Coaster reviews

Inversions Comfort Layout

Excellent all steel RMC. Super smooth. I guess I’m getting spoiled by most of the giant, modern coasters, because this first drop, while quite good, seems super short. First inversion right off the first drop is nice. Good pop of air after then it goes into the zero g stall. They say it is the longest in the world, it doesn’t really seem any longer than others I have experienced. It then goes into the fancy, world first “Raven” turn. It is good. Not other worldly, but more than just interesting. It then delivers a few air hills and then a corkscrew, a helix, another corkscrew and then 4 air hills before the abrupt final brakes. I rode this at 10:30 in the morning, it was taking 54 seconds to complete the circuit. It was my first time riding it, but even then it felt sluggish. No air on the return trip air hills. Later in the day, it was running 47 second circuits. It is much, much better at this pace. All the air hills deliver decently—none are truly ejector or anywhere near Lightning Rod or even Magnum levels. I’ve never said this about any other coaster before, but the first corkscrew is my favorite element. It is taken quite quickly and suddenly. It is excellent. I really like the screen that shows which seats are in the locked position and which are not. It takes away the mystery as to why the ops are crushing certain people. Here you know if your seat number doesn’t turn green, you don’t fit. Nice touch. The only slight concern I have is that it is already showing rust in many places. It is only 10 months old. Overall, a superb addition to this nice little park. It is a great ride, perhaps a bit like B&M’s too perfect and too smooth to be overly thrilling. This still delivers a very, good ride. It is very, very re-rideable. There is a local whose goal is to ride it 5000 times before it turns 1 year old. Another employee rode it for his 405th time today. It doesn’t take your breath away where you literally need a break after riding like most of my top coasters do. It won’t break into my top 20 because of this. Truly a great ride, not over the top take your breath away thrilling.

Decent little kiddie coaster. Plenty of room in the cars. You get two cycles around the track for your ride. It isn’t too jerky-jerky at all. This is actually called Sea Serpent.

First half was much better than I expected. 2nd half delivered the herky-jerky that I expected, but was pleased that the first half didn’t have. Almost decent jolts of air. Decent little coaster. Desperately needs a paint job.

Airtimes Masterpiece Ejectors

My favorite coaster on the planet when I first rode it in 2004. After 2 subsequent visits in 2015 and 2018, and even after having ridden over 100 other coasters, nothing has changed that. To me it is as good as it gets. Sure, it isn't liquid smooth like some modern coasters, but I think that is what makes it so great. That rattling and shaking ups the intensity vastly. The first drop is spectacular, the second, decent. The turn around suspended way up in the air on the supports is fabulous. Then, and oh boy, THEN, the return trip back to the station. That is where this thing earns its money. The airtime hills are truly the best there are anywhere--in the right seat. It is way better than decent in any seat, but get it right and it is pure ejection city. It just makes me laugh. To me this is coaster perfection and still my favorite coaster I have ever ridden.

Fun Harness Disappointing! Discomfort

On several sites online this is considered to be one of the worst coasters on the planet. I don't really understand that. Sure, it isn't at all what I would call smooth, but it isn't painful. The first drop delivers a nice pop of air. Then a couple of loops, followed by corkscrews. It finishes with a rather forceful (positive G) helix. Overall, it delivers a pretty decent ride. There are a couple of rough transitions--especially entering the first corkscrew, but it isn't nearly as bad some others I have ridden (Ninja at SF Georgia). I have ridden this as many as 10 times in a row without bruising or limping afterward, if that means anything to anyone. Nowhere near a great coaster, but also nowhere near the worst. More than a useful addition to the park. Fun and worth the ride.

