Great Adventure Outpost
Industry => Industry News => Topic started by: dkny6363 on August 31, 2009, 12:21:55 AM
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1. El Toro
2. Ravine Phlyer 2
3. Phoenix
4. Twister
5. Lightning Racer
Gotta get on voyage, boulderdash, thunderhead, and hades
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1. Voyage
2. Boulder Dash
3. Avalanche (Timber Falls)
4. Big Dipper (Geauga Lake)
5. Ghostrider
Honorable mentions for:
Gwazi
Thunderhead
Phoenix
Shivering Timbers
Ravine Flyer 2
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Only person I know who is really high on Gwazi. Isn't the dipper firewood right now?
PS. Avalanch has been renamed hell cat. All S&S coaster will be called hell cat! ahha
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1. Voyage
2. Boulder Dash
3. El Toro
4. Phoenix
5. Hades
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1. Voyage
2. El toro (GA)
3. the beast
4. Phoenix
5. Gwazi
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Voyage
Thunderhead
Phoenix
Boulder Dash
Cornball
Maybe if I sit right RFII would be on the list. But I got beat up pretty bad.
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1. Ravine Flyer II
2. El Toro
3. Boulder Dash
4. Phoenix
5. Silver Comet
can't think of a # 5 right now so I'm gonna go with Silver Comet at Martin's Fantasy Island
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1. Voyage
2. Boulder Dash
3. Ravine Flyer 2
4. Avalanche (I'm not calling it Hellcat)
5. Hades
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1. Ravine Flyer II
2. El Toro
3. Boulder Dash
4. Phoenix
5. Silver Comet
can't think of a # 5 right now so I'm gonna go with Silver Comet at Martin's Fantasy Island
How is the comet? I live about an hour away but never been on. I'm trying to go this year but I struggle gettting a tag along for one wood coaster and essentially nothing else.
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I'm surprised with how many ppl picked voyage there are no votes for legend or raven. I guess probably cuz if you've been on voyage you've probably been on most great woodies.
The fact that everybody who picked the voyage had it at #1 tells me what I need to know.
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How is the comet? I live about an hour away but never been on. I'm trying to go this year but I struggle gettting a tag along for one wood coaster and essentially nothing else.
Silver Comet is a really good ride. It can throw you around in a few places, but it does what a wooden coaster does. Basically it is a solid ride. I think you should take the hour trip to ride it. Enjoy what the rest of the park has to offer and get the rest of the credits there.
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1.El Toro
2.Lightning Racer
3.Rolling Thunder
4.Great White
5.Wildcat
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Silver Comet rocks! Top tier woodie all the way.
Rob loves Gwazi as much as I do. He just has this thing for Hades that knocks Gwazi out of his top 5. ;)
Big Dipper is sadly sitting idle, but it will be hard to beat. That ride is just crazy good if you like slamming airtime on nearly every hill.
I too refuse to call AvaLAUNCH by its new name.
Voyage pwns all that is coaster. There is no wilder ride from beginning to end (which is about twice as long as most). Raven is still great, but can't hold a candle to the awesome power of Voyage. Legend is good, but never impressed me as much as Raven did.
Wood coasters are supposed to throw you around. That's the point!
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Rob is Frissbeking?
Actually I really want to hit up the comet but I've never been on a CCI and I want boulderdash to be #1.
There just aren't many around Toronto. After the comet, shivering timbers at 6-7 hrs is the next closest. I could have hit up dutch wonderland but it didn't seem worth the $$$.
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^The tunnel alone on that ride is worth the $$$ , haha
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Ever notice most of the coasters are in the east? Except for wisconsins dells rollercoasters and knott's berry farms. That, and a good chunck of them are philadelphia tobbogan coaster's creations or millenium flyer's
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Well the majority of amusement parks are east of the Mississippi. ;)
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This is all the woodies ive been on: Rolling Thunder, El Toro and Wildcat. And California Scream'n if you count that :/
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Scream'n is 100% not a wood coaster LOL
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^The tunnel alone on that ride is worth the $$$ , haha
Sarcastic i'm assuming
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Scream'n is 100% not a wood coaster LOL
But, it is built to look like one! :P
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So is El Toro, but it's all a hoax!
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But the only steel on El toro is the cable lift and the thin track railing
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Don't bother b mac. Trust me LOL
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No wood coaster feels like that. I'm telling you, it's steel painted to look like wood. Seriously!
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To each their own because honestly, I can't stand steel supported wooden coasters. Hellcat was "fun" for one ride but that was it. Then again, that is probably why I don't consider myself a true enthusiast :).
