What are your "Quintessential" Coasters?

By "Quintessential", I mean the coaster that you compare similar coasters to in your mind. I'll better explain by way of example:

Whenever I ride a hyper-style coaster, I immediately think of how it compares to Magnum. Now Magnum isnt my favorite though it was my first. I often think of the euphoric feeling I got from that ride and if the new ride gives any feeling like that.

Conversely, when I think of Woodies, I think of Viper @ SFGAm. It is also not my favorite, nor my first, but it has a lot of the elements that I think a good woodie should have: suprises, laterals and oh yeah airtime.

For Inverts its B:TR @ SFGAm, mine trains - Space Mountain, but supisingly, I dont have one for loopers. Just Wondering.
lata,
jeremy
--who still likes "The Price is Right"

Racing coasters I think of Gemini, even though the 2 other racers I have been on were wood. I expect good handslapping which is part of the fun. On PKI's racer this is impossible for obvious reasons, and I've been on Kennywood Racer about 10 times and have never slapped anybody's hands. They all just looked at me like I was a freak (well I know that but gosh).

-----------------
Save Cheese on a stick!

When I think of a hypercoaster, I think of Raging Bull. RB is the best hypercoaster, IMO. The ride has great views of the park (when your on the lift). The airtime is great, and I hate people bashing on it because it's trimmed, which the trim breaks don't do anything. The ride dives in itself a lot. My favorite part of the ride is the third hill, the hill that is "over" the train station. It fells like you are floating in the air. It's better in the left end seat. The figure-eight helix is a feature that I would like to see on more hypers. Any hypercoaster that I ride next, I'll compare it to RB, but the coaster would have to be "amazingly awesome" to be better then RB.

When I'm riding an inverted, I think if it's better then Dueling Dragons or Vertical Velocity. I don't know any other coaster that can compare to DD's dueling effect.

When I'm riding a woodie, I think of Viper at SFGAm. I don't really like wooden coasters because they don't thrill me as such as a steel.

-------------
"Duff Man Says... Ohhh Yeah!"
Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Dueling Dragons (Ice)

*** This post was edited by StealthmF5m3 on 10/12/2001. ***

hyper: Raging Bull, but I haven't ridden Magnum yet and considering that Magnum started it all I might start basing hypers on Magnum.

inverteds: Batman @ SFGA  'twas the first and the only other one that comes close that I have ridden was Dueling Dragons.

sitdown: Kumba.  hands down.

stand-up: Iron Wolf.  partially because its the only one that I've ridden so far and partially because it ushered in the era of B&M.

wooden: depends.  out and back-American Eagle (red), twister-Viper @ SFGA, but that would probably change if I ever get out to NY and ride Viper's grandpa, Cyclone.

in case you can't tell, I have to travel more.

-----------------
Jay and Silent Bob have left the building ~Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Ghostrider is my standard for woodies, I know it the best and judge others against it.  It is high on my list but not at the top.
S:RoS SFNE is the 10(+5 on the Griswold scale :^)) on my steel scale, when I find an eleven it will be time to re-think.

*** This post was edited by boblogone on 10/12/2001. ***

Nice idea for a topic...

Steel coasters are a tough call for me, because there are so many that I like, but very few that I am crazy about.  Nitro is probably my favorite, and would probably be the coaster that I would compare all hypers to.  Of course, if I rode one of the S:ROS coasters, I would probably use that one as a "measuring stick".  As far as looping ones go, it would be a B&M, probably Kumba if it was a standard looping coaster, or Batman if it was an inverted ride.  While its not my favorite, I spent a lot of time on Batman before I rode any other B&M inverts, and therefore is the coaster that I compare Great Bear and Talon to.

In the woodies department, I compare everything to one ride, my personal favorite, the Phoenix.  In my eyes, it is the perfect coaster... I understand it is an out-and-back, but there are some laterals to be had on the last turnaround, so for me, it does offer a little bit of everything (including a LOT of airtime).  Its a coaster that seems to do everything right, all of the time.  For me to ride a woodie and like it more than the Phoenix, well, that would be something amazing!

I'll go with Magnum, too. As for wooden coasters, for me, Cedar Point's Blue Streak is the measuring stick. Anything steel with inversions has to meet the benchmark set by Cedar Point's Corkscrew: does it's thing and does it well. Hmmm... apparently I'm all about Cedar Point. Racing coasters have to meet the standard set by Kennywood's Racer.

Hmmm...I don't normally do this. However, I rate all other Arrow loopers by Viper at SFMM. I sometimes try to rate wooden coasters to Ghostrider's standards, but after finding that that's a prime way to be let down I stopped doing so!

