New Entries in the CoasterBuzz Top 100

RMC's Topper and IBox track technologies have existed for only a decade, and the company now has a total of 17 coasters, not including the 2 new Raptor track coasters that opened this year.

3 of them (18%) are in the top 10. 8 (47%) are in the top 20. That's ridiculously impressive.

I rode it several times last week. My first ride left me underwhelmed compared to Steel Vengeance. The more rides I got and especially after some night rides, it absolutely is fantastic. And unlike Steel Vengeance, it was sporting some reasonable wait times.

As for the general public, I don't think they are embracing it quite as much as folks at CP are loving Steel Vengeance. They seem happy at the end, but I heard several "Intimidator was better" and "we waited that long (30 mins) just for that?" - which I thought was quite silly.

2 is obviously too high and it'll probably come down as more people get there. This early in its life it's riders have pretty much been we Virginians and RMC fans hard-core enough to make a pilgrimage to VA for it. So those ratings are probably going to be higher on average.

As far as the rating goes I think it's a five star ride by the criteria of "among the best I've ridden" but my selection is (relatively) smaller than some since I don't like tall rides. I thought it would come in just above storm chaser since it's pretty much just a longer storm chaser that doesn't slow down at the end.

A statistically significant number of members rated the ride five stars so I’m not sure how you can qualify the score as “obviously too high.”

^^ Give Storm Chaser another chance. By the time I got there that first season they had altered the ride somehow (different wheels, I think) and the ride hauled right to the final brake. It was completely different than what I had seen on vids and it was almost excruciating.
I loved Twisted Timbers and gave it a high five. Also, my impression was (as it turned into the final stretch) it was just beginning to run out of steam. I didn’t complained about that, though.
All in all I thought the rides were fairly similar in size and experience, and that first drop should be included on every RMC ride. They e used it what, three times now?

Twisted Timbers may eventually lose its number two spot, like all the others have before it. But it won’t be because it doesn’t deserve to be there.

Vater said:

RMC's Topper and IBox track technologies have existed for only a decade, and the company now has a total of 17 coasters, not including the 2 new Raptor track coasters that opened this year.

3 of them (18%) are in the top 10. 8 (47%) are in the top 20. That's ridiculously impressive.

My memory is a little fuzzy these days, but I remember similar buzz about CCI installations in the early '00s and Gravity Group in the years that followed. Probably not in the territory that we're seeing with RMC, but definitely noteworthy. The difference would be that CCI and GG were new takes on traditional wood coaster whereas RMC is a new animal altogether.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying TT isn't an amazing coaster that deserves a high ranking. I have it at my personal no 1 right ahead of storm chaser. I'm just saying it's only at number two because it only has 35 riders and almost all of them gave it a deserved five stars. As more difficult to impress enthusiasts vote it's going to go down. There's no way it should be ranked over fury imo

Those 35 ratings are from the top half of people rating, in terms of quantity of rides they've ranked. They're already the experienced riders.

I'll never understand how discussion about a subjective ranking can delve into proving how it is objectively wrong or "too high".

My hypothesis is that the most enthusiastic new riders make an extraordinary effort to ride a new ride they are already interested in, and therefore, the first people to ride and rank it lean towards higher scores. In other words, the people who ride first are predispositioned to rate higher than the people who are more casual about getting on the ride "eventually".

The result is that scores drop over time as those ratings come in later.

bigboy said:
I'll never understand how discussion about a subjective ranking can delve into proving how it is objectively wrong or "too high".

What else are rankings for other than discussing where they are ranked?

There’s nothing wrong with discussion, but trying to rationalize why an opinion that you disagree with is wrong is a pretty low form of discussion.

bigboy said:

My memory is a little fuzzy these days, but I remember similar buzz about CCI installations in the early '00s and Gravity Group in the years that followed. Probably not in the territory that we're seeing with RMC, but definitely noteworthy. The difference would be that CCI and GG were new takes on traditional wood coaster whereas RMC is a new animal altogether.

Some of those CCI coasters were fantastic and absolutely were some of the best coasters around at the time. For the most part, they did not age well, and it is interesting how many of them are already gone.

I don't know that there was any inherent design flaw as much as they weren't cared for. Geauga Lake's Villain got worse every year, but so did Raging Wolf Bobs, which had been around for decades. They both got a little better under Cedar Fair, but not great.

Very true. Raven is still in fantastic shape and obviously is at a park where it gets the care it deserves.

I still remember the absolutely awesome rides on Villain circa 2000/2001. Night rides on a hot summer evening had airtime that is comparable to the RMC coasters of today.

While Villain had some really good moments and some good airtime, it never came close to the kind of ejector air the RMC coasters have.

I believe Iron Rattler once occupied the number two spot overall when Fury 325 was number one, and IR has since declined to sixteen overall.

In reading through the list I realized I've only been on 28 of the top 100. I need to get out to theme parks more!

Re: Twisted Timbers, apparently there was an ACE event there recently. That might explain the sudden ranking.

Kings Dominion must have drugged the gravy...