My least favorite change is when the elevator I was on broke because while I got some great airtime I also broke both my legs, however, it was still better than green lantern because of that ejector airtime
Here’s a new video idea: Coasters that were gone too soon. Basically coasters that were removed for one purpose or another that could have stuck around if they were either repaired or relocated. I don’t know how many coasters would fit this list, but it would be an interesting idea to see.
Honestly, my pick would be what Disneyland Paris did to their version of Space Mountain. Took out all the awesome, intricate Jules Verne theming (the ride being based on his 1865 story _De la Terre à la Lune,_ AKA _From the Earth to the Moon)_ and slapped a veneer of cheap, nasty _Star Wars_ crap over the top. Just absolutely unnecessary and disrespectful to the coaster that arguably saved the park.
agree, although the coaster was rethemed back in 2005 which removed the awesome theming already, and replaced with a generic outer space journey instead of Jules Verne story
I was going to say, it had been genericized to "Round 2" long before the Star Wars 'overlay' came in - an overlay that also is used at Disneyland Anaheim at times. My understanding is that the Star Wars overlay is considered superior to Round 2, but still NOTHING compared to the original.
I'd like to add the newest incarnation bobsleds on the Matterhorn. Just horrible. Also over the last 10-15 years they've cut off parts of the mountain that used to act as great little head and hand choppers.
I agree with you on the bobsleds. The only comfortable seats are in rows 1 and 4. I find rows 3 and 6 to be tolerable but rows 2 and 5 are very uncomfortable for those with longer legs (rows 3 and 6 have a bit more leg room than rows 2 and 5).
Haven't watched but Rock and Rollercoaster better be up there because they butchered that ride. Disneyland Paris has genuinely ruined their park by trying to force their IP into every single attraction. Space Mountain and Rock and Rollercoaster were themed incredibly well.
I feel like Disney parks around the world have recently become nothing but ip dumping grounds, but I couldn't agree more. Early Disneyland had some of the best and most unique themed rides and lands in the business; so good that they would be replicated around the world for decades. But now, they're behind pretty much everyone when it comes to originality. In the Paris park, big thunder mountain is one of only 3 major rides (and the only roller coaster) left in the whole resort not tied to an ip, and that's including both parks... Except wait, no it's not because a btm movie is currently in development 🙄
@@AVdE10000 I feel like creating an ip based on a ride is a different circumstance. No one would call haunted mansion or pirates an ip based attraction just because they had movies after they were built.
@@Goat_Girl_Gwen you could make an argument for haunted mansion, but potc definitely is an ip ride, at least in Paris. The ride is filled with animatronics and scenes resembling characters and set pieces from the movies. Also, sure, at the end of the day the haunted mansion and btm movies are just quick cash grab films that will be forgotten within a year (much like the live action remakes), but it is really sad that a cool standalone ride is just not allowed to exist anymore. Everything has to be tied to other consumable products that function as marketing tools for each other. I know this is gonna sound dramatic, but the ride experience itself is treated less important than the marketability of said ride experience. And that is just a depressing realization.
Disney forgotten that the parks were IP original contraptions. Their fears over splash mountain never made sense when all of the characters are animals and none of them have offensive stereotypes or mockeries over skin colors.
@AVdE10000 My guess is that they didn’t realize that the pirates movies worked as additions because they had memorable characters themed around the IP itself. Jack Sparrow and the villains he faces are solid as walking pirate legends that represent the glamour and the destruction of the pirate dream life.
The Dodonpa renovation was a terrible decision, not just for the replacement of the top hat, but also because the spine breaking incidences that happened because of the insane acceleration would not have happened if the launch was left as is. In short, we would still have Dodonpa if Fuji Q hadn't messed with it.
I know! Right!!!!! Im so glad i didnt get around to riding it since i may have been unable to ride coasters ever again. Still wish could have tried the original version though
It actually wasn't the launch. The new loop was manufactured and installed by Sansei, not S&S, and the transition between well-made American track and low-quality Japanese track caused a significant vertical jolt, leading to the aforementioned injuries. However, your point still stands, if the park had just left it alone, it'd still be around.
Losing the stall on Vertical Velocity made a MASSIVE change in the ride’s enjoyment. The whole ride really built up to that jarring moment and it turned into just a boring back and forth after that change.
I really think Incredicoaster should be on here. Taking California Screamin’s iconic soundtrack and replacing it with the Incredible’s theme with baby laughter mixed in is my personal least favorite change made to a rollercoaster. The drums in the launch, the buildup on the second huge hill, and the stellar electric guitars that made up the first song were SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED to work alongside its layout. It was BEAUTIFUL. The brass in the Incredible’s theme are great, but they do not work as well for the ride as the old music did.
I’m thankful I got to ride Comet with buzz bars. Apparently when Wild One was first moved to Wild World, it also had buzz bars and slight profile changes to the turnaround before Premier Parks turned the park into Six Flags America. I would have loved to see what that felt like.
8 місяців тому
I'm also glad to have ridden Comet with buzzbars, though with the seatbelts there wasn't too much airtime.
Speaking as someone who lives in Michigan and have ridden that reside both before and after, that was a GREAT change to remove the trick track. It genuinely hurt my neck and felt like it was meant for a slower speed. I used to complain that it was the only part of the ride that I disliked.
Dear Cedar Fair: when you renamed I-305, why didn't you just go with I-305? It's what a lot of people called it anyway. Would've been better than Project 305, which sounds like the kind of name you give it before officially announcing the thing. Bit surprised you mentioned the loop on Do-Dodonpa, but not the fact that the faster launch might've contributed to it getting shut down for good. No surprised Deja Goliath's new trains made it into the top 3. Just looking at off-ride footage, I really have to say Lightning Rod's "high speed chainlift" doesn't deserve that name. Still have to wonder if another launch mechanism might've worked. Or maybe even a cable lift.
I should have mentioned the launch possibly causing the injuries, even though that's not proven its definitely possible. I also think going with I 305 would be a good idea, but lets see if they give it a permanent name consistent with Jungle Xpedition
I mean, to be fair the contract was up. Sure, she's nasty, but that's likely why CF didn't want to work with her moving forward. Not even her own kids like her lol but I wouldn't put all the blame on her. #intimidatorforever
Rode both versions of Shivering Timbers, a Michigan local CF pass holder... I would honestly put ST on the other list. It was a cool different element and if the trick track hit like the trick track on Mystic Timbers it would be different, but ST's trick track hit high on the jank scale. I don't miss it at all.
I don't think Lightning Rod is recency bias. This was one of the most beloved coasters on earth and the slowed launch was a bummer. But the chain lift really is a heartbreaker. It's what really made the ride stand out in people's minds. It would be like Wicked without the launch. Maverick without the tunnel. Montezuma's Revenge without the loop. Matterhorn Bobsleds without the mountain. The Beast without the Helix. Or even TTD without the hydraulic launch.......or, wait a minute..
Over Texas recently confirmed Goliath and Titan cannot run without the mid course being harsh, it is not only too intense for riders, but was too intense on the actual trains, the ride would be so much higher in maintenance costs if it didnt have that midcourse.
