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Goliath
Website: La Ronde Homepage
Ride Type: Steel Coaster
Ride Status: Running
Average Rating: 4.0000
TPC Overall Rank: Rides need more than 25 reviews to be ranked.
Reviews: 6
Last Review: 3/21/2009 10:00:00 PM
In User Top 10: 4 times.
User Tracker Count: 10 times.
 

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3 Rating
+2 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Nlfreakk on 3/21/2009 10:00:00 PM - User's Top Ride #4
SCORE: 3.5 /5 ,not 3

So far, all B&M hypers have turned out as being awe-inspiring thrill machines packed with unprecedented smoothness and superb airtime. Well, all but Silverstar at Europa Park, and then Goliath at LaRonde. What a bland ride.

You'd never think that B&M would ever build a coaster with a long track and then not do anything special with it. When they build a hill, they create a hill that gets you out of your seat. That has a purpose. So, when you look at Goliath, what you see looks like airtime heaven! At first it seems so perfectly clear that B&M used every one of those 6 big hills to create an airtime-filled experience. Evidence just screams it out loud.

Well, at first, that's the impression you get. From the city and the bridge, it looks like airtime heaven, and then it seems even more like it when you're in the parking lot and you see the trains cresting the hills at what seems like a really, really decent speed, when you get up close and watch all those novice passengers screaming like it's the scariest ride ever built, and when you experience the integrity of the ride's 1st hill (lift+ 1st drop).

It's a real pleasure to board the trains. They're undoubtly the most comfortable ever built and also the ones that give you the most freedom. This really enhances the euphoric feeling you get when you climb that fast and steep lift hill with great views all around. The first drop is one of my favorite coaster moments. The steepness and weightlessness of this dive truly create a thrilling feeling of freefalling, and there is some really decent airtime to be had in the back seats. But after the first drop, it's all downhill... for real.

The first 2 camelbacks provide noticeable floater airtime in the back of the train, but this airtime is far too weak to really matter. And what about the front seats? Sorry, no airtime for you. Then comes the third camelback that doesn't do anything no matter where you're sitting.
Then comes the turnaround.

WHY THE BLOODY HELL DID THEY BUILD A FLAT AND BORING ELEVATED 180 DEGREE TURN AND NOT THE TYPICAL AND AMAZING HAMMERHEAD TURN? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? The changes of direction are done at an acceptable speed, but the overall element is just so lame that it is painful when I attempt to imagine how much better Goliath could have been with a hammerhead turn!

Again, what were they thinking?!

Then come 3 camelbacks and 2 twisted hills. But I don't even know why I should even bother talking about those! I don't know if it's because of the harsh trim brakes right after the turnaround, but these hills provide the airtime you get when you're sitting on a chair. That's right folks, the airtime to be had here is nonexistent, again. While cresting these absolutely forceless hills, I was actually thinking about random things in my life (and not about coasters). That's what I call wasted track.

And the two twisted hills? The first one is just like the one on Expedition GeForce, except it is about 3 times slower and has no laterals. Yep, boring.
And the second one? It is even worse! It's pretty cool when you realise that you're truly banked 90 degrees to the side like on Ravine Flyer II or The Voyage, but the problem is that the whole thing is so weak and forceless that it is hard to even notice. Now into the brakes.

Goliath is SAVED by its abolutely perfect smoothness, superb trains and brilliant first drop, because after the first drop, it's just a bland, depressing and pointless coaster with no airtime or any sort of G forces. And then again, WHY IS THERE NO HAMMERHEAD TURN??????

If you're planning to do a big car trip up to Canada to check Goliath out, don't even bother. Don't even think about it. It would be like crossing the Sahara desert while being chained up by the leg to a cruise ship only to go see a really, REALLY overhyped film that turns out to be trash. You'd be disappointed.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up larrygator on 6/2/2008 11:52:00 AM
A great coaster for airtime, pretty much over every hill. It is fashioned like an old style out-and-back woodie. Very picturesque and smooth. My only complaints are with the operations. Ride ops do not move people into the station and open rows/seats. People cluster in the station entrance for the back row and middle rows sometimes go empty and many seats are left unfilled with no attempt to find single riders.

5 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up T-Rex on 12/23/2007 1:57:00 PM
Excellent junior-hyper that was far and away La Rondes best coaster. The first drop was incredible and really ejected me and all of the following hills gave really good air as well. Also, the whole ride was glass-smooth as well.

5 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up weaver23 on 7/23/2007 9:57:00 PM - User's Top Ride #10
As we drove over the Jean Cartier bridge adjacent to La Ronde the massive skyline of coasters stood out against the skyline of Montreal. But there was one Coaster in particular I was fixated on. This was Canadas Tallest and Fastest Coaster and only B&M Hyper,Goliath. Goliath was my first hyper coaster and to say the least I was blown away. The shear size of it was intimidating to me.

