CoasterCrazy Awards 2008 (CCA) Round 1

^ I must've rode on a bad day.

^^It felt a lot less flowy than more recent Intamins, that's what I really meant. The straight first drop was as steep as Toro's, but the straightness! I don't know, I just personally think flowy > straight by a lot.

I agree with Jake, though I wouldn't say the parts of ET that aren't great are boring...in relation to the rest of the ride, though, they're not nearly as good. Still fun though.

Superman's the complete package...not just strong and sustained airtime, but incredibly fast pacing over most hills; it combines hills with low sections that emphasize speed; it's not at all repetitive as almost all of the hills feel different than the one before or after in some aspect; there are lats, sometimes very strong; quick transitions when speeds are relatively low like towards the end of the ride, but long transitions when speeds are high so the ride still flows incredibly well; excellent integration into the park and landscape with the first section being on a hill, the first drop in a tunnel, and that other drop toward the end tunneling into the side of another hill; the view over the river which is my favorite view of any coaster; the low trains with restraints that don't pin you throughout the ride like you'd find on a B&M, etc. etc. etc. Guess some of you didn't notice...or maybe just don't care about all that. That's fine, but those qualities, among others, make it my favorite ride by far.

^Agreed, but Dash does the same thing as SROS better, IMO.

Toro, on the other hand, was a huge let down...it just didn't keep up the intensity like SROS and Dash.

Does anybody really care a whole lot about the two other SROS's? the one at Six Flags America and Darien Lake? The ones with what looks like a boring drop, a gigantic boring weak helix, and a lot of straight track with the occasional air hill???

Yeah, but I'd say ETs weakest parts are as good as most of the better other rides, and its best parts stand out way above the best parts of almost all others. Still, SROS is a 9.8 through most of the track for me, and ET is a 10 for half, and 9 for the rest...I'll take the former, especially since the track is noticeably longer.

Dash does a lot of things SROS does, and more in many aspects, but none of what it does is at -1.3 g's, or 78 mph, or 150+ up in the air...or 13 feet underground. It's a completely different ride, and awesome in it's own ways, but I definitely wouldn't say it's better than SROS because it does everything that SROS does better. It simply doesn't. I think one can say it's better, just not so much for that reason.

Originally posted by Austin

^ I must've rode on a bad day.

Superman does tend to ride slow sometimes, especially in the morning.

But when I rode it later in the day this summer, it was amazing. The speed did not let down at all, and the helices were really surprising...felt close to Titan and Goliath's helices for me...I definitely felt the forces. If anything wasn't stellar it was the 2nd tunnel, but it is still cool in that respect.

Just let me explain Dash compared to SROS, which is ranked the number one coaster in the world. Hopefully this will explain why I, and others, praise it so much.

Location: For a coaster to be extraordinary, a unique location is a key IMO, as it really does add to the ride. S:RoS has a nice riverside location, and utilizes it's terrain for the 2 tunnels, plus the twister section has nice interaction with the pathways. Dash, however, has a better location...part of what makes it so good is the location...on the side of a mountain. The lift is very eerie, as it is in the shadows of the much taller trees, and very close to the ground. As is the first turn, then all of a sudden the ride plummets over a 100 feet along side the mountain, with tress covering the ride and flying by as the ride progresses, and the track follows the ground the entire way. It also has nice path interaction on the back run, as you fly over about 10 air hills right next to a path with plenty of on-lookers.

Pacing/Intensity: They both excel here. S:RoS flies over all of it's hills, except for the large s-hill after the famous 4th airtime hill. Dash on the other hand never lets up from the drop. It's speed is accentuated by the closeness to the ground and trees, as it feels faster than it really is...the speed is really felt in the flat downward sections following the first drop and the turnaround beginning, among other hills.

Airtime: S:RoS has about 9 airtime moments in the front seat...Dash on the other hand has about 16. Both coasters have a variety of airtime...meaning hills with floater, strong ejector, and sudden pops on Dash. Dash's set of return hills is the best set of airtime hills on any coaster, including the insane triple up (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boulderdas ... 488788778/).

Turns: S:Ros has some nice, speedy, and powerful turns, including the overbank, s-hills, and two helices. Dash has equally great turns, in a completely different style. The first turn after the drop, which includes a flat decline, a rise, and a downward curve, is extremely fast and has sustained lats, which feel awesome and not painful. Before the turnaround, it has many quick, unbanked turns that throw you around in a fun way. The turnaround is more like the bottom of the first drop, different declines and inclines plus another insane flat decline section.

Trains: S:RoS has strange trains...they are very small, which takes away from it but adds to it as well. They restrains are tight, but still allow you to get air and the smallness makes the views incredible. Dash has roomy trains, with loose lab bars...they don't staple you. You feel all of the airtime fully, and are thrown out of your seat soooo many times. Nothing is more fun than that.

