Coaster reviews

Inversions Intensity Discomfort

The transitions on this Arrow looper weren't as bad as some others, but it was still uncomfortable. The helix was laughable; I could feel every track piece transition into the next, as if they couldn't even track a continuous curve properly. The interlocking loops, while picturesque, felt like crashing into a truck, and the OTSR did not agree with my shoulders.

Pace Layout

A decent early GCI, showing its age and SFA's low maintenance budget (which seems to go mostly to Wild One, and for good reason). Seeing what SFDK did with its cousin, I think an RMC on that scale could be great for the park, while removing a less than great coaster that the park can't maintain.

Location Dead spots

A juddery, meandering ride that only gets good just before it rolls into the final brakes. The pretzel-shaped helices over the water are scenic and fun, but until that point, the ride doesn't really do much. This would be high on my chopping block to create room for a good modern wooden coaster through the trees and onto Millennium Island.

Inversions Intensity Harness

It's a bit rough and shows its age, but it's an intense ride with a lot of interesting inversions and a wild footchopper off of the heart-shaped roll. This is considered one of the worst SLCs? I thought it was decent in spite of the bulky restraints.

Inversions Launch Intensity Discomfort

Spaghetti bowls are much less fun in the dark, when you can't brace for the next snappy transitions.

Theming Fun Smoothness

A fun, decently thrilling family mine ride with excellent theming.

Launch Intensity Hangtime Harness Discomfort

Surprisingly intense, a shocking amount of hangtime on the twist, and then a wild ride through snappy vertical transitions make for an insane, if not exactly the most comfortable, ride.

Inversions Hangtime Harness Dead spots

My first trip to Kings Island was the weekend of the announcement that this relic of my defunct home park would close at the end of the season. I'm thrilled that I made the trip, but not because of Firehawk itself. The loop offered incredible hangtime, but the rest of the course meandered around while my chest was crushed by the bulky vest restraints. I'm thankful to this coaster for getting me to Kings Island, but I'm not wearing the nostalgia goggles about this one - especially with the plot being used for a giga coaster next season.

Launch Intensity Dead spots

Somewhere in the no-man's-land between a quality family ride and an intense launched coaster sits Backlot Stunt Coaster. A sharp banked transition leads into a tight and forceful helix that makes no bones about this ride not being fir the faint of heart, but then it seems to die into a tame experience. The ride can't seem to make up its mind on what it wants to be, and it suffers on both ends of the spectrum.

Intensity Smoothness

It doesn't hold a candle to its RMC-converted cousin in Charlotte, but the retracked section is butter smooth and the trademark CCI forces make it a pretty intense ride.