Valravn reviews

djDaemon said:

Banshee also has vastly superior restraints...

Superior restraints? In your opinion maybe. But by no means are these new vest restraints comfortable on me. I prefer Raptor's way more. But maybe that's because I don't suffer from head banging like a lot of people do, I don't know.

...and is smoother than Raptor.

Ahh yes. The 2 year old coaster is more smooth than the 22 year old coaster. Who would have thought? ;)

Not sure if it has to do with height, but I'm 6ft 2in tall and IMO the new B&M vest restraints are extremely comfortable. I would rank Banshee above Raptor. Banshee is in my top 5 while Raptor is somewhere after the top 15. As to the endings of both rides I feel that Banshee has the better ending. I love the slow rolls on Banshee and Thunderbird. Banshee's pretzel maneuver is well executed as well and the first drop in the back seat whips you around like no other.

TwistedWicker77 said:

The 2 year old coaster is more smooth than the 22 year old coaster. Who would have thought? ;)

The "why" isn't relevant in the context of comparison of ride quality.

Since when? If that's the case, then I'm willing to ignore your outrageous opinion as to why you think The Beast sucks. But that's in a different thread, so we won't go there.

The Beast doesn't suck because it's old, it sucks because it's flat, straight and boring after the first two elements.

First, there's a big difference between saying "Ride X sucks/is great", and saying "Ride X is better than Ride Y".

Second, when making a comparison using an objective measure (such as roughness), you can't just explain away the difference so that it doesn't matter. Yeah, I get that Raptor is rougher because it was designed and built over 20 years ago - and I stated as much in my original comment. Just because there's an explanation for that roughness doesn't mean the roughness doesn't make the ride less appealing in comparison to Banshee.

Also, for the record, I too used to think The Beast was amazing, because, in the context of the era, it was pretty great. But the fact is, compared to modern coasters The Beast is an outdated, boring ride that has since been surpassed by better coasters. Corkscrew was great for its time, but it has since been surpassed by better coasters. A C1 Corvette was a great car for its time, but it has since been surpassed by better Corvette generations. I can still apreciate a C1 'Vette, but it would be crazy to suggest that it's still great in the greater context.

If you like old coasters and think that those were better, is that slightly being a hipster? :P

Also, I get to help pick up a C1 Vette later this summer. I'm so dreading that day to come hahaha. Hopefully I get to drive it a few miles back (coming all the way from Wisconsin with it)

Finally got a ride in on Tuesday and I thought ride was very good. Not great but good.

I'm 6'2" and I'm praying Raptor gets Valravn/Banshee restraints. Valravn's train felt like a recliner which was a major plus. I still have bruises from my ride on Raptor. (I know it's probably impossible, but one can dream right?)

The ride as a whole was very nice. Obviously the drop is the focus point and it really does deliver. The rest of the ride was a rush and very enjoyable. I can't say much because I was placed in the middle seat of the second row. Probably not the best seat on the ride. I'm holding full judgment until I get back to the park and ride front row.

Overall it's probably not going to push Millennium, Maverick, or Magnum out of my favorites but its still a good ride. Even if you don't like it, you have to like looking at it.

Raptor would need new, wider trains to get the vest restraints.

Shorthorn said:

The ride as a whole was very nice. Obviously the drop is the focus point and it really does deliver. The rest of the ride was a rush and very enjoyable. I can't say much because I was placed in the middle seat of the second row. Probably not the best seat on the ride. I'm holding full judgment until I get back to the park and ride front row.

I'd definitely look for your front row (or even back) ride to be even more enjoyable! I have had the good fortune of not having a ride in the middle row yet, but the front is definitely the best, and the back provides some nice forces as well! I'll think you'll find it delivers even more either of those rows!

So far I've had 2 front row and 6 back row rides. I think they're equally as good. The front has the drop, but the back has a ton of airtime on the 2 drops.

After about a dozen rides, I feel it's a solid addition. Like most coasters, I did prefer the back row. But...What's up with that final brake run into the station? It's like exiting Magnum's tunnel three times in a row.

Yeah I didn't really dig the brake run. Not smooth at all... Although I did laugh pretty hard at the phone on a pole shaking back & forth violently outside (what I assume to be) the maintenance shed to the left of the brake run.

I like it a lot. It has a lot of diversity for such a super small footprint. The energy management in the second half is appealing to me. My only ding would be the pop-up at the bitter end. It seems a little afterthoughtish.

I like the screen in the station showing seat status from the PLC.

I dislike the climb to the top of the brake stand. Endless spirals...

Maybe it's just coincidence but it looks like Valravn has been having some issues today. Both times when I pulled up the webcam it's been cycling empty trains.

Im going to hold back a lot of strong feelings on here but the crew was ridiculous for how slow they were going. I nicely told guest services to be aware of the issue and they were full of attitude and basically said im an idiot. they were hitting 2:25 on their dispatches on average. Gatekeeper had around 1:05. The whole excuse of the "floor taking too long" isn't acceptable for me.

^ you went to Guest Services to complain about the Valravn crew going slow? Wow

Because a better place to complain about everything is here on pointbuzz!

That'll definitely get things changed, like the drink cups and security check points, I'm sure those will change very soon giving all the negative remarks here on pointbuzz!

I leave feedback a couple times per season. I like getting feedback from my customers.

I rode Valravn twice at the end of the day Sunday and according to the monitor, dispatch times were 72 and 75 seconds.