Next DVC resort?

[intamin]

Been on both a bunch of times, love them both, and I was about as big of a potterhead as there can be... but with that being said

Cosmic Rewind blows Hagrid's out of the water in almost every way, and quite easily.

Ehhh I'm going to beg to differ. Having been on hundreds of coasters it's like choosing between Iron Gwazi and Steel Vengeance for people. It's incredibly subjective. Also, just because Hagrids has lockers in the beginning, you do not have to go through metal detection or anything like that and can keep your phone and etc. on you in the line. I strongly encourage anyone who hasn't yet ridden it to at least give it a chance.

I like Cosmic Rewind don't get me wrong guys, it's a fun ride. It's smooth and tame enough for most people to be able to enjoy despite the spinning but I do think it is heavily screen based with the exception of a few planets that are physical and a lot of the fun comes from dancing with the music during the ride.

SPOILERS for people who haven't ridden Hagrids yet

I mean.. I like the animatronics that you pass by, I like the 7 launches, I like the reverse launch and the reverse spike going into it, I like it going through the forbidden forest and how you get caught in Devil's Snare and then you get the drop track. Even though it doesn't go as fast Cosmic Rewind it has more variety in it's layout IMO.

 

[intamin]

Velocicoaster added a good high-thrill option with still some decent theming. But once you get on the ride, the theming really lets me down. Just some raptor noises and that is really it. The queue is much better themed than the ride unfortunately

Yeah Velocicoaster definitely isn't winning any theming categories that's why I didn't think it was one of the better themed coasters, it's just simply one of the better coasters period. For anyone who likes intense roller coasters, this is it, this is in my top 5. With the inverted stall, the mosasaurus roll, that launch leading into the top hat is just so good. Velocicoaster is in my top 5 of all roller coasters I've been on, Hagrids is not in there even though it is my favorite themed coaster.

I literally just came back from Universal and went just to ride both of these within the past 2 hours so I'm still hyped up from them LOL. I love coasters in the dark so I'm using daylight savings to my advantage now that it's dark at like 630 lmao

 

[Girlstar30]

Stardusters is back open, it was closed when we went to epic, too bad, next time

 

[Tatebeck]

Ehhh I'm going to beg to differ. Having been on hundreds of coasters it's like choosing between Iron Gwazi and Steel Vengeance for people. It's incredibly subjective. Also, just because Hagrids has lockers in the beginning, you do not have to go through metal detection or anything like that and can keep your phone and etc. on you in the line. I strongly encourage anyone who hasn't yet ridden it to at least give it a chance.

I like Cosmic Rewind don't get me wrong guys, it's a fun ride. It's smooth and tame enough for most people to be able to enjoy despite the spinning but I do think it is heavily screen based with the exception of a few planets that are physical and a lot of the fun comes from dancing with the music during the ride.

SPOILERS for people who haven't ridden Hagrids yet

I mean.. I like the animatronics that you pass by, I like the 7 launches, I like the reverse launch and the reverse spike going into it, I like it going through the forbidden forest and how you get caught in Devil's Snare and then you get the drop track. Even though it doesn't go as fast Cosmic Rewind it has more variety in it's layout IMO.

Definitely agree that people should give Hagrid's a try, but IMO it simply cannot compete with the things that Guardians does/makes people feel. Guardians has the cars spin 180 degrees during the launch, bounce in and out of turns the entire ride, spin a 360 degree turn during a turn around/up a hill in the middle, and do a very convincing slingshot maneuver around a moon and the milky way.

The animatronics on Hagrids (skrewt, hagrid, fluffy, unicorns etc) just looked very cheap and limited to me. I distinctly remember being VERY disappointed how fake everything looked and moved my first time riding.

The other surrounding woods and ruins looked cool enough, but didn't really do anything special. The *spoiler* little drop section was a nice surprise, but so small it doesn't really do much on re-rides. Kind of like Rise for me in that way.

And 7 "launches" is very generous. I know they wanted to make the number big for their advertising but they basically count any time the coaster moves at all or picks up 5 mph or so using their fancy system lol. I would give it a good 3 maaaaybe 4 actual launches. And even then they weren't as fast as I expected with the "dragon fire" and all. Otherwise I could probably count close to 7 "launches" on guardians as well

 

[Tatebeck]

Yeah Velocicoaster definitely isn't winning any theming categories that's why I didn't think it was one of the better themed coasters, it's just simply one of the better coasters period. For anyone who likes intense roller coasters, this is it, this is in my top 5. With the inverted stall, the mosasaurus roll, that launch leading into the top hat is just so good. Velocicoaster is in my top 5 of all roller coasters I've been on, Hagrids is not in there even though it is my favorite themed coaster.

