AWARD WINNER: WORST RESTRAINTS. Bakken stopped caring about this ride an incredibly long time ago, and it SHOWS. A couple decades ago they got rid of ...
AWARD WINNER: WORST RESTRAINTS. Bakken stopped caring about this ride an incredibly long time ago, and it SHOWS. A couple decades ago they got rid of the selling point of this ride, a manual brakeman, a guy who stands on the ride and manually applies the brakes otherwise the car will *literally* fly off the track. That's what makes old roller coasters cool - this kind of technology was made irrelevant by the advancement and development of upstop wheels, but it's still so insanely awesome to see brakemen operate other wooden coasters. Vuoristorata at Linnanmaki. Rutschebanen (the good one) at Tivoli Gardens. Roller Coaster at Great Yarmouth, just to name a few. The lovely interactions you can have with the brakemen who genuinely love their job, and always have a little think about whether to send the train a little faster this time around and toy around with fire. Bakken decided this wasn't their kinda thing, hired good-for-nothing KumbaK Engineers to design a brakeman-less train, and out went one more of the coolest jobs in the world. The energy of Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens is rampant - a forty minute queue, sending 5+ trains around the track all at once, brakemen sliding the trains across the corners at the fastest speed they can possibly go while making sure those wheels gain significant airtime on the hills. Slap my hand on a tunnel and nearly break it from throwing them up too high, and I'd gladly go again. The energy of Rutschebanen at Bakken is nonexistent - one singular lonesome train jolts around the course to the entertainment(?) of the three or maybe four people on board. Going around the layout passionlessly, it unceremoniously rattles around while being trimmed to almost zero miles per hour at every opportunity it gets. Slowed to a crawl at all available chances, this all happens with the singular worst roller coaster restraint I have ever experienced, a hideously oversized lap bar that jumps at every opportunity to dig infinitely far into your thighs without ever thinking to stop. The bottom of every hill has it dig further, further, and further as it threatens to cut any and all circulation into your legs while shaking through the turns with no thought process. By the halfway point you're begging for it to be over with the amount of pain you're in, but the lap bar has no brain, it only knows to go further down. And it doesn't stop. The enjoyment goes from six, to three, to one, to zero. An incoherently pathetic downgrade.
AWARD WINNER: BEST NIGHT RIDE. It's no secret that Rookburgh is one of the most beautifully themed areas in the world, and the area turns FLY from a f...
AWARD WINNER: BEST NIGHT RIDE. It's no secret that Rookburgh is one of the most beautifully themed areas in the world, and the area turns FLY from a fairly unremarkable ride experience into something otherworldly. If FLY was in a field, I wouldn't be able to care less for it, but the fact that it's in such an intensively complete area that has every nook and cranny filled with steampunky gizmos and gadgets is what sells FLY to me as a world-class attraction. Zooming around in the daytime is a must-do for anyone who enjoys roller coasters, but at night, FLY becomes the only roller coaster in the world where I genuinely questioned where the f**k I was. The area is lit up to perfection with beautiful blues & purples covering the realm as you dip and dive through dark tunnels and roll around factory roofs. By the second half, my entire life flashed before my eyes - "wait, where the HELL am I?" Am I on a roller coaster, or am I *actually* in Rookburgh? Is this real life, or a simulation? FLY is the only roller coaster to give me what I like to call "true immersion" where designers perfect worldbuilding in a way that has my mind well and truly tricked into thinking I really am in this fantasy world. FLY may barely crack my top 30, but I have no problem with proudly claiming this ride as my favourite night time experience on any coaster.
AWARD WINNER: BIGGEST TEASE. I've never had a roller coaster be so infuriatingly close to being world-class, and just barely missing the mark. Vliegen...
AWARD WINNER: BIGGEST TEASE. I've never had a roller coaster be so infuriatingly close to being world-class, and just barely missing the mark. Vliegende Hollander is spectacularly themed for the entirety of the queue line, one of the most beautiful roller coaster stations ever, and three incredibly themed scenes... three.. THREE. Hollander masters the art of worldbuilding, then throws it all away as soon as it really gets going. A climactic lift hill sequence has your tension absolutely sky-high, before it farts you into a fully unthemed outdoor section before a pathetic splash into the lake and then you're done mate. It's so close to being good. It's SO close. But it misses the mark in a frustrating fashion.
It‘s an RMC hybrid, obviously it‘s amazing. The first drop is amazing and the overall layout just a masterpiece in my opinion. Obviously it‘s buttery ...
It‘s an RMC hybrid, obviously it‘s amazing. The first drop is amazing and the overall layout just a masterpiece in my opinion. Obviously it‘s buttery smooth (except in one single spot but that‘s barely noticable) and just fun to ride with some very special elements, especially the stall below the lifthill. One of the best in the world for sure.
The first banked turn feels so great-i feel sick in a good way on top of that lift hill-and the sensation of powerlessness on the first drop is unlike...
The first banked turn feels so great-i feel sick in a good way on top of that lift hill-and the sensation of powerlessness on the first drop is unlike anything in the world. It's mental we have this in the UK!
Amazing hydraulic launch, very punchy and so far the best hydraulic launch I‘ve done so far. Pretty smooth which is unexpected for the age of the coas...
Amazing hydraulic launch, very punchy and so far the best hydraulic launch I‘ve done so far. Pretty smooth which is unexpected for the age of the coaster and Accelerator coasters are definitely not known for being the smoothest. Could be longer and make more airtime, but overall amazing. I usually do up to 10 rounds per day I am there.
Classic Vekoma Custom MK1200, however the age can be felt a lot on the ride. While the loopings are great and the location next to the lake is great, ...
Classic Vekoma Custom MK1200, however the age can be felt a lot on the ride. While the loopings are great and the location next to the lake is great, the track itself is in bad condition. Transitions are poor, and the over the shoulder restraints cause headbanging. Need a lot of focus to fight that. One time, but not more per visit. Needs a retracking like Python at Efteling, which would automatically make it 10 times better.
First DropEjectorsDurationRattleDiscomfortDead spots
Pretty good Intamin Pre-Fab, amazing drop and nice airtime. However, there is no padding whatsoever which makes the ride uncomfortable and rough. Afte...
Pretty good Intamin Pre-Fab, amazing drop and nice airtime. However, there is no padding whatsoever which makes the ride uncomfortable and rough. After just 1 ride I already get some form of headache. Transitions itself are good, it's of wooden nature to be a little rough, which would be completely irrelevant if the trains just had some sort of padding. Maybe the RMC treatment would've actually been a better idea... Also the mid part is a bit dead in terms of forces and airtime.
The first drop is really great and the half-inversion is also decent, but that‘s really it. A helix and a second inversion would really increase the r...
The first drop is really great and the half-inversion is also decent, but that‘s really it. A helix and a second inversion would really increase the rating of the coaster by a lot. Queue is often only 10-15 minutes, which I think still makes it re-ridable just for the drop in first row. Overall though, the location of the coaster just on the lake makes it great to look at from outside of the ride.
