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Let me begin my review by siding with the masses. SFNEs Superman Ride of Steel is a coaster that is certainly worthy of a 10 rating. It is powerful and smooth and incredibly fun and looks great along the back side of the park. However, I must now go out on my own and say that this was my least favorite of the three S:ROSs. This had perhaps the nicest ascent of the three, with the tranquil river bordering the lift. But its not really the lift that makes the ride. I noticed immediately upon cresting the apex that the first drop felt less steep than the New York and Maryland versions. Also, though I was sitting in the back just as I did on those others, I felt no forceful airtime-producing thrust into the first drop. All of the hills that followed (and it was nice that there were three or four of them consecutively) felt much the same. There was airtime to be sure, but not as much as I would have expected, based on the raves that this ride receives, as well as the insane airtime that I experienced on the other two Supermans. I also didnt feel the speed as much on this one. So many people complain that the Supermans at SFA and SFDL are too spread out with too much straight track, but I loved that about those rides. There is blatant speed as the trains tear through those portions of the tracks. I think that the second half of this ride, with its more compact, curvy layout, definitely slowed down. This led to the final bunny hops that were taken with less speed and less airtime--overall less forceful than its counterparts. My entire group had absolutely loved Superman at Darien Lake, so boarding this one I let them all know that this Superman was consistently ranked as better. As the train returned to the station, we all looked at each other and unanimously agreed that it wasnt. We rode twice, to make sure our first ride wasnt just a fluke, but the response was the same. I dont mean to sound too negative about the ride, because, as I said, it was very, very good, worthy of a 10. But, and I know Im in the tiny minority here, I do stand by my opinion that this Superman ROS is not quite as good as the other two.
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