Great ride, much better than anything else at this huge park. The folks in northern Ohio seem to know that too, as I had to wait 1:45 minutes for this ride near the back of the park ten minutes after opening. Fortunately, the wait was worth it, and Maverick currently sits in my top five and is my number two overall steel coaster. The first drop is down-right orgasmic. Just plain fun too, it is short, but so incredibly brilliant. I have never been ".past vertical". before, and Maverick was a great way to start my collection  After a few ground level turns at seemingly extremely high speed, it'.s time for another orgasmic moment of Intamin airtime. This bunny-hop felt sooooo good, albeit stapled and with those weird new Intamin restraints. Just as good, if not better than the air on Intamin hypers. A few more turns and a couple of inversions come before the tunnel. I just want to make a brief point about how pointless the inversions feel, especially CORKSCREWS!! I mean, such an innovative, crazy idea of a coaster, and there are two corkscrews, something every coaster rider since 1975 has seen countless times right in the middle of the ride. Regardless, the inversions just felt sort of ".there". and were like ".nothing". elements for me. Would have much rather prefer a bit more airtime, but oh well. The tunnel launch felt fast, not the best launch, but very, very good. Then came the climb into more brakes, which slowed the train a bit, but not too much. It did ruin a spot that could have had some sick-looking lateral air, but oh well. Next was the S-turn, and the famous ".Stengel Dive". which I honestly didn'.t ".get".. I mean, it was a cool maneuver, but it really didn'.t do much in terms of airtime or intensity or anything, and I'.m not sure why so much is made about it. After the dive, a few turns, and another pointless corkscrew, comes the third highlight of the ride: more airtime. After that, it'.s another turn into the brakes.
So, Maverick has quite a bit too it, and that'.s why I think it is at least universally ".liked". around the coaster community. No one seems to hate it, but not all seem to <3 it as much as I do. It just seems like the coaster is a cluttered mess of elements from arguably the best coaster manufacturer in the world. It has everything and the kitchen sink: fast lift, beyond vertical drop, banked turns, airtime hills, inversions, screwed up Stengel Dives, and a high speed launch in a tunnel. It'.s just a Horse of a Different Color really. Although I think a ride like Superman Ride of Steel at SFNE (and most likely Expedition GeForce and Goliath too) are better for sheer airtime, this does well with mixing up the elements for an incredible coaster experience. Again, I love airtime. There are only three spots of air in Maverick, albeit GREAT ones. The other elements on this coaster are unique and exciting enough for Maverick to be a concept I totally buy into, and a coaster ride that I extremely enjoyed. I only got one ride on this baby on my first trip to the Point, and if I ever go back and get the rest of the credits, Maverick without a doubt will be my first re-ride.
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