The classic PTC restraints are great IMO, as they never even touch my legs when fully pressed down. Don’t hold a candle to buzz bars but buzz bars wouldn’t be put on a modern wooden coaster of that caliber either 🤷♂️
that said, Comet was severely neutered in comparison to what it once was. It wasn't a modern ride, it's an old ride. And it isn't even intense. By your logic, Phoenix trains should be changed too, ja?
11:25... such a shame that [do-]Dodonpa's renovation may have directly killed the ride. Flew too close to the sun trying to push that launch even further, and now we've lost the world's gnarliest ride.
the shivering timbers trick track was cool, unique for sure . Sadly it caused the members of my party to not want to ride it again. I did like 5 more rides without them lol
I would have included GhostRider. The GCI retrack is great, but it only happened because of how rough it got after well-intentioned but ill-conceived track work following an accident
Hyperspace Mountain deserves to be slightly higher for such a lazy reskin. My wife got the privilege of riding the OG Trip to the Moon edition of Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris and didn’t know about the Star Wars overlay. She wanted me to see the original ride, but was met with disappointment upon entering. Her anger was unhinged, and hated how lazy the retheme was, since the ride vehicles still featured the original theme and the old decorations are still present, but hidden in the dark
I never rode Lightning Rod in the first two versions (was terrified of Coasters) but I will say this, I absolutely love that beast! Have even ridden it back to back no wait three times. It's my favorite coaster there but I've since went on to ride all of them. They are all fun and addicting😂
If I see anyone mention Phantom's Revenge, the Inversions genuinely caused injuries. It basically went from a janky neck cracking head smaher to an elite airtime machine hyper coaster and still incredibly smooth for its age.
From all the people I have heard from after getting on Lightning Rod with the chain, most of them have said it still feels the same, but now they can get on it multiple times. They like that it is more reliable.
My theory as to why Boss’s helix is removed is because the trains were putting too much stress on the support structure. The trains ran through this helix extremely fast which I heard caused structural damage. The helix removal is also the reason why the midcourse brake run now slows the train down a significant amount
I have an idea for future videos. How about you make a ranking for each coaster element? For instance, top 10 barrol rolls, what 10 coasters barrol rolls hit the best and why maybe it's the power or the placement. But just make a new video for each type of major element. Maybe even follow up with the worst of the same element.
@@SnowghostFilms I agree. I still think it would be a good series to just make 1 video per element. It would give him more future content. Thats probably at least 15 new videos all spread out. Maybe 5 best and 5 worst per video. .
@@AirtimeThrills all of the ride ops thought I was crazy. One actually asked me word for word if I was “okay” No, no I am not, I’m what’s called an “enthusiast” so I’m not rational
A pick for Oklahomans is Widcat at Frontier City. The layout used to have steeper drops, a double up, and the brakes on water feature were added, all in the late 90’s. I don’t know why all this was changed, I was born after the changes were made so I don’t know if it was rough, but Wildcat looked like an interesting ride
@@AirtimeThrills I know Canobie Coasters did a review where he mentioned that it had been remodeled and so I looked it up. I found a POV from ‘91 and one from ‘95 on UA-cam, there was even had a little building it went through at some point! It looks like it took some of the hills at pretty decent speeds but it also definitely looks like it had some bite to it.
The first launched wooden coaster should’ve never been launched up hill. It should’ve been straight track like 90% of launched steel coasters. Maybe we would still have lightning rods launch.
My first thought for worst change ever on a coaster was actually Rollo Coaster at Idlewild with its new train. My 2nd of course being I-305 and taking out that sweet first turn.
as someone who was a Comet ride op at Hershey last year, I was really happy to see them get rid of the buzz bars. So many guests tried to stand during the ride and many parents let their kids ride alone and those kids never knew how to properly use the seatbelts. all the time, kids would say that their seat belt came off during the ride, and maintenance always came out and tested the seat belt and it was never broken. kids would play with the seatbelts, causing them to unlock during the ride. the new trains are way safer considering the minimum height requirement is 42"
Aw man, I haven't been to Michigan's Adventure since the summer of 2015, I had no idea they took the little fakeout track out of Shivering Timbers! It was definitely a rough element, but it was unique and fun! Also forever sad I didn''t get to ride Rougarou at Cedar Point as a standup coaster - I don't hate it nearly as much as some people do, but it's always a bittersweet ride because I can't help but think about what I missed out on (yes, I know people hated standup coasters, but I crave novelty lol)
Silver lining about Mindbender at SFOG, as of 2024 the trims have been adjusted so you mostly roll through the drop like you used to. They did _not_ add two more cars to the train though, so, curse you Six Flags.
The launched life hill was cool. It wasn’t a strong launch and it didn’t accelerate the whole time and then slowed down at the top. Everything beyond the life hill is still chefs kiss.
Why is it one can make a proper inverted coaster train for Vekoma? It's not like the track is cutting-edge technology. It's just Arrow Track that's been inverted. Even more strange that Kumbak (a group of former Vekoma) can't even get it right.
I am riding roller coasters and elevators in Australia and my least favorite change on an elevator there though I haven't been there, is the elevator that got modded in Chatswood, Australia.
Why does my home park have 10 percent of the changes on this list? Maybe good news there is movement on the Goliath path I guess they are testing soil. Something to keep an eye on
Comet can also stand for all the other classic coasters that got rid of the buzz bars. Ik theres quite a few other coasters out there that got rid of there buzz bars.
Can Space Mountain's 2005 reconstruction be considered a reprofile? The track layout ended up being exactly the same. Doesn't a reprofile mean the layout has changed in some way? Genuinely curious.
For me, I hear the Scooby Doo Next Generation coaster (pre major 2025 renovation) was a pretty big downgrade where a lot of props were replaced with screens (and they somehow didn't modernise the scrappy do monsters from the movie, so they looked kinda off) also scooby wasn't found anywhere in the entire ride compared to the previous version. I don't think trains were changed as they were your regular Mack Wilde Mause custom trains. I've only ridden the old verision and it was pretty good (if not for the 2 hour wait)
Oh yeah. I recall how awful the CGI used is. The CGI looks like it was made in the late 80s, maybe early 90s. I also hate the turntable after the first drop, because it blasts you with this piercing loud sound and that sucks.
The ending was really cool. I never knew that Colossus ever had a Double Down. I am curious to see if Lightning Rod has downtime anymore with the major change to the lift hill.
I rode it this year with the new restraints. Sure it’s not as painful but I left mine super loose and half way through the ride my thighs were still extremely crushed. Did they help sure, enough to move the tide up my list? Probably not.
I worked at Six Flags St. Louis when Pete (the park President at the time) was there in 2017-2018 and I don't remember the reason but I think it was do to maintnance. I was also lucky enough to ride it with the Helix and I'm SO GLAD you put it on the list cause I'm also pist off that they took it out.
when are u coming to canadas wonderland again? i need to meet you and get a picture. also we are 99% getting a zamperla multi launch next year but shhhhhhh
Nah as someone who has ridden lightning rod a lot in the past month, the chain lift is a net positive, and it's not just reliability. Now you get airtime over the pre drop again! Rest of the ride is just as relentless. They need to fix that pothole after the wave turn tho, it's brutal.
