Coasters that carry their park’s coaster lineup

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Often when visiting a park, there are certain rides that will stand out to you as being more enjoyable than others. But sometimes, there might be a case where you ride one coaster a park that stands tall above the rest. This one coaster outweighs the rest of the park’s coasters by a considerable margin, and your day would feel less fulfilling if you were unable to ride this one coaster. So my question to you today is; in your view, what coasters are so superior to the rest of their respective park’s coaster lineup that they almost single-handedly carry it? Have you ever ridden a coaster that drastically outweighs the rest of its respective park’s lineup in quality?

I’ll get the ball rolling with an answer of my own.

Perhaps controversially, a personal answer of mine would be Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Now I am not saying that Blackpool has a poor coaster lineup by any means, but when considering my own taste in rides, Icon simply appeals to that taste a lot more than the rest of the park’s coasters do. Icon presently sits at my #4 spot among the 91 coasters I’ve ridden, is rated a 10/10 in my rating system, and is a truly outstanding ride in my view. The next highest ranked coaster at BPB for me is Avalanche, which sits at #29 and is rated a 7/10. It’s a fun ride, but not something I rate exceptionally highly. Icon is the only coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach to make my top 10% (#9 and above), the only coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach to make my top 25% (#22 and above), and one of only 3 coasters at Blackpool Pleasure Beach to make my top 50% (#45 and above), with the other two being Avalanche at #29 and Nickelodeon Streak at #45. With that in mind, I’d certainly argue that Icon carries Blackpool’s coaster lineup for me.

I can’t think of any other rides that would meet this particular criterion for me. To my knowledge, most of the other parks I’ve visited with a coaster in my top 10% have at least one other that makes at least the top 25%.

But have you ridden any coasters that carry their park’s coaster lineup, in your view?

 

[rob666]

Even though it gives a very rough ride, I would personally say the Big One carries the Beach.
It doesn't only stand tall around the other rides literally, it still does it figuratively as well.
People still don't know about Icon.

 

[Sandman]

Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park
Shambhala at Port Aventura
Zadra and/or Hyperion at Energylandia
Lech Coaster at Legendia

 

[James F]

Kondaa at Walibi Belgium
Ride to Happiness at Plopaland de Panne
Fury 325 at Carowinds
&
Most Chinese parks with Gravity Group wooden or Intamin Launch coasters

 

[Indy]

Limiting my list to parks that have at least 5 coasters:

• Monster – Adventureland
• Comet – Great Escape
• Cannibal – Lagoon
• Boulder Dash – Lake Compounce
• Fury – Bobbejaanland
• Ride to Happiness – Plopsaland de Panne
• Kondaa - Walibi Belgium

And though I can't entirely vouch for it, I'd say DC Rivals Hypercoaster at Warner Brothers Movie World as I experienced first-hand the feeling of missing out on it due to closure.

 

[Jamesss]

Helix at Liseberg.

The park is pleasant enough but for me Helix is the only notably good ride there.

 

[JoshC.]

Couple which spring to mind...

-Lech Coaster, Legendia. Pretty self explanatory I think.
-Karnan, Hansa Park. Probably a bit more controversial, but I don't really rate Novgorod or Nessie. Schlange is a nice low level family coaster. But really Karnan carries the line up.

 

[CoasterMOG]

Taiga Liannenmaki Nothing comes close in terms of a having a single coaster that completely overshadows the rest of a parks lineup

Others:
Renegade Valley Fair
Prowler WOF
Storm Chaser Kentucky Kingdom (Lightning run is great, but nobody places it consistently in their top 25 like Storm Chaser)
Dynamite Freizeitpark Plohn
T Express Everland
Flying Dinosaur Universal Japan
Anaconda Gold Reef City

 

[Bathtub Gin]

Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure was my first thought. Monster at Adventureland was another.

I've got to disagree with Fury 325 "carrying" Carowinds. Every park has a most popular coaster. There is some fluff in their collection of coasters, but there is also an excellent B&M Inverted coaster, a solid B&M Hyper, shiny and popular Mack launcher...

 

[Rob Coasters]

For rides where my favourite sits significantly higher than my second favourite:

-Tayto/Emerald Park (Cú Chulainn)

-Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (Roller Coaster, but the now-defunct Log Flume was a close second)

-Pleasurewood Hills (Cannonball Express)

-Legoland Windsor (Flight of the Sky Lion)

 

[cookie]

When I think of rides that carry their entire park's lineup, my mind immediately goes to this slaptastic pair in an otherwise slog of a park:

 

[Hutch]

Fønix at Fårup Sommerland.

There're some solid supporting creds in the rest of the lineup, but without Fønix the next best ride is the suspended family coaster.

 

[witchfinder]

Some people might not like this but I'm going to say Nemesis. Top 10 for me and thereabouts for the majority of goons I would wager, but the next best cred at the park for me is Rita which is way, way down the list. After that you have a reasonably good woodie, an overly rough multi-looper, two lackluster prototypes and some fairly bland family coasters. I will happily ride most of Alton's line-up but everything pales in comparison to Nemmy, and for that reason I doubt I'll even visit the park this year, unless it's to see version 2 under construction

 

[Hutch]

Some people might not like this but I'm going to say Nemesis. Top 10 for me and thereabouts for the majority of goons I would wager, but the next best cred at the park for me is Rita which is way, way down the list. After that you have a reasonably good woodie, an overly rough multi-looper, two lackluster prototypes and some fairly bland family coasters. I will happily ride most of Alton's line-up but everything pales in comparison to Nemmy, and for that reason I doubt I'll even visit the park this year, unless it's to see version 2 under construction

Yeah I was gonna mention Nemesis but forgot about it. This year is a great example of how big a hole it'll leave the park. There's solid stuff for sure, but even collectively the lineup isn't a big draw without her.