Battle of 2006 Wood: Voyage vs. El Toro

[PANTSFREE]

I'm gonna say Voyage, El Toro looks great but Voyage's layout looks totally obsene.

[GAcoasterguy]

I think for the firts year, Voyage will be a great coaster. After it's first year (like many other traditional woodies) what starts out as a great ride which pushes the limits, will quickly become rough. Look at a ride like Ghostrider, or Villain.

El Toro will be a coaster that will give a solid ride year after year, and will be re-ridable.

[Wes]

Voyage. Hands down.

[coasterdude28]

I love listening to you arrogent New Jersey people.

That is an unfair statement. I am a New Jersey person and I voted for The Voyage. I agree with your other points and I agree that some people are being biased but saying that all NJ people are biased is incorrect.

[bigboy_1234567]

I think for the firts year, Voyage will be a great coaster. After it's first year (like many other traditional woodies) what starts out as a great ride which pushes the limits, will quickly become rough. Look at a ride like Ghostrider, or Villain.

El Toro will be a coaster that will give a solid ride year after year, and will be re-ridable.

Well, from my understanding, HW takes great care of their woodies, Raven is 10 years old, Ghostrider is 7, and Raven, IMO, is in much better shape.

[Joseph]

Two very different coasters that are hard to compare with so much bias involved (which type of ride you prefer, which park you prefer, where you live etc.). People are forgetting that a little company out of the PA mountains is building two coasters next year that will also be very different from Voyage and El toro.

In the end I vote for "I dont give a damn, I'll ride all of them next year and then tell you"

I feel the same way about these Gravity Group coasters running PTCs. I'm not saying it will happen, but I worry how well they will age (which is why I am going to ride both next year)

FYI Ghostrider's age and Holiday World maintenece has nothing to do with it. Ghostrider is at a Cedar Fair park

[VekomahangNbang]

Both of these coasters will be great, and it doesn't really do much good arguing which one will be better before they are both open. I think Ta2KX got it exactly right in what he wrote above. Some people could be bias about a lot of stuff.

[Wes]

That is an unfair statement. I am a New Jersey person and I voted for The Voyage. I agree with your other points and I agree that some people are being biased but saying that all NJ people are biased is incorrect.

But it IS a true statement that NJ's launch coaster sucks! j/k

[Nitro1118]

I love listening to you arrogent New Jersey people. Best drop on an any wooden coaster eh?

http://drkssk.fc2web.com/zekkyou/nasu/big/big001.jpg
http://drkssk.fc2web.com/zekkyou/nasu/big/big03.jpg

This steel coaster held the steepest drop record for some time, however I would highly doubt at the time it was built that it even had close to the most thrillling drop.

You don't have the best ride ever, don't be so narrowminded.

Unlike that coaster, Toro will be the 3rd tallest wooden coaster in existent (2nd longest drop). Mix that with the 76 degree drop, and you have the MF of wooden coaster drops.


Of course Toro won't be the best ever. I doubt it will even beat out Boulder Dash for my #1 wooden coaster....but it is still the hybrid of 2 wooden coasters that are consistently ranked in top 10's, compared to a coaster from a group that is still pretty unproven. And while GG has former employees of CCI, the styles are TOTALLY different.

As I said before, Voyage looks fairly boring with its layout, and repetitive. Of course, I am going to ride it before saying definatively which is better (which I will be doing ) but by looks and history, Toro has it all on its side. Voyage could be amazing, but a lot of it just seems too drawn out, and the airtime it will deliver is a pretty cheap way to take the record.

[VekomahangNbang]

As I said before, Voyage looks fairly boring with its layout

I don't call 24 seconds of airtime boring. Sure the airtime isn't as good as El Toro, but butt out of seat isn't boring. The layout looks fine. Since the Voyage is 2000 feet longer than El Toro some parts of the layout might be a little boring, but that doesn't mean the whole ride is boring. Lastly, do you think 90 degree banked turns are boring? I sure don't.

[Nitro1118]

Nitro has over 20 seconds of airtime (if AC has over 20 seconds, Nitro def. does) yet I consider S:ROS at SFNE, with less airtime, to have much better airtime. I will wait until I ride to judge the airtime, though.

Toro is just more packed, and Voyage just seems too drawn out and nothing stands out except the gimmicks of the tunnels. Voyage will probably be great, but by looks, I think Toro looks better.

[Joseph]

Honestly, Voyage only mildly impresses me. Same old tricks just in larger quantities. I'm looking forward to Hades more than Voyage... starting out with ejector air before even hitting the lift, traversing a parking lot underground and then adding hills and banked turns.. oh yea, gimme some Hades.

With that, I'd probably like to ride El Toro more just because there aren't many Intamin woodies next year. Fortunately, I should be able to ride two of them next year However, they will probably all be great.

[coasterfreak14]

^Intamin is using just as many "old tricks" as GG is, so you can't really include that one. Do you call a bunch of 90 degree turns "old tricks"?

And to dcs221. Did I sound like I was trying to be rude? Because if I did I'm sorry because I really didn't mean to. I really am sorry. But I'm still Voyage all the way! I just wish I could be there when it opens.

[Joseph]

I've never been on an Intamin. Their ultra-smooth rides and trains and massive amounts of air are all new to me. Banked turns? Same old stuff, just like I said, it's just steeper than stuff from the past (Hades excluded).

[Zingoman]

I don't think that the turns on Voyage look boring at all. I think they look intense and insane. I think that the tunnels will be something new because we have never seen a coaster drop into 8 tunnels before. I think that the noise suddenly getting louder 8 times for brief periods would be a bit nuts but that will probably be one of the traits that people associate the ride with in the future. you know how it is when you ride a ride like 50 times a week (and I mean that literally so if you don't know what that's like you may not get this completely) and you get the rhythm of every sound, every smell, every sight, and every feeling of the ride embedded into your mind? I think that the smell of the trees and the echoing roar of the trains in the tunnels will be something that gets into your head like that. Very cool! For the people who think that this will be boring or has been seen before, I would be very interested to know what would make it any better in your opinion. You obviously can't please everybody, but I think the people at HW are really stepping up to do an awesome job.

