Coaster reviews

Layout

This is not a special model of roller coasters, but it is worth noting that the ride overshoots the station and goes backwards for a time. It's not a good ride, but it's a unique ride. It's not worth your time though.

Headbanging

How does a ride so small cause so much headbanging? It feels like it shouldn't even have an opportunity to do that, yet it manages it. Awful large-scale kiddie coaster.

Discomfort

This was my home park for several years, and I rode this one time. It was fine. The helices were decent, but it's not an amazing kiddie coaster. Spend your time at other rides.

Theming

Neat dark ride part. The rest of the ride is a standard kiddie coaster.

Layout Headbanging Discomfort

This ride is bad. It's extraordinarily rough. It feels like it's falling apart. It's a thoroughly unpleasant experience. That said, the layout on SLC's is pretty good, and keeps up some nice intensity.

Theming

Barnstormer is basically Gadget's Go Coaster's crappy Floridian cousin. The ride is a bit cramped. The theming is poor by Disney standards, but not atrociously bad either. It's just a solid kiddie coaster.

Theming Discomfort

Gadget's Go Coaster is a fun little kiddie coaster at Disneyland. It's pretty well themed. The cars are a bit cramped. It's a kiddie coaster, and it's not trying to be more than a kiddie coaster, but that doesn't mean it isn't a fun ride.

Theming

Flight of the Hippogriff is not an amazing ride. Compared to Forbidden Journey, the theming is lacking, but the queue is subtly well themed, and the ride itself doesn't do anything wrong. It's a kiddie coaster, and it's a fun kiddie coaster, but it's not anything more than that.

Discomfort Dead spots

Ricochet is a bad Wild Mouse. It has extremely sudden and uncomfortable stops. It had a fairly long line compared to the rest of the park. It's not comfortable. Ricochet is even bad compared to other wild mouses.

Theming

Blazing Fury, from a pure coaster perspective, is awful. It's barely even a coaster. As a dark ride, it's just okay. It's nice that Dollywood has it. It's an absolute classic that should stick around a while. Mystery Mine is themed better, but Blazing Fury has a dark ride niche that Mystery Mine lacks.

Discomfort

This wild mouse is a little on the uncomfortable side, but not extremely so. It's not all that different from any other Wild Mouse coaster. It's not special in any way.

It's a wild mouse. It does wild mouse-y things. It isn't special. It isn't bad. It's just a wild mouse.

Fun

Ragin' Cajun is fun, but isn't a particularly special Wild Mouse. There's a little theming to go with it, which is better than most of the park, but it's not anything special. This is just another run-of-the-mill spinning wild mouse.

Nice surprise! Pace Discomfort

Wild Lightnin' is a sketchy looking Wild Mouse, and it rides like a sketchy looking Wild Mouse. However, it does so in an incredibly fun way. This is the most violent Wild Mouse I've ever ridden. It slams hard into every turn. It's so violent that it becomes more fun because of it.

Location Discomfort Pointless

The best part of Jaguar is what's around it. You get amazing interactions with a ton of Knott's Berry Farm rides. That's basically the only redeeming quality to this ride. The trains are tiny and uncomfortable. The ride is very slow, and pretty forceless. Jaguar is worth doing once for the interactions, but after that it's not necessary to ride again.

Fun

Carolina Goldrusher doesn't really do anything wrong, but it's a mine train, and those are generally pretty small. It never packs much of a punch. It doesn't blow you away. It just provides a fun, smaller roller coaster that's enjoyable. It's just okay.

Theming

Goofy's Sky School is a standard Wild Mouse with above-average theming. This theming is pretty bad by Disney standards, but only Primeval Whirl has done it better on a Wild Mouse. Nothing special to see here,

Nice surprise!

Woodstock Express is actually a decent kids' wooden coaster. It's on the big side for a kiddie coaster, but it delivers some airtime and provides a pleasant ride for everybody, not just kids. As is to be expected, it's not particularly impressive, but it's very good at what it does.