I literally just came back from Universal and went just to ride both of these within the past 2 hours so I'm still hyped up from them LOL. I love coasters in the dark so I'm using daylight savings to my advantage now that it's dark at like 630 lmao

Definitely an intense ride. Last time I got the back row, tried to keep my arms up the whole time but had to stop because of the force on my thighs. I thought they would badly bruise or break if I kept it up over the forceful launces over the hills

 

[intamin]

Definitely agree that people should give Hagrid's a try, but IMO it simply cannot compete with the things that Guardians does/makes people feel. Guardians has the cars spin 180 degrees during the launch, bounce in and out of turns the entire ride, spin a 360 degree turn during a turn around/up a hill in the middle, and do a very convincing slingshot maneuver around a moon and the milky way.

The animatronics on Hagrids (skrewt, hagrid, fluffy, unicorns etc) just looked very cheap and limited to me. I distinctly remember being VERY disappointed how fake everything looked and moved my first time riding.

The other surrounding woods and ruins looked cool enough, but didn't really do anything special. The *spoiler* little drop section was a nice surprise, but so small it doesn't really do much on re-rides. Kind of like Rise for me in that way.

And 7 "launches" is very generous. I know they wanted to make the number big for their advertising but they basically count any time the coaster moves at all or picks up 5 mph or so using their fancy system lol. I would give it a good 3 maaaaybe 4 actual launches. And even then they weren't as fast as I expected with the "dragon fire" and all. Otherwise I could probably count close to 7 "launches" on guardians as well

I mean if we're going to go for intensity, might as well add that to the spinning as well and bump up to Eejanaika or X2 LOL both of which are in my top 10. I feel like the ride does what it is intended to do. Maybe CR does that a little too well actually in terms of being smooth for my taste because I like my rides to have a little more oomph which I don't really get from CR. It's a very fun floaty ride but I like lateral Gs and etc. more.

 

[Tatebeck]

I mean if we're going to go for intensity, might as well add that to the spinning as well and bump up to Eejanaika or X2 LOL both of which are in my top 10. I feel like the ride does what it is intended to do. Maybe CR does that a little too well actually in terms of being smooth for my taste because I like my rides to have a little more oomph which I don't really get from CR. It's a very fun floaty ride but I like lateral Gs and etc. more.

That's why I always wait for row 9, to get a little extra oomph included. But I am not just looking for thrills alone, that alone doesn't do it for me.

I think the reason that I and so many others have fallen in love with it is because of the incredible balancing act they did in so many different ways.

I would probably break down rides into important categories of

• Intensity/Thrill
• Theming
• Gimmicks/Surprises
• Re-Rideability

For Guardians I would give it either a 4/5 or 5/5 in every category. It is simply good everywhere. It feels like you are skiing in space during a dance party in a Marvel movie. And you can immediately go back on it a get a different experience.

For Hagrids I would probably give it 3s in intensity, theming, and re-rideability and 4 or 5 in Gimmicks/Surprises

For Velocicoaster I would give it a 5 in intensity, 2 in theming, and probably a 3 or 4 in Gimmicks/Surprises and Re-Rideability

 

[intamin]

That's why I always wait for row 9, to get a little extra oomph included. But I am not just looking for thrills alone, that alone doesn't do it for me.

I think the reason that I and so many others have fallen in love with it is because of the incredible balancing act they did in so many different ways.

I would probably break down rides into important categories of

• Intensity/Thrill
• Theming
• Gimmicks/Surprises
• Re-Rideability

For Guardians I would give it either a 4/5 or 5/5 in every category. It is simply good everywhere. It feels like you are skiing in space during a dance party in a Marvel movie. And you can immediately go back on it a get a different experience.

For Hagrids I would probably give it 3s in intensity, theming, and re-rideability and 4 or 5 in Gimmicks/Surprises

For Velocicoaster I would give it a 5 in intensity, 2 in theming, and probably a 3 or 4 in Gimmicks/Surprises and Re-Rideability

For Guardians for me based on your scoring categories

Intensity: 3, fun starting launch but otherwise mostly smooth sailing
Theming: 4, I like the preshow although people ruin it by lining up against the right side when the walls drop, the queue otherwise is okay, I'll give it the better storyline, but otherwise a fair amount of screens during the ride itself
Gimmicks: 3 reverse launch, spinning is probably my least favorite gimmick on roller coasters, it's why I don't bother riding Men In Black even though that's not a roller coaster, I just don't really get much enjoyment out of it
Re rideability: 5, like I said, this coaster is fun especially when you get into the music with your friends and this is what IMO CR really has going for it.

