This is part 1 of my 2 part series looking at each manufacturer's most overrated and underrated coasters! Part 1 of this series: • The Most Underrated & ... Part 1 of the best/worst coasters by manufacturer: • The Best & Worst Coast...
The reason I rate Maverick so highly is for its variety in its elements. Its got a powerful first drop, some intense turns in beautiful rock-work, strong airtime moments, whippy stengel dives and an epic launch with a violent turn at the end. At night, when the tunnel is pitch black, that launch is one of the best elements out there. The ride just has a bit of everything. Millennium Force has the speed, Top Thrill Dragster has the launch, and Steel Vengeance has the airtime, but Maverick has it all. Its not quite as good as it is in the other rides, but its all there, and its all packaged in a very re-ridable experience. I understand the hate for the restraints, it would definitely be better with lap bars, but I don't find them too uncomfortable. I actually have those restraints on par with RMC lap bars. Although the bars are more open, the shin guards cause a lot of pain (for me at least), so there's a trade off of openness versus comfort that equals out for me. That's why I rank both Steel Vengeance and Maverick as about equal, with just a slight preference to Steel Vengeance for its overall longer and more chaotic ride experience.
I don't really understand that because others seem to believe the skyrush bar is way worse than it actually is. It's not any worse than an rmc. Maybe about the same as some rmcs in my opinion.
MF is both overrated and overhated. It's come to the point where it's one of those rides you either love or hate, based on preference. Much of the praise does feel like coming from the ride being so influential (as the first giga), as well as being one of those coasters the GP love, too. At the same time, MF-haters do seem kinda nitpicky as a good chunk of enthusiasts tend to be. It's not really meant to be compared Maverick either, as they're two completely different rides that strive for different experiences. MF is all about big, sweeping motions, a long layout, a (imo) strong floater airtime. Maverick is the more intense, rapid-fire style compact ride that throws all sorts of variety.
Satan's Kitty This was like when people compared Intimidator 305 and Millennium Force. Two completely different coasters with different goals and ride experiences
Airtime Thrills It definitely was overrated for a while. These days, there are so many people that have jumped on the “Millenium Forceless” bandwagon that it’s almost become underrated. I don’t even disagree with Maverick being overrated (it’s still a favorite of mine but it’s likely gonna get kicked out of my top 5 once I get more credits.) That said, it hasn’t quite reached the level of overrated that MF was at for a while.
@@alexandram5845 Idk I do see where you're coming from, but then again, I like the low to the ground laterals you get with Intamin gigas. B&M gigas, on the other hand, are mostly just upscaled hypers: Leviathan is essentially floater airtime, and Fury, although it does have some of the low to the ground, is still very much a B&M, and has a completely pointless 2nd half. Obviously haven't ridden Orion yet, but I'm not particularly impressed by the POV.
New Jersey Coasters You’ve ridden worse coasters, so you don’t have as bad a time on wildcat. Please tell me what rides are worse so I can stay at least 10 miles from all of them at all times
Texas Coasters I’m so mad bc I’m a Niners fan plus I extremely dislike Mahomes. I respect his skill and that he does good things but I just don’t like him
I love Pandemonium. My home park is Over Texas and love the ride. And with a single rider line it’s even better to ride it multiple times. I once got a solo ride on it while at Fiesta Texas. Me being the only one in the train was absolutely terrifying. It spun a ton and it made it seem like you were going to crash. Love Pandemonium and think it’s a great coaster to ride when bored.
I just wanted to let you know that I love watching your vids and that I have a lot of fun watching along and trying to guess what coaster you choose next. It’s also nice to see silverwood get love in many of your vids as it’s my home park and not very popular
I agree, how can one rate Maverick overrated, it actually gets overlooked now because of vengeance being right next to it. MAverick is better then vengeance don't @ me
Some more underated you tube coaster channels theme park crazy it is a great channel xscream thrills awesome airtime thrills love this channel coaster roaster nice channel
Great video !!!! I was sweating thinking you were gonna say Skyrush thru that entire video 🤣🤣🤣 so glad to see it barely not make the list I know how much you hate those restraints! haha.
Those are some very interesting picks, especially for Intamin since Maverick is my #2 overall and La Vibora I find very underwhelming (but it is at my home park so maybe that plays a part since I've ridden it so much). I definitely respect your opinions as you've certainly ridden more coasters than I have. Part of what makes this community a lot of fun is the how diverse everyone's opinions are. Love your videos!