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Whatever makes a ride the best it can be.
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Voyage
Hades
Ghostrider
Avalanche
Boulder Dash
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To each their own because honestly, I can't stand steel supported wooden coasters. Hellcat was "fun" for one ride but that was it. Then again, that is probably why I don't consider myself a true enthusiast :).
You poser!
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LOL No, I'm just a wimp that can't stand being sore for a week after riding a coaster. I've become more of a "park enthusiast" as I've gotten older.
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Sore for a whole week? Man, I'm not sore for even a day after HellCat.
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I can't stand steel supported wooden coasters.
So why do you like El Toro so much again? ;)
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Because I can still walk afterwards :D.
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I had the most severe muscle cramps after riding Hellcat in '06. I mean I could barely walk with a very severe limp
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El Toro is totally diferent then all other woodies because its like, the 'next generation' of Wooden Coasters! Its like the Kingda Ka, of woodies! Not to mention, its banked, has lapbars, and sets a record of height for America. Now that I think of it, we are so lucky to live in a place with coasters like this! O0
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Banked, has lapbars and sets a height record? The Kingda Ka of woodies?
Wow, there's too much to tear apart right there.
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Son of Beast is taller than El Toro...
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How is it that all of my topics always end up in a "lets try to convince AVMatt to like El Toro Fest"
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LOL you've noticed that to huh? It's a lost cause. We'll never all agree. It's just fun to disagree sometimes. I think a ton of greeat discussion comes out of it to like learning more about rides many of have never been on.
Anyway, Toro is still probably one of the best coaster investments they have made at gadv in a long time and ultimately, that is what's important there. The GP eat the thing up and the positive word of mouth has kept it strong for 3 years straight now.
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Sorry for the dp, can't edit on the mobile version...
I wanted to ask if anybody has even slected the wood at Knoebels???
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I dissagree (JK)
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Banked lol, never saw Hades in the tunnel picture I guess.
Wade, 5 out of 8 picked Phoenix.
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Thanks Bubba. It's too hard sometimes to figure out stuff like that in the WAP version.
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6. Phoenix ;)
7. Roar (East)
8. Cyclone (SFNE)
9. Legend
10. Raven
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El Toro is totally diferent then all other woodies because its like, the 'next generation' of Wooden Coasters! Its like the Kingda Ka, of woodies! Not to mention, its banked, has lapbars, and sets a record of height for America. Now that I think of it, we are so lucky to live in a place with coasters like this! O0
This is an ultimately FAIL post. Please do some research on tallest woodies in America and get back to me on that. ;)
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^ouch
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Haha why can't we be friends why can't we be friends? Hahaha
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Even when they announced El Toro, they stated that it was the second largest coaster in America, third in the world at the time.
None the less, lets get back to the topic of our top 5 woodies. :)
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1. Voyage
2. Thunderhead
3. El Toro
4. Boulderdash
5. Phoenix
Honorable Mentions:
Beast
Twister
Lightning Racer
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El toro
Hades
Texas Giant
IDk the rest.
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Yeah, the "banked" comment had me LOLing. And the lapbars????
For what it's worth, I think El Toro was a great investment for the park. It's not my favorite by any means, but it is in the top 25 or so of the over 100 different wooden coasters I've been fortunate to ride. The "steel feel", uncomfortable restraints, dead hills, and bad ending (after the twisting) make it harder for me to appreciate, but I won't deny it has some fabulous airtime.
I've been riding Phoenix for 11 years now and it has really grown on me. I always liked it a lot, but didn't understand why it was ranked so high until more recently. It's becoming more and more one of my top favorites.
P.S. Going off topic is what makes this fun, as the discussion stays related to the topic and doesn't turn into a bunch of puns and haiku like CoasterBuzz.
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If I have this correct Matt the section between the airtime hills and the drop over RT is where you find it to be dead. Correct? I agree this is the worst part of the ride but it's only in comparison to the hills, the drop over RT, and the insane twisting ending. Possible the 3 greatest sections of any ride I've ever been on. The drop over RT being the most insane.
I have a theory that this slow section is to lull you to sleep in a way, like a calm before the storm approach. Or even a rope-a-dope if I may. It makes you think the worst of it is over and then boom, insane ejector air followed by twisted mayham.
I agree that section could be a little better but
I think the first three hills desensitise you a bit. Also I do find the turn around pretty enjoyable. The speed at least.
