It recently came to my attention that one of my favorite rides of all time has apparently fallen under the weather over the years. Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farm was such a wonderful ride when I rode it in 2000. Has this ride really not aged well? That is sad. Here is a small list of rides that I thik have done well or not so well with the test of time. And for those of you with different [I][U]opinions[/U][/I] please do not attack these [I][U]opinions[/U][/I] of mine.

Aged well: Texas Giant, while not being in its original form is still an awesome ride. I rode it in 90 and Iv'e ridden in 2004, and it still rocks my socks off.

Shivering Timbers, is not that old by some comparison but still is a wonderful ride and in better shape than some newer ones.

The Kennywood trio (JR, TB, and Racer) are of course very popular and historic and in good shape.

This is the clencher now lets not go by APPEARANCE only. The Conneaut Lake Blue Streak looks so aweful it made me laugh histerically (I dunno it just struck me as hilarious) but the ride experience is actually very good and smooth and some of the folks at the park said that as shabby as it looks it is actually in very great shape. It is on OFFICIAL word that the ride is in "excellent condition". This is what a maintinance worker said after having someone from CCI come out a take a look. Go figure.

Bad aging:
Villain at Geauga Lake UUUUUUUGH!!! ouch!

Mean Streak, I don't want to talk about it.

Gimme some more. ( I am out of time and can't really go on right now)

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I like the Zingo a lot.

The only coaster i can really comment on would be the Beast which imo has aged very very well.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
Go Panthers! 4-6: Week 12 @ New York Jets

#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

Boulder Dash, even though it is still young, is one of the 2 or 3 smoothest wooden coasters I have ridden.

Thunderbolt at SFNE and Gwazi have also aged very well.

Ages badly: Villain, Cyclone (SFNE), Mean Streak.

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Top 5 coasters: El Toro, S:RoS at SFNE, The Voyage, Millennium Force, Cornball Express

Hades will sadly age badly if it follows the other Mount Olympus coasters. I think it has already aged badly.

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Kingda Ka is the tallest and fastest coaster in the world.

I think Voyage will age badly with the steel supports.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
Go Panthers! 4-6: Week 12 @ New York Jets

#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

Pretty much every ride y'all have listed has to do with the park the ride is in more than anything (Mean Streak, cyclone, Ghost Rider)... though saying the Beast has aged well gets a big ol' "WTF?" from me.

I look at rides that have truly gotten better with age, and tried to pick something out that is at least 20 years old. That narrowed my selection down big time, but I'd have to say Phoenix has aged the best. Its hard to believe that it was built more than 50 years ago. Blue Streak @ Conneaut has aged fairly well, though I didn't catch a very good ride. I'll overlook the chipped paint since the park is barely able to survive

The Comet at Hershey, Cannon Ball, Great American Scream Machine, Rebel Yell and have all aged fairly well, Certainly not bad.

Thunderhawk @ Dorney, Rolling Thunder and Wildcat @ The Lake haven't aged well at all, and at least the first two are due to the park more than anything (I'd suspect)

in response to the steel supports comment:
I think that the poor condition of such steel-supported CCIs like Hurricane, Villain, Cheetah etc. has to do more with running G-trains than anything. Comet at TGE has steel supports and does fine and even the Silver Comet @ MFI does really well with steel supports (both run PTCs). So as long as the ride isn't built with G-trains (which Voyage and Hades are safe from) it will be fine IMHO.

I haven't been on that many woodies but I think Hurler(1992) hasn't aged that well. Was it rough when it first opened? On a good note Rebel Yell at PKD has aged pretty well and it was built in the 70's.

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[quote=BobFunland]

Thunderhawk @ Dorney, Rolling Thunder and Wildcat @ The Lake haven't aged well at all, and at least the first two are due to the park more than anything (I'd suspect)[/quote]

I think that Thunderhawk is running VERY well for 80 years old. The trims hurt the very end of the ride, but that is the park's fault. The ride itself is still very smooth, delivers insane amounts of airtime, and it looks pretty good.

RT was never that smooth to begin with, so it has aged decently.

Wildcat was fairly smooth in 2003, but I hadn't ridden it before then.

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Top 5 coasters: El Toro, S:RoS at SFNE, The Voyage, Millennium Force, Cornball Express

I am going by what most of my coaster friends have said about the ride, and one of them live in Allentown and says that it has gone to hell compared to what it used to be. I, on the otherhand, actually had a pretty good ride :)

I said Wild Cat hasn't aged well because I got no air whatsoever on it, which suprised me being a creation of Herbert the Great.

SOB has aged horribly. I think it takes the cake for worst aging.

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^^ except SOB was horrible to begin with.

Mighty Canadian Minebuster at PCW has aged badly, largely because PCW reprofiled it, effectively neutering it.

Blue Streak @ CP has aged well, still giving out airtime.

Predator @ SFDL has aged badly too. Was once a good woodie, now painful.

The three woodies at Kennywood all give magnificent rides, especially when you consider their age.

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The Beast and CP's Blue Streak have aged really well. Personally I don't think Ghostie's aged poorly at all, it's still great when I ride it.
Villain is the one ride I can think of that hasn't aged well at all, it's sadly taken a downward turn.

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"Dead men tell no tales..."

Well, it's not very old but I think Viper (SFGAm 1995) has aged very well and I don't see it taking a downward turn anytime soon.

Another one I think that has to be mentioned in Big Dipper at GL. I've only been on it twice but the second time I rode it was in 2003 at then SFWoA and thought it was great and had incredible airtime. Now obviously I wasn't around in the 20's or 30's to ride it then but it's a great coaster now and that's saying something for how long it's been around.

