Avis • Gavin Sikon

200 coasters. That is one helluva achievement. Especially making it more of a ceremony with a kickass ride like this. I was waiting to get back on thi...

200 coasters. That is one helluva achievement. Especially making it more of a ceremony with a kickass ride like this. I was waiting to get back on this since my first visit in 2018 and patiently waited, hearing about the retracting and got more interested with the eventual swap out for the chain lift. When I found out my family and my friend’s family were going to Gatlinburg one more time before I go off to college, I wanted to capitalize on this opportunity to visit Dollywood on our last chance. As soon as we got in, it was the first thing that my friend, his siblings and I went to and waited with equal patience and anticipation as we inched towards the station. When we did go on it, the ride was nothing short of exhilarating, offering great speeds and pops of airtime all the while being seriously smooth stuff like some Yogo chocolate custard…. Wait a minute. You know how I said Lightning Rod was “nothing short”? I lied. My only real problem with Lightning Rod wasn’t the lack of a launch, but was actually, you guessed it…. THAT IF WAS TOO DAMN SHORT! You know how Taylor Bybee said that Steel Vengeance needed a third half to be perfect? That’s exactly what I thought about Lighting Rod. Sure it had some terrain to maneuver through but I felt like it had a bit more speed to burn off at the end. In other words, the ending was a bit abrupt and could’ve spent a few more seconds up and around. Overall, I’m really glad Lightning Rod was my 200th roller coaster and hope I can get on 100 more in my lifetime to see how they all compare! Number Grade: 8.5/10 Letter Grade: B+ Pros: Great Speed, Great Airtime, Very Smooth! Cons: Kind of short… -_-

I don’t get the hate for this ride. I just don’t. Sure it has a couple bits of headbanging, but I’ve seen far worse cases than Rougarou. But this nega...

I don’t get the hate for this ride. I just don’t. Sure it has a couple bits of headbanging, but I’ve seen far worse cases than Rougarou. But this negativite reputation may be why I have such a high opinion on it, because it always has such a short line that I am likely to get on it each time I go to Cedar Point. I absolutely love the location of it being right on a swamp and I always love looking at the bluegill and carp hanging out in the waters below. When I would actually get on the ride, (usually in the back because it has the shortest line,) I would be greeted by various sights of Iron Dragon, Top Thrill Dragster, and the rest of the midway as the train climbs the lift hill and whisks me over to the first drop. The rest of the ride is a smooth and fast paced compilation of inversions and turns with a couple portions that jank me around but don’t damage my opinion on the ride overall. When all is said and done, there is nothing like sitting on that brake run on top of the water as you get yourself one last glance of the swamp before going into the station, absolutely blown away by this experience. Overall, I don’t get the hate for Rougarou. It may have a couple rough spots, but in my eyes, there are far more positives than negatives for this ride. Number Score: 8/10 Letter Score: B Pros: Smoothness, nice location, inversions, good surprise. Cons: A couple rough spots.

I just got on this this past Thursday, and needless to say, it does the job of filling both the spinning and family gaps in Cedar Point’s lineup prett...

I just got on this this past Thursday, and needless to say, it does the job of filling both the spinning and family gaps in Cedar Point’s lineup pretty well! My mother and I rode it with two other people, and I was pleasantly surprised by how forceful it was and how fast we were spinning. I also loved the theming as it had each mouse’s portrait, each car based off of the mice, and even some sound effects playing throughout parts of the ride. The color scheme of the ride and the general area is quite sappy, but also really fun and nostalgic and only makes it more inviting to potential riders. If I were to be honest, my only real gripe with the all new Wild Mouse is that I feel that it’s a bit short and could be a bit longer, but I can excuse this with the fact that it’s meant for small children who feel that one minute spent spinning and banking on a track is enough time spent and would desire to quickly hop from one thing to another. Overall, Wild Mouse pleasantly surprised me even if I was excited about its announcement beforehand! It may seem a bit disappointing to some that Cedar Point came back 5 years after making Steel Vengeance only to make a variation of something you’d find at a county fair, but I feel that it is the hidden gem which was exactly needed for the park and a surprise to show how they could make something so mundane into an experience like no other. Number Score: 7/10 Letter Grade: B Pros: Great theming, surprisingly forceful and intense, fun for the whole family, Cons: Just a tad short.

As a roller coaster, Rollo Coaster is to Wild Mouse what Moondog is to Sir CC as mascots for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It isn’t as rough, intimidating,...

As a roller coaster, Rollo Coaster is to Wild Mouse what Moondog is to Sir CC as mascots for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It isn’t as rough, intimidating, or intense as Wild Mouse, but it still does the best it can even after almost 85 years. I like the location in the middle of the woods and the hills at the end that gave me pops of airtime. However, before said hills is a turnaround at about halfway of the ride that is sure to jerk you and make you start riding defensively for a bit. Although this seems like a fun but not outstanding experience, expect to wait a little bit because there’s only one train and only 5 operational two seated rows when I was there. Overall, despite its relatively poor capacity and rough turnaround, I still find it a decent family coaster that both adults and kids can enjoy. Number score: 6/10 Letter Grade: C Pros: Nice setting, relatively calm nature, perfect size and speed for families. Cons: Rough points, weak capacity.

