Coaster reviews

Airtimes First Drop Ejectors

The best woodie I've ever ridden, hands down. The drop, the huge airtime hills, the rapid turns, the everything, all serve to give a truly unforgettable ride. If El Toro isn't at or near the top of your list of bucket list coasters, it should be. Every coaster enthusiast worth their salt has to get out to Great Adventure and ride El Toro; you just have to.

Airtimes Launch Intensity Rattle Harness

100th credit! Really fun coaster with one of the most intense experiences in the scene. The wind in your face that you get in the front is gnarly, and the enormous hill after the drop delivers way more forces and airtime than you would expect. However, the ridiculously uncomfortable, unnecessary over the shoulder restraints (that are required by New Jersey law, unfortunately) put a damper on what should be an incredible ride, making it just a great ride. The OTSRs become more of an issue in the back of the train, which compared to the glass smooth front is rattly as hell; the rattling itself wouldn't be enough to be too uncomfortable, but the rattle combined with the restraints can make for a ride experience that can be pretty unpleasant. Really the only change this ride needs is TTD's lapbars, but unfortunately the law isn't letting that happen.

Fun Capacity

Cute little bobsled coaster that gives some solid thrills on its wooden layout. Be warned though, the capacity on this ride is awful, and the line absolutely crawls. The line might look really short, but those signs that say "45 minutes from this point" are not kidding. If the line for this one is any longer than that, you'd probably be better off riding Phoenix or Impulse.

Airtimes Lap Bar Fun

The secret ingredient that makes this ride so much fun are the buzz bars, 100% (google them if you're unfamiliar); you're just flying in your seat over every hill (especially in the back), making for a pretty unique experience compared to your average woodie. This one is definitely worth the trip for. They also do some pretty neat theming stuff for Halloween, which you should try to experience if you have the opportunity.

Inversions Pace Intensity Too short

Really fun and whippy Invert that zooms through its layout, making for one of the more aggressive ride experiences I've had on a B&M Invert. However, this combined with the fact that it doesn't really have the longest track length makes the ride feel really short, even compared to other inverts.

Dead spots

A totally unremarkable Wild Mouse.

Inversions Layout Hangtime

Probably one of the more unique B&M Floorless coasters I've ridden. The jojo roll out of the station gives some fantastic hangtime, and the rest of the layout is pretty fun as well. It wasn't the smoothest B&M I've ridden, but it definitely wasn't enough for call it rough by any means.

Launch Capacity

My 3rd Impulse, just like with Wicked Twister, it doesn't really do much for me after the first launch. It is cool to watch though.

Launch Capacity

Other than the first launch, this one didn't really do much for me. Kinda just felt like a less fun Premier Skyrocket 2. It is cool to just watch it go though, kinda like Corkscrew.

Airtimes Fun Ejectors

Super underrated ride! While the first drop isn't that steep, I still got a good amount of floater on it from the back. Later in the course you go through a really fun and long helix, which then transitions to a set of Magnum-esque airtime bunny hills that give some similarly brutal ejector airtime; seriously, you get slammed up and down in your seat if you don't staple yourself. Ride in the back for the most airtime, and prepare yourself for that ejector so you don't hurt yourself.

Airtimes Discomfort

Pretty average woodie that's maybe worth a ride or two if you're just craving any sort of wooden action. The ride probably would have been a lot better with the old buzzbars (like Phoenix's) that it had before its 2016 renovation, but it's still alright I guess.

First Drop Lap Bar Hangtime Capacity

Neat sort of Eurofighter clone that gives some good hangtime along its decently well paced layout. Not the best ride in the park, but it's definitely worth riding.

Inversions Smoothness Ejectors

Your standard Arrow looper but with lots of interaction with the fake mountain in the center of the dome. The ride is also smooth, wicked smooth for an Arrow; like, I didn't know Arrows could get this smooth. This one is definitely worth a ride or two, preferably in the back so you can get some nice ejector on the first drop.

Airtimes First Drop Masterpiece

My expectations for Fury were very high after riding Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, and good lord were my expectations exceeded. Just everything about this ride blew me away, and I ended up spending the last couple hours of my time at Carowinds just marathoning it. The first drop, the speed, the layout, and the ludicrous airtime you get in the back have all just been on my mind ever since I got off of it last; I can confidently say that my cross-country trip to ride Fury 325 was 100% worth it, and I can't wait for my next chance to get on it again.

Airtimes First Drop Lap Bar

Fun B&M Hyper themed after Dale Earnhardt that has a good drop, great airtime, and somewhat of a lack of purpose. While "Intrimidator's" much maligned trim brakes don't ruin the ride as some say, they do slow the train down a bit too much for my taste on the airtime hills. Additionally, while this ride would certainly be one of, if not the, headline attraction/s at 9/10 parks, it happens to reside at the same park that Fury 325 does. While the two have much different layouts, Fury's is just insane; which leaves you with a bit of a lessened reason to ride this when you could be riding Fury.

