Big Hills

Why does it seem that the Big hills aren't as important in Florida parks as they are elsewhere? Growing up in Ohio I always believed and still do that bigger is better when it comes to the first drop. I love the rides at Bush Gardens and the Kraken and even the Hangman and Boomerang at Wild Adventures but there is nothing like coming down that first big hill and seeing the bottom get closer and closer or even better just seeing the tunnel.

Maybe it's true for the first drop, but the drop is just one small part of the whole ride.

With some of the great coasters that have come out in the last few years, it's my opinion that "bigger is better" is outdate and as far from my personal preferences as you could get.

If I had top make a definitive top 10 list, probably 6 of those coaster's biggest drops would be under 200 feet. And 2 or 3 more would be right around that mark.
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park Visits in 2003: 5

I guess it may not be the big hill but the banking thing that messes me up you can't see when you are banking left or right. Like Kumba at BGTampa it banks off and you never eally see where you are going. Maybe that's why i put Krakken up above the rides at BG it has a better hill.

Oh... for some reason when I saw the title of this thread I thought it would be about Dollywood.

Anyway... I agree with Gonchar. Bigger is not always better, and personally, I considered the coasters at SW, BGT, IOA all to have average to above average first drops.

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Kind of hard to take a post as objective if a park or coaster name is part of the "user name"

Put me in the bigger is not necessarily better category - heck I prefer "weird" coasters to a hyper even (like Impulses and Hydros and such). But also, put California on the list of no big hills areas. That was one thing I noticed is that where the weather's warm all year, the loops and weird experiences dominate. When the parks close for the winter, that's the locations where you see airtime and hills - and loops are almost an afterthought.

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"As soon as you design something that's idiot-proof, the world will go and design a better idiot." ... Thank you EchoVictor!
--Brett

If you want a great example of an incredible ride with not much of a hill, check out Cornball Express at Indiana Beach. Absolutley priceless!

Later,
EV
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Remember that if you're one in a million, that means that there are 5000 other people on Earth just like you.

ok I have the oprotunity to go to Universal , All disney parks, SFoG, Bush Gardens, and Cedar point all for free or half price and I don't see me getting that much time off which of these Besides Cedar point(going in August) are absolutely don't miss?

Definitely Busch Gardens and if by Universal you mean IOA too then you have to go there. MGM studios because of the best two Disney thrill rides, Tower of Terror and Rock n' Rollercoaster. If Mission: Space is open when your there then maybe Epcot. SFoG is good park with S: UF and Deja Vu and an excellent stand up in Georgia Scorcher.

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B Rad

So basically you are sayiong I should find time to do them all?

IOA is a must due. It is the best themed thrill park in the world. The attention to detail on their rides alone makes their coasters a notch above the norm you find elsewhere. But if you are getting into these parks for half price and/or free you need to visit all that you can. It seems that Florida parks focus more on quality and atmosphere other than quanity and size as most other parks in the country.

Bigger is better for me:-) , you impress me with the first drop and you don't really have much to do after that, I'll be satisfiied. Big drop followed by speed speed speed, thats my thing. <not an airtime whore

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"You know its a good ride when you come into the final break run wiping tears from your eyes"-me
*** This post was edited by DorneyDante 6/12/2003 9:29:27 AM ***

On Wooden coasters I want a ride with airtime and some roughness but not "loose your fillings" roughness

As for steels, well bigger aint nesicarily better just look at my top five: Alpengeist, Magnum, MF, Raptor, X-Flight.

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Summer 03-CP, HP, Canobie, SFNE, SFWOA, and SFGAm.

The target market for the Orlando area parks is the family. This is the main reason why there isn't a new coaster every year, as parks need to add different experiences for all ages/heights.

The only thing that confuses me is that most coasters in FL are B&Ms, which have a much higher height restriction than other manufacturers. One would think that this would be an important factor, and may have played a part in the recent choices of Disney going with Vekoma, and Universal going with Premier. Sure, B&Ms are the most reliable, but they lower the amount of riders considerably since most visitors in FL have children under 54 inches.

As far as the "bigger & better" rides go, there really is no competition for that market, except with the other parks in the area. I know Sea World used to advertise that Kraken was the tallest, fastest, and only floorless coaster in Orlando.

Personally, my favorite FL coaster is the Dania Beach Hurricane. The airtime is INCREDIBLE, it's inexpensive to ride, and there is never a line! It's definately not the tallest or fastest in FL, but it's a great ride!

-Matt
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I-4: The scariest ride in all of Orlando!

olh man now PKI is offering half off for the entire family. I live in Jacksonville Fl and now I have to see if there is a way to get the wife to Go through Cincinatti when I go to Ohio for my Brother's wedding. HMMMM? CP and PKI in Three days Sounds like a great time.

For me, Bigger is Usually Better in the steel coaster department. MForce, Goliath, SuperRoSs, Apollo's Chariot, Silver Star are in my Top 10. Superman:KC is the biggest Floorless coaster and in my opinion, the best Floorless I've ridden so far with it's use of the rock quarry. Even halfway big rides like Goliath (SF H) and Expedition GeForce make my list. I like the extreme heights, speed, hills, force, launches.
As for wooden, that's another tune. SoB and Colossos are great rides in my opinion. I can skip the Rattler and Mean Streak. . . Texas Giant is awesome and the Beast is fun at night. Anything lower is considered medium sized to me (like Ghostrider). . .
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When was the last time you drove 251 km/h (156 mph)?