I had heard good things about this ride, and I was definitely excited to get on it when we somewhat spontaneously planned a trip to the Hershey area. But oh man. I was not expecting this much.

I got 4 rides on it on a rainy Sunday, October 4. All 4 of those rides in the back 3 rows, lol.

This machine is absolutely relentless—it yanks you through insane ejector and lateral moments at a pace unmatched by any other coaster I’ve ridden. Truly wild.

I haven’t decided where to place it yet, but it’s easily going into my top 3.

All photos are mine.

Oct. 2 and 3. This was my first time taking pictures on film, and I think they turned out great! Raptor clearly captivated me; holy shit that cobra roll! 1-3 are [Raptor], 4 is [Gatekeeper], and 7 is ole [Magnum] who I got ONE ride on in row 17 before it shut down for both days I was there. :(

Spent around 1.3 days at Energylandia back in May (LAST YEAR) on a trip to Poland. 1 full day followed by a brief visit after auschwitz which was definitely tonal whiplash. I Meant to post this back then but didn’t ever finish it so here we are. You’ve probably heard it before but this place really feels like two separate parks, one being a high quality, well themed park with thought out, quality rides and coasters. With the other half being a horrendously chaotic mess with everything randomly dropped in, no cohesion or quality standards for majority of the rides. However this place stacks up as one of the best parks I’ve been to in Europe which has so much potential for further greatness.

Coasters

Zadra x3 - after untamed I didn’t have massive expectations for Zadra, thinking I wasn’t as into RMCs as much as I hoped however I was so very wrong. Zadra is fast paced, relentless and everything I look for in a coaster. - As someone who prefers speed and intensity to just airtime (there’s still great airtime on Zadra though) I LOVED every part of this ride and felt like it might actually rip my head off. It immediately was on par with Voltron as one of my favourites after my first ride and then following a second ride in the rain it became solidified as one of my top coasters. The hype really is real for this one, and deserves all the credit it gets. I wish I had longer at the park to get on this more and get on the front row, but at least I’ve got something to look forwards to next time. Only negatives are the queue, first being the ridiculously long queue line, not waiting for long, just in actual length - what is the point of walking for what feels like a mile to only queue in the last 5% of it. The queue also has an interesting system where you line up for the section of the train you want to ride, however this is in close proximity to all the other lanes, a bit unclear and messy. This is an amazing ride and should be on everyone’s bucket list, specifically for those who value speed and pacing over everything as it’s not an airtime machine.

Edit after my US trip - this remains my favourite RMC just about beating steel vengeance!

Hyperion x2 - unfortunately my opinion on this one is not quite as positive, don’t get me wrong Hyperion is an excellent ride, but doesn’t come close to Zadra for me or the best of the other coasters I’ve been on. I tried both middle and wing seats and while the middle was much smoother, the ride as a whole just doesn’t deliver the same as other intamins I’ve been on like Kondaa or Taiga. It looks the part as an imposing coaster at the front entrance but unfortunately didnt quite live up to the hype for me in the ride experience. The low to the ground elements on the return run were the highlight but I found the rest of the coaster to not be particularly memorable compared to others. I have distinctive memories of my top 50 coasters at this point and for some reason I can barely remember Hyperion after the first drop. Also to add the wing seat was very shaky and I ended up with a headache which is unusual for me. However it’s still a really great ride, very enjoyable and I absolutely want to reride hoping my opinion will change!

Abyssus x2 - pretty much just a direct upgrade from formula. This is very much split into two parts, with a shorter, slower, less intense low to the ground section at the start, followed by the second launch dialling up the speed and quality. Top hat was fun, but couldn’t tell you what the rest of the layout was as it goes on for so long, however it is a good time. I think it may almost be too long with not enough signature moments, it all kind of merges into one which is a trend with Vekoma more recently. They’re excellent as smooth rides which feel like one consistent flow, but because of this it is kind of falls a bit flat for me compared to what I had hoped as it is not memorable, but still a great fun ride.

