Your Guilty Pleasure Coasters

I think all of us have those coasters we've ridden that most enthusiasts don't hold in high regard, but we rather enjoy riding them despite what others think. I'll share a few of mine:

-California Screamin' (Disney California Adventure): Even though the common nickname I hear for this ride is California Sleepin', I don't think it isn't that boring. It has a decent launch, a few moments of floater air, and a forceful, plus it's a fairly long ride. Sure, it might be one of Intamin's weaker creations, but it's still all-around fun.
-Journey to Atlantis (SeaWorld Orlando): Whether or not this counts as a roller coaster is debatable, but I personally like JTA's drop better than the drops on Kraken and Manta. While those two coaster are definitely better overall rides, the drop on JTA is why I rode it a lot more than most probably would.
-Corkscrew (Valleyfair): It is a 35-year-old Arrow Loopscrew, but it is surprisingly smooth compared to similar coasters. Fun vertical loop, very little headbanging in the corkscrews, and a nice bonus helix. I always ride it at least once or twice when I'm at Valleyfair.

Excalibur at Valleyfair. It's a freaking amazing roller coaster I don't know why it gets so much hate. Well, okay, I mean I do know why. I just don't level with those reasons.

Magnum, Phantom, and Maverick all get way to much hate. I seriously don't get any of the complaints about pain and roughness.

Honestly, GateKeeper. I hear lots of complaints about it from the forums, friends, and family, ranging from "it's boring / weak" to "it's too rattley" to "the restraints are painful" to "I'm gonna go spend all day at top thrill dragster". And you can tell from the foot traffic that the general public doesn't love it. I enjoy it more than both MF and TTD, whose lines are always at *least* four times longer. For me, GateKeeper is an absolute wonder; I am a laughing, smiling mess throughout the whole ride. I rode it eight times one visit to get a good feel of every corner of the train.

I make sure to ride Thunderhawk every visit to Dorney, it may not be forceful and it may be really rough, but I find it to be lots of fun

[mkingy]

Mumbo Jumbo @ Flamingo Land. Apparently this isn't a very good ride but I've always really enjoyed it *confused*. El loco's are great rides!

tiepilot35 wrote:

You can tell from the foot traffic that the general public doesn't love it. I enjoy it more than both MF and TTD, whose lines are always at *least* four times longer. For me, GateKeeper is an absolute wonder; I am a laughing, smiling mess throughout the whole ride. I rode it eight times one visit to get a good feel of every corner of the train.

Remember, Gatekeeper's capacity means it's still giving out more rides than any other coaster at CP. I really enjoyed it myself though I'm not sure if more than MF or TTD...regardless I think it's a really fun ride with a nice variety of graceful rolls and not as forceless as people say (especially if you ride back left).

I hate to say it, but every complaint about Magnum was validated with my last ride...though I still enjoyed it. Maybe I was in the wrong spot as I tend to be a back seat rider. Maverick is easily a top 5 coaster for me, it's excellent and pain free if you ride at all defensively.

And finally I don't know that I'd call this a guilty pleasure but Shock Wave at SFOT is a must ride for me every trip. Even nearing 40 years old it still delivers a solid ride with strong positives in its loops and surprisingly has some decent pops of airtime as well. Some days I think it's more satisfying than NTG.

Batman (sfmm)- fast, forceful, great pacing, fastest change in direction than any B&M that i can think of, just overall awesome. should get more love.
Superman Escape from Krypton- love the concept of going as fast as you can, and then going as high you can. Just love this coaster, 6+ seconds of airtime!
Viper (sfmm)- A classic fun ride, hope they never take this down. The last of the great 3 arrows must live!

-Son of Beast (post-loop)-I remember liking it okay even tho it wasn't that memorable
-Chang-o-Lantern-my favorite parts were the drop, dive loop, and corkscrews. I don't remember this one squishing my balls like people complain about.
-Most kiddie coasters that are bigger than the toddler-sized carnival coasters-they are a fun break from the thrill machines I'm used to
-Vortex (KI)-enjoyable despite headbanging
-T2/T3 (KK)-see Vortex

[Coasterkidmwm]

CoasterGuy2000 wrote:

Magnum, Phantom, and Maverick all get way to much hate. I seriously don't get any of the complaints about pain and roughness.

I've never been on Phantom's Revenge, but I don't see how it's so hard to hate on Maverick. The younglings under 18 here have mostly never been exposed to a big Arrow looper and have no idea. It's like you're mad at the B&M's for not having enough G's, and then the park is like "K this one has lots of G's" and then you tell them it's a tad much. It doesn't shake around in the track or anything and quite honestly for what it does I think it has aged well.

For Magnum just tighten the seatbeat massively and leave the bar slightly up (if you leave it way up you'll piss off the ride ops and they'll push it down). Also know that the bar is "heavy" and goes down easier than all over rides.

G-force at Drayton Manor. I've ridden it many times and have never had a bad experience. I think it's an excellent little ride. I personally find the X-car seats very comfortable. It seems to have a pretty bad rep.

