the moment, although I've only had 1 daytime ride on VC so far so that could change later on) and worthy of a Top 10 placement. I'm not quite ready to give it a final ranking just yet, but we're definitely talking Top 10 potential here, it's that good.
Superb.
An easy 10/10.

But Pipeline, Ice Breaker and Mako aren't the only new-to-me coasters at SeaWorld, also had my first rides on Manta today. Yes, it's been a long time since I've been here, 2007 was the last time. Safe to say the park's changed quite a bit since then.
Manta is good. I liked it. As B&M flying coasters go, it's one of the best I've been on. Not quite as insane as the mighty Tatsu, but a considerable step up from Galactica and the Superman clones. Had 2 goes - 1 front and 1 back, front row was far superior. Pretzel loop in the back was brutally, chest crushingly forceful to the point of almost being too much, but overall an intense, well presented coaster.
8/10.

Interesting thoughts!

I’m glad to hear you loved Mako; welcome to the fan club! Most on here know very well how much I love Mako, and I frankly couldn’t agree more with your review! It’s looking like I’m quite possibly going to be riding Shambhala for the first time next year, and I am rather interested to see how it compares…

I also had relatively similar thoughts about Pipeline, although I perhaps liked it a little less than you. While I appreciate its novelty and concede that it has a strong layout with good airtime, I’ll make no secret of the fact that I did not especially rate it, and I’d say that it’s one of my least favourite B&M coasters out of the 17 I’ve done. In my view, it doesn’t solve any of the inherent flaws of the standup coaster as a ride type.

I do starkly disagree with you on Manta, and would declare that ride my least favourite B&M coaster, but that’s more down to the fact that I’m not hugely keen on flying coasters in general. I did not personally like the pretzel loop on there at all.

If you don’t mind me asking, what did you think to Kraken, if you were able to ride? I never hear it get an overly good reputation, but I actually thought it was really decent on my ride in June!

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on some of the other Florida coasters! Are you headed to Universal and/or Busch Gardens at all during your trip?

 

[Howie]

If you don’t mind me asking, what did you think to Kraken,

Closed for annual maintenance and technically not a new-to-me cred as I rode it on previous visits (very glad it was Kraken that was closed and not one of the other B&M's! Definitely dropped lucky on that one) but yeah it's very good. Or at least it was in '03 and '07.
I think it was top 10 material at the time, would have been my first B&M floorless coaster but I doubt it would be cracking any lists today. Bear in mind my coaster count was still in double figures back then and I was a lot easier to please.

Are you headed to Universal and/or Busch Gardens at all during your trip?

Yes and yes. Have done Universal already this trip but so far have only ridden Hagrid's and VC once each. Further rides needed to form an opinion.
Busch Gardens tomorrow.

 

[I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden]

Shockwave - Drayton Manor

Managed to finally get myself to Drayton Manor and ride Shockwave! The added incentive of not being able to after the 5th of November definitely helped!

Comfort:
I thought this coaster was a relatively comfortable experience, very little headbanging and no pain of "that" sort at all. I did make an effort to keep my head forward and have the restraint touching the tops of my shoulders though which kept the bicycle seat well away from me. That probably helped. The best seats are 100% in the front row of the train. It gets rougher and a bit janky in the back couple of rows. Although the OTSRs were quite bulky I didn't think they impacted the ride experience too much and I thought the boarding was pretty straightforward unlike some others. (the lapbars for next year will definitely be simpler though, especially for the gp)

Layout:
Not an amazing layout but I was pleasantly surprised by the first half. The drop was really fun, one of my favourites actually. Sort of in two halves, curving to the left halfway through. The loop was forceful and very smooth and the zero-g roll was such an odd sensation. My feet fully left the floor as I was flung upwards and to the side, very fun! The straight track and double corkscrew was probably the weakest moment of the ride. Still enjoyable, though the corkscrews were slightly rougher than the rest of the layout. The curve back into the station was fine, just fine.

Overall Experience:
A fun and comfortable coaster which I would happily ride again (if I could ). Could do with a more obvious storyline and theming though. Hopefully that happens alongside the refurbishment for 2024. Some dead sections but the exciting stand-up aspect made up for that and was probably the best thing about the ride. Very sad to be losing that. Looking forward to the new sit down lapbar trains though, even if I'd prefer the stand-up trains to stay.

