Edward M
Strata Poster
Can't believe I forgot to update this?!? Rode Jersey Devil a few weeks ago, and, while it needed some time to warm up, that first half ended up riding viciously after an hour of operation. Lovely, lovely stuff.
- Lightning Rod- Still not confident in putting this above SteVe, but I did so for a variety of reasons. One is that my memories associated with LRod are still among my favorite I've had at a park. Those ERT night rides just a few days after opening where that coaster was hauling WAY too fast. Bragging rights I have not attained before or since. Then, there's the layout. As great as SteVe's maximalist approach to airtime is, I have some major gripes with it. The biggest of which is how unmemorable the elements of its second half are. Don't get me wrong: the second half of SteVe is probably the greatest stretch of coaster track out there. But, for me, I prefer a layout with distinctive elements and moments. The way SteVe handles itself is to get lost in its structure, getting airtime whenever and however it can. I like how LRod is so simple in its approach. You can list off its elements by hand: launch, first drop, wave turn, outward high five kinda wave turn, airtime hill, quad down, turnaround. Lastly, and simultaneously the most surface level and personal, is the park it's in. I just want my favorite coaster to be in a park that is quintessentially southern. After 5 years in NYC, I've come around to my love of the southern USA, flaws and all. And I just love the prospect of my favorite coaster being in this park that is all about that part of the country. Not only that but also in a park named after the queen herself: Dolly Parton.
- Steel Vengeance- Still though, SteVe is the best coaster I've ridden. I may not prefer the maximalist approach in general with coaster layouts, but SteVe takes maximalism to such an extreme that it becomes a category of coaster unto itself. There really are two types of coasters: Steel Vengeance and everything else.
- Helix- People who don't think Helix is one of the best coasters on the planet are CRAZY. What more could you ask for?!? It's got the most fully realized layout of any coaster. Floater airtime, ejector airtime, lateral airtime, hangtime, launches, and terrain hugging positive Gs all over the place. Then, you've got one of the greatest settings for a coaster on a hillside in the downtown of a Swedish city. THEN, you've got the best trains on any coaster. What other coaster train could I fall asleep in? THENNNN, you've got the sheer length of it. Providing 7 inversions, two launches, and about as large a variety of forces that you can ask for. Even as I'm typing this out, I'm wondering how on earth this isn't my favorite coaster.
- Outlaw Run- This was the coaster that I grew up with. I visited every year during my most formative coastering years, 2013-2017. I haven't ridden it since, but my memories of it are as strong as ever. Even among RMC's topper track offerings, Outlaw feels distinctly wooden. I think ElToroRyan said it best when he talked about how the steel wheels and the track create this riding sensation that's to die for. It just tears through the woods with element after element of iconic RMC airtime. Then, there's how the ride felt in its opening year. It's hard to understand how unique this coaster felt at the time. Sure, we had amazing coasters like El Toro and the Voyage to define just how far wooden coasters could go. But, Outlaw Run was truly the next generation of wooden coaster. It had the flexibility of a steel coaster with the distinct feel of a wood coaster.
- El Toro- The biggest jump of any coaster I've ridden. It is my home coaster, more or less. And, I've ridden it more than any other coaster. I would like to argue, here and now, that El Toro is the best paced coaster I've ridden. From a sheer storytelling standpoint, it's flawless. A fast chain lift into a slow turnaround creates a perfect sense of anticipation. Then the unreal first drop, where it feels like level ground you're sitting on is being pulled out from under your feet. Two perfectly placed airtime hills with intense ejector that lasts just long enough. The coaster turns around with a distinctive wood coaster crunch in its valley. Next is the most important part of the ride: the quick break. I've heard criticism of the airtimeless hill between the turnaround and rolling thunder hill, and I used to be a part of that criticism. However, after 40+ rides, I think it's vital to making the ride feel substantial. Much like how a third act only feels climactic because of the lull at the end of the second act. It is a quick breather before the best part of the ride. You might think I'm speaking of the rolling thunder hill, which is a part of the highlight of the ride. However, my favorite moment on the ride is the twister section. It tears through this section like nobody's business, with strong positive Gs making the track scream out. Every time the coaster hits this section, I'm reminded why this is one of my favorites. It finally finds its way to the brake run, ending one of the most perfectly constructed rides ever built.
- Taron - Taron is one helluva coaster. The way it weaves over and around both itself and the land it dominates is such a pleasure to watch and to ride. Just a shame that it's at such a mediocre park (ducks and hides).