For Hagrids for me

Intensity: 4, it's not as fast as CR but for anyone who has ever ridden Maverick, you'd know speed isn't everything. Terra coasters can be incredibly intense without ever getting that high off the ground. Now obviously it's nowhere close to Mav but it definitely has the more intense layout than CR

Theming: 5, the queue itself IMO is quite good and true the animatronics arent like the Shaman in avatar but they're still a nice touch with seeing physical figures of Hagrid, Fluffy, Firenze, the flying car and then devils snare and seeing that move around you

Gimmicks: 4, drop track, spike, reverse launch, multiple launches albeit small like you said

Re rideability: 4, its probably something the group is only going to ride once together but I think that has more to do with how long the line usually gets for Hagrids

Anyways to each their own, this was a fun discussion. Fortunately in real life I don't have to pick just one and ride them both very frequently

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

Swan it is, thank you

Swan is our favorite - we like that it’s smaller. We do get upgraded more often at the SR, but still prefer the Swan. (The Dolphin is just too much commotion for me…) Excited to hear your thoughts if you end up going this route!

 

[Brian Noble]

am I the only one that likes Hagrids significantly more?

Hagrids? Maybe not. Velocicoaster? Now you are talking. But, I'm an adrenaline junky. That and caffeine are pretty much my last remaining vices! There is a reason that it is the Belle of the Ball with the Coaster Dorks. (Or at least, it was, but it looks like Steel Vengeance passed it.)

https://coasterbuzz.com/RollerCoasters/Top100

But once you get on the ride, the theming really lets me down.

Two words: Mosasauras Roll.

For Guardians I would give it either a 4/5 or 5/5 in every category.

For me, intensity is at best a 3. But, it's not trying to be intense. It's trying to be fun. And it does that remarkably well, across a very wide variety of riders and preferences.

 

[Tatebeck]

Two words: Mosasauras Roll.


For me, intensity is at best a 3. But, it's not trying to be intense. It's trying to be fun. And it does that remarkably well, across a very wide variety of riders and preferences.

Nothing special about that specific roll other than it just being intense and over water. IDK why they tried to give it it's own name lol. Very intense and great section, but has 0 theming to it so not sure why you included that as a response to my theming comments? Maybe if they had a mosasaurus visible in the water or coming out of the water then it could be considered themed.

Maybe I should update the "intensity" section to intensity/fun factor. And like I said I do wait for row 9 to get the most intense spot for the launch/slingshot maneuvers so it is a 4 or 5 for me. Sitting near the front it would probably be a 3 for strict intensity as you say

 

[Brian Noble]

Because just as Guardians isn't trying to be intense, Velocicoaster isn't placing a big bet on theming. It was placing a bet on intensity--and finishing with the best element in the layout is a far cry from the typical "ambling to the end" that most coasters deliver in the back third. To it's credit, it rides a lot more like an RMC in this way. For my money, VC is easly the best "ride" in Orlando*. It's not the best attraction, and it is not close---that might well be Guardians---but VC is the best ride.

Maybe my intense-o-meter is broken**, but there isn't a seat anywhere on Guardians that makes me go "Woah!" For me, intensity is not the same as fun, but I can see why most people do not make that distinction.

----
*: I have not been on Stardust Racers, nor Pipeline. I'm pretty sure the latter isn't in the running, but the former might be.
**: Entirely possible. I have an addictive personality, so More Is Always Better.

----
Coda: VC does get credit for "They're quicker than she realizes!" in the theming department, but as you say, that's in the queue, not on the course.

 

[Girlstar30]

Swan is our favorite - we like that it’s smaller. We do get upgraded more often at the SR, but still prefer the Swan. (The Dolphin is just too much commotion for me…) Excited to hear your thoughts if you end up going this route!

I have heard from many people to go Swan/ Swan Reserve

 

[Sandisw]

Hagrids? Maybe not. Velocicoaster? Now you are talking. But, I'm an adrenaline junky. That and caffeine are pretty much my last remaining vices! There is a reason that it is the Belle of the Ball with the Coaster Dorks. (Or at least, it was, but it looks like Steel Vengeance passed it.)

https://coasterbuzz.com/RollerCoasters/Top100


Two words: Mosasauras Roll.


For me, intensity is at best a 3. But, it's not trying to be intense. It's trying to be fun. And it does that remarkably well, across a very wide variety of riders and preferences.

I did that Velociraptor coaster in March and it was the worst!!! Hahaha.

My adult son laughed so hard at me and had to text my daughters so they could laugh too when hearing about it!!?