The thing with green lantern coming back to the station upside down was solved in the worst way. On the S&S version of this ride, they have it so the track has this extra metal that rubs up against wheels on the train to force it to be oriented how they want
I’ve been off of coaster social media for a while now and I went to Carowinds today for the first time. I was looking for intimidator but couldn’t find it. Then I realised it had been renamed and I was so disappointed lmao.
I can guarantee that the new names for intimidator and I305 were made last-second. The "Gentlemen, start your engines." sound is still on Project 305 and there is a typo on a sign outside the station.
The Boss really needs an RMC treatment. I just went on it last week and it's running so rough it's unenjoyable even as a fan of woodies. Worse than last season even. Everyone was groaning in pain the whole time. Maybe RMC can bring back the helix. It really was the best part of the ride.
its layout is also just kinda butt too like there are roads in the st. louis area that are more intense than some sections of the boss. it's got some drops, but that's about it, and once you're past the fourth one it's about time to get back to the station. it's like a glorified wild mouse in that way, in the sense that it has short bursts of exerting forces spaced by parts where it does nothing. it should be illegal to build a roller coaster that shit on the side of a hill
I think this was it. the launch itself wasn't injuring people for 15 years and then it went another 3 years without injuring people, why? because 1. it's technically not that strong if you look at just the numbers and 2. your back is a very large area to apply the force. the jolt, though, is comparatively much stronger (with far more jerk too). I think they could've easily gone even faster on the launch if they just aligned the loop correctly
I rode Lightning Rod while it had it’s super strong launch, and it was gnarly. Lighting Rod was my first big roller coaster when I was about 10, and I will admit, I hated every second of it. Quite a few years later, and I’m an adrenaline junkie, and I wish I could ride that Lighting Rod “that was” again.
When I responded on Instagram with Space Mountain (CA) getting onboard audio, I meant it as a good change not a bad one. I love that soundtrack by Michael Giacchino. I didn’t realize that the addition of audio lead to a retrack, so I guess it was a good change that required a larger change, but overall was a good change imo.
I rode Boss in 2016, and the entire ride was terrible, including that helix. Making the ride end sooner was an improvement. I can handle very rough woodies, but that was far too much for me.
Lightning rod had to have the launch removed due to strain on the wood, along with how the launch system would misalign with the coaster train, causing the launch to fail often (primarily due to the wood structure flexing too much). The launch caused the coaster to be under maintenance constantly, while the lift hill made the coaster active more often, as recently, the coaster has had significantly less downtime.
It’s really sad how Superman had to change their restraints. As a person who lives near six flags New England, I really wish the state of Massachusetts would just open up and bring back to old T-bar restraints.
I don't know all the details about the accident but it doesn't seem like the T-bar made the ride unsafe. So many other rides have been using it without incident for decades
@@AirtimeThrillsThe issue wasn’t the T-bar itself. Intamin made a mistake on the original Ride Of Steel trains, which made the seatbelt in the front row 9 inches longer than it should have been, and making the seatbelt the only method of verifying restraints. As much as people love fat-shaming the victim or questioning the ops, they aren’t to blame here. Intamin quietly fixed the issue on Millennium Force. I should also add that Superman did run modified t-bar trains for a few years (similar to the two clones) and the state didn’t get involved until the retheme to Bizarro.
I’m sure The Wave is going to be fine, but that zero g roll is going to feel boring in a sit down car as opposed to standing on Shockwave, that was the weirdest sensation.
Intimidator 305's turn when I rode it in 2018 was still causing me to blackout so I can't imagine what it would've been with a tighter turn. I'm actually not sure that's a bad change Honestly when I rode Lightning Rod in 2019 (unfortunately without the chance for it to warm up) the launch was the best part outside of the last moment of airtime, so yeah I'd agree that's an awful change. Necessary, but awful.
I think if more european people would have attended, Shaman/Magic Mountain at Gardaland (retrack: it went from one of the best Vekoma Loopers to one of the worst), Vampire at Walibi Belgium (new trains, similar to T2/T3) and Objectif Mars at Futuroscope (Intamin Spinning Voaster that got its spinning feature removed) are my go-to choices.
I can speak to the Boss. That ending tight helix loop was great, but as the years went on it became teeth chatteringly rough. I think that instead of re-tracking it, they just decided to reimagine the layout on that part instead. It was a really awesome, unique part of the coaster.
You should replace Maverick with Dragon Challenge or Olympia Looping since Maverick never opened with its Heartline roll so no one knows if its a downgrade or not. For all we know, it might’ve caused massive head-banging.
Let me tell you something today I went to six flags great escape and the comet there got a new lift hill and it got stuck and I was on it when it got stuck so yea . Also I’m subbed.
Lightning rod’s launch was ALWAYS a gimmick that hardly worked. The coaster is honestly better without it. People can actually ride the thing now rather than it just sitting there and everyone being like “oh well, always next time!!” Parks such as Dollywood can’t afford to have an attraction sit dormant for over 60 percent of operation.
The worst change to any rollercoaster is the new restraints on Skyrush that ruin the lateral forces and cover too much of my legs and turned the coaster into a gp ride.
I don't agree with your decision on The Comet. I have ridden it twice this year and both times I got lots of airtime. The best ride on it is the back seat. I have ridden this coaster since I was 4 years old and am now 56 and still love it.
