Check out these 2 pictures of Skyrush at Hersheypark. Absolutely gorgeous. I’ll always love the way Hershey intertwines their coasters. (click to enlarge)
Both of these pictures come from www.coastersandmore.de. I can’t speak (or read) any German, but I look for the fantastic photography. I highly recommend the site!
I had originally started writing a post for the beginning of this year picking my 12 most anticipated 2012 coasters and going into detail about them. As it turns out, I’m long winded… and the post never got finished. So let’s compare my list from then with how I feel now after hearing reviews form a number of these rides.
From my list written in January I had:
12. Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong
11. Swarm, Thorpe Park, Great Britain
10. Superman: Ultimate Flight, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, California
9. Wild Eagle, Dollywood, Tennessee
8. Shambhala, PortAventura, Spain
7. Manta, SeaWorld San Diego, California
6. Oz’Iris, Parc Asterix, France
5. Woden Timbur Coaster, Europa Park, Germany
4. Leviathan, Canada’s Wonderland, Canada
3. Dauling Dragon, Happy Valley, China
2. Verbolten, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Virginia
1. Skyrush, Hersheypark, Pennsylvania
These got left out, but still warrant a note:
So how does it all shake out halfway through the season? Most of this list is open now, except for the Hong Kong Disney Coaster and Superman: What the Heck in California.
Big Grizzly Mountain Happy China Lucky Panda Runaway Mine Cars is still receiving finishing touches, but it does look pretty nice. It will undoubtedly have the usual Disney quality and charm, and their somehow magical ability to turn Vekomas decent. This should be a hit for the park.
Swarm has gotten some very positive reviews due to the theming, and I’ll credit Thorpe for really stepping up the game on that front. Still, the coaster just looks short to me. If only they could have taken X-Flight’s layout and added Swarm’s theming. Still, I think that deserves to go up at least a little on the list.
Superman is still the strangest coaster I’ve seen in a little while, but I think it has the potential to be good, even great. If you ignore the fact that it’ll probably be broken down half the time and will also have a capacity of roughly 20 an hour, I think it’s something to look forward to. It’s like a less practical Intamin impulse, but one that will probably be more fun. Just get in line early and bring a tent…
I was unimpressed with Wild Eagle’s layout when it was first announced, mostly because it felt like something any floorless or sit down coaster could do. It also seemed short in length for its height. That said, the coaster really seems to have lived up to its potential. While maybe standard, the inversions are very interesting with the wing coaster seating arrangement… especially the loop. The finale figure 8 is low to the ground and swoops by lots of trees, which also improves things. I think this has the potential to go up a little in the standings and seems to fit the ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ mantra.
Shambhala looks incredible—it’s one of my favorites this year from a purely aesthetic standpoint. B&M hyper coasters are hard to judge by looks alone though. Some seem to crawl over the hills but deliver fantastic sustained airtime while riding. I think this will fall somewhere in the middle, with a good, but not amazing ride. The theming is above average, though the ‘water splash’ effect is fake (cheaters!). The helix is still absolutely gorgeous, even if the ride looks too slow at the peak.
If this was based purely on restraints alone, I’d vote Manta as number 1. Mack launched coaster restraints are wonderful—very open and small for a coaster type that can perform inversions. Manta wraps up the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment launched coaster trio and is undoubtedly the most ‘family’ of the 3. While still retaining great coaster elements and having a very cool launch tunnel projection, the ride falls short from a coaster thrill standpoint. While arguably this is exactly what the park was shooting for, this list is looking at quality of coaster and the ride will take a small hit down the list. Still, the park has a winner on their hands—exactly what SeaWorld San Diego needs. Now just finish the landscaping that I hope is still missing!
Oz’iris wins the award for most underrated ride. It was special to see a B&M inverted coaster being built, much less a custom one. But Parc Asterix pulled out all the stops on theming. The ride, queue, and all the surroundings are very well themed and show just how much effort the park put into making this more than just a coaster. And from reports, Oz’iris really is more than just a coaster… it’s gone back to the glory days of intense B&M coasters that were known for their power and intensity. The ride has an interesting layout—the first dive loop on an invert, no pre-drop piece, and an inversion order that certainly borders on strange. But that’s ok and even encouraged… it’s clear Oz’iris is a ride not to be overlooked.
