I might be late for this, but I'll do this anyway. 2013 kept amusement park technology get better and better and even if we have seen some of the stuff this year before, that doesn't mean that those things are bad. For here, I'll tell you what new things in amusement parks are great, in a big surprise, in a disappointment, in terribility, and many more things. Remember, this is all taken from what coaster enthusiasts think from reviews from Theme Park Review, CoasterForce, the Mitch Hawker coaster polls, etc. and not just me. There are also many things that go overall for coaster enthusiasts for coasters and parks. Since I went through all of that, let's get into this.
Best New Steel Coaster:
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Iron Rattler @ Six Flags Fiesta Texas
The original Rattler was a crappy wooden coaster with a lot of rough moments and a large and boring helix, but then Rocky Mountain Construction came in and turned a bad wooden coaster into an awesome steel coaster. They improved the Rattler by making the ride smooth, putting in new trains, having overbanked turns, more airtime, and they even added a freaking barrel roll. Iron Rattler was so good that it landed in the top 10 in the Mitch Hawker steel coaster poll on its first year. Now that's what you call an epic ride. Also, the name of the ride is epic, Iron Rattler.
Best New Wooden Coaster:
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Outlaw Run @ Silver Dollar City
Yes, this is a wooden coaster with an inversion and no, it isn't a failure like Son of Beast was. Overall, this is ranked as the best overall new roller coaster by coaster enthusiasts and there is no arguing on why they say that. Outlaw Run is the first ever wooden coaster with multiple inversions, 3 inversions to be exact, and there is a lot more that comes with it. Outlaw Run has many records like the 2nd steepest drop on a wooden coaster (1st steepest being the upcoming Goliath @ Six Flags Great America), the 3rd tallest drop on a wooden coaster, and the 3rd fastest wooden coaster. To add on, Outlaw Run has multiple moments of airtime. Hell, there is even airtime on this ride while going sideways. To add on, like I said before, 3 freaking inversions on a wooden coaster. The first inversion is an outside banked turn (as shown in the photo above), but many enthusiasts don't call it an inversion since it only does a 153 degree flip. The final two inversions are what makes Outlaw Run noticeable, the double barrel roll. You go through two consecutive barrel rolls before the ride comes to a stop. So yeah, this is one of the two reasons to go to Silver Dollar City (the 2nd reason being the cinnamon bread).
Biggest Surprise:
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Full Throttle @ Six Flags Magic Mountain
Before it opened, people thought of Full Throttle to be a big gimmick, but when they rode it, they went straight ahead and changed their minds. Instead of being a "regular launched coaster credit", it was actually a great coaster. Instead of a big and forceless vertical loop, Full Throttle's loop was not just big, but it provided some great hangtime. For the backwards launch, it wasn't as useless as we thought it was going to be. The backwards launch provided some good hangtime going up the dive loop where you dive down to the tunnel in. Finally, there's the top hat, and that took everyone, including myself, in a big impression. Going down Full Throttle's top hat is one of the best moments of airtime on any coaster in California (specifically in the back car), and coaster enthusiasts thought that it was going to be a lame ending to the ride after looking at the announcement. Full Throttle is so big of a surprise that I thought that it would be ranked lower than Goliath in my opinion, but it's actually my favorite coaster in the park.
Most Disappointing:
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GateKeeper @ Cedar Point
While people were not so excited for Full Throttle, a lot of people were very excited for GateKeeper. After not that big of impressions on B&M wing riders like X-Flight, Raptor, and the Swarm, we thought that GateKeeper would be the relief of B&M wing riders, but we were wrong, WAY wrong. Instead of a great ride that we all expected it to be, we got something that is still forceless, having chest-crushing restraints, and having a pretty bad rattle. Hell, even the people who thought that this ride was going to be okay got disappointed. The best thing that coaster enthusiasts can like about GateKeeper is what they did to the entrance of the park, and it looks better than the entrance was before. Other than that, it wasn't worth the big hype.
