- August 18th, 2014, 8:35 pm
#61623
SFOG is probably my favorite coaster park. They have quite a bit of variety, and most everything is good, some of it excellent. I also love the train, Monster Plantation and a lot of the atmosphere, but overall the park doesn't quite hit the BGW / Dollywood level there.
Scorcher is what all the other stand ups were trying to be. It's much like Tenn. Tornado, the last of it's breed when they finally got the formula just right. I don't hate other stand ups like Chang, Vortex and Mantis as much as most others, but they're not exactly my favorite ride, either, Scorcher is simply in it's own class.
Goliath is pretty great, no surprise as it's a B&M hyper. Batman is cloned everywhere, but that doesn't lessen it being a fantastic, fun ride. Superman is miles ahead of the Vekoma flyer design, as it's both more comfortable and takes much better advantage of the flying position. Of course I'm a B&M fanboy, so any park that has 4 is gonna rank high on my list.
But wait - there's more. GASM is simply a beautiful coaster, and is a fun ride. Sure it has it's rough parts but they're not too bad due to having the good ol' buzz bar restraints.
It's neighbor, Ninja, is also pretty cool to look at. Rough, yes. It's a an old Vekoma. The payoff for that bit of pain is some of the best head choppers in existence and an overall fun ride. Not gonna marathon on the thing, no, but I have to ride it each time I'm there.
Mindbender is a classic, and quite awesome. None of these pansy OTSRs despite going upside down. The ride has a wonderful mix of positive Gs in the loops, and some very good negative G airtime elsewhere.
This brings us to Cyclone. I haven't been to the park since 2006, when it was extremely rough and barely rideable. Prior to that, though, it was my #1 wood due to some insane airtime moments in the back seat. I'd recommend the front seat, though, as that seems to handle roughness better in rides with this kind of airtime than the rest of the train does for whatever reason. This has also been my experience with Hurler and some others.
I haven't been on the newer additions, of course, but I do miss ol' Deja Vu. Broken down much of the time, and a long line when it wasn't, but the ride was (mostly) worth the wait
