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Last Cred Review

tbarnesarc

Roller Poster
Superman: Escape from Krypton about a week ago. Not sure if that counts as a new cred or not since I rode it as Superman The Escape years back when the launch was forward facing. The backwards launch was kinda meh for some reason. I remember enjoying the original iteration more due to falling backwards from the tower. Maybe I'm in the minority though. On to Knotts next to re-up my creds in the near future.
 

Snoo

The Legend
Superman: Escape from Krypton about a week ago. Not sure if that counts as a new cred or not since I rode it as Superman The Escape years back when the launch was forward facing. The backwards launch was kinda meh for some reason. I remember enjoying the original iteration more due to falling backwards from the tower. Maybe I'm in the minority though. On to Knotts next to re-up my creds in the near future.

I've always thought forward launches just FEEL better because it just throws you into your seat while backwards feels the opposite of course. You feel this moreso on Impulse coasters then anything else.
 

tbarnesarc

Roller Poster
That makes sense. A forward launch is more natural feeling. Haven't done an Impulse yet but hopefully soon. Definitely looking forward to heading to Knotts for nostalgic reasons. Once I ride HangTime and Xcelerator I'll have ridden all three coasters in each of those locations. Pretty stoked on that.
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat
Last new-to-me cred I rode (that I haven't already mentioned in its own thread) was V2: Vertical Velocity at SFGAm.
It was alright.
It was a new ride type for me so it had a certain novelty value, first launch is really quite startling, the next 3 or 4 are more like shoves rather than launches but they're still fun. Capacity isn't great so the line moves pretty slow, but it's worth a reasonable wait. I'd give it 6/10.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
Last new-to-me cred I rode (that I haven't already mentioned in its own thread) was V2: Vertical Velocity at SFGAm.
It was alright.
It was a new ride type for me so it had a certain novelty value, first launch is really quite startling, the next 3 or 4 are more like shoves rather than launches but they're still fun. Capacity isn't great so the line moves pretty slow, but it's worth a reasonable wait. I'd give it 6/10.
Good review knobchops. Are you sure you wrote this? There's no weirdness at all...
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
Last new cred, this bad boy at Palace Playland: rcdb.com

So Sea Viper is more or less a glorified +1. That being said it had some alright laterals and the helix at the end was okay. The seats weren't too comfortable but the ride was pretty smooth so it wasn't too offensive. I'd give it a 5/10.

And my latest cred that's actually worth discussing was Excalibur at Funtown Splashtown. I rode it a total of three time, was a bit of a mixed bag. The front row was smooth for a woodie but overall wasn't too exciting. Towards the back was a different story. The first drop back there had some unexpected ejector and had some decent airtime throughout the rest of the layout. That being said it can be very rough when sitting in a second row of a car to the point where it kind of ruins it. I think my second ride was the best as I sat second to the last row, as it was decently smooth and had the airtime there. It's a 6/10 because of the inconsistent rides, really depends on where you sit.
 

Smithy

Strata Poster
Perfect timing because I cba for a full trip report and it isn't going in my top 10.

Red Force

Won't lie, I was extremely nervous on the walk up to the park, and moreso when actually hearing the thing launch. I've never really been too keen on accelerators, and although this was a more gradual launch, Rita/Stealth/Baco all rank quite low for me. When we eventually got through the nice-but-sparse Ferrari Land and onto the ride, we lucked out and managed to sneak onto the front row, which meant we got to wear the sexy Pigeon deflecting goggles.

I love that there's no delay, no anticipation, you just roll straight into the launch. It just absolutely tears down the track and keeps picking up speed. The crest at the top gives an amazing view, and the little bunny hop at the end was fun. We both got off of it laughing, out of breath and just stunned at the sheer force of it.

At that stage, it was probably sneaking into my top 10 ahead of the likes of Black Mamba, Swarm etc.. but still below Balder/Helix/Taron/Shambhala.

But then we rode it a few hours later. In the very back row. And then it felt as if it had square wheels. By the end of the launch the train was literally crashing side to side to the point our heads were banging off the chairs repeatedly. Likewise on the return, it was juddering really badly to the point we didn't want to ride it again, despite the lack of a queue. Not sure if it was a poor train, being sat at the back or that it had simply warmed up throughout the day but it rode lie utter trash.

On the whole, meh. A stunning experience in the front if you get a smooth ride, but for the signature ride in what is set up to be a separate park it really could be so much better.
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
Yeah, it's totally crap in the back row. It's just hilariously ****, I don't know what they got wrong!
 

Smithy

Strata Poster
Somewhat glad to hear I'm not alone in experiencing a ****show of a back row ride.

We did, in between Red Force. I somehow feel that describing it as a Junior Red Force is somewhat of a cop-out; there's a distinct lack of middle ground between being ready to ride that and being ready to ride Red Force.

Ah **** it I'm sure I'll find time for a trip report at some point.
 

CookieCoasters

Giga Poster
Hyperion

Rode it 12 times these past two days and bloody hell, it’s amazing! First thing on a morning, it’s mainly the first few elements that really standout, but when it’s warmed up, this beast gets really aggressive and performs strongly throughout the entire layout. By the time you’ve reached the final hour of the day it’s insanely good.

