Viper At SFGAm

We all know this is probably the most underrated woodie of the last decade. Does anyone else think that it is because it was not built by a major designer/manufacturer, but instead done entirely in-house? I think that simply BECAUSE it was done in-house that it deserves MORE praise and recogniton than it gets. It obviously was designed by someone who LOVES coasters and knew what they wanted to see and also someone who paid attention to the area it was going to be built in(rather small footprint). Opinions anyone??

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"Brak presents the Brak show starring Brak!!!"

I don't know that it's underrated, and I'm not sure why people keep saying it is. If every person seems to agree it's an outstanding ride (I know I do), why is it underrated?

I think the major issue is that there are fewer enthusiasts based in the Chicago to "take ownership" of the ride. There are tons of people on the east coast, Ohio and SoCal to sing the praises of their coasters, but those in the Chicago are seem few, at least on this forum.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Yeah, us 'corn-belt' tend to rather ride the coasters than talk about them *grin*. No seriously, they just is no need to keep screaming VIPER IS BEST! VIPER IS BEST! Unfortunately, some of our other sisters and brothers in coast do not share this particular outlook on coasters. But from what I have seen, just about everyone who has ridden it, seems to like it. In fact, I have yet to see a negative post. Maybe it's "under-RIDDEN" but not underrated.
jeremy

Viper is outstanding!!! It was the surprise hit of my recent visit to SFGAm.

I would like to know a little more about it. I know that it was built in-house and all. But by who? Someone sure knew their stuff. Anyone have any additional tid bits of info for us to snack on?





*** This post was edited by backseat on 11/12/2000. *** *** This post was edited by backseat on 11/12/2000. ***

I live in the the true "corn belt" in Iowa ( ;) ) and the only coaster we hail is Wild Thing, however I'm not so ignorant as saying that its the best coaster ever!

I do just want to point out that I've just ordered my season passes for Cedar Point, Six Flags Great America, and PKI and I'm pumped to see what other coasters there is for me to love the heck out of.

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it

Well Randy, just those 3 parks alone should give you all of the coaster fix that you need. 36 (possibly 37 new coasters) for you to experience next year.
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"DONT FIGHT IT, RIDE IT",,,,RAGING BULL


*** This post was edited by Chitown on 11/13/2000. *** *** This post was edited by Chitown on 11/13/2000. ***

I love Viper, I'ts definatly a very fun coaster. It has it's own personality, nearly stopping before going over the first drop is a great effect. The station is themed perfectly to the ride. It's actually built on the parking lot but you don't notice it because the queue line is near a lot of trees plus the huge station blocks the parking lot view.

I'm not screaming "Viper is best"!! I just noticed on other posts about SFGAm that is ranked very high on the lists. When I say underrated, I mean by the coaster enthusiast crowd in Chicago and the surrounding area, but also on the national level. Viper WAS ranked #5 in it's debut year but has not surfaced very high since then. Maybe it's just been overshadowed by Legend, Raven and ST(with good reason) but it is STILL and awesome ride, no matter which way you cut it.
i was just trying to get opinions on WHY it never makes the lists anymore.

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"Brak presents the Brak show starring Brak!!!"

If im not mistaken, Viper is a Cyclone clone. I heard about it, that it is actually a mirror image (and the precessor) of Wild Wild West, germanys first woodie. Now that was built by Stengel/Intamin/RCCA. I heard before, that Viper was done by the same people/companies, but slightly larger and wilder than WWW. The lifthill at WWW is incredibly fast and whips the train over the top, this is good because the drop angle is just 47° due to stupid german safety laws. Correct me if im mistaken, concerning the designers/builders of Viper.

I think most people say Viper is underrated because it never shows up on national lists of the best wooden coaster. Viper’s not as fast as Raven or Legend; it doesn’t have the laterals of, say, SoB; it doesn’t have the extraordinary airtime of ST; it’s nowhere near as long as The Beast (few are); and it’s not as tall as most coasters. However, Viper packages lesser amounts of all these elements into a GREAT ride that can’t be beat. It has good airtime and laterals, nice speed and pacing, a cool first drop where you hang for seconds, and good themeing. However, people tend to think about the "extreme" coasters (tallest, fastest, etc.) when voting time comes and, therefore, Viper becomes underrated. With that said, maybe underrated is the wrong term. Perhaps we should say it’s the most slighted coaster.

Viper is a unique animal that I can ride over and over and over - and I usually do! I’ve been on most of the wooden coasters in the Midwest and can honestly say I’d take Viper over any of them. It’s my number 1 coaster – period.

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"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious." - Brendan Gill