- Riding my 100th roller coaster (Silver Star)
- 20 rides on roller coasters in 1 day (previous record: 11)
- First time riding a major roller coaster 2 times in a row without leaving the platform (Silver Star)
- First time staying in a Hotel within a Theme Park (Hotel Charles Lindberg)
- First time being the last rider of the day (F.L.Y.)
- First time finishing a major theme park within 4 hours (with 8 coasters, btw)
Among these 46 coasters, I awarded a total of 5 A+, 9 A and 10 B+. The remaining coasters obviously got B and below... Before we begin the countdown, let's run through the honorable mentions which got an A but just missed the top 10 spots.
- Joris en de Draak - Efteling
- Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park
- Lost Gravity - Wallibi Holland
- Karacho - Tripsdrill Erlebnispark
Now let's get to my actual top 10 coasters of the Germany-Netherlands trip!
10) Black Mamba - Phantasialand
You like hitting the ground? You like the feeling of hitting the ground? Black Mamba is the ultimate terrain coaster - For a moment you are underground, then in the next you are blinded by daylight! One moment you are starring at the sky, the next moment you are slamming into the ground. This is one ride where you have to experience the first row!
9) Baron 1898 - Efteling
Instead of hitting the ground, what if we dive 12 storeys straight into a mine shaft? Baron 1898 might be the smallest dive (vertical drop) coaster that I have taken, but the theme, music and diversity of elements makes this Dive Coaster stand out. Just remember, take only the coaster, but not the treasures, or you might find yourself at the mercy of the spirits in the mines!
8) Blue Fire Megacoaster - Europa Park
7) Star Trek: Operation Enterprise - Movie Park
What happens when you take the inversions and comfortable seats of Blue Fire and add in the theme of a popular sci-fi franchise? No. This is no coaster. This is simulation training for the valiant crews of Starfleet of the United Federations of Earth. While the back seat offers the best ride due to the 15+ storey backwards spike, you might have to make do with another row. After all, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...
6) Hals Über Kopf - Tripsdrill Erlebnispark
I remembered when I rode Battlestar Galactica: Cylon for the first time. It is a great ride with great pacing, intense inversions and an intense first drop. Yet, Vekoma (the ride manufacturer) could do better! Much better! In many ways, I feel that Hals Über Kopf represents the next evolution from Battlestar Galactica: Cylon. I feel like every turn, every inversion, every drop that the ride makes, it is going exactly where I want to go. Each element felt natural and every transition was just right. (yes! I know it is tied to the track, but the layout and transitions are that good!)
FYI: Hals Über Kopf is now my new "Gatekeeper" for A+
Now, we move on to the coasters which got an A+!
5) Goliath - Walibi Holland
Before 2018, the top roller coasters in the world (based on coaster fan polls) are: Millennium Force, Superman Ride of Steel (Six Flags New England version) and Expedition GeForce. What do these 3 rides have in common? They are all the same model of coaster made by the same manufacturer - Intamin Megacoaster. However, there is one (actually, more than 1 #OtherSupermanClones) that flies under the radar - Goliath at Walibi Holland.
Goliath has a good mix of airtime, Intamin's comfortable T-bar restraints and a beautiful setting beside a lake. Yet, if you look at the coaster rankings, you will see that this barely cracks the top 100 for many coaster enthusiasts. Admittedly, it might be slightly weaker than the 3 coasters above (can someone pay for my next coaster trip to verify this?), but is it really that much worse? Or is it overlooked because it shares the same name as 7 other coasters in the US? Just because it is not in a big US park? Just because it is not the best in its class?
4) Taron - Phantasialand
Coaster enthusiasts, I ask you: what makes a coaster complete? The airtime? The speed? The pacing? The comfort? The theme? Or something else? I might not have the full answer, but I think Taron is the most complete coaster experience one can get. As a coaster by itself, it has great speed, strong pops of ejector airtime, good pacing with fast transitions and laterals. The seats are comfortable and the ride decently good capacity.