As far as the phoenix goes. I can totally see how it grows on you. I've only been 2 years and from the 1rst to the 2nd it's grown on me massively. Next year I am going to wait until PPP to go so I imagine that will increase my enjoyment 10 fold.
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I'm mostly referring to the last two hills just before the brake run, but the middle two hills really suck too. Lemme 'splain it to you. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up. I am an airtime junkie. There can never be too much airtime, and drops/hills are pointless unless they are going to throw you out of your seat (except for really long ramps to build up speed, like the Beast's finale. I like those). Coasters should start off strong and maintain that strength if not get stronger all the way to the brake run, just like a great action movie. So with that in mind, here is what I find wrong with El Toro's layout... (please forgive me)
1) It's great until the first spiral drop/turnaround, where the track banks before the train reaches the apex of the hill. This eliminates the airtime that could otherwise be here. If only the bank was just after the apex of the hill (could also be a nice lateral as a bonus), then you'd get one more amazing boost of air before getting tossed to the side as the train dives down the spiral drop. Oh man, how sick that could be.
2) The tall straight drop after that spiral drop. Unless the train is hauling (which it usually isn't from my experience), there is no airtime on this drop. After those first three hills of ejector air, this hill is a major buzz kill IMO. It's not that it's just weak by comparison; it's a dead hill and could be made great with just a tad of re-profiling.
3) The low profile stretched-out speed hill. Again, no airtime. What's the point of this hill if it doesn't deliver the goods? It maintains speed, but even GCI could make this hill sick.
4) The climb into the next (upward) spiraling turnaround. No pop of air on the little hill into the turn. This minor, but another missed opportunity. Little details like this are why The Gravity Group are the masters of the coaster universe.
Ok so from there it kicks butt again (except on cold days. I can't believe it can slow down THAT much). The drop over RT is amazing (except on cold days)! I love the zig-zag and the final turnaround. I really do. But then...
5) The second to last twisting bunny hill is absolutely a dud. And...
6) The last twisting bunny hill is absolutely a dud. What happened here, Intamin? When the ride was announced, I expected these two hills to be amazing, knowing how great the twisting bunny hop on Ride of Steel at SFA is. But wait...
7) The climb into the brake run is absolutely a dud. Terrible way to end an already awful ending. It always feels like the train has to fight its way up on to the brae run. BAD way to end a coaster. Bad Intamin! I really think they expected the train to be going over those last hills a lot faster than it turned out. It just doesn't make sense to have two hills in a row that do nothing. And the track length is kind of short relative to the height of the lift hill, so it seems the train is burning too much energy. Usually Intamins hit the brakes with plenty of energy left, but the Bull barely makes it to the brakes. If only it could borrow a little wasted momentum from Kingda Ka. ;)
Ok, now I'll really sum up... (I couldn't resist the Princess Bride reference above)
A) The first out run is fabulous (mostly).
B) The first back run is a buzz kill.
C) The second out run is fabulous.
D) The second back run is HORRIBLE.
Now, imagine if all of the above "dead spots" were remedied. Then, I would have a very hard time saying there's anything wrong with that ride (other than being way too smooth and the crappy restraints of course), but perhaps Matt's El Toro would be too much for some of you. ;)
As for all of the wood coasters I prefer over El Toro (about 25 of them), none of them have moments of airtime as extreme as El Toro's, BUT they all have great pacing with little to no dead spots to let me stop and realize the ride isn't as good as it could be, and they feel like a wood coaster which is an important element of the experience for me.
It's still a great ride though, just not the greatest IMO.
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holy crap that was long...
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That was the short version. ;)
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The two hills at the end are to ensure that Toro will brake easily at the end! wow
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Any post the references the princess bride is a good post lol. Nice summary Matt. I actually agree for the most part too because like you said, Matt's El Toro would likely be too extreme for many of us. I think the ride is right on the money personally.
Also, as with most Intamins, the restraints aren't always bad. I love them personally. And the only part I don't understand is why the ride can in fact be so different. I've flown through both dead spots you mentioned. I've also hit the brakes rather hard to the point that it almost felt like Nitro. And for some reason I have yet to experience that this summer. I can only assume to comes down to the train configuration as there are no trims. Still a good post though Matt. And if it had those additional qualities all the time I would probably never again ride 30+ times in one day lol.
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okay right I see
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Btw - to the folks that care, sorry about my poor grammar above. I typed the entire post on my bberry so it isn't up to my usual standards :).
