The Coaster That Surprised You The Most

What coaster that you rode surprised you when you rode it? It could be an underrated coaster that you thought was amazing, or an amazing coaster that still amazed you the first time you rode it.



Mine would have to be La Ronde's Goliath. It's got the best airtime of any coaster I've been on. The hills are perfect floters, and it's the best B&M hyper I've been on for sure.

[Oscar]

Viper! I personally don't think it's rough and last time I rode it, I was pleasently suprised that the corkscrews were smooth!

SheiKra. The drop has such powerful airtime but at the same time it's so graceful, along with the falling/flying feeling that comes with the Immelman (especially on the edges)...

Legend at HW.....For some reason people don't talk about it much but I think it's the best of their three woodies.

Griffon-didn't expect the awesome sensations that ride has...too bad it is so short.

Boulder Dash-I knew it was fast and would have some air, but I never knew the pacing would be that insane with sooo much airtime.

Cyclone @ SFNE- Awesome ejector throughout in the back seat.

Cyclone at Coney Island- Same as above^.

Shockwave at SFOT- Amazing coaster, all around fun with tons of air in the front.

Expedition Everest - Yeti = Crapped Pants

S:ROS @ SFNE - Back Seat = floater drop + airtime x extreme

Goliath @ SFMM - Drop lasting 3 yrs, 2 months, 5 days, and 43 seconds

Riddler's Revenge - Smooth as butter, no head bobbling

Incredible Hulk - Launch out of station was forceful, no lead in, just POW! and your gone.

Dueling Dragons - Backseat slammed my head around the first turn of the drop. Ow.

Mindbender at Six Flags Over Georgia. Great forces, and a relatively smooth ride.
Also the Georgia Scorcher. MUCH better than other stand-ups (MANTIS)

[jayman]

ghostrider..
i grew up down the street from knotts, i went there practically everyday. i never wished for a wooden rollercoaster there because it wasn't possible.. .. besides collosuss was always right up the road ! not many of knott's rides were truly impresive to me, with the strong exception of the beary tales , the log ride and the mine train and the fully decked out soap box racers..corkscrerw and montezooma's revenge were fun but horribly short ..when they announced bigfoot rapids i felt ripped off, because no rollercoaster, but i never thought that wood would ever be something they could do.in the 90's they built jaguar, which i thought was very typical of knott's style.. it's long but not fast, in fact BORING seemed like everyhing knotts had built was either long and slow or short and fast all the while the ghost town shrank..i forgot about knott's. .. .. a few years later , here in san diego a freind mentioned that his freind who worked at knotts was really stoked about the new rollercoaster, and i hadn't even heard about it..
he described it as "one of the old school wooden ones" and i was honestly expecting something nice but tame like the dutch wonderland rollercoaster, or something gimmicky.one sunday when i drove up to see my grandpa i decided to see if the guy was telling the truth.. i got off the free way near where i had grown up and as i passed under the 91 on beach i was like HOLY poop!!!!!!!!! there it was, crossing OVER grand avenue.. you used to be able to see way down grand as you veered left down beach..
well, i couldnt just ignore it so on the way home i picked up a hiliter pen and -------------------- through the reentry. i couldnt believe it.it was going to be my first ride on a brand new wooden rollercoaster since collossus.. thats like 20 years of watching collosus get wrecked.. i just *KNEW* knott's wouldn't have built anything *THAT* good. the entrance was the old mine shaft leading to pan for gold.. the line was huge, and it was valentines day so there i was a single guy, alll by myself with cholos everywhere making out with their girlfreinds..so after about a 1 hour and 45 minute wait for the back seat, because i knew it was a knott's ride and that it *couldnt* be that great so id best get the most out of it......
i was impressed by the lift run up , but i hadn't looked at the layout,just it's outer profile , so i was still thinking.. yeah yeah.. ok maybe the rest will be as good as that.. when i went over that drop and into that left turn i was instantly convinced that i was VERY wrong.this ride was really something else..and then ..incredible smooth yet gritty airtime.. feeling the wheels spinning free off the track for slight moments just the right amount of rattle, wobbling a little , but not much because unlike collossus it was hauling ASS around turns and then .. the second turn around.. what happened next was breathtaking as rough as i have to admit that ride has gotten i still pine for that moment when im not there..
so uhm.. sorry, but yeah.. ghostrider.. ---burp----

"Maverick" at Cedar Point. I knew it would be good, but I didn't know it would be THAT good. The first time I went down that first drop in the back, I just about had a heart attack! But what really surprised me was the launch. I figured "meh, 70 mph LIM launch, no big deal." But that thing hauled ass out that tunnel, and it felt like it was going about 90. And I was completely not ready for the whip in those Stengel dives. Heck, that whole ride beat the pants off of me. It still surprises me every time I ride it. There's no way to prepare for those turns and that airtime.

