Surprises and disappointments in the amusement world

Agree with you on Gatekeeper. I had a fast pass when I went and even then, I rode 1x and thought....eh, I have no desire to repeat that experience. It was just a big ball of meh...

I also want to add Batman The Ride and Viper at SFGAM to my list of likes. I rode both on their first year of operation, and the public's fascination with Batman was just insane. The line was a staggering, at over 3 hours. However, the queue is so well done, and the themed music, and various sound effects, the 3 hours seemed to go by pretty quick. And, my friend and I both loved it, and I wanted to get right back in line and ride again! We opted to wait until just before closing for a night ride, and only waited a half hour. The night ride then, was pitch black and crazy fun!

As for Viper, and it's clone of the Coney Island Cyclone description. I really enjoyed it! It's does not look that fast while you are watching it from the Queue, but it gives one of the best air time filled rides of any wooden coaster I have been on. It is still my 2nd favorite wooden coaster, behind Shivering Timbers at MA.

I also like Big Dipper at Geauga Lake. The history of the coaster alone, made me wonder what people back in the 1920's, (before locking lap bars came along), thought of this great wooden coaster. With all the other coasters that have been saved, I'm surprised this one was not at the top of the list.

Biggest disappointments-in general what Paramount & KECO did to the fomer Taft Parks

The detheming and water removal at Carowinds over the year. What was once a beautiful park is not just a collection of mediocre rides.

Removal of the lake, steam train and trees around the Grizzly at Kings Dominion, althought KD is headed back in the right direction again.

Surprises:

• Mind Bender - Doesn't look like much, but overall an excellent ride. More airtime than usual for a looper.
• El Toro - The smoothness wasn't the biggest surprise for me....ascending the hill and seeing that monster first drop you're about to go down, still makes me wide-eyed.
• Storm Runner - Was my first launch coaster, before I knew launched coasters were a thing. When the ride stopped for the launch, I thought it had broken down....

Disappointments:

• Skyrush - I admire the sheer intensity of this thing, and it's pretty to walk by, but for me it's still Thighcrush.
• Steel Force - Seeing the orange track, bunny hills, and similar lift hill, I thought "oh sweet, it's just like Magnum!" Then I rode it....yeah, not so much.
• Mt. Olympus - This place is just bizarre. Terrible operations, the "indoor theme park", the giant dopey looking Trojan horse....

Skyrush to me was not a disappointment, because I really didn't think I would like it in the first place. It just didn't look like fun, and it's all stuck in a trapped corner, and it ruins the Comet's profile. After I realized that riding it put me in a lot of pain, I had actual fuel to rage against it. It's just a lousy ride, in my opinion.

But to me, it's not a disappointment, because I didn't think much of it before I rode it.

Steel Force is not a disappointment to me for another reason. I think it's fun, in a different kind of way than Magnum. I probably thought that it would be just like Magnum at first too, but I really like it for what it is.

I am worried about this Mt. Olympus place. I don't think I'll ever make a special trip to go there because of the negative way people here talk about it.

Travis, I didn't like the way Skyrush was crammed in a corner either. There is a rumor of another coaster going up at Hershey near Lightning Racer and Wildcat, and I can't figure out how they're gonna do that without aesthetically wrecking the nostalgic-y boardwalk-y feel. I'm all for adding new coasters, but I don't like a park jam packed to the point where it gets ugly. Even Cedar Point for all its coasters doesn't LOOK totally coaster filled no matter which way you turn. Hershey's so locked in there that I guess it is difficult to expand, but the placement of Skyrush IS pretty bad.

I've always adored Steel Force. It was my first really big coaster, one of my first true "envelope pushers". Plus, it is smooth, has plenty of airtime, AND it has plenty of room. I had the exact opposite reaction between Maggie and SF. I wasn't expecting Maggie to be so rough and lurching, and I hated it during my first venture out to the Point. You don't really need to worry about a bad seat on Steel Force, but Maggie you DEFINiTELY do. I honestly think Cedar Fair could have made a mistake picking such similar colors for the two, but most people wouldn't know any better or equate the two coasters to the same chain.

Hershey's already a hot mess, looks-wise, and each weird addition serves to ruin it further. They may as well go ahead as far as I'm concerned.
Not that I don't have a good time when I go, cause I do. (Skyrush = OMG great coaster. For me.) But all I can see there is what a pretty place it obviously used to be.

