SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
People want different things in coasters.
I would consider myself a coaster enthusiast.
If you’re saying a ride like Steel Vengeance is the world’s greatest, Guardians probably isn’t going to top it, or get anywhere near, in all likelihood.
But in the category of themed coasters, a few stand out as legitimate contenders.
Taron in Phantasialand gets a lot of attention, VelociCoaster, obviously, and a few others, but there aren’t that many killer coasters that are also themed.
Before riding Guardians, I would’ve told you VelociCoaster is my favorite all-around coaster, thrills and theming factored in, while Hagrid’s was my favorite themed coaster. Coincidentally, the coasters are right next door to each other, but unlike many other coaster enthusiasts, I don’t have a list totaling all the coasters I’ve ridden, but if I had to guess, it would be well over a 100 (which is relatively low in the community).
Guardians is tricky, because I still think VelociCoaster tops it (it’s amazing such a high thrill ride can fit into a world-class theme park), but I can legitimately see why it would be someone’s favorite.
In terms of indoor coasters, there’s really not much that holds a candle to it. Space Mountain in Paris is really the only coaster that comes to mind, but it’s leagues lower.
Everyone prioritizes different things when it comes to coasters, so there will never be a definitive best in the world coaster, but I think Guardians will be for a lot of people. Not likely hardcore coaster enthusiasts, but it’s really a fantastic ride.
It’s not a fantastic B&M giga like Fury 325 at Carowinds or a looping spinning coaster like Time Traveler, but it doesn’t need to be. It doesn’t hug a sweeping landscape like Lightning Rod or try to eject you to space like El Toro, but it doesn’t have to.
Guardians excels tremendously well in its desired category. I would easily say it’s the best indoor coaster in the world (I haven’t ridden all of them, obviously, but I’ve been on enough to know Guardians stands out).
We believe Guardians is the longest indoor coaster in the world. Before you even ride it, it has a world-record associated with it (obviously, that doesn’t inherently produce quality, but regardless).
I would laugh myself off the stage if I said Tron was a contender to be the world’s best coaster, because I’d argue the ride experience in Paris’s Space Mountain (which opened 20 years prior, is superior).
Tron doesn’t win any medals for speed, length, launch acceleration, or really anything else I can think of. The seating configuration and aesthetics combine to make a great ride, but it’s hardly the best in the world.
Guardians kills everything in its category (from my point of view), so if that type of coaster is your cup of tea, I can easily see it being the best in the world (to you).
The only thing that really matters when it comes to being a bear in the world contender, is if you strapped 1000 people on every coaster in the world, would someone say it’s the best.
There’s no way anyone is saying Barnstormer or Great American Scream Machine (colloquially referred to as 30 years of back pain) would be anyones favorite. Staying in those parks, I don’t think anyone would say Space Mountain or Twisted Cylone are the best in the world either. Space is still a very solid ride, but there are rides that do what it achieves better. Likewise for Twisted Cylone, an extremely solid RMC, but when there’s rides like Steel Vengeance or even Wicked Cyclone, how would a shorter (in length and height) be greater (you could argue the other rides are too intense, but Twisted Cyclone already packs a punch, it’s just very short)?
I can easily see Guardians as being picked. Obviously, if you increase the sample size to infinity, every coaster in the world would get picked eventually, but rides like Taron, Steel Vengeance, VelociCoaster, and Guardians would get a disproportionate amount of love.
I 100% agree though, for the overwhelming majority of coaster enthusiasts (who gravitate towards satisfying intense thrills) Guardians would not top their lists, but for others, Guardians takes the cake.
Obviously, calling something the best in the world, is entirely subjective. It isn’t objective like calling Kingda Ka the tallest coaster in the world, so you can feasibly make an argument for any coaster, I just think the argument for Guardians is quite strong and will resonate with a lot of people. It excels at what it’s trying to accomplish, and excels in its category of coaster.
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