Sky Rocket at Kennywood is no doubt the launch coaster of all time. The train launches up a top hat, it goes through inversions, and it twists and tur...

Sky Rocket at Kennywood is no doubt the launch coaster of all time. The train launches up a top hat, it goes through inversions, and it twists and turns. The coolest parts are the launch, the inversions, the ability to view McDonald’s from the top hat, and the part where the ride operator said, “It’s SkyRocketing time!” and skyrocketed all around the park. There is no surprise why the park gained one SkyRocketillion in the year of its debut. All jokes aside, Sky Rocket is a solid ride and is great until the mid course break run, which afterwards is just at best good and at worst very meh. It flips through a banked turn and an inversion, and does a zigzag similar to that of Busch Garden Tampa’s Cheetah Hunt. After all was said and done, I felt like it was decent. Not bad or good, just decent. I don’t know if I’m used to Maverick regarding launch coasters, but Sky Rocket felt a bit short and at times pretty boring in the second half, considering how kickass the first half was. It is a solid addition, don’t get me wrong, but it feels like it was missing some substance in the end, and that weakness makes existing the second thing it is best at, only to being a launch coaster for Kennywood. Number Score: 6.5/10 Letter Grade: C+ Pros: Good launch, good location, very smooth, fun top hat and inversions. Cons: Boring second half. Weird placement of entrance. Only seems to exist to be a launch coaster for Kennywood.

This is a really smooth ride that felt more like a B&M at a Cedar Fair park more than anything. It felt smooth but pretty forceful, each inversion is ...

This is a really smooth ride that felt more like a B&M at a Cedar Fair park more than anything. It felt smooth but pretty forceful, each inversion is better than the less, and nothing can beat the hang time from the zero g stall over the lake! It could just be a few seconds longer and the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t really the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to what this one of a kind experience is similar to. Number Score: 8.5/10 Letter Grade: B Pros: Smooth, Great Location, Great Inversions, Forceful. Cons: A tad short, rather unusual theming.

Oh boy. This ride is definitely something. I heard about this being a rare credit that was a real tossup on whether you would be able to get on it at ...

Oh boy. This ride is definitely something. I heard about this being a rare credit that was a real tossup on whether you would be able to get on it at all or not. But when I did, I had no idea how brutal this ride was. On each hairpin turn, you are shaken from one side to the other like you’re a Rottweiler’s favorite toy, and there is a specific drop that goes so close to the track above, that I had to duck my head each time so it wouldn’t get knocked off clean. After another round of getting shaken and beat around in another set of hairpins, you are greeted with a long turn and some small bunny hills which feel like rewards for surviving the roller coaster embodiment of the Salty Spitoon. It is no surprise that two people need to be in each row of the cart and it has since become a game to see how much it would mess up each load of riders in the bulky cyborg mouse(?) themed cars. It has also become a personal infamous ride / inside joke for me where I also call it by, “Lord Have Mercy: The Ride.” As rough and cruel it is, I don’t want it torn down due to the secretive yet violent nature of it that makes the Rollo Coaster across from it look like the coaster for the supposed “snowflakes” that can’t handle this enigma of a ride. LONG LIVE THE GUILLOTINE DROP! Number Score: 5/10 Letter Grade: C Pros: Fun experience, smooth finale, bunny hops, Rich history, joke status / meme potential. Cons: Rough, borderline dangerous, not too reliable (from what I’ve heard), drab color scheme, hard brakes.

For years, I heard a lot of slander and slack directed towards the Big Apple as it was considered a giant, rough, and pointless TOGO hyper up until it...

For years, I heard a lot of slander and slack directed towards the Big Apple as it was considered a giant, rough, and pointless TOGO hyper up until it got the new Premier Rides trains in 2021. When my family said we were going to Las Vegas for spring break, this was one of the first things I wanted to try. I wanted to see how good or bad this was, to see if Premier Rides saved the experience, and alas, they absolutely freaking did. The location around the coaster, themed to New York City itself, was always great and anyone like me could easily fall in love with it. For the most part, the ride was incredibly smooth with the new trains except for some rough patches at the hill after the second drop and the two inversions, the vertical loop and the dive loop. Said trains were incredibly comfortable and eliminated any possible headbanging from the previous trains, albeit the lap bar may sometimes get too tight. My main and only other con aside from the rough patches is that not much really happens after the break run and it feels like a slightly sluggish victory lap more than anything. However, the helix is admittedly a nice and simple finish to this experience. Overall, I feel like Premier Rides did a good job in saving this ride and basically did a reverse-RMC to this formerly infamous ride to improve it and with great success too. The ride was so smooth that I forgot it was built by TOGO in the 1990’s and it was just a solid, fun ride that was a highlight of my trip. Number Score: 8/10 Letter Grade: B Pros: Smooth, Good Location, Comfortable Trains, Fast paced and intense at some points. Cons: Rough patches, relatively boring second half.