Well, I've finally done a second one of these... (new in
bold)
- Mako - SeaWorld Orlando (10/10, #1/91)
- Silver Star - Europa Park (10/10, #2/91)
There's not really any point in me doing an elaborate blow-by-blow description of each, because for my money, they are fairly similar rides that I rate quite similarly; as you can see from the rankings and ratings, they are my top 2 coasters, and both sit comfortably in my 10/10 tier of enjoyment. I adore both because they are both so fun and rerideable, with such sublime sustained floater air (these are easily my two favourite coasters for airtime I've yet experienced), as well as such a brilliant sense of speed, such comfort and such a general sense of wow factor and rerideability, which I truly love in a ride!
In terms of what actually separates them; after a good bit of thought and indecision, I decided to put Mako on top because I think its strongest airtime moments, such as its first drop and first big airtime hill, had slightly more impact than any single airtime moment on Silver Star, from memory, and while Silver Star is perfectly smooth, Mako just had this sublime feeling of 100% glass smoothness and complete refinedness that Silver Star couldn't quite match, and that was one thing I loved about it. I know that sounds phenomenally pedantic, but when you have two rides as truly top tier as Mako and Silver Star and it's the top spot being fought for, I'm afraid that pedantry has to be the deciding factor. And pedantry ultimately decided that Mako was still my number 1.
Don't get me wrong, though, Silver Star is still very smooth & comfortable for the most part, and its hills are still pretty damn impactful. One thing I'll give it is that both halves of the ride deliver awesome airtime in their own way; the first half wowed me with its exceptional sustained floater over every hill, while I was equally wowed by the phenomenal ejector pops in the second half! They whip you out of the seat brilliantly, and they're surprisingly sustained!
I really am splitting hairs here, though; they are both absolutely exceptional rides, in my opinion, and anywhere other than #1 and #2 for these 2 simply wouldn't feel right based on how much fun I had on each!
My word, the B&M Hyper is such a sublime ride type... despite concerns that SS might disappoint me and the B&M hyper experience wouldn't be as strong as I'd remembered, it delivered and then some, and all the wonderful memories came flooding back as soon as I was yanked down Silver Star's first drop and had my breath taken away by the phenomenal airtime!