I don't know what else to compare, but hopefully that justifies Dash's greatness, compared to S:RoS.

Dash does a lot of things SROS does, and more in many aspects, but none of what it does is at -1.3 g's, or 78 mph, or 150+ up in the air...or 13 feet underground.

IMO -.5 "holy **** stand up, going to fall out Gs" > -1.3 "computer Gs" where it feels perfectly controlled, even even if it is weaker IMO it does it better simply because it feels more out of control, and the slower speed feels much faster than ANYTHING on SROS to me because of how low it is to the ground and the close proximity to trees. Being 150' up means nothing too, I definitely think the feeling of just building and building speed but never being higher than 20' off the ground is just cool. No big hills to break up the pace, just basically nothing but small, high speed hills. Take SROS's final 3....Thats what all 18? of Dash's are like in that they really don't slow down.

SROS' final hills are among my least favorite on the ride. I'm done debating though, it's old now.

HOW DID GHOSTRIDER NOT MAKE IT?

[Oscar]

It did not get enough votes to make it through.

^Thanks John Madden. "Well the key to winning this football game is to score more points than the other team..."

Well, The Voyage is out! Pretty intense match-up, Boulder Dash vs. Superman!

Ohh shoot, my number one steel vs. my number one wood...hmm.

Meh, I prefer my top 4 or so woodies over my top steel.

Originally posted by dcs221

^Thanks John Madden. "Well the key to winning this football game is to score more points than the other team..."

[lol]


Hmm...

vs.

Boulder Dash looks sweet. I gotta ride this year!


Gonna be a tight one...

Bad comparison. You're comparing a full Boulder Dash train in what looks to be warm weather from peoples' clothes and the foliage, to one of the first test runs of SROS, with an empty train in the cold. That will definitely influence votes unfairly IMO.

I think if someone's voting in this that doesn't know what S:ROS is really like, they probably won't watch the videos. People are just going to vote for which one they like more.

That being said, go Dash!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM_TtLJj ... re=related That one shows a more accurate speed, just not the ending...most of the people who put sros vids on youtube either turn the camera toward themselves for part of the ride, cut part of the ride out, or have low quality cameras. That aiden kid has great videos...unfortunately his SROS one is the only one of his that gets like 5 fps.

Actually that comparison is accurate...that is a fairly slow Dash run as well...at night, on the anti-rollback, there is like one click, not 5 or 6.

Dude...the first run ever in the cold with no riders to both increase momentum and show the ride's effect on passengers, and a mounted camera to suppress shakiness that accentuates speed, is not the same as a day run with a full train during the summer. Your post suggests you want to compare a night ride on Boulder Dash to the first ever test of SROS... I understand you like BD better, but be logical.

For the sake of a more accurate comparison with the first video of S:ROS, here is a mounted camera POV of Boulder Dash, unfortunately with no sound.

The triple up on Boulder Dash looks wild.

I have not been on either coaster, but I choose Boulder Dash easily over Superman (Lex Luthor?) for a few reasons. For one, the setting of Superman does not even begin to compare to Boulder Dash's. Another reason is that it is wood, which I almost always prefer over a steel coaster. There is just more fun and exitement to be had on them and the shaky out of control feeling that fast woodies give is awesome. Another reason is that the new return run on Boulder Dash with that triple up or whatever looks insane.

Superman still looks like a great coaster, but at this point I would much rather goto Lake Compounce and ride Boulder Dash.

It is also rather funny reading you guys argue over these two roller coasters when CLEARLY Lakeside Cyclone > all.

Originally posted by DreamLines

For the sake of a more accurate comparison with the first video of S:ROS, here is a mounted camera POV of Boulder Dash, unfortunately with no sound.

That is a better comparison for speeds and all that, but this is from before the triple up was added! Just imagine that with a triple up instead of one of normal hills at the end...It's crazy.

^ That is not a better comparison because it does not show the triple up since the ride got re-tracked and the tick track is no longer there.

Originally posted by dcs221

Dude...the first run ever in the cold with no riders to both increase momentum and show the ride's effect on passengers, and a mounted camera to suppress shakiness that accentuates speed, is not the same as a day run with a full train during the summer. Your post suggests you want to compare a night ride on Boulder Dash to the first ever test of SROS... I understand you like BD better, but be logical.

No, that's not my point.

My point is, a normal, fully loaded Superman ride vs. that mounted pov in the cold w/ no riders is the equivalent to a day Dash ride vs. a night Dash ride. Having ridden SROS 24 times and Boulder Dash 17 times in the SAME day I feel like I can accurately make that comparison. The speed difference in a Dash day ride and night ride is about the same difference as the speed in that SROS video compared to the speed of the S:RoS I rode at 3pm with fully loaded trains.