I am fortunate enough to be able to ride Colossus every week and as such I have experienced this ride in every seat possible on every train, during all weather conditions and times of day. And I have ...
I am fortunate enough to be able to ride Colossus every week and as such I have experienced this ride in every seat possible on every train, during all weather conditions and times of day. And I have to say its really nowhere near as bad as people can make it out to be.
The landscaping (I would call it theming, but that is few and far between on this ride) is stunning, with an incredible soundtrack score alongside it which makes the area feel like no other in the UK. Seriously even if you don`t wanna particularly ride it or even if you hate the ride just spend some time watching it weave around the landscape. It looks magic.
The queue line is actually a pretty good one, with minimal cattle penning and quite a nice scenic walkthrough beneath the ride. Of course, the reality will most likely be you waiting in it for upwards of 90 minutes boxed in by 14 year old chavs blasting "the latest grime and drill hits" on a 20 quid Bluetooth speaker with the odd smell of lynx Africa wafting through the air and that might make you have not such a high opinion of it. But nevertheless, a good queue. You`ll be waiting in it for what seems like an eternity though because operations on this ride are shockingly bad most of the time. A combination of an old operating system, out of date restraints and guests faffing about in the station.
Once you reach the station you`ll often be assigned a row. If you get the front of each car then your most likely in for an at least somewhat enjoyable ride experience (arguably the best on park if you get allocated to the very front row) but if you get allocated to the back of a car then you better hope your a contortionist or 4ft 2 because these things are an absolute nightmare to get in and out of. Tip: if you get allocated to one of there rows then give all the bags to the person who will sit on the left hand side of the train. Trust me, you`ll thank me.
The main drop actually has some decent floater at the base of it in the middle rows and the loop is somewhat intense. The hill that follows it gives a nice dose of floater which is many peoples favorite part of the ride. The cobra roll can give some decent forces which is followed by 2 pretty snappy corkscrews. If you get lucky this can be a really good part of the ride with some varied forces. Unfortunately some of the time that isn't the case. You'll most likely find the train spending most the time in the first half of the ride shivering like a humping dog. And i8f your in the back row you better hope that you've got some ibuprofen or some money to buy some because you are gonna need it.
The second half begins, which is 4 back to back heartline rolls. These give some pretty great hangtime but my tip is to not put your hands up and to just hold on for this section. If you don't, you may return home to find that your upper arms look like you've gone 7 rounds in the ring with Tyson Fury. After a brief turnaround you go into my favorite inversion on the ride, a final heartline roll in the other direction before entering the brake run. Where you will wait for an average of about 3 minutes because this rides operations are beyond saving at this point.
So a lot of things that it could improve on. But also a pretty solid ride all in all. Definitely not the worst thing you`ll ever experience like some people make it out to be but also not worth the weekend 120 minute queues it produces.
Give it a go, it may surprise you and you may like it a fair bit like me.
