2010 Best Theme Park Attraction: Apollo's Chariot vs. Kraken

March 22, 2010 at 8:56 AM · Apollo"s Chariot big time over Karken. Agreat out and back Mega coaster. Smooth as silk. great speed wonderful air time and a good location. One of the top five coasters in the country.

March 22, 2010 at 9:05 AM · Next up: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Universal's Islands of Adventure vs. SeaWorld Orlando's Journey to Atlantis

Allow me to translate the above.

Next up: Spider man beats the pants off of Journey to Atlantis

March 22, 2010 at 9:09 AM · Not sure if you took that pic or not Robert. If so, did you have to be on Roman Rapids to get that shot or were you somewhere else? I've found it's hard to take a really good shot of AC.

March 22, 2010 at 9:20 AM · Apollo's Chariot is a wonderful airtime machine situated in a great park with great scenery. I absolutely love AC. However, the Kraken is probably one of the most thrilling coasters I have ever ridden. While it has been a few years, I remember being disoriented the entire journey as the train went through inversion after inversion. And, unlike most thrill-seekers, I value inversions over both speed and airtime.

This match-up is the toughest one I have yet faced, but I gotta go with Kraken.

March 22, 2010 at 9:31 AM · Chariot's aging better than Kraken, which is growing rough. If we could fire up the time machine and match both these rides in their first years, this would be a near-impossible decision for me. If pressed, I might have gone Kraken.

But that's not the case, and given my experience on both these rides last summer, this is an easy call for AC.

March 22, 2010 at 9:41 AM · Kraken is my most favorite roller coaster!

March 22, 2010 at 9:42 AM · I only have my memories, Robert. When I rode Kraken circa 2007 it was the best, even after I rode AC in 2008. I will ride it again next year and see if anything has changed.

Regardless, now the fun begins: Busch Gardens is involved in this contest through Twitter and Facebook. SeaWorld needs to step up to the plate!

March 22, 2010 at 10:04 AM · I totally am going for Apollo's chariot was there this weekend for passholder preview day rode it twice w/ my fiancee, nephew and brother. AC has a 10 in my book.

March 22, 2010 at 10:04 AM · A surprising blow-out - I thought it would be closer.

My prediction was right, though - Kraken is not aging as gracefully, and though it is a long-time TPI favorite, I felt it would lose due to its "roughness".

March 22, 2010 at 10:12 AM · Apollo's Chariot is a very smooth ride---even folks like me (a bad neck) can enjoy the ride. Love the 'tease' at the top of the first hill.

March 22, 2010 at 10:25 AM · I enjoyed Kraken the one time I rode it 7-8 years ago, but Apollo is fun every time I ride it. Arms up for more airtime!

March 22, 2010 at 10:56 AM · Why did you make me pick between this two? I love them both. However I do ride the Apollo Chariot the most

March 22, 2010 at 11:01 AM · AC is one of B&M's best Hypers, as it actually delivers both speed and airtime with a classic layout. While I will admit that I love Floorless coasters as well, I could ride AC (or really any ride at BGE) all day, while I would only do Kraken a few times...

March 22, 2010 at 11:09 AM · Kraken is great but it appears its done for the tourney. Not a good day for SWO as Believe, Kraken and Journey to Atlantis were all taken out today.

March 22, 2010 at 11:30 AM · Last May, I went to Sea World and eagerly looked forward to my first ride on Kraken. I heard, over and over, how smooth it was, and how awesome of a ride it is. And, boy, was I disappointed. Maybe it was the fact I had just rode the super-smooth Manta (which was in it's soft open at the time), but Kraken beat me up to the point that it was my last ride of the day, it gave me a splitting headache.

However, with Apollo's, when I went to Busch Gardens last October, that was 3rd on my list of 'rides I have to ride', after Alpengeist (I love me some inverted coasters) and DarKastle. And I loved Apollo's, so very much. I could have ridden that thing all day. In fact, while Kraken caused a headache, Apollo's helped cure one for me. While I rode Kraken once, I rode Apollo's 4 times (2 times during the coaster tour, once that night, and once more the next day.) I could have ridden it over and over and over.

So, while I wish I rode Kraken in it's prime, this battle has to go to Apollo's Chariot. Hopefully, with Manta doing well, they can rehab Kraken to get it back to it's former glory.

March 22, 2010 at 12:57 PM · Release the Kraken!

March 22, 2010 at 1:31 PM · Glad I didn't get to vote for this one. A nearly impossible choice. IMO, the greatest looping coaster against the greatest Mega-coaster. If I absolutely had to, I would probably go with Apollo. Don't hold me to that.