Airtimes Intensity Ejectors Discomfort

This ride had huge expectations to live up to. It is widely considered to be one of, if not the best wooden coaster on the planet. I rode it in the very back seat to maximize the intensity and airtime. This coaster is known to deliver airtime in bunches. The lift hill is rather unique--quiet and this accelerates on the way up. It reminded me of Millenium Force. Then the turn-around at the top. This is your last chance to breath for quite a while as this quite a long ride. The first drop is right up there with the best in the world--on any coaster of any type. It is astounding. It is ridiculously steep. It almost seems inverted like the Jersey Devil. The airtime is insane. I was thrown up into my lap restraint the entire way down. This process is repeated on the next 2 camelback hills. Fantastic. Then, there is one more major airtime pop on the fourth hill that is an amazing head-chopper on top of that. This is right when the coaster transitions from a standard out-and-back style to a twister style coaster. There is one section right after that first, amazing transition drop that is quite rough. The only real rough part of the ride. It slows decently on the second half, but it doesn't need any more speed than it has as it is truly intense all the way to the end. Great ride, a bit too extreme to endure arms up in the back seat, from start to finish, but still a world class ride. I didn't get a chance to ride up front, but the sustained, ejector air delivered in the back seat is amazing and truly some of the best in the world. It pains me a bit, as I absolutely love the wooden goodness at Holiday World, and The Voyage is one of my very favorite coasters in the world, but I think this is even better. Truly worthy of the all the praise. It is absolutely world class.

Airtimes Comfort Smoothness

This is perhaps my favorite B&M hyper. It is a basic out and back layout, but they do throw a few surprises in for extra excitement and fun. I loved the left-hand dive turn off of the third hill that takes you out to the turn around. They throw in a couple more "twister" type maneuvers towards the end to add more excitement. It reminded a bit of Ragin' Bull in the second half. It was typical B&M Hyper--super, super smooth and comfortable. Because of this smoothness I was able to carry on a conversation with my wife during the entire ride. It is too big and comfortable to be all that intense. The level of intensity between this and El Torro is night and day. I know that this goes 80mph, but it never feels that fast. I loved and appreciated the extra "twister" maneuvers to add to the overall thrill and experience. A great coaster.

Nice surprise! Comfort Smoothness Too short Pointless Layout

I know, I'm a credit whore. I rode this just because there was literally no one in the line and I walked on. The cars are extremely roomy. I couldn't believe how much room there was. the ride itself was liquid smooth. I couldn't believe how smooth the ride was. It did not have any herky-jerky violence like most of these family coasters. I really couldn't believe how smooth the ride was. Now, it is only 10ft tall and really slow and doesn't really provide much if anything in the way of thrills, but it is still a nice little family ride that is surprisingly smooth. A great starter coaster.

Fun

Decent compact coaster. Not nearly as herky-jerky as most of these types of coasters. Technically, I have ridden this before as this was relocated from Celebration City in Branson. It was know as Thunderbolt back then. It loads from the end here instead of from the side like it used to. There is one really steep dive turn about halfway through the ride that really picks up the speed and intensity. It is good fun and very re-rideable.

Fun

Best coaster of this type that I have ever ridden. It is surprisingly fast and it seems to last forever. Some of the turns are taken at seemingly impossible speeds. I really loved the several little airtime bumps. Good fun.

Inversions Nice surprise! Harness

Great ride experience. I didn't really know what to expect by such a unique ride. It truly delivers a one-of-a-kind experience that I really enjoyed. It has you flipping and spinning around over and over, and it never gets the least bit uncomfortable. It just made me laugh. Great surprise. Great ride.

Intensity Rattle

My first RMC I-Beam coaster. I was truly shocked at the rattling and noises that this made on the entire length of the ride. It wasn't quite as pudding smooth as I hoped it would be. The transitions are extremely quick and intense. I can't believe the loading procedure where you don't get to choose your seat. I got lucky and got the very first seat. The views were great and I really enjoyed the ride. I'm not 100% sure I would have from other seats. It was quite an intense ride. It borders on being a bit too intense. I had to hang on after the second hill all the way to the end to keep from banging around in my seat. Very unique and fun ride overall, just not nearly as perfect as I hoped it would be.

Launch Pace Fun

It was essentially exactly what I expected. I love TTD and I knew this is very similar. I had zero issue with the restraints. They were completely fine. The hill adds precisely zero to the ride experience. The launch and the views from the top are exceptional. Obviously, only TTD compares to this. Launch seemed a tad bid tamer than I remember TTD's being. However, I could just be more jaded now than I was 15 years ago when I first rode TTD. Amazing experience. Great ride.