Ok my friend I’ve stumbled upon a whole bunch of coaster facebookers in the last few months and I gotta say you are my fave by far! Your content is easily the most interesting and unique! You find such great topics to talk about! You should have more subs than theme park crazy, coaster studios & El Toro Ryan combined
I rode boulder dash last year the first time. I found it super smooth in the morning, but we went back to it and it was rougher. Front seemed smoother. What I loved is the airtime at the end, and how the trees and hills block your view from anticipating.
Lightning racer didn’t really look terribly forceful, but it had GCI’s trademark chaos layout which is what I love about them, so I feel like I’d probably like the ride (I also haven’t really heard too many people talk about it, at all really, so 🤷🏿♀️)
I like you and your reviews Chris! So I subscribed to your channel...In the Netherlands (where I live) there was an Intamin Bobsled coaster too, but it got removed to make place for a Mack Rides powered coaster... On the "Bob" I had the most fantastic moments in the rain! It went drifting like crazy!!! From 2017 on the Bob was closed during the rain because of safety precautions (which was a shame, because it always rains here, haha)
I just Want to say you do the most interesting and random concepts of rankings and lists and they are super entertaining to watch please keep making them
You need a night ride on mindbender. It’s a better experience. But I see where you say it’s forceless but the loops are the forceful part of the ride and that dive thing. But when people say it’s the best ride at the park I feel like that’s to over the top.
The problem with bolder-dash is it runs really inconsistently. Some days it hauls and other days it is just ok. Then some days it decides it wants to break your back and other days it decided to be smooth as butter. I have found that the front tends to give the most consistent and best rides with the best airtime. (only ride in my top 30 I prefer in the front) My best ride I have gotten was a front row night ride during the Haunt Event this past year. It was hauling, you couldn't see anything with woods blocking all light, and it was running with the perfect amount of wooden roughness. My dad who really loves coasters said that one ride challenged El toro and wicked cyclone for his favorite coaster, and he has some really good credits, (Superman the ride, montu, kumba, and ect.) For me that one ride brought it from 9th to about 5-6th. If It was that good 99% of the time It would be top 3 for me but just because it doesn't run that way all the time makes it lower. If you don't get around to ridding it more and realize how different the ride can run on some days I could realize that you could think it is overrated. Yes, I do agree it doesn't deserve its golden ticket awards after 2006, el toro is way better. but it is a solid top wooden coaster if you can get a good ride on it.
The GP be like: My friend said this coaster was the best so I voted for it on the poll. Actual coaster enthusiasts be like: Have you actually ridden EVERYTHING you upvoted or downvoted? Gp be like: I rode one!
Yayyy another great Airtime Thrills video also finally pandemonium getting some love, when I went to SFNE HITP I got 5 rides on it and it was absolutely wild
@@frizzlefry8 the rails are fine. It's the arrow trains. They arnt exactly an engineering masterpiece. That being said though... I found viper smoother than something like black mamba or the original hulk
@@frizzlefry8 I'm 6'3 and my neck didn't touch the restraint once. The only pain i felt is when I wasn't paying attention where I put my knees and I banged it on the front of the train on that insane pop of ejector going into the brake run, and it wasn't even that bad.
It's easily one of my favorite coasters, but I could be biased. I have fond memories of going on it with my dad at every Dorney trip and it was my oldest son's first coaster.
I want to THANK YOU for giving Viper the cred it deserves. I rode Viper literally days before COVID shut everything down and I was AMAZED how smooth it was and how intense the drop and first loop was. And yes, it was a walk on. I think they recently did work on Viper and I rode it during the brief window of time since they were working on it and before COVID. That baby was running like a Corvette. So, cheers to that, Viper all the way.
Im guessing youve never been to Valleyfair in Minnesota. Maybe because its home park bias but i think Renegade from GCI is SO UNDERRATED. It gives great airtime in the back and the first drop is awesome. I think it deserves way more attention, at least some attention because it gets none.
@@AirtimeThrills I'm wondering if it's a height/body type difference, because the lap bars don't bug me unless I'm stapled. I'm mostly just happy when my ears aren't getting smacked around lol.
Mindbender is Better, because the ride fells soooooooooooooo much longer. I see where you are coming from with the loops on shockwave, but I can’t agree
To me it's all about the setting. Nestled in those hills in a woody section of the park with it's only little waterfall fly by it just looks so much more interesting than Shockwave. I'm thinking about tryin get to SFOT this year so if I come away from Shockwave with a different opinion I will gladly revise my list...
Over hated mostly because I think that enthusiasts don’t want to like the gp lord of coasters. It is really easy to avoid the roughness if u sit in the front and is and has an intense launch imo. It also probably gets hate because it is right next to toro
Bibba I LOVE Dragster, AND Millennium Force. The launch felt weak to me. It wasn’t really rough, but just sub-par compared to Dragster. I was also treated like shit by a ride op. Toro right next to it honestly doesn’t influence my opinion. Maverick, Millie and Steel Vengeance are right next to Dragster and I still love Dragster to death.
