Earlier this week, I went through the first half of the top ten coasters I am most looking forward to riding in California. I have already gone through #10-#6, so now we will get going right away starting with #5.

#5 – Goliath @ Six Flags Magic Mountain – Some may be a bit puzzled as to why this may be so low, and others may ask why it is so high. In part 1, I stated that Scream! is not on this list because it is a clone of sorts of another ride, but so is Goliath, so why is Goliath on this list? The answer is simply because I have not been on the clone, so this ride will be a completely new experience for me. Goliath consistently ranks high on many enthusiasts lists of favorite rides for numerous reasons. Its height and speed surely contribute greatly to this being a popular ride at the park. The tunnel at the bottom of the first drop has to be one of the more frightening of its kind, and the rides third hill seems to have some good airtime on it. The second half of the ride gives from what I hear some of the most intense positive G forces around, something that enjoy. I’m not expecting this ride to make my top five or anything, but I certainly am excited for it.

#4 – Xcelerator @ Knott’s Berry Farm – We get back to a launched coaster for this spot on the list, and another Intamin ride at that. This ride was the first “Accelerator” model from Intamin to open, presumably as a test to see if rides such as Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka would be feasible. Unlike the larger versions though, Xcelerator has had a relatively better consistency in terms of operation since it has worked its way into the parks lineup. It is not a very long ride, consisting of just the top hat hill and a couple of overbanked turns, but another similar ride in Storm Runner at Hersheypark is a ride that I like very much. Rides like this are not necessarily meant to be very long, so knowing that going in, I think this will be a ride I will enjoy as well.

#3 – Apocalypse @ Six Flags Magic Mountain – The only wooden coaster appearing on this list is the Great Coasters International creation that replaced the badly aging Magic Mountain Psyclone. Originally opening as Terminator Salvation: The Ride, this coaster has received mixed reviews from various people, but I am looking forward to riding it for myself. It doesn’t seem like this ride has a ton of airtime, but that is not what most GCI coasters focus on. Rather, they focus on tight twists, turns, and directional changes while still providing a smooth ride with the heavenly “Millennium Flyer” trains. I thoroughly enjoy my rides on Lightning Racer at Hersheypark, and knowing that this ride has gotten relatively good comments generally, I could see this being another ride that I will be fond of.

#2 – X2 @ Six Flags Magic Mountain – Some of you may be shocked that this ride is not #1, and some of you may be thinking that I will be disappointed by a ride that could end up being rather rough. My reasoning for it being #2 will be explained in my #1 paragraph that follows. As for it being at #2, where else can you find an experience like this ride? Not too many places, most of which are much farther away from my home than California. X2 marked an amazing feat of engineering when it opened, and introduced an entire new breed of coaster that perhaps has in part inspired B&M to experiment with their wing rider style. The “4-D” coaster is something that not many parks have gambled on since X2 opened as X in 2002, but if after ten years you finally got a chance to ride a ride like this, regardless of the mixed reviews, wouldn’t you be anticipating it too?

#1 – Tatsu @ Six Flags Magic Mountain – Well here we are at #1, and most of you probably had been wondering when Tatsu was going to appear, but I bet not all of you expected it to be up here. So now you are going to ask me…why? Well, the answer is actually fairly simple. I was told by our own Tori Finlay (who enjoys Tatsu very much) that you need to board the ride with the mindset that it is basically going to be like one of the Superman clones at other parks, and then you will be amazed with the ride Tatsu gives. This very mindset probably contributed to me enjoying Manta so much at Sea World Orlando back in 2010. When I rode it again back in March, I enjoyed it even more, and that was when I expected more than the previous time. I love B&M’s flying coasters more than most, and I actually enjoy the Vekoma models a lot as well. Tatsu is slightly bigger than Manta, but performs a lot of the same maneuvers in a different order. I will approach Tatsu the same way I approached Manta, expecting nothing more that a good, enjoyable, smooth ride from B&M. Hopefully, this ride can surprise me just like Manta did and make itself a nice spot near the top of my favorite coaster list.

Well there you have it, the ten coasters that I am most looking forward to during my California trip that is now less than one week away. Let me stress that this is a list of roller coasters and not all rides. I think it is safe to say that if I was compiling a list of rides, we would certainly see some Disney attractions on this list, so to keep it simple, I decided to stick to the coasters on this list.

I will justify very quickly why a few rides are excluded from this list that you may wonder why they did not make my cut. First I will talk about Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. This may be a case of the ride not being that well known more than anything, but I have also been on the nearly identical ride at Six Flags America. I thought that version was okay, but I sure hope that the California version, with its redesigned elements and “Millennium Flyer” trains, is significantly better.

On another note, I think that Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom would make this list if it were going to be done by the time I head out, but unfortunately, I don’t think we are getting that lucky. If you are curious about Scream! at Magic Mountain not being here, then go back to part one where I talk about Medusa at Discovery Kingdom and all of your questions should be answered.

Lastly, Ghostrider and California Screamin’ would both make this list a lot tougher to decide, but when I was younger we did take a family trip and although I don’t remember those rides as vividly as some I have ridden more recently, I do remember them to some extent and at this point I am more excited to ride a bunch of new rides. So what do you think? What rides do you think will surprise me, and what rides do you think will leave me disappointed?