7/10

 

[uwurawrus]

Pipeline: The Surf Coaster.
Almost certainly the best stand-up coaster on the planet but... hmm, yeah, that's not really saying much, is it? It's kinda like saying VAT is the best tax, or that syphilis is the best of the venereal diseases

Better get yourself to Italy then, eh?

 

[Eyebrows]

I’m currently bored in a queue, and I haven’t posted in this thread in quite a while, so I figured I’d review some of the notable stuff I rode on my New York/Canada trip, from July 28 - August 1.

Riding #282 Leap the Dips at Lakemont Park checked another record off my list with the world’s oldest roller coaster. 12 decades is no slouch! As far as ride experience goes, it does more than I was expecting. The titular dips provide an odd sensation, with the seat seemingly disappearing from below you, and with zero restraint whatsoever it’s definitely more fun than it should be. The ride, while nothing special in terms of thrills, is an absolute gem that seems to have people that care passionately for it working on its maintenance team. If only they were given a higher budget. 6.5/10, #119.

#289 Viper at Six Flags Darien Lake is an excellently preserved Arrow Dynamics custom looper, and is home to the only example of an Arrow corkscrew element that I don’t hate. Besides the batwing, the whole ride is glass smooth, and I love the terrain interaction. I liked this more than Tennessee Tornado, making it my favorite Arrow looper, a title it would hold for one day (foreshadowing!). I know people whose favorite ride at the park is Viper, and at 7/10, #110 I can totally see it.

However, the illustrious title of Best Ride at Darien Lake goes to #286 Ride of Steel for me. I liked this one much more than its Maryland counterpart, due in equal parts to its pure, unadulterated T-Bar restraints and its interaction with the pond. In addition, it felt as though it ran faster, though this will require more rides on the other (and consequently another visit to SFA ) to confirm. I enjoyed the final run of hills, and a front row ride in a slight drizzle made for an undeniably enjoyable experience. 7.5/10, #83.

#291 Silver Comet at Niagara Amusement Park (formerly Fantasy Island) is an oft-overlooked woodie that gives a quintessentially CCI experience. The drop shaping will be familiar to those who have ridden many coasters from this manufacturer, and the first third or so of the ride gives classic CCI floater and laterals. The middle third suffers some pacing issues, but a trademark aggressive finale more than makes up for it. With a ride experience reminiscent of Legend in some ways and in others completely its own, Silver Comet is no slouch and undoubtedly deserves more attention than it gets. 7.5/10, #75.

The coaster I was perhaps most excited to ride on the whole trip, #292 Dragon Mountain at Marineland, felt like a momentous accomplishment to ride in more ways than one. First, I’d been wanting to ride it ever since I learned of its existence. I adore funny rides, and the entire concept of Dragon Mountain is hilarious to me. Secondly, it’s an absolute trek to get to. Following the paths, it’s a half mile walk from the park entrance at minimum, and if you misread the signs and take the long way around like we did, it’s an extra quarter mile. The queue and station are shockingly well themed, and the front car of the train is so incredibly goofy looking. The layout and ride in general is so absolutely stupid and ridiculous, but if you’re like me you’ll know that that’s what makes it great. In addition to being hilarious, though, it’s also a genuinely good ride. The first drop has a great yank to it in the back, and the track is smoother than it has any right to be throughout. The tunnel sections are bonkers, and the ride importantly is free of those dreadful Arrow corkscrews. Dragon Mountain is far and away my favorite Arrow looper, and leapfrogs Magnum to take its place as my favorite Arrow period. Overall I find the ride to be an 8/10, #40, and strongly recommend it to anyone making the trip to Canada’s Wonderland.

One ride I recommend nobody at all ride is #293 Frank’ N Coaster at House of Frankenstein. This dreadful Wisdom concoction has zero redeeming qualities besides the humor of being situated atop a Burger King. A stupidly rough ride paired with awful profiling and perhaps the worst layout of any coaster creates a ride with nearly zero enjoyment to be gained from experiencing. This is third worst coaster I’ve ever done at 1/10, #309, but somehow not my least favorite coaster of the trip!

