Coaster reviews

Rattle Headbanging Harness

Slow, rough, boring. Not as bad as the average SLC.

Comfort Fun Dead spots

Hurler is an unremarkable coaster. Regardless it fills a valuable niche in the Carowinds lineup. It's smooth, boring, inoffensive. Probably really good first wooden coaster for a kid. I find the minimal theming almost charming.

Location Capacity Harness Discomfort

The only good thing about this coaster is the needlessly gorgeous landscape, and its status as the first proper flying coaster. The line moves slow, the loading is slow, the capacity sucks, and it's the most uncomfortable I've ever been on a coaster. Crappy ride.

Discomfort

This ride is not comfortable. Really powerful G forces, really unkind to the legs and groin somewhere as hot as North Carolina.

Pace Layout Rattle

Great layout. Unfortunately despite all the work that's been done on this ride it is rough as shit. Completely unpleasant and hardly bearable.

Inversions Discomfort

Great layout. Unfortunately this park already has a good floorless coaster so this ride won't get converted. I can't handle the power of early B&M while standing up on a coaster this long after the long walk to the back of the park. Arduous and not for me.

Theming Headbanging Harness Discomfort

I don't remember this ride being enjoyable. It banged my head and legs around, the transitions were jarring, and the sound wasn't working. But at least the flame effects and the station music was cool.

Smoothness Duration Harness Lap Bar

The best mouse layout with the worst shin guards.

Airtimes Lap Bar Intensity Discomfort

Janky and odd, but not excessively so. No OSTRs to hit your head on. You might get decent airtime or positives out of this ride, and the coaster is definitely better than an empty plot of land where Windstorm used to be. Definitely fits better here than it did at Wild Adventures.

Inversions Location Headbanging Tear it down! Dead spots

Vortex died in vain, because this is Cedar Fair's worst Arrow looper. Why does such a big ride only have four inversions? Why is there no awesome drop? Why is so much potential energy wasted on the worst designed turns in the history of American steel coasters? Why does the midcourse hit so hard? Where's the final helix? Now it's not all bad, because the inversions are quite good, and the location is excellent, but that's about it. Anaconda is such an anomaly, and this enormous land plot over the water is way better suited for a kickass Mack launched coaster.

Inversions Pace Intensity Rattle

While I love Kumba from riding it in my formative years in its glory days there's something I can no longer deny; Kumba is rough. It rattles, it shakes, and the strong sustained g-forces hurt my head. Both me and Kumba are getting old. I love this ride but with it being far in the back of the park and Florida always being hot nowadays, I tend to skip it more often than I used to. Still, the revolutionary layout it pioneered remains legendary.

Airtimes First Drop Inversions Too short

This version of Goliath is an RMC, and it is the definition of short but sweet. Sustained ejector airtime, a rare RMC dive loop, the worlds first mind blowing Zero-G Stall, excellent overbanks, awesome tunnels, consistent pacing, and an excellent first drop. Plus, it's smooth and comfortable. This one is hard to skip on a visit to SF Great America.

Rattle Headbanging Harness

Definition of hang n bang. Will not miss this ride when it's gone. I hope it's replaced by something good, but an empty lot would still be an improvement.

Rattle

This is a nothing coaster. It's not smooth, has an awkward drop which banks left the whole time while not turning, and a helix that smacks you around. The train and theme is cute but that's it. Go to this zoo for the wonderful animals, their great shoot the chutes Roaring Springs, and to grab this free credit and never ride again.

Airtimes Fun Layout Theming Discomfort

My feelings for pipeline are pretty mixed but generally positive. I dislike the lack of theming beyond some surface level stuff. The queue isn't even fully covered. The moving seats don't solve the issue of how uncomfortable positive gs are while standing up. If anything they make it worse by forcing you to squat. However, the fun factor of literal standing up airtime with a seat moving assist cannot be overstated. This makes pipeline incredibly fun save for a few uncomfortable valleys. The Corkscrew and turns are smooth, the layout suitably twisty, and the short layout is as all standups should be. I'm not yet sure if this surpasses Georgia Scorcher as my favorite standup, but it is absolutely in the top two. The launch has an excellent kick to it that just might put it over the edge.

Theming Inversions Intensity

Medusa is a great floorless coaster. It still has great theming as a holdover from its Bizarro days. I'd rate it about the same as Scream, just slightly better due to better theming and setting.

Theming Fun Smoothness Too short Discomfort

Tron is well themed with its awesome on ride audio, queue, and lighting. It's very smooth and very fun. But it's quite short and feels like it needs one more break run's worth of track to feel complete. The leg restraint is very uncomfortable. The back row with the regular seat is probably much better, but it's better saved for those who need to transfer from wheelchairs and the like. It's good overall but not Disney's best roller coaster.

Airtimes First Drop Intensity Harness

Insane roller coaster. Inversions, airtime, laterals, everything you can ask for at breakneck pacing. Unfortunately the lap bar is deceivingly cramped and uncomfortable, and for me personally detracts from the ride experience by quite a bit. But the intensity of the death roll, inverted overbank, wave turns, and airtime hills cannot be overstated.