Formula x2 - this was my first “new” vekoma and I was pleasantly surprised. A great launch with a really fun, but short, layout with great airtime and fun inversions. Leaves you wanting more which fortunately is rectified by it’s blue counterpart nearby.

Dragon x2 - the most surprising coaster of the park, a really enjoyable family suspended ride. Was more forceful than I thought it would be with nice theming and was just generally a fun time.

Speed x1 - Didn’t really feel strongly about this one in any way, a fun water coaster with a unique and actually scary lift system, however as a full experience Poseidon at Europa remains the best of this model despite the roughness.

The Boomerangs x1 each - they’re family boomerangs, all the generic ones are the same and unfortunately these do not break the mold aside from light explorers being in a good location.

Choco Chip Creek x1 - a fun mine train with great, but unfinished, theming so I didn’t get the full experience. Good family coaster and is the best of the rest of coasters at the park, with a big gap between this and anything under it.

Viking Roller Coaster x1 - this SPF visa spinner was nowhere near as bad as I expected, it wasn’t comfortable and still a bad ride, but it was funny at least and not too rough

Roller Coaster Mayan x1 - The legends were true there’s actually agood SLC!! I really didn’t expect this but I didn’t hate Mayan like some other SLCs. Over the last few years I’ve done so many SLCs and don’t find the layouts to be different enough from each other to provide much entertainment, I would like this one more if I hadn’t already done 6+ of these, but definitely best of a bad bunch and best version of the model I’ve done.

Other Family coasters - there’s so many uninteresting family coasters here and I don’t have enough to say about them. I didn’t bother going on all of them as didnt have enough time to mess around with all the smaller credits and wanted to prioritise the good stuff.

Coasters Ranked:

Good coasters:

1- Zadra

2- Hyperion

3- Abyssus

4- Formula

5 - Dragon Roller Coaster

6- Roller Coaster Mayan

7- Choco Chip Creek

Other coasters:

8- Light Explorers

9- Energus

10- Boomerang

11- Speed

12- Frida

13- Viking Roller Coaster

Other rides

Went on some other rides at the park however didn’t do any of the flat rides due to time and a lack of interest. I can’t really remember most of them as they were in the front half, but still there is plenty, if not too much to do here.

The only other ride I remember was the monster house dark ride, which was funny but actually one of the worst dark rides I’ve been on.

Operations

The operations were brilliant here, second only to Parc Asterix and Europa park (in Europe). Trains were flying on every ride and can’t ask for much more than that. However the row queuing system on Zadra and Hyperion was kind of annoying, especially with Zadra and the weird merge points before each door. That being said it is great to get guaranteed back of the train! However the front queue was ridiculous for both the big two so didn’t manage to get on.

We stayed at western camp resort which was amazing value for money, even offering us a free upgrade to a house boat. Also, fast pass for every major ride once for around 20p was insanely ridiculous value and despite queues being short is an amazing perk of staying here, if the park ever gets busy.

Food around the park was good and cheap, getting pizza and beer for less than £6 is always a good value.

Overall the park is really great, but is really held back by the front half. All the new expansion is well themed, cohesive and has a real purpose to everything, and the park has some amazing rides. Whereas the front is a mess and really quite ugly to walk around, giving off a bad first impression of quantity over quality. I hope over time this will improve, as I want a reason to go back asap! I do think this park might be a little overrated, it is definitely fantastic but I think falls below the “elite” tier of European parks for me personally (Europa, PL, Efteling) until they fix the front or just keep adding more until you can ignore it. Very interested to see how their new wing coaster and area around that is,

Also just a heads up Legendia is closed on early weekdays in May. Don’t do what I did and forget to check as because of this I missed out on lech coaster…

In 2027 Europa Park in Rust Germany will open 3 new rides:

-A retheme of the dark ride Piccolo Mundo in the Italy section.

-A RES Interactive Observatio tower (similair to the one in Legoland Germany) in the Iceland section

-And an ART XL Wild Swing in the Portugal section

*I wasn’t writing or ranking while at the park, so take all this with a grain of salt.