I strongly agree with Yardmaster_Media_110's new video idea and I know Airtime Thrills expressed concern that this new idea would follow his "best defunct coasters" list too closely. However, I believe these lists could be differentiated by focusing on the "Why?" of the removal instead of simply the "What?" of the removal. Furthermore I am really into how Yardmaster focused further by basically asking "Why were these roller coasters removed before they needed to be?" I'm going to lay out some examples here if anyone is interested (Airtime Thrills please consider this, but no offense taken if you disagree). This could include most of the Arrow loopers, the Schwarzkopf Jumbo Jets and Jet Stars, any of the Arrow suspended coasters and wooden coasters like Thunder Road at Carowinds or Rolling Thunder at Great Adventure--each of those wooden coasters could have been repaired by either RMC or GCI at the times of their removals relatively cheaply. Carowinds could have simply extended their water park in a different direction or just moved around the support structure of Thunder Road, while Rolling Thunder's reason for scrapping is completely absurd since it only would have interfered with the new drop tower's queue line. The Arrow suspended coasters reaching the "end of their service life" is a vague excuse that does not hold up under scrutiny. Big Bad Wolf's final drop over the river may have put stress on the supports/track but I don't see how the stresses could be any more intense than Vortex at Canada's Wonderland or Ninja at Magic Mountain which have comparable heights, top speeds, train designs and layouts and both still are running...somehow, even though they are well past their "service lives." Some of the Arrow loopers removed in the early 2000's could have had track replacements done by D.H. Morgan or Arrow Dynamics itself. The roughness of Shockwave and Orient Express was well known years before their removal and Alan Schilke and the other Arrow engineers were finally using computer modeling at this time to create smooth track profiling. Arrow badly needed work since they were in dire financial straights and would have been crazy not to take up the jobs, but even if they did not then D.H. Morgan headed by the former president of Arrow-Huss, Dana Morgan, would have also been available. The incredible success of Phantom's Revenge is proof-positive that this work could be done even by a park with lower operating costs then the larger Six Flags and Paramount chain parks. Six Flags Great America and World's of Fun would have known about the smoothness and popularity of Tennessee Tornado in 1999 and could have left Shockwave and Orient Express SBNO for a few seasons and then gradually replaced the roughest sections of track. They then could have reopened these coasters at easily half the cost of a new large-scale roller coaster. Then they would have succeeded in creating a "New" ride for the GP, new advertising opportunities for the marketing teams and still benefited from keeping a classic ride that older fans of the park feel nostalgic about and coaster enthusiasts love. In conclusions these were unwise decisions in every way with the one exception that having them removed helped, in the short term, lesson a little bit of financial stress from a huge corporation. There were even more options available in the late 2010's for fixing Vortex at King's Island or Dragon at Ocean Park. The examples of the complete retracking of Python at Efteling and Incredible Hulk at Universal Orlando show that multiple different companies could successfully retrack steel coasters. There are of course numerous other examples of coaster gone too soon as well. Here are some examples that would not meet the criteria for this list. First, Volcano: The Blast Coaster. Any roller coaster enthusiast reading about the long history of King's Dominion's incredible efforts to fix this ride's problems would understand why it had to be removed. Particularly when the most problematic section of track is difficult to reach, tedious to repair and perhaps even unusually dangerous for maintenance personnel to work on. Son of Beast was another coaster that was removed after years of work by King's Island trying many different techniques to save the ride but it was clear eventually that it could not be saved for MANY reasons. A third example would be Moonsault Scramble. If your roller coaster unavoidably exerts 6.5 g's on it's riders than I understand for safety purposes and the GP's general comfort and enjoyment...it probably has to go, even if I would have loved to ride it I understand that coaster enthusiasts represent a relatively small portion of Park Income so I have made sure there is financial logic in the examples I am using. If a park did not want to pay for refurbishments they had other options like leaving the coaster SBNO for a few years if they had nothing else to put on that plot of land and then that would give the park breathing room to try and sell the coaster or spend money over time testing various smaller fixes without a park opening deadline to worry about. Drier Looping is a great recent example of the sale of an old steel coaster and successful rebuild at Indiana Beach. At the end of the day this all comes to Roller Coaster Conservation which I am very passionate about as are a continually growing number of enthusiasts and I believe it is an important subject for a video that could educate, entertain and perhaps create some interesting debates.
I think you will find that Skyrush goes up in rankings and Comet goes down. Those ratcheting bars are painful. If you try to get the position in the station to give you air time, be prepared to be stapled on the second turnaround. I’m not sure I will be riding Comet in the future after that abdominal bruise.
13:45 ngl as a bigger than normal person, I still had a nice time on Coast Rider. Yea the shin guards weren’t the best but just twist your legs or back them up a. Little and it’s not too bad.
I think Thunder Striker is a reference to Thunder Road that used to be at Carowinds. If that's the case I don't mind it as much. Just wish they could've kept the Intimidator name but just remove the theming. Those new PTC ratcheting lap bars are terrible. I enjoyed Racer but you really don't float far with those restraints. Unfortunate because I'm visiting Hersheypark soon and am no longer too excited to ride Comet Riddler Mindbender hurts. The theme makes sense but nothing else does. The ride lasted so long before, I don't see why they need to trim it so much. I never rode the original but my dad did and he's not a fan of the changes
Can we all agree that changing Splash Mountain was for the best. We really don't need references to Song Of The South anymore. Changing it to Princess and the Frog is a big improvement.
I bet only .001% of people knew that ride was themed to Song of the South. That thing has been banned from most countries. People just liked the ride for what it was
My least favorite change is when the elevator I was on broke because while I got some great airtime I also broke both my legs, however, it was still better than green lantern because of that ejector airtime
same here, even though I haven't ridden on either
That wins comment of the day right there 💯
Anything for good airtime! 😂😂 I rode Green Lantern was like 9 and the only thing I hated was how you were upside down on the breakrun
They sounds like a great drop track
New fear unlocked
Here’s a new video idea: Coasters that were gone too soon. Basically coasters that were removed for one purpose or another that could have stuck around if they were either repaired or relocated. I don’t know how many coasters would fit this list, but it would be an interesting idea to see.
Batman and Robin the Chiller at great adventure fits that description. Big Bad Wolf too
Wicked twister should have been relocated to Michigan’s adventure
This is great idea actually, hell yeah
Definitely Volcano the Blast Coaster
Its a good idea but seems like it would follow the "best defunct coasters" list too close
Honestly, my pick would be what Disneyland Paris did to their version of Space Mountain. Took out all the awesome, intricate Jules Verne theming (the ride being based on his 1865 story _De la Terre à la Lune,_ AKA _From the Earth to the Moon)_ and slapped a veneer of cheap, nasty _Star Wars_ crap over the top. Just absolutely unnecessary and disrespectful to the coaster that arguably saved the park.
agree, although the coaster was rethemed back in 2005 which removed the awesome theming already, and replaced with a generic outer space journey instead of Jules Verne story
I was going to say, it had been genericized to "Round 2" long before the Star Wars 'overlay' came in - an overlay that also is used at Disneyland Anaheim at times. My understanding is that the Star Wars overlay is considered superior to Round 2, but still NOTHING compared to the original.
The fact that Carowinds didn’t commit to the bit and ask AC/DC to use “Thunderstruck” to promote Thunder Striker is so disappointing
I never thought about that but thats genius
Yeah, missed opportunity.
I'd like to add the newest incarnation bobsleds on the Matterhorn. Just horrible. Also over the last 10-15 years they've cut off parts of the mountain that used to act as great little head and hand choppers.
I agree with you on the bobsleds. The only comfortable seats are in rows 1 and 4. I find rows 3 and 6 to be tolerable but rows 2 and 5 are very uncomfortable for those with longer legs (rows 3 and 6 have a bit more leg room than rows 2 and 5).
Haven't watched but Rock and Rollercoaster better be up there because they butchered that ride. Disneyland Paris has genuinely ruined their park by trying to force their IP into every single attraction. Space Mountain and Rock and Rollercoaster were themed incredibly well.
I feel like Disney parks around the world have recently become nothing but ip dumping grounds, but I couldn't agree more. Early Disneyland had some of the best and most unique themed rides and lands in the business; so good that they would be replicated around the world for decades. But now, they're behind pretty much everyone when it comes to originality.
In the Paris park, big thunder mountain is one of only 3 major rides (and the only roller coaster) left in the whole resort not tied to an ip, and that's including both parks... Except wait, no it's not because a btm movie is currently in development 🙄
@@AVdE10000 I feel like creating an ip based on a ride is a different circumstance. No one would call haunted mansion or pirates an ip based attraction just because they had movies after they were built.
@@Goat_Girl_Gwen you could make an argument for haunted mansion, but potc definitely is an ip ride, at least in Paris. The ride is filled with animatronics and scenes resembling characters and set pieces from the movies.