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The two hills at the end are to ensure that Toro will brake easily at the end! wow
Umm no. Ka hits the same kind of brakes at about 50pmh faster. Magnetic brakes decelerate proportionally to the momentum of the train. The hills aren't lame to slow the ride down.
What I described above would be like Voyage on steel track. I think you all would love it. Don't be afraid. ;)
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^ There's no triple down on El Toro or a third L.I.M . ; )
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Okay thanks! :)
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So many rants on Toro!!
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Yeah can we stop beating down on El Toro? Its a great ride!
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It's a great ride, but needs a lot of work to be sooper dooper great.
LOL Bubba.
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Not every ride CAN be sooper dooper great. It's like saying that you only drive the best most expensive cars in the world just becuase they are.
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except for the chuck norris of roller coasters, bizarro(ne) :D
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Not every ride CAN be sooper dooper great. It's like saying that you only drive the best most expensive cars in the world just becuase they are.
Not sure what that's supposed to mean. I still ride nearly every thing and enjoy nearly everything regardless if it could be significantly better.
Anyhow, now we are going too far off topic. ;)
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I may have a Boulder Dash hangover today.
Many, Many rides yesterday at Oc~Boulder~Fest.
The many high ratings of Boulder Dash are well deserved.
I'll be back next year. It was great to see everyone there!
I think I may need some more Advil.
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atleast you enjoyed it, right?
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It was better than El Toro.
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Don't start this again.
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Well it was. :). It was second only to Voyage last night...some of the best night rides ever.
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These are all my top 5.
1) The Voyage
2) El Toro
3) Tennessee Tornado
4) Phoenix
5) Son of Beast (pre-loop)
Yes, I loved Son of Beast.
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By pre-loop do you mean the part before the loop or SoB when ti had the loop? The loop was the best part and the ride is pointless without it IMO.
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I meant when the ride had the loop. I need to learn to clarify my statements more :P
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Why did they remove the loop anyway?
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There was nothing wrong with the loop itself. The trains were too heavy for the structure of the over-all ride, so they switched out the heavy custom Premier trains for lightweight Gerstlauer trains. The G-trains do not have the necessary restraints for inversions, so they had to remove the loop as a consequence.
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So why didn't they equip the harnesses to the G trains?
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Because that would be too much effort. ;)
Not sure, really. They shouldn't have to add extra hardware (extra weight) to make the lapbars "inversion safe". An old Anton looper lapbar is about as simple of a restraint as you can get and I can't imagine it requires any heavy duty hardware.
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Not much for ranking but I do like pretty much the same coasters as AV MATT,Dan and Freesbiking
but add The Beast in there if they removed the trims.
many of the rides I haven't been on like Boulderdash,Avalanche,Thunderhead but I'm sure I would love them
Cornball Express grows on you and is very very fun to ride.
The Voyage I would say is my #1
I rode the Beast the Day before I rode the Voyage and compared the Voyage to what the Beast used to be like before the trims
I like El Toro but find it to short but you can ride it all day.
It took the Beast about 26 years for another coaster to Top its Style (runaway,terrain,Journey coaster) the being The Voyage lets see how long it takes to come close to these two.
PARK OWNERS LISTEN UP People love the Boulderdashs,Voyages,Beasts,THunderheads,New Mexico Rattler etc. Tunnels,terrain,trees etc. oh my
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So basically, a wooden caoster that runs through the woods at 60+ m.p.h.?
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Airtime and laterals at every opportunity are more important than speed.
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With that too.
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Record heights and speeds do not a great coaster make.
It's all about pacing, forces and the sense of being "out of control". Racing along the terrain through dense foliage and dark tunnels enhances the out of control sensation. Feeling the wood track beneath the car and not the sleek feel of steel enhances this sensation as well. Never giving the rider a chance to pause and catch his breath before the ride is over puts it over the top--block brakes and slow turns suck. And perhaps the most important part (for me anyway) is a great ending. So many coasters start off strong only to peter out before hitting the brake run.
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I should look deeper into Roller coaster tycoon then, They said the exact same thing you just did.
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Record heights and speeds do not a great coaster make.
It's all about pacing, forces and the sense of being "out of control". Racing along the terrain through dense foliage and dark tunnels enhances the out of control sensation. Feeling the wood track beneath the car and not the sleek feel of steel enhances this sensation as well. Never giving the rider a chance to pause and catch his breath before the ride is over puts it over the top--block brakes and slow turns suck. And perhaps the most important part (for me anyway) is a great ending. So many coasters start off strong only to peter out before hitting the brake run.
^What he said :)