I'm not sure what went wrong with this ride. It is a B&M invert. On paper it looks like it should be very good. Every other one I have ridden has been smooth at the very least. This one is herky-jerky basically from beginning to end. It seems far slower than the stats suggest it is. The inversions don't seem to deliver any fun. It reminded me far more like a Vekoma SLC than any other B&M invert. Even every one of the 30 year old Batmans are far smoother than this and far, far more intense. There is just nothing good to say about it. Highly disappointing. By a huge margin, the worst B&M invert I have ridden.

The ride itself is pretty damn good. However the single train operation and the screwy loading and unloading procedure made the line incredibly slow moving. This was literally one of the lowest capacity coasters ever built. This needed 2 trains--one that would slide to the side like on Mr. Freeze. The loading procedure was just awkward and it took forever. You had to get to this ride first thing before there was a line otherwise you had to wait forever. Again the ride experience was excellent. It was an inverted giant boomerang that went straight up instead of inclined. Fun to ride, when it wasn't broken and there weren't more than 100 people in the line.

Layout Headbanging Discomfort

I rode this back when it was still call Ninja. I guess after seeing the hate that the Ninja at SFSTL receives they wanted to distance themselves from that when they repainted it. I was very excited, with a bit of apprehension, to ride this. I truly enjoy Ninja at SFSTL and ride it every time I go--it's my home park. This is a larger version with a couple more inversions. I was set to be thrilled. I was aware of what type of coaster I was riding and did everything I could to alleviate the headbanging and the roughness--to no avail. This isn't the roughest from beginning to end coaster I have ever been on, but there were several, not just 1, but several transitions that were absolutely brutal. Would I re-ride it today with the fresh paint job? Probably.

Fun Intensity Layout

I love Schwarzkopf looping coasters. I love Schwarzkopf trains. I love going backwards. Put all three of things together and it is no surprise that I love this coaster. It is just such a different experience than the vast majority of modern coasters. It is comfortable and thrilling. There is something magical about a Schwarzkopf loop. I don't know if they just nailed the math perfectly or what, but they are more thrilling than any other loops. The sudden surges of acceleration as nature intended is fantastic. Going through the loop backwards always leaves me with a huge smile on my face. I hope this classic stays is working form for many years to come.

Excellent coaster. I didn't have any expectations for this before I rode it. It doesn't seem to get any love online. After riding it several times back to back, I'm not sure why. Full disclosure it didn't crack my top 3 B&M inverts,--it is 4th, just behind Banshee, but it is very close and this coaster is definitely worthy of consideration. It belongs in the debate. It is that good. I have no complaints at all. It is fast and smooth just as you would expect from a B&M Invert--except for Patriot. Excellent pacing and it delivers very good forces--perhaps just not quite as intense as the best of the best. It really is an excellent coaster.

Capacity

This was the longest line we waited in all day. I bucked up and bought the fast past wrist bands because we were only there one day. Even when Candymonium was a 90 minute wait we only waited 5 minutes because of the wrist bands. However on Laff Trakk it only cut off about 25% of the line and we still had to wait about 30 minutes. The mirrors in the line made about 5 of those 30 tolerable. The ride itself is pretty tame. The fun house theming almost made it fun. There are couple of the drops that almost generate enough forces to be called fun. It is an excellent family ride.

Capacity Comfort Smoothness Dead spots Layout Intensity

This is a B&M invert so even an average one of these is still a pretty good ride. This definitely falls into that category. It is no where near as relentless as Raptor, Montu or any of the Batman clones. It isn't as lifeless and jittery as Patriot, though. The way it starts sets the tone. It is a nice and easy turn around instead of an immediate drop off the lift hill. It then drops you into the first loop--again nice and gradually--it isn't steep at all. This is really where this coaster comes to life and you go through the major inversions and elements. None are overly thrilling, but very solid and fun. Super smooth like it should be. Then it changes character. The second half just has you meandering along the creek with a few lazy twists and turns at a very leisurely rate. I don't think it breaks 30MPH again. Nothing is inherently wrong with it, but it is no where near intense enough to any where near my favorite B&M invert.

