TTF Euro Coaster Poll 2011-12

[Bote]

1: Black Mamba - This still remains probably my top coaster in Europe. The theming, the coaster type, the layout. Everything is sheer perfection in my opinion.

2: Expedition Ge Force - Not my favorite kind of coaster in the world (Mega), but there's no denying this looks a good coaster. I can see why people like it so much, but it really hasn't got much appeal to me.

3: Fluch von Novgorod - Again, not my favorite type, but I see why there's so much love for it. Lovely theming.

4: Joris en de Draak - Probably one of the nicest looking woodies in Europe, with a great layout, wonderful setting, and a brilliant station.

5: Euro-Mir - As I said before, a spinning coaster that appeals to me. That in itself makes it worthy :P But a great all round ride.

6: Megaphobia - I really don't think there's anything that mind blowing about this ride. Like Dan said, it may be the best of it's kind in the UK, but that's not saying a lot :P I just think there area better rides in this group.

7: Saw - Same with Ge and Fluch, but I don't think it's up to scratch to deserve to progress further.

8: Heisse Fahrt - I really wish this could go higher, I think it's a lovely little ride. But sadly it pales in comparison to the other rides in this group.

9: Kumali - Same as Fahrt, a good coaster especially as it's often considered one of the better SLCs, but I really don't think it can go through any higher than this.

10: Crush's Coaster - Meh. I echo what I said about this last time round :P

[John]

Such a tough group to start off round 2.  I was hoping Mir would have a slightly easier group, but I can't see it getting through this one .

Anyway, here's my run down:

1. EGF* - epic coaster, probably my pick for the title this year
2. Mir* - theming, music, views, sosche, thrills.  I was very, very, tempted to put this top.
3.  Black Mamba - wasn't as good as I'd remembered it this summer, which was a shame, still a dead cert for the next round though
4.  Megafobia* - fantastic woodie, loses speed a little towards the end but otherwise spectacular.
5.  Fluch* - I don't rate it as high as the others on Ham-Sosche.  Great dark ride section at the start but the main coaster section is average
6.  Joris - doesn't look to be amongst GCI's best coasters, but a quality ride nonetheless, the racing seems to add quite a bit too.
7. Saw* - not as good as Novgorod.
8. Heisse Fahrt - I'm not really convinced this is all that good.
9.  Kumali* - not as good as the standard SLC, even if it is smoother.  Great first drop but the rest isn't up to much and is too short.
10. Crush's* - pretty poor effort from Disney, fairly fun but not worth the queues

[AstroDan]

I would also like to say that me, Mattmash and DanB are officially da BOMB because we've been on every coaster in this group!

HUZZAH!

[Mattmash]

Wow, what a start to Round 2, there are some great coasters here!  There is a big divide between my top 5 and bottom 5, but with only 4 going through it was a tough choice of which one to put 5th.  It certainly helped having rode all of them

10.  Crush's Coaster* - Nice theming but forgettable ride for me.

9.  Saw - The Ride* - The indoor section is very good but after that it's not great and can give quite a bad Gerstache!

8.  Heisse Fahrt* - Good fun and stunning views.  Would like to ride it when fully warmed up.

7.  Euro-Mir* - Not a massive fan but the lift hill is great and it's always nice to have a bit of a sosche on a ride Massively better when you get it the 'good way'.

6.  Kumali* - I seem to over rate this ride somewhat but I really enjoy it.  The first drop is great and it's smooth throughout.  Far too short but still my favourite SLC.

5.  Joris en de Draak* - This is the one to unfortunately just miss out.  I feel quite bad actually because I absolutely love it.  The trains, station and music are all top quality and for me it's a near perfect family coaster, it's just so much fun.  Unfortunately I'm more of a thrills man which is why it just misses out, but it was very close and I certainly wouldn't be unhappy to see it qualify.

4.  Megafobia* - Great woody, certainly the best we have in the UK.  Not quite as wild as it's big sister Zeus but still great fun with lots of airtime and some fairly wild parts!  Love the fact they don't check restraints at all too.  Me and  John could literally stand up on our rides in the dark in August (John especially), which makes it just that bit more scary :P

3.  Fluch von Novgorod* - Now if I was to go by my spreadsheet rankings (geek!), as I have for the rest of the group, then this would be 4th and Fobia 3rd.  However there are better woodies in the competition and I think that this deserves to go through as it's one of the true all round packages in the poll.  The theming is fantastic throughout, almost DVH quality, and the ride itself is great fun!

2.  Black Mamba* - My pick to win the poll for the previous 2 years, but clearly not this year One of the few all round packages that actually surpasses Novgorod.  The theming is a thing of beauty and front row is an amazing ride!  Can be a bit forceless on other rows, although the drop and loop are still good, it just seemed a bit tamer when I rode last August and has dropped slightly in my rankings as a result.

