Leviathan Reviews

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any Leviathan reviews on this site yet. Has anyone on Coaster Buzz ridden it? If so, what are your thoughts?

You'll find plenty of comments / reviews on various coaster websites. The general consensus seems to be that it's most comparable to Millenium Force, with a big focus on sheer speed and turns -- which makes it different from Behemoth, with its focus on hills. Here is the real POV video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cym2hj4SVqw

After watching the video, I'm kind of shocked how long the lift and final brake run are; the animations didn't do these elements justice. The lift I don't have a problem with; I think that'll build anticipation. But, the final brake run seems unexpectedly awkward.

Otherwise, it seems like a great new coaster! I read that a head-chopper tunnel is going to be added before CW's opening day. It seems like Cedar Fair did a really nice job with the entrance, station, and sprucing up the surrounding area.

That brake run is longer than some coasters I've been on. Looks like a fun ride overall.

Long breakrun so they can run three trains.

They've only had a media day/cold open thus far; park officially opens on Sunday

I got one ride on it Friday evening. I did like it. Would have been better if were 30 degrees warmer. It was a cold and windy day like those at Cedar Point in October. I love airtime, so wasn't ex[ecting much from the ride. The ending is a disappointment though. It has so a lot of speed when it hits the brakes. Wish they would have spent a few more million on making it longer. I will be going bacl up there in September. Hopefully have a warmer day to enjoy it more.

I'm a little disappointed about the actual ride length. I saw that it was a 3.5 minute ride, and I was figuring at least 1.5 minutes would be the actual ride.

In reality, I studied the youtube videos of both Millenium and Leviathan. Here were my results:

Leviathan:

1:25 Lift

0:55 Ride

1:10 Brake Run

Millenium Force:

0:30 Lift

1:10 Ride

0:35 Brake Run

So, Millenium Force is still actually a longer ride time. Leviathan's advertised 3.5 minute ride time was just a product of the archaic lift and inefficient brake run. I guess I should have paid better attention to track length before getting excited.

I know some of the more recent B&M megacoasters are really uninspired after the MCBR, but I wonder if in this case (Leviathan) the height and length of the MCBR-station brake run was built the way it was to allow the wheels to recover from higher speeds. The last 300+ footer CF built seemed to struggle with that.

Wow. Leviathan's brake run is as long as MF's ride time.

You know how the Millenium Force riders are all riled up and cheering once they enter the station after riding? I wonder if Leviathan's riders will be sleeping... ;)

Interesting point, BullGuy. I don't think Millenium Force had I-305's problem with melting wheels, but I could see B&M being overly cautious with their first giga.

I wonder if having a separate exit station rather than a super long brake run was considered?

Probably not, due to loose articles/retrieval..

You better believe Millennium had a problem with melting wheels the first year! CP ended up switching from polyurethane to nylon, increasing the speed from 92 to 93 mph.

Does anyone else notice the little "nudges" in the trajectory the BMs that open this year seem to have?

I'm specifically talking about the twist in the track half way through the turnaround for example.

(I notices some similar moments on the Oziris POV as well - seems to be something B&M would have avoided in the past.)

If I think I know what you mean, they're present on Raging Bull, Apollo's Chariot and Nitro as well.

Yeah, you can see it here, although it may be a little more pronounced with Leviathan.

Got 4 rides in this week on Leviathan, 2 in the front and 2 in the back, thought it was fantastic. It's very intense with eye-watering speed, there's some surprising air time and a couple of great head choppers. The head chopper before the turn around brought most of the hands on the train down and made a friend duck.

I enjoyed the rides in the front more than those in the back. The intensity and air time pops were non-stop on the front right until it hits the break run. Especially the small hop after the first curve, smooth but also felt chaotic. The pops of airtime in the back seats are great for the first half but it lost a bit of steam after the turnaround.

It would be nice if a bit longer and the long break run is a bit odd. But it's intense, tight, and delivers so can't complain too much. This ride really may surprise people, I'll be curious to hear what others think of it.

The brake run looks unbearable.

Well, I finally took my first trip to Canada's Wonderland this past Thursday, May 31st. First off, from what I've read on these forums, I was expecting the park to be packed with hour+ waits for everything, requiring a Fast Lane. But, I was very happy to find that the park was empty, especially for the perfectly sunny, 70-degree weather. So, it's clear that the same rules apply to CW; there's no capacity problem if you choose the right time to visit.

Let me start off by saying that I made this a 1-day trip from OH and back, so I was incredibly exhausted at times and going on very little sleep. This may have diluted by experience on Leviathan somewhat.

I was at the park right at the 10AM opening until the 6PM close. I avoided the temptation of Leviathan / Behemoth at opening, figuring this is what everyone was doing. I headed straight for all the other coasters, walking on each. Within about 2 hours, I had ridden them all, even the baby Vekoma / wooden coaster. I then made a round of all the flats that I found interesting in the park, and another loop of most the coasters again. So, I took the whole park in rather than marathon Leviathan. I wish I had ridden it more, as it was near a 5-minute wait every time I walked past.

Anyway, I rode Leviathan first around noon. Here's a funny tidbit...every single person in line was trying to wait for the very front seat. The entire station was completely empty except a straight line to the front. An employee started forcing us to fill the trains to keep the line moving, so I was unable to wait for the front. I settled for the 2nd row.

I thought that the lift felt much faster than it looked in the video, and I enjoyed the view. As for the ride...it felt so incredibly smooth and forceless; there were definitely no times of greying-out as I do on Intamin's giga coasters. The ride felt like it was over very fast, and the brake run felt much faster than it looks in that video -- I never even thought about it when riding really. My 2 friends and I were just completely silent after riding, as if no one cared about it. I felt disappointed and thought about how much more I like Millenium Force and how Leviathan felt like every other B&M. My friend commented, "I think Behemoth was longer, better, and more interesting."

The 2nd ride was right at closing. Again, I tried for the front, but the guy said the line for the front had been cut for the night, and I'd have to fill the train. I went up to a different employee and asked if we could just try for the front seat, and she smiled with a "Sure you can try."

We made it with 2-3 trains to spare. The very front seat of the ride just made all the difference for us. The first drop seemed incredible, it felt insanely fast to the end, I enjoyed the turns and noted the pops of airtime, the view was awesome, and I was smiling ear-to-ear the whole time. As soon as we hit the brake run, I wiped my eyes and looked at my friends' tear-filled faces. I exclaimed how awesome it was, and one friend commented, "That was WAY better than Millenium Force ever hoped to be!" (I personally would still give the nod to Millenium, but we all LOVED that front seat ride of Leviathan.) It was the perfect way to end a perfect day; I thoroughly enjoyed the park.