Fun Harness Capacity Dead spots

What may seem like your bog standard Vekoma Boomerang on the surface is actually something a bit more rare; this is a Boomerang that the park decided to actually put money into and buy the new trains with the new vest restraints! Do the vests make the Boomerang into the best ride in the world? No, but they certainly make the ride experience a lot better, allowing you to better enjoy the simple shuttle coaster as it goes backwards and forwards through its compact layout.

Inversions Too short

An Arrow looper that's got the standard 2 vertical loops and corkscrew plus a helix. This one's rides about the same as other Arrow loopers out there; it's enjoyable enough for a ride, and there never really seems to be a wait for it.

Intensity Too short Layout

A rare B&M Stand-Up that has yet to be converted to a Floorless. While the layout is decently intense while standing, it's just entirely too short to really offer much to riders. Standing coasters don't bother me (in fact I quite like them), but these early layouts with just a few elements just kinda suck; converting this one to a Floorless wouldn't fix the layout issues at all, and would just make a mediocre standing ride into a mediocre sitting ride.

Discomfort Dead spots

Boring Wild Mouse that's also pretty uncomfortable.

Airtimes Lap Bar Fun Too short

Kiddie woodie that's actually the best woodie in the park because it actually gives airtime. It is about as short as you would expect from a kiddie coaster unfortunately.

Location Discomfort Lap Bar

This would have been a cute little Arrow Mine Train were it not for the awful lap bar that just crushes your lap. One of the worst staplings I've had in my life, and I don't even have a overzealous ride-op to blame, just the ride. It's kinda hard to enjoy the cute layout and scenery that Mine Trains have when you're fighting with a crushing lapbar the entire time.

Headbanging

I was under the impression that the family SLCs were supposed to be pretty smooth and pleasant, but I didn't get much out of this thing other than some headbanging.

Tear it down! Pointless Dead spots

Pointless and boring woodie that's right next to an actually good ride, Fury 325. I sat right in the wheel seat at the very back of the train, and got a grand total of 0 airtime moments the entire ride. There's a few "airtime" hills, but they're so shallow and you hit them at such a slow speed that you get absolutely nothing from them. When the kiddie woodie at the other end of the park gives more airtime than the one that's like twice the size, there's something very wrong. RMC this thing or tear it down.

Inversions Intensity Layout

Fantastic B&M Invert that has the layout that really lets the inverted coaster stand above most of the competition. Each element comes right after the last, making for a very eventful ride as you haul through the trenches and trees that the track resides in. Though this is one of the longer B&M inverts I still just wanted more after the train hit the final brakes, definitely one of the best B&M Inverts I've ridden.

Airtimes Lap Bar Hangtime Dead spots

Really fun ride with some insane hangtime that starts immediately out of the station into the jojo roll; from there you go through the incredibly mild launch that seems to be perfectly tuned to have you barely clear that first vertical loop, giving you insane hangtime again at its apex. From there you go through the layout of snappy inversions, turns, airtime moments, and one final loop towards the end. While this ride does so much right, I can't help but feel that it's just lacking in the intensity department in certain spots, as well as the ride as a whole to a lesser degree. I kept on wishing it would would be a little more intense, but that just doesn't seem to be what the ride is about.

Inversions Nice surprise! Location Rattle Harness

The first Flying Dutchman, and first real flying coaster, Nighthawk is far better than most people say it is. While the restraints are indeed pretty awkward and the track rattles like hell, there's still a lot to love about this revolutionary flying coaster. The layout flies predominantly low, skimming the pond that it's situated over; the layout also squeezes in a healthy amount of inversions, along with an intense vertical loop that almost feels like a pretzel loop on a B&M flyer on about the last third or so of the loop (especially in the back). Another element that really stuck out to me was the corkscrew towards the end, which was really unique and interesting in a flying position. With all of its faults, this classic still has a lot to give even today; here's to hoping that this example of this very rare model sticks around for years to come.

Lap Bar Launch Ejectors Capacity

The prototype Intamin Accelerator, Xcelerator still has a lot to offer when compared to its bigger brothers that it helped spawn. While it might not be as tall or fast as Top Thrill Dragster or Kingda Ka, Xcelerator can still keep up. Not only is the launch still one of the most intense out there, but the ride doesn't just end after the top hat, instead going through a course of banked turns where you can really feel the speed. Plus you get that Accelerator signature ejector on that top hat, which is made even better by the lapbars. Unfortunately you can expect this ride to be running just 1 train most of the time, so lines stack up pretty quickly on most days.

First Drop Pace Intensity

Really fun GCI woodie that hauls through its layout from start to finish. The tunneled first drop along with few other great near miss elements, along with some really intense but smooth sections, make this a pretty memorable ride. Definitely one of the best woodies on the West Coast.

Dead spots

Pretty ordinary, bland Wild Mouse coaster. It's not as uncomfortable as some of the other ones I've been on, but it's still pretty boring.

Intensity Too short Layout

While a good ride, there are much better B&M Inverts out there that are not only longer, but with much more interesting/stimulating layouts as well. The average Batman: The Ride clone runs circles around this one, unfortunately.