1.  Expedition Ge Force* - Absolutely adore this coaster.  Amazing first drop then ejector airtime galore.  Does it for me

[CF1]

@ Astrodan
And me? I am da Masterbomb? Because i have riden nearly all Coasters in this voting.
Only Some coasters like disney are missing. *gg

[James6]

1. EGF - looks incredible and is one of the rides near the top of my must ride list.
2. Euro Mir - Looks unique, quirky, well themed, good throughput, everything I like in a coaster :P
3. Black Mamba - Hopefully will be getting to try this in a few months Really does look incredible
4. Fluch - Heard nothing but incredible things, and the theming looks incredible!
5. Joris - The whole ride looks like the definition of fun, would love to give it a try.
6.  Megafobia - fantastic woodie, loses speed a little towards the end but otherwise spectacular.
7. Heisse Fahrt - as far as family coasters go, this looks pretty impressive!
8. Crush's Coaster, was very disappointed upon riding it, but still a decent ride
9. Saw - Really not a fan to be honest, rough and over-rated
10. Kumali - Reportedly smooth, but looks fairly mediocre tbh.

[AstroDan]

@ Astrodan
And me? I am da Masterbomb? Because i have riden nearly all Coasters in this voting.
Only Some coasters like disney are missing. *gg

No.

You are just masterGEEK.

:P

[CF1]

Lol hehe.

I looking forward which coaster do this Round the best Job. Think my Megafobia gos in the good middle and Mamba and Gforce will dominate.

[darkside]

Funny how Crush got through to this round, now everyone's saying its crap!

but u have G-Force in this round, one of the Coaster with maximum Airtime

To be honest, I've heard a LOT of bad things about EGF, in fact, I hear more bad than good nowadays... so with that in mind, I gave it an average score of 5 or 6 (I think).

[AstroDan]

EGF is a hell of a lot better than the majority of coasters in the group!

Crush's Coaster only just scraped through to this round anyway by a small few points. It doesn't deserve to go any further here - not with Black Mamba, EGF, Novgorod, Joris, Fobia etc.

[CF1]

I cant say something Bad about the Ride. In some Seasons (maybe they use old wheels) the Ride is a little bit slower and has less Airtime then normal but its ever a great Ride without hurts.
In Hot Summer in the evening the Ride kicks ya Ass, agressiv ejecting airtime, best i have ever had on a Steel Coaster.
the Layout is also really good, some Airtime Hills, some curves and a awesome Drop which kills u in the backseats.
Much better then all the B&M Mega/Hyper Coaster.

[Rob L]

As expected, this is very tough. I'd imagine most rounds from here onwards will have some very difficult decisions in them. This is what I have decided to go for:

10. Crush's Coaster - I've placed this last as I've never been on it and it is impossible to judge from POVs.

9. Kumali - not a bad SLC but there's so much better in this group.

8. Saw - The Ride - I love the indoor bit and hate the outdoor bit. There's a lot better in this group for me and it does not deserve to go through in any way.

7. Heisse Fahrt - as I've said every time one of these has come up I love the look of them; however at this stage of the competition I cannot place this any higher. Still looks fantastic fun to ride.

6. Euro-Mir - I imagine you have to ride this to really know what it's like but from POVs it looks very unique and fun so a solic 6th place from me.

5. Megafobia - I love this coaster, it's so much fun. Just a shame that there are 4 better looking coasters in the group for me.

4. Fluch von Novgorod - a very good Gertlauer I would say. Some great theming and the ride itself looks good. A very good effort that for me deserves a place in the Semis.

3. Joris en de Draak - both sides of this looks awesome. The pace is kept well as with all GCIs by the looks of is and for a relatively small height these seem to pack a decent punch.

2. Black Mamba - this does look outstanding, both track and train wise and theming wise. I cannot wait to ride it in April and it can consider itself unlucky not to have won the group for me.

1. Expedition GeForce - another outstanding looking coaster and it beats Black Mamba for me because I love airtime and this looks full of it. I'd love to ride this someday.

I think Black Mamba and EGF will definitely make it through and probably Joris. I feel that fourth spot it up for grabs though; it's going to be interesting.

[Pennywise]

I must admit, for a second round group, I've found this group to be ridiculously easy to rank! I believe that there are four coasters which are undoubtedly worthy of progression, though some may disagree with my analysis there, and (once again) a clear bottom four for this group... mixed class indeed! Kudos to the new ranking system for creating such an effectively seeded group, I suppose.

10. Kumali* - I actually ranked this coaster at the bottom of it's group in the first round of this particular competition, and was genuinely shocked to see it progress. It truly is awful! Everything from it's roughness to it's throughput can easily be frowned at, in my view, and I'd put it's initial progression down to the UK Factor, myself. Although said bias has hardly featured thus far in the competition.