Also, sure, at the end of the day the haunted mansion and btm movies are just quick cash grab films that will be forgotten within a year (much like the live action remakes), but it is really sad that a cool standalone ride is just not allowed to exist anymore. Everything has to be tied to other consumable products that function as marketing tools for each other. I know this is gonna sound dramatic, but the ride experience itself is treated less important than the marketability of said ride experience. And that is just a depressing realization.
Disney forgotten that the parks were IP original contraptions. Their fears over splash mountain never made sense when all of the characters are animals and none of them have offensive stereotypes or mockeries over skin colors.
@AVdE10000 My guess is that they didn’t realize that the pirates movies worked as additions because they had memorable characters themed around the IP itself.
Jack Sparrow and the villains he faces are solid as walking pirate legends that represent the glamour and the destruction of the pirate dream life.
The Dodonpa renovation was a terrible decision, not just for the replacement of the top hat, but also because the spine breaking incidences that happened because of the insane acceleration would not have happened if the launch was left as is. In short, we would still have Dodonpa if Fuji Q hadn't messed with it.
I know! Right!!!!! Im so glad i didnt get around to riding it since i may have been unable to ride coasters ever again. Still wish could have tried the original version though
It actually wasn't the launch. The new loop was manufactured and installed by Sansei, not S&S, and the transition between well-made American track and low-quality Japanese track caused a significant vertical jolt, leading to the aforementioned injuries. However, your point still stands, if the park had just left it alone, it'd still be around.
Losing the stall on Vertical Velocity made a MASSIVE change in the ride’s enjoyment. The whole ride really built up to that jarring moment and it turned into just a boring back and forth after that change.
I really think Incredicoaster should be on here. Taking California Screamin’s iconic soundtrack and replacing it with the Incredible’s theme with baby laughter mixed in is my personal least favorite change made to a rollercoaster.
The drums in the launch, the buildup on the second huge hill, and the stellar electric guitars that made up the first song were SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED to work alongside its layout. It was BEAUTIFUL. The brass in the Incredible’s theme are great, but they do not work as well for the ride as the old music did.
I’m thankful I got to ride Comet with buzz bars. Apparently when Wild One was first moved to Wild World, it also had buzz bars and slight profile changes to the turnaround before Premier Parks turned the park into Six Flags America. I would have loved to see what that felt like.
I'm also glad to have ridden Comet with buzzbars, though with the seatbelts there wasn't too much airtime.
Speaking as someone who lives in Michigan and have ridden that reside both before and after, that was a GREAT change to remove the trick track. It genuinely hurt my neck and felt like it was meant for a slower speed. I used to complain that it was the only part of the ride that I disliked.
Dear Cedar Fair: when you renamed I-305, why didn't you just go with I-305? It's what a lot of people called it anyway. Would've been better than Project 305, which sounds like the kind of name you give it before officially announcing the thing.
Bit surprised you mentioned the loop on Do-Dodonpa, but not the fact that the faster launch might've contributed to it getting shut down for good.
No surprised Deja Goliath's new trains made it into the top 3.
Just looking at off-ride footage, I really have to say Lightning Rod's "high speed chainlift" doesn't deserve that name. Still have to wonder if another launch mechanism might've worked. Or maybe even a cable lift.
I should have mentioned the launch possibly causing the injuries, even though that's not proven its definitely possible. I also think going with I 305 would be a good idea, but lets see if they give it a permanent name consistent with Jungle Xpedition
They could easily just call it Interstate 305, which would make the I-305 nickname fit, and they could keep the car theme as well.
You can blame the Wicked Witch of Dale Earnhardt INC, Theresa Earnhardt, for the removal of The Intimidator name and theme.
Any NASCAR fan worth their salt is already aware of just how much of a menace she is, now the coaster community gets to see it for themselves as well.
I mean, to be fair the contract was up. Sure, she's nasty, but that's likely why CF didn't want to work with her moving forward. Not even her own kids like her lol but I wouldn't put all the blame on her. #intimidatorforever
@@Sango3670 I will for being the person you just described.
@@ChampaBayBeast the contract was up. take it personally if you want, it is just business. cry more ig
@@Sango3670 Why would I care that much? I've been there 1 time. You wasted your time coming here and saying this.
Rode both versions of Shivering Timbers, a Michigan local CF pass holder... I would honestly put ST on the other list. It was a cool different element and if the trick track hit like the trick track on Mystic Timbers it would be different, but ST's trick track hit high on the jank scale. I don't miss it at all.
I don't think Lightning Rod is recency bias. This was one of the most beloved coasters on earth and the slowed launch was a bummer. But the chain lift really is a heartbreaker. It's what really made the ride stand out in people's minds. It would be like Wicked without the launch. Maverick without the tunnel. Montezuma's Revenge without the loop. Matterhorn Bobsleds without the mountain. The Beast without the Helix. Or even TTD without the hydraulic launch.......or, wait a minute..
Over Texas recently confirmed Goliath and Titan cannot run without the mid course being harsh, it is not only too intense for riders, but was too intense on the actual trains, the ride would be so much higher in maintenance costs if it didnt have that midcourse.
The classic PTC restraints are great IMO, as they never even touch my legs when fully pressed down. Don’t hold a candle to buzz bars but buzz bars wouldn’t be put on a modern wooden coaster of that caliber either 🤷♂️
that said, Comet was severely neutered in comparison to what it once was. It wasn't a modern ride, it's an old ride. And it isn't even intense. By your logic, Phoenix trains should be changed too, ja?
11:25... such a shame that [do-]Dodonpa's renovation may have directly killed the ride. Flew too close to the sun trying to push that launch even further, and now we've lost the world's gnarliest ride.
the shivering timbers trick track was cool, unique for sure . Sadly it caused the members of my party to not want to ride it again. I did like 5 more rides without them lol
Count me as someone who liked the trick track!
I would have included GhostRider. The GCI retrack is great, but it only happened because of how rough it got after well-intentioned but ill-conceived track work following an accident
Hyperspace Mountain deserves to be slightly higher for such a lazy reskin. My wife got the privilege of riding the OG Trip to the Moon edition of Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris and didn’t know about the Star Wars overlay. She wanted me to see the original ride, but was met with disappointment upon entering. Her anger was unhinged, and hated how lazy the retheme was, since the ride vehicles still featured the original theme and the old decorations are still present, but hidden in the dark
Dollywood is my home park and I 100% agree with both, but I rode the new chain lift and I swear now with the new trains you can feel every pothole
Even with all the steel track? Thats too bad
Great video! Yeah the Do Do Dompa one was definitely a bad change. Son Of Beast came to mind to me too. I really enjoyed watching this!
I never rode Lightning Rod in the first two versions (was terrified of Coasters) but I will say this, I absolutely love that beast! Have even ridden it back to back no wait three times. It's my favorite coaster there but I've since went on to ride all of them. They are all fun and addicting😂
If I see anyone mention Phantom's Revenge, the Inversions genuinely caused injuries. It basically went from a janky neck cracking head smaher to an elite airtime machine hyper coaster and still incredibly smooth for its age.