[dcs221]

OK, it's all good coasterfreak14. *shakes hands*

[Cephas]

I personally think that El Toro's layout looks rather boring compared to Voyage. It seems as though I'm in the minority (after reading down the thread).

[Carowinds 73-03]

Both look awesome but by looks Voyage looks the best although i'm not a huge fan of the steel supports.

[Nitro1118]

I don't think that the turns on Voyage look boring at all. I think they look intense and insane. I think that the tunnels will be something new because we have never seen a coaster drop into 8 tunnels before. I think that the noise suddenly getting louder 8 times for brief periods would be a bit nuts but that will probably be one of the traits that people associate the ride with in the future. you know how it is when you ride a ride like 50 times a week (and I mean that literally so if you don't know what that's like you may not get this completely) and you get the rhythm of every sound, every smell, every sight, and every feeling of the ride embedded into your mind? I think that the smell of the trees and the echoing roar of the trains in the tunnels will be something that gets into your head like that. Very cool! For the people who think that this will be boring or has been seen before, I would be very interested to know what would make it any better in your opinion. You obviously can't please everybody, but I think the people at HW are really stepping up to do an awesome job.

I agree they are doing an awesome job, but what could have made it more "interesting" and attracting to me would have been more normal camelbacks like ST or steeper drops on the turns like Boulder Dash.

What makes Toro so appealing to me is the amount of ejector airtime it will give, the steep drop, and what I am hoping for is the 2nd half to be laterally intense, with airtime on the 2 s-curves. If it delivers like I think it will, it should be great enough to land just behind Boulder Dash.

[Joseph]

For the people who think that this will be boring or has been seen before, I would be very interested to know what would make it any better in your opinion. You obviously can't please everybody, but I think the people at HW are really stepping up to do an awesome job.

Don't get me wrong I think it will be very good, I just try not to jump to the "it will be awesome! it is my #1 ride already" stuff that some others do. I'm looking forward to all of the woodies being built next year (oh yea, did we forget about Starliner? I can't wait for it either ) Im just saying that none of them stand out as the clear-cut "must ride" for the year, c'est tout

[Ta2KX]

Also, lets not forget about the new GCI woodies

Actually, lets. CCI is back again with those long-missed friends, laterals and air time.

I think for the firts year, Voyage will be a great coaster. After it's first year (like many other traditional woodies) what starts out as a great ride which pushes the limits, will quickly become rough. Look at a ride like Ghostrider, or Villain.

But Villain wasn't good in its first year. According to a direct conversation with a member of CCI in 2003, Villain was one of the worst tracking jobs ever done on a wood coaster. From what other people have said, in recent years it's running "better".

Ghostrider, I haven't personally ridden, I don't know what to say, except I feel bad for all of its avid fans if that ride really isn't properly maintained over the off-season. A CCI is a quality product, and the batch of 1999 were some the best construction jobs to date. Cedar Fair is well known for their track record of allowing once great woodies to slip into anonymity. I'll consider Shivering Timbers an outlier, it has a rank and reputation to maintain.

[JamminJ]

The fact that the Beech Bend woodie has not been included in this poll, let alone even been mentioned throughout the topic, makes this poll FLA\/\/ED.

I am not saying it will be better than either Voyage or Toro but it at least deserves a mention.

[Cephas]

Both look awesome but by looks Voyage looks the best although i'm not a huge fan of the steel supports.

What do you have against steel supports? Your riding on wood track and crossties, no matter what the support structure underneath it may be made of.

[VekomahangNbang]

Some of you guys need to give Gravity Group a chance. They don't even have any coasters over 6 months old so how can you predict their coasters will get rough after a year or two.

[Matt M]

I agree they are doing an awesome job, but what could have made it more "interesting" and attracting to me would have been more normal camelbacks like ST or steeper drops on the turns like Boulder Dash.

What makes Toro so appealing to me is the amount of ejector airtime it will give, the steep drop, and what I am hoping for is the 2nd half to be laterally intense, with airtime on the 2 s-curves. If it delivers like I think it will, it should be great enough to land just behind Boulder Dash.

The second half probably won't be very laterally intense because Intamin heartlines their wooden coasters, so don't count on getting shoved around in the transitions.

[DPCMAN]

I definately think that The Voyage looks to be a better coaster than El Toro. It's really hard to pick which one is going to be better but the tunnels on Voyage are what gives it the edge in my book.

[Nitro1118]

The second half probably won't be very laterally intense because Intamin heartlines their wooden coasters, so don't count on getting shoved around in the transitions.

It doesn't need to be smash'em into the sides laterals. It can be just like the megas- enough to be comfy, and positive g's.

[Joseph]

Some of you guys need to give Gravity Group a chance. They don't even have any coasters over 6 months old so how can you predict their coasters will get rough after a year or two.

You do realize these guys have been around, just in the form of another company in the past (Custom Coasters). Hence, the comparisons. It's not far fetched at all to predict the successes or failures of Gravity Group coasters.

[slnewbus]

The Voyage is the only true wooden coaster in this poll, so I have to pick The Voyage. Plus, it is in what appears to be the new wooden coaster capital of the world.

[Thunderhawk]

The only true wooden coaster in the poll?

They both look great. I really wish I can ride both next year, but realistically, the only one I'll ride is El Toro. For that, I'll give El Toro the advantage, just because I actually get to ride it next year.