My dad is one of the biggest roller coaster freaks I've ever met. He once rode the Titan at Six Flags Over Texas 20 times in one day. He's been on a quest for most of his life to ride all the coasters that get the biggest buzz. On our trip to go visit family, we got to go to Holiday World in Santa Clause, Indiana and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He was so ecstatic to check off coasters from his bucket list. He decided to rate them so everyone would know what the best coasters are. I would have done this, but I only rode a few because I'm a chicken.
Each coaster is rated in four categories; comfort, thrill, speed, and ride-ability (is it good enough to ride again). And each category is rated on a scale of 1-5, one being the worst and 5 being the best.
Holiday World
My dad used to live very close to Santa Clause, Indiana, and he never went to the park. When he moved to Texas, he then wished he had gone. He was extremely excited about the four coasters at this park, he rode all over them with such enthusiasm that I don't think I could give to a roller coaster.
The Raven
I rode this ride with him, it seemed like not that big of a deal because it was a small drop and Holiday World's website said that this was the tamest roller coaster at their park. We both got off the ride shaking because it was so crazy. Wooden coasters aren't really our favorite because they shake and are extremely jerky. This was definitely the case for this one. I still thought it was really fun, but it wasn't my dad's favorite.
Comfort: 3. "Wooden coasters just knock you around."
Thrill: 5
Speed: 5
Ride-ability: 3 (Although we almost rode it again until we decided it was best not to right after lunch.)
The Legend
Holiday World suggested that this coaster was a step up from the Raven. They suggested that you ride them in the order of intensity. I had originally planned to go on this one, but I was so over taken by The Raven that I sat this one out while dad rode.
Comfort: 3
Thrill: 5
Speed: 5
Ride-ability: 3
The Voyage
While this isn't the most intense coaster there, I had already decided about a month before hand that there was no way on God's green earth that I was going on this. It's a 163 feet drop and I was sure I was going to die if I got on it. Dad, however, was all for it.
Comfort: 3
Thrill: 5. "It's like the wooden version of the Titan." (The Titan is a steel coaster at Six Flags Over Texas.)
Speed: 5
Ride-ability: 3
Thunderbird
This was the most intense one at the park, and the only steel one. This was the one dad was most excited about, mostly because it was the fastest and it launches you instead of having a lift.
Comfort: 5
Thrill: 5
Speed: 5
Ride-ability: 5
Dollywood
While Dollywood isn't really known for their roller coasters, that didn't stop my dad and I from abandoning my mom and sister to go ride them. He didn't get to go on two of the roller coasters because the park was extremely busy when we went.
Thunderhead
I was pretty excited about this one. It has a 100 foot drop, which is the biggest one I've been on, but it had a twist in the drop so it was as crazy as a straight one. Needless to say, it was the favorite one of the day.
Comfort: 5. "It was the best wooden roller coaster seat I've ever ridden in."
Thrill: 3. "It needed to get you out of your seat more."
Speed: 4. "Good speed for a wooden coaster, I would have given it a 5 if it had less turns: which slowed it down."
Ride-ability: "Yes!" We almost did ride it again later in the day until we saw the line.
Mystery Mine
This was my least favorite ride. I didn't really ride it, but I did have to wait 45 minutes for him. Even after that, HE didn't like it much.
Comfort: 2. "The restraints caused a lot of head banging. It sucked."
Thrill: 3. "It only gets a 3 because there really was a mystery. (Two surprise 80 foot drops) It wasn't worth the wait."
Speed: 2. "It was really slow until the drops."
Ride-ability: "No"
Firechaser Express
I made my dad ride this one. I know he wasn't going to because it looks like a kiddie ride, but he ended up enjoying it a lot.
Comfort: 5 (Before we got on the ride) "I'm already going to give this a 5 because I know the design." It got a 5 after the ride too.
Thrill: 3. "You can't beat Thunderhead." I would have scored it more because it went BACKWARDS.
Speed: 3. He had no comment on this, probably because we had just gotten off Thunderhead.
Ride-ability: "Yeah..."
There you have it, roller coaster reviews from a professional roller coaster junkie. If you're at either one of these parks in the future, we suggest giving these coasters a try.