Originally posted by cjd

"Maverick" at Cedar Point. I knew it would be good, but I didn't know it would be THAT good. The first time I went down that first drop in the back, I just about had a heart attack! But what really surprised me was the launch. I figured "meh, 70 mph LIM launch, no big deal." But that thing hauled ass out that tunnel, and it felt like it was going about 90. And I was completely not ready for the whip in those Stengel dives. Heck, that whole ride beat the pants off of me. It still surprises me every time I ride it. There's no way to prepare for those turns and that airtime.

I would make up my own description of the surprising factors of that ride but you covered them. My experience was even better because it was raining! The turnaround into the water pumps is my favorite part of the whole ride.

Steel Force at Dorney. I was expecting it to suck and be pretty rough, but it was actually smooth and just fun. Don't really know why I like it so much, I just do.

Laser. That ride was quite force full and fun in the small footprint it had.

One coaster that surprised me was The Renegade! I was expecting a good ride but I wasn't expecting all the airtime from all the pictures and videos I saw, WOW!... The first time I went on it i sat in the back and I completely forgot about the amazing double helixed drop. I got whiplashed across that hill and I think I crapped my pants lol... Loved the ride and will always no matter how many times i ride it.[:D]

[Coasterkidmwm]

Lightning Racer.

I didn't know something that looked SO cool could suck so hard.

[A7]

1. Maverick, for pretty much all the same reasons listed above.
2. Dragster, The launch was much more than I expected. The only launch coaster I had ever ridden before it was very weak in comparison.
3. GhostRider, First time I rode a wooden coaster and liked it.

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A little off topic, but maybe we could change the topic?
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As for an amusement attraction, Demon Drop was the most under estimated for me. I had been on 5 other 'drop towers' before going on the Demon Drop. It is in my opinion no comparison at all to the others. Not Power Tower, Supreme Scream, Big Shot, none of them were as intense or terrifying than the Demon Drop. The fact that it hardly ever has a line led me to believe that it just wouldn't be that good.

I was very surprised by Diving Machine G5. I didn't expect a vertical drop to provide the sensation that it does. The vertical drop on any ride even though it is gaining more popularity is still unique.

[Dirk_Ermen]

EGF backseat, my first ride was in the front. That was amazing too, but when I went to the back. I really got surprised by the 90* twist in the drop that provides some "whoa!" lat's in the back if you don't brace yourself The rest of the memories are a bit vage atm... (I just woke up and i'm hyping now already to go back to holiday park )

[hyyyper]

Boulder Dash. When I walked up to it I was thinking "why am I wasting my time on this derelict CCI".
Boy was I wrong, the speed, the airtime and damn that ride rocked.

Desert Race surprised me a lot, I first thought: mwah such a small lay-out no great hights, few turns. But then came the launch and those turns were so forcefull and those flipping tops, liked them a lot.

Even though it isnt really a roller coaster, Detonator was reeeeeally surprising for me. The drop was soooo amazingly powerful, i did not see it comming.

This may change with my trip to Maryland coming up, but believe it or not, Batman. It looked so small, so it didn't seem that scary at first glance. The first time riding it I remember being scared because of the intense positive g-forces I experienced. It's so small, but packs a hell of a punch, even if it is does only last thirty seconds.

speed @ oakwood theme park. it very much surprised me how comfortable it was, how much airtime the first hill and and how much force the whole ride has.

i just wish it was closer to me

the new eviel kinevil coaster at six flags st. louis. i thought it would be a generic peice of crap, but it has suprises for any one who thinks like me!
so there i was on the fourth day it had come out. the line was surprisingly small, and i quickly went to the front seat.

that thing whipped me around delightfully smooth(but fast and rough) turns(also delightfully different then the boss. that ride was voted on another site one of the bumpiest AND worst coasters)
gave me all the Gs i wanted for a single ride, and was crazy fast.(of at least it seemed) returning to the station nearly made me suicidal!

When i had seen dominator in pics i really looked at it like any other B&M. I had ridden b and ms my whole life previously at busch in VA. So im on vacation at virginia. Im heading to KD expecting to see a b&m about the size of volcano out front near the parking lot. So the view outside the park appears and i see this massive coaster 2 times as high as volcano with this enourmous track and vibrant track. You may understand what i mean when b&ms in pictures look so much tinyer, but the tracks are just gargantuan. So my expectations had gotten better. Then when i got in line for it, it took only like 15 minutes to get to the front. So i hop in one of the uber comfy seats. Hmm... a bigger batman Dark Night with orange track. Not at all! The ride was different from other b&ms. I don't know how to explain but its true. Just ride in the back. WOW! that first drop was great.

phoenix at knoebels.