The first time I rode the line was surprisingly short for the Newest and Tallest coaster in the park coaster in the park. Which made the experience all the more better!

As soon as I sat down on the far right seat I realized how comfortable the seats were. I pulled the lap bar down which was pretty tight which was good because being on the very edge was quite intimidating knowing that only a rubber divider was creating a barrier between you and plummeting hundreds of feet to the ground. Then the ride ascended the chain lift, which was surprisingly quick and we reached the top in a matter of seconds. Then came that massive first drop. Yo slowly detach from the chain and then Plummet 175 feet to the ground! The drop is an adrenaline rush to say the least. It shoots like a bullet straight to the ground reaching speeds of just over 110kmh an hour. After the first drop you head into a massive airtime hill which gives some sweet floater air. As mentioned below in the first review, I too felt a tipping motion in seats towards the front. But when sitting in the back the train would slow at the top of the hill and then be pulled down quite quickly creating a whiplash motion that gave some great air on the drop. Then there were a couple more airtime hills with the same motion of airtime except the hills got slightly smaller. The there was the banked turn around. The hill that led into it provided some decent airtime but nothing stellar.The turn was actually very banked giving you the impression you were almost parallel to the ground. Then there was another drop after that which gave some good airtime. Then there were some more stellar airtime hills that gave great floater air. And then there was twisting hill that had a sort of curved S-Bend at the top then had a twisting drop which provided some nice airtime then there was a small hill and then another hill leading into the brake run. But before the train hits the brakes there is a very small hill which actually provided a nice pop of airtime which I wasnt expecting. A great way to end the ride. I came off of the coaster feeling blown away by the airtime coupled with the banked turns and that Amazing enormous first drop. As soon as we hit the brake run this coaster Rocketed into my top 3.

3 Rating
-3 Rating Rate Down Rate Up swweeeet on 10/17/2006 11:13:00 AM - User's Top Ride #9
Goliath - Currently Canadas tallest and fastest roller coaster. This is actually kind of a depressing statement really, as this coaster isnt really all that fast or tall. In fact at only 175 feet tall and 68 mph, it doesnt even achieve hypercoaster status. B&M, the designers of this ride, created a coaster by the same name for Six Flags over Georgia, which opened a month earlier than this in April 2006. This southern version of Goliath is what its Canadian cousin should have been - a hypercoaster with speeds of 70 mph, and more interesting design elements such as larger drops, a 540 degree helix and a horseshoe. In fact the Georgian version was awarded the ninth-best steel roller coaster in the world award at the 2006 Golden Ticket awards .. but I digress. The point being, this version of Goliath at La Ronde is more of a grown up version of a kiddie coaster. It begins with an unsatisfying initial first drop due to it only being 170 feet. Before riding this I didnt think I would be able to notice that the drop was a bit shorter, but you really do notice that missing 30 or 35 feet compared to similiar steel coasters. This one however doesnt deliver any adrenaline. Following the initial drop the ride is mostly just a series of increasingly smaller and smaller drops, with a few uninspired twists toward the end. I will conclude however, by saying a few positive things about the ride. B&M did do a good job with airtime and smoothness of the ride. There are a few of the hills where I was reminded of Apollos Chariot, as I crested over the top and felt a few seconds of weightlessness. And given that the ride is only a few months old its not that suprising that it is very smooth. So all in all, by all means come see Canadas tallest and fastest - but probably not its best.

4 Rating
+3 Rating Rate Down Rate Up sowinski on 9/7/2006 10:03:00 PM
I really enjoyed this coaster. Its not as fast as some other hypers out there. However, it definitely delivers the airtime.
The reduced speed had one added bonus. It seemed that the harness locking position that fit me on this ride was a little looser than other hypers that I have ridden. This fact, coupled with the slower speed, created a unique forward tipping effect as the train crested hills and I would float up and forward and be gently caught by the restraint as the train dropped down the hills. My guess is that the coaster companies may be building the restraints a little looser to accomodate the growing waist lines in North America, which has changed the locking positions of the restraints on newer hypers.
It was a slow evening at the park, so I was able to ride this coaster 7 times in a few different rows and confirm that the lock position was similar and always gave me this same effect. As a result, this is probably the only hyper where I enjoyed riding in the first row the most. Usually, I prefer the extra whip motion in the back row of faster hypers. For giving me a unique ride experience this coaster gets a strong 9 rating, more like a 9.5. Also, the parks urban location on an island in the middle of Montreal, gives riders an awesome view of the skyline of Canadas 2nd most populous city. It is a great night ride.

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