Your Least Common Opinion?

[Will]

^I'll have done two of those by the end of the year, and I'm hoping to get the others next year, but what I do know is...

You're right about Maverick. Very disappointing and had guillotine restraints. I interrupted my happy time lapping Rougarou to go and get the credit as well.

I've just watched a video of Pantheon and it looks underwhelming.

 

[EmmaUK]

Ok let's do a bit of Intamin bashing:
Maverick is pants. I don't get why so many rate it so highly. Trains and restraints are bad. The stop/start launch ruins the flow. Capacity isn't great - it always has a long line - but the absolute worst thing of all? It launches you straight into a trim brake! Just let that phrase sink in - it launches you into a trim brake!! What is the f***ing point of that? Unforgivable.

Skyrush is pants. I'm not a wuss, it's not that I found it painful or too intense or anything, it's just... pants. If anything, I found it not intense enough. It's short, it's a bit rough and it's completely forgettable.

I305 is pants. Again, it's not that I found it too intense or forceful - I didn't get any hint of a grey-out - it just didn't do anything for me. And despite it's size, it too feels short, pointless and forgettable. Honestly, I preferred Volcano: The Blast Coaster (RIP) to I305.

Pantheon is pants. It's short, gimmicky, disjointed and poorly presented. Not a patch on the B&M's at the same park. It's pants. It's Panteon.

Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Intamin, they've built some of the world's most impressive rides, it's just that according to you lot, I like the wrong ones. Even VelociCoaster didn't really blow me away that much. Nah, Kingda Ka and El Toro are the two greatest Intamins on the planet if you ask me - can't beat 'em - but I also have a lot of love for Taron, Kondaa, Hyperion, Hagrid's etc..
Those I've mentioned above though? All pants.

Kind of linking into this one - unpopular opinion - the new restraints on Skyrush ruined it. Don't get me wrong, the old ones were awful and painful but at least you could ride it and say "if this had better restraints it would be awesome". Now, with better restraints there is no excuse and its just .... meh

 

[Matt N]

I have a couple of possibly unpopular opinions following my recent visit to Spain, where I visited PortAventura for the first time:

• PortAventura’s operations, queues and Express Pass usage are really not that bad, on the whole - I’d hesitate to call the park’s operations fast or exceptional by any stretch of the imagination, but I’d also hesitate to call them absolutely abysmal like I was led to believe they might be. Based on my experience there, I didn’t find the operations as atrociously terrible as I was led to believe they might be; Shambhala tended to run 2 trains and do about 800pph, Khan tended to run 2 trains and do about 700-800pph, Baco ran 2 trains and did about 700pph when I timed for an extended period, Stampida ran 2 trains per side and got a combined 1,200-1,300pph… I’ve seen far worse than this! This could be in part due to the fact I visited in early September, but a major Catalonian bank holiday (listed as a “very high” influx day on PortAventura’s website) fell during my visit, and in terms of queues and Express Pass usage, I found the park no worse than a UK Merlin park on an average to busy day. The longest I waited all trip was 60 minutes for Shambhala on the first day, and unlike our Merlin parks back home, I found it relatively easy to find major-ish attractions on short queues. Stampida didn’t go above 20 minutes all trip, and neither did Tomahawk, El Diablo, Street Mission or any of the water rides, to name just a few examples. Express Pass definitely existed, but usage and allocation did not appear to be excessive compared to other parks I’ve visited, and I should also add that single rider queues were effectively operated where present and batchers were overall pretty good at filling trains.
• I prefer Stealth to Red Force - Despite the latter’s vastly increased speed and height, I found myself marginally giving the nod to Stealth over Red Force. Red Force, I found, had a slightly odd rattle on the launch even in row 2 that Stealth doesn’t, but the main reason I found myself preferring Stealth is that I think this ride style does fractionally miss something without the hydraulic launch. Red Force is an absolutely excellent coaster and still provides speed and airtime in droves, but there’s something about that hydraulic launch on Stealth that Red Force doesn’t quite match for me.
• I found Stampida marginally more uncomfortable than Furius Baco - Personally, I found Stampida a little less comfortable than Furius Baco. Both sides are pretty rough in places (albeit not quite the roughest woodies I’ve ever ridden), and with the trains also pinning you into your seat and providing no padding, I thought it made for a rather uncomfortable experience. Baco, on the other hand… while it’s by no means a comfortable experience, and still a bit too rough for my own liking, I did not find it quite as bad as I was expecting and would say that it was not rough enough to fit that “worst coaster ever” mold for me like it does for some. I admittedly sat in the relatively unremarkable row 4 inner seat both times I did it, however…

 

[emoo]

I had a great fast-pass-less day at Port Aventura back in May but assumed it was a fluke. Would have been an even better way with the pass but was able to save on a tight budget. Maybe they have started to turn things around but I'll want to see more reports confirming improvements. Also Halloween could be the true test.

