Every Manufacturer's Most POLARIZING Coaster 

How much you want to bet skyrush will be intamins

I rode both sides of Racer last month. One side was fun and smooth. The other beat me up and I hated it.

For Dinn Corp., old Texas Giant was really divisive back in the '90s and early 2000s. Crazy intense with some great airtime, but a bit on the rougher side, and the laterals were considered to be outright brutal by a lot of people.

Another polarizing B&M is _Riddler's Revenge_ at Magic Mountain, which some people dismiss as a stand-up but others love.

As I get older, Boss becomes lower and lower on my favorites list at St. Louis. With each ride, I feel my brain turning to a paste more and more. It used to be my favorite at the park, but I think it's a one and done deal for me. I might try again next year, since I haven't been there since 2019. Also, American Thunder is quite underrated.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Magnum for a while and on the "janky" side of that one. But I rode it again last month at Halloweekends and it really grew on me. And on that note, because Dorney Is one of my home parks, I'm certainly one who will defend Steel Force. In a way, they both feel like the same ride - red hypers at Cedar Fair parks not by B&M with some big floater hills, a pretzel turnaround and some small ejector hills at the end.

I have a video idea: how about a “1st-Place Prime Ride Time, By The Numbers”. A video ranking all the coasters that had the most prime ride time in each of their videos.

10:14 I got a really good ride on Steel Force the two times I’ve been to Dorney. It was in August too, and the mid-corse brakes weren’t hitting at all. It was perfect.

Colossus at Thorpe park is polarising. I love it for the inversions, but my friends hate it and refuse to ride with me saying it’s too rough and painful.

Remember in March 2018 when Taylor gave Steel Vengeance the “The Same Thing Enthusiasts Were Thinking With Millenium Force in 1999” Award?

magnum is in my top 4 at cp. it has such great airtime and never has a wait😊

And Racer at Kings Island restarted people’s obsession of roller coasters in 1972

Finally Raging Bull getting some love and recognition. Six Flags Great America is my home park, I've probably been on raging bull a 100 times. Definitely should ride in the back, being whipped down that first drop is amazing and the small pre-drop definitely helps to eject you out of your seat.

A few european options: Intamin - Furius Baco or tornado at bakken B and M - any dive machine PTC - Grand national RCCA - Bandit CCI - tonerre de zeus GCI - Wodan (maybe due to the assigned seating) Gerstlauer - SAW Also - "Schwarzkopf don't have any truly great coasters".. Alpina Bahn, Lisebergbanan, Jetline, olympia looping and teststrecke say hi!

I've ridden a bunch of coasters on this list, and I'm in the love them camp. My credits are Magnum, Beast, Racer, Flight of Fear, Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket, and the Rock and Roller Coaster. Magnum is my favorite of the bunch, and I ride it at least twice every Cedar Point visit.

Mindbender in West Edmonton Mall is polarizing. It’s old and can rattle yes but growing up here it’s always been high on my list and I love the speed and variety on it. The final brake run is very intense though.

Great list. I definitely agree with your picks. Even my sister and I riding some of them side by side will still have different opinions on them. She adores Rip Ride Rockit and Mine Blower, but I'm getting a headache just thinking about them. Then I think Shivering Timbers is better than Voyage and she's a one and down with it(she thinks Wolverine Wildcat was the best ride in the park).

The way you describe Zamperla, they sound like the perfect company to reimagine Top Thrill Dragster...

Another polarizing pick for RMC is Twisted Colossus. Just by looking at it and hearing things from other enthusiasts, some people love it for its layout, and others hate it for its poor operation.

I love Shivering Timbers so much to the point its my 3rd favorite woodie and I rank it above X2, Ghostrider and other amazing rides.

Sky Rush is all about sitting on the inside seats and sitting on the outside. I have no problem with the inside seats and I find the ride enjoyable. It’s not an easy coaster to reride, so I try to ride it early and late in the day. Having some lower body muscles may help!

right as i saw the title, i knew skyrush was coming 😭

Rip Ride Rockit is good. Fun layout with good forces. The midcourse breaks don’t really kill the ride for me since the drops off of them usually offer good airtime, and I don’t remember it feeling too rough on either of my rides on it.