Worst New Ride:
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Hades 360 @ Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park
This ride would've been the most disappointing ride of 2013, but coaster enthusiasts know that Mt. Olympus can screw up pretty well with what they do. The original Hades was already a fine wooden coaster that didn't need any upgrades, but Mt. Olympus saw some bad stuff about the original Hades in their own eyes and they wanted to "improve" the ride. So they did by adding new trains, re-tracking some parts of the ride, and adding an inversion. That doesn't sound bad, right? Yes, but does that mean that it is not bad? No. As I said before, some of the track has been re-tracked, not all of it, and with the new trains, the moments with the non-redone track causes some of the roughest moments on any roller coaster. Hades 360 is so bad that many coaster enthusiasts are calling it worse than Bandit @ Movie Park Germany, Dragon @ Adventureland, and even Goudurix @ Parc Asterix. We all just hope that Mt. Olympus makes Gravity Group re-track the parts of the ride that aren't re-tracked yet or Hades 360 will remain as one of the worst roller coasters in the world.
Best New Non-Coaster Ride:
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Transformers: The Ride @ Universal Studios Orlando
I know that this ride is already at the Universal Studios parks in Hollywood and Singapore, but it has finally made it to Orlando. If you haven't been on Transformers: The Ride, it has the same ride function as the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman ride at the Islands of Adventure park next door, but the Transformers ride has a lot more action, Michael Bay explosions, slow motion moments, and a bigger story. Also, the queue line has some nice theming that ties up to the story of the ride, but you have to ride it yourself because I'm not going to spoil anything here. Even though I like the Spiderman ride more, you better check this one out. It's certainly better than watching the Transformers movies.
Best Overall Steel Coaster:
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Expedition GeForce @ Holiday Park
Based on the Mitch Hawker steel coaster poll, Expedition GeForce continues to be ranked as the best steel roller coaster in the world by coaster enthusiasts. It has one of the best first drops on any roller coaster, has some fast and tight overbanked turns that make Millennium Force's turns feel forceless, has trains with good restraints, and let's not forget that this ride has airtime, and Expedition GeForce has a lot of great airtime. Expedition GeForce has been said by many to have some of the best airtime on any steel roller coaster. If you don't believe the coaster enthusiasts, then ride the coaster yourself.
Best Overall Wooden Coaster:
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El Toro @ Six Flags Great Adventure
Since its opening year in 2006, El Toro has been ranked #1 year after year in the Mitch Hawker wooden coaster poll, and it still continues its streak in 2013. Like Expedition GeForce, El Toro is mostly known for its insane ejector airtime, and many people like El Toro's airtime even more than Expedition GeForce's airtime. If you want to see how intense the airtime on El Toro is, search up "El Toro airtime" on Google Images and look at the first result. That's correct, the wheels come slightly off of the track because of the ride's powerful airtime. El Toro also has many tight turns and an insane first drop that you have to ride it to believe how insane it is. Not to mention, El Toro has the Rolling Thunder hill, the single most popular airtime hill on any roller coaster.
Best Overall Park:
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Tokyo DisneySea
If we were counting a collection of parks, then the Walt Disney World resort would be the best park, but we are talking about one single park here and that one single best park is Tokyo DisneySea. Tokyo DisneySea is loved by everyone who takes a step into the place. The theming is beautiful, the rides are never bad, the efficiency is perfect, you won't have any bad food, and people will go on and on about how amazing Tokyo DisneySea really is. The biggest suggestion by coaster enthusiasts is to not trust the Golden Ticket Awards that say that Cedar Point is the best park because of the collection of rides but to instead go to a park like Tokyo DisneySea to have a real good experience.
Worst Overall Roller Coaster:
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Zamperla Volares @ Various Parks
In 2012, Goudurix @ Parc Asterix has been ranked as the worst roller coaster in the world, but in 2013, that title belongs to the Zamperla Volares. There are many complaints by coaster enthusiasts by these rides being very uncomfortable and very rough. There are a lot of turns and transitions that will cause a lot of headbanging. Want to know how to make these rides worse? Well one of the only coasters in North Korea is a Zamperla Volare. How does that say to the rides terribility now?
Worst Overall Park:
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Fuji-Q Highland
When people are calling Fuji-Q the Six Flags Magic Mountain of Japan, they are correct, but not in a positive way. Coaster enthusiasts actually hate Fuji-Q WAY more than they hate Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Magic Mountain doesn't have the quality that the coaster enthusiasts want. Going on topic, Fuji-Q has the single worst maintenance and operations out of any park that anyone has gone to. The rides open about an hour after the park opens, loading times for rides go extremely slow, all of the coasters are not smooth, every ride closes down in the slightest rainfalls, it is a rare occurrence to find any decent food, and most of the pathways are just asphalt. There are more complaints about this park, but I don't need to talk more about it.