Over at Canada’s Wonderland lives #304 Time Warp, which I knew I was going to hate. Its cousin, Soarin’ Eagle at Luna Park, was already my least favorite coaster ever, and it has a reputation as the best of its model. Time Warp, as it turns out, is the same as Soarin’ Eagle, just rougher, older, and less maintained. Needless to say, it’s worse. Absolute torture device of a ride. 1/10, #311.

#298 Leviathan was… pretty good. It reminds me of a cross between Fury 325 and a more traditional hyper. The drop is incredible as they tend to be, and I love the fast low to the ground bits that evoke Fury. The big camelbacks are good, but break up the pacing in an odd way that I don’t like. The reason I prefer Fury vastly to this is because it feels much more cohesive and knows exactly what it wants to be, and executes it perfectly. Leviathan is by no means a bad ride, though, and I think I’ve placed it very fairly at 8.5/10, #37.

There you have it! I haven’t ridden many new credits since, but even so 2023 has been a very productive year for me, and I hope to continue that next year!

 

[Howie]

Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket.
Sh*te.
What on earth is this even doing at Universal Studios? It just doesn't belong at all. The restraints are awful, the layout is awful, it looks trash, it rides trash... it is trash.
Bin it.
Couple of marks for height, speed and some reasonable forces but, out of 10? Nah man, this is getting a 3 or a 4.
Sh*te.

Escape From Gringotts.
Now then, this is a difficult one. On paper, this should be an elite coaster/dark ride combo. All the ingredients are there - astounding presentation, technical wizardry, booming John Williams soundtrack etc - but, I dunno, it just didn't grab me, I just didn't engage with it somehow. I found it predictable, formulaic and far too similar in execution to a whole bunch of other Universal rides. There's nothing new here. There were no surprises.
It's kinda excellent, I guess, but just not for me.
I think one of the main reasons I didn't get on with Gringotts was because I'd already done the other Harry Potter dark ride, Forbidden Journey, and was quite literally blown away by it. Absolutely jaw dropping stuff, can't fault it. A masterpiece, no less. And it's not even a coaster!
I can't back this up with any data, but I get the impression that whether you prefer FJ or Gringotts may well depend on which one you ride first. Whichever way round you do it, the second one will always be a slightly different take on the first one, and therefore less likely to impress. That's my theory anyway, any thoughts on that?

While we're talking about Potter, can I take a moment to give a shout-out to the themed areas themselves, in particular Diagon Alley at the Studios park. Wow! Just wow! About a year ago I declared that Rookburgh at Phantasialand was the best and most immersive themed environment I'd ever laid eyes on. Yeah... not no more. Potterland beats it, hands down. I love the fact that Diagon Alley is hidden from view and not even signposted, that you literally have to go and find it. We'd been in the park several hours, mincing around on ET, Transformers, Minions, Simpsons, Men in Black etc etc... before we realised: "Hang on, isn't there supposed to be a Potter ride here? Where the f*** is it then?" we said.
That moment when we found it, and were greeted by the sight of that giant, fire-breathing dragon? Our jaws hit the floor, man. Proper goosebump moment right there.



And the train ride? I mean come on, you gotta admit having 2 separate Potterlands in neighbouring parks connected by the Hogwarts Express was a stroke of genius. Loved it all.
And I don't even like Harry Potter!

Imagine if there was a themed land of this quality based on a franchise that I do like?

<cough> Galaxy's Edge <cough>

 

[Howie]

Iron Gwazi.
Yessssss! What a beast! It's awesome. Really, really awesome.
10 out of 10, obviously.
But you all kinda knew that anyway. The real question is, how awesome? Where does it sit in the rankings? How does it compare to the other big RMC's, as well as the other elite Florida coasters?
Ok let's not beat around the bush - it won't be beating Steel Vengeance. The massive ride length and sheer quantity of airtime moments on SteVe means it's still the daddy.
But it IS better than Zadra in my opinion. Zadra hurt me, see. Those aggressive laterals had a habit of painfully slamming me into the side of the train. Me no likey. IG has noticably more airtime too.

Wildfire then? Yeah it's better than Wildfire. It doesn't have the views and spectacular location of Wildfire, but it's way ahead in terms of pacing and forces.