For the other rides it could depend on what row or seat you were in for each ride.

Overall these may no longer be that uncommon even if it was the status quo in the past.

 

[DelPiero]

Ok let's do a bit of Intamin bashing:
Maverick is pants. I don't get why so many rate it so highly. Trains and restraints are bad. The stop/start launch ruins the flow. Capacity isn't great - it always has a long line - but the absolute worst thing of all? It launches you straight into a trim brake! Just let that phrase sink in - it launches you into a trim brake!! What is the f***ing point of that? Unforgivable.

Skyrush is pants. I'm not a wuss, it's not that I found it painful or too intense or anything, it's just... pants. If anything, I found it not intense enough. It's short, it's a bit rough and it's completely forgettable.

I305 is pants. Again, it's not that I found it too intense or forceful - I didn't get any hint of a grey-out - it just didn't do anything for me. And despite it's size, it too feels short, pointless and forgettable. Honestly, I preferred Volcano: The Blast Coaster (RIP) to I305.

Pantheon is pants. It's short, gimmicky, disjointed and poorly presented. Not a patch on the B&M's at the same park. It's pants. It's Panteon.

Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Intamin, they've built some of the world's most impressive rides, it's just that according to you lot, I like the wrong ones. Even VelociCoaster didn't really blow me away that much. Nah, Kingda Ka and El Toro are the two greatest Intamins on the planet if you ask me - can't beat 'em - but I also have a lot of love for Taron, Kondaa, Hyperion, Hagrid's etc..
Those I've mentioned above though? All pants.

I can forgive the Maverick and Skyrush bashing, as I've ridden them recently enough to know they aren't quite what they were, Maverick has simply been overtaken by better rides and Hershey/Intamin have totally ****ed up the restraints meaning it's running a lot slower (and rougher) then my previous 2 visits.
I305 isn't as bad as you make out, I enjoyed a lot of it.

However, the blasphemy on Pantheon here is ridiculous. Each element from the tophat to the brakes is exceptionally done. Yeah the first half is crap in comparison to Toutatis, but I'd rather ride Pantheon than any of the other recently built launchers.

 

[Howie]

I305 isn't as bad as you make out,

S'alright. Nowt special. I'd give it 7/10.

However, the blasphemy on Pantheon here is ridiculous.

I'm exaggerating slightly for comic effect. Funniest member, see.

Each element from the tophat to the brakes is exceptionally done.

S'alright, I guess. 7 out of 10, no more.

 

[DJ Tripper]

I can't stand all this talk about immersive areas. I mean I get that it looks like the Wild West or Arendelle or Hogwarts or whatever but immersive? Doesn't the mere presence of all the guests immediately stop it being immersive? I don't remember any fat guys in Hawaiian shirts bumping into Elsa in Frozen. I have nothing against themed areas but it's all the hyperbole about them being immersive that turns me off.

 

[FogZog]

I can't stand all this talk about immersive areas. I mean I get that it looks like the Wild West or Arendelle or Hogwarts or whatever but immersive? Doesn't the mere presence of all the guests immediately stop it being immersive? I don't remember any fat guys in Hawaiian shirts bumping into Elsa in Frozen. I have nothing against themed areas but it's all the hyperbole about them being immersive that turns me off.

If you remove the guest, you remove yourself. Nothing can be totally immersive. It's just a cool buzz word that works for most people.

 

[Hyde]

I can't stand all this talk about immersive areas. I mean I get that it looks like the Wild West or Arendelle or Hogwarts or whatever but immersive? Doesn't the mere presence of all the guests immediately stop it being immersive? I don't remember any fat guys in Hawaiian shirts bumping into Elsa in Frozen. I have nothing against themed areas but it's all the hyperbole about them being immersive that turns me off.

To delve deeper to this great point - I think we all like the idea of immersive spaces, but it quickly evaporates (as you rightly put) when you have so many guests within the space. I had a moment in 2022 (https://coasterforce.com/forums/thr...than-velocicoaster-april-1-trip-report.45511/) where I got to experience Hogwarts at peak crowd middle day, and right at park close (coming off of Velocicoaster for a final ride) with a completely dead Hogsmead. That brief moment, having the entire Hogsmead causeway to myself looking towards Hogwarts, was absolutely phenomenal - but again, one void of crowd.

Rise of the Resistance does immersion very well, too, in the middle of the ride as you are taken captive aboard a Star Destroyer - but again, only because it's tight control of a crowd of 10-20 people that fit the scene.

This is also why I'm not surprised that new spaces (e.g., Epic Universe) are focused on "immersive spaces" that incorporate the crowd, such as the Paris section for the new Harry Potter. It's ways to make the crowd apart of the immersion, rather than something that would honestly be void of hoards of people.

To your Maverick takes @Howie, is that with the original restraints or updated, soft material restraints? I had a rude reminder to the original Intamin OTSR restraints riding Cheetah Hunt last week.