Daniel Stark - Reviews

Helix was for me one of those ride experiences that change how you view and value coasters. This Mack masterpiece has something I'd never seen before in any of my (at that time) over 150 creds: it's a...

Helix was for me one of those ride experiences that change how you view and value coasters. This Mack masterpiece has something I'd never seen before in any of my (at that time) over 150 creds: it's a coaster that has both the airtime, layout, hangtime and general quality of a top tier ride, but also some very intense positive G-forces more common on inverts or rides with less out-of-your-seat moments. After riding Helix, now positive G's are on my list of things a good coaster should do, else I feel underwhelmed. That's the key factor of this ride. It's not superbly good at anything in particular, but it offers a long experience with some mild floater on the first drop, beautiful hangtime (first corkscrew, one of the zero-G-rolls, the top hat and the heartline roll) and three ejectors, two of which are really good (though I've seen better). And on top of all that, almost every single valley and turn, even the ones before the first launch, pull strong G's. Virtually every inch of track is sheer adrenaline. That alone accounts for the existence of some minor "dead spots" before the second launch, as well as both launches themselves. It's not that those moments are necesarily bad, but in contrast with the superb pacing of the rest of the ride, they stand out as forceless. Before riding, I'd say the launches provide the speed needed, they're there for that and can't be criticized (they certainly can't, in that regard), but if they were strong launches, this already 10/10 coaster may even become my number 1. Another minor negative I'd like to comment are the other three inversions I didn't mention, which don't really provide: not much hangtime nor whip there (although the Norwegian loop has some high and sustained positive G's). Also, the theming is completely lacking and IMAscore's soundtrack isn't quite up there with their best ones. The location on the hillside and over the pathways is incredible, though. Great views of the coaster from plenty of spots. And Thank You, Liseberg, for that awesome Virtual Queue. It enabled me to get 6 rides on this masterpiece on my day of visit, without hardly having to wait for any of them.

This ride looks great. It was freshly painted, there's plenty of foliage and I love how the queue and some main paths go through it. Beautiful to look at. It also has a pretty nice soundtrack. However...

This ride looks great. It was freshly painted, there's plenty of foliage and I love how the queue and some main paths go through it. Beautiful to look at. It also has a pretty nice soundtrack. However, riding's not that good. The trains are bad, and so are some of the transitions. Those corkscrews didn't have whip, they just had pain. I usually love extreme whippy rides and don't normally mind rattle or OTSR, but here it was rather annoying. The hangtime on the final rolls was fun, I guess, but the corkscrews were not, and the airtime hills gave some very week floater, which felt kinda disappointing. I rode towards the front, so maybe that first drop provided more at the back. Also, I only got a morning ride, so maybe the experience would be improved later in the afternoon, force-wise. In that regard, none of valleys or inversions pulled many G's, but again, could be due to the early ride. Overall, I think Colossus is worth a ride, it can be fun, but getting rerides when there are so many amazing roller coasters at the same park doesn't sound like a great idea.

Oh my god. 12 seconds of a ride. 12 seconds of a sheer adrenaline rush. Just insane. Sad part, now I know how much of a pile of trash Red Force is :( It had been a long time since a launch impressed m...

Oh my god. 12 seconds of a ride. 12 seconds of a sheer adrenaline rush. Just insane. Sad part, now I know how much of a pile of trash Red Force is :( It had been a long time since a launch impressed me, as Gerstlauer's LSMs are too short, Intamin's are a bit too weak for my taste, and some hydraulics such as Desert Race have a low top speed, so the frontal forces of the launch aren't sustained for a satisfactory enough time. In my memories, Furius Baco was really amazing, and I was starting to believe that I had idealized it, that there was nothing as strong as I remembered. But oh, boy, was I wrong. The launch on Stealth is very strong and lasts quite a long bit. But that's not it. Instants after the frontal forces finally stop, you get aggressively pushed into your seat by crashing positive G's, very strong and with a very rapid transition there. And before you can take that in, you get to the top hat, with some amazing airtime, followed by another insanely intense valley and yet another great airtime hill. And it's over. Without having had time to realize what the heck was going on. It left me speechless every time I rode it. Thanks to the Shark Cabin's overnight stay, we had 1h fast pass every morning, which we used on the second day to marathon this joy machine. Maybe it's too short for some people, that's understandable, but having such short waits really helped with that aspect. Also, capacity seemed quite well managed, with two-train-ops on a quiet day, loading and unloading stations and a simple but effective backpack system that really helped reduced the waits. Also, reastraints are great, some of the best OTSR out there. Themeing could be improved, though. Top 2 coaster at the park, tied with Swarm, Nemesis and Saw xD

What an amazing Eurofighter. Firstly, for such low capacity trains, the queue moves quickly enough, as they have double loading and unloading stations and Merlin's great backpack storage system. They ...