Untamed then, currently my 2nd favourite RMC. Yeah it's better than Untamed too. Untamed probably has more airtime moments, and it has bucketloads of what I call 'comedy value', but IG is undoubtedly bigger, badder, bolder, faster, just... better.

In terms of new coasters ridden on this trip, I think it's tying with Mako as my favourite.
So there you have it then, it's my 2nd favourite RMC, it's my joint favourite coaster in Florida and, even though I've reached a point where I've practically given up on ranking coasters, I'd consider Iron Gwazi to be Top 10 material all day long.
Great stuff.

But Iron Gwazi isn't the only new-to-me coaster at Busch Gardens. It's been a while since I've been here, see. I also had my first rides on Tigris, Cobra's Curse and Cheetah Hunt too.

Tigris is alright. Not my first Premier Skyrocket, been on two others and although I'm not a fan of the slow, upside downy hangtime at the top, the rest of the layout is actually pretty fun. I particularly liked the backwards launch.
6.5/10

Cobra's Curse was a lot of fun too. Nothing too wild of course but it has some neat tricks up its sleeve. I liked the elevator lift, I liked the fact that it has a forwards section, a backwards section and a spinning section and the whole thing is rather well themed too. Cool little coaster.
8/10

Cheetah Hunt is fine, I guess. Suffers from a bit of an identity crisis though. If it wasn't for the inversion I'd class this as an excellent family coaster, but with the inversion it becomes something of a midway point between family and thrill, and I'm not sure it succeeds particularly well at either.
Still, it's pretty enjoyable overall.
6.5/10

And while I'm here a quick word about the B&M's, even though I've ridden 'em before. Montu is outstanding, still one of the finest inverts on the planet.
Sheikra is still fab, I do love the massive B&M dive coasters, can't be doing with those piddly little European ones. The whole point of dive coasters is that they're huge, imposing and intimidating. Without the sheer size, they're nothing.
But oh dear, what's happened to  Kumba? Blimey, that thing's gotten rough. Maybe it is time to retire it after all.

Up next will be the IOA creds.

 

[CanobieFan]

Getting all hot and bothered by a brand new SBF Spinner today at IAAPA! Coaster #1,114 for me, and definitely more spinning than the last few years.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725319017781498182

 

[Howie]

You ready for a hot take? Ok here goes:
VelociCoaster didn't win me over.
I mean, I liked it, it's a great roller coaster, I'm still gonna give it a very respectable 9/10, but somehow it didn't blow me away like it has done for so many others. The question is... why not? On paper it should have done. The layout is good, the length is plenty, the launches are fab, the airtime is strong, the theming and presentation are fantastic... so why didn't it hit the spot? I gave it plenty of chances, rode it in the front, rode it in the back, rode it at night, rode it in the rain, notched up about 6 or 7 goes over the course of the trip but, sadly, none of them really wowed me the way Mako or Iron Gwazi did.
Part of the reason might be that VelociCoaster didn't really surprise me in any way. It rode exactly the way I expected it to. I anticipated an excellent coaster and that's exactly what I got, no more, no less. For a coaster to be considered truly elite, to crack a top 10 list or become a personal favourite, I think it has to deliver more than expected and VelociCoaster just... didn't.
Another part of the reason could be that during the queue you're subjected to 10 excruciating minutes of the god-awful Bryce Dallas Howard in all her annoying splendour on a 20ft wide HD screen just before boarding. That surely is enough to put anyone in a foul mood, no?
It might seem a bit unfair, maybe even petty, to blame the ride's failure on my personal dislike of the actor involved but I mean come on... she is awful.
So a 9 out of 10 it is, and no placement in the top 10, or even top 20.
Sorry, but Taron is miles better.

The same can't be said for Hagrid's Magical Motorbike Word Salad though, this is an amazing ride, both me and Mrs Howie loved it to bits, it's just sooo much fun. So much so that we chose this over VelociCoaster as our final ride not just of the night, but of the whole holiday. It was dark, it was raining, we were on the front row and I had the motorbike seat and we both came away laughing our tits off. Whichever way you cut it, 300 million bucks buys you an awful lot of roller coaster and believe me, every penny of that colossal budget is there on show for all to see. It's amazing. 10 out of 10.