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

CoasterGuy2000 wrote:

Magnum, Phantom, and Maverick all get way to much hate. I seriously don't get any of the complaints about pain and roughness.

I've never been on Phantom's Revenge, but I don't see how it's so hard to hate on Maverick. The younglings under 18 here have mostly never been exposed to a big Arrow looper and have no idea. It's like you're mad at the B&M's for not having enough G's, and then the park is like "K this one has lots of G's" and then you tell them it's a tad much. It doesn't shake around in the track or anything and quite honestly for what it does I think it has aged well.

For Magnum just tighten the seatbeat massively and leave the bar slightly up (if you leave it way up you'll piss off the ride ops and they'll push it down). Also know that the bar is "heavy" and goes down easier than all over rides.

Alright, I know where people are coming from with complaints but it's definitely people babied by B&M. If anyone has problems with Maverick you need to learn how to ride. Just lean in to the turns, through your hands up and enjoy it. You won't even notice the restraints.

Couple random other favorites.
Skull Mountain (SFGAdv) in the back row has an amazing first drop, especially if you weren't expecting it.

Gemini is just fun. Not all that intense but its basically a nice old school woodie with some decent head choppers. If you ever get a chance to ride back row and a loose restraint (ride op's often just pull up) it is amazing.

[mkingy]

Bouncypip11 wrote:

G-force at Drayton Manor. I've ridden it many times and have never had a bad experience. I think it's an excellent little ride. I personally find the X-car seats very comfortable. It seems to have a pretty bad rep.

I was just gutted that the 'airtime' hill isn't really made of much

[JAMMY]

mkingy wrote:

Bouncypip11 wrote:

G-force at Drayton Manor. I've ridden it many times and have never had a bad experience. I think it's an excellent little ride. I personally find the X-car seats very comfortable. It seems to have a pretty bad rep.

I was just gutted that the 'airtime' hill isn't really made of much

I'd like it more if the restraints didn't tighten due to the excessive G-force *pun intended*. Hopefully one day they'll upgrade the trains to Maurer's latest design where the restraint are locked in place once closed, that would be greatly appreciated.

My main guilty pleasure would have to be TH13TEEN at Alton Towers. I could literally ride it all day long and not get bored. I'm mesmerised by the technology behind it and am still amazed at how quickly and precisely all the sensors and track pieces work to ensure a seemless ride. Plus I find the coaster section quite fun (even with the trim)

A few others would be the Treetops Coaster at Oakwood and perhaps Lisebergbanan as some appear not to like that ride, I loved it on the other hand.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Bandit in Moviepark Germany. People hate it a lot due it's extreme roughness. (Even the GP) But I think it still is an extremely fun ride.
I also would say Dragonfly @ Duinrell. It's seemingly a nice and small junior coaster, but it secretly packs a punch which was good!

There are probably a bunch more, but these are the first two I thought of out the top of my head.

[mkingy]

Yeah thirteen has great reliability until Dirk wants to ride it!

[Dirk_Ermen]

mkingy wrote:

Yeah thirteen has great reliability until Dirk wants to ride it!

Don't complain, at least we got a sh*tload of exit passes due this

Even though it isn't a coaster that gets a lot of hate, Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Great America is a coaster I'd consider a guilty pleasure. Even though the pretzel loop far surpasses anything else on the ride, the first drop is nice, and I enjoy the flying sensation, plus the inline twist before the brake run is good too.

[Coasterkidmwm]

aj74205 wrote:

I hate to say it, but every complaint about Magnum was validated with my last ride...though I still enjoyed it. Maybe I was in the wrong spot as I tend to be a back seat rider.

The third row is the mega ejection seat.

[Paradox]

Dirk_Ermen wrote:

mkingy wrote:

Yeah thirteen has great reliability until Dirk wants to ride it!

Don't complain, at least we got a sh*tload of exit passes due this

I feel as if I'm missing something here.

[TTD03]

Batman at SFGADV, such an intense ride.
And the Dragon Coaster at Bowcraft. Was my first coaster at age 2, and I still like it today, even though it is 9 feet tall

Dragon Coasters, they surely have nice lateral g's in the mini helix! I like that part! Far from a situation called adrenaline rush, but some high excitement!

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

The third row is the mega ejection seat.

Next time, next time for sure.

A BTR clone could never constitute a guilty pleasure. I guess I could consider wild mouse coasters a guilty pleasure, though...I can dig the lateral Gs because they're fairly rare.

[mkingy]

Paradox wrote:

Dirk_Ermen wrote:

mkingy wrote:

Yeah thirteen has great reliability until Dirk wants to ride it!

Don't complain, at least we got a sh*tload of exit passes due this

I feel as if I'm missing something here.

Yeah the UK Meet trip report haha

It's a little bit overdue.

The Cobra in Ratanga Junction. (Vekoma extended SLC)

According to some enthusiasts I should be dead. My mind turned into scrambled eggs, my neck snapped, my ears gone etc...