What an amazing Eurofighter. Firstly, for such low capacity trains, the queue moves quickly enough, as they have double loading and unloading stations and Merlin's great backpack storage system. They do keep those trains moving. Theming is nice, it has some few props around the queue, mostly in the short indoor portion; and the countdown timers, couple of deadly machinery and tiny Jigsaw dolls are nice. I personally expected more, like some scenes from the movies (the toilet set recreation would have been a must for me), but I'd say it had just the minimum amount of theming to be nice. They play a short fragment of the eerie soundtrack when dispatching, which is very thrilling. The coaster itself is a lot of fun and, in my opinion, quite underrated. It has four nice ejector moments (drops, MCBR and hill) and a good hangtime one, and there are enough positive G's for the valleys and turns not to be dead spots. It didn't feel too short for me. I rode it four times, and none of those led to any discomfort, so I don't understand why that gets so many complaints. It is true, however, that on an outer sit you may get some headbanging on the final dive loop, but that didn't bother me much. Actually, I really like Gerstlauer's OTSR, they're some of the most comfortable ones there are (as OTSR. Naturally modern lap bars are way better). Top 2 coaster at the park, tied with Swarm, Nemesis and Stealth xD

It exceeded expectations. This is quite better than Flug der Dämonen, and now I'm quite eager to get on Fēnix next summer and see which is Europe's best wing coaster. Swarm has a great dive drop to st...

It exceeded expectations. This is quite better than Flug der Dämonen, and now I'm quite eager to get on Fēnix next summer and see which is Europe's best wing coaster. Swarm has a great dive drop to start with, as it is shaped in a way that it provides more hangtime than its German sibling. The inversions are all gracefull and hang-time-filled, and the valleys and helix had some surprising positive G's to them. I mean, they weren't the strongest, but they were quite sustained, and some rides at the end of the day really showed its potential. It's a bit short, but I find it just long enough. Rode four times, on the four corners: first and last row, left and right side. They were all different, but I think I liked them all the same. One thing, on the right side, if you stretch your arm sideways, there's a great near-miss with the water of the pond. Also, theming on the ride's area is pretty well done. Top 2 coaster at the park, tied with Nemesis, Saw and Stealth xD

I'm gonna risk having a huge Efteling-fans-mob knocking my door down and horribly murdering me. I'm sorry, but I'll say it: Walking Dead is better than Vogel Rok. The outdoor queue is simple but efect...

I'm gonna risk having a huge Efteling-fans-mob knocking my door down and horribly murdering me. I'm sorry, but I'll say it: Walking Dead is better than Vogel Rok. The outdoor queue is simple but efective, the backpack storage system common at some Merlin rides is great, and the preshow is pretty cool as well. The coaster itself is a nice mid-level coaster with *some* theming around. I mean, other indoor coasters, such as Efteling's, are mainly a roller coaster in the pitch dark, with maybe one or two theming pieces around. The Walking Dead has much more. Yeah, it may have plenty of room for improvement, the quality isn't great, but at least there is stuff to look at. Some screens and some other things. And the MCBR has a weird and original effect that really adds some storytelling to the experience. I kinda expected to like this ride more than other people, and yet it positively surprised me. However, I must say it has the potential to be a lot better. The indoor "queue" portion could be heavily improved, as well as the theming on the ride itself, but it's Thorpe Park, after all, not Efteling or Phantasialand. Also, due to its nature and mediocre quality, I don't think it provides much, passed the surprise factor, so maybe not very rerideable. Really worth a ride, though; specially since it rarely has long waits.

Rode it 10:30 in the morning towards the middle of the train, without expecting much. It was a very well paced and smooth coaster experience with some decent whip on the inversions and some G's. Quite...