9. Heisse Fahrt - They look pleasant enough to ride, but personally don't appeal to me. I can't help but be irritated by the half-assed nature of the theming, 180 degree turns and frequent block breaks. I wouldn't turn my nose up at the chance to ride (as I possibly would Kumali), but it's nothing like worthy of progression.

8. Crush's Coaster - It's Disney and therefore I make a level of assumption with regards to the quality of the theming on a coaster which I can't entirely make out on the POV. All the same, it looks like a particularly dull spinning coaster, which shouldn't have progressed to round two in a competition where Dragon's Fury did not. Ah well, that's just my opinion, but another progression would be a huge surprise.

7. Euro-Mir - Again, I can't entirely see the appeal to this particular coaster. The outdoor segment is downright poorly themed, the 'coaster' section itself is far too short, and it doesn't especially have the power to 'draw in' guests which I believe that my top six have. Of course, there are positives, but I feel no need to write about those, only the aspects which I feel justify my low rating.

6. SAW: The Ride* - A ride which gets all too much stick from enthusiasts, but is still far from being outstanding in any way. I appreciate the high level of theming given to the indoor segment of the coaster, the air-time hill, the fact that it stands alone on an intimidating island... then there are the negatives, such as the briefness of the outdoor segment and occasional roughness. It's a shame, SAW could have been brilliant.

5. Joris en de Draak - I feel utterly awful about leaving this outside of my top four, because it looks like an absolutely wonderful family coaster at an absolutely wonderful family theme park. However, at this point I'm having to begin to ignore the overall quality of attractions and focus upon my own tastes as a thrill-seeker... it's too short, it's too small, I believe that it should be eliminated here.

------------------------------------

4. Expedition GeForce - I'm not sure whether it sounds brilliant or phenomenally average. Though it seems to be adored by TTF, it receives mixed reviews from elsewhere and I was therefore iffy about giving it the nod whatsoever (ahead of Joris). However, it's hard not to love an air-time machine, even when theming is non-existent.

3. Fluch von Novgorod - A coaster which puts group rival SAW straight out of business, as far as I'm concerned. This coaster is probably a class above from any of Gerstulaer's other work, past or present. It's beautifully paced, with several wonderful looking elements and an impressive level of theming.

2. Black Mamba - Based on the POV, it looks better than Nemesis but slightly inferior to Montu (for me). However, Montu is easily one of my top three coasters, and so to draw a comparison with it of any kind this has to look pretty damn impressive... and it does! The theming is reasonable, the coaster looks forceful and, from what I've heard about the station... yeah. :P

1. Megafobia* - I'd like to hastily insist that this isn't a riding bias. Had any of the other major European wooden coasters made an appearance in this group they would also have been ranked at the top by myself. Megafobia is packed full of surprises, in terms of air-time, sharp turns and being built in a field housing sheep... this uniqueness easily sets it apart from the other coasters here.


To be honest, despite the top four being 'obvious' to me, I wouldn't be surprised if Joris or Euro-Mir managed to progress, it'll be interesting to find out!

[AstroDan]

Black Mamba's theming is 'reasonable'.

Euro Mir is poorly themed?

Firstly, Mamba is better themed than coasters at IOA. It's incredibly themed! And Mir, whilst odd, is better themed than most spinning coasters! The ride has a giant rocket in the lift, tunnels, rocks and water features plus misters!



Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

[Dylan]

1. Expedition Ge Force*
Airtime machine located in a nice wooded setting. The first drop seated at the back is absolutely amazing, and the airtime that follows also amazing. This ride style is probably my favourite, I wish I could ride more of these coasters.

2. Black Mamba*
Stunning scenery, stunning atmosphere, the station is amazing, the drop from the back row is intense, the interaction with the surrounding landscaping is excellent. These is probably joint first place really.

3. Joris en de Draak
This ride gets some very good reviews, so feel it deserves to get through to the next round.

4. Megafobia*
A classic wooden coaster, the best in the UK by far. It's a little on the rough side but has that nice out of control feeling in parts.

5. Fluch von Novgorod
Many people review it very highly, but the outdoor section looks bland.

6. Saw - The Ride*
Amazingly themed area and building, great indoor dark ride section to start the ride. The outdoor section, for me is a bit too intense, but I love the airtime hill!

7. Euro-Mir*
Sorry Euro-Mir, great fun and a crazy ride but I can't place it any higher here.

8. Crush's Coaster*
I really enjoyed this ride. I love the custom dark ride section at the start and found the whole ride a lot of fun.

9. Heisse Fahrt
After watching the TPR POV, I can see how it seems wilder than I expected, but it still looks massively bland to me.

