Coaster reviews

Layout Duration Discomfort

This one is a pretty solid ride with lots of history behind it. Being an ACE landmark and a local crowd favorite has kept this one going in a park that constantly wants to change coaster lineups. I love the spiral lift hill and it might be my favorite part of the ride. I wish more coasters had this type because you slowly get 360-degree views of the park around you. The drops on this one are super shallow but very long and generate some speed. I think another awesome aspect is just how low to the ground the track winds around once you reach the end of the drop. My main concern is the discomfort I feel while riding it. Sure we tried to fit two adults into the seat which probably resulted in my "hip-banging" and "knee-banging" so it's possible it might be more comfortable solo. Out of the 15 coasters I rode that day this one hurt the most unfortunately but again be sure to ride this by yourself and let your friends or significant others have their own separate cars. I'm in the crowd of keeping this coaster around because it's a perfect bridge between kiddie coaster and full thrill so kids can reach that next step as they work their way up the thrill chart. 2.5/5 stars

Launch Fun Intensity Too short Dead spots

I feel like 2 out of the 4 elements are some of the best in the entire industry but the other 2 drag this one down. The launch is my favorite of all time. It's insanely intense and hits me so abruptly it's hard to wrap my head around what just happened. Then you hit the dog tongue inversions and it really hits a dead spot. I would have much preferred some type of massive loop like Full Throttle to give intense hangtime. After the inversions (which were clearly put that high up just to break records to advertise the coaster) I got hit by one of the most intense heartline rolls I've ever felt. You at least build enough speed from the tall inversions to make this a fantastic moment. Then again I hit another inversion element to wrap up the ride that just doesn't really do anything for me. I can't really describe it but it felt like a cheesy way to get you back into the station. This one could have been an all-timer but got affected by builders looking to chase records. I would still highly recommend checking this one out for the launch and heartline roll alone. 4.5/5 stars

Inversions Comfort Smoothness

I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Normally Arrow loopers are very rough for me and can sometimes be headbanging and unpleasant. This one was actually one of the smoothest Arrow coasters I've ever been on so it looks like they took good care of it. The double loop was pretty intense and the double corkscrew was also a lot of fun and not painful at all. That's not to say a coaster this old and made by Arrow isn't at least somewhat rough but I'll gladly take a little roughness if the overall experience pays off. I'd say the only limitation is the height is much smaller than others I've been on. Viper at Magic Mountain is almost double its height which led to more intensity but I gotta give the overall edge to Canyon Blaster. Well done by this park to take of it for almost 30 years. 3.5/5 stars

First Drop Masterpiece Layout

What a phenomenal ride! From the ginormous lift hill generating pre-drop nerves to the actual mammoth first drop to the treble clef element to the various airtime hill moments, this ride is a masterpiece from start to finish. As much as I love 90-degree drops on some of these RMCs, nothing beats a Giga drop in terms of maximizing your thrill. The lift hill is quick-paced but still feels like it takes forever as it takes you up 325 feet. Then the drop itself feels like it lasts forever while you generate an insane amount of speed. I record each ride POV from glasses and this drop actually made me grunt a little in intensity haha. The treble clef also met the huge hype expectations for this element. You really seem to whip up that quick-turn hill only to instantly take a fairly decent drop with airtime. Finish this off with a few more airtime hills that still kept the intensity throughout the ride. My first ride in row 3 was fantastic but I think the 2nd to last row ride really maximized the score on this one. I love it and I can't wait to get to Carowinds again to get more rides. 5/5 stars

Airtimes Theming Hangtime Layout

This one is just so much fun to ride. The opening jojo roll is so cool to start any coaster with and kicks you off with some great hangtime. The launches aren't forceful but just fast enough to provide a thrill. I was really impressed with the pacing of this one as well. It felt like when you did inversions or loops the train would slow down just enough to give you long amounts of hangtime but then sped up fast enough during the hills to give short bursts of airtime. The theming on this ride is also a nice touch with a cute Western intro clip before the first launch. I will say the overall layout probably works for a majority of riders but it ended up being too whippy for me. On my first ride, I felt a little dizziness but with the fast pass, I got an instant second ride. The second ride knocked me out for 30 minutes with the dizziness just not going away. Anyone with a low tolerance for dizziness might be put off by this ride but I just regret not getting more rides if my body could take it that day. 4.5/5 stars

