miamicoaster

Drove out to the park for the first time yesterday, and it was my third six flags park after SFNE and SFMM. Went on all the major coasters once. El Toro - the most relentless ride I've been on. So much ejector air and the turns at the end are taken at an insane speed. I need another ride on it to take in exactly what went on. When it was done I felt violated, I mean that in a good way. Very unique ride, perhaps will land at the top of my top 10 coasters. It amazes me how fast it runs through its course, being so smooth and intense, yet it is a true wooden coaster. How is that possible (prefabrication)? (5/5) Nitro - I really liked the pacing and feel of this coaster. Blacked out on the helix which has never happened to me before on any ride. Compared with the other B&M hyper I've ridden, I prefer Mako slightly, not sure why. Pretty much they're the same shit. (4.5/5) Kingda Ka - it's a monster of a launch, but not a re-rideable coaster. I think TTD (I give TTD a 4.5) is a good bit better. Rode Ka near the back and maybe that is why it was very shaky. It's hard to give this a great rating, even though it is/was record breaking. (3.5/5) Joker - first time on one of these free spin coasters, and wasn't sure what to expect. This was very fun though, but also pretty short duration. Bit of a one trick pony, but a good investment by Six Flags. (3.5/5) Zumanjaro - it takes a lot to scare me on rides, but this one did the job. It just keeps going up and up, and the drop is one of the best I've experienced. This is probably the best flat ride I've been on. Loved the long walk to the station, seriously. It's nice to take a little hike in the forest away from the crowded mess of people, concrete and $12 chicken finger stands. (4.5/5) Batman, Superman, Bizarro - Might as well group these together. They're B&M clones themed to superheroes, and to me they're pretty good but not great. Bizarro was pretty darn smooth for a 90s beemer and had no head banging. On superman, the guy next to me did not seem to speak English but he kept shouting "Supa man! supa man!" throughout the ride's duration every second, nearly blew out my eardrum, what a fool haha. They all get a (3.5/5) Pretty, pretty...pretty good. Did not get on the Green Lantern but that's alright. Overall, the park itself is not my favorite, maybe my least favorite Six Flags. At least SFNE has a pastoral, and pretty landscape that comes with being in the hills of New England. Truthfully, I thought SFGAdv was a bunch of pavement, overpriced, and too much cheap superhero theming to go with all the overblown Hollywood money-grabbing summer movies. I know this is the nature of Six Flags (and many Cedar Fair) parks so I'm not just picking on SFGAdv. I guess I'm spoiled by the Florida parks. However, the silver lining is that the coaster lineup is very strong, and something few parks can touch.

Got a few rides on Mine Blower today for opening day. The steep first drop and crazy barrel roll make for an awesome opening. Plenty of airtime on the hills. Didn't find it rough at all, felt smooth for a woodie. I give Mine Blower a 5/5! Went to Sea World after fun spot and Kraken VR had a 190 min wait, compared to Mine Blower which was a near walk-on on its opening day. After riding everything at Sea World, my friend and I concluded that Mine Blower was our favorite ride of the day.

I don't know if we just caught it on a bad day, or what was going on, but our ride in the back row right side was awful. It was so rough it made Mean Streak feel smooth. Like I said it could have been an off day, or the train could have had a "bad wheel." But it was awful. I also thought Valravn was rough, very shaky in the back. This was also the case on Gatekeeper, which I rode in the second to last row. No rattle, no headbanging, but a deep shudder where the entire seat bounces up and down. There seems to be a consensus that these 2 rides are glass smooth, but not for me. The 2 90s B&Ms at the park were much smoother to me.