How Rough is Too Rough?

Jumping on the Lord Gonchar wagon here, but yes, ROUGHNESS IS RELATIVE. Why do we argue about this? I have ridden pretty much every rough coaster listed on this thread, and some were bad, and some weren't. On any given day, you get radically different experiences.

This wagon keeps getting harder and harder to pull...

Where are all the downhills?

For me , I call a ride "rough" if it has ever caused me bodily harm.

Ninja at SFOG gave me a nasty headache a few years ago , and although I have had much better rides , I still consider it "rough". The beast bashed my elbow and made it bleed because of it throwing me around so much , so I naturally find it rough and not fun.

SLC's do have headbanging , but those very cushy headrests more than make up for it. SOB? Well , it didn't actually cause pain , so I love it's intensity.

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...And also , laterals suck.

Whether or not I complain about roughness depends on the situation. If I'm out riding coasters for a day I don't care how rough they are as long as they are fun. But if, like this earlier summer, we did NINE consecutive days of coastering I have to admit I was eager to complain about the roughness of some of the rides, even though they were fun. Kong at Six Flags Marine World just about killed me on the last day of our tour. But if it had been the first park we visited I wouldn't have complained so much.

The only thing that really gets to me is head banging. Esspecially after a long day of physical activity. I sustain bruises on my shoulders and legs all the time riding coasters but it's that head banging that really gets to me after a while. *** Edited 11/22/2003 8:03:14 PM UTC by Phyter***

Texas Giant has gotten rough in the last few years...so much so that it distracts from the ride. I still love the coaster though...

The Absolute worst I've experienced have been UltraTwister at SFAW and X at MM. I've never been banged around so much in my life....I felt like I had been rung out and thrown in the spin cycle. Head. Bang.

The funny thing was I heard so many people say that Viper was bad, and it was butter compared to X. It seems that I'm the only one that thinks of X like this too....

Last summer when I went on Hersheypark's Great Bear I rode in the front seat. That's not my idea of "Hersheypark Happy" at all, and that little girl on the commercial can go jump in a lake. I got welts all over my face from hail, and oil squirted all over my favorite shirt.

The Wildcat was really jerky too.

Yeah... no question that roughness is relative. I think the original question was not asking for specific examples... allthough the ones offered are certainly illustrative... but rather for a definition of "how rough is too rough?" Pink Domo hit it pretty well: "For me , I call a ride "rough" if it has ever caused me bodily harm." And Olsor's comment: "When I rode Mean Streak in 1998, I literally wanted to get off the ride during the ride. It was causing me that much pain." is exactly how I felt on Manhattan...

It's all relative, and of course our definitions are giong to be relative, but I think the above comment pretty well sums it up. To paraphrase "If you want to get off the ride before it is finished, then it is probably too rough."

-Escher

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Lord Gonchar said:
You'll find that the general consensus hates Viper at SFGAdv, but I found it powerful, not rough.

There are two coasters I've been on that (IMO, of course) stands far beyond any coaster I've been on in terms of being rough...

Flashback at SFMM and RC-48 at Morey's. The two most painful and unenjoyable rides I've ever had the displeasure of boarding.

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I hate Viper, but I don't mind the RC-48. The only thing about the RC-48 that I didn't like was how quickly the brakes stop the train. I agree that whether rides are rough or not is a matter of opinion. *** Edited 11/22/2003 9:19:34 PM UTC by person***

I kinda thought that the responses would be subjective, but hey, it's the off-season and it seemed like a time for philosophical/religious discussions.

Many of the coasters mentioned here (and elsewhere) are ones I haven't had a chance to ride. Living in the mid-Atlantic and not having a car sux.

BUT...

I rode Drachen Fire 2 out of its first 3 years and loved it. Evidently it got rougher, but my memories of it don't being distracted or wanting to get off the ride before it was finished. Currently I go to SFA several times a summer and don't care for the Vekomas there -- the SLC and the Invertigo hurt some but Batwing leaves marks, so I frequently don't bother.

To be truthful, I don't remember any other coasters that hurt me, but many of them I rode some time ago, so the memories may not be trustworthy.

For me, it doesn't get much worse than The Rattler at SFFT in the back seat. It reminded me of the torture of another ride that's in the process of being torn down, Hercules.

In modern days I don't find many things tooo rough but let me tell you about the Scrambler........ohhhhhh the lateral G's (the horror). It was a bright and sunny day (gasps from the audience)and I boarded on the end where the bigger people sit. Two count em' TWO 80+ pound children to my left and I had NO idea and this operator dude (who didn't seem all there at this fairground event) had the thing on full power. I thought my rib cage would IMPLODE!!! So if ya want rough find your nearest spinning flat ride and a couple family friends to sit by you (ambient scream).

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prabe said:
I rode Drachen Fire 2 out of its first 3 years and loved it. Evidently it got rougher, but my memories of it don't being distracted or wanting to get off the ride before it was finished. Currently I go to SFA several times a summer and don't care for the Vekomas there -- the SLC and the Invertigo hurt some but Batwing leaves marks, so I frequently don't bother..

