Since Woodland is probably getting himself back together after his trip to Europe, and it's been 2 weeks, I figure I'll kick off this round..
My #7 overall would be Raven at Holiday World. It used to be my #1 for the longest time, probably some sentimental reasons, but a while back, while the park denies it, the ride clearly had some tweaks done to it's profile, either way it's still a really solid coaster when ridden in the dark. I don't think I've come across any other coaster ever that produces that kind of out of control feeling that Raven's ending produces.
My #7 steel would be X2 at SFMM. I never rode the Original, but I did get one ride without the music, which actually seemed to add a lot to it, without it, I'd put this as unranked, but either way, I'm sure most around here have ridden it and know all about it, and all that stuff is pretty awesome. It can be a little rough or jarring, but nothing any coaster enthusiast shouldn't be able to handle.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Voltron Nevera, Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 232, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 894, Wood: 179, Total: 1073
#7 Steel Raptor at Cedar Point In my opinion, Raptor has the best layout out of all the B&M inverts. I love that it does more then just go upside down the whole ride. When it does invert,it has almost perfect pacing. I'm a huge fan of the helix after the MCBR. Just a overall awesome ride. It would be higher on my list but it always has long lines being at the front of the park and I've never had a "memorable" moment on it.
#7 Wood Cyclops at Mt. Olympus 2 words. Air Time. This thing is packed with it and NEVER has lines. The famous chuck drop is one of the best single moments of airtime in the world. The rest of the layout has some surprising pops of air also. Just a really simple, kick ass, old school woodie.
Top 5: 1) El Toro. 2) Maverick. 3) Millenium Force. 4) Diamondback. 5) X2. Coaster Count: 167 (41 Wood, 125 Steel) @Coaster_Cole on Twitter
Boulder Dash - Lake Compounce I'm probably the only one in the world that thinks that this ride is a bit overrated. Many enthusiasts proclaim it as an automatic top 5 with some saying it's the best. It's got a lot of things going for it: terrain, speed, good pacing, pretty smooth, but to me it reminded of the Beast without the epicness. Still a great ride though, just not top 5.
Xcelerator - Knotts Berry Farm So why Xcelerator instead of TTD or Kingda Ka? Xcel has something that neither one gets close to, and thats if you are in the back row it has extreme ejector air. The launch is just as intense, if not more intense, than TTD or KDK because of the short launch track. Then you have maybe a second to catch your breath before it ripping your legs off your torso. *Note the pic was taken before the cables/extra support were added
Thanks FParker, leaving Europe tomorrow but tying up loose ends tends to take all your time away from you. Someone should start one next week as well as I'll be driving from WI back to CA and moving in there.
As for my number 7 coaster, this one has been featured a few times already on other people's lists, but it comes in at #7 overall for me. That's Renegade at Valleyfair!
My favorite part of any roller coaster is airtime, speed, and feeling out of control. Renegade does that really well. It's first drop pulls you right out of your seat in the back row, and the ride never looses its speed and momentum compared to some other GCIs that have debuted recently as well.
I find that I can reride Renegade over and over and it just doesn't get boring, it's also a great night coaster since it's in the back of the park and has practically no ride area near a midway. The queue also tends to disappear because of this as well.
Top 5 wood-5-Goliath 4-Ravine Flyer II 3-Phoenix 2-Voyage 1-El Toro Top 5 Steel- 5-Velocicoaster 4- Maverick 3- Fury 325 2-Steel Vengeance 1-X2 Coaster Count: 444
