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Coaster Layout knowledge

spicy

spicy

Giga Poster
Thought this may make for an interesting topic that I don’t think has been discussed before.

Do you enjoy a coaster more when you don’t know its layout?

Or do you actively avoid watching a POV to keep it a surprise?

I say this as I just rode Flying Aces recently and I realised when riding I didn’t know its layout.

Which is super rare for me as i’ve normally watched a POV or followed its construction to a certain extent so I know the layout pretty much and am expecting the next element whilst riding.

This time I didn’t know what was coming and I think it really added to the experience and enjoyment factor.

So yeah when riding something new do you ever avoid looking at the layout to experience the coaster as a complete surprise?
 
I do my utmost to avoid knowledge of indoor rides, especially coasters. With the rise in trick tracks and such I think it's crucial to be able to properly experience them.

Other rides is a mix. With many rides, you can obviously see (at least part of) the ride's layout, watch it when in the queue, etc. So there's less harm in seeing a POV, because you can piece things together.

These days, I watch POVs less and less anyways. And regardless of the situation of the ride, I'd avoid watching a POV in the build up to riding a new-to-me ride.

I do think it's nicer to not know the layout beforehand, but at the same time, I enjoy watching ride's being constructed, seeing plans/concept art and how it all comes to life. So it's a bit of a give and take.

To answer your first question though, knowing the layout beforehand doesn't necessarily affect my enjoyment of a ride. For example, I could probably have walked round Hyperia's construction site and place the entire layout. Equally, I had zero knowledge of Phoenix at Knoebel's layout, but I rate both of them very closely.
 
Always watch a POV.
I find that going into a coaster without watching a POV ends up being too overwhelming of an experience for me, and almost takes away from it too. Not knowing which way I'm going next can almost take away from a ride, and this was especially prevalent on Lynet at Fårup Sommerland where the mystery of what's happening next caused me to enjoy the ride significantly less as I didn't know what was happening next (and couldn't brace for it as a result).

I do the same things for indoor coasters, where I'd like to know the layout beforehand. I enjoy the ride more when I know what's coming up.
 
I love the thrill of discovery, most of all. So, I don’t watch a POV video right before I ride (except maybe at the opening of the ride). But I also find that I enjoy a roller coaster even more once I know the layout. The fun part is riding a few times to figure out if there’s a cool airtime hill or a transition that’s way better than it looks. It’s all part of the adventure!

I’m also realizing how quickly this moment is passing, as coaster counts increase and new-spoil roller coasters decrease. 😅
 
I prefer to know the layout, as I don't really like surprises. Whether it's a coaster, film, dark ride or anything else, I usually prefer it the 2nd time around - as long as I like it in the first place. Of course, there's always a first ride, but I find it more enjoyable after I've learned the template.
 
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It depends on the ride type for me.

With anything indoors (dark rides or enclosed coasters), I’ve decided not to spoil it for myself. I find that dark rides rely more on the element of surprise and are more effective if you don’t know what’s coming, so I increasingly try and lean into that spirit.

But with outdoor coasters, I find that watching a POV doesn’t really make any difference to my enjoyment. I don’t necessarily compulsively watch POVs of a park’s coasters before I visit anymore like I might have done once, but if the opportunity to watch a POV arises (for instance, if I’m following a coaster’s build), I don’t stop myself from watching it and I don’t find that watching the POV impacts my enjoyment when I eventually ride.

With all that being said, I do somewhat agree with @Graeme in thinking that I often prefer some things on the second ride. I’ve found in recent years that with heavily hyped up coasters (e.g. VelociCoaster and Iron Gwazi on my Florida trip last year, Hyperia and Shambhala this year) in particular, I increasingly can’t get the full measure of them from only one ride and quite often need to go back around for a second go after the hype feelings have worn off and I’m somewhat familiar with what the ride is actually like rather than weighed down by high expectation. This isn’t always the case, but I’ve found it to be the case much more often in recent years than it used to be, for some reason.
 
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I used to always be about POV's (and old school animations) but I found it kinda ruin the fun of it so now I try and avoid POV's of rides I know for sure I'm gonna ride that year. Like, part of me wants to see a EU Stardust POV but since it's down the street I feel like I should wait, even though I've seen 1,000 aerial photos of it already 🤦‍♂️
 
For the most part, I study specific "highlight" elements on a ride, but block out the filler track until I'm at the park or on the ride

For Example: on Iron Gwazi I knew about the first drop, outer bank, death roll, wave turn, and stall but didn't fully remember the overbank or random airtime pops that make up the rest of the Ride

This really helps me hype good rides up (usually rides with elements similar to those of other coasters I enjoy) and be more pleasantly surprised when rides lacking standout elements turn out to be fun. Newer coasters that have been built since I became an enthusiast usually can't sneak past me anymore, same goes for some rides that we all obviously know the layouts to almost like they are burned into our brains the moment we realize we are enthusiasts (think X2, Skyrush, Iron Gwazi, Etc)
 
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