Rode it 10:30 in the morning towards the middle of the train, without expecting much. It was a very well paced and smooth coaster experience with some decent whip on the inversions and some G's. Quite fun. However, I was left with the desire to try it after some warm-up time, and when I got to ride it at five-ish p.m. the following day, I was left speechless. Boy, did it warm up. Both corkscrews and the zero-g-roll pulled great whippy laterals, and every single valley and turn was filled with insane positive G's. Not sustained, but very powerful; the kind that make your face skin stretch downwards. I'd only experienced such G's on the batman clone, just on one spot, that I remember, so, yeah, Inferno IS intense. And the pacing is amazing. I'd say Katun is still slightly better because of the drops, duration and more sustained forces, but Inferno is a close competitor. Now I can't wait to ride the original Nemesis, I can't imagine how insane it must be. Btw, theming on this coaster is nice, the jungle foliage and volcano rockwork on the queue look nice. Top 2 coaster at the park, tied with Swarm, Saw and Stealth xD

+1 credit. Four laps, as if trying to make it worth the 5£ it costs (+1£ for the card if you don't have it). It was somehow fun, and the location is impressive. I'd never have imagined they have all t...

+1 credit. Four laps, as if trying to make it worth the 5£ it costs (+1£ for the card if you don't have it). It was somehow fun, and the location is impressive. I'd never have imagined they have all that down there at Candem.

Great theming around the area and great soundtrack as well. I was shouting out Jumanji when at the top of the jaguar rock like crazy. The trains are quite mediocre, though. They look too plastic-like,...

Great theming around the area and great soundtrack as well. I was shouting out Jumanji when at the top of the jaguar rock like crazy. The trains are quite mediocre, though. They look too plastic-like, not very realistic. Probably the worst wing-coaster trains I've seen. The launches are fun, and the one inversion as well. However, the backwards spike was very disapointing, as we got asigned the first row, so it did pretty much nothing. Also, it does have a rattle. And know that I'm one of the least complaining enthusiasts ever when it comes to rattly rides, but this was... weird. A B&M, brand new, and so slow, and yet it has a low frequency-high amplitude vibration that was quite annoying. Oh, and capacity is that bad. And unfortunately the single rider queue is all but useless, as they keep asking people further back on the normal queue, trying to find small groups to avoid using the single riders. Badly managed. We ended up waiting just as much as we would have on the normal queue.

I love Maurer spinners and this one's pretty good. We got a very unbalanced train, so we were spinning like crazy and laughing out loud all the time. I wish I had gotten a second ride to take it all i...

I love Maurer spinners and this one's pretty good. We got a very unbalanced train, so we were spinning like crazy and laughing out loud all the time. I wish I had gotten a second ride to take it all in better, but capacity is terrible and there was no time for rerides. Theming is quite lacking, with the exception of some unsettling humanoid burnt shadows on the storage building, as marks of horrible deaths by dragon fire — why they have such a thing at a family-friendly park is beyond me.

Capacity isn't good, but it's a mere Wild Mouse, so it was the shortest coaster queue of the day. Theming is quite well done. Trains are less comfy than Mack's, but nothing too crazy. And the ride its...

Capacity isn't good, but it's a mere Wild Mouse, so it was the shortest coaster queue of the day. Theming is quite well done. Trains are less comfy than Mack's, but nothing too crazy. And the ride itself is just a Wild Mouse, pretty average one.

It was more fun than expected. Unlike some modern Vekoma suspendeds, this one does swing quite significantly, which is nice. An Arrow it is, and like an Arrow it feels, with the jankiness and awkward ...

It was more fun than expected. Unlike some modern Vekoma suspendeds, this one does swing quite significantly, which is nice. An Arrow it is, and like an Arrow it feels, with the jankiness and awkward transitions that can be expected from them. I think I liked it more than the other Arrow I've ridden, El Diablo at Portaventura, as this one is a bit more intense and has the swinging gimmick. Theming is quite well done, specially the station. However, capacity is awful (as in the rest of Chessington), which shouldn't be given it has two trains, and not small ones. The fast pass has way too much priority.

For a brand new ride, the theming is practically non-existent, at least in the queue. Come on, they could have done better. The coaster itself is by far the most intense one at the park, which isn't m...

For a brand new ride, the theming is practically non-existent, at least in the queue. Come on, they could have done better. The coaster itself is by far the most intense one at the park, which isn't much, though. There's some surprising whip right after the backwards drop which caught me completely off-guard, as you don't see it comming, and there's a couple of very slight floaters. Not much more to say. The hill where the trains come face to face are too slowly paced, it almost looks like it's gonna have a rollback. Regarding the dueling ops, they assign you a side, but thankfully they do let you choose if you ask. Glad for that, else I'd have missed the Allstars credit. And I almost did, as when I was already on ride, on the front row, the ride broke down. And it was already past the park's closing time. Fortunately, very fortunately, they let us (the people who where already inside) wait to see if it reopened soon (and it did!), but the rest of the people queuing had to leave. Pity for them, but I'm personally very grateful to the park and staff (would've hated missing a cred and +1h wait that could've been spent on their amazing flying theater).