Thats a change for better not worse
From all the people I have heard from after getting on Lightning Rod with the chain, most of them have said it still feels the same, but now they can get on it multiple times. They like that it is more reliable.
it is very reliable and both of my visits it went down once but only for about 30 minutes and it usually has a 25-35 minute wait
My theory as to why Boss’s helix is removed is because the trains were putting too much stress on the support structure. The trains ran through this helix extremely fast which I heard caused structural damage. The helix removal is also the reason why the midcourse brake run now slows the train down a significant amount
I have an idea for future videos. How about you make a ranking for each coaster element? For instance, top 10 barrol rolls, what 10 coasters barrol rolls hit the best and why maybe it's the power or the placement. But just make a new video for each type of major element. Maybe even follow up with the worst of the same element.
I like that idea, but I think that just one video on all the elements (3 best and 3 worst) would be great to see and a bit easier to make for him.
@@SnowghostFilms I agree. I still think it would be a good series to just make 1 video per element. It would give him more future content. Thats probably at least 15 new videos all spread out. Maybe 5 best and 5 worst per video. .
Mr Thrills I finally found the full song to ur intro and outro music! ive been searching for years, how did u come across it?
Just picked thru the youtube audio library for a while til i found one that worked
@@AirtimeThrillsis this good or bad?
My marathon record is 54 times in a row on leviathan at wonderland
Good or bad?
@@AirplanesAndAirtime thats a ton
@@AirtimeThrills all of the ride ops thought I was crazy. One actually asked me word for word if I was “okay”
No, no I am not, I’m what’s called an “enthusiast” so I’m not rational
A pick for Oklahomans is Widcat at Frontier City. The layout used to have steeper drops, a double up, and the brakes on water feature were added, all in the late 90’s. I don’t know why all this was changed, I was born after the changes were made so I don’t know if it was rough, but Wildcat looked like an interesting ride
I had no idea it was so much better back then
@@AirtimeThrills I know Canobie Coasters did a review where he mentioned that it had been remodeled and so I looked it up. I found a POV from ‘91 and one from ‘95 on UA-cam, there was even had a little building it went through at some point! It looks like it took some of the hills at pretty decent speeds but it also definitely looks like it had some bite to it.
This definitely a good covered video for roller coasters 😊 excellent info 💯😄
The first launched wooden coaster should’ve never been launched up hill. It should’ve been straight track like 90% of launched steel coasters. Maybe we would still have lightning rods launch.
True, but that wouldnt have worked for LRod. The incline was a big problem
@@AirtimeThrillsand they picked someone who never made a launch before for some reason, I guess cuz they were nearby
My first thought for worst change ever on a coaster was actually Rollo Coaster at Idlewild with its new train. My 2nd of course being I-305 and taking out that sweet first turn.
as someone who was a Comet ride op at Hershey last year, I was really happy to see them get rid of the buzz bars. So many guests tried to stand during the ride and many parents let their kids ride alone and those kids never knew how to properly use the seatbelts. all the time, kids would say that their seat belt came off during the ride, and maintenance always came out and tested the seat belt and it was never broken. kids would play with the seatbelts, causing them to unlock during the ride. the new trains are way safer considering the minimum height requirement is 42"
Aw man, I haven't been to Michigan's Adventure since the summer of 2015, I had no idea they took the little fakeout track out of Shivering Timbers! It was definitely a rough element, but it was unique and fun! Also forever sad I didn''t get to ride Rougarou at Cedar Point as a standup coaster - I don't hate it nearly as much as some people do, but it's always a bittersweet ride because I can't help but think about what I missed out on (yes, I know people hated standup coasters, but I crave novelty lol)
The good thing about Thunder Striker is that it fixed the location issue. The ride was in South Carolina but Dale was from North Carolina.
So glad I rode Mystery Mine before the layout change. That vertical drop was quite intense, especially with the banked u turn following
Silver lining about Mindbender at SFOG, as of 2024 the trims have been adjusted so you mostly roll through the drop like you used to. They did _not_ add two more cars to the train though, so, curse you Six Flags.
The launched life hill was cool. It wasn’t a strong launch and it didn’t accelerate the whole time and then slowed down at the top. Everything beyond the life hill is still chefs kiss.
SFOG is my home park, and I can confirm that the new trains on Mindbender feel like they took all the pop out of the ride.
One change on a roller coaster i hate is that they removed the back cards on cyclops at Mt Olympus. I want to experience the ejector in that last car!
Why is it one can make a proper inverted coaster train for Vekoma? It's not like the track is cutting-edge technology. It's just Arrow Track that's been inverted. Even more strange that Kumbak (a group of former Vekoma) can't even get it right.
did you put the phantoms revenge double up i feel like that should’ve been on here if mavericks roll was on here
I actually am not aware of this, need to check it out
I am riding roller coasters and elevators in Australia and my least favorite change on an elevator there though I haven't been there, is the elevator that got modded in Chatswood, Australia.
I think to me, Thunder Striker sounds like a name you'd choose for a GCI wooden coaster to pay homage to Thunder Road than a B&M Hyper.
Why does my home park have 10 percent of the changes on this list? Maybe good news there is movement on the Goliath path I guess they are testing soil. Something to keep an eye on
What cause the slow down of the launch? Were there some accidents??
I think it had something to do with reliability, possibly due to reducing stress on the track
Comet can also stand for all the other classic coasters that got rid of the buzz bars. Ik theres quite a few other coasters out there that got rid of there buzz bars.
Can Space Mountain's 2005 reconstruction be considered a reprofile? The track layout ended up being exactly the same. Doesn't a reprofile mean the layout has changed in some way? Genuinely curious.
For me, I hear the Scooby Doo Next Generation coaster (pre major 2025 renovation) was a pretty big downgrade where a lot of props were replaced with screens (and they somehow didn't modernise the scrappy do monsters from the movie, so they looked kinda off) also scooby wasn't found anywhere in the entire ride compared to the previous version.
I don't think trains were changed as they were your regular Mack Wilde Mause custom trains. I've only ridden the old verision and it was pretty good (if not for the 2 hour wait)
Oh yeah. I recall how awful the CGI used is. The CGI looks like it was made in the late 80s, maybe early 90s. I also hate the turntable after the first drop, because it blasts you with this piercing loud sound and that sucks.
The ending was really cool. I never knew that Colossus ever had a Double Down. I am curious to see if Lightning Rod has downtime anymore with the major change to the lift hill.
All new RMCs have downtime, hopefully it doesnt act like a new RMC with this change
I just rode skyrush with its new restraints today and it is absolutely amazing now and the ejector is so much stronger now
I rode it this year with the new restraints. Sure it’s not as painful but I left mine super loose and half way through the ride my thighs were still extremely crushed. Did they help sure, enough to move the tide up my list? Probably not.