The first drop is one of the best ever; it’s massive and it’s one of those that keeps getting steeper until about half-way down, so the sensation of airtime is magnifique, especially with the new stellar Intamin restraints. The following hill is even better though. Maybe the best hill of all airtime hill I’ve done? It’s certainly a contender. The speed you go over it and the amount of force you’re ejected up with is quite ridiculous, just WOW. The next climb-and-dive element is a great mixture of airtime followed by a snappy turn and forceful drop (I should mention the ride is pretty high on the positive Gs as well as the negative). The rest of the ride isn’t quite top 5 kind-of calibre for me, but it’s still excellent. You have two fast, low-to-ground stengel dives which deliver a pretty forceful snap, along with a solid floater hill (which definitely reaches ‘flojector’ by the end of the day). My favourite parts of the second half are probably the very forceful turn after the second dive and the final hill, which gives fantastic airtime before you speed into brakes.

It’s hard to mention every part of the ride that is fab, but yeah, it basically all is. Very impressed and totally HYPE-worthy. Plus, I made it my 500th European cred which is pretty special <3. I guess there were a few minor niggles: yes, they should’ve gone with an extra ejector hill rather than the floater one as it would suit the ride better; the speed hills are too small to be very noticeable, though the second one definitely gave a more satisfying pop towards the end of the day, and maybe they could’ve made a better second half? But that’s sort of a lazy criticism, as it’s really good and you could always say ‘it could be better’, I’m just wondering if it might not be to everyone’s tastes.

The ride does vibrate more than expected, especially in the back edge seats, but I actually thought that lended itself quite well to the aggressive feel of certain elements; certainly helped reduce any clinical feeling. But if you want a completely smooth ride, stick with the raised inside seats as I didn’t notice any rattle/vibration on them.

And Hyperion nabs a very strong #10 in my rankings :D
 
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Zek_Teh_Kek

Hyper Poster
Honestly, I never saw the hype that Hyperion was getting. The first few layouts looked amazing (Vekoma </3), but by the time it got to the final layout, it just looked like it had too short of a layout, and honestly the layout never interested me. It was never a coaster that I just had to get on ASAP. Does it look like a good ride, yes! I can see why coaster enthusiasts are praising it and criticizing it for their reasons; it just doesn't look like something worthy enough to travel across the Atlantic Ocean for. But to each his own, I guess!
 

Snoo

The Legend
Good to hear somebody else loved it! I'm a little mystified about some of the lukewarm reviews that it has been getting.

Honestly, I never saw the hype that Hyperion was getting. The first few layouts looked amazing (Vekoma </3), but by the time it got to the final layout, it just looked like it had too short of a layout, and honestly the layout never interested me. It was never a coaster that I just had to get on ASAP. Does it look like a good ride, yes! I can see why coaster enthusiasts are praising it and criticizing it for their reasons; it just doesn't look like something worthy enough to travel across the Atlantic Ocean for. But to each his own, I guess!

What Zek said Peet tbh. It didn't look to REALLY blow you away but looked solid. I think some folks were thinking world beats while others were saying it wasn't.

I think all things are relative to be honest as well. It's like saying a ride is a middle tier RMC.. it's still a top 20 ride, just not my #1.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
Wickerman
The fact It's taken me this long to get the cred shows how excited I was for it, but I finally got my ass up to Alton on Friday with @Howie
We rode it twice, once at the front of the train around 1pm and once in the 2nd to last row around half 4.
I loved the pre-show, really great stuff! But AT need to batch better, there are times when the train isn't full because they've delayed the pre-show for whatever reason. Currently they are running 3 trains, which is fantastic! I honesty expected 1 or 2 train operations on a off peak Friday.
The cred itself was much better at the back at the end of the day, felt much faster, better airtime, fire effects were working.
Not a fan of the mist smoke effect as the water does feel like going through a waterfall at times, and you can see it dripping onto the track, goodness knows what damage it's doing.
The under pre-show building part of the ride needs to have something done to it, the small led lights aren't cutting the mustard.
It's a good addition, just what the park needed, maybe the 2nd best ride at the park, not certain, but it's nowhere near my fave GCI.
 

Peet

Giga Poster
Python
Trigger's roller coaster, ie Python at Efteling, has had 4 different sets of trains and 2 different tracks; I won't turn this into a debate about whether or not it is still the same cred but for what it's worth I would say yes it is. I didn't think I'd have much to say about a standard Vekoma double loop corkscrew but actually I do!

Firstly the reservation-only queuing system worked surprisingly well - at around 14:10 I used the app to request a slot, and it gave me a slot of 14:00-14:15! So I was straight into the 10 minute queue. Operations were of course super slick.

The lift hill is incredibly slow, but the ride itself is enjoyable and very smooth; the retracking has clearly paid off. I really enjoy a proper double corkscrew, we don't have any left in the UK as the double corkscrews on Colossus and Shockwave feel like 2 separate elements rather than a continuous double corkscrew.

The main thing that surprised me about this coaster is how photogenic it is! This is mostly down to the fact that you can walk right under it and there are numerous great vantage points. The blue sky helped too!
20180930_175232.jpg 20180930_170447.jpg


It is a little surprising that Efteling have kept this ride but not decided to give it a theme, it's sort of a roller coaster themed roller coaster, somehow it kind of works.

Anyway, in summary, a fun cred, probably the smoothest 1st Gen Vekoma I've ridden, and a successful retracking that will keep it running for many years to come.
 

vaugc002

Mega Poster
Python
Anyway, in summary, a fun cred, probably the smoothest 1st Gen Vekoma I've ridden, and a successful retracking that will keep it running for many years to come.

Yeah when I rode earlier this year I was really impressed how smooth it was, even in the back row.
These layouts are a little bland nowadays, but I certainly found it a nice addition to Efteling's line-up.
 
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