For a brand new ride, the theming is practically non-existent, at least in the queue. Come on, they could have done better. The coaster itself is by far the most intense one at the park, which isn't m...

For a brand new ride, the theming is practically non-existent, at least in the queue. Come on, they could have done better. The coaster itself is by far the most intense one at the park, which isn't much, though. There's some surprising whip right after the backwards drop which caught me completely off-guard, as you don't see it comming, and there's a couple of very slight floaters. Not much more to say. The hill where the trains come face to face are too slowly paced, it almost looks like it's gonna have a rollback.

The dark ride portion is very nice! I knew it was decent, but it slightly exceeded expectations, which is great. The entrance and queue castle theming looks quite nice as well, although I'd have loved...

The dark ride portion is very nice! I knew it was decent, but it slightly exceeded expectations, which is great. The entrance and queue castle theming looks quite nice as well, although I'd have loved it to look more... Lego-like. The coaster part is quite tame, it's just a kiddie, but it's long enough, and at the back the drops probably gave some weakish air.

+1 credit. Quite comfy. Glad I did this early in the morning to avoid waiting much for such a tame kiddie. At least it looks nice. My friends hated me for making us ride it, but a cred's a cred, man. ...

+1 credit. Quite comfy. Glad I did this early in the morning to avoid waiting much for such a tame kiddie. At least it looks nice. My friends hated me for making us ride it, but a cred's a cred, man. Not having watched any POVs, it was a surprise to find out this is a Ba-a-a-Express clon?

My 150th credit. I was looking forward to my first Gravity Group, and now I'm eager to try some "normal" Gravity Group. 'Cause this one was a lot of fun, but it felt very weird at times. The compactne...

My 150th credit. I was looking forward to my first Gravity Group, and now I'm eager to try some "normal" Gravity Group. 'Cause this one was a lot of fun, but it felt very weird at times. The compactness of the layout is amazing, but when riding, it kinda seems as though they'd design an average coaster, then crumpled it to fit in the available space. There are two moments when it starts climbing up a hill but, when it gets horizontal, it makes an unexpected flat turn before dropping down. It feels weird. Also, there are some valleys with abrupt accelerations and decelerations. It's best enjoyed at the back. The front provides an even more irregularly paced experience, you never get the forces you expect. All this said, I did enjoy Twister a lot, it was my favourite at the park. The pops of ejector are a lot of fun, the drop is great for its height and the coaster keeps going forever. I liked the trains, these Timberliners are quite comfy and it's amazing they can traverse through such a cramped layout. The restraints were ok, they didn't bother me. However, Millenium Flyers are still the best, this GG trains aren't the best for lateral G's.

Experiences like this are the reason why I read coaster reviews before my trips. Monster can be very enjoyable if you know what to expect. It is NOT an intense B&M invert. It's maybe on the blue fire ...

Experiences like this are the reason why I read coaster reviews before my trips. Monster can be very enjoyable if you know what to expect. It is NOT an intense B&M invert. It's maybe on the blue fire intensity level, perhaps even a bit less, hardly pulling any G's throughout the layout. However, it can be a lot of fun. Don't accuse me of blasphemy, but, in a way, it kinda reminds me of FLY. The location over the park and the buildings is awesome and there are plenty of good legchoppers. The drop towards the water is nice, and it provides some air at the back. There's also a very surprising airtime pop towards the middle, I didn't expect it at all. It's very nice and at the front it hits harder. In that regard, this is one of the very few coasters on which I prefer a front row ride. The views and near misses are the highlight of the ride, and as it's a B&M invert, those can't be enjoyed at the back. Besides, the inversions are completely forceless, no positives, no whip, no hangtime (why put inversions in, then??), and if you're not at the very front, you 'll barely notice you're going upside down.

I generally prefer Gerstlauer bobsleds over Mack wild mice, as they have a more varied layout with some banked turns and more drops. However, I'm not a great fan of these coaster types overall, those ...

