Your Least Common Opinion?

[Sabretooth78]

One time I was at Cedar Point, one of the operators on Valravn seemed to have a particular axe to grind against Fury. I forget exactly what happened, but he saw my Leviathan t-shirt and started loudly proclaiming that it was far superior to Fury. He continued this with every other guest he saw with some non-Fury coaster t-shirt.

I'm not one to shy away from controversial opinions myself. In the coaster world:

• Grizzly is the best coaster at Kings Dominion. Two words: Phoenix vibes. (caveat: I-305/Pantherian wasn't running, but also, see below.)
• Millennium Force doesn't come close to cracking my top 5 even at Cedar Point. Maybe not even my top 10. Fight me.
• Ride of Steel at SF America beats Ride of Steel at SF Darien Lake, hands down. Far smoother and better illusion of speed.
• In fact, Viper and Predator are more solid in overall experience than Ride of Steel, unless you enjoy 12 minute dispatches on 1-train ops.
• On the topic of Intamin hypers, they kind of stink. Their strength instead lies in launch coasters like Maverick, Cheetah Hunt, Pantheon, etc., which I do rank favorably despite their shortcomings.
• I didn't hate Time Warp.
• Sure, The Shed is corny, but I like it. Tell me you'd rather sit in 120° heat index on the brake run. More parks should do "post-ride engagement" like that.

I could probably think of many more if I gave it time...

 

[MackMan]

Okay I just came back from Emerald Park and I rode my first Vekoma STC. Hot take, it is better than a lot of B&M inverts and I feel will rocket above B&M in the market in the future. The ride feels butter smooth, good forces, good layout, elements flow well into each other, and the ride even has a great mix of forces (positives, laterals, airtime pops).

After riding three neo Vekomas, I would say the other manufacturers should be weary. Vekoma are producing seemingly reliable, smooth, and brilliant products. For smaller parks Fianna Force would be a godsend. It would easily be the #2 at Thorpe for me, better than Nemesis at Alton. Such a fun layout with good length.