Best One-Two-Punch

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warfelg

Mar 16, 2016
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@Coasterguy95 while I appreciate the reference I feel that applies a ton more to your post than mine.

Parks with better 1-2 combos than I305/TT IMO are:
Cedar Point: SV and MF
Hersheypark: Candymonium and Skyrush (Or Storm Runner and Candymonium, or Skyrush and Great Bear, basically Hershey has a bunch of great duos)
Carrowinds: Fury and Copperhead Strike
Canadas Wonderland: Levathon and Yukon Striker (IMO the best dive coaster out there)
BGW: Apollo and Pantheon
BGT: IG and CH (CH gets so over looked!)
SWO: Manta and Mako
UIOA: Velocicoaster and Hagrids (or Hulk)

And that doesn’t even really get into parks I haven’t been to.
 
I moved @warfelg's post from the Anaconda thread over to a new thread dedicated to this topic as I thought it was likely to spawn more discussion and I thought it may be a topic worth more discussion.

I have experienced all of the one-two-punches @warfelg listed (aside from Carowinds—don't have Copperhead yet, Cedar Point—don't have Steel Vengeance yet, and Canada's Wonderland—haven't been yet). That said, based on my preferences and expectations of the rides in question, I am pretty sure Kings Dominion would still have my favorite one-two-punch anywhere in the US. I imagine Cedar Point is the competitor I can imagine getting closest (but with Maverick instead of Millennium Forceless), but I'm not sure the difference between Vengeance and Twisted would be wide enough to make up the gap in my rankings between Maverick and i305.

When I get back to Cedar Point, I'm gonna have to think long and hard about this...
 
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Here’s my list:
1. Cedar Point - SteVe and Maverick
2. Kings Island - Orion and Mystic
3. Hersheypark - Skyrush and Fahrenheit
4. Kings Dominion - I305 and TT
5. Carowinds - Fury and Copperhead

All these coasters are in my top 15
 
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I get all the dislike to my statements but part of a coaster being part of a great 1-2 punch to me is reridability. Intamin doesn’t deliver that to me. Bad harnesses plus too snappy of direction changes at high speed kills the experience for me. Their newest offerings seem to be much better with that.
 
This is an odd topic in that I can’t think of visiting a park simply for two rides. My guess is the reference to KD’s top 2 in that those two stand out and above the rest of their ride collection, which is still quite good.

My thought is looking at the top 5 or 6 attractions (I’d include events and food in that thinking) to really debate where is worth visiting.
 
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I agree there is a ton of focus on “Top 2s” when I think about the viability of a park lineup I consider parks with strong Top 5s and interesting supporting casts to have strong attraction lineups if they don’t meet that criteria with rides then I look for theming and the overall product of the park and that can often override most parks that don’t meet that criteria for me with rides overall or even override it completely in the case of Islands of Adventure for example.

The problem when a park has a strong “Top 2” is that if there is a high quantity of rides I don’t care to ride at all the park gets pretty stale compared to other parks. I love Kings Dominion to bits as my home park but a major difference between KD and BGWs ride lineups (before we even discuss theming or atmosphere), is that when I go to Busch Gardens I’m relatively likely to loop the entire park and ride all 8 major coasters with the occasional Finnegans, Pompeii, or Le Scoot rides. KD I will often visit and am perfectly fine with skipping often more than HALF of the coaster lineup, and don’t even get me started on a certain Cedar Fair park in the Carolinas, I already roasted them the other day.

I’d say of the 27 parks I’ve done the best coaster lineups have been: Cedar Point, Hershey, Great Adventure, BGT, BGW, KI (that’s even being aware none of the top 5 are necessarily like global top 25s they are all very re-rideable…..well Beast is tough sometimes lol), SFOT, and SFFT all seem to have what I would describe as a “solid top 5.” There’s definitely a gap between the first 5 there and the rest for the more themed parks I’ve done like IOA, SWO etc.
 