I rode Kingda Ka years after experiencing Top Thrill Dragster (since CP is my homepark), and honestly I just thought it didn't impress me. Personally, after riding Dragster as a younger enthusiast and being wowed by it, finally getting to Kingda Ka it was just like, "Okay cool." It didn't inspire that same awe and terror that Dragster did to me when I was first getting into riding. It's the little things, like the restraints, location, theming, etc. that make Dragster a much more immersive and exciting experience.
Satan's Kitty Yup. I’m from California so I have no bias, and I rode Kingda Ka for the first time 5 days after riding Top Thrill Dragster for the first time. Top Thrill Dragster impressed me WAY more than Kingda Ka did. The theming, the trains, the restraints, the soundtrack, the atmosphere, the location... even the colors are better on Dragster. Hell even the NAME is better. The person who replied above me is missing one point, and that point is this: if Top Thrill Dragster doesn’t feel weak/pale in comparison to Steel Vengeance, Millennium Force and/or Maverick, why would Kingda Ka feel weak/pale in comparison to El Toro?
American Thunder never gets the love it deserves from the community. The drop is only 82 feet but it feels a lot longer and you’re out of your seat the whole time
Voyage is just as rough but no one complains. Shivering Timbers has some of the best airtime on any woodie the only one that’s any better that I’ve ridden is El Toro
I hold up Tennessee Tornado really high because it was my first big coaster where I got over my fear of riding them and went on something that looped upside-down. It showed me how actually fun and thrilling these scary coasters were, and it'll hold a special spot for me because of that.
Krista yeah it’s definitely a great coaster and one of my favorites, but I feel like everyone thinks it’s like the best coaster that will ever be built
the fun I have on the storm racers is when my siblings go on the other train, and we manage to get on the same train... then we start going ham with the racing, taunting and teasing at every interaction point. sometimes others join in too
I completely agree with your GCI picks. I rode Lightning Racer a week ago, and the Thunder side had a pretty bad rattle. The lightning side was actually pretty good though. However, there were no forces like you said.
That Steel Force bit hurt my soul. I love you Chris and I respect your opinions on coasters like hell, but I think you or the ride was broken that day ;p. I like this in the very front row. I got a front row pitch dark night ride with like a fist and a half of room during Fright Fest in September. The ride was hauling and the GP part of my brain feared for my life while going up the lift hill. I’ve never gotten floater like that ever. It was crazy! If that airtime had been ejector that ride would’ve cracked my top 5 from that ride alone. I was about to go off on you for hating on I305 but you saved yourself :). I prefer airtime too but it’s still in my top 3.
As soon as you mentioned Viper, I cheered. I love that ride! People think it's rough because they don't keep their heads back and wind up with the restraints boxing their ears.
Being a Hersheypark pass holder, I've ridden Lighting Racer pretty much my whole life and in recent years it's started to lack the kind of rides it use to give. It doesn't have as much airtime anymore and gets a little shaky in some sections. I think it would benefit from some retracking but if you are able to get a night ride with fulls trains it's still very fun.
Lightning Racer is an awesome ride when all the seats are filled and especially at night with the lights they have along the track! Steel Force is one of my favorites of all time I swear I rode it 6 times in one of my visits to Dorney!
I got respectable air time on steel force on my few rides this year, but it was over 100° so it was probably running about as fast as possible. Looking forward to getting on steel eel this year or next year. Always heard good things about it.
Even though Dorney is my home park, I agree with you. I’ve gotten airtime on steel force, but it wasn’t a lot, and it was only on the bunny hops which are quite painful in my opinion, so the little bit of floater I got was overshadowed by pain.
Dorney's my home park. Ride Steel Force in row 3 and you get some pretty good ejector on the return hills especially. I always get airtime anywhere in the front car
Viper - yep, a bit of a head banger for short folks like me, but I love it even though I usually have a slight headache after riding it. My first trip to Magic Mountain was just before Viper opened - was bummed about that.
As someone who is from Tennessee and has been to Dollywood more times than I can count, I personally have never thought highly of the Tornado. For a underrated coaster IMO, it would be what is now Blue Hawk at Six Flags: Over Georgia. I haven't been to the park since the ride's makeover, so I hope to get to go back soon.
I agree with most. One exception is gerstlaur. I rode Phoenix at Adventureland Iowa(Gerstlaur spinning coaster) and I felt as it was very underwhelming. It hardly spun and I expected it to be a little more than a kiddie coaster.