For Togo i would say Fujiyama is polarizing. Many people hate it, but i personally love it. If you know what you get it is really fun

CONGRATULATIONS. YOU FINALLY GAVE SON OF BEAST SOME RESPECT. GREAT VID BRO.

8:51 I was looking at the winners and losers of 2022 and thought slinky dog dash was gonna be the most polarizing mack rides coaster and BAM

I loved my time in the UK but they had some ROUGH rides. In Thorpe Park, Colossus was shaky, but was renowned for once having the most inversions in the world. The current coaster with the most loops in the world is even worse. Smiler at Alton Towers is BAD. One ride, and I was done 😂.

I did not know that racer was polarizing. I live in Cincy and ride it all the time, I love it because of the airtime and smooth ride. The blue side is smoother though

airtime thrills, i dont wanna burst your bubble but magic mountain is my home park and you are literally the only person that i know that can bear riding viper

Oh, I look forward to the day when you get a chance to ride Swamp Fox: from barely rideable in 2020 to elite in 2022, I have had the opportunity to ride it at both its best and arguably worst (the six coasters in Myrtle beach overall are an odd bunch, as half are SBF Visa spinners. Nonetheless, Fun in the Sun at Funplex is arguably the best in their catalog, if only in the Hamster Wheel). As far as your picks are concerned, I am in the camp that Steel Force at Dorney delivers on the airtime (full train and later in the day also helped bolster this opinion). As for Hades 360, could you imagine if they ever converted it to a stand-up train with VR headsets on a one-second time delay? As always, great video.

I love scorpion at BGT I rate It higher than Cheeta Hunt for its pacing and layout. Especially for how good of rides it gives after almost 50 years

8:23 now that a year later its been updated with better restraints, now we can choose a different Intamin 😊

I agree with most of these. Though for Magnum I'm in the camp that it's way too painful. If only the ejector didn't bruise my thighs so bad. I also did a stupid this summer and went on it when I had sprained my back. Note to self. NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!!! ;) Also had the same experience with Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom.

Update: The top thrill dragster refurbishment by Zamperla is now the WORLD’s most polarising coaster

Chris, can you plz rank the best 80s pop songs and the coasters that go with it?

I was very surprised that you mentioned Hyperion as a controversial coaster. I've heard some people say that it has a noticeable rattle or a terrible queue line (I disagree with the first take and kinda agree with the second one), but I've never heard anyone calling it a bad ride - the only question is whether it is better or worse than Zadra, but having a legitimate argument of competing with such a monster RMC is a pretty good sign, I'd say :) Polarising coasters in Europe that I can think of off the top of my head: - Bandit: A lot of people seem to hate it, but I thought it was a lot of fun and I've talked to a number of people who agree. Night Rides in the front row are wild. - The Smiler & Saw: The Ride: Both are well-themed with fun layouts, but they do have a rattle and/or potholes that ruin the ride for some people. - Furius Baco: Smiler and Saw cranked up to 11: Fast and intense but pretty bumpy, especially in certain seats. - Nemesis Inferno: This ride gets unfairly trashed (or rather ignored), mostly due to its name, I think. Yes, it is worse than the original Nemesis, but I've heard quite a number of people agreeing with me that this is definitely a solid and fun Invert. I liked all of them, but I've heard quite a number of people disliking them.

I agree that Mamba in the past has not been impressive, but did you get a chance to ride it this year? After they replaced the old operating system on the mid course, it now moves pretty well through the back half of the layout, those brakes barely slow you down at all now.

shivering timbers is one of the best woodies ever if u sit on a non-wheel seat. but if you sit on a wheel seat, it's literally a mile's worth of PAIN

just a thought, due to the england vs us football match on friday, a uk park vs us park (you can choose ur best contender for both) and make a video like ur american football ones sorry if this don’t make sense😭

My favorite way to cheat at the coaster count is to count each individual song on Hollywood Rip-Ride-Rockit as a separate credit.

My biggest flex: I know someone who's ridden 1 whole Jinma (a Fruit Worm Coaster from Tunisia)

Racer at kings island is much better after the retract. It will always be one that I can only ride one a visit. I went with a friend in high school and she insisted on riding it like 20 times in a row ( and this was in the 90’s). I had such a headache

Still amazes me that since Son of Beast opened in 2000 there has not been a woody to even come close to height, speed, or that length again. PS..... I do not count RMC conversions as woodies. I really enjoyed this video. I also had some nice memories flashback when seeing some of these coasters.

I agree with you, Magnum is awesome!

If I just include the coasters I've ridden they'd be Viper, X2, Magnum XL-200; Raging Bull, TMNT Shellraiser, Hangtime, Goliath at SFMM; Jersey Devil and Revolution. I like most of them better than their relative reputation except 1: Magnum XL-200 (which I realize isn't fair since I like Viper which is probably inferior to Magnum but not as overrated and better within the park); 2: TMNT Shellraiser which I only rode once and found it rough (which also might not be fair since I loved Hangtime which isn't as long, tall fast and extreme); 3: Goliath at SFMM which I only rode once somewhere in the back car during the entire three days I visited. To be clear: I didn't like Viper a much as I liked Riddler's Revenge or X2, neither of which I liked better than Twisted Colossus. I liked Raging Bull not only better than Nitro but also Leviathan. The only other B&M hyper I've ridden is Behemoth which I like better than the other three I've ridden. I 1st rode Raging Bull in the middle and found airtime in places I wouldn't expect to feel it in the back of most B&M hypers, (like the twisted dive to the left after having risen up after the 1st camelback before the relatively boring turnaround before the post MBR dive) let alone the middle (car 5)! In fact: there are seven strong airtime moments in the back seat of Raging Bull. It's the best coaster at SFGA Illinois. TMNT Shellraiser was little rough and I only had time to ride it once when I was there (due to exhaustion of having landed after being delayed at Toronto for a PCR test after a sleepless overnight flight from Vancouver). Jersey Devil is a longer taller and faster ride than its more whippy prototypes which is good for me since I'm 52 years old and prefer diffusing the cue time with a longer ride, especially if it's also taller and faster. I rode it so often I had to take the soft restraints off to avoid shoulder pain from many rides in car 12. I enjoyed it all four days I visited. On my last day there I was riding El Toro with a ride op I had on J.D. during my 1st day and told him I had to finally take off the soft shoulder restraints and he replied "we all do that!" I loved this video: thanks for posting!

I think you forget Der Schwur des Kärnan and Karacho for Gerstlauer :)

Personally, I loved Mine Blower. I got much better airtime than I did on most of the wooden rides I've been on, and while I got off and wasn't clamoring to get back on, it didn't give me as bad of a headache as Thunderhead did.

I mean, if you want to talk about actual Morgan airtime... Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio is nothing but airtime so powerful, it hurts.

Raging Bull is at my home park and its polarizing to me based on where I sit. In the back is the only way Ill go, best airtime, smoothest ride etc. On my last trip, one time I rode second row from the front and there was way more of an uncomfortable rattle and going up to the final brakes just massively YANKED my head back and forth. I dont feel that in the back at all. It also didnt help that someone in the row behind me was screaming "F YOUUUUUUUU!" as loud as he could. But in the back, I love it to death.

For B&M, Silver Star is polarising over here in europe. You either like it or think its forceless

Honestly my vote for most controversial PTC is Wild One at Six Flags America it’s a good ride with plenty of airtime, laterals, and relentless pacing. (Well for a 100+ year old coaster 56fps isn’t bad) I just wish it still had the first speed hill and original turnaround.

I somewhat agree with Beast. It's pretty overhyped and a lot of the layout is pretty dull. However, the retrack for 2022 made it much much smoother and more tolerable. And the final helix is pretty amazing. Still, overall, a fairly mild ride. I think nostalgia and the night ride hype are what get the fans.

When you going to be in Hershey/Pittsburgh/VA parks area next? Would like to meet-up say Hi someday. Mid-thirties enthusiast

How about manufacturers most meh (in the middle of your ranking) rides?

This year Skyrush has new cars with new restraints.

Arrow - the big one at Blackpool pleasure beach. Magnum XL 200 UK edition

I never rode rockin roller coaster, but I did ride express platform 13 at walibi holland, which is an exact clone, but outside. I found that coaster pretty forceful for a cold rainy morning

If vortex the arrow at ki was here I would say that was polarizing

i know i'm going to get buried now so hi for now also spinball whizzer is maurer's most polarizing coaster

I would go with Mindbender at galaxyland for the most polarizing Schwarzkopf. It is crazy intense but has what might be the worst restraints on a roller coaster

Steel Force is an underrated hypercoaster! I rode it in 2021, and I greyed out during the helix!

Racer at Kings Island was even better, when it had that backwards train. I'll never get why they changed that.

In europe they would probably be coasters like blue fire, taron, furious baco

If you were to add ground up coasters from a park ; what about Viper at Six flags great America

Surprised Cheetah Hunt didn't even get a mention! I must say that I haven't seen a ride with more tenacious defenders and rage induced haters as that one. Haven't been to Florida so I couldn't choose a side

About Sweden. Dont miss Liseberg in Gothenburg. Best park in Sweden by far. Worst "big" park i would say Gröna Lund in Stockholm.

I preferred looking at Rip Ride Rockit than riding it, I has gotten so incredibly rough.

I liked Super Manege at La Ronde but most people hated it

the pop culture that colossus was on throughout the years

hello i like ur videos

I always laugh when I hear that Shivering Timbers is hard to marathon. It is, but I do it a lot! It's at my home park and my #1. I think 21 in one day was my record, with some rides on Wolverine Wildcat and Thunderhawk the same day. That was Saturday of Labor Day weekend this year. I came back for more the next 2 days! Avoid wheel seats, and just completely relax. Brace yourself for the helix and the final brakes and you can ride it all day no problem. This is weirdly specific but for the absolute smoothest ride get row 9 on the blue train. For anyone out there that really hates rough coasters I recommend completely stapling yourself. Most of it's "roughness" is really just good airtime throwing you into the janky old restraint.

For Togo, I loved Shockwave at Kings Dominion. The people who didn't like it were people who rode B&M standups first and traveled to Kings Dominon. The people who lived near Kings Dominion and grew up riding Shockwave before B&M got in the game loved it. Almost everyone's first ride on it wasn't great. You had to learn how to ride it. But it was so open, and ejector air on a standup is fun. It also wasn't great for overly tall or fat people. Also, for Intamin you are forgetting Superman again. It polarizes the enthusiasts from the wusses. Yeah, the T-bars were better. Get over it.

This might be the first time Goliath was mentioned and there wasn’t technically anything negative said

Chris needs to remake more logos.

i gotta say joker is very polarizing (rmc joeker)

For B&M, I’d go green lantern. Everybody I talk to has a different opinion about it. Some hate it, some love it. Also, stand-ups in general are very controversial, so I’d go with that

In my opinion, Furius Baco should be given a spot, it is definitely a controversial intamin coaster that is major and rare.

I agree that Mamba in the past has not been impressive, but did you get a chance to ride it this year? After they replaced the old operating system on the mid course, it now moves pretty well through the back half of the layout, those brakes barely slow you down at all now.

I love both Arrows on this list. Viper is an awesome ride, but definitely needs new restraints. Those hard rubber over the shoulder restraints are a headbanging machine. X2 is such a creative, ingenious all out badass coaster. Makes me sad that Arrow went under, but they went out with a bang !! I can bear the roughness on X2. I will endure that roughness EVERYTIME for the ride experience. I have no trouble with the restraints either. It the calf banging that hurts like hell, especially around that last raven turn. But Chris shared a great tip. Just stick your legs straight out. It looks stupid but your calves with thank u. I have only been able to marathon X2 5 times in one day. My legs said that's enough

Honestly for rmc, steel vengeance feels like the most polarizing. I feel like these days, many enthusiasts are calling it overrated, while people like me absolutely love it and have it at the top of their lists.

