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Ride to Happiness VS Kondaa - some thoughts

chainedbanana

Hyper Poster
Spoiler Alert!


Before I (possibly) get round to writing a trip report of my recent Belgium dalliance - I thought I'd dive straight into one of this years hot topics, Europe’s 2 most hyped coasters of 2021



Kondaa


Kondaa - is just a happy ride, swoopy, quirky.....slithery, 3 or 4 pops of ejector (but not painful)- great first drop(I was pretty much standing for a split second,) Loved the outward banking bunny hill/dive element. Gets a bit strange towards the end -I can't say I didn't like that however, twas a little Taron-y, it’s just that It misses out on traditional airtime in the process of being experimental and ever so…..slithery! As the day progressed, and it warmed up that ‘slithery-ness’ got a bit more ‘toss and turny’ - but as the ride is sooooooo smooth it’s perfectly acceptable and adds a fun bit of madness to the whole shebang! I got RMC vibes and even a little ‘Shambala’ in places.

One could describe Kondaa as Goliath’s (WH) emo (and much younger/fresher) cousin - ‘different’, ‘unique’ , ‘no straight lines here’ …..’won’t be put in a box’, ……..or painted blue!…. but like many emo kids…. on the inside their ALLLLL Disney!! and this ride is joyful!



Pros - Ejector airtime

Comfortable seats

Interesting/unique elements - mostly pulled off well

Buttery smooth

nice theming and iconography

feels somewhat like an RMC

Re-rideable



Cons- some elements might not age well - let’s see!

end section slithers all over the place - but is so smooth…it doesn’t really matter

Sacrifices traditional airtime for interesting twistyness

Not much in the way of Positive G forces if that’s your thing.





Ride to Happiness


It’s so hard to categorise a ride like this....... this ride is just................ RUDE! and you'll find yourself screaming 'how dare you' at it's obscenity and boisterous horseplay..... whatever just happened I did NOT consent to......and yet……I wanted more!!


It literally feels like being flung like a frisbee into open space.... not seeing the track in front of you for much of the ride is so un-nerving and yet so freeing, like tumbling through the sky! I also experienced sensations and elements never experienced before such as…….diagonal airtime? (somewhere between backwards and sideways airtime) and taking a vertical loop sideways watching the horizon turn turtle in front of you!


It’s also intense - and will pull you through those elements with gusty. As for the spinning - its more ‘flingy’ than spiny for those worried it might be sickly and turns/drifts for the most part with varying speeds. great in the front and back.

The absolute genius of this ride is that each ride will be it's own journey - and even 2 rides in the exact same seat provided vastly different experiences (you'll sometimes come back into the station the way you faced on dispatch and sometimes the opposite.....showing how randomised it is).

It's also a ride you WANT to be pinned into, this ride not only has plenty of hang time but actually has ejector hangtime (imagine ejector airtime but your upside down) and you'll be thankful for the sensation of being held tight! this ride also doesn't really have traditional airtime in which you'd particularly want any restraint space anyway.

If you have long hair tie it back and be wary of hoods or coat zips - as anything loose around your neck/shoulders will batter you about the face in all directions ( those who’ve ever taken a zip to the tooth will know what I mean) scarves actually have to be removed for the ride!

Unlike other rides which build up a fear inducing tension before a ride - RTH builds up a chilled/joyful ambiance - before then being terrifying in it’s ride experience!

As a fan of EDM music I loved the Epic synched onboard soundtrack - it helped take a slight edge off the fear of the ride for me - and made it more a ‘ride to happiness’ than a ‘ride of fear’ - because, it IS a scary ride, and as a goon with a natural fear of heights - the ride challenged me in many respects, you feel pretty vulnerable up their! but the more I rode it - the more i embraced it and ‘got’ it.


Pros. Every ride is different - making it re-rideable

most intense MACK - rides like an Intamin

onboard soundtrack

great theme

fantastic and interesting layout with ‘personality’

doesn't spin too much - more a drifting turn with the odd 'fling'

variety of sensations (airtime, poz G's, disorientation, hangtime)

good in all seats





cons. Hangtime - especially that first element which is taken slowly

a bit …MUCH! making it not endlessly re-rideable, rest breaks needed!

no guarantee you'll get your favourite sensations each ride

Hard to rank/categorise
 
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Rupert

Mega Poster
Awesome - thanks for this, great to hear your thoughts. I’m hoping to book a trip for next March with some non-enthusiast friends and will likely only do one of these parks (I’ve not been to either) but I think you’ve persuaded me to go to Plopsa as RtH just sounds so ridiculous!
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
All of that and no final verdict?! Come on!

Ride one again, right now, