I heard a FYA yesterday and it reminded me of how underrated secret life of pets is. It made me wonder, what else is underrated in the theme park world. My top of my head list is:
1: SLOP (UH)
its quite obvious, its almost the king of underrated rides. combined with timing of release to poor marketing, a truly fun and great ride with 64 animatronics and nearly no screens, combined with a stellar queue, has a max wait of 13 min. I went on this ride expecting it to be thrilling, but was slightly disappointed. However even though i was disappointed, it still blew me away.
2: Mario Kart (UH)
"but epic" I hear you say "where's the fun in that...ride ?this ride is overrated, but a bad ride, its the opposite of underrated," and that's where my argument takes place. i actually really hated mario kart. the first time i rode it. but after riding it a few times, with this strange pull that i've never had on a ride before, i have grown to love this ride so much. a lot of people hate it, but thats what make it underrated to me.
3: Tatsu (MM)
so, this is an interesting one on my list, even to me, but its the first intense flying coaster I have ever done. i truly enjoyed it so much, that i compared it to X2, (hot take: overrated, i didn't like it, so painful) and i went on it over and over. i don't hear it spoken a lot, probably because its just a copy and paste coaster from around the world, but it was my first time on the copy and paste (heck, instead of B&M, it should be C&P)
4: People-Mover (DW)
this is a lot of peoples underrated first, so that would almost make it overrated, except the average tourist knows nothing about this ride, so ill put it at a comfortable 4. bias aside, i actually do like this ride, what you expect to be a slow and boring ride, is a fast pace tour of tomorrowland, and i especially love the space mountain part
5: Doctor Doom Drop Tower (UO)
i don't really like drop towers, but this one was okay. i actually have a really funny story about this ride, but it would feel random to just drone on about a funny time, so ill save it for if your really curious. anyways it has the lowest line in the park practically, and the queue is sick. and the ride surprisingly didn't make ME sick, so A- i suppose. i still hate drop rides.
As you can tell, i haven't really been to that many theme parks, but i know you guys have, so let me know your lists and what you think of my list.
Oh my gosh *facepalm* i forgot my own underrated ride. you'll have to forgive me, they have a very similar story and they are both winged coasters. no excuse but still
"1. Men in Black Alien Attack - This is STILL the absolute best shooting gallery dark ride in the world." - Agreed.
Tatsu is a B&M flier, while Ratperra is a launched B&M wing coaster. Very different types of coasters.
X2 was painful because you sat on the outside seat (the seat further from the track). Next time, sit on the seat closer to the track, and it will be a much smoother and better experience.
For my underrated ride picks:
-Grizzly River Run: one of the only US river rapids rides that combines both drops and river rapids sections. I know there's no story or animatronics, but the theming is absolutely beautiful and it really does feel like you're in an old state park. Every time I ride, I also inevitably end up having conversations with the other riders on board, which is always pretty fun
-Calico Mine Train ride: I'm a sucker for dark rides with long durations. The immersion is next level, and I love how creepy and old it all feels
-Monsters Inc Mike & Sully to the Rescue: I don't think it's talked about how well this ride covers the film's plot. We understand the world, we understand the conflict, we get to see all of the central scenes of the film happen before our eyes, and we even get a climax and emotional closure. Really effective pacing that I wish Disney would've used on rides like Ariel's Undersea Adventure, which just ends up feeling too rushed in the back half
-Spaceship Earth: As a history buff, I couldn't ask for anything more
-Phantom's Revenge: One of the best coasters ever
Big Dipper at Geauga Lake. Nobody ever talked about this ride but that thing was an airtime machine. A huge surprise that came out of nowhere.
Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion. Same as above. Gets overshadowed by bigger RMCs.
Shambahla at Port Aventura. This is probably just because its in Spain so it gets overlooked by the American community, but I found this to be easily the best B&M hyper (including Fury 325). This might be my favorite hyper in the world (and yes I have been on most all the major Intamin's and B&M's). I'd probably put Goliath at SFOG as a distant second in the B&M hyper category.
Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia. You hear all the time about Mako, Nitro, and Fury 325 because for whatever reason a lot of people sleep on SFOG but this is easily the best B&M hyper in the states IMO.
Disaster Transport at Cedar Point. I understand why they took it out and no doubt Gatekeeper is a huge upgrade both ride wise and aesthetically, but I feel like every major park needs an indoor family coaster (if for no other reason to have something open in bad weather). DT while old, was actually a really fun ride IMO. For me it was one of the better coasters at CP and if it were maintained well it would have been really great.
Batman The Ride at Six Flags Great America. I don't know how many B&M inverts i've been on, I think all of them in North America (EXCEPT Sea World San Antonio;s which was closed when I recently went there) as well as most of them in Europe, but to me this is still the best one. The one at Parque Warner might be better themed but there is just something about Great America's being THE original, and I got to ride it in the 90s when it was new with all of the original theming. The layout is amazing considering it was crammed into a spot that used to have a skinny a** Schwarzkopf shuttle loop. A true case of "often imitated but never fully duplcated." The queue is great. The ride is great.
The placement is great.
Alpengeist at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Another one that was probably not overrated when it was newer because it was the biggest baddest ride at the time, but to me this was like B&M in its prime as well as the Busch Parks being in their prime. This ride is pretty much perfect. Love the theming, the queue, the layout, the way it looks in the park. For some reason i've always liked Alpengeist better than Montu (although Montu has grown on me over the years).
Arthur at Europa Park. This is an extremely popular ride at the park its at so maybe not underrated to Germans, but to Americans it should be. TBH I didn't know what to expect with this ride but came off thinking this was one of the best blends of coaster and dark ride I had ever seen. America needs more of these...well I guess you could say America needs to start with at least one of these because we don't have any, but the ride system is perfect for it.
Great Bear at Hersheypark. A relatively short ride that again gets overshadowed by a lot of newer coasters in the park, but again this to me is another "B&M in their prime" pick. Short ride, odd layout, but the oddness and how its sandwiched into its little strip of land make it unique. Very enjoyable old school B&M invert.
Midwestern GCIs from the early-mid 2000s. This would include Evel Knievel at SFSTL, Renegade at Valleyfair!, Prowler at WOF, Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend. Because of these rides locations they get forgotten about but they are all great coasters (no pun intentended) and perfect additions to the parks they are at. Terminator at SFMM was built at the tail end of this era as well but obviously not quite as underrated just because of the market its in, but still a great ride.
Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan. I had already been on a ton of B&M flyers by the time I got on this (including Tatsu, which is genrally considered the best one, many times), so I didn't really go in expecting much. Holy **** this thing was insane. Again if it were in the states you'd be seeing it on a lot of top 20 lists but because its in Japan no one really ever talks about it.
Skyrider at Canada's Wonderland. Ironically my favorite coaster in the park was the only one thats ever been removed in the history of this park lol. Now granted i've only been on this once, and I probably wouldn't like it at my advanced age now, but all I remember about this thing was that it was an airtime machine, didn't find it rough, and loved it. Now granted I hated most other rides in the park and found Behemoth to be highly mediocre so maybe I had really low standards on the day I rode this. I will say I have also ridden Shockwave at Kings Dominion which is very similar and hated it.
Thunderbird at Holiday World, (formerly) America's only launched wing coaster. I could ride this coaster all day (and did during Covid in the summer of 2020.) The Voyage rightfully gets all of the attention, and it is an absolutely amazing coaster, but Thunderbird is woefully underrated.
@the_man25 - I'm with you on Goliath and Alpengeist (a top 10 coaster in my book of over 500+), but I cannot endorse Great Bear being underrated. I get that it's unique, and the locals love it because there's no other invert like it, but its strange layout, dictated by topography and pre-existing park structures/attractions, is all kinds of wrong. Instead of a first drop that leverages the topography to build speed into the elements along Comet Hollow, they put in a mini-helix that zaps the speed and reduces the g's on the first 2 inversions. I will give B&M credit for the last inversion prior to the twists along the stream valley by Sooperdooperlooper, but the reality is that those maneuvers are only exceptional from the front row. To me, it reminds me of Ice Dragon/Hungarian Horntail at IOA that was all about the visual pop of the coaster and the near-miss/dueling elements (even after they stopped dueling, the cobra roll against the castle wall was visually impressive) as opposed to Fire/Chinese Fireball, which accentuated the forces. For me, inverts should be all about the g's, because it's just not worth the 3-5x wait to sit in the front row for those few moments of visual "pop", and IMHO, Great Bear really underwhelms from an intensity standpoint with a mostly forceless helix at the top of the first hill and the decent wingover/corkscrew providing g's. Every other B&M invert has at least 3-4 high g moments, including the BTR clones/mirror clones. I think Great Bear is appropriately rated by most enthusiasts as the worst B&M invert in the US. Talon and Afterburn (2 other B&M inverts without MCBRs) are infinitely better than Great Bear. I'd even rate Silver Bullet higher, which I feel is the most "cut and paste"/"phone it in" B&M custom design in the world.
Poltergeist at SFFT
Agree about Mission Space
Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City
While the Cyclone gets all the credit at Coney Island, the Giant Dipper in San Diego is just as good
But most underrated? The Rock-O-Plane. Also known as the squirrel cages in some parts. A somewhat simple fair ride that allows the rider to control the force of the spin. An experienced rider can create more g forces on this unassuming ride that could make a fighter pilot lose their lunch.
Having just been at it at Disneyland trip, agree on Grizzly River Run. Wet but fun.
Don't you mean Tatsu at SFMM? Rapterra is the new B&M wing coaster at Kings Dominion.
As far as underrated attractions, here are a few I feel are grossly overlooked when the best attractions/coasters are listed...
1. Men in Black Alien Attack - This is STILL the absolute best shooting gallery dark ride in the world.
2. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls - Splash Mountain and its conversion to TBA always receives the headlines, but IOA's flume ride is not only top notch, but it's soaking when all of the effects are operating.
3. Phantom's Revenge - One of the best coasters in the world that is often overlooked.
4. Dinosaur - This Indy clone is highly underrated because it's often compared to the original in DL. However, I've always loved this dark ride, and it's one of the few attractions that I've actually been startled to the point of jumping out of my seat.
5. Mission: Space - I know the motions of this attraction can cause nausea and are not everyone's cup of tea, but I've never been on any other simulator attraction that feels more real (Soarin' is probably the closest). The only criticism is that Disney had to tone the ride system down because it was too intense for most guests.