It was different for me at least it went from 6 in the park to 1 or 2
I worked at Six Flags St. Louis when Pete (the park President at the time) was there in 2017-2018 and I don't remember the reason but I think it was do to maintnance. I was also lucky enough to ride it with the Helix and I'm SO GLAD you put it on the list cause I'm also pist off that they took it out.
when are u coming to canadas wonderland again? i need to meet you and get a picture. also we are 99% getting a zamperla multi launch next year but shhhhhhh
I got no plans to come back anytime soon unfortunately
@@AirtimeThrills damn. Hey at least I found your intro that I didn’t realize was in your description 😭
Also unrelated but have you met coaster studios
@@AirplanesAndAirtime yep I have quite a few times
@@AirtimeThrills that’s so cool
Some people I know think it’s weird I have fury 325 ranked over eejanaika. What do you think?
Nah as someone who has ridden lightning rod a lot in the past month, the chain lift is a net positive, and it's not just reliability. Now you get airtime over the pre drop again! Rest of the ride is just as relentless. They need to fix that pothole after the wave turn tho, it's brutal.
The thing with green lantern coming back to the station upside down was solved in the worst way. On the S&S version of this ride, they have it so the track has this extra metal that rubs up against wheels on the train to force it to be oriented how they want
I’ve been off of coaster social media for a while now and I went to Carowinds today for the first time. I was looking for intimidator but couldn’t find it. Then I realised it had been renamed and I was so disappointed lmao.
I can guarantee that the new names for intimidator and I305 were made last-second. The "Gentlemen, start your engines." sound is still on Project 305 and there is a typo on a sign outside the station.
Six flags over Georgia is my home park, the mind bender was unnecessarily intense and it was awesome, so sad when they slowed it down
The Boss really needs an RMC treatment. I just went on it last week and it's running so rough it's unenjoyable even as a fan of woodies. Worse than last season even. Everyone was groaning in pain the whole time. Maybe RMC can bring back the helix. It really was the best part of the ride.
its layout is also just kinda butt too like there are roads in the st. louis area that are more intense than some sections of the boss. it's got some drops, but that's about it, and once you're past the fourth one it's about time to get back to the station. it's like a glorified wild mouse in that way, in the sense that it has short bursts of exerting forces spaced by parts where it does nothing. it should be illegal to build a roller coaster that shit on the side of a hill
You should have mentioned the bad transition into do dodonpa's new loop as well - and the fact it could've caused the back breaking incident
I didnt realize it had a bad transition. Kinda dumb considering how drawn out it is
I think this was it. the launch itself wasn't injuring people for 15 years and then it went another 3 years without injuring people, why? because 1. it's technically not that strong if you look at just the numbers and 2. your back is a very large area to apply the force. the jolt, though, is comparatively much stronger (with far more jerk too). I think they could've easily gone even faster on the launch if they just aligned the loop correctly
I rode Lightning Rod while it had it’s super strong launch, and it was gnarly. Lighting Rod was my first big roller coaster when I was about 10, and I will admit, I hated every second of it. Quite a few years later, and I’m an adrenaline junkie, and I wish I could ride that Lighting Rod “that was” again.
The worst part about Mystery Mine’s track change is that even now, the old track is still there.
I know its like a fake out
As soon as I saw that Coast Rider was mentioned, I knew it had to be those shin guards.
When I responded on Instagram with Space Mountain (CA) getting onboard audio, I meant it as a good change not a bad one. I love that soundtrack by Michael Giacchino. I didn’t realize that the addition of audio lead to a retrack, so I guess it was a good change that required a larger change, but overall was a good change imo.
Yeah some of the entries werent clear if it was positive or negative lol
What about adding OTSR to Quimera when it got relocated to Indiana Beach?
Oof, i actually didn't see that
I rode Boss in 2016, and the entire ride was terrible, including that helix. Making the ride end sooner was an improvement. I can handle very rough woodies, but that was far too much for me.
Everything that KumbaK touches turns to ruin
But who's really to blame? KumbaK, or the parks who should know better by now continuing to hiring them?
kumbak employees should be forced to ride the coaster they worked on
*Coaster dash would put TT2 on this list*
It’s the Elio top thrill!
(If you don’t get it look up Elio motors)
Who wouldn’t? Might have been an 8-day experience
Lightning rod had to have the launch removed due to strain on the wood, along with how the launch system would misalign with the coaster train, causing the launch to fail often (primarily due to the wood structure flexing too much). The launch caused the coaster to be under maintenance constantly, while the lift hill made the coaster active more often, as recently, the coaster has had significantly less downtime.
you should make a video of the worlds biggest loops (still functioning rides)
It’s really sad how Superman had to change their restraints. As a person who lives near six flags New England, I really wish the state of Massachusetts would just open up and bring back to old T-bar restraints.
I don't know all the details about the accident but it doesn't seem like the T-bar made the ride unsafe. So many other rides have been using it without incident for decades
@@AirtimeThrillsThe issue wasn’t the T-bar itself. Intamin made a mistake on the original Ride Of Steel trains, which made the seatbelt in the front row 9 inches longer than it should have been, and making the seatbelt the only method of verifying restraints. As much as people love fat-shaming the victim or questioning the ops, they aren’t to blame here. Intamin quietly fixed the issue on Millennium Force.
I should also add that Superman did run modified t-bar trains for a few years (similar to the two clones) and the state didn’t get involved until the retheme to Bizarro.
I’m sure The Wave is going to be fine, but that zero g roll is going to feel boring in a sit down car as opposed to standing on Shockwave, that was the weirdest sensation.
Worst one for me personally is Magic Kingdom is getting rid of the barn on Barnstormer and also switching the queue and exit lines.
barnstormer with no barn? so it's just stormer now???
Intimidator 305's turn when I rode it in 2018 was still causing me to blackout so I can't imagine what it would've been with a tighter turn. I'm actually not sure that's a bad change
Honestly when I rode Lightning Rod in 2019 (unfortunately without the chance for it to warm up) the launch was the best part outside of the last moment of airtime, so yeah I'd agree that's an awful change. Necessary, but awful.
I think if more european people would have attended, Shaman/Magic Mountain at Gardaland (retrack: it went from one of the best Vekoma Loopers to one of the worst), Vampire at Walibi Belgium (new trains, similar to T2/T3) and Objectif Mars at Futuroscope (Intamin Spinning Voaster that got its spinning feature removed) are my go-to choices.
I can speak to the Boss. That ending tight helix loop was great, but as the years went on it became teeth chatteringly rough. I think that instead of re-tracking it, they just decided to reimagine the layout on that part instead. It was a really awesome, unique part of the coaster.
I can personally attest to Comet at Hersheypark. I still enjoy the ride, but it just isn't as good as it once was.
The trim kills it all
I could relate to the I305 change
You should replace Maverick with Dragon Challenge or Olympia Looping since Maverick never opened with its Heartline roll so no one knows if its a downgrade or not. For all we know, it might’ve caused massive head-banging.
Hahaha I knew Shin Smasher would be on this list but at #2 that shows how much those shin guards suck😂
On Comet, losing the buzz bar sucks, but it seems like the trains are heavier now and it's really freakin bumpy. Like an up and down bumpy
Let me tell you something today I went to six flags great escape and the comet there got a new lift hill and it got stuck and I was on it when it got stuck so yea . Also I’m subbed.
4:09 “T3 - The next generation of fear” of what? The trains?