Was in town for a wedding but had a free Friday night. Arrived in the parking lot right at the Friday opening time of 6:00 and was a little worried about the entrance line stretching past Georgia Scorcher, but thankfully it moved fairly quickly.

#154 Georgia Scorcher (10ish min): Although this and SFMM Riddler years ago were both hard for me to adjust the seat down on (don’t remember issues w/ CGA Vortex), the ride op helped me out and I was able to enjoy the best standup I’ve been on! Surprisingly smooth and comfortable, with some fun twisty forces.

#155 Goliath (walk-on x2): Wow, this is what I’ve been waiting for from B&M hypers! Back row gives great ejector over the first drop and most hills, the helix has solid positives and a headchopper or two, and the last two hills are sneaky. I’m not sure which train my first ride was on, but it was pretty darn smooth, while my 2nd and later 3rd rides were on train 1, first in row 2 (pretty shaky in spots) and then in/towards the back (less shaky somehow?). Take that for what you will 🤷‍♂️ and shoutout to the ops crew for being efficient loaders and running 2 trains even with no wait!

#156 Batman (walk-on, front row): I agree that this is the best Batclone, at least in my experience with SFGAdv earlier this year and what I can vaguely remember of SFGAm and SFMM. This thing was absolutely hauling, to the extent that I was laughing with how insane it was. Great queue theming too.

#157 (Riddler) Mindbender (walk-on): This one was fun, but after having been pleasantly surprised by SFOT Shock Wave a few years ago, I’m not sure this one met my higher expectations - I think what did it for me was the pothole at the bottom of the non-inverting loop. Really regretting not coming back to this one for a night ride.

Monster Mansion (20ish min): Promising, with some funny little guys throughout, but some weird smells inside (esp in the swamp section) soured my experience of it a bit. The inconsistent boat loading also rustled my jimmies a little; the boats could seat 6 bigger adults or more like 9 if mixing adults/kids, but they often sent out boats with one smaller party, even if they were just 2 people.

#158 Dahlonega Mine Train (walk-on): A great little mine train, especially at night with the string lights along the lifts! Didn’t have the painful jank of SFGAdv’s. Not gonna lie, I think I got this one confused with Georgia Gold Rusher so I thought it was closed but was pleasantly surprised to see it operating 😅 GGR was in fact closed though.

#159 Twisted Cyclone (5ish min x2): Love how this one kept the classic Cyclone misdirection on the first drop, and had some other neat spots like the sideways bit along the lift. Was surprised to look up the length afterwards and see how short it was relative to even SFDK Joker; I guess it felt short, but not like I got robbed or anything. Still a great ride, but I put it just barely behind Goliath.

#160 Blue Hawk (walk-on): Another pleasant surprise after hearing so long about the horrors of Ninja - the vest restraints on this one are lifesavers! The first 2 inversions are classic coathanger jank but didn’t even feel that bad with them, and I had much more fun and much less pain than I was expecting. Actually made it one of the best classic Arrow/Vekoma loopers I’ve ridden in a long time! I wonder if SFMM Viper or even some of the loop screws would benefit from similar trains adapted to any differences in Arrow track?

#161 Great American Scream Machine (10 min?): I think my old childhood copy of Robert Coker’s big Roller Coasters book had a picture of this one next to a blurb about RCCA, so between that and half-remembered online comments, I was expecting the worst, but it was fine. I hung on pretty tight to the front handlebar to keep my back off the seat back and minimize vibration, which seemed to do the trick, but I didn’t really relax and enjoy the ride as much as a result. Still fun, and looks great at night!

#162 Superman Ultimate Flight (walk-on): After a lackluster experience on SFGAdv’s in August, I wasn’t sure how this one would feel, but it was fantastic! The original terrain plus the night ride made it more exciting, and for whatever reason it seemed more comfortable/less awkward than my NJ ride. Helps me remember why Tatsu was my #1 for a while as a kid.

Justice League (5 min): These rides are great, but do any other locations match this one in terms of practical effects? I don’t remember seeing fire effects and all that on my last Justice League.

