Well I registered a few days ago, and I've browsed through a few topics. (Namely "Introduction") Now in the afore mentioned topic, and various other ones, everyone talks about Raging Bull being so magnificent and great, and that it's a "can't miss" coaster. But very few people mention what is quite possibly the greatest ride in the park- Viper. I, and alot of other people, although none of them are found on these boards, greatly prefer Viper to RB. Why? Well it's simple- Raging Bull is smooth. Too smooth. Smooth enough to the point where it can almost be considered tame. In its first season, it was amazing. But after that, and the subsequent addition of numerous trims, the ride was, simply put, killed. You no longer get the lengthy pops of floater airtime, and positive G's have also been reduced. And the seating, is a little too comfortable. It's like riding a roller coaster in a lazy boy. The last three times I rode, my friend and I had a conversation. There was no urge to yell, no predispostion to scream. There was barely any intensity to it. It seemed like a Vekoma Roller Skater on steroids (well at least one that managed to maintain the excitement of its lesser version.)And now there's Viper. No trims, no MCBR, nothing to slow it down or tame it. It's a twisted mass of wooden track, left unbridled after 6 seasons. Its a great ride. Considering myself a coaster purist, I naturally prefer the wooden design (especially one that mimics the great Coney Island Cyclone). But, even if I prefered steel to wood, Viper delivers one thing RB no longer does. Air time. Air time is 90% of what I look for in a roller coaster, and Viper does a beautiful job of delivering it. The first drop, the double-dip, and the numerous bunny hops are all chocked full of airtime. Also, in addition to the seemingly endless airtime, Viper has great laterals, positive G's, and better provides that "Out of Control" feeling. Constantly twisting in tight turns, surrounded by wood on all sides, in my opinion, far surpasses RB's large, wide turns high in the air.Anyway, those are my thoughts on Raging Bull vs. Viper. I'd like to hear from you Raging Bull fans, as well as those that agree with me in this debate.
I agree with you. The ride it to smooth, it's not anything like the older, more exciting rides. Does anyone remember Rolling Thunder? I believe that the entire SouthWest Territory took it's place. Anyways, this ride was one of the best, despite the killing pain in you knees. The smoothness takes away the fun, the fear of having pain. It was the same on the Shockwave, the pain in your ears. Well, maybe I'm just a freak for pain, but that's my opinion.
Rolling Thunder used to be my favorite ride when I was a kid.But on to Viper, I find this ride to be awesome as well even after riding some of the greatest wooden coasters on the planet (Shivering Timbers and Cornball Express). I personally don't get why Viper is so underrated. As far as Raging Bull goes, the airtime you get in the back on that first drop is awesome...at no point in Vipers ride do you get that type of ejector airtime, not even Vipers last hill which is one of the best pops of air on that ride.Raging Bull is filled with the same amount of airtime it had when it opened in 1999, no new trims have been added to the ride since it has opened. The two trims that were on the ride where there when it opened (2nd hill and drop into figure . The one trim before the figure 8 is usually used very light or not at all..which really only leaves you with one trim most times.If your not expecting a thrilling ride, you won't have a thrilling ride simple as that. I could sit through Viper and have a conversation with my brother the whole ride if I wanted too...ive done it before. Ive done it before on Raging Bull and on every coaster there basically. Me and my brother talk on Giant Drop all the way up and on the way down all the time like nothings going on. If we aren't acting like we are bored with the ride though we can have a hell of a ride on it.On sunday me and my brother did the running of the bulls in the morning and were out in front and could have made it to Raging Bull first, but instead of running to Raging Bull we went to Viper which probably surprised the people behind us. Does this mean I like Viper better...no, I personally prefer Raging Bull over Viper. I just wanted to ride Viper without the stall on the first drop.My currnet Top 3 at SFGAm are:1. Deja Vu 2. Raging Bull 3. ViperThat should show how highly I think of Viper, but overall I enjoy Raging Bull just a little more just like I enjoy Deja Vu a little more than Raging Bull. Its very close for me, and some days I do have better rides on Viper than I do on Raging Bull but most the time its the other way around.EDIT: Also I noticed you were from Hometown Illinois...that is literally about 1 minute from my house. Welcome to the forums!
Last edited by CoasterDave316 on June 10th, 2003, 7:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
nope...i disagree...raging bull is the best coaster in the park....i get a lot of airtime on it( i like to ride it a certain way, too complicated to explain) anyways it has the best drops and i like coasters smooth!!! rough hurts....but i still go on the rough ones... i can never get enough of Raging Bull....but Viper is my 2nd favortie in the park!
*~There's a light~*
*~In the darkness~*
*~Of everybody's life~*
I love Viper. I don't think it tops Raging Bull but it is the best woodie I have ever been on. I have been on all the Woodies at Big Chief and Great America, and Kiddies Land. And will soon be on the ones at Cedar Point.
16 Rides on TTD
10 in Front
4 in front at night
John kerry's got a big head
Raging Bull is getting very very very old. Viper however is allways insane in my opinion. Also I am very anti-trim. Why trim something to make the ride worse? If some one could give me an honest reason why there is a trim on that second hill I would understand. Its not like the ride would be killer insane airtime either if that trim wasn't there but its just there for no basic reason. No its no there for safety reasons. No its not there for hangtime. No its not there for better loading times its just there. Viper rocks Raging Bull in my opinion.
