Coaster reviews

I liked the layout of this classic but it’s obvious the park stopped taking care of it and replacing track at regular intervals so now it’s basically not enjoyable. I heard other riders saying how ter...

I liked the layout of this classic but it’s obvious the park stopped taking care of it and replacing track at regular intervals so now it’s basically not enjoyable. I heard other riders saying how terrible it is and the real shame is that it’s a great ride ruined by park mismanagement and greed.

This old Arrow is relatively smooth and what is most noticeable is its super fast pace for what seems like a mine train with a big first drop. It mostly zooms around at ground level in figure eights a...

This old Arrow is relatively smooth and what is most noticeable is its super fast pace for what seems like a mine train with a big first drop. It mostly zooms around at ground level in figure eights and is not very long but it’s also enjoyable and worth a re-ride or two.

I absolutely love Intamins of this early 2000s vintage and this one is stylish, smooth, powerful, and fun. Just look at the car design and track and supports, it’s like coaster fine art. I imagine the...

I absolutely love Intamins of this early 2000s vintage and this one is stylish, smooth, powerful, and fun. Just look at the car design and track and supports, it’s like coaster fine art. I imagine the Intamin design team sipping expensive wines and debating various classic architectural details as the attention to detail is impeccable. As a roller coaster, it’s just a U-shape swing launch with a fun brake on one end but it’s executed to perfection. It’s a shame Cedar Point chose to remove their larger version of this same model in 2021 and also a shame more of these haven’t been installed. Instead we get endless dive coasters.

This is probably the most tame hyper coaster I’ve ever ridden. It has a shallow first drop and gentle curves and hills, even compared to the other Morgan coasters. It’s great for families and the gene...

This is probably the most tame hyper coaster I’ve ever ridden. It has a shallow first drop and gentle curves and hills, even compared to the other Morgan coasters. It’s great for families and the general public but not going to wow any enthusiasts.

Renegade is a really good GCI because of its high intensity and airtime with low pain/roughness and re-ride ability. I think it’s a notch below Mystic Timbers, Thunderhead, and Texas Stingray but not ...

Renegade is a really good GCI because of its high intensity and airtime with low pain/roughness and re-ride ability. I think it’s a notch below Mystic Timbers, Thunderhead, and Texas Stingray but not by much. The really unique element is the S-bend first drop. I haven’t seen that on any other coaster.

This large CCI wooden coaster is maybe the most underrated woodie in the Northeast because few enthusiasts get out to this park. Funtown has had Gravity Group put some of their precut wooden track on...

This large CCI wooden coaster is maybe the most underrated woodie in the Northeast because few enthusiasts get out to this park. Funtown has had Gravity Group put some of their precut wooden track on it, so they're clearly invested in keeping this ride running great. It's remarkably smooth for a big woodie of its Coaster War-era vintage. It's got an exciting twisty layout back in a wooded area next to Funtown's parking lot, with a great straight first drop, some good airtime in the first half and strong laterals from the underbanked turns in the second half. It's effortlessly re-rideable especially since this park often gets short lines. It's not as large or thrilling as Boulder Dash, but it beats Boulder Dash easily for comfort and smoothness, so I call it currently the best all-around wooden coaster in New England. There is also some nice theming, for a small local park---you get to it from the back of the park by taking a themed "Camelot Bridge" through a pretty wooded area, which feels like you're leaving the park entirely. The station is themed like a castle, with a lot of pseudo-medieval signage, and the seats are labeled with the names of the Knights of the Round Table.

It's been a very long time since I rode this so I am not rating the modern experience, but it was my first looper and still one of the biggest coasters in the world at the time. That first drop into t...

It's been a very long time since I rode this so I am not rating the modern experience, but it was my first looper and still one of the biggest coasters in the world at the time. That first drop into the river valley seemed like it went on forever; the interlocking loops taught me that inversions weren't that scary; the long, long helix in the tunnel had flashing strobe lights and fog. It was just a lot of fun. Probably pretty janky by modern standards, but Arrow avoided doing anything with the ride that would particularly cause headbanging.