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Prabe, I too remember DF fondly, and never had a bad ride, but I didn't bear its brunt in the last few years of its existence. Still, it saddens me it's gone.

Batwing. OMG. Got my first, and preferably, only ride this last fall. That was enough for me. I have no need to ever ride it again. I thought X-flight was smooth as my wife's ass, compared to this jobber. Sheesh. What crap from the get go.

I don't like SLC's but I will give props to one. Blackout at Suzuka Curcuit in Japan. Granted, quite the commute, but it's sweet as candy.

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prabe said:
I keep seeing posts in other forms regarding roughness, and I was wondering: What kind(s) of roughness make a rollercoaster unfun? I know tha SOB is supposed to be a very rough coaster, but I haven't ridden it and don't know what it does that hurts. I also see all kinds of stuff about the Dinn coasters. I'm just trying to see shat kinds of opinions are out there and how (if) they correspond to my own.

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IMO, the Georgia Cyclone is the roughest roller coaster that I have been on in life. It's just something about how the trains shuffle around the track that gets me. The ride from the station to the lift is even rough. There are people that say that the Hurler at Carowinds is too rough. The Hurler never hurt me. Then again, as much experience as I have had on that ride I really know how to "ride" the Hurler.

If it makes me feel like I am going to bleed from my ears then I know it's TOO rough.

Most old Arrow "headbangers" and woodies like the SOB, Psyclone (SFMM) are just a couple that come to mind. I like my woodies relatively smooth and pain-free. :-)

Flight of Fear was the worst until the finally added the lapbars. :-). Vortex has it's days.

-Tina

<-------who will take Thunder Run, Lightning Racer, and Screechin Eagle over SOB anyday. ;-)

I think The Boss is the roughest coaster I've been on. I love the layout and think it's a great design, but I seriously got lower spine pain and a headache riding it. Also, The Ninja at SFOG is rough to me too just because of the head banging.

I finally learned how to ride a hang & bang this fall on T2 at SFKK. Riding in the front seat watching where the track leads with your head firmly against the head rest helps a lot. I actually enjoyed T2 this way.

I've found something similar with the Mind Eraser (SLC) af SFA. If I use the handgrips on the OTSR's to push my head against the headrest, then the riude is almost not painful. My biggest problem is that my head gets slammed, which wouldn't be so bad if I weren't wearing sunglasses, which pinch my ears.

Unfortunately, I haven't found an approach to use with Batwing. I don't mind, though. In the time it would take me to get through the line and ride Batwing, I can ride S:ROS 3-5 times. Thatr seems like a better use of my time at the park to me.

I agree there is a big difference between rough and intense. SoB in my opinion is over the edge roughness wise, but I have never found it that intense, but I would not say I hate it, I just won't ride it many times in a row. Raging Wolf Bobs was just plainly too rough. The first drop gave me spinal pain, and the rest of the first 2/3 didnt help it either. On the other end of the scale, I find coasters like Thunderbolt@KY and Grizzly east to be very intense, but not at all rough. Rough to me means Jackhammer-come-off-the-ride-dead-my- back-hurts-like-all-heck, but a ride that just throws you around like a bucking bronco I love.

Just to throw something else in the mix, if you have ridden a Hurricane, like the one at Rye Playland, I wouldnt call it either rough, or Intense, just plain painful. Never again(shakes head in anguish)

I love wood coasters that throw you around in the car when you hit turns and pops of air and after you get off the ride you know you rode an awsome coaster.

I love the Wildcat at Hershey but last time I rode it back in 2002 it had 2 nasty spots that needed some work , at the bottom of the first drop and at the lowest part of the helix before the brakes.

I don't like them when you hit a turn and you yell "UGH!" and don't want to ride it again. Or even worse you yell it on a flat straight section of track like on Hercules. That just felt like the trains had square wheels.

I never minded the Arrow mega loopers, they are still some of my favorite rides. I don't care for SCL's though. On Arrows the restrains are closer to my neck and not on my ears.

Basicly I find if you need to ride a certain way on ca coaster, leaning forward to keep your back off the back of the seat or tilting your head into an OTSR it's a rough ride.

I've ridden almost 100 coasters. I know thats not a lot, but the only I have been on where I was hurt and just wanted to get off was Son of Beast. My knees and lower back were destroyed. I am 5'8 200lbs and in decent shape so I fit correctly in the seat. The lap bar design on SOB needs to be changed. Even my girlfriend complained.

nasai: You didn't happen to go to Suzuka for the F1 race, did you? Man, if there's one trip I'd love to make one of these years, it'd be to go see the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka and play around at the park there too...

So far, even Flashback I've ridden a few times. I always end up being sorta uncomfortable, but it's been fun enough that I've ridden it probably 7-8 times now. The only ride that I've ridden thus far that I most likely will never ride again (though I had someone tell me that I should try a non-wheel seat, so I'll probably at least give it one more shot) is Desperado in Primm, NV. Good lord, I have never been in that much pain in my entire life. It was like getting hit with a car in the side of my ribcage repeatedly. So.....much......pain.....