SFGAdv Medusa listicle

This isn't really news, but there are some cool photos and facts about the first floorless coaster, rebranded back to Medusa this year:

Medusa is back: 12 secrets of Great Adventure classic roller coaster

One of the things I remember most vividly when it opened was everyone hoping the next one would be built near them. The floorless thing was a truly novel concept at the time, even though we now take it for granted. I got my first ride on a floorless at Geauga Lake on Batinator, but I did get on Medusa a year or two after.

I don't typically love coasters with a lot of inversions, but I always liked Medusa's flow. It was really re-ridable, too; I recall getting 3 or 4 consecutive rides (without getting off) on a late afternoon in 2002 when there was no line. I usually can't do that many re-rides before I'm spent (or nauseous). And that zero-g was excellent.

For as much as folks criticize B&M for the similarities between rides of that era, the thing overlooked is that it was a pretty great sequence.

Rode it 20 years ago and don’t remember much about it? I remember loving Nitro though.

It lists Scream! Ride out loud at SFMM as a mirror image clone. I rode it in February and don't remember much about it. But they way they placed it, it doesn't seem special at all. It's like they were in RCT and all the squares turned blue so they pushed the button. Though I will say the whole screampunk theming with Twisted Colossus makes it a little bit cooler.

Is Scream! still a parking lot coaster? While I rode it in 2006 that's the only thing I remember about it.

It's weird how Scream! is not a favorite and Medusa/Bizaro is a favorite. Could it be that Magic Mountain has much better coasters to compare the clones to than Great Adventure?

I’ll take Nitro over Goliath, Kingda Ka over Supes and El Toro over everything at MM but maybe?

Scream was installed right on top of a parking lot. The lines are still there and everything! I think that’s probably a major factor as to why Medusa is favored.

I like the entrance under the cobra roll, that's a solid design choice. Also, look at the Covid testing lines at SFMM on Google Maps.

Vater:

I recall getting 3 or 4 consecutive rides (without getting off) on a late afternoon in 2002

They were doing that on Monday - I think you had to change seats (or at least leave your seat) but it beat walking all the way down and back up. Twice was enough for me, however. Could have been exacerbated by heat and dehydration.

It's weird to me that they don't seem to have ever made any attempt in the last 20 years to fill in the space between the mine train and Medusa*. There's the concert venue which rarely seems to be used (except at Halloween maybe?) But otherwise, just a long winding walk. It keeps the lines down, but it seems like they would have done something more by now.

*Or Bizarro. Medusarro? Bizzusa? Mezuzah?

Mulfinator:

Is Scream! still a parking lot coaster?

Yeah.

Was there a few months ago and honestly, the entrance and all that looked quite nice... Trees have grown in a bit and it looked quite lush. However, the ride still just over pavement/parking lot otherwise.

About Medusa v. Scream, I will say Medusa tends to run a bit better overall in my experience. Smoother, less rattle. Scream both trips to SFMM was a bit more headache inducing, that's for sure, but otherwise it's the same damn ride. So if you like one, the other should float your boat, too.

I feel like Medusa was installed as the big new thing for Great Adventure with a lot of fanfare, whereas Scream almost screamed (see what I did there?) of joining the park simply to get their coaster count up.

Medusa was built in 1999 as the first floor coaster ever. Scream was built in 2003 in a parking lot following Goliath and X and preceeding Tatsu. In every way, it was an afterthought.

I remember drooling over the "Floorless Four" in 2000 (B:KF-inator, S:KC, Medusa West, and Kraken). All of them have stood the test of time as very solid rides, even 20+ years later.

I rode SFDK's Medusa a few times when we visited back in 2012. I don't remember much about the ride itself other than it was enjoyable, but I do remember how much the station's removable floor panels reminded me of the moving panels in Portal 2 videogame. One of those "if I worked here..." moments, there would definitely be a few Aperture Laboratories logos discreetly hidden around the station. Glad to see they're still running well (or at lease the east coast version, dunno how SFDK's is doing)

SFDK's is running as well as ever. I rode it a few weeks ago and it felt like they were leaving the MCBR wide open. The ending section was as intense as I've ever felt it.