Review contributed by Jake Garbelotti

Everyone knows that S:RoS is ranked as the number one coaster on our planet. But do you all know why? I’ll make it my job to let you know. The red and blue giant of a coaster is located fittingly in the back of SFNE in the DC Comics area of the park along the Connecticut River. Luckily the crowds were very low on my visit, so my experience in the queue line wasn’t long. It is a very nice one though, with canopies, foliage, and a Superman logo shaped line. I skipped all of the line mentioned though, including line covered by the station roof, and made my way up to the loading platform stairs. There an op asks you to wait until the train in-station loads with passengers. While all rows for the ride had no line except for the very front, SROS must be ridden in that very spot for the most extreme ride experience. I waited the extra 15 minutes to board the front of the comfy Intamin train, and to everyone that ever goes to SFNE, let me tell you, it is worth every second you stand there. By sitting in the front, I was able to sit and stare up at the 200 foot plus lift hill and adjacent airtime hill as the ops checked the restraints of this trains’ riders. A few buttons and clicks later I was on my way up the gigantic lift hill.

The lift took about 50 seconds to climb, but the views were breathtaking. On the left was the Connecticut River far below, and to the right you could see the entire park in its entirety. Enough rambling on though, it’s time to ride. The train quickly moves over the crest of the lift hill, and due to the small radius and straight section that follows, it doesn’t take long before you’re moving down at the ground at 70 plus degrees. However S:RoS takes you even further than ground level, as you plummet 221 feet into an underground tunnel. Traveling at over 70 M.P.H., the train shoots out from the tunnel and up to the first large air hill. The hill contains a few seconds of sustained ejector air time, as the train flies over the large radius. It then drops you on to the higher ground where the over bank can be found. The over bank is very small compared to the following hill and thus the train absolutely flies through, which is just nuts in the front seat due to the view. At this point you really begin to feel the speed as the wind blows in your face as you make the low left hand turn that returns you to being parallel with the lift hill. The un-banked track then follows the terrain back to a lower level and you can do nothing but look up at what you’re about to encounter.

If you’re not aware of what’s about to come, I’ll tell you. The following hills are just two of the most extreme air hills to be experienced on a Coaster. Honestly, in the front seat, the forces are extreme. You are quickly ejected into your restraint where you are held in for the remainder of the hill, being even more extreme than the first hill. In the next valley, I then said to myself, ‘Oh my god, here it comes,” knowing what was next. The 3rd hill on SROS shot me out of my seat more than any other coaster I have ever experienced in my life. There’s simply no words that explain the feeling felt on this hill. The train just absolutely flies over the hill which once again contributes to long, sustained bliss. There’s just no way I could do anything but give these two hills their own paragraph. WOW!

Fortunately there will still many WOW moments left on the coaster. Appropriately placed after the extreme hills is a floaty s-hill that moves the train away from the station area. However the train then dives into a near 360* helix that interacts with the queue line and has awesome forces. It cuts back underneath the first s-hill and then rockets over the top of another. This time you get a very quick, yet extreme pop of airtime. As you find your place back in your seat, the train navigates an over 360* helix that wraps around the rides finale and brings you right along the ground. It is over very quickly due to high speeds and leads into the last and most famous s-hill on S:RoS. This hill once again sends you screaming from your seat, but follows by pressing you back down with a dive underground. Paths completely surround this tunnel-dive, which is awesome interaction for the onlookers at SFNE. It has fun forces but is over before you even know it. The exit of the tunnel brings you into a nice little drop that packs a little bit of airtime. The train passes through the useless trim very quickly and brings you into the crazy finale. Two back-to-back ejector air hills give you more moments of the bliss we all crave and is a perfect ending of the ride. Before you hit the brakes you make a fast right hand turn that levels out into the mentioned section of track. The brakes act very strongly on the short run before the station, stopping you a few feet from the back of the other train. Intamin wanted to make every portion of the ride thrilling, didn’t they?

In Conclusion, I understand why SROS’ is the world’s number one coaster. It has intimidating heights, drops, blazing speeds, fun forces, good interaction, and last but not least, indescribable moments of airtime. If you want to call yourself a true enthusiast, a ride on S:RoS must be had, whether or not the ride is within your area.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 17th, 2007 at 11:43 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.