Most of us will agree that the Coney Island Cyclone, Kennywoods Thunderbolt and Jackrabbit and perhaps Belmont Park's Giant Dipper are considered all time classic coasters.
Which of the more modern coasters do you think are worthy of this category? ( Will be memorable for generations to come)
My thoughts would be that PKI's The Beast and perhaps Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 are on their way to being hailed as classics.
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"Clear, Dispatch"
I agree with you although I would add virtually every CCI produced coaster. Shivering Timbers, Ghostrider, Tremors, Boulder Dash, etc. etc.
They are a ways out from being claimed as classics, I am afraid, but I personally can't see how they won't eventually be recognized. Just an opinion...:) Even though the new Giga coasters (Millennium Force and Steel Dragon 2000) have been just recently built, I can't imagine either eventually being claimed by ACE as classics. Both are intense in their own ways, but neither coaster has enough diversity to be looked at through the years as a coaster that changed the way we ride. Yes, both are over 300 feet tall, but that is pretty much what both rides are about. Neither offers anything other than speed, and some moderate airtime. Again, just an opinion. And YES, I have ridden both!
*** This post was edited by nasai on 7/30/2001. ***
Agreed, nasai. I knew Millenium Force wowuld come up. I think that today it stands as one of the world's best, but in time how many more coasters will be over 300 feet.
It was the first GigaCoaster, but then again who can remember the first Suspended or Inverted coaster? (Don't quote me on that) :)
Anyway, what does everybody else think about Millenium Force being considered a new classic coaster??
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"Clear, Dispatch"
BATMAN: The Ride is a new classic. its been cloned a bunch of times and people still wait over an hour to ride it. plus it was the first of its kind.
Ride it, I agree with you too, although I personally think Raptor is a much better ride, and LONGER! Batman does rock, and it was the first. Hmmmmm....
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;)Rollercoasters are like parrots...if you take care of them, they should outlive you;)
Nasai, when you talk about ACE classics, you're referring to a very limited set of coasters. ACE's Classic status is only given to wooden coasters that meet certain criteria. Take a look at
http://www.aceonline.org/classics.htm to see what those criteria are. Unless ACE changes their guidelines, I doubt that any modern coasters will become ACE classics.
As far as classics among other coaster enthusiasts, your guess is as good as mine.
Jeremy
I do believe that in one of the latest issues of ACE New, ACE is considering changing some of the requirements for an ACE coaster classic as more and more parks are changing their classic rides and updating them with safer, newer technology.
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www.geocities.com/coastersrz I`ve riden Son of Beast 43 times!
# 1 coaster fan said:
"Raptor Definitely"
Agreed.
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Top 3 things I hate:
3.Red Lights 2.Lines
1.SFWoA ride op's :)
Looking at that list, it seems that the deffinition of an ACE classic is dependent on mostly the coaster trains and not the coaster itself.
In today's litigation happy society, more and more parks are refitting their coasters with new trains or refurbishing their trains in ways that make a coaster otherwise elegible to be considered a classic, a non-classic.
What amazes me is, by ACE's deffinition, 4 surviving Herb Schmeck coasters (Hershey's Comet, Dorney's Thunderhawk, Knoebels Phoenix, Great Escape's Comet), all of which were built between 1923 and 1947, are NOT classics because of modifications to their trains, but yet if a park were to build for 2002 a 900 ft long, 30 foot tall, lack luster wood coaster and put a bench seated - headrest less - single positon lap bar train on it where you could pick your own seat, it would technically classify for Classic status. That doesn't make sense to me. Make it 25 years or more.
Somehow, the number of years a coaster has been running should have something to do with it.
Then again, with the ACE criteria as is, it makes the decision cut and dried. If it would go by that 25 year category, everyone would be claiming that their favorite coaster, if it is 25 years old or older, should be a classic.
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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."
*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 7/30/2001. ***
SLFAKE makes a good point. I always thought it was funny that Zach's Zoomer is listed as an ACE classic. It's a fun kids' coaster, but a classic by definition only.
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I don't like your tone, chris...