Michael M. - Reviews

This sort of feels like if Arrow tried to build a racing woody, but did it with mine train components. The layout definitely feels like a wood coaster, but it obviously tracks a bit better considering...

This sort of feels like if Arrow tried to build a racing woody, but did it with mine train components. The layout definitely feels like a wood coaster, but it obviously tracks a bit better considering the steel track. There are a few janky moments (of course, given that it is an Arrow), but overall it is smoother than most mine trains. This side (blue) might also be a bit less janky than red, but that may also be my imagination. There are a few moments of good floater airtime, which surprised me given that it is an Arrow but perhaps shouldn't have considering how it is apparently designed to be like a woody. The racing definitely makes it more fun. This is the first coaster I've ridden where people can high-five each other between trains, but sadly I was on the wrong side of the train to be able to do that.

After having ridden Carolina Goldrusher at Carowinds (which runs the same trains as this one), I can in with minimal expectations. I was surprised though. The ride experience is actually rather enjo...

After having ridden Carolina Goldrusher at Carowinds (which runs the same trains as this one), I can in with minimal expectations. I was surprised though. The ride experience is actually rather enjoyable and, while janky, it isn't painful the way Goldrusher was. The last helix is also quite forceful. This uses the old common-lapbar Arrow trains, so tall and/or long-legged people will be uncomfortable.

This is sort of like Copperhead Strike but on horse steroids. (Pun intended?) The ejector airtime on the 95° drop is a very unique sensation and the rest of the layout follows with a series of eleme...

This is sort of like Copperhead Strike but on horse steroids. (Pun intended?) The ejector airtime on the 95° drop is a very unique sensation and the rest of the layout follows with a series of elements that never let up the intensity, providing lots of strong airtime, whippy inversions, and insane bank transitions that remind me Project 305 (except I can ride this without passing out!). The second launch kicks hard and is one of my favorite launches. There are a couple moments where the harness causes a bit of neckchopping if you aren't careful, but I never found it painful. This is definitely my favorite ride in the park. The only thing it is missing is a heartline roll in the second half…

I really want to like old Arrows. I really do, but I just hate Corkscrew. It is awful and painful throughout the entire layout and has no saving grace. I normally like Arrow first drops, but this o...

I really want to like old Arrows. I really do, but I just hate Corkscrew. It is awful and painful throughout the entire layout and has no saving grace. I normally like Arrow first drops, but this one was really to short to offer any airtime. As soon as the train hits the bottom of the first drop, a painful sort of wobble starts with the train rocking (or shaking, depending on the speed) back and forth. This continues throughout the ride. I usually like Arrow loops, but the one on Corkscrew isn't memorable. All the horizontal transitions are painful. I understand and usually even appreciate Arrow jank, but these transitions aren't enjoyable in any way. They just hurt. I'm tall enough to where I can't headbang in Arrow OTSRs, but it still hurts. The transition into the corkscrews is even worse. I feel like I'm trying to be ejected sideways out of the train. The final brake run is the best part because that means this no-good horrible awful experience is over. I really don't understand how this can be so bad though. It really should just be Carolina Cyclone with an airtime hill instead of a loop and no extra helix. I like that ride, but this one is just awful. I can't give it the "Tear it down!" tag because of its historical significance, but you also can't really eliminate the pain without compromising the history. I really don't know what to do with this one…

I don't hate regular wild mouses, but this one is definitely a step up in my opinion. The spinning definitely adds to the experience by making the "laterals" more unpredictable. The car I was in was...

I don't hate regular wild mouses, but this one is definitely a step up in my opinion. The spinning definitely adds to the experience by making the "laterals" more unpredictable. The car I was in was quite imbalanced and got a lot of the spinning. It tracks very smoothly. I found the position of the lap bar to be rather odd, as in it was kind of pushing up against my stomach rather than down on my legs. That was weird, but it wasn't painful. This was my first Zamperla coaster. I was hoping I could get that strata lawn ornament across the park as my first, but no such luck. While I'm definitely not in the target demographic for this, I enjoyed it and would take it over a regular wild mouse any day.

I really wanted to love this after having previously ridden Big Bad Wolf and The Bat (the newer one) at Kings Island, but I ended up coming away disappointed. It doesn't have the speed of either of t...

