It seems that everyone hates TOGO. Some people have dubbed their coasters as being "Try Once Get Off."
Now I admit that they are NOT up to par with Arrow, Vekoma, Intamin, or B&M.. Especially in the North America. They have given us only standups, and windjammer, and Manhattan Express.
Does everyone forget about Fujiyama in Japan? This sucka rocks! I went on this in 98 and it totally changed my perception of TOGO. This is a sweet hypercoaster. One of my personal faves. Has anyone else been on this diamond in the rough?
(a good TOGO?)
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My pet peeve: People who post and just write how the thread will be closed. JUST DONT POST
How about this, then? All TOGOs in America suck. :) Actually, I haven't ridden many, but from what I've heard, I've ridden one of their best (KC at PKI) and I didn't think it was any good, so I think I'm safe in saying all TOGOs in America are bad.
*** This post was edited by Lothar on 4/17/2001. ***
When I rode Manhattan Express a few months after it opened, I loved it. The ride was smooth, the drops were good, and the twist-and-dive was a very cool element. I've heard that this coaster has aged poorly, but I can't be sure since I haven't ridden it since 1997. Based on that one coaster, I like TOGO well enough.
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E.J.
Webmaster: Theme Park New England
http://tpne.8m.com
what about viper at great adventure thats okay but real;y rough and you didnt lisdt that one!
I am probably the only one who LIKES Togo stand-ups! Shockwave @ PKD may be short, but it provided a great experience, and kept me on my feet..no pun intended..This coaster has tons of sentimental value too.
Wierd, TOGO comes up with great ideas, but somewhere it seems like they fail to execute.
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Coasters- a little slice of heaven
Personally, I think the biggest problem with TOGO is that, understandably, they build their trains to accommodate Japanese riders. And if you look at a human dynamics table, you will find that the average Japanese rider is smaller than the average American rider. Now add to the equation the fact that every TOGO ride in North America is equipped with shoulder bars, which by their very nature do not allow for significant variation in rider size. Fairly quickly, you get rides that Americans have a hard time squeezing into, resulting in a lot of body-banging.
I like their Astro-Comet, for example (King Cobra at Kings Island is an example of that one) and I even like the basic design of their stand-up rider containment system. But I'm too tall for it. The distance between shoulder loop and seat is non adjustable, and as a consequence, I can't fit into that ride. If the ride weren't so unaccommodating, I'd like it a lot. As it is, I can't even get on the thing.
In truth, a larger percentage of riders have that kind of experience with TOGO rides than with, say, Arrow or B&M or Vekoma rides. So the bad feelings for TOGO are more widespread.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Okay I honestly can't say I hate Togo, since I only tried one of their coasters (Sky Rider, a Togo stand-up at PCW), but I can admit its rough!
It does have some incredible airtime over the bunny hops and on the first drop but helix hurts like hell.
It just gives me a splitting headache, and a breif period of double vision but hey its what makes it fun. I can't say why I ride it, and sure its got its problems, but its what makes me
a coaster freak.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and this was mine!
I think Togo stand-ups are decent but not great. We have to remember that the King Cobra was one of the first stand-ups (if not the first -- I'm not sure), and for a new design it's a good job. It's like Magnum or one of the 9348573 B:TR's; I've seen plenty of comments both ways about those. They're great when they come out and then they lose their luster as better coasters of that type are built.
All in all, I think Togo is an okay company. But I've only ridden King Cobra.
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Home Park: Silver Dollar City, Branson, MO
All I can say is I hated Windjammer, but I love KC at PKI, my favorite stand-up(out of GS at SFoG, IW at SFGA, Mantis at CP, and Chang at SFKK). So, I've not had enough experience to actually know. Many of the early stand-ups(Shockwave, Batman:The Escape, Vortex) I hear are not up to par.
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PKI-Wooden and Kiddie Coaster Capital of the World!
The First and Only Gigabuzzer bigger than Millie, rising Faster than Maggie, and pulls more BS than MS ever will!!!
You are the Weakest Link! Goodbye!!!
Koaster King, if you liked KC at PKI, then you will like Shockwave at PKD also. KC and Shockwave are the exact same coaster. They are clones. I don't think there is one difference in the track layout, so if KC suits your fancy, then so will Shockwave. Personally, when I rode Shockwave at PKD and KC at PKI, I hated both of them and I thought they were very rough and were not fun rides at all.
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Dave
Actually, they're not exactly the same. Shockwave is a figure eight while King Cobra has the smaller oval footprint. Someone hurt me if I'm wrong. They're about the same length.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
In case anyone cares, KC is currently the most comlained about coaster in the park. It was #3 last year and I'm sure you can guess what they were. The #1 last year dropped to #6 or #7. The #2 dropped to #4.
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PKI-Wooden and Kiddie Coaster Capital of the World!
The First and Only Gigabuzzer bigger than Millie, rising Faster than Maggie, and pulls more BS than MS ever will!!!
You are the Weakest Link! Goodbye!!!
i thought VIPER at SFGADV was fun. its cool little, rough ride.
Nobody has mentioned Ultratwister. I've never ridden it but it looks like fun, although a short ride. I have the feeling that this is one of those concepts that sounded good but execution was more difficult than initially thought. Otherwise I'd think there would be at least a couple more in the states. Anybody who's ridden it have anything to say?
The problem with the Togo's are, is that they were designed for smaller people.
Not to stereotype here, but since its a Japanese company, its 90% built for a Japanese audience, which are smaller bodies than the typical American. Japan has a ton of Togos. I think if they re-designed the restraints, we would have less to complain about.
Heck, Honda started out as a tiny efficient car company, and the New models are huge!
I thought Manhatten Express had enough room (I'm 6 ft.). It was a great coaster...a little rough, but not bad. In fact, I remember sliding around in the car because my back hurt a little when I got off.
I never had a problem with King Cobra. For the first of it's kind, it was incredible, and still is. We lose sense of our coaster history too quick!!!!
I think that Shockwave and King Cobra are exactly the same except for the brake run. On KC it's near the loop inside the oval. On Shockwave its near the Station and trick track outside of the oval. Basically KC turns right after the trick track, Shockwave turns left. Either way, Try Once Get Off :)
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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com
OK - Togo builds Fujiyama and it's a great success. Why havn't they built anything to follow it up? You would have thought that with it's success we would have seen a hypercoaster in America by now. I have never ridden Fujiyama, but it looks awesome. Maybe if they stick to hypercoasters they may become successful in the states. Everything built by them in the states is full of inversions.
Just a thought.
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BMCOASTER
bmcoaster@wi.rr.com
I really liked ME, in Vegas. It was smooth in front, the drops were really intense in the back. Going through the hotel was great (seeing all of the people gambling and stuff. The helix had awesome g's, the last two camels were great, and the twist and dive, was awesome. You hang upsidown for what me and my bro counted 2 seconds!! I swear, if i had a ball and threw it when i was upsidown i would be able to catch it or it would beat us. I loved that ride a lot, the atmosphere and the ride itself was awesome. I have a friend who lives in Japan and her one of her favorite coasters is Fujiama. I think it looks great and so does Viper SFGAdv. I like togo a lot, and i think that they just haven't been given a chance lately to prove themselves.
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RCman4