Europa Park looks great—lots of coasters and a great them. For me, it’s all the quirky coasters that do it… a bobsled, vertical lift mouse, a coaster that just turns in one direction… But this year, they added something more mainstream. GCI has made a name for themselves in the wooden coaster business, culminating in an insane blend of height, speed, and terrain last year in China. Wodan seems to draw some elements from it… the ride is tall, fast, and spread out. That said, it may be almost *too* spread out. What makes GCI coasters great are the quick direction changes and little pops of airtime here and there. While they’re still visible, the overall experience seems to be lacking. Thematically the ride is gorgeous and not to be missed, but I think in terms of ride quality it will leave the rider wanting a bit more.
I’ve written about why I think Leviathan is ridiculous, so I’ll try not to rehash all of that. Regardless of how I feel, we now have the first +300’ B&M and two opportunities to ride the same type of coaster at Canada’s Wonderland. Does it live up to the hype? I’d put the answer as a solid sorta. Yes, it’s big and fast and tall and will have some great floating airtime. But part of me is still disappointed in how stretched out the coaster is and how it ends with so much potential left (the final brakes are taller than the entirety of Dragon Fire!). If it weren’t for the park already having a hyper, I’d rate this higher I think, but the ride in general is just a little perplexing. Still, I’m incredibly excited to ride this later in the year to see if the opinions hold true.
China continues to provide the first word on quality named attractions. Dauling Dragon opened nearly 2 months ago and I’ve yet to see a single review. Perhaps I’m not searching hard enough. From looks alone, the ride seems pretty spectacular. The ‘high five’ element is probably a lot of nothing on the ride, but from the ground I’m sure it’s a great visual. Afterwards the ride seems relatively unremarkable; though does throw in some pretty nice looking duel (daul?) spots and a flowing layout to connect them all. My main worry comes with the trains.. PTCs are not great in handling intense corner-heavy coasters and Dragon is the picture of that. Unless they can put some good maintenance into the thing (because we all know how likely that is to happen) I expect future guests are in for a rough ride.
Enthusiasts will never forgive Busch Gardens for removing Big Bad Wolf. Verbolten tries its best to help with some of that, but it will always be a sore spot. As one of Zierer’s first attempts on a big stage, it was largely a ‘wait and see’ ride and it seems like the coaster has met most expectations and exceeded in others. The theme certainly shines, with a great queue line and developed story. In the enclosed portion of the ride, there are 3 different options for the story, which adds a lot to re-rideability. And while the vertical drop element is a pretty big gimmick, it works well on the ride and adds a lot of excitement. In general, I’d liked to have seen the outdoor portion be a little longer and the ‘broken bridge’ scene taken a little faster. That said, Verbolten is about as good of a replacement that could possibly be for Big Bad Wolf without getting rid of the ‘family’ coaster sticker.
There are often those rides that look amazing from the start, but often don’t live up the hype. I think I can safely say that Skyrush is distinctly not one of those. Hershey continues to impress with Skyrush, completing their Intamin trio. From all angles this ride looks great. The speed leads to incredible airtime and intensity, though from multiple reports it also leads to leg pain as the forces shove down the lap bar even further. But still, I can look past that for the simple fact that they used a lap bar! It’s great to see a park pass on the over the shoulder restraint that’s become so standard. Hershey does a great job shoving rides into areas where they have no business fitting and Skyrush is no exception. Comet now has a new friend, and the river & picnic grounds are far more exciting with a bright yellow Intamin roaring past. For me, this is clearly the best of 2012.
Six months later, this is how I would rank the best of 2012 now:
12. Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong
11. Manta, SeaWorld San Diego, California
10. Superman: Ultimate Flight, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, California
9. Swarm, Thorpe Park, Great Britain
8. Woden Timbur Coaster, Europa Park, Germany
7. Shambhala, PortAventura, Spain
6. Leviathan, Canada’s Wonderland, Canada
5. Wild Eagle, Dollywood, Tennessee
4. Dauling Dragon, Happy Valley, China
3. Verbolten, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Virginia
2. Oz’Iris, Parc Asterix, France
1. Skyrush, Hersheypark, Pennsylvania
Skyrush stays at number one and Oz’iris makes the biggest jump upwards. But since this is the Internet and people have opinions—what do *you* think? How would you rank them? Which have you ridden? Full disclosure for this piece is that I have not ridden any yet, but if all goes as planned, I will have Leviathan, Wild Eagle, and Skyrush by September.
On A Rail 