- Skyrush- This coaster feels like a mistake. Like somebody put the wrong numbers into a coaster designing program. From its lethal quirk on the first drop to its "who in their right mind would put this airtime hill so low" first two airtime hills to its far too aggressive banking changes to its restraints that are designed for the ultimate sense of freedom and ultimate sense of pain, it just feels like a science experiment gone wrong. A science experiment that cost $25 million and is now a staple of one of the most popular parks in the country. Who let this happen?
- Voyage- The best coaster layout. Never before or since has there been such a clever use of terrain on a coaster. Climbing up a hill only to fall back down it, which ends up with a coaster over a mile long that somehow feels faster hitting the brakes than it did after the first drop. I'm dying to get back on this one. It has absolutely everything I love about a coaster, and it should be higher up. However, I last rode it in 2016. And it was absolutely brutal. Among the roughest coasters I've ever ridden. I hear nothing but immense praise for how it's been riding after 2020, and I could easily see this shooting up the list once I can reride. Lastly, I cannot express in words how lethal a moonless night ride on this is. Riders be warned... it's a lot.
- X2- The highest placed coaster I've only ridden once. And what a ride it was!! Front row during the sunset with no idea just what I was in for. Still, I have so much trouble placing any coaster I've only ridden once. It remains one of the best single coaster rides I've had, but the flaws in its experience were apparent even in that one go. It starts and ends as well as a coaster can, but it has a very laggy middle as it quite literally shuffles its way to the second raven turn. Really need to get back on this.
- Phoenix- Went on a rant just a few pages back. Needless to say Phoenix SLAPS.
- Beast- Far and away the toughest coaster to rank. I haven't ridden this since my two rides in 2012 as a young and starry eyed enthusiast. However, it blew me away, and I still hold immense respect for it. It can be hard to understand just how revolutionary this coaster was. Built with the same mindset as a backyard coaster, it's one of the most impressively crafted ride experiences in the world. Sure, it may not have any airtime and can seem like a series of straight track. But, that, to me, seems like such a wasteful way to view an experience like this. There's no other coaster that seems to defy what a coaster should be. It plays by its own rules, completely outside what enthusiasts would consider a good ride. Its emphasis is on being a singular experience; a true beast of a ride. Going out miles into the middle of nowhere. Going out so far that it needs a second lift to even make it back. I still think of the Beast as the avant garde coaster. It breaks nearly every rule of coaster storytelling in an effort to create something completely new, and I think it fully succeeds. What other coaster reaches its top speed at an unknown moment; either after its second drop, before its second lift, or right before its climactic double helix. There has never been a coaster like the Beast before or since. It may not be a coaster enthusiast's definition of a great coaster, but I think that makes it all the more unique and worthwhile. I don't think every coaster needs to be an airtime machine or chock full of laterals. Some can simply be so fully themselves that they are their own genre of coaster. The Beast is the Beast, and no other coaster can make such a bold claim.
- Fury 325- I got a handful of rides on Fury in 2016, but it was such a rushed visit. I didn't get to know the coaster like I wish I could've. Still, the quality of the ride is extremely apparent. With an emphasis on trying to help the rider understand just how fast they're going, it's the ultimate realization of what a giga coaster can be. The same low to the ground turns and sense of speed that I305 has, but the GP can actually ride it. It's the opposite of everything I expect from a B&M, and I just love it for that.
- Boulder Dash- Ah Boulder Dash. One of the quintessential wooden coaster experiences. Hopping up and down a mountain for its first half then finishing with a fantastic plethora of airtime hills.
- Wildfire- The most beautiful coaster ever built with one of the best starts to a coaster. It really loses steam in its second half, but I can't help but still love it for its uniqueness.
- Untamed- My big issue with the smaller RMCs is they all bleed into one another. Much like SteVe's second half, it's a lack of distinctive elements in favor of squeezing airtime out of every moment possible. Of these smaller RMCs, Untamed is easily the best, if only for having its own distinctive elements throughout the layout. Still, I do find it a bit unmemorable as a totality. I think I may be spoiled by RMC at this point.
- Jersey Devil Coaster- When Jersey Devil is nice and warmed up, it HAULS. Easily one of the best first drops in the world followed by one of the best inversions in the world with its wondrous dive loop. A shame it loses so much steam in its MCBR and has a very lackluster finale. Still, everything leading into the MCBR is absolutely brilliant.