Headbanging

This is a decent family coaster and would be a great introduction to inverted roller coasters for new riders. The headbanging on this one is very real and very rough so you'll have to inform new riders of its roughness. The layout is pretty basic with no inversions but has enough height to make it seem somewhat quick. It really is a fairly relaxing ride but also very short. 1.5/5 stars

Duration

It's a pretty decent kiddie coaster. The run gives you two laps and the smoothness is pretty decent up until the final part with the bunny hops which will get you out of the seat a little. 1/5 stars

Inversions Fun Layout Headbanging Harness Discomfort

This one is very hard to rate because I had two completely different rides that day. We were told to go straight to Nighthawk when the park opens because the lines can be brutal. It was still a bit chilly and cloudy that morning and we got a back-row ride. This was the ride that made it get a high score. I can't tell if it was because it was running slower in the morning or the back row made the difference but it was super smooth and the reverse loop got super intense at the end of the complete revolution. Then we rode it mid-afternoon when it was hot and got a third-row seat. This was the ride that was way worse than the morning. It was way more discomforting this time around with some headbanging and it felt like the restraints on this row were too loose and made us feel nervous. I still had great rides both times but I can easily see how this coaster can be so polarizing. I have to give it props for more effort in the layout compared to the boring twists that most flying coasters have throughout their entire run. It really put an effort to make this unpredictable and you never knew what forces to expect. 4/5 stars

Inversions Nice surprise! Fun Headbanging Discomfort

This one was a tale of two halves. I thought the first half was so entertaining and fun with as many inversions and loops as it gave right off the start. They were smooth and fast-paced. Then came the second half with the corkscrews and that's where the headbanging came in. I knew to anticipate the headbanging right before corkscrews but I still ran into very rough sharp turns that I was not expecting and it resulted in banging my jaw on the restraint. If they cut the ride in half and kept the first part I would have rated it a bit higher. 3.5/5 stars

First Drop Inversions Hangtime

This ride was fantastic. The best and most intense part of the ride is right at the beginning. The lift hill going straight up with decent height is something I've never experienced before and my nerves were super high before the first drop. I never got to ride in the very back or very front but on both rides I had included a very impressive first drop. I think they made the right decision by not only having you hang at a downward angle for an extended period of time but then slowly drop into the near vertical drop which just brings the intensity up high. I also thought the inversions throughout the ride were well-placed and kept the ride fun. The intensity definitely goes down after the first drop and inversion just based on the pacing and high looping aspect but it's still very fun throughout. There was also a quick drop near the end that caught me by surprise and I felt some extra forces. 4/5 stars

Airtimes First Drop Ejectors

With Xcelerator still down, this was the best roller coaster in the park I had ridden that day. I was fortunate enough to get a ride in the very back seat for my first ride and it was incredible. The first drop is very intense back there. I'm used to wooden roller coasters having great first drops and then tame elements after that but this had even better drops with airtime and ejector feeling as the ride went along. I also enjoy wooden roller coasters with a little bit of roughness to keep their character and I felt like this one kept the perfect blend of roughness without you feeling like you got beat up after you get off the ride. My second ride was in the middle section and the intensity of the elements went down a bit but it was still a fantastic ride the second time through. 4.5/5 stars

Capacity Inversions Layout

I have to give Silver Bullet the edge compared to Batman clones regarding inverted coasters. The only downfall for this one is that the first drop is very shallow and doesn't feel intense compared to the more steep drops of Batmans. After you get through the first drop it does everything better than the Batman clones. The first drop may be shallow but once you hit that first loop you definitely feel like you're going a bit faster than Batman and the loop feels more intense. This ride is packed with inversions including a cobra roll that felt really great. I felt like this is a solid ride and I would definitely ride this one again. 4/5 stars

Fun

This one was a ton of fun but no two rides are exactly the same. I rode this one by myself the first time with people on the other side and got a decent amount of spin. My 2nd ride was the most intense because I rode next to another person and nobody got in the car behind us. We started backward and with the amount of weight on one side only you get a ton of spin compared to a more balanced car. I'm usually sensitive to any dizzying kind of ride but this one was the perfect amount of spin and intensity to not make me sick the rest of the day. The cars and restraints can be a bit tight compared to other smaller coasters but outside of that, it was a smooth and enjoyable ride all three times I got to get on. 3.5/5 stars