10. Kumali*
I don't think Kumali is a bad ride, the first drop and helix are excellent, and I find it infinitely better than the standard SLC's.

[Will04]

An extremely tough group, although there is a big gap between the top and bottom five:

1. Expedition Ge Force - This looks insane. Enough said.

2. Black Mamba - Brilliant theming mixed with an insane coaster: what's not to love?

3. Fluch von Novgorod - I've heard brilliant reviews of this, and I quite like the sound of a launched Gerstlauer Eurofighter cross-over with excellent theming, so I've put it in third.

4. Joris en de Draak - Again, gets excellent reviews, and looks like a fun ride.

5. Megafobia - A very good ride, but just lacking that little bit more to push it into the top five.

6. Euro-Mir - To be honest, I've only put it this far up due to good TTF reviews (the two-minute lift hill seems to be a little dull)

7. Crush's Coaster - A lovely little ride, with great theming at the beginning and a solid main coaster section for a family coaster. Shame about the throughput, though.

8. Saw - The Ride - The indoor section is great, the outdoor section is not (with the exception of the airtime hill!). The previously well built up story gets abandoned half-way through and SAW merely becomes a fairly bland, rough coaster.

9. Kumali - Meh.

10. Heisse Fahrt - Looks okay, I guess. For a bobsled. I like the name, though.

[Pennywise]

Black Mamba's theming is 'reasonable'.

Euro Mir is poorly themed?

With regards to Black Mamba I admittedly didn't re-watch the POV, on account of believing that I remembered the ride well enough from first viewing... evidently, I was wrong, Black Mamba does have fairly outstanding theming for an outdoor inverted coaster. However, this realisation doesn't affect my placing of the coaster. Oh, and I find your "better themed than the coasters at IOA" statement to be hilarious! I do love Islands of Adventure, but in terms of the theming on Hulk and (the actual coaster segment of) Dragon Challenge, it's laughable! Hardly an encouraging comparison to make, in my view.

As for Euro-Mir, I did distinctly state that it's the outdoor section of the coaster which (I believe) is poorly themed. Admittedly, the lift-hill and whatnot is themed fairly well, although the irritating music and ridiculous lift-hill duration detract from this. From what I can make out with regards to the POV, I stand by my statement that the outdoor section is poorly themed, I'm afraid. The upper level of the coaster offers a splendid view of the car park, before descending upon grassland surrounded by entirely unattractive buildings. Obviously, having not visited the park for myself, my assessment may easily be hindered, but it's the best opinion that I can give.

[Nightfall]

1. Expedition Ge Force:
I can’t see anything wrong with it and it seems to be highly admired on this forum.

2. Fluch von Novgorod:
This looks to be a really clever ride. From what I can tell the layout doesn’t appear to be that impressive but it gains so many marks for the station and dark ride I’m still going to rate it highly.

3. Joris en de Draak:
I just love the style of this ride. Hopefully it’ll go through so I can do a full breakdown in a later round.

4. Black Mamba: # 10
Just scraping my pass list, Black Mamba is well themed. But there’s very little I can’t point at and say “Nemesis did it better” and B&M were just phoning it in when they designed the layout. Maybe this is your style of ride but for me I expected something special and all I saw was lots of missed potential.

5. Megafobia:
Looks like a great wooden coaster but slightly getting on in age now. I feel that the more recent wooden coasters in this competition have the edge on it. Megafobia is the dividing line between the old classics and modern twisters.

6. Crush’s Coaster:
CC Seems to be a style over substance ride. However I love the style. The trains are beautiful, the station sets a good mood and there is a nice pre-ride section. Although it is a standard design I’m told it is quite a good track layout. But the throughput is dire to a level that it can’t be ignored.

7. Saw: The Ride: # 25
Poor Saw, being in the same group as Fluch von Novgorod. Personally I think it’s an interesting ride that just falls short of being great. It’s just a shame it can be quite rough to some people, although why not everyone I’ve never worked out.

8. Euro-Mir: # 29
It’s a bit of a weird ride Mir. I like it and it is certainly special but I wouldn’t call it great.

9. Heisse Fahrt:
A really good layout but there is something about this ride that doesn’t appeal to me.

10. Kumali:
I just don’t see anything of interest.

[Sam]

1. EGF

2. Megafobia &

3. Black Mamba

4. Euro-Mir *

5. Joris en de Draak *

6. Fluch von Novgorod

7. Heisse Fahrt

8. Saw - The Ride *

9. Kumali *

10. Crush's Coaster **

[AstroDan]

I really think that Megafobia is pretty overrated, based on scores thus far.

It's decent, fun, a good first drop and some great pops, but personally I don't see it as incredible. I think the fact it's the best in Britain makes it get an unfair boost, truth be told.