That's all there is for 2013 in amusement parks. We'll just wait for more things that 2014 will bring to us.
Best New Steel Coaster:
Iron Rattler @ Six Flags Fiesta Texas
The original Rattler was a crappy wooden coaster with a lot of rough moments and a large and boring helix, but then Rocky Mountain Construction came in and turned a bad wooden coaster into an awesome steel coaster. They improved the Rattler by making the ride smooth, putting in new trains, having overbanked turns, more airtime, and they even added a freaking barrel roll. Iron Rattler was so good that it landed in the top 10 in the Mitch Hawker steel coaster poll on its first year. Now that's what you call an epic ride. Also, the name of the ride is epic, Iron Rattler.
Best New Wooden Coaster:
Outlaw Run @ Silver Dollar City
Yes, this is a wooden coaster with an inversion and no, it isn't a failure like Son of Beast was. Overall, this is ranked as the best overall new roller coaster by coaster enthusiasts and there is no arguing on why they say that. Outlaw Run is the first ever wooden coaster with multiple inversions, 3 inversions to be exact, and there is a lot more that comes with it. Outlaw Run has many records like the 2nd steepest drop on a wooden coaster (1st steepest being the upcoming Goliath @ Six Flags Great America), the 3rd tallest drop on a wooden coaster, and the 3rd fastest wooden coaster. To add on, Outlaw Run has multiple moments of airtime. Hell, there is even airtime on this ride while going sideways. To add on, like I said before, 3 freaking inversions on a wooden coaster. The first inversion is an outside banked turn (as shown in the photo above), but many enthusiasts don't call it an inversion since it only does a 153 degree flip. The final two inversions are what makes Outlaw Run noticeable, the double barrel roll. You go through two consecutive barrel rolls before the ride comes to a stop. So yeah, this is one of the two reasons to go to Silver Dollar City (the 2nd reason being the cinnamon bread).
Biggest Surprise:
Full Throttle @ Six Flags Magic Mountain
Before it opened, people thought of Full Throttle to be a big gimmick, but when they rode it, they went straight ahead and changed their minds. Instead of being a "regular launched coaster credit", it was actually a great coaster. Instead of a big and forceless vertical loop, Full Throttle's loop was not just big, but it provided some great hangtime. For the backwards launch, it wasn't as useless as we thought it was going to be. The backwards launch provided some good hangtime going up the dive loop where you dive down to the tunnel in. Finally, there's the top hat, and that took everyone, including myself, in a big impression. Going down Full Throttle's top hat is one of the best moments of airtime on any coaster in California (specifically in the back car), and coaster enthusiasts thought that it was going to be a lame ending to the ride after looking at the announcement. Full Throttle is so big of a surprise that I thought that it would be ranked lower than Goliath in my opinion, but it's actually my favorite coaster in the park.
Most Disappointing:
GateKeeper @ Cedar Point
While people were not so excited for Full Throttle, a lot of people were very excited for GateKeeper. After not that big of impressions on B&M wing riders like X-Flight, Raptor, and the Swarm, we thought that GateKeeper would be the relief of B&M wing riders, but we were wrong, WAY wrong. Instead of a great ride that we all expected it to be, we got something that is still forceless, having chest-crushing restraints, and having a pretty bad rattle. Hell, even the people who thought that this ride was going to be okay got disappointed. The best thing that coaster enthusiasts can like about GateKeeper is what they did to the entrance of the park, and it looks better than the entrance was before. Other than that, it wasn't worth the big hype.
Worst New Ride:
Hades 360 @ Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park
This ride would've been the most disappointing ride of 2013, but coaster enthusiasts know that Mt. Olympus can screw up pretty well with what they do. The original Hades was already a fine wooden coaster that didn't need any upgrades, but Mt. Olympus saw some bad stuff about the original Hades in their own eyes and they wanted to "improve" the ride. So they did by adding new trains, re-tracking some parts of the ride, and adding an inversion. That doesn't sound bad, right? Yes, but does that mean that it is not bad? No. As I said before, some of the track has been re-tracked, not all of it, and with the new trains, the moments with the non-redone track causes some of the roughest moments on any roller coaster. Hades 360 is so bad that many coaster enthusiasts are calling it worse than Bandit @ Movie Park Germany, Dragon @ Adventureland, and even Goudurix @ Parc Asterix. We all just hope that Mt. Olympus makes Gravity Group re-track the parts of the ride that aren't re-tracked yet or Hades 360 will remain as one of the worst roller coasters in the world.