For many, the above already makes a coaster complete. Yet, we can do much better. First, place the ride in the middle of a nordic village Klugheim with authentic looking buildings, greenery and landscaping. Then, surround the village with towering rockwall that encompass the entire ride area, dwarfing the ride track itself. And to top it all off, compose one of the most beautiful soundtracks for a roller coaster.
To me, all this makes Taron complete.
3) Silver Star - Europa Park
Mercedes produces fast cars and world beating racing teams. But most of us, the speed, the adrenaline, the glamour of automotive racing is beyond our reach. Yet here, at Europa Park, we are able to catch a little glimpse into this otherwise exclusive world, through the Mercedes themed coaster Silver Star. Silver Star boasts some impressive stats (for a coaster, not a Mercedes. duh!) - 130+kph top speed, 24 storey height, an up to 4 Gs of force (very close to race car drivers who experience 5Gs at the corners).
Apart from its racing elements, this ride also has great sustained floater airtime - and there is lots of it. Perhaps quantity is a quality in itself! Oh yes, the capacity of this ride is impressive. Even while running 2 of the 3 trains, the capacity is so good that we are even able to hop back into the next ride without leaving the platform - but on a weekday. As a result, I was able to get 6 rides on this coaster!
You know you don't have priorities right when you took your 100th roller coaster as a Mercedes themed roller coaster but still don't have driver's license.
2) F.L.Y. - Phantasialand
I planned my entire trip around F.L.Y. and the Charles Lindberg experience, so of course this ride has to be an A+. I mean, if you go online you can already find countless reviews on the amazing theming, pacing, near-miss elements, airtime, seat comfort, yada, yada, yada! So I am not going to go into these elements. Instead, I want to talk about 1 thing that makes this ride unique:
INSPIRATION. This ride is not just a roller coaster - it brings us back in time to an era when flight was a dream of a select few. Imagine you are a test pilot in the 1920s. At the waiting area, you see the equipment that the engineers toiled over; the soft music occasionally interrupted by the sound of mechanical noise. One one hand, you are excited to join the pioneers in aviation. Yet, with each mechanical klang, with each drop of fluid, you ask yourself: what if something go wrong?
Then, as the ride starts, a sense of relief - the machine works. As you fly through Rookburgh, you are not just a rider, but a pioneer. I felt for myself why the 1920s was the era of aviation experimentation. I felt the courage, the audacity and the tenacity of people who pushed the boundaries of technology. I think this ride really exemplifies the spirit of technology and engineering progress. I am not even surprised if this ride inspires some riders to become the next generation of aerospace engineers.
1) Untamed - Walibi Holland
As we approach the number 1 coaster, I am not very pleased to inform you that the photos are taken using a Samsung Galaxy phone. Now. Look at your iPhone (or Android). How long have you been using it? Is it still as good as when you first bought? Now, image if Apple (or Google) issue an update - but instead of making your phone slower, it actually becomes faster, more intense and smoother. This is exactly what Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) did to Untamed - when it converted from an old, rough wooden coaster to a modern hybrid machine.
Well, Untamed is just...untamed. The pacing is impeccable, the elements are unique and you are out of your seat for pretty much the entire ride. After the first inversion (which is actually a double inversion), you cannot even tell which way is up for the rest of the ride. This is in stark contrast to the original wooden coaster Robin Hood - which is quite old and rough and has elements that were perhaps great in the 1990s. This, alongside the other converted RMC Hybrids, tells us something - something need not be new or shiny to be great. There is great potential in every coaster, if only we could see it - like RMC did.
Conclusion
Of course, since my coaster ranking is on a "bell curve" system, some of my previous coasters may have their rankings updated. You may refer to my updated coaster rankings under the Coaster Index page.
Want more coasters, look out for these posts:
- Nagashima Spa Land - Where my number 1 Coaster - Hakugei looms...
- Happy Valley Shanghai - Best coaster collection in China?
- Chimelong Paradise - The first park from my first coaster trip!
