Predator took me by surprise, and is clearly one of Dinn's best efforts. I think that all it needs is better maintenance and it's a sleeper hit. Well ...
Predator took me by surprise, and is clearly one of Dinn's best efforts. I think that all it needs is better maintenance and it's a sleeper hit. Well paced with good airtime in the front. Plus it has a varied, creative, and non redundant layout, with a nice location by the water. If this got RMCed we'd lose a pretty great woodie, so I hope it sticks around.
Roar is absolute insanity. It's fast, it's rough, it's twisty, it has tunnels, and it never lets up. My night ride was pitch black and in the middle o...
Roar is absolute insanity. It's fast, it's rough, it's twisty, it has tunnels, and it never lets up. My night ride was pitch black and in the middle of a full train, and I knew nothing of the layout, which only made my ride that much more jarring and white knuckle. Never RMC this, give it some GCI retracking and treat it well.
Worst part of this ride is the timberliners. Though they are comfy, the lap bar is bulky and the seats aren't cushioned, so it's less accommodating. W...
Worst part of this ride is the timberliners. Though they are comfy, the lap bar is bulky and the seats aren't cushioned, so it's less accommodating. While that's water under the bridge, the biggest problem is that these trains track terribly. The new wooden track should feel glossy, like it would with PTCs or Millennium Flyers, but instead they rattle through the whole course with a loud steel clammering sound. The only other problem with the ride is the lack of landscaping, as the coaster is basically over a concrete pad with no trees in or around the layout, which doesn't help as the structure looks very industrial with its steel frame. With all of that out of the way, those things are easy to ignore, as any woodie is smoothest in the front. The first drop is forceful, the inversion is excellent, and the airtime is strong throughout the layout, especially with a full train. Plus, the pacing is fantastic, with only the two overbanks not being too forceful, but still fun elements. I think Gravity Group's coasters have way better airtime than GCI, but are much more lacking in laterals and the creativity of the turns and layouts. While I do think Mine Blower is more thrilling than White Lightning, I prefer the latter because of the better lighting package, the location whizzing by the other rides in the park and the road, and the smoother, more comfortable experience that makes it much more rerideable.
Lightning Racer is the penultimate modern racing woodie. My childhood self always wished Gwazi was a better ride, and this coaster seems to be just th...
Lightning Racer is the penultimate modern racing woodie. My childhood self always wished Gwazi was a better ride, and this coaster seems to be just that. There are a couple moments of airtime, but the real highlight is the fast paced dueling that ups the ante and raises the stakes. First place switches back and forth, fly-bys are fast, helices are tight, racing is neck and neck, and my god is it twisty! I barely remember the layout because of how much was going on, and I rode twice! One of my favorite GCIs.
This is the best version of Batman and one of the best Inverts I've yet ridden. Fast paced and intense as always, but this version goes above and beyo...
This is the best version of Batman and one of the best Inverts I've yet ridden. Fast paced and intense as always, but this version goes above and beyond. The queue theming is the best of the bunch. And most importantly, instead of being at the edge of the park near a parking lot, it's in the center of the park, flying over water and near other attractions. As such, you can see Batman from all angles. This is my favorite coaster at SF Great America, and the best invert at any SF park.
American Thunder is my favorite coaster at this park. Pops of airtime dot around a twisty GCI layout, and the night ride is excellent. The coolest rid...
American Thunder is my favorite coaster at this park. Pops of airtime dot around a twisty GCI layout, and the night ride is excellent. The coolest ride operator I can remember gave us the last rides of the night on this one, and I couldn't have been happier.
Smooth as butter. Extremely comfy seats and restraints. Great launches. Nice curves. Unexpected big airtime moments. Beautifully themed. Mack rides, p...
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.
If you think your local hyper coaster makes you feel like flying, wait till you ride Phoenix. The buzz bars and lack of seatbelts make you fly out of ...
If you think your local hyper coaster makes you feel like flying, wait till you ride Phoenix. The buzz bars and lack of seatbelts make you fly out of your seat on every hill, and the airtime gets better with each hill. Plus, the coaster is butter smooth. That and the setting at the back of the park by the forest makes this coaster a blast for all ages, the tall and the small.
The only con with this coaster is the erratic pacing and that the coaster itself isn't as forceful as an extreme coaster. But those cons serve a great...
The only con with this coaster is the erratic pacing and that the coaster itself isn't as forceful as an extreme coaster. But those cons serve a greater purpose of making this one of the best family coasters in the world. Cool animatronics that are just detailed enough for how fast you pass by them, excellent launches that feel like a motorbike taking off, great twisty coaster sections, and excellent surprises. I will always be willing to wait an hour or maybe even two to get on this one.