Fun Duration Discomfort Layout

This ride was somewhat fun for me but nothing too special. It is your typical mouse-type ride with quick 180-degree turns and occasional drops. I thought the first lift went pretty quickly and then took you into an actual decent drop for a mouse ride. You're fairly high up at this point after the drop and do quick turns that make it a bit nerve-wracking if you're any bit afraid of heights. It's also a pretty long ride so you can get some value riding this coaster. The two big cons for this ride are the shin guards that make you sit very uncomfortably and the layout can seem boring after the first few turns. We rode it at least twice so it was worth another ride but I would not sit in an actual line to ride again if the park was busy. 2/5 stars

Nice surprise! Launch Hangtime Too short

This is probably a controversial opinion but I have this one rated as the 2nd best in the park for what coasters I rode that day (I did not ride X2 but rate this higher than Wonder Woman and Tatsu). I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. The initial launch is fantastic but not overbearing. I compare this to my home park equivalent of Maxx Force at SFGAm and even though the launch isn't as quick, the absolutely intense hangtime you get on the top of the massive loop makes up for it so much. It gives way better g-forces than the dog tongue element in Maxx Force. I also got to the 2nd launch and had a nice surprise when it launched us backward instead of forward. My only gripe like most people have already said is that it is too short. The ejector airtime you get on the final hill was absolutely incredible but if they could find a way to extend that run so they don't have to use brakes midway down the drop then it would make for a near-perfect launch-type ride. 4.5/5 stars

Masterpiece Ejectors Duration

My favorite roller coaster of all time was a 2007 ride of Maverick at Cedar Point. It took almost 16 years later but this coaster has officially dethroned my top spot. I waited over two hours for this ride and if I could go back in time I would wait all over again. I was fortunate enough to ride in the second to last row so both "first" drops were so much more intense and incredible for how short these drops are compared to the rest of the large coaster lineup. After the drop, you're just ejected from your seat throughout the course of both runs with sharp drops happening constantly. I couldn't believe how often I felt weightless on this ride. The duration of this ride is also incredible. I would have given this one a very high rating if it was only one side but you get two back-to-back runs basically. I'm comfortable tagging this one as a masterpiece and also giving it a rare perfect score. 5/5 stars

Airtimes First Drop Ejectors Capacity

I absolutely love this ride. The first drop is near a 90-degree drop straight down and I felt like it was more intense than it looks on the sideline. I also felt like the airtime and ejector moments you feel throughout the entire ride were very intense and consistent throughout the entire ride. That's very rare outside of RMC standards to pack a ride with that many g-forces. It also includes 3 inversions to add to the already intense experience. The only negative on this ride is the very small capacity since it is a single-person train car per ride and not very many spots to occupy. I think we waited only an hour though compared to some of the other rides that were frustratingly long waits that day so I felt like this one was well worth the wait. 4.5/5 stars

Capacity Inversions Intensity Rattle

I've ridden the Six Flags St. Louis mirror layout a couple of times and the Six Flags Great America version maybe 4 or 5 times and out of the three this one was the worst one. Not that this ride is bad, it's actually quite fun and there is a reason there are so many clones throughout the US and the world because the entire experience was well-designed in the '90s. The reason it's the worst is that I couldn't believe how bad the rattle was compared to other versions. It is still a really solid ride with tons of inversions, the intensity is way up there, and to have 4 people per row you can really get the queue moving quickly due to high capacity. Unfortunately, the ops were a little slow when I went and maybe it needed an extra train that day because the wait was still roughly an hour. It wasn't worth that long of a wait when I have the same version with hardly any rattle at my home park. 4/5 stars

Fun Intensity Smoothness Layout

This ride was so much fun and had me talking about it all day. I've only ridden one other flying coaster which was at Six Flags Great America and this one was just way better. I felt like the 1st drop was higher than Superman Ultimate Flight but actually didn't seem as steep as that ride so I give the edge to Superman. After that, every single aspect was fantastic on Tatsu and better than the aforementioned. You go through 3 inversions with quick barrel rolls and fast pacing. Then comes by far the best element on the ride and personally my most intense moment on a coaster of all time: the pretzel roll. I recorded all POVs of my time at the park and this specific element was the only time I was literally screaming "Oh My God!" as I'm borderline graying out during the element. I've never come close to graying out and didn't know what that meant until I rode this one. My only other knock is the layout but I've yet to see a flying coaster with a unique and unpredictable layout. It's just how they're designed but overall this coaster was great. 4.5/5 stars