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Honestly I think SFGAm has done a great job with the duo of wooden rides it has. None of them are rough by by any means, Viper especially.

I believe that the Comet at SF Great Escape has aged very well...... Still a great woodie....

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Aged well:
Grizzly @ PKD: Gives what is in my opinion of the best wooden coaster rides. Especially in terms of being smooth enough, but not *too* smooth.

Blue Streak @ CP: Comes to mind as an older woodie that gives a good ride with nice air.

Badly:
Roar @ SFA: Still gives a great ride in the front, but the back seat (which has always had one of the best moments of ejector air while going down the first drop) has become really really terribly rough. The last turn before the breaks needs some serious work, it feels like its getting shacken apart anytime a train goes over it.

Wild One @ SFA: A great ride still that I love (like Roar), but SFA has taken away from its original form. The original layout looked to be far better then the current layout with the double up/double down turn around.

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Q

Older wood coasters that run great:
Phoenix at Knobel's.
Giant Dipper at SCBB
Blue Streak at CP
Texas Cyclone
Leap the Dips
Beast (didn't get rides on it in the past, but I did enjoy it recently)
Racer at PKI (though it might tilt a little in the category below)
Thunder Run (SFKK)

Ones that aren't horrible, but aren't great like they could be with a bit more TLC
Zingo at Bells
Wildcat at Frontier City
Thunderhawk at Dorney
Starliner at Lakemont
American Eagle
Screaming Eagle
Georgia Cyclone
Great American Scream Machine

At least that's my opinions on some of them. I'm sure a lot of that is open to debate, including if some can be fixed up to "great". It also doesn't include a lot of the wood coasters I've been on that have been built over the last 10 years or so.

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[QUOTE=Carowinds 73-03]I think Voyage will age badly with the steel supports.[/QUOTE]

Why? And do not mention the word 'Villain'.

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High Roller at Valleyfair (1976) is still running awsome.

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RCT Architects Leader

I thought Screechin' Eagle at LeSourdesville Lake ran beautifully until the park closed again in 2002. Has anyone else here ridden this classic?

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"Ok, fat ***, we've just traveled 2,460 miles just for a little Roy Wally entertainment. The moose says you're closed. I say you're open!"

[quote=Ta2KX]Why? And do not mention the word 'Villain'.[/quote]

OK..

Cheetah. Hurricane. MegaZeph. LOL ;)

Actually, it will probably by ok in the end. I still say is has to do more with the trains, and with Voyage running PTCs it will be alright. Sure, it won't be smooth like the rides endowed with Millennium Flyers, but I don't want those types of rides everyday anyhow.

^^^^The only two wooden coasters with steel supports that I've ridden are Villain and J2. I found both to be rough (but not unbearably rough; only one coaster has that distinction). So in my opinion, steel supports seem to be linked to roughness.

J2 is my third favorite wood coaster, though, so it obviously doesn't bother me.

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This kind of thread has foggy area in it. It could pretty much go either way. I thought Thunder Run @ SFKK has aged pretty well. I get a kick out of seeing just how much flex the ride goes through when the train rounds that one turnaround.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I'm glad you pointed out Texas Cyclone Sir Willow. AstroWorld's woodie, nearly at it's 30th Anniversary, has aged well. It's had a couple bumps on the ride, but it's running fast, slick and enjoyable. Plus without the 'coffin cars', the view is so much better. It even used to have tracer lights, which added an excellent touch.

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I do think that Blue Streak at CP has done well. That ride has a lot of pluck for its size. Very enjoyable, moderate size (small at that park actually) but still packs a punch.

And thank you Sir Willow for pointing out my home town heart throb Zingo! That ride does need a little more TLC but it has seen a lot of improvements over the last few years. I just miss the old trains. It has done pretty well though considering some of the hardships the park has faced, and the fact that the owner is a pig headed teenage oogling jerk of an excuse for a human being. (Oops. Did I type that out loud?) I worked there for three years so I have plenty of justification for saying that in case anyone is upset by this. Sorry for the rave. I LOVE ZINGO!

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I like the Zingo a lot.

The Judge Roy Scream @ SFoT has aged pretty well, and it was built in the '70s I believe. When I lived in Hot Springs, Arkansas (the home of Magic Springs & Crystal Falls) the Arkansas Twister was running pretty smooth even with the Gerstlaur trains (curse those- lol) and that isn't a new one. Those are really the only 2 (besides the Texas Giant) woodies I've ever been on which makes me really sad because I abosolutely LOVE woodies! I wish I could go to all those other parks and ride their woodies. I'm probably going to Six Flags St. Louis in 2007 so I'll get to ride Boss then, and I'm pretty excited about that.

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[QUOTE=CHILLERLC1]This kind of thread has foggy area in it. It could pretty much go either way. I thought Thunder Run @ SFKK has aged pretty well. I get a kick out of seeing just how much flex the ride goes through when the train rounds that one turnaround.[/QUOTE]

Thank You, someone out there actually knows this ride exists. Yeah, I'd agree that coaster has aged well, though I'm told it wasn't always as good as it now. I rode in 2003 and I loved every second of it, and I saved that coaster for last because I didn't want to put up with another Dinn, give me a headache the whole day. But wow, what a ride. And that flex like you said, perfect. Still can't believe it's a Dinn.

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Texas Cyclone, Georgia Cyclone, & Screamin' Eagle have aged very well.

The Rattler has not.

The aging of SoB scares me. It's a modern day Crystal Beach Cyclone.

SoB I don't think has changed with age from what I hear, and neither has the Rattler. It has been a disaster since it opened as well.

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I like the Zingo a lot.