I was super excited about this ride and was hoping that it was going to be my favorite in the park. Unfortunately, it wasn't for 2 reasons. By far the biggest reason is, I don't really fit in the restraints. I'm 6'0 tall and they are too short. As the restraints cam down they were crushing my shoulders. I kind of had to hunch down and it wasn't comfortable. As much as I tried, I couldn't get comfortable. I was under constant crushing pressure. They look like the design should be super comfortable, and they would be if they were 1" taller. I'm a big guy, but I'm not a body builder big or very tall. I should fit just fine and I just don't. The second reason this isn't one of the top 3 coasters in this park is that the ride has and extreme rattle/vibration. It basically lasts throughout the entire second half of the ride. It was much worse on this than Storm Runner. It really took away from the ride experience. The first hill is amazing on both the up and the way down. Really fun. On paper this should be one of the best, but it just doesn't quite live up to expectations. Still a good ride, but it should be great.

Excellent, classic woody. Sure, it rattles something fierce and jitters its way around the flat turns, but it is just fun. Excellent and surprising bursts of air over the hills. The train seems to skip along the track for much of the second half of the ride. I literally think the wheels were off the track as much as they were on it for much of the last 1000 ft. Excellent ride for sure. The fact that is over 75 years old definitely contributes to appreciation of this wonderful ride.

Layout Rattle Discomfort

This is closing permanently on 7/31/22. I got to ride it 10 days before its retirement. After experiencing this, I must say that retirement can't come soon enough for this. That pains me a bit as I love GCI's. This has the wonderful Millennium trains. So, in the station I was thinking, this can't be that bad. Boy was I wrong. The layout seemed perfect--tons of tight twists and turns and transitions in all directions. I'm sure this was absolutely wonderful when it was new. I don't know what happened to this--total neglect or was it just that GCI didn't quite have everything figured out 100% as this was their first coaster? Again, I have no idea, but what I do know is that this is truly a terrible ride. I rode it in the back seat and even with the sofa-like Millennium trains, it was unbearably rough. I held on for dear life and braced myself the entire ride. I was almost in disbelief at how rough it was. This is by a very, very wide margin the worst GCI I have ever ridden. I assume the owners know that as it either needs a total retrack job or it needs to be torn down, hence the upcoming retirement date. I'm hoping for a retrack, but I don't think that is what is happening. I was sad to find out they were getting rid of a GCI, but after ridding it, I can honestly say, good riddance.

Comfort Smoothness

This is my favorite B&M hyper. I really remember loving the free and open feeling with all of the lovely floater air on Goliath (SFGA), but I feel this is had a bit more intensity. That actually may be first time I have ever used the word "intensity" to describe a B&M hyper as they are mostly so perfect and so smooth that they actually lack intensity. Candymonium is of course liquid smooth and perfectly comfortable with B&M's wonderful clamshell restraints. The seatbelts were a bit of a surprise, but in no way distracting at all. This actually delivered some solid forces that I really enjoyed. The floater air on the second hill lasted all the way to the bottom and you instantly transition to strong positive G's. There was zero transition time. Very cool. I rode it in the back to experience as much forces as it has to give and it was a very, very good ride. Far, far superior to Diamondback at Kings Island. I've always compared B&M to Intamin like comparing a Lincoln Towncar with a Porsche Boxster. The Towncar has more power and ultimately can go faster, but it just so smooth you don't feel like you are going that fast and is kind of tame. Whereas the Boxter isn't really all that fast, but it is so small and nimble that it can deliver forces far beyond what the Towncar can. I've always felt that B&M hypers are too good to be extremely thrilling. Yes, they are fun and deliver some nice floater air, but not much in the way of "thrill". Candymonium is the first one that I can say delivers a fair bit of thrill. It is a great ride even though the last 1/4 of the ride is very, very tame. Now the real bad news: Why does this essentially brand new coaster already have 2 sets of massive brakes on it? Did they mess up the math? It is tearing itself up already? Both are very, very noticeable. They are both on uphills and neither totally kills the air over the top, but I have to wonder what could the air have been like. I'm sure more intense and it could have finally been a B&M hyper that delivers some serious, serious thrill. Not to be. It is still an excellent ride, but the brakes do annoy me.

