Rollo Coaster really surprised me, I avoided watching the POV before riding it, because I wanted to be surprised, even if just for a family PTC, but I knew the ride was small, old and consisted of mai...
Rollo Coaster really surprised me, I avoided watching the POV before riding it, because I wanted to be surprised, even if just for a family PTC, but I knew the ride was small, old and consisted of mainly some shallow dips and turns, so you can imagine my expectations weren’t high, but I was going on vacation a few minutes from Idlewild and I figured what the hell, wooden coasters are exceedingly rare nowadays, why not run in, grab the credit and leave? I rode Rollo Coaster FIFTEEN TIMES. THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVED IT. Let’s work through the Rollo Coaster experience, shall we? It’s nestled in a corner of the park across from that funky wild mouse, with the station at a weird angle compared to the other buildings and pathways. When you walk up to the entrance, you’ll see a sign that says “Weight per row may not exceed 265 pounds”, which is heavily enforced, and they will weigh you every single time. You’d think that with the coaster being a walk on, and you being the only person who’s ridden it in 20 minutes, they’d realize that you have not gained 130 pounds since the last time you rode, but whatever. Unfortunately, this policy makes it virtually impossible for two adults, heck, an adult and a child to ride in the same row together. So after they confirmed that I, a 5 foot 4 tall 16 year old did not contain a black hole’s worth of mass that pushed me over the limit, they allowed me to choose whatever row I wanted, and unfortunately you can only sit in the left side of the car if you are alone, which I don’t understand because the unbanked downwards turn turns left, and considering it would be a lot more comfortable in the right and there are no other considerably strong lateral moments, this policy makes no sense. Speaking of the trains, let’s talk about these things. hOlY sHiT gUys! IdLeWiLd HaS a wOoDeN WiNg cOaStEr! In all seriousness, these wing, flap things, whatever they are, although they look like the person designing them was under the influence, didn’t bother me. They are angled outward so you don’t bang your head on them or anything, you can put your hands up and you won’t notice them and the only thing they affected was your view from the back of the train. This train may look really wonky, but I actually quite liked it. You can definitely tell that they were only made three years ago, as the padding is still intact and hasn’t been beaten down at all, so sitting in these trains feels like sitting on a couch. I had to look again when I first saw these trains, they have a 2 bench first car, and then three single bench cars behind it. Sorry, what? If you wanted single bench trains that you can’t stick your arms horizontally out of, you could have just gotten Timberliners. Also, I’ve heard people complain about the seatbelts, as if that’s something that affects the ride at all. (Spoiler alert, it isn’t) Ok, I should stop stalling and get to the ride experience. If you watch a POV of Rollo Coaster, you’ll probably come to the conclusion of, “Oh, Boulder Dash kiddie coaster”, and then move on to watching a more interesting POV. But I’m excited to announce that this ride does in fact do things. After a slow left turn out of the station, you rocket up the 15 second long lift hill, before going down a twisting drop that gives you a fun swooping sensation mixed with a little bit of thrill, this is where you realize just how smooth this ride is. Rollo Coaster is like, ungodly smooth for an 80 year old wooden coaster. And you can see it too, the track is very clean and smooth looking, and the metal running plates looked fairly new and none of them were rusty. I don’t know how Palace Entertainment maintains their wooden coasters so well, but whatever they're doing, I hope they keep doing it. The second twisting hill doesn’t really do anything in terms of airtime or laterals, but maintains the smoothness and gliding sensation, same with the subsequent turn, which I love, but for those of you who aren’t pleased by the sheer novelty of moving at a speed on a rolling coaster, the next hill gives some floater/lifter airtime that is about the strength of a B&M hyper hill. This is where the ride gets crazy, you plunge down the hillside into a hill that delivers an uncharacteristically strong ejector moment for a family PTC. Imagine one of Phoenix’s hills, but shorter, that’s what this feels like. I love this moment, especially in the front row, but it still gives great airtime everywhere else in the train. This ejector hill is followed by a snappy lateral valley turn that is a little rough, but it's still very smooth for a wooden coaster, and still smoother than literally any moment on Wildcat. You rise into a slow paced flat turn that gives you a little breather and an opportunity to appreciate the fact that you are in the gorgeous Pennsylvania wilderness, before the ride descends back into madness with an unbanked turning drop down the hill that delivers some sustained laterals that will try to bend you over sideways, preceded by a hill that provides a pop of floater for those up front over the crest and a pop of floater for those in the back down the descent, and some weak sustained floater for those in the middle. Now, this is where the ride dies a little. The return trip of 4 hills doesn’t provide anything in terms of force, but the ride is still going at a moderate pace and these still manage to be entertaining, and it helps that this is the part of the ride where you are in the thickest part of the woods. After this mine train section, you slide into the final brakes and into the totally unnecessary unload station that kills dispatches. I’m sure this was great when Rollo Coaster had two trains, but now with one train, it just means you’re going to be waiting an extra thirty seconds each cycle. My favorite row was by far the front, it's smoother up front and the elements are a lot stronger. In terms of ride atmosphere, this ride nails it in the head, right between the eyes, I love the nostalgic energy this ride radiates. The woods exacerbate the feeling of nostalgia and make the ride feel isolated. Rollo Coaster gives you this great peaceful escape feeling. For a family wooden coaster, I’d say it's on par with Oscar’s Wacky Taxi, maybe better. Definitely better than most wooden coasters I’ve ridden, twice, three times its size. This ride is ten times more intense than Lightning Racer and even smoother than Phoenix at Knoebels. I swear, I love every PA family wooden coaster to death. Oscar’s, Flying Turns and now this have all blown me away. Overall, wow! 9/10, great airtime and setting, I could ride this masterpiece all day.