Airtimes Pace Fun

This ride completes the park's mission to feel like a classic American amusement park with modern comforts. The rides in the 2013 expansion were placed down all at once and designed with each ride's placement in mind. Though the size of the park was doubled, the landplot was still quite small, and the flats and other coaster were taking up much of the space. As a result, GCI was tasked with making a wooden coaster with an out and back layout that looks classic as the park's backdrop, but rides like a fast and furious modern GCI woodie. In addition, they had to do it with a small height and short length, while still making the ride imposing as the signature coaster at the park. And wow, did they succeed. White Lightning is a perfect signature coaster for a family friendly park like Fun Spot. It looks pretty, looks big, and is dominant in this section of the park. The turnaround just barely misses the go-karts section, and whizzes by the Screaming Swing and Enterprise. As for the ride experience, it's excellent. GCI's floater airtime, short ejector pops, and moments of laterals and speed lend themselves much better to a more family friendly coaster, while still being a very fast paced blitz of a coaster. The first drop is a great sideways whip, and the first turn low to the ground turn is fast and floaty, with the whole sequence being expertly designed in the balance of forces and flow that I could only dream of perfecting. The signature element is a homage to Phoenix, and is very recognizable from the road as you approach the park. The double up is a sharp pop of ejector, and probably the strongest on the ride. You get floater airtime on the crest of the element, and a double down gives even more sweet floater air. If guests haven't realized how modern this woodie is by now by the curved first drop and first turn, they're about to learn. The turnaround is a full 90 degree overbank, which then dives to the left in a downwards helix, which leads into a great twisted floater hill. As the layout bottlenecks between the road and the too close flat rides, White Lightning reminds its guests of its classic roots with two straight floater airtime hills. If guests are fooled into sense of security again like they were with the double up and double down, White Lightning switches back into GCI high gear until the end of the ride. A twisted floater hill on the way up leads to an excellent double down with a pop of ejector, which again drops into another ejector pop hill. A sharp 90 degree right turn gives the strongest laterals on the ride, followed immediately by more ambiguous airtime pops and unbanked corrections before the final hop into the brake run, which for every one of my friends who ride this with me, leaves you breathless and wanting to ride again.

Theming Masterpiece Intensity

This is Walt Disney Imagineering's Magnum Opus. Smooth, cinematic, intense, scary, and the best theming and landscaping on any roller coaster in the world. There's not much else to say.

Inversions Pace Intensity

Afterburn is a perfect example of an outstanding B&M invert. It's perfectly paced without any dead spots. It has a loop, an immelmann, a zero-g roll, and a best of all, a batwing. The flat spin and a forceful final helix is a great finale to a fast paced ride that left me dizzy each time.

Location Launch Ejectors Capacity Reliability

Cheetah Hunt is an odd one, but a really fun one. You get awesome ejector airtime in the front, and it has three fantastic launches. Its location is one of the best of any coaster. Diving over and under bridges, past other rides, next to paths and over animal exhibits, the panoramic view atop the tower, and especially the canyon midride. It's not short of fun elements. The tower rise and drop give great airtime. There's sideways floater on the odd first hill, and the heartline roll gives away hang time. The turns in the canyon really whip you, and there's really good airtime on the return trip. The ride is oddly paced, switching from intense to meandering on a dime. Either way, it's incredibly fun for everyone, and a unique coaster that fits the park perfectly.

Theming Inversions Intensity

Montu thrives off of its huge amount of inversions, incredible forcefulness and fast whip, and enormous size and scale. The batwing, zero-g roll, and flat spin are particularly intense. I also like how each trench is themed, with hieroglyphics on the stone walls. The sheer size and power of Montu is awesome.

Theming Fun Duration

A long, comfortable, and insanely fun ride. You cannot see what's coming. The forces are truly unusual and unexpected. The music changing each ride makes this coaster even more rerideable than it already is. One of Disney's best efforts and by far the best ride at Epcot.

Launch Intensity Ejectors

My only complaint would be the restraints.. but on my most recent ride they were improved and I no longer have any complaints! Maverick is smooth, intense, and hilariously aggressive. The erratic pacing is always changing, the airtime is sharp and scarily forceful, the changes in direction are faster than your body can keep up, whipping you around and leaving you in the dust. The first drop is stupidity terrifying, the launch is exhilarating, and the whole ride makes me giggle like an idiot. The theming really sets Maverick apart. There's western landscaping on the whole footprint, with rockwork, architecture, foliage, and water effects all reminiscent of the wild west. Maverick is the best bucking bronco launch coaster I can think of.

Airtimes Comfort Smoothness

Mako is my hometown hyper, and it's near and dear to me. It's beautiful, graceful, and well themed. It has a beautiful queue and an amazing soundtrack. The airtime is complimented by the perfect smoothness and clamshells. An amazing first drop, fun overbanks, and a beautiful setting over the water. The first camelback is my favorite moment of airtime on any coaster. The only coaster in Florida that eclipses Mako is Velocicoaster, which has a longer layout, more variety in its elements, and better theming.

Airtimes Nice surprise! Fun Dead spots

There's a great first drop, and three great airtime hills in a row right off the bat. The rest of the coaster isn't forceful but at least it's smooth and keeps good speed.

Airtimes Theming Launch

Smooth as butter. Extremely comfy seats and restraints. Great launches. Nice curves. Unexpected big airtime moments. Beautifully themed. Mack rides, please build more awesome launch coasters like this stateside.

First Drop Inversions Comfort Theming Dead spots

Great first drop, smooth fast inversions, great pacing. But the inversions have very little force to them. No airtime, hangtime, or significant positive g forces. And almost no theming. Still a fun smooth comfortable ride.

Airtimes Inversions Launch Theming Harness

Fun Sky Rocket II. Theming isn't as good as Tigris, but still a great ride.