Lightning rod’s launch was ALWAYS a gimmick that hardly worked. The coaster is honestly better without it.
People can actually ride the thing now rather than it just sitting there and everyone being like “oh well, always next time!!” Parks such as Dollywood can’t afford to have an attraction sit dormant for over 60 percent of operation.
The worst change to any rollercoaster is the new restraints on Skyrush that ruin the lateral forces and cover too much of my legs and turned the coaster into a gp ride.
im just wondering why they did not make a cable lift launch for lightning rod by intamin for wood coasters?
anyone got a idea?
I don't agree with your decision on The Comet. I have ridden it twice this year and both times I got lots of airtime. The best ride on it is the back seat. I have ridden this coaster since I was 4 years old and am now 56 and still love it.
I rode the new lightning rod a couple weeks ago and while losing the launch sucks the rest of the ride wasn't hurt at all imo
I strongly agree with Yardmaster_Media_110's new video idea and I know Airtime Thrills expressed concern that this new idea would follow his "best defunct coasters" list too closely. However, I believe these lists could be differentiated by focusing on the "Why?" of the removal instead of simply the "What?" of the removal. Furthermore I am really into how Yardmaster focused further by basically asking "Why were these roller coasters removed before they needed to be?"
I'm going to lay out some examples here if anyone is interested (Airtime Thrills please consider this, but no offense taken if you disagree). This could include most of the Arrow loopers, the Schwarzkopf Jumbo Jets and Jet Stars, any of the Arrow suspended coasters and wooden coasters like Thunder Road at Carowinds or Rolling Thunder at Great Adventure--each of those wooden coasters could have been repaired by either RMC or GCI at the times of their removals relatively cheaply. Carowinds could have simply extended their water park in a different direction or just moved around the support structure of Thunder Road, while Rolling Thunder's reason for scrapping is completely absurd since it only would have interfered with the new drop tower's queue line.
The Arrow suspended coasters reaching the "end of their service life" is a vague excuse that does not hold up under scrutiny. Big Bad Wolf's final drop over the river may have put stress on the supports/track but I don't see how the stresses could be any more intense than Vortex at Canada's Wonderland or Ninja at Magic Mountain which have comparable heights, top speeds, train designs and layouts and both still are running...somehow, even though they are well past their "service lives."
Some of the Arrow loopers removed in the early 2000's could have had track replacements done by D.H. Morgan or Arrow Dynamics itself. The roughness of Shockwave and Orient Express was well known years before their removal and Alan Schilke and the other Arrow engineers were finally using computer modeling at this time to create smooth track profiling. Arrow badly needed work since they were in dire financial straights and would have been crazy not to take up the jobs, but even if they did not then D.H. Morgan headed by the former president of Arrow-Huss, Dana Morgan, would have also been available. The incredible success of Phantom's Revenge is proof-positive that this work could be done even by a park with lower operating costs then the larger Six Flags and Paramount chain parks. Six Flags Great America and World's of Fun would have known about the smoothness and popularity of Tennessee Tornado in 1999 and could have left Shockwave and Orient Express SBNO for a few seasons and then gradually replaced the roughest sections of track. They then could have reopened these coasters at easily half the cost of a new large-scale roller coaster. Then they would have succeeded in creating a "New" ride for the GP, new advertising opportunities for the marketing teams and still benefited from keeping a classic ride that older fans of the park feel nostalgic about and coaster enthusiasts love. In conclusions these were unwise decisions in every way with the one exception that having them removed helped, in the short term, lesson a little bit of financial stress from a huge corporation.
There were even more options available in the late 2010's for fixing Vortex at King's Island or Dragon at Ocean Park. The examples of the complete retracking of Python at Efteling and Incredible Hulk at Universal Orlando show that multiple different companies could successfully retrack steel coasters. There are of course numerous other examples of coaster gone too soon as well.
Here are some examples that would not meet the criteria for this list. First, Volcano: The Blast Coaster. Any roller coaster enthusiast reading about the long history of King's Dominion's incredible efforts to fix this ride's problems would understand why it had to be removed. Particularly when the most problematic section of track is difficult to reach, tedious to repair and perhaps even unusually dangerous for maintenance personnel to work on. Son of Beast was another coaster that was removed after years of work by King's Island trying many different techniques to save the ride but it was clear eventually that it could not be saved for MANY reasons. A third example would be Moonsault Scramble. If your roller coaster unavoidably exerts 6.5 g's on it's riders than I understand for safety purposes and the GP's general comfort and enjoyment...it probably has to go, even if I would have loved to ride it I understand that coaster enthusiasts represent a relatively small portion of Park Income so I have made sure there is financial logic in the examples I am using.
If a park did not want to pay for refurbishments they had other options like leaving the coaster SBNO for a few years if they had nothing else to put on that plot of land and then that would give the park breathing room to try and sell the coaster or spend money over time testing various smaller fixes without a park opening deadline to worry about. Drier Looping is a great recent example of the sale of an old steel coaster and successful rebuild at Indiana Beach.
At the end of the day this all comes to Roller Coaster Conservation which I am very passionate about as are a continually growing number of enthusiasts and I believe it is an important subject for a video that could educate, entertain and perhaps create some interesting debates.
You make a lot of good points. A "why" video would be more doable than a ranking
I think you will find that Skyrush goes up in rankings and Comet goes down. Those ratcheting bars are painful. If you try to get the position in the station to give you air time, be prepared to be stapled on the second turnaround. I’m not sure I will be riding Comet in the future after that abdominal bruise.
Honestly, I prefer comets new trains. While I don’t love the new restraints, it feels much smoother in my opinion.
13:45 ngl as a bigger than normal person, I still had a nice time on Coast Rider. Yea the shin guards weren’t the best but just twist your legs or back them up a. Little and it’s not too bad.
I rode dodonpa with that tophat instead of a vertical loop and that airtime was serious.
I think Thunder Striker is a reference to Thunder Road that used to be at Carowinds. If that's the case I don't mind it as much. Just wish they could've kept the Intimidator name but just remove the theming.
Those new PTC ratcheting lap bars are terrible. I enjoyed Racer but you really don't float far with those restraints. Unfortunate because I'm visiting Hersheypark soon and am no longer too excited to ride Comet
Riddler Mindbender hurts. The theme makes sense but nothing else does. The ride lasted so long before, I don't see why they need to trim it so much. I never rode the original but my dad did and he's not a fan of the changes
I’ve ridden Goliath and titan. That helix on titan is the best part of the ride. Goliath has nothing going for it except height and speed.
Can we all agree that changing Splash Mountain was for the best. We really don't need references to Song Of The South anymore. Changing it to Princess and the Frog is a big improvement.
I bet only .001% of people knew that ride was themed to Song of the South. That thing has been banned from most countries. People just liked the ride for what it was
DEJA VU was such a cool ride, but of course six flags had to f**k it up !! The staggering seats were really not that much of an issue imo.
Not much of an issue but i can definitely see why the park felt like they had to change it
Babe wake up, new airtime thrills vid just dropped!
I was so lucky to be able to ride lightning rod when it had the launch lift hill, it’s history