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i wonder if this and the hershey wild cat are as close as ill come to a ride on the coney island tornado or the riverview bobs? the jiggly, swashbuckling rides these two early GCIs give and the variety of swooping drops and turns, which are shaped a bit like a wedges of good cheese, approximate (for my imagination at least) the spunk and earnest thrill of the roaring twenties twisters. of course these modern rides DO differ quite a bit from the orignals. they reflect three quarters of a century of advanced technology and they are a computer-modeled design approach realized in wood. thus they have a dual character, futuristic and sophisticated yet organic and funky - and thats fine with me because these are fun and fine rides that i would ride any day of the week. i found roar, though, to be not quite as impressive as the wildcat. in roar, some of the rough edges of the wildcat were ironed out and there are hints of the slicker direction GCI headed for after this. but comparisons aside, this coaster rips has its own virtues. the first drop, when seated in the rear of the train, snaps you out of the seat straight over the crest and then slams you into a severe bank in which you swivel about 150 degrees to the right of the chain lift. this drop is a nice change from the traditional straight first drop on woodies, and i think the one on roar is more wild and memorable than curving first drops on some well known steelies like SLCs, B&M inverts and the GASM in jersey. unfortunately, i did not find much more air to be had on roar after this first drop. they did incorporate a number of these little "air-burps" between some of the direction shifts which are fun, but they didnt eject me or make feel frightened in that priceless way. roar scores points, i think, more in its brisk pace, frantic feel, and disorienting layout then in its display of radical forces. i miss the laterals too, which are diminished due to the "sophisticated" application of banked turns. im sure that the use of steep banking is one of GCIs methods of keeping the course efficient and the train fast, but wood coaster freaks need lats, y know? i found myself wishing slightly during turns on roar that GCI would toss in some of the more traditional, but extreme wood coaster manuevers along with the virtuistic banking and knotty designs. i think with the addition of, say, two solid moments of ejector seat and one decent lateral slam, roar would qualify as a secret deadly master coaster assassin of the universe.
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