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CoasterAuditor said:
I agree there is a ton of focus on “Top 2s” when I think about the viability of a park lineup I consider parks with strong Top 5s and interesting supporting casts to have strong attraction lineups if they don’t meet that criteria with rides then I look for theming and the overall product of the park and that can often override most parks that don’t meet that criteria for me with rides overall or even override it completely in the case of Islands of Adventure for example.

The problem when a park has a strong “Top 2” is that if there is a high quantity of rides I don’t care to ride at all the park gets pretty stale compared to other parks. I love Kings Dominion to bits as my home park but a major difference between KD and BGWs ride lineups (before we even discuss theming or atmosphere), is that when I go to Busch Gardens I’m relatively likely to loop the entire park and ride all 8 major coasters with the occasional Finnegans, Pompeii, or Le Scoot rides. KD I will often visit and am perfectly fine with skipping often more than HALF of the coaster lineup, and don’t even get me started on a certain Cedar Fair park in the Carolinas, I already roasted them the other day.

I’d say of the 27 parks I’ve done the best coaster lineups have been: Cedar Point, Hershey, Great Adventure, BGT, BGW, KI (that’s even being aware none of the top 5 are necessarily like global top 25s they are all very re-rideable…..well Beast is tough sometimes lol), SFOT, and SFFT all seem to have what I would describe as a “solid top 5.” There’s definitely a gap between the first 5 there and the rest for the more themed parks I’ve done like IOA, SWO etc.
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Beyond even the top 5 at a park, I think what is the 10th best thing to do there. At a park such as KD or BGW it’s going to be rides such as Delirium, the drop towers, Loch Ness, Reptilian, or maybe an eatery or show I like, which infers there are a variety of things to do for the day. On the flip side at a park such as SFA, the 10th best attraction is probably something such as the bumper cars or carousal, neither of which are that impressive, which basically implies I’m already heading for the exits after hitting the big rides.

CP and Hersheys are places that have that large variety with rides alone. BGW does it with shows or events I like. KD does it during Haunt with houses and shows that make multiple visits almost a necessity to see it all, and to a lesser extent at Winterfest.
 
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Top 2 is a fun discussion because those are the rides that get a park on the map.

Top 5 is ok because it may involve one or two flats.

Top 10 ruins the fun of the discussion because you are just talking about whole park at that point.
 
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In terms of Kings Dominion, I have to admit that i305 was just a little too intense for me. I only rode it once on my trip but I grayed out pretty hard on the ride and it's the one time on a ride I ever feared I'd black out complete. It's one of those rides that I respect it for what it is, honestly another ride like it will never be built, but it's just not for me, at least for right now. Maybe in a few years I'll really enjoy my next rides though. Loved Twisted Timbers though!

Carowinds' 1 2 punch is probably my favorite. I loved Copperhead Strike and Fury is a masterpiece so it's pretty easy to choose there.

Most other parks I've been to have just well rounded lineups that don't particularly have any two standouts (my home park, Six Flags Great America has a lot of very good rides but none that I'd say stand out too much) or has just one ride ahead of the pack. Kentucky Kingdom's two best rides are very good as well, I do find them a little samey though, like it's hard for me to say Storm Runner and Lightning Run are the best one two punch when both of them are very similar to each other. I like when two rides give great experiences that are also different to each other.
 
I mean I guess at this point were getting pretty subjective with what constitutes a "Top" ride as everyone's opinion is different. I do agree if we bring up "Top 2s" they better be two exceptional rides for me to travel X hours to that park if the supporting cast is mostly non B&M/RMC clones and trash. SFNE comes to mind for example.
 
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The best 1-2 punch I’ve experienced is I-305 and tt.
But other contenders are Hershey, cedar point, great adventure, magic mountain.
 
warfelg said:
Top 2 is a fun discussion because those are the rides that get a park on the map.
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This! When I'm looking at possible park trips, I'm often only looking at a couple attractions to determine which park(s) I'd rather visit. I can find Batman clones, Vekoma SLCs, FreeSpins, Wild Mice, etc anywhere—but there's only one place to go if I want to ride a launched hybrid coaster or the only domestic Intamin prefab. Those headliners carry A LOT of weight in my decision process.