Best New Non-Coaster Ride:
Transformers: The Ride @ Universal Studios Orlando
I know that this ride is already at the Universal Studios parks in Hollywood and Singapore, but it has finally made it to Orlando. If you haven't been on Transformers: The Ride, it has the same ride function as the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman ride at the Islands of Adventure park next door, but the Transformers ride has a lot more action, Michael Bay explosions, slow motion moments, and a bigger story. Also, the queue line has some nice theming that ties up to the story of the ride, but you have to ride it yourself because I'm not going to spoil anything here. Even though I like the Spiderman ride more, you better check this one out. It's certainly better than watching the Transformers movies.
Best Overall Steel Coaster:
Expedition GeForce @ Holiday Park
Based on the Mitch Hawker steel coaster poll, Expedition GeForce continues to be ranked as the best steel roller coaster in the world by coaster enthusiasts. It has one of the best first drops on any roller coaster, has some fast and tight overbanked turns that make Millennium Force's turns feel forceless, has trains with good restraints, and let's not forget that this ride has airtime, and Expedition GeForce has a lot of great airtime. Expedition GeForce has been said by many to have some of the best airtime on any steel roller coaster. If you don't believe the coaster enthusiasts, then ride the coaster yourself.
Best Overall Wooden Coaster:
El Toro @ Six Flags Great Adventure
Since its opening year in 2006, El Toro has been ranked #1 year after year in the Mitch Hawker wooden coaster poll, and it still continues its streak in 2013. Like Expedition GeForce, El Toro is mostly known for its insane ejector airtime, and many people like El Toro's airtime even more than Expedition GeForce's airtime. If you want to see how intense the airtime on El Toro is, search up "El Toro airtime" on Google Images and look at the first result. That's correct, the wheels come slightly off of the track because of the ride's powerful airtime. El Toro also has many tight turns and an insane first drop that you have to ride it to believe how insane it is. Not to mention, El Toro has the Rolling Thunder hill, the single most popular airtime hill on any roller coaster.
Best Overall Park:
Tokyo DisneySea
If we were counting a collection of parks, then the Walt Disney World resort would be the best park, but we are talking about one single park here and that one single best park is Tokyo DisneySea. Tokyo DisneySea is loved by everyone who takes a step into the place. The theming is beautiful, the rides are never bad, the efficiency is perfect, you won't have any bad food, and people will go on and on about how amazing Tokyo DisneySea really is. The biggest suggestion by coaster enthusiasts is to not trust the Golden Ticket Awards that say that Cedar Point is the best park because of the collection of rides but to instead go to a park like Tokyo DisneySea to have a real good experience.
Worst Overall Roller Coaster:
Zamperla Volares @ Various Parks
In 2012, Goudurix @ Parc Asterix has been ranked as the worst roller coaster in the world, but in 2013, that title belongs to the Zamperla Volares. There are many complaints by coaster enthusiasts by these rides being very uncomfortable and very rough. There are a lot of turns and transitions that will cause a lot of headbanging. Want to know how to make these rides worse? Well one of the only coasters in North Korea is a Zamperla Volare. How does that say to the rides terribility now?
Worst Overall Park:
Fuji-Q Highland
When people are calling Fuji-Q the Six Flags Magic Mountain of Japan, they are correct, but not in a positive way. Coaster enthusiasts actually hate Fuji-Q WAY more than they hate Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Magic Mountain doesn't have the quality that the coaster enthusiasts want. Going on topic, Fuji-Q has the single worst maintenance and operations out of any park that anyone has gone to. The rides open about an hour after the park opens, loading times for rides go extremely slow, all of the coasters are not smooth, every ride closes down in the slightest rainfalls, it is a rare occurrence to find any decent food, and most of the pathways are just asphalt. There are more complaints about this park, but I don't need to talk more about it.
That's all there is for 2013 in amusement parks. We'll just wait for more things that 2014 will bring to us.