Millennium Force and the gigas

With the Golden Ticket awards coming up, I was reflecting on my first trip to Carowinds this past weekend and how I rank the 4 North American Giga coasters.

I went on Fury 325 six times in two days. I've been on Intimidator 305 eight times and Leviathan 12 times. Never kept count on Millennium since I've been going on it since it opened when I was 15.

On the long drive home from Charlotte to Buffalo, my wife and I talked over our rankings of these 4.

Hers:

1. Fury 325

2. Leviathan

3. Millennium Force

4. Intimidator 305

Mine:

1. Fury 325

2. Millennium Force

3. Leviathan

4. Intimidator 305

I really was impressed by Fury. I loved the drop, the second dive towards the camera/photo is so intense. The flyby and dive to the underpass is awesome, then those quick hills to finish up are so intense in the first 2 rows. We did front car twice, back car twice and row 2 and 7 once each.

Millennium is almost a 1a instead of a 2 for me, but since its so close I have to nitpick and say that I don't love the large pretzel on Millennium Island, but there really wasn't anything on Fury I didn't love.

Leviathan is kind of Fury-lite, but overall i put it ahead of Intimidator 305 because I just don't love the over the shoulder restraints. Intimidator 305 is still fantastic and really intense, but for me I think it stays #4.

I was wondering if any of us on the forum had also ridden all 4 and if you guys had a ranking too. I'll probably never get to Japan to go on Steel Dragon, so I guess this is it until Cedar Fair puts in another one, maybe at Kings Island someday.

This topic would be better for discussion on coasterbuzz

I've been on all except Levi..
I rank as;
MF #1
Fury #2
I305 #3

I can assure you that Levi will trump 305. Fury nearly takes the cake as I love that ride! I do! B&M train/seats/restraints are the best. Awesome action packed layout. Fun fast and smooth. But MF.. Is it the trees/lake? I don't know but I like the lift/drop more.. And the island turns.. In the back seat. The way it forcefully pulls away always amazes me. It's the closest and my first. So MF remains my #1

only been on 2 of the 4.

MF-1A

Fury-1B

Fury is too good to put it as 2

Such an easy question for me! Although I try to refrain from doing lists of rides and rankings I can easily say Fury is not only my favorite giga but probably my favorite ride altogether. The only other coaster I have ever been on which even comes close to an all around perfect package of fun is Phoenix at Knoebels.

While I love MF for what it is, I would be the first in line to support a B&M giga also placed at the park. And redundancy to line-up is only a enthusiast concern! lol I think anyone who has been on a B&M giga as well as an Intamin would agree that they truly offer two different ride experiences and could easily co-exist in the same park.

Maybe I missed something, but while Fury was fun, I didn't find it to be that amazing.

I agree. And I prefer MF's restraints to B&M's. I feel way more secure in the MF restraint.

I always thought the purpose of a roller coaster was to make you feel unsecured, while still providing a safe ride. That being said, my favorite is I-305 despite the OTSR. In my opinion it has everything that makes a good coaster, lots of positive and negative g's, and strong laterals. Fury 325 does give I-305 a run for its money though, B&M definitely is no longer afraid to put a few forces into their new designs.

My rankings. Condensed until I get to a CPU

1.). Intimidator 305 - the only coaster I have ranked above Maverick. This is so intense. Love the speed and first drop, and I tend to gray out on the first turn, which is a pretty cool feeling.

2.) Fury 325 - This coaster has everything. A surprising amount of airtime, a long duration, great restraints. Pure fun.

3.). Millennium Force - Still amazing.

4.). Leviathan - Felt like it was missing something. Wasn't even sure if I liked it better than Behemoth. Still a very good ride, but not on the level of the other three.

Funny how one might feel more secure in Intamin's restraints, as those are the ones where people have actually come out.

Fury 325 is my favorite giga and overall coaster. I didn't think anything could dethrone Millie, but Fury did.

I haven't been on Intimidator or Fury but I definitely liked Behemoth better than Leviathan.

Behemoth does look to be perhaps the very best B&M hyper. And I love Diamondback and the short#3. Levi though, I just have a good feeling about it. I really really really need to get to Toronto.

For the modern B&M hyper brothers, I also like Behemoth the best. Diamondback a close 2nd, Intimidator 3rd but still great. I think Shambhala would beat them out but sadly I won't be able to go to Spain anytime soon. All are great fun.