My only gripe with this ride is that the transitions are somewhat rough, and the single lap bar means the smaller rider will often have too much room,...
My only gripe with this ride is that the transitions are somewhat rough, and the single lap bar means the smaller rider will often have too much room, and you'll likely be sliding around on the plastic seat. Other than that, this is a serious contender for one of the best mine trains ever built. Excellently themed and landscaped, fast paced, and pure fun.
Titan is a very intense coaster. With its two greyout inducing helices and a powerful airtime hill, it has great forces. But the midcourse brakes ruin...
Titan is a very intense coaster. With its two greyout inducing helices and a powerful airtime hill, it has great forces. But the midcourse brakes ruin the pacing, and the other elements aren't that forceful besides the two helices and airtime hill. This includes the first drop, which isn't very forceful at all.
Twisted Timbers is my least favorite of the RMC I-box coasters I've ridden, and yet it's still an outstanding coaster. My complaint is the coaster's d...
Twisted Timbers is my least favorite of the RMC I-box coasters I've ridden, and yet it's still an outstanding coaster. My complaint is the coaster's design. Instead of using part of the layout like Twisted Cyclone, or increasing the height to make up for steel coasters not carrying momentum as well as wood coasters (Steel Vengeance), it does neither. It uses the whole layout, and is about the same height as Hurler. As such, the ride really runs out of steam about 2/3 of the way through. The forces stay quite good, but the train feels like it's struggling to get back to the station. In addition, this ride takes ages to load, and the ride ops do not hurry in the same way they did for SteVe. Lastly, though airtime alley is a great homage to Hurler, I ultimately find it uncreative for the kinds of layouts RMC has proven to be able to produce. I love the first drop and the first overbank. Other than that, this is standard RMC fare, and that is great fun. Sharp ejector airtime with smooth inversions and overbanks. Plus the theming is probably the best of any US RMC, especially paired with the similarly themed Apple Zapple.
Line moves slow but really fun ride. Sharp drops and turns, great theming and location in the park, awesome effects and animatronics, and a fun splash...
Line moves slow but really fun ride. Sharp drops and turns, great theming and location in the park, awesome effects and animatronics, and a fun splash at the end.
Magnum notwithstanding, Loch Ness Monster is one of my favorite Arrow coasters. It's scenic, smooth, and cinematic. Great swooping drops over the wate...
Magnum notwithstanding, Loch Ness Monster is one of my favorite Arrow coasters. It's scenic, smooth, and cinematic. Great swooping drops over the water, two excellent loops, and a long tunnel helix with special effects makes for a wholly enjoyable classic ride.
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 place...
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.
Twisted Cyclone may be a short ride, but it's better than being too long with bad pacing, and it's also way better than an un-maintained and un-themed...
Twisted Cyclone may be a short ride, but it's better than being too long with bad pacing, and it's also way better than an un-maintained and un-themed Cyclone recreation. The first drop is like mini-Iron Rattler, the reverse cobra roll is smooth and creative, the wave turn is the best part of the ride, the zero-g roll is the best inversion on the coaster, and all of the ejector airtime and overbanks are as amazing as ever for a great RMC. My favorite part of this one is the color scheme, which is one of the prettiest roller coasters I've ever seen. Paired with the repainted Scorcher, this ride makes SFOG's promenade absolutely gorgeous.
I don't think this ride is perfect. It feels way too long to me, and in terms of forces, there's not much besides repetitive, relentless airtime. Howe...
I don't think this ride is perfect. It feels way too long to me, and in terms of forces, there's not much besides repetitive, relentless airtime. However, it achieves this in a variety of different ways, at least in the first half. Step up and step down airtime hills, rising and falling inversions, and two giant parabolic sustained airtime moments (one being outerbanked) definitely make the first half the highlight to me. However, the second half feels very repetitive and unimaginative. If all you want is raw airtime then this is your dream coaster. But for me, I'll stick to terrain monsters like Iron Rattler. Nonetheless, Steve is still and excellent coaster and is stupidly fun from start to finish in a way that will make you cackle and clap your hands.
What a beast of a coaster. Huge positives in the first half, with very smooth inversions, and a terrifyingly odd first drop that nobody will predict t...
What a beast of a coaster. Huge positives in the first half, with very smooth inversions, and a terrifyingly odd first drop that nobody will predict the sensation of until they ride. Second half has whippy inversions and excellent airtime moments. The lap bar won't come down during your ride, so you can flair your arms up freely and let this steel monster take you for a ride. The layout is smooth, unique, and wholly entertaining.
Talon is one of my favorite inverts, and the coaster that made my trip to Dorney worthwhile. The loop and Immelmann are forceful, the zero-g roll and ...
