Roller Coaster Thread

Any roller coaster fans here? Up until a couple years I could take 'em or leave 'em but then junior got obsessed some how, so this is really his thread. These are from our first Great Adventure visit of the year, last month.

This is El Toro, a nice old fashioned wooden coaster, but on steroids. The first hill is 76 degrees- may as well be 90 when you're looking down from the first car. This is junior's and my favorite. The key to getting a scaredy cat on this is to go first thing in the morning when there's no line. It goes by the waiting area at 70 mph, which is pretty scary. We got my wife and younger son on it this way, which turned out to be pretty amusing.



Superman tilts you forward before it starts (supposed to make you feel like you're flying). I don't really like this gimmicky crap but junior likes this one. It's way better then Green Lantern at least, which is a stand-up coaster and ends up being a ball-crusher most of the time.




Batman and Nitro . I swear to god I grayed out a little the first time I rode Nitro, on its last 180 degree turn. According to Wikipedia it does 4.3 Gs. That thing is sick.

I'm a season passholder there.  I always arrive early and get as many rides in as possible before the lines start to build.  My favorites are Nitro, El Toro, and Bizarro.

Hey Sno, have you been to many places other then Great Adventure? There aren't as many big coasters but Six Flags New England and Great Escape both have some gems as well.

I've also been to Coney Island, Great Escape, Dorney Park, and Lake Compounce.

The best coaster at Coney Island is The Cyclone, best at Great Escape is The Comet, best at Dorney Park is Talon, and best at Lake Compounce is Boulder Dash.

I think The Cyclone is like one of the most iconic roller coasters out there, I mean it's on the National Register of Historic Places.  It's a wooden coaster in a triple out and back layout (it loops around itself 3 times).  It was built using this compact layout because it is in NYC and space is always at a premium there.

The Comet is also a wooden coaster, which utilizes a double out and back layout that is more spread out than The Cyclone.  For this reason, it achieves a slightly higher speed, but isn't quite as forceful.  Although different, it's a very fun ride.

Talon is a steel inverted coaster (same as Batman at Great Adventure) in a twisting layout.  Unlike an out and back layout, it doesn't follow a predictable path one or multiple times, and instead loops in and out of itself in many ways.  Talon is somewhat similar to Batman, but is taller, faster, but with one less inversion.  It's also less forceful than Batman.  One added note is that more often than not, steel coasters use a twisting layout and wooden coasters use an out and back layout.  There are exceptions of course.

Boulder Dash is a wooden coaster built into the side of a mountain.  It follows the natural contours of the land and for that reason is called a terrain coaster.  Minimal tree removal was done around it, so when you are riding, you're having close calls with trees the entire way.  It uses a single out and back layout, going out to one location and then back, not looping around again.    

Go on El Toro and Nitro, they're the best.

El Toro may be in the running for the Official Coaster of NYSB.

elToro is pretty cool, even though it's in Jersey

Love wooden coasters!  El Toro is good.  Hershey has some really good wooden coasters.

Now, while it's not the tallest, steepest, fastest wooden coaster.....this would be a perfect choice for the official coaster of the NYSB!

https://youtu.be/B0pF75xFPqs

A fun wooden coaster, built into the side of a mountain.  What could be better?

Expedition Everest was pretty good.

Johnnyonthespot wrote

Expedition Everest was pretty good.

Junior disagrees with you, Johny. He says Everest is lame. On the upside, your dog jumped to the front of the line. Keep an eye on the other thread

We did it 3 or 4 times in a row. No lines. I guess that's what was so good about it. Lol.

Holy crap.

I'm at Busch Gardens with Neve just waiting in lines with her as mom takes a day off.  I got up some courage to do the log flume and we did it twice.

There's some wind and lightning around and certain rides are going on and off. Neve got halfway up Mach Tower and came back down as they shut it down.

She's more scared of the weather than the insane coasters and asked if we could go back to the hotel after one more ride. InvadR.

I've been walking through the ride to exit, but my heart was pounding and I sat down and clicked in. I thought Neve would be totally pumped but she was like "dad what are you doing?! You are NOT going to like this!"

I reiterate. Holy crap!

I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

You should ride Alpengeist- it’s worth waiting for the front seat

LOL

Brownski wrote

You should ride Alpengeist- it’s worth waiting for the front seat

You are insane bro.

I may go into retirement. I promised Neve that I would ride El Toro before I hang it up forever, now not so sure.

Anyone know how InvadR compares to El Toro?

El toro is great. It's just really fast.

And when you go back to six flags, ride Nitro also. The Gs on the last turn grayed me out a little the first time I rode it

Even scarier than InvadR. I let Neve read this thread, I think she has an interest in the OT now.