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.
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