Superman: ros sfa vs Darien lake

I was looking at the mitch hawker poll and I'm curious as to why ride of steel is at 38 and s:ros is at 62.. Aren't they the same ride except mirrored?

They are. Do you have a link to the poll?

Could be that there was a significant rider difference between the two for that year.

Could be that some voters are incompetent, or in the case of everyone's favorite gelatinous Robb, er, ahem, blobb, rig the polls.

Could be that Mitch's poll isn't all that accurate.

I'm willing to go with all three choices above.

One is actually taken care of while the other is basically rotting in a field, I imagine that SFA's is a lot rougher and probably a bit slower too.

I don't think SFA's can be a lot slower...it's really been blazing over the last few years. At one point in time when it was cooler, it would barely make it around the circuit. Not so anymore. I haven't been on DL's, but I've ridden SFA's probably 200+ times and it's a great ride IMO...not all that rough. There are a couple notable spots of shuffling at the end of the second helix, and a bit of vibration through the rest, but it doesn't take much away from the ride for me. With that said, I did really enjoy front row rides here and there when I assume they had just changed the wheels and it tracked perfectly smoothly outside of the end of the second helix.

DL's location is pretty sweet though over the water, so I suspect that's some of the difference in ranking. Like I said I haven't ridden both, but I can't believe one is significantly faster or smoother than the other.

People also may not have ridden the ride for some years and if SFA's was significantly slower that probably affected a good percentage of opinions.

I can't imagine it being any shakier or rougher than bizarro currently is.. Either way I can't wait to ride it next week!

How is the park anyways? Is it as terrible as everyone says? Because I feel like people are using Busch Gardens or kd as their basis of comparison

I don't know how tall you are, but as a tall guy the train is much more comfortable on SROS. There's more room for airtime too since my thighs aren't pinned down so much. Rode Bizarro last season a good number of times...don't remember the roughness taking a ton away from the ride, though the trains for me did since being pinned means you can feel every awkward radius change on a ride that's likely just made up of circles. Still my favorite because it's a longer and more complete coaster than some of the newer rides with more intense forces (Skyrush, El Toro, Intimidator), but by a much smaller margin than it might be otherwise.

I always have a good time when I go to SFA. I rarely hit lines more than 15 minutes (hence my huge number of rides on SROS), and their lineup, while not stellar other than SROS, has solid coasters. Wild One front row is a lot of fun, Roar is rougher every season, but fun for maybe 1-2 rides, Batwing is always enjoyable (though shaky) with some intense moments, the drop tower is a nice diversion, and there are a few fun rides at the waterpark, though again nothing real special or unique outside of Bonzai Pipelines. I think if you come to get on some rides and have a good time (and not spend your whole day waiting in lines), you'll enjoy. Also, I've never been turned down for rerides on SROS at the beginning of the day with no line...in fact, they encourage it if nobody is in your row, plus you can switch rows if necessary. If you're not going on Bonzai Pipelines, I suggest getting in your SROS rides...you could hit 10 easy before the line builds up.

Originally posted by Cali Coaster

Could be that there was a significant rider difference between the two for that year.

Could be that some voters are incompetent, or in the case of everyone's favorite gelatinous Robb, er, ahem, blobb, rig the polls.

Could be that Mitch's poll isn't all that accurate.

I'm willing to go with all three choices above.

Wow, someone's bitter.

I'd bet to say it's due to the condition the ride is kept in, plus Darien Lake's superior location.

^^one thing I never understood is how bizarro was made around the same time as millennium force yet bizarro seems so geometric while mf seems so precise and calculated.. Like what is up with the second helix on bizarro where it's going and then it suddenly just jerks upward (to the right). Or the awkward transitions coming out of the overbank or going into the brakes. And as far as the trains; they essentially kill the airtime for me. im literally pinned in my seat and the airtime on many of the hills goes unnoticed, and on the first drop. And when there iis strong enough airtime that it can really be felt, it's not comfortable at all..

So I just rode superman and I don't know how it isn't in the top 20 at least! I was totally impressed! The trains made every aspect of this ride better than bizarro.. The first drop was incredible, and the first turn after the drop is one of the coolest things; it's forceful and hugs the ground and there's an awesome head chopper effect with the hill and fence to the right of you. The first helix Is far more eventful than I expected it to be; there was a great pop of airtime coming into it and then you veer to the right and get some lats before even landing back in you seat. I expected it to be much slower but it was forceful enough that I started to grey out. Second helix was also intense and had some good lats. The pacing on the final sequence though is unlike anything on bizarro.. It has insane airtime on each hill and is so rapid fire, it throws you all over the place! The final hills on bizarro don't compare in intensity. This ride would have been perfect if they had done something about that straight section, perhaps made that area into 2 hills instead of just one, but at least that one hill is so intense (especially the pullout I did not expect it to slam me so bad). I forgot what it was like to experience airtime without touching my seat; I forgot how comfortable and minimal the trains and restraints were. I was genuinely afraid the first time I went down that first drop with 2 inches of space between my thighs and the bar.

As for the park itself, it was pleasant. It was clean, it had a beautiful entrance and midway. The wild one and slc areas desperatly need some tlc though. Wild one itself was a suprisingly great ride. The slc was an unsuprisingly terrible ride. I was thoroughly impressed with apocalypse and it's the ming, it was a bit rough but I prefer it to green lantern. It felt forceful and had some fun twists at the end especially . The trick to the b&m stand ups I think is to get the restraint lowered until it is on your shoulders and lock your legs with your feet all the way back: no headbanging and no ball crushing! Pretty nifty trick if you ask me.. Anyways operations were a disaster. Still the longest wait of the day was only a few trains, but even that took nearly 30 mins. Jokers jinx hadsome downtime but I had already ridden it at that point. I must say they really slowed down the launch on that thing to the point where the pacing is terrible and there hang time on the first inversions, not nearly as good as flight of fear (even with the brakes mid ride). Batwing was impressive and i cant decide whether or not i prefer it to manta. Roar was closed I'm kind of upset I didn't get a chance to ride..

Superman x3
Wild one x1
Jokers jinx x1
SLC x1
Batwing x1
Apocalypse x1

Successful day for 4 hours if you ask me

New top ten-

Intimidator 305
Texas giant
El toro
Storm runner
Boulder dash
Millennium force
Superman: ros
Montu
Incredible hulk
Nitro
(Then bizarro)

I thought Ride of Steel was much better and seemed a bit peppier than SFA's version (last rode in 2008).

I find that hard to believe because sfa's was running like a bat out of hell and was really smooth. I am gonna have to get out there and ride it if it is better though because I thought it was an outstanding ride..

I still really like them both.

When in 2008 did you ride SROS SFA, Jake? It's been way better and more consistent the last like, 4-5 years or so. Could have been running slower...I've seen it baaarely complete the layout on numerous occasions, but not within that time span.

It would have been in the morning, but I also rode Ride of Steel in the morning so who knows.

I rode it in the morning and afternoon and I felt no difference..

There isn't as stark of a difference now. I actually meant what time of the year, but morning/afternoon used to be a very noticeable change too. If you watch how far the train gets into the final brakes, you can actually see that the speed increases. It runs solid throughout the day now though, which is great, especially when one uses the morning to get like 10 rides in an hour with no line haha.