I have to say I actually really love Thunderhead at Dollywood. It does rattle a bit, but I’m fairly new on wooden coasters so I cannot really say what a bad rattle is. Thunderhead was just so much fun to ride and I absolutely love the section of track that goes above the station.

For Togo, you’d have to look at their coasters in Japan to find any that people would enjoy. I went on Fujiyama at Fuji-Q about a month ago and had mixed thoughts (it was fun but tossed me around too much in some spots), but it was clear that some people adore it based on the lines to buy Fujiyama merch at the little store by the ride entrance.

Honestly, skyrush I don’t get. It’s amazing, the lapbars are actually a personal favorite, but I got 2 amazing rides on it in October for my 100th credit, both back and front have me insane airtime without amputating my thighs, thunderbolt at Coney Island is the real thighcrush. Out of 101 credits thunderbolt is the only one not to make the cut. Thunderbolt is The. Worst. Coaster. Ever.

Thunderhead did get a retrack a few years ago so that probably where a lot of the dislike comes from. When I rode it in 2017 before the retrack, it was probably my least-favorite in the park. When I rode it again in 2021, it was my most-favorite even beating Lightning Rod.

As someone who works in the Backlot of universal orlando daily. Rip ride rocket is a horribly designed ride at least. They are constantly fixing the foundations near the fire house helix. The engineering behind it is horrible. That's why I hate it. The ride experience is whatever, but for a 50 million dollar coaster you would think that the foundations wouldn't need daily attention as well as the coaster chewing up wheels

Let me say one thing, MAGNUM IS AWSOME. My one ride was insane, mostly because I got the back row AND the trims were off. But I think it feels like a janky B&M hyper with ejector, so it's pretty good. (Also my mom lost her glasses on it)

Mamba is super underrated as of 2021 because they stopped trimming the trains, and the airtime is near Magnum levels, not there, but closer than you'd think.

Idea: ranking the best defunct coaster from each manufacturer

Gerstlauer for me is mystery mine, the theming is so nice and well done, as well as the ride experience, which makes this a polarizing coaster for me

I’m not bothered by Skyrush’s trains at all. It’s actually my number one coaster. In fact, my top 3 are all from Intamin, I305 and Toro are the other 2. So pick your poison.

King Kobra at KI seems extremely polarizing. I remember loving the hell out of it as a teen while having my peers say they hated it. I really disliked the other TOGO Paramount standups, but Kobra seemed much smoother and less janky than the others. Over the years I've heard lots of people mentioning how great the standup airtime was and I agree.

If you included defunct rides here I could see dragon taking Texas tornado’s spot for Hopkins. Desert Storm and Texas tornado are praised for their forces but dragon was split 50/50 with people calling it rough or praising the unique ride experience and forces

Twisted Cyclone is amazing. It is a bit short, but a 3rd lap would kill the ride. It’s great, it’s like a little steal vengeance.

15:47 Yeah, definitely that one! For Intamin you have also Hyperion. Gerstlauer has a lot of polarizing coasters. The roughness of Infinity coasters is very unpredictable. Opinions can vary widely because of this Mack: Blue Fire model and Lost Gravity RMC: Untamed. It depends how much you like airtime. A lot of people love it. But for me is it littlebit to much of the same. I would have preferred an extra s-turn at the end instead of yet another airtime hill. Vekoma: Loup-Garou, the coaster community agrees that a major renovation or an RMC conversion is needed. But the queues remain long and the general public still love it.

I have heard nothing but good things about Slinky Dog Dash, so it being a polorizing coaster came as a great surprise to me. I personally thought the coaster had a lot of force compared to other coasters in Disney. Though, I personally prefer Rock 'n' Roller Coaster over Slinky any day 😅

I finally got to Universal this June. Hollywood Rip Ride was actually way more intense than I expected. Not nearly as bad as everyone says, definitely fun for people just getting into more extreme rides.

Always down to watch an airtime thrills video

Do a by the numbers for energy-landia,six flags over Georgia, and b&m dive coasters. Also do Tornado vs Tornado vs Tornado vs Tornado this is making me dizzy.

If you like Magnum but not Skyrush, you are lying yourself.

I stand by Magnum it's still a top tier hyper coaster in my books