The top echelon of a park's collection will never be a suitable way to judge a park's coasters or general quality overall. That said, in my opinion, they can, singlehandedly, justify trips to otherwise poor parks all by themselves.

PS: If you want a place to discuss park's entire collections, we do have that thread:
parkfans.net

Best Parks for Coasters

Just curious as to where most of you been and what parks you feel deliver the best coasters. Being new to the whole coaster experience at the ripe old age of 37, I'm interested in traveling to a few more parks not in the area and would like to know what parks you've been to. This is probably a...
parkfans.net parkfans.net
 
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Zachary said:
This! When I'm looking at possible park trips, I'm often only looking at a couple attractions to determine which park(s) I'd rather visit. I can find Batman clones, Vekoma SLCs, FreeSpins, Wild Mice, etc anywhere—but there's only one place to go if I want to ride a launched hybrid coaster or the only domestic Intamin prefab. Those headliners carry A LOT of weight in my decision process.

The top echelon of a park's collection will never be a suitable way to judge a park's coasters or general quality overall. That said, in my opinion, they can, singlehandedly, justify trips to otherwise poor parks all by themselves.

PS: If you want a place to discuss park's entire collections, we do have that thread:
parkfans.net

Best Parks for Coasters

Just curious as to where most of you been and what parks you feel deliver the best coasters. Being new to the whole coaster experience at the ripe old age of 37, I'm interested in traveling to a few more parks not in the area and would like to know what parks you've been to. This is probably a...
parkfans.net parkfans.net
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I will say this process got me to visit Eire long before Ravine Flyer II had the notoriety that it does. That and Steel Dragon are a unique 1-2 punch for Waldameer that could easily be an overlooked park.
 
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Silver Dollar City with Outlaw Run and Time Traveler is an amazing 1,2. Time Traveler is the best mack in the US and ranks very highly among not just enthusiasts but the public as well. Outlaw run is an excellent if not perfect example of RMC airtime. You put either of those rides in most parks and they'd be the best coaster there. Park suffers from low visitation being in Missouri I think; at least as it sits in the minds of all the east and west coast folks out there.

Six Flags NE is also very high with Superman and Joker. Both very good rides, but here there is a clear #1.
 
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My list of the heavy hitting parks I’ve been to-
1. KD: i305/TT
2. Carowinds: Fury/Copperhead
3. Magic Mountain: Twisted Colossus/X2
4. BGW: Pantheon/Apollo
5. Great Adventure: El Toro/Ka (though, I like Nitro more than Ka)
6. CP: MF/TTD (never been on Maverick or Vengeance)
7. Knott’s: GhostRider/HangTime

Those are the heavy hitters I’ve been to. It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve been to Dollywood, so I do not think I can include that as the above are within the last 10 years.

If I let nostalgia pick, BGW moves to third place, due to Apollo alone. Also, to me Copperhead Strike is to Carowinds as Twisted Timbers is to Kings Dominion in that they are both a perfect counterbalance in terms of different offerings to compliment their neighboring friendly giga.

For fun, I’ll throw in a park I have been to for the first time within the last year since it is fresh to me:
Worlds of Fun: Prowler/Patriot (loved Patriot)
 
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warfelg said:
I definitely think part of I-305 being such a big “great 1-2 punch” is more because of height than quality of the ride. I find it’s layout rather jarring and ucomfortable because of the tight transitions at such a high speed. Makes it a rather low rated #1.
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I love the mixed response on this lol.
 
If we only consider coasters that punch above the "average" of other coasters at the same park, BGW is an interesting case. BGW has SUCH a great lineup, there's Pantheon at the top, a collection of 3-4 EXCELLENT supporting coasters, and another 3-4 on top of that, of which the last 3-4 fall around the average rating compared to other park's average thrill rating.

I don't think BGW has a 1-2 punch like I305 and TT... but give it another two years (or roughly a year and a half, not that I'm counting) and I think BGW will have a 1-2 that surpasses KD, and comparing the supporting lineups beyond that, there's no question.
 
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