Almost a year since my last top 25, so I thought I'd give my latest list!
0 Coaster
Some may notice that this is the first year I've added a 0 coaster into my top 25. Whilst Stealth isn't the best coaster I've ridden, it is my favourite. No coaster has consistently put a smile on my face like Stealth has. It's the coaster that buried my teenage fear of coasters for good and that hydraulic launch still hits just as hard as it did in 2006. Deciding a location for it in my top 25 is too hard, but it definitely deserves to be honoured in this list.
New Notable Creds
Since my last top 25 update, I've ridden 70 new coasters. Of those, only 3 made this list, but some big ones missed out.
Wildcats Revenge - 3rd Place
Expectations were drastically exceeded with this coaster, and it is the best mid-sized RMC I've ridden. It's a buffet of everything RMC is great at, with big floaty elements in the first half, to rapid-fire inversions and ejector hills at the end. The result leads to what is one of the best coasters in the world.
Batman: Gotham City Escape - 22nd Place
Whilst not the best of the new big Intamin's in Europe, there are still some great moments in this ride, most notably the section between the second and third launches. This sequence of odd inversions, speedy transitions and one mental airtime hill justify its place in the list. I also love the smaller trains and how they allow for the tightness of the elements and really give it the sensation of darting around the area.
Fønix - 23rd Place
I really struggled to decide whether I preferred this or GCE. Fønix is the first of the new-gen Vekoma's that actually made me excited for one of their rides. It doesn't have the (sea)-sickly feeling of their other sit-downs, like Abysuss or Lech. I think this is due to a slightly different profiling of some elements and more of a focus on airtime as opposed to "swoopy" turns. A very very solid coaster.
Iron Gwazi - Missed out
The most disappointing cred of the last 12 months. I do wonder whether my hype for this coaster was too high before riding and maybe that led to the lack-lustre experience that followed, but I found myself forcing myself to embrace the elements. Places on the ride where I expected airtime didn't really deliver, and no matter how roomy my restraint was or where I was on the train, there was none of the same thigh-bruising joy that I usually experience on other RMCs. I had multiple rides over two separate visits, including night rides at 1am, but sadly it still failed to deliver. I appreciate I'm in the minority here, but I just don't think it's the RMC for me.
Nitro - Missed out
Despite not being in my top 25, it's still a great coaster. I love the setting and the ominously slow lift hill, but it slightly lacks the finesse of the newer B&M hypercoasters.
Jersey Devil - Missed out
Great pacing, great elements—I just hated the restraints. If it were the same layout on an iBox, it would comfortably be in the top 25.
El Toro - Missed out
Easily one of my highest bucket list coasters, given its reputation; sadly it feels like El Toro's glory days are firmly behind it. The drop and two airtime hills on the initial run out are still fantastic, but the remainder of the layout (yes, including the rolling thunder hill) was rough and didn't deliver as I hoped. I do think it has the ability to enter my top 25 if RMC did a 208 retrack on it, but my real preference would be to see it turned into an RMC hypercoaster monster... one can dream.
Movement
There was not much movement overall in my list, with some losing spaces as new coasters were added, and I had solid rerides on existing creds. The big loser was Velocicoaster. My first rides on Velocicoaster were before riding the likes of Pantheon, Toutatis & Kondaa. Going back on VC after those rides made me realise that it sits on the tamer end of the big new Intamin's. Whilst still a great ride, it didn't have the same wow factor I remember the first time around.
Also, moving up from being previously "unplaced," Black Mamba secured its place as my favourite invert after I rode it again a couple of weeks ago. I love how enclosed it feels in those trenches and it made me miss how angry B&M used to be.
Waving goodbye to
Dropping out of my top 25 is Expedition GeForce, OzIris, Silver Star and Griffon. All great rides and maybe they'll earn their place in the list again some day, but I have a feeling as my cred count goes up, they'll grow further and further from shore.
So that's my current top 25. I've already got flights booked to some bucket list parks for later this year, so I think by next April, it could look dramatically different! Thanks for indulging me!