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Strongest theming on a mega/hyper, giga or strata coaster?

Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. Mega, hyper, giga and strata coasters are absolutely huge rides, often the landmark ride of their park. Due to this, the cost of building the ride alone is often colossal, meaning that the theming on these monstrous rides is often quite limited. So my question to you today is; which mega, hyper, giga or strata coaster do you feel has the strongest theming?

Personally, I'd say that Kondaa at Walibi Belgium looks to have a fair shot at this title. It has a really well-themed station building, by the looks of things, and the area has tons of little details!

But which mega, hyper, giga or strata coaster do you think has the strongest theming?
 
Does Flying Aces count? Great queue line theming as well as the station, no theming during the ride, but still has better theming than most 200ft+ coasters.

Mako has a good looking queue line, the station is well themed and the lift hill audio is a bonus.

Goliath at SFMM has the iconic sign, some landscaping in the queue as well as a sort of themed station.

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Kärnan, Flying Aces, Hyperion or Zadra. All 4 are pretty well themed, at least in the queue. In the over 300 feet segment I gotta give it to Superman Escape from Krypton. It has a great fitting to the theme colour scheme, an incredible station and a super cool entrance plaza. Just to bad that Six Flags refuses to maintain the station. Redforce is also pretty well themed (at least visually) but I feel like they just want to shove Ferrari down your throat without any actual meaningful theming such as Flying Aces which also is themed to Ferrari but has a great backstory.
 
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In the Giga/Strata category I'd go with Top Thrill Dragster (as it originally opened). The ride vehicles with spoilers and tires, the racing Christmas tree lights, the announcer, the sound effects of a reving engine, the radar displaying the speed of the launch, the station architecture, the actual dragster out front, the bleachers, which were actually full of spectators for the first couple seasons. It was a real spectacle, which is exactly what it was designed to be. It may not have been the most elaborate theme, but it did the trick.

But then again you could call me a Cedar Point fanboy, so I may not be the most neutral judge.
 
There are several that I haven't ridden that probably have stronger theming (Kondaa and Karnan come to mind), but Hyperion was excellent. The ride itself doesn't have any theming, but the entire queue was pretty well themed.
 
It still has to be Top Thrill Dragster. Rumbling engine launch sound effect, Grandstands watching riders launch through the series, spoiler and back tire theme - it is as close to a perfect theme interpretation as you get.
 
Shambhala, has its own themed area pretty much (see my user icon!), themed tunnel, themed splashdown... It's impossible to fully theme and entire coaster that large but Shammy has it where it actually matters.
 
^Sticking with Port Aventura, Red Force should probably qualify too. I mean, theming wise it's no Taron... but there ain't no mistaking that it's a Ferrari-based ride from... well, anywhere in Salou really.
 
It’s definitely not a contender for best theming but any means but I appreciate I305’s trains and dispatch audio, as well as the race car that (used to) be in the front plaza.
 
I would say Orion at Kings Island. The hut in that you can see while waiting in line and the whole Area 72 area around it just makes me think I'm in some space research base.
 
Strata:
Top Thrill Dragster because all the other ones kinda suck.

Giga:
Most likely Orion. The whole theme is on point. Red Force looks pretty good all things considered though. Nothing else really has themeing beyond the name.

Hyper: This is where it gets interesting.
Yukon Striker deserves a mention. It's locker system puts it one here.
Flying Aces queue looks amazing
Zadra and Hyperion both look to have decent queues
Mako's queue is pretty good all things considered
The winner however is Karnan. All of these rides have little to no onride theming while Karnan's lift is enclosed and has dark ride scenes. easy in my book.

Mega: This one had me scrolling through RCDB for quite a while checking every single mega coaster but here's what I came up with
EpiQ coaster has some neat visuals and on ride theming
Colossos has a massive fire statue which is enough to deserve a mention in my eyes
Kondaa looks to have some great theming queue wise.
Flying Dinosaur deserves a mention without a doubt
Sky Scream looks like it has some great theming in it's queue and station
Hulk's queue is amazing
The winner however is Velocicoaster no questions asked. The theming in the queue is great, the station is on point, and the first half looks amazing.
 
Inverting_Thrills said:
Strata:
Top Thrill Dragster because all the other ones kinda suck.

Giga:
Most likely Orion. The whole theme is on point. Red Force looks pretty good all things considered though. Nothing else really has themeing beyond the name.

Hyper: This is where it gets interesting.
Yukon Striker deserves a mention. It's locker system puts it one here.
Flying Aces queue looks amazing
Zadra and Hyperion both look to have decent queues
Mako's queue is pretty good all things considered
The winner however is Karnan. All of these rides have little to no onride theming while Karnan's lift is enclosed and has dark ride scenes. easy in my book.

Mega: This one had me scrolling through RCDB for quite a while checking every single mega coaster but here's what I came up with
EpiQ coaster has some neat visuals and on ride theming
Colossos has a massive fire statue which is enough to deserve a mention in my eyes
Kondaa looks to have some great theming queue wise.
Flying Dinosaur deserves a mention without a doubt
Sky Scream looks like it has some great theming in it's queue and station
Hulk's queue is amazing
The winner however is Velocicoaster no questions asked. The theming in the queue is great, the station is on point, and the first half looks amazing.
Click to expand...
BuT oRiOn IsN't 300. :p

I'd humbly submit Intimidator 305 and Millennium Force as no big slouch. If anything, the sound effects, in station, make all the difference thematically on both. Send riders out on the right vibes!
 
Although not built yet, I will be interested to see how Thorpe Park's Project Exodus will be themed. Their last two coasters (SAW and The Swarm) are arguably some of the best themed coasters in the UK. If Merlin continues on this upwards trend in terms of quality theming then I think Project Exodus (whatever it may be themed to) could be an interesting candidate for this debate. That's just a Thorpe Park fanboy speculating though...
 
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