Re: Your favorite/least favorite coaster from each manufactu
Intamin:
Favorite: Cheetah Hunt @ BGT; I understand that this one gets its fair share of hate for being forceless, but I personally really like this one. It's a big, long Intamin that runs almost the length of its park and offers a little bit of everything. Some force here and there, a few instances of good airtime, amazing theming, some nice terrifying hangtime over the rapids on that inversion, and just all around a fun, immersive ride.
Least Favorite: Wilderness Run @ Cedar Point; This is a kiddie cred, I know, but it's a VILE kiddie cred. The thing lists to the side slightly when engaging the chain lift, the whole layout is downright painful, and those airtime hills are just blegh. </3 But hey, when I get out of school and start designing coasters I'm sure my first bits and pieces I work on won't be much better.
Intamin had to start somewhere.
B&M:
Favorite: Banshee @ Kings Island; Banshee combines the force and snap that's characteristic for old school B&M with the smooth, floaty aspects of more modern ones. The drop is sick, the batwing is sick, and the twist at the end is downright terrifying.
Least Favorite: Vortex @ Carowinds; This B&M is HORRIBLE!!! So much headbanging and that awful layout combined with those awful stand-up trains might be the worst thing in that park, and that's saying something.
GCI:
Favorite: Thunderhead @ Dollywood; My favorite wooden coaster! Love the unexpected pops of airtime littered throughout the layout and just the general twistiness that comes with GCI taken to the extreme. Not to mention the great ambiance surrounding the great ride.
Least Favorite: Gwazi @ BGT; This thing is HORRIBLE, it made me miss Son of Beast. Hopefully BGT decides to RMC it. Paint the rails the respective colors of the sides and they'd have a winner.
Premier:
Favorite: Full Throttle @ Six Flags Magic Mountain; It's a short ride but a great one. Awful branding and capacity aside, it's a great ride.
Least Favorite: Flight of Fear @ Kings Island; The total opposite of Full Throttle. It's a long, awful ride with great branding. At least they share the same horrible capacity. :wink:
Arrow:
Favorite: X2 @ Six Flags Magic Mountain; This was the first coaster to legitimately scare me since I was a young child. The station and audio create the same nervous feeling you get in Millennium Force's and the actual ride itself is terrifying. You have those weird unconventional restraints and being held face-first in them is downright terrifying. I have the same complaint about this one as I do Full Throttle, though. It's just too short. Not to mention the bucking I got from the rack and pinion assembly hooked up to my seat.
Least Favorite: Vortex @ Kings Island; This thing is horrible! Definitely the worst Arrow I've ridden. That high turn after the first drop is just vile, and the rapid turn into the MCBR might be the worst designed thing in the industry. I do have a soft spot for those loops and corkscrews, though.
Vekoma:
Favorite: Rock n' Roller Coaster @ Disney's Hollywood Studios; This was my first looping coaster as a kid and it still remains my favorite Vekoma coaster. The whole spaghetti bowl with all the lights and music is just surreal and it has probably the smoothest corkscrew I've experienced on one of these awful things.
Least Favorite: Ninja @ Six Flags Over Georgia; This is my least favorite coaster anywhere. It rattles, it beats you up, and when I rode it we had to wait fifteen minutes in the station for them to don haz-mat suits to clean vomit out of one of the trains.