What you described on Steel Force I experienced on Mamba when I went to Worlds of Fun in 2017. However, Mamba does go some ammount to make up for it with the best near miss element ever. Seriously, the bottom of that helix with the supports slowly getting closer and closer to the point you think you won't make it was more effective for me than some near miss elements that look a lot more intimidating off ride.
YES! Someone FINALLY agrees with me about Maverick at Cedar point! I also have a very unpopular opinion about Volcano (RIP) at Kings Dominion. While from a visual standpoint it's awe inspiring the actual ride itself is far too short for the hour plus frequent waiting time, plus once you get past the vertical launch there's nothing to it. Why that ride always had a huge line while Intimidator I usually could walk on I could never understand. With that being said I'll still miss seeing that iconic mountain not necessarily for Volcano but all the other historic rides it use to house😔
Got to ride steel eel this December. The bunny hills at the end are better in the front. Only coaster I’ve ridden where you really feel the weight of the train pushing you. It made those pleasantly surprising
You’re correct about steel force it should have a fuck ton of air time and it just Dosent. The trims they use on the bunny hills at the end ruin any chance of you getting some good airtime. Also I’m happy you mentioned the spinning coaster models, rode the Laff track at Hershey park and i was blown away by the amount of intensity such a small coaster had
i love tennessee tornado so much (it was my first coaster) but i cannot argue the points you have against it. it’s so so short but it definitely packs a punch for what it is.
In your POV video, boulder dash definitely looked like it was running slow. I usually like to ride it a lot during the summer and that thing is FAST. I usually get tons of airtime on it, and a lot of good rides. It is rough, but that doesn’t take away from it.
Soooo happy you brought up Wild Cat. Me and my bff rode it once before it was removed the next season at Cedar Point. Also my overrated ride would be Dragster at Cedar Point.
Ok need some advice, flying in late on the 28th of may to hit Holiday nights on the 29th and 30th, flying out from Cleveland late on the 5th of June, already planned for Kings Island and Cedar Point. Was wondering if it was worth it to cut down days at KI and/or CP somewhere (was originally gonna spend 2-3 at each) to swing up to Canada's Wonderland and Kennywood to get that chunk of the east of the Mississippi parks done. I haven't been to any of these parks before but wanted your take on since its my first time at any of them If I should just spend the entire time at KI and CP or take a couple of days and head to the other 2 parks.
Maverick blew my mind the first time I rode it back in 2014. But in 2019, I rode it right after getting off Steel Vengeance and was really underwhelmed. Though, to be fair, everything is underwhelming after Steel Vengeance.
You're making me wish I rode Viper and La Vibora at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Over Texas when I was at both parks in 2014 and 2016 respectively. I don't know how I feel about the Gerstlauer spinning coasters though. I love Fairly Odd Coaster at Nickelodeon Universe in Mall of America but I can't say the same for Pandemonium at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
Dude, you are so right. I've been on Viper well into the several hundreds of rides. And although it isnt glass smoothe, the hate mail regarding the roughness, pain, etc is really overstated. It is a great ride, ame get in that back row while the front whips you over the top of the first drop. It's so tightly wound at the top of the first hill, that the front is already well into the drop while the back is still on the lift hill. And then gravity shows up and blam. Thrown over the crest insanely.
Amen brotha on Viper! I just rode that on Saturday and honestly it was one of the best rides I had that day! And that's after going on my usual X2, Tatsu, and Twisted Colossus. I don't know why I so enjoyed it then. But I really did! I'd be sad if Six Flags eventually tears it down. It's the one I got my sister on as her first looping roller coaster back when it first opened in the early 90's. ;)
Totally agree about Arrow on both accounts. I just got my first Viper rides on Sunday & Monday, and I loved it! I even got my first ever blackout on any coaster with Viper. I also agree about Boulder Dash. Even though my rides had good airtime, and I believe I got it at its best, it was nowhere near the elite status that people put it at. For Intamin, I dislike La Vibora, as I get all kinds of body-banging, and come off with bruises. I was actually thinking the Ride of Steel clones as underrated, because they do have 4 outstanding moments of strong ejector airtime. The rest of the ride might not be anything special, but the same things can be said about other very highly regarded rides.
When we rode Lightning racers toward the end of the season we were pleasantly surprised there was only one train running and we cruised over the layout and got descent airtime
Man knew Steel Force was going to be on here... Ugh tears my heart out Simpsons Style: "You Won't be needing this". Seriously though its my favorite coaster at my home park. One question is Viper like the Great American Scream Machine, have you ever ridden it back in the day?