Talon is one of my favorite inverts, and the coaster that made my trip to Dorney worthwhile. The loop and Immelmann are forceful, the zero-g roll and flat spin are whippy, and there are two excellent helices. Plus, this coaster, this B&M invert, has airtime. Once on the drop before the flat spin, and again upon the exit of the final helix. The balance and variety of forces is impeccable. The layout is well placed and the pacing is without flaw. The coaster is gorgeous, with an electric looking yellow and orange track with a softer blue support, made even more stunning by the green trees around the layout, so the colors of the ride take up 2/3 of the color wheel for a striking appearance of an awesome, deceivingly huge coaster. Badass ride, and a big sleeper hit.
Always duels, it has airtime, 4 inversions, forceful helixes, good theming, and you get to ride twice. This ride checks all of the boxes for an excell...
Always duels, it has airtime, 4 inversions, forceful helixes, good theming, and you get to ride twice. This ride checks all of the boxes for an excellent ride.
Apollo's Chariot is one of my favorite B&M hypers. I'm usually a front row guy for hypers, but for this one I absolutely prefer the back. The biggest ...
Apollo's Chariot is one of my favorite B&M hypers. I'm usually a front row guy for hypers, but for this one I absolutely prefer the back. The biggest airtime moments aren't camelbacks, but rather very sharp drops and dips along the terrain, so I recommend back for maximum ejector whip. This coaster has it all; good pacing, strong airtime, a good helix, a moment of sideways airtime, and awesome terrain interaction. Definitely a highlight in Virginia for me.
Storm Runner is absolutely explosive. The launch is, well, explosive. The airtime into the top hat is huge, and the immelmann is forceful. The flying ...
Storm Runner is absolutely explosive. The launch is, well, explosive. The airtime into the top hat is huge, and the immelmann is forceful. The flying snake dive is the best part of the ride, airtime into a double barrel roll, and the second roll dives down mid roll. Add some twisty s-bends at the end, and the ride is over. Obviously it's very short, but man is it so sweet.
Mind Bender is a really perfect coaster. Make sure you sit in the front, you get three instances of ejector airtime. Combined with the two forceful lo...
Mind Bender is a really perfect coaster. Make sure you sit in the front, you get three instances of ejector airtime. Combined with the two forceful loops and huge diving helix, and you have a perfect balance of airtime and positive forces. Combine this with the comfortable, minimalist restraints, and the gorgeous setting in a small ravine, diving past a waterfall, and you have a perfect classic coaster.
The best part, or the worst part, is the finale. That fast rush through the woods. Crazy laterals and incredible speed with the cold forest air in you...
The best part, or the worst part, is the finale. That fast rush through the woods. Crazy laterals and incredible speed with the cold forest air in your face, if you're in the front. In the back, it's a rough as shit beatdown that slams you around.
The rest of the ride has amazing drops in the back with awesome airtime, but in the front it's just okay. Wherever you sit you're trading something off. The front row ride is amazing for the finale alone, but the rest of the ride is just okay.
By far my favorite GCI wooden coaster. The airtime is strong from beginning to end, the pacing is perfect, the ride through the woods is dark and feel...
By far my favorite GCI wooden coaster. The airtime is strong from beginning to end, the pacing is perfect, the ride through the woods is dark and feels extremely fast, and the theming at the end is the wonderful icing on the wooden coaster masterpiece cake.
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, ...
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.
Great Bear is an incredibly underrated masterpiece invert. It has an awesome, forceful helix before even the first drop. The loop, immelmann, and espe...
Great Bear is an incredibly underrated masterpiece invert. It has an awesome, forceful helix before even the first drop. The loop, immelmann, and especially the zero-g are super forceful, whippy, and in quick succession. There's an airtime moment into a fast turn over the creek that I didn't expect! Then after a speedy straight past the creek, we twist and turn forcefully upwards, and corkscrew the opposite direction very forcefully, and then meander into the brakes. It's oddly paced, sure, but so forceful and whippy. And it's awesome looking, super engineered support structure is marvellous to look at, and even creates footchoppers! The setting itself is marvelous, it adds to the ride tremendously. A really fantastic invert that I find is greatly under-appreciated.
A great family coaster, but the bad capacity and proximity to the entrance, plus the heavy marketing for the ride, gives this coaster a long line that...
A great family coaster, but the bad capacity and proximity to the entrance, plus the heavy marketing for the ride, gives this coaster a long line that the coaster doesn't warrant. The theming and forwards, spinning, and backwards sections make this a great experience for families. However, if you want a family coaster with great theming, a sizeable drop, and goes forwards and backwards, Expedition Everest does all of this way better.