Hypercoasters: SROS at SFNE, the best in its category in my opinion so I compare all hypers to it.

Inverted; Montu is the first intense invert i went on and stiil one of the best. Very original elements and so most inverts cannot compare in the inversion category.

Sit-down loopers; Kumba

I compare inverts to B:TR, because I most familiar with it. I compare stand-ups to Iron Wolf, for the same reason. I don't really compare any other types.
-----------------
Bull rides: 103
Batman rides: 61

i compare wooden coasters to Ghostrider... but i dont like doing that cause now everything else sucks

When I'm riding a wooden, it's usually stood up against Raven or Legend.(of course:))  Hyper, would be Magnum, which isn't hard to beat IMO.  And Inverts get tested by B:TR...it's the first, and still the best IMO.

-----------------
-Kurtis Borowiak
"Hold on tight, with all your might, and enjoy your flight on the Raven!"

Ever since I rode Ghostrider, I have found every woodie afterwards to be somewhat disappointing.  With the exception of Tremors, which is also a CCI, I have found little to compare.  Although, I should say that recently I was able to ride the Coaster Thrill Ride in Puyallup, WA after a long hiatus, and it rose several notches in my belt of coaster rankings.  For steel, I still absolutely love the original layout of Drachen Fire, and get all misty eyed just thinking about it.  I only rode it in its opening season, and I was never able to ride the re-tracked version, so to speak.  There is no steel coaster alive today that offers the unique elements that DF thrilled me with, especially the inversion on the descent.  As a child, I always dreamed of creating a coaster with an inversion on the drop so as to put the rider back in the direction he had just come from.  DF was an answer to my dreams, and after, all my steel experiences are a bit lacking, sad to say............I did really enjoy SD2K, though it just felt like a standard coaster built to a much larger scale.
-----------------
There is more...!
http://www.geocities.com/ethylsite

This is going to be a tough call. I can't narrow it down to a single coaster in each catagory.

For a wood coaster it's shared by the Phoenix and the Thunderbolt.

For steel, it's Momba and Goliath.

That's my opinion, what's yours?

Yes, a very tough thought.
Honestly, the first of ANY type that you ride that is good becomes YOUR own personal benchmark.

Invert:               Batman
Stand UP:         Riddler
Wooden:          GhostRider
Suspended:       Ninja
Floorless:          Knight Flight
Hyper/Sitdown: Millenium Force
Looper:             Viper @ SFMM
Mine Train:        Runaway @ Disneyland
Impulse:            Speed or S:UE
Wood Dipper:   Blue Streak
Bobsled:            Disaster Transport
Smoothness:      Goliath
-----------------
My other car is a Giovanola!

*** This post was edited for format by LoadedG on 10/13/2001. ***

*** This post was edited by LoadedG on 10/13/2001. ***

Magnum remains the hyper-steel benchmark for me.

And something between Raptor and Batman for inverteds. I seem to use both of them ; fast or slow paced, if that makes sense.

Wood would have to be The Raven.   

Kraken for the floorless and sitdown B&M looper.

Shockwave at SFGAm for Arrow loopers.

-----------------
Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

Ok, here's my two cents...

Steel:

7.) Viper SFoG (defunct)

6.) Top Gun PC

 5 .) Raptor CP

  4.) Wildcat CP

  3 .) Mindbender SFoG

 2 .) Gemini CP

 1 .) Millennium Force CP

 

Wood

5.) Hurler PC

4.) GASM SFoG

3.) GA. Cyclone SFoG

2.) The Racer PKI

1.) The Beast PKI

-----------------
Millennium Force: The 8th Wonder of the World!

Wooden twisters:  CI Cyclone, the original, still one of the greatest

Wooden out-n-backs:  used to be a John Allen freak, but after the Phoenix and ThunderHawk, I'll say Phoenix is an airtime MACHINE, and has taken over.

Wooden free-form/terrain...Raven!  short track length is MEANINGLESS when you can't see anything...

Steel Inverted...Alpie!  I don;t know why this coaster gets dissed, the theming, the height, speed, terrain - too good! 

Steel Sit-Down (w/inversions):  Kumba, post-rehab.  The ride was brought back to life last winter :~)!

Steel speed coaster:  S:RoS, sorry MF lovers...

Steel launch:  S:UE, at least until I get to Hypersonic...

-----------------
rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you

I compare all rides to Cedar Point's Iron Dragon. That way I'm always pleased.

-------------
www.ROLLOPLANE.com
Putting the Amusement back in the Park