Fun

Avalanche is quite a unique ride. It doesn't really have a lot of problems, but it doesn't really do anything well either. Its drawing card is that it's a bobsled coaster. It's not a particularly good one, but it's not bad either. It's just okay, and that's not a bad thing.

Theming Disappointing! Dead spots

FireChaser Express was a little underwhelming. It's longer than it needs to be. This leads to a lot of pointless moments. FireChaser Express does have some good moments. The backwards section is very fun. There are a few moments of great positive g's. FireChaser Express isn't supposed to be Dollywood's finest. It's just a fine family coaster with some very good theming.

Dead spots

I rode it as Tony Hawk's Big Spin before it was moved to Six Flags Mexico. My recollection is that this was a pretty fun ride. The spin was good. The wild mouse section is not the memorable part of the ride. It wasn't an amazing coaster, but it was a decent family coaster.

Location Layout Rattle Discomfort

Grizzly is a ride with all the makings of a fantastic coaster. It has a fantastic, secluded layout. It has great scenery. Unfortunately, this ride has one of the worst rattles I've ever experienced. I've gotten off it with a headache every time I've ridden it, and there's only a lap bar. It jackhammers hard around the final turnaround. Grizzly would be a prime candidate for the RMC treatment were Twisted Timbers not next door.

Theming Disappointing!

I was led to believe that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train would be a strong Disney coaster, more in the vein of Space Mountain and Matterhorn Bobsleds. I was wrong. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a gentle family coaster. It has a good drop, but it is not worth the 2 hour wait you will have to endure without a fastpass. The swinging motion doesn't add anything to the ride. It's a beautiful ride, but it's not the E-Ticket attraction Disney makes it out to be. If you go in expecting a nice mine train style ride with great Disney theming, you will have your expectations met, not surpassed.

Pace Rattle Harness Discomfort

Vortex is easily the worst B&M coaster I've ever ridden. After the loop, the ride becomes an endless barrage of painful elements. It's not so bad that it isn't fun, but it is bad enough that it's certainly not a good coaster. I hope this either gets torn down or has a floorless conversion, because Vortex is not Carowinds's finest work.

Location Hangtime Rattle Pointless

Anaconda isn't as bad as many make it out to be. There is a slight rattle, but I've never found it distracting. The ride is absolutely beautiful over the lake. Unfortunately, the ride is kinda boring. It has a lot of slow, circle-like maneuvers, with wonky transitions. The corkscrews were actually my favorite part because you get some hangtime going through them so slowly.

Theming

Orlando's Big Thunder Mountain is a heavily themed mine train. The theming is top notch, though I prefer Anaheim's.The coaster itself is pretty good for a mine train, but not an elite coaster by any means. However, it is one of the best experiences at one of the world's best parks.

Airtimes Nice surprise!

Cannon Ball is a surprisingly good, classic wooden coaster at Lake Winnepesaukah. It's not very statistically impressive, but it delivers a surprising amount of good airtime. It's not particularly rough. For a ride of its age, Cannon Ball is in remarkably good shape, and provides a great thrill.

First Drop Pace Rattle Headbanging Discomfort

Carolina Cyclone is a fun ride, but it has a strong rattle to it that can detract from the ride experience. There's some great forces in the back going over the first drop. The vertical loops are super fun. The helix bit is really fun too. This ride has a lot of fun moments, but not a lot of moments that are better than average, just fun.

Theming Rattle

Backlot Stunt Coaster is a very small launched coaster. It's not particularly comfortable, and the track has a rattle to it. The theming is good, but doesn't function properly very much. It has its moments of fun, but mostly it's a forgettable layout surrounded by decent theming.

Launch Hangtime Capacity Harness Discomfort

Tempesto is a great ride marred by poor train design. The ride provides excellent hangtime. The launch sequence is incredibly fun. The restraints are terrible. I'm a tall guy, so the lapbar can crush my lower legs at times, and provide an uncomfortable sensation on my hips. And the comfort collar is dumb and stupid. The layout is great, and I look forward to riding a Sky Rocket II without comfort collars, because the ride should be more fun than it is, and it's the restraints that kill some of the fun.