I really wanted to love this after having previously ridden Big Bad Wolf and The Bat (the newer one) at Kings Island, but I ended up coming away disappointed. It doesn't have the speed of either of those coasters. There is more swinging overall. There is a pronounced rattle that I didn't experience on The Bat though, and while it didn't hurt me, it did take away from the experience some.

I came in to this expecting to hate it based on what my friends had told me about how rough it is. For that reason, I rode it in row 2 of the train (which I'm sure is the smoothest row in the entire ...

I came in to this expecting to hate it based on what my friends had told me about how rough it is. For that reason, I rode it in row 2 of the train (which I'm sure is the smoothest row in the entire train), but I came away pleasantly surprised. Being wooden, it obviously doesn't track perfectly and has a few shaky moments, but it never hurt me. The airtime was about what I would expect from a PTC woody, which is good, as I quite enjoy that type of airtime with looser restraints. I didn't ride in the back though, and I'm sure it is rougher back there.

This sort of feels like if Arrow tried to build a racing woody, but did it with mine train components. The layout definitely feels like a wood coaster, but it obviously tracks a bit better considerin...

This sort of feels like if Arrow tried to build a racing woody, but did it with mine train components. The layout definitely feels like a wood coaster, but it obviously tracks a bit better considering the steel track. There are a few janky moments (of course, given that it is an Arrow), but overall it is smoother than most mine trains. There are a few moments of good floater airtime, which surprised me given that it is an Arrow but perhaps shouldn't have considering how it is apparently designed to be like a woody. My ride on the red side didn't race because they had already shut down blue for the day, but I'm sure it would be even better with both in operation simultaneously.

Rougarou wasn't as bad as some people say it is, but it doesn't quite make the top tier for me. The inversions are nice. It tracks OKish, but there is definitely some shuffling. There are several n...

Rougarou wasn't as bad as some people say it is, but it doesn't quite make the top tier for me. The inversions are nice. It tracks OKish, but there is definitely some shuffling. There are several near-headbang elements and an actual headbang (at least in the back, the only place I rode). I didn't find that too unpleasant, but as a stand-up, it would have been a real headbanger.

Unlike a lot of enthusiasts, I really enjoy dive coasters. Valravn is no exception. It has an incredible first drop, a quite decent second drop, and several very nice inversions including one with v...

Unlike a lot of enthusiasts, I really enjoy dive coasters. Valravn is no exception. It has an incredible first drop, a quite decent second drop, and several very nice inversions including one with very good hangtime. I didn't find the restraints uncomfortable. The tracking was smooth, though perhaps not quite as smooth as Griffon. My only real complaint is that it is too short. What's with the train handling though? The final brake run had not 1 but 2 car-crash stops. Usually B&Ms are better than that at train handling, especially the newer ones.

Magnum XL-200 really surprised me. I was expecting it to be an awful jackhammery mess with painful airtime and without a saving grace. However, I found that in the second-to-back row it had an enjoy...

Magnum XL-200 really surprised me. I was expecting it to be an awful jackhammery mess with painful airtime and without a saving grace. However, I found that in the second-to-back row it had an enjoyable jank but wasn't painful at all. The first drop was quite good and there was some airtime in the first half. The second half had incredible airtime. Up front was a different story. in 1-3 (which I am informed is the "magic seat"), it is quite rough and the airtime in the second half is painful. While I can appreciate that, this is definitely a back row (or second-to-back row, anyway) ride for me.

I knew I was going to enjoy GateKeeper, but it still exceeded my expectations. The inversion in the first drop is quite unique and surprisingly intense. Surprising intensity is really something of a...

I knew I was going to enjoy GateKeeper, but it still exceeded my expectations. The inversion in the first drop is quite unique and surprisingly intense. Surprising intensity is really something of a theme for this coaster. I was also surprised by several airtime moments. The inversion are all great and the keyholes are a great element. The train tracks very well and the ride is quite smooth, though it is noticeably more bouncy in the outer seats. It never caused me any pain or discomfort though. The wing coaster is a great concept and I hope to see more of these get built.

Raptor is everything that an old-school invert should be. It is extremely intense and doesn't let up with the inversions and positive Gs. The inversions are quick and very whippy, which can cause he...