I generally prefer Gerstlauer bobsleds over Mack wild mice, as they have a more varied layout with some banked turns and more drops. However, I'm not a great fan of these coaster types overall, those laterals-filled turns aren't great for me. I believe Mack's mouse trains are better for that. Anyway, this coaster was fun and the location, as with most other rides at the park, is stunning. The compactness of everything and the views of the sea and city are amazing.

Wtf. Really, like, wtf. I'd ridden its smaller brother Inferno at Terra Mítica, and I don't remember it being anything like this. The first drop provided some "insane" ejector. Then, on the first leve...

Wtf. Really, like, wtf. I'd ridden its smaller brother Inferno at Terra Mítica, and I don't remember it being anything like this. The first drop provided some "insane" ejector. Then, on the first level, we didn't get any spin. But the second drop sent us swinging back and forth, pulling some weird frontals. And the third drop unleashed the real insanity. A whole spin, and some really, really crazy out-of-your-seat frontal G's into the harness. Very nauseating, I don't quite remember what happened afterwards. I only know we got a chance to reride without getting out, 'cause nobody was in line (why could it be?), and we turned it down. Maybe we just got a bad ride, but I'm not willing to verify that.

Almost as intense as Monster xD. Now, seriously, this is a pretty forceless family coaster, but it's smooth, comfortable and fun; also, it pulls some unexpected G's at the final helix. Theming's not b...

Almost as intense as Monster xD. Now, seriously, this is a pretty forceless family coaster, but it's smooth, comfortable and fun; also, it pulls some unexpected G's at the final helix. Theming's not bad. However, the real highlight is the location: that first turn and hill on the air and over the park and water.

I expected this to be one of the most boring credits ever. However, I ended up having more fun than I'd have thought. The laterals there are quite enjoyable. It's a bit like a mild, kiddie wild mouse,...

I expected this to be one of the most boring credits ever. However, I ended up having more fun than I'd have thought. The laterals there are quite enjoyable. It's a bit like a mild, kiddie wild mouse, and for someone who finds the lateral G's on wild mice uncomfortably extreme, this kiddie was pretty nice. Sort of a "domestic mouse". Don't expect a real coaster, thought, it's a very tame kiddie after all.

It has pretty nice theming around. It's not much, but it's way more than I'd expected from a zoo. The coaster is fun, a credit that makes the nice kids area worth a visit while on your way to Wildfire...

It has pretty nice theming around. It's not much, but it's way more than I'd expected from a zoo. The coaster is fun, a credit that makes the nice kids area worth a visit while on your way to Wildfire.

Definitely better than Colossos. From the POV, the layout seemed repetitive and uninteresting, just airtime, boring turn, and so on. It didn't feel like that, though. The turns were taken at quite a h...

Definitely better than Colossos. From the POV, the layout seemed repetitive and uninteresting, just airtime, boring turn, and so on. It didn't feel like that, though. The turns were taken at quite a high speed, which, combined with traversing under the gorgeous wooden structure, was a lot of fun and led to a well paced ride rather than to dead spots. The near misses really helped mantain that pacing and feeling of speed, and all the airtimes were strong ejectors. Both tunnels were a lot of fun, too. Also, the strongest hill wasn't the first one, nor any close to the beginning, but one of the last ones before the brakes. I mean, unlike some other airtime machines, this coaster didn't go from best to worse in a decreasing level of intensity throughout the layout. Finally, the drop was good, and the valleys pulled some decent G's, though, as expected they weren't very sustained.

What a surprise. By far Europe's best dive coaster (I've yet to ride the original Oblivion, but... you know). I came with low expectations, but it ended up being a very solid top 3 at the park. It was...

What a surprise. By far Europe's best dive coaster (I've yet to ride the original Oblivion, but... you know). I came with low expectations, but it ended up being a very solid top 3 at the park. It was the first time a dive's first drop impressed me. With this coaster model, size does matter, man. The hanging, the views, the weightlessness drop and the foggy tunnel are great. By the way, I really appreciated that the valley on that tunnel kept the forces strong and sustained, unlike others such as Oblivion-The Black Hole or Krake. And that intensity was well mantained throughout the ride. Those positive G's were combined with some nice inverions (mediocre immelman and two great rolls), and there was also a quite decent airtime moment. It's maybe a short ride, but it's more than long enough for me, specially for a dive coaster. The station has nice theming as well. Oh, and the operations were great, specially that single rider queue. Best ones at the park. However, the obligation to pay for the ride lockers was insulting - I've never seen that in any other park in Europe, not even other rides at Liseberg have that.