Cedar Point is beginning to suffer from that syndrome. Not to get into a charm discussion or anything, but sometimes I get the feeling all that's visible there is giant steel structures poking up into the sky, everywhere you look.
Ok... I guess it's not THAT bad a thing...

VTFanatic330 said:

• Steel Force - Seeing the orange track, bunny hills, and similar lift hill, I thought "oh sweet, it's just like Magnum!" Then I rode it....yeah, not so much.

You're right, it's nothing like Magnum - That's what makes it good.

For starters, SkyRush's shoehorned location is part of what makes that ride so epic for me (RCMAC, it's good to know I'm not alone for this). Hersheypark had barely any room to work with and rather than having a totally lackluster mini-hyper, they just shoved more intensity into a tiny plot than most rides with twice as much land could ever hope to deliver.

As to the point about Cedar Point, I think they've actually done a stellar job of using the roller coasters as scenery. Look at how many great photo opportunities there are there. They've turned coaster-riding into a spectator sport (in TTD's case, literally so), and I dare say that in many cases, that has added to the atmosphere. They've found a way to get even those who don't ride the coasters involved in the experience.

I loved Skyrush's layout and intensity. It was just the restraints that ruined it for me. If they could get decent restraints on that thing, it would easily be top 5 steel for me.

I've always loved Hershey, been going since I was a kid when Comet, Trailblazer and Sooperdooperlooper were the only coasters there. I was kind of bummed when Great Bear was built since it put the 'looper in its shadow, but I learned to like it. I dig the fact that there's a park Stateside* that has no issues intertwining coasters, and somehow Hershey does it and still maintains a beautiful park with a nostalgic feel to it while doing so.

*Nobody does it quite like Gröna Lund

I did not learn to like Great bear overshadowing Sooperdooperlooper, but I did get used to it. I do like the new path beside the coaster though. I think those who design and plan the layout of the park just have no clue what they are doing.

Oh, I'm sure they have a clue. If they didn't, things would be much, much worse.

SFA?

Surprises? I really love that little MaxAir at CP. Keep looking down at the ground the entire ride, and it really gives you that 'oh crap' feeling. For a non-coaster, it's pretty sweet.

Disappointments: The back 1/2 of Gatekeeper. Superman @ Great Flags New England. Maybe it was because it was 100 degrees the day I rode it...but I took 2 rides on it, looked around the park for another hour, and drive home. Simply unimpressed with the park overall.

Looking forward to checking out Quassy and Lake Compounce this summer. Have a feeling those will be surprises too...

Hersheypark is one of my favorite parks in part because of the insane number of rides they cram into The Hollow.

Cedar Point has lost some of the charm it had on my first visit in 1973 (when it had so many coasters to choose from -- four!). I miss Frontier Trail being an actual trail, for one thing. But it's still my absolute favorite park.

TechieTechie, Lake Compounce is a great park, and Boulder Dash is a blast.

Boulder Dash is the real deal. I loved that park.

My biggest surprise has to be Expedition Everest. My school's marching band went to Disney over spring break last year, and I refused to watch anything about it, to be taken completely by surprise. When we got to Animal Kingdom, my group got fast passes, which lead to front seat. I was totally amazed at the theming, and did not at all expect the backwards section

That's neat that you saved yourself from being informed so you could enjoy the ride more. I am one of those people that has to suck up every bit of info I can about new rides. There are times when I wish I would keep my nose out of it so that I could be more surprised. The only time I had no idea whatsoever what to expect what the mummy at Universal. I did not even know it was a roller coaster until I got halfway through the line.

Biggest surprise: Xcelerator at Knott's. I knew very little about it when I rode it for the first time and I ended up getting right back in line. Very intense and surprising launch!

Biggest disappointment: Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I rode it before it was remade into Escape From Krypton and I was a bit nervous at first. It looked very menacing from the ground but when I actually rode it the launch was not as intense as I thought it would be (and keep in mind that this was my first launch coaster). And when it finally reached the top of the hill I couldn't even tell I was very high up.

Two other disappointments worth mentioning were Scream and Riddler's Revenge also at SFMM. Very boring...I hope all B&M'S aren't this bad.