Raptor is everything that an old-school invert should be. It is extremely intense and doesn't let up with the inversions and positive Gs. The inversions are quick and very whippy, which can cause headbanging if you aren't careful, but it never hurt me. The tracking is remarkably smooth given the age of the ride. This is my new #2 invert. It doesn't quite live up to Alpengeist, but it is close.

The first drop on this really isn't nearly as bad as it looks from the ground and it is one of the smoothest roller coasters I have ever ridden. The transitions are so smooth and there is so little r...

The first drop on this really isn't nearly as bad as it looks from the ground and it is one of the smoothest roller coasters I have ever ridden. The transitions are so smooth and there is so little rattle that it is almost like the train is just floating down the track. My only complaint here is that it would be nice if it was longer.

How does a park of this size only have one B&M, and a relocated one at that? Anyway, this is a nice old-school Stengel-designed one and it really shows though the speed and intensity of the entire la...

How does a park of this size only have one B&M, and a relocated one at that? Anyway, this is a nice old-school Stengel-designed one and it really shows though the speed and intensity of the entire layout. The inversions are very forceful and the intensity never really lets up. The MCBR hardly hits at all and the back of the train even gets suprisingly good airtime on the subsequent drop. After a few rerides, I've decided that I like the back best, mainly due to the airtime and the whippiness as the front of the train pulls the back through various elements. The front is fun too though, but it can sometimes be a bit headbangy going into that first corkscrew. I can avoid that by just pushing my head up against the right side of the restraint before that element though.

I don't care what anyone else says, this ride is hot garbage and I hated every minute of it. It feels like jackhammering around in the woods on the business end of a jackhammer. Whenever the train i...

I don't care what anyone else says, this ride is hot garbage and I hated every minute of it. It feels like jackhammering around in the woods on the business end of a jackhammer. Whenever the train is moving at faster than a snail's pace, it jackhammers intensely and painfully in every row. The faster it goes, the worse the jackhammering gets. And it goes really, really fast. The jackhammering gets even more intense during high positive Gs, which is pretty much every element of the ride. It is extremely painful throughout, with the only break from the pain being the second lift hill, after which the jackhammering resumes posthaste. It has no saving grace or enjoyable moments. There is no airtime. The focus seems to be on positive Gs, but positive Gs are just not enjoyable with that much jackhammering. I marked Headbanging as one of the negatives. While this has lap bars and therefore cannot headbang in the traditional sense, the jackhammering does cause my brain to bang around inside my skull, which counts as far as I am concerned. I ended up riding this 3 whole times due to poor decision-making. I rode it once on my first night in the park as a night ride (which is not at all special, it's just jackhammering around through the woods in the dark). After that, I decided I didn't want to ride it any more. However, my friend wanted to ride it for his 100th credit, and that being the milestone that it is, I decided to ride it again with him (bad decision #1). Then, he realized that he also wanted his dad to ride it at the same time too, so he bailed after we got to the station. I went ahead and rode it anyway with his other friend (bad decision #2). We all then rode it for my third time (bad decision #3). All the jackhammering gave me a headache that pretty much ruined the rest of that day and a good part of the next day for me. In fact, I still have a headache several days later as I write this review. I hate this roller coaster. It is my least favorite roller coaster by a long, long shot and I will never ride it again.

This was my first new-gen Vekoma and it definitely lives up to the hype in the smoothness department, quite possibly being the smoothest and best-tracking coaster in the park. For what it is, it is d...

This was my first new-gen Vekoma and it definitely lives up to the hype in the smoothness department, quite possibly being the smoothest and best-tracking coaster in the park. For what it is, it is decently fun. There is no airtime, but it does turn my stomach over at the beginning of the return run. Naturally, being a Boomerang, it can only run 1 train and the capacity is bad.

it's actually pretty fun for what it is. While I didn't headbang at all, without defensive riding I can definitely see how you would. I think the main problem there is inconsistent track bending whi...

it's actually pretty fun for what it is. While I didn't headbang at all, without defensive riding I can definitely see how you would. I think the main problem there is inconsistent track bending which results in lateral kinks that throw you side to side. The profiling itself seems good with the right amount of banking in the right places. The bank transitions don't seem to cause the laterals. The capacity is awful with the ability to run only a single train. A wait brake and an anti-rollback system on the lift hill could easily result in a significant capacity increase.