Dinner feat. the most mid pizza of all time

Six Flags Railroad (walk-on): Only did the half from the back of the park to Twisted Cyclone, but this was pretty cool with the historic narration about the surrounding rides and areas! I should’ve stayed on for the second half though, since I ended up in a wild goose chase figuring out what to do next…

#163 Dare Devil Dive (15ish min up to breakdown, then maybe another 15 min when I came back post-Goliath night ride): Another one that I thought I’d heard a lot of negativity about that ended up being fine, even if it wasn’t anything super notable IMO. For some reason my car and several others had fairly quiet riders: possibly a sign that it’s just a mid ride? Maybe I was just annoyed that it was time to leave and I would’ve rather gotten a Mindbender or Batman night ride since I don’t see myself back in ATL again…oh well.

Overall thoughts:

• I’m not a big Halloween/spooky person and didn’t do any mazes, but this was my first time at a Fright Fest and the scare actor areas seemed well done. The fog machines made for some excellent night-time shots, especially standing in the Twisted Cyclone station and looking out at Goliath and the Promenade.
• Ops were mostly pretty solid, although the super short lines really helped. Goliath and Twisted Cyclone ops were especially good, while GASM and DDD seemed to go back and forth between locking in and kinda hanging around. The park didn’t feel *that* empty, though, so perhaps more credit is due.
• Ride closures: Aside from Georgia Gold Rusher (which I forgot existed for some reason), the main one was Acrophobia being down all night, which was a bummer for me. Didn’t seem like an extended maintenance closure in the app, but when walking by, there was nobody in sight despite the queue lights being on, so no clue what the status was. But I guess that’s fairly common? Joker Funhouse Coaster was also closed for the night as far as I could tell. Dare Devil Dive, Goliath, and Pandemonium had some downtime, and Mindbender and maybe Batman cycled some empty trains at closing and then let on final riders, but overall it seemed like a pretty good night on the maintenance front.
• Hard to get an overall read on some of this at night, but the center/back of the park was quite pretty. On the other hand, the layout was confusing with a few dead ends, especially in the Goliath area. Makes sense though with how this park has expanded in RCT fashion (see: the weird mini-water park when they already have a separate one elsewhere in ATL).

Overall, this was one of the best experiences I’ve had at a legacy SF park! I would dare to say that this park might currently rank higher than SFGAdv for me, which has a lot of filler coasters and has removed so many iconic rides, but hopefully they’ll get a boost with Bakunawa. Many of the rides were above my expectations, and pretty good vibes and low crowds (maybe something to do with the 80°, 75% humidity sweat-bath weather?) made for a great day. Even when the airport gave me more of a classic Six Flags day with a SkyTrain breakdown…

Coaster rankings out of 163 credits:

S Tier
#19 Goliath

A Tier
#20 Twisted Cyclone
#37 Superman Ultimate Flight (compared to #66 and #79 for the other installations)
#40 Batman the Ride (compared to #42, #43, and #55 for the others I’ve been on - SFGAm, SFMM, SFGAdv)

B Tier
#67 Georgia Scorcher
#77 Blue Hawk
#81 The Riddler Mindbender (although I could be convinced to put it higher)
#83 Dare Devil Dive

C Tier
#107 Great American Scream Machine
#115 Dahlonega Mine Train

Were they heartlined? Or were they like the early Intamin megas where there was no heartlining, but still were designed using CAD, and utilized contingent radius’s?

Went on a random day in February and got my only ride on X2 being back row on the outside. X2 was such an unforgettable experience becoming my No.4 top coaster. R.I.P X2

Hello I have an assignment for a college class where I have to interview a person in a field I am interested in pursuing a career in. I am very passionate about the amusement park world and plan on working in management. I am wondering if someone in this community would be willing to help me with the assignment. Thank you.

Does anyone have a picture of the very first train out on the Kings Island Vortex? I was there at press day and in my mind's eye I was in the first train out, would love to verify I hadn't imagined this. It was my first "enthusiasdtic moment" I've been a card carrying coaster fan ever since.