I love Shwarzkopf coasters. They have wonderful trains and restraints. There is also something very special about the geometry of their loops that just make them more enjoyable than others. This ride however, it pains me a bit say, just doesn't quite deliver. The first part leading up to the loop is a bit tame as the slope degree on the decline is very mild. It takes a while to get up to speed to enter the loop. The loop itself was fine, nothing other worldly good or bad, but just fine. Then...well that's about it. There really isn't much to say for everything after the loop. It kind of just meanders around aimlessly. I don't think it breaks 25MPH anywhere after the loop. This ride is equal to Jaguar! from Knott's Berry farms with a loop in front of it. I was seriously surprised by the lack of excitement after the loop. It may have something to do with the terrain where it is built. Perhaps as this is one of their early loopers, they focused solely on the loop and didn't bother to put anymore fun in? I don't know. It is still a classic Shwarzkopf that I hope remains running for many years to come, but this isn't the company's best work.

Airtimes First Drop Intensity

I must admit that I went on this ride expecting it to be great. I was honestly hoping that one of the other two Intamins here would be my favorite, but no. This takes the cake--easily and by a wide margin. No doubt the best ride in this fantastically coaster rich park. I had zero issue with the restraints. They were perfect--open and free and just holding you in by your lap. I don't know what else anyone would want. I kind of get that because of the intense airtime this delivers that you could get a bit sore from it, but are people honestly saying they wish the ride didn't deliver the intense ejector air? That is crazy-talk nonsense. The coaster community craves ejectors--always. This delivers like very, very few coasters on the planet. Plus the airtime on this isn't just quick jolts, there are sustained moments of it. I can understand someone saying they don't like the feeling of literally being 100% at the mercy of the lap restraint for fear of their life--because that is literally what is happening on much of this ride, but to me that is what makes this spectacular and one of the greatest coasters on earth. I don't know of anyone getting off of any B&M hyper saying they felt like they were going to die. This, though, you can say that and it isn't an exaggeration. It delivers crazy out of your seat air on the first drop, then immediately transitions into face stretching positives. I literally could feel my cheeks getting tugged downward. Then it essentially repeats several more times. Throw in some crazy tight twists and turns all at incredible speeds and you have a recipe for a world class thrill machine. Did I mention that this thing is intense? It is not for the faint of heart. This is truly one of the finest coasters for the true thrill seekers out there in the coaster world. My only slight gripe is the "wing" design. To me it doesn't really add anything, unless you have a "wing" seat. So, 50% of the riders get zero benefit from this design. Even when you do get the "wing" seat, it isn't quite the same feeling like B&M's winged coasters. It is a bit silly, but because of the ride this delivers the seats don't matter much. Even with one of the regular, inner seats, this delivers thrills far beyond what most other coasters of capable of. Masterpiece of thrill.

This was a very good, classic, PTC, John Allen coaster. On its own in park with 10+ other coasters, this still would be have been a solid addition to that park. Being where it was at Bell's, it was truly a gem. This was the only coaster and by far the main attraction of the wonderful little park. I went several times over the course of just a couple of years. I had a blast each and every time. The coaster had manual brakes. You literally got to watch the ride operator pull on this 5ft tall wooden lever to apply the brakes as the train comes into the station. The ride experience was more than decent. Classis wooden shakes and rattles with excellent pops of air. The first drop into the Joker's mouth was fun and a bit of a head chopper. It was very, re-ridable. The coaster community lost a real treasure when Bell's closed.

What a great compact coaster. We must have ridden this 10 times the day we were there. The straight up and beyond straight down first hill is definitely the highlight, but this isn't just a one trick pony. The rest of the ride is excellent. The tight twists, turns and inversions all really work here. It is a very smooth and quick transitioning little coaster that really delivers and excellent ride.

I really enjoy spinning coasters. This one is a fine example. Plus, being built where it is, there are tons of near misses with everything else in this small space that ups the intensity a bit. This was the longest line all day. Good ride. Good times.

This was essentially a glorified wild mouse, but with its own layout and character than most. In most parks, this would be an afterthought, but in a small park with only 3 coasters, this is essentially a highlight of the park. However, compared to the truly epic, world-class woodie, The Ozark Wildcat being a walk-on, there was no reason to ride this more than once. It delivered typical herky-jerky type ride with rather intense drops and turns. It delivered almost exactly what I expected from it.