Outside Erie

6 Responses to “The World’s 4th-Best Coaster in Erie, Pa.”

1. Lita
   July 9th, 2008 at 8:42 am

   It’s smooth. And just to prove a point the kid I sat with got off the ride feeling a little wiped out. A teenage kid before me on the ride passed out after the ride was over. I think kids don’t get out of Erie that much. They’re used to the Comet.

   This ride has been anticipated for probably almost a decade. Take that into consideration with the coaster fanatics numbers. It is nice. However you can’t hardly appreciate the part that goes over Penninsula Drive. It happens too fast, and once you get pushed out of the tunnels you find yourself going right back in again. But we should be thankful that it even was able to go over Penninsula Drive! That horror story is the reason why it took so long to be built.

   That being said… it’s fun. I hope Waldameer can take a hint from this and get more ambitious.

2. Debbie
   July 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am

   Yeah for Erie and the Ravine Flyer II ! I like coasters and this one is really good — even comparing to some at Cedar Point. The view from the top is fantastic and the rest zooms right past. Very exciting!

   I just got back from a vacation in California and tried a ride at Legoland that Waldameer should think about for their next new ride. They called it the “Knight’s Challenge”. To describe it I would have to call it something like riding in a seat on a mechanical arm. The ride can be set a levels 1 through 5 (1 is the lowest setting and 5 the most active). Of course my younger son decided we should choose level 5. You are secured by a large shoulder harness. Then, just for fun they remove the platform under you to reveal the water below. And finally they fling you around — forwards, backwards, side to side, and upside down! Wow!

3. Joe Erie
   July 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

   I haven’t ridden it yet, but it looks cheap and like it’s still under construction. What’s with the blue netting over the Peninsula Drive bridge… it looks terrible. Why bother going over the ravine if you can’t see it?

4. Paige
   July 9th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

   Joe, I’d assume the netting is so people can’t throw things out at cars.

5. Dale Hannah
   July 9th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

   Or so delinquents on the ground can’t throw stuff at the coaster, LOL

6. john morris
   July 11th, 2008 at 8:37 am

   I guess nobody saw the New York Times piece yet? The reporter did a tour of Pennsylvania’s wooden coasters.

   “It was worth the wait. The Ravine Flyer II is a slick and beautiful, fast and furious wooden coaster that begins with a deceptive 85-foot lift hill that crests high above Lake Erie (is that Canada?) before blasting you down a 118-foot ravine (surprise!), into a pitch-black tunnel, up and out into the light, over a four-lane highway, curving onto a second 86-foot hill, back over the highway, around some crazy bends banking up to 90 degrees (sideways) followed by some other indescribable funny business (total chaos) and ends only when you are near hysterical, winded and happy, wondering who you are, how you got there — and when you can ride it again.

   And absolutely none of it compares to this: the Ravine Flyer II — the wooden coaster that Derek Shaw claims “could be the best new ride this year in the world,” that thecoastercritic.com is picking for “sleeper hit of 2008,” and has been the talk of coaster forums all year long — costs exactly $4.50 to ride. ”

   http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/travel/escapes/11roller.html?pagewanted=2

   The best part might be the video that comes with the story.