It's a nice way to introduce kids to wooden coasters. It's fun, but nothing really specific to call out. The trains are a bit tight for my long legs. Other than that I don't really have anything ne...

It's a nice way to introduce kids to wooden coasters. It's fun, but nothing really specific to call out. The trains are a bit tight for my long legs. Other than that I don't really have anything negative to say.

While this looks like a cross between a Boomerang and an SLC, by 1999 Vekoma had figured out how to profile transitions well (just look at Rock'n Roller Coaster) and it really shows in the smoothness....

While this looks like a cross between a Boomerang and an SLC, by 1999 Vekoma had figured out how to profile transitions well (just look at Rock'n Roller Coaster) and it really shows in the smoothness. I didn't get any headbanging at all. The inversions are fast and intense and the loop taken on the return run has the most Gs of any ride at KI or anything I have ever ridden. It made me gray out quite strongly. The reliability is bad though and it can be difficult to actually get a chance to ride it. The capacity is also bad, so expect to wait a while.

It's a fun little mine train. The trains themselves are much better than the ones on Carolina Goldrusher at Carowinds and actually have enough room for real people in them. The pacing is a bit weird...

It's a fun little mine train. The trains themselves are much better than the ones on Carolina Goldrusher at Carowinds and actually have enough room for real people in them. The pacing is a bit weird. Starting directly into the course after the station is nice, but the lift hill directly back into the station at the end is a pretty big dead spot. As with (almost) any Arrow, the transitions are janky and can throw you around some, but I never experienced any pain and it isn't difficult to brace if you want to.

I was looking forward to this one because I really enjoyed Racer 75 at Kings Dominion and I heard this one was better, specifically in the airtime department. While I didn't find that to be the case,...

I was looking forward to this one because I really enjoyed Racer 75 at Kings Dominion and I heard this one was better, specifically in the airtime department. While I didn't find that to be the case, I still enjoyed it. Like the KD one, it is smooth and the racing aspect is fun. The KD one is my slight preference though, mainly due to the control modernization from Irvine Ondrey Engineering, where the impeccable programming from Brian Ondrey (of Dueling Dragons fame) uses the variable-speed lift hills to jog the trains into alignment on the hill to ensure an even start to each race.

I was looking forward to this one because I really enjoyed Racer 75 at Kings Dominion and I heard this one was better, specifically in the airtime department. While I didn't find that to be the case,...

I was looking forward to this one because I really enjoyed Racer 75 at Kings Dominion and I heard this one was better, specifically in the airtime department. While I didn't find that to be the case, I still enjoyed it. Like the KD one, it is smooth and the racing aspect is fun. The KD one is my slight preference though, mainly due to the control modernization from Irvine Ondrey Engineering, where the impeccable programming from Brian Ondrey (of Dueling Dragons fame) uses the variable-speed lift hills to jog the trains into alignment on the hill to ensure an even start to each race. I got my 50th credit on this one. I had initially planned to get that on The Bat, but I accidentally rode that too early (ooh, shiny objects!), so I picked this classic instead.

This one is also nearly the same as the one at Kings Dominion. The launch is great and the inversions are very intense, but my enjoyment of it is ruined by the rattle, poor tracking, and inability to...

This one is also nearly the same as the one at Kings Dominion. The launch is great and the inversions are very intense, but my enjoyment of it is ruined by the rattle, poor tracking, and inability to brace due to darkness. While I did find a way to brace my legs to prevent legbanging, it slings my head around enough to hurt both it and my neck. As with the KD one, it has tons of potential, but it is just too rough for me to enjoy it as a dark coaster.

It's pretty similar to the one at Kings Dominion, but I got the feeling that it runs a bit slower. I'm not sure if the launches are weaker or if it is trimmed somewhere or what. Some of the effects ...

It's pretty similar to the one at Kings Dominion, but I got the feeling that it runs a bit slower. I'm not sure if the launches are weaker or if it is trimmed somewhere or what. Some of the effects (most notably the fire) work on this one that are broken on the KD one. However, some of the effects that are broken on this one work on the KD one. The KD one also seems to have a fresher coat of paint on the theming.