To Coaster guy. U really need to get to cedar point to ride theres. the mean streak really rocks. But nothing beats the woodies at kinds island. Especiall the BEAST. The son of Beast is good to. No wooden coaster will ever beat the BEAST. EVER.
It does, Mean Streak is the worst coaster I have ever ridden along with Raging Wolf Bobs at SFWoA (although they did some work on it this year so im not sure they might have improved it)
I love RB and Viper equally. They both have awesome air time and speed. Heres my top 3 list: #1-RB/Viper #2- Deja Vu #3- American Eagle.Anyway did anyone ever notice that when you take that little dip before the first drop that theres a trim at the bottom of the dip.
Last edited by SFGAmfreak4life on June 10th, 2003, 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I think Raging Bull still has every thing from it's opening in 1999. As, for Viper I think it just keeps getting better and better each time I ride it. A couple of years ago, I didn't care that much for Viper, but now it's one of my favorite coasters at SFGAm.You can see my order of coasters at SFGam in my sig.
Viper is a great ride. But Raging Bull is the best ride in the park(in my opinion). Here is the order of my ride favorites1)RB2)B:TR3)S:UF4)V25)DV6)Viper7)AE8)IW9)Whizzer10)Demon11)SSR(ridden once only(long time ago))As you can see, I am a fan of steel coasters(especially B&M's)
NoUseForAName wrote:Raging Bull is getting very very very old. Viper however is allways insane in my opinion. Also I am very anti-trim. Why trim something to make the ride worse? If some one could give me an honest reason why there is a trim on that second hill I would understand. Its not like the ride would be killer insane airtime either if that trim wasn't there but its just there for no basic reason. No its no there for safety reasons. No its not there for hangtime. No its not there for better loading times its just there. Viper rocks Raging Bull in my opinion.
I checked this out when I went with my AP Physics class. The reason for the trims on the second hill is that when RB was originally designed they thought that the horseshoe turn after the tunnel would cause the train to slow down more than it really does. So they put the trims on the hill. From what I found out about the second hill, if it were going its maximum speed it would be too much stress on the track.
you can't believe it - you didn't mean it
but they saw you do it and they know your name
I think SSR is Spacelys' Sprocket Rockets at Camp Cartoon Network. I've got to check out the first ride of Viper in the morning thing again. I was on the first ride on Viper a few weeks ago but didn't pay attention to the no-stall. As for Viper vs. Raging Bull, they're both great rides and nice additions to SFGAm. It's hard for me to rank coasters, but both rides give nice airtime and both are nearly always must-rides during each visit.
I think that raging bull is just a little better becuase of the high speeds. Viper is awesome though and it is definately the best woodie in the park. I also saw somewhere, maybe coasterbuzz, that Viper was ranked 24th out of all wooden coasters.
My Top 5: 1)TTD, 2)Millennium Force, 3)Raptor, 4)Deja Vu, 5)Raging Bull
CoasterDude316 wrote:It does, Mean Streak is the worst coaster I have ever ridden along with Raging Wolf Bobs at SFWoA (although they did some work on it this year so im not sure they might have improved it)
Yeah, the first half of Raging Wolf Bobs is hell now. The new G-trains make you feel every shift in the track and you think you are going to die. The second half of the ride is way too boring. SFWoA really screwed this ride up, I miss the old trains. Mean Streak - is a rough ride but always has a short line, I have learned to like it. They did trim the heck out of it, because it was literally destroying itself.
CoasterDude316 wrote:Raging Bull is filled with the same amount of airtime it had when it opened in 1999, no new trims have been added to the ride since it has opened. The two trims that were on the ride where there when it opened (2nd hill and drop into figure . The one trim before the figure 8 is usually used very light or not at all..which really only leaves you with one trim most times.
Hmmm, I screwed up what I was trying to say. What I meant was they've been turned up. (That was simple enough to explain ) There is no way that second hill provides as much airtime as it did in its opening season. Either that or I've gotten bigger, and the airtime seems substantialy less. But I tend to believe the former.
CoasterDude316 wrote:If your not expecting a thrilling ride, you won't have a thrilling ride simple as that. I could sit through Viper and have a conversation with my brother the whole ride if I wanted too...ive done it before. Ive done it before on Raging Bull and on every coaster there basically. Me and my brother talk on Giant Drop all the way up and on the way down all the time like nothings going on. If we aren't acting like we are bored with the ride though we can have a hell of a ride on it.
This is true. You can have casual conversations on all the rides. I just find it particularly easy on Raging Bull. ( Giant Drop?! I have enough trouble breating on the way down, let alone talking)
CoasterDude316 wrote:My currnet Top 3 at SFGAm are:1. Deja Vu 2. Raging Bull 3. Viper
As long as we're all listing our favorites, mine would be-1. Viper, last seat, right side2. Batman, at night, first seat, far right.3. American Eagle, backwards, last chair, either side4. Batman/Viper in any other seat5. Whizzer.
CoasterDude316 wrote:EDIT: Also I noticed you were from Hometown Illinois...that is literally about 1 minute from my house. Welcome to the forums!
Yeah, I noticed you were from Oak Lawn. Awesome! I just became a senior at OLCHS (my deepest heart felt apologies if you had to go to richards), and I'm currently employed at the Oak Lawn Hilton.