Coaster reviews

Airtimes Location Reliability

Elite-level use of terrain. Quick, smooth and plenty airtime - not of the Steel Vengeance verging on insanity variety. Launch is not all that powerful and crest of lift hill isn't the ejector seat that earlier reviews imply. Much fun to be had all the same and probably a top-20 ride. Reliability is still a problem, and probably always will be. Ride this early at all costs.

Fun family coaster, a step improvement over the earlier vekoma family inverts. Fast and smooth, while not being a total snoozefest.

Currently known as "Ice Mountain"; quasi-indoors and has a bit of minimal theming and lighting. Has appeared at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland at least once now. Like others of it's type, there's nothing wrong per se and had a good laugh riding this; but like the park the only reason to visit is to chase credits.

Airtimes Location Dead spots

Wow! Just wow! May possibly be my favourite B&M hyper at the time of writing (2019), and I've done quite a few of the genre. Has the advantage of being set at the back of the park surrounded by woods and water features. Delivers great extended floater airtime, and is relatively well balanced for pacing. Trims are usually off in the morning and as such it's a bit better at that time of day - shame they don't allow it to run completely free having warmed up; but I guess there are "reasons".

Perfectly reasonable kiddy coaster for its intended audience and adults can ride alongside no problem. Low capacity is a minor negative.

Intensity

B&Ms always get better once broken in. I'm glad Banshee has broken in - all the reviews and comments themed to "boring and mild" are a chore, to say nothing of completely wrong. This is a well paced and super intense invert. The rolls are a needed break in the otherwise relentless positive G. The exit of the batwing and second loop are almost Schwarzkopf-like sustained. Harness doesn't especially bother me, though sitting on the brakes for extended time might get uncomfortable. During the ride itself, they allow moves other inverts with the standard restraints would simply not work. Especially the first drop, which is super whippy in the back of the train. Fills a hole in Kings Islands lineup very well.

Harness

Amusing wait in the queue with the 'rain' of mobile phones dropping from riders. Which is just as well as this is low capacity and slow loading. Ride itself is a miserable affair apart from the drop off the lift. Restraints more or less jam your head in place and impact is inevitable.

Well themed and punchy launch. Trains are very compact and a bit tricky to get into - bearing in mind I am of average height. Laterals in the first half punch hard. Mid course brakes completely kill momentum. Would actually be better if the main launch was slower, and less braking at half way. Slow queue so is a once-and-done

Pretty typical arrow mine train, with janky transitions and weirdly well themed lift hill at the end. Not a terrible ride for its intended audience but pacing completely off.

Somewhat predictable, mid-sized B&M hyper. Fills a hole in the parks lineup and serves as an excellent entrance set piece. Always fun to ride and infinitely re-ridable. Not going to set the rankings on fire.

Airtimes Location Duration

It's tall, it's a B&M, and you know exactly what you are going to get. Lots of long duration airtime hills, notably more than Orion next door. The finale is a spectacle for off ride, but does nothing to the train. Location is perfect, using the hills and woods to extract more than the sum of the mechanical parts. Staff absolutely know what they are doing and left plenty of room for the obscene airtime this generates. Great ride in a great park.

Fun "wooden" coaster that I probably have a controversial opinion on. It was better in the morning BEFORE it had warmed up. It has particularly extreme negative G, which when running fast feels a bit like an 500lb gorilla giving a headlock. The bucking bronco lateral section adds variety, but those trains are not suited to it. Still a 4 and a half star ride despite my negatives for it.

Has not aged or relocated well. Placed out on bare gravel, so a misery to queue for on a hot day. Does not have the intensity that Chang was famed for, awkward to load, rattly and generally just a bad time. Pretty dull while it's at it. My worst rated B&M.

Marmite coaster, it seems. We really liked it. Lots of speed, slightly janky first drop, potent make-you-hold-on airtime. The seating could use some "side" support as the ride does not roll you with the turns. It demands you to ride it rather than just be carried along. Still, very good and different feeling to any other hyper

Airtimes

It's a B&M, it's tall, it's got a lot of airtime. It's got two spots of weird sideways air too. Diamondback is probably the better ride, but honestly who cares. Two great hypers in the same park. The theming also nods to past and present cedar fair rides : "Sedentary 325" for example. Coaster geek heaven.

Pace

Very cleverly done ride and a complete contrast to the B&Ms that now dominate the skyline. Quick and terrain hugging, airtime hills disguise turns hidden out of sight and often going the opposite way to what you think it will do. A new #1 wood for me.

Tear it down!

No ride should ever leave you squealing like a bee-gee on the first drop. In too much pain to even notice the rest of the ride. Utterly terrible.

Rarely talked about ride. Much better than the Eurofighters that it seems to be compared to for no good reason. Very smooth transitions, forceful, good visuals. I guess it sits in the shadow of a lot of other very good rides.

Didn't particularly like this in 2006. Re-riding it in 2022has improved my view, the.millennium flyers are a big improvement. It's still a relatively uneventful twister so won't set the world on fire. But not bad for GCIs first effort.

Smoothness

Unusual to find an older style Vekoma ride with custom profiled track rather than standard elements. Consequently it rides pretty well for what it is. Skegness is a toilet, the park is literally built into a flea market, and had absolutely no desire to hang around for anything more than to bag a few credits and leave. Unless you are a desperate coaster counter don't bother.

Rare-as-hens-teeth and somewhat forgotten coaster. A great ride - maybe not one to do a marathon on but not to be missed.

Nicely themed wooden coaster, however the horror theming is incongruous with the ride experience, that is a marginally oversized kiddie woodie. Well built, but only mild airtime to be found in the back seats

Pace Discomfort

Alan "gonna mess with you" Schilke had a field day with this one. Certainly one of the crazier examples of his work. Technically a wooden coaster on a steel structure, the steel-on-steel wheels meant that it carries obscene speed throughout the lengthy route. It's violent, aggressive, and very blatantly an early inspiration for what RMC have now become. Cannot imagine this ride has aged well given the technology used; but it was fun back on our monster trip in 2006.

1st go on this was surprisingly fun, albeit uncomfortable. 2nd go on a different day and I never want to go on one of these ever again. Shame. With an adequate restraint the concept could be good. Capacity is beyond terrible and what this is doing in a busy park like Gardaland I don't know. Would be a better fit in somewhere much smaller.

Well themed and good looking coaster in woodland setting. Ride quality leaves a lot to be desired, bad transitions and the double loop has a nasty lurch that my back disagreed with. Revised restraints keep this ride vaguely relevant, but I fear the discomfort may scare younger riders off going on the bigger and better build quality coasters right next to it. Despite investment, it's probably not got long left in it.

Somewhat unique layout for a wing coaster, (it is a reminiscent of furious baco) mostly low to ground and using natural terrain for effect. Excellent first drop in the the back row in particular giving massive ejector air. Outside seats are noticeably bumpy - unusual for a relatively recent B&M. Not necessarily bad bumpy but something to be wary of. Vest restraints contrast with oblivion very sharply - they are better for certain things but not others. On balance the conventional OTSR might be the better experience.

Fun, compact dive coaster with a mix of airtime and hangtime. It is an interesting contrast to the airtime found on Raptor next door - old school restraints do the job well and let you fly up out of the seat. Theming is more positive than "scare machine" typically adopted by Merlin and I think more fun for it. Oh, yes, this was by accident,my 250th credit

themed mine train using vekoma hardware comparable to Disneyland Paris' big thunder. 3 lifts and each has a purpose - saves the biggest drop till last. Theming is well done but rather repetitive.

Discomfort

This ride has served its purpose,to put Gardaland on the map. Nicely themed and consistently running 3 train ops, something unheard of for many slcs. The extra helix is the smoothest part of the ride by a mile, however the ride as a whole has had its time - it's done it's job. Time to remove it and move on

I rode this in it's original form at Metroland, maybe within a year or two of it opening. This is my ground zero! Could do a lot worse than this. Remember it mostly for it's helix.