After riding The Big Bad Wolf as my first "big" roller coaster, I had high hopes for this, and it mostly lived up to them. Like all roller coasters that hang below the track, I find the front seat is...

After riding The Big Bad Wolf as my first "big" roller coaster, I had high hopes for this, and it mostly lived up to them. Like all roller coasters that hang below the track, I find the front seat is the best. There, it is a smooth, well-paced, and surprisingly-intense series of swooping turns through the woods that remind me so much of careening through a Bavarian village. I just wish it could have been a bit longer. Also, it can be a bit rattly in the back. There isn't really any headbanging though, since the swinging cars smooth out the tangent-radius transitions. I hope they can keep this around for a long time to come.

I was sadly only able to get one ride on this before The Beast killed my head and I was never able to ride it in front, which is always my favorite row on inverts. So, if that hadn't been true, I cou...

I was sadly only able to get one ride on this before The Beast killed my head and I was never able to ride it in front, which is always my favorite row on inverts. So, if that hadn't been true, I could quite possibly have ranked this a half-star higher. It has a great layout with lots of fun inversions. While they aren't as whippy as older inverts, they are still very intense (except for the inline twist at the end, which is very floaty and gives excellent hangtime). There are also a lot of very intense positive G moments, which would be more fun without the rattle. I found that the rattle was present on both of the trains I got to ride. I never got a chance to ride the third train.

Rattling often makes my head hurt, seemingly more or at least in a different way than a lot of other people. Knowing that, I wasn't sure how I was going to like Diamondback. However, it blew me away...

Rattling often makes my head hurt, seemingly more or at least in a different way than a lot of other people. Knowing that, I wasn't sure how I was going to like Diamondback. However, it blew me away. It definitely rattles, but really only in the back and not in a way that hurts my head. The first drop is better in the back, but in my experience the rest of the airtime was actually better in the front, along with being a much smoother ride. In the back, it starts gently lifting you out of your seat as the train crests the hill and then transitions to a stronger force as the train descends the hill, before slamming you back into the seat in the pullout. In the front, it pops you out of your seat as the train crests the hill before transitioning to a more gentle float on the way down and gently putting you back down in the pullout. The first camelback is one of my favorite airtime elements period. I find that the pacing is decent. The splashdown is a nice effect, but if you're sitting in the back row, make sure you don't turn around and try to look at it or you will be hit in the face. Oh, and forget The Beast, this is the best night ride in the park. I was on the second-to-last train before close in the front row and it was one of my favorite coaster experiences ever.

OK, so I'm weird with rattle. Everyone talks about how smooth Orion is, but I found that it rattled in a very specific way that makes my head hurt very quickly. Combined with its very positive-G-hea...

OK, so I'm weird with rattle. Everyone talks about how smooth Orion is, but I found that it rattled in a very specific way that makes my head hurt very quickly. Combined with its very positive-G-heavy layout, I was never able to really enjoy it. This is pretty much the same way I felt about Apollo's Chariot after riding that. The crazy thing is that while everyone says how smooth this is, everyone talks about Diamondback's rattle. And it does rattle, but I can still enjoy riding it in any row. Granted, I never did get lucky enough to get a front-row ride on Orion, but I still don't understand it. If it didn't make my head hurt, I could easily see it making my top 10 because of its excellent pacing and good layout.

The twisted first drop is a wild start to a wild ride full of quick, intense bursts of ejector airtime and lots of strong laterals. The pace is excellent and it doesn't let up even for a second until...

The twisted first drop is a wild start to a wild ride full of quick, intense bursts of ejector airtime and lots of strong laterals. The pace is excellent and it doesn't let up even for a second until you slam into the final brake run. It rides about as smoothly as you could expect for a wood coaster this intense. I don't have much negative to say about this, but the only reason it didn't score higher is because I tend to prefer more elegant, graceful airtime such as that on most B&M hypercoasters. I did enjoy this though, and each re-ride left me liking it a bit more. I also loved the rhythmic "pff-ka-klunk" sound the brakes make as it pulls into the much-hyped shed much more than I probably should have. The only thing I have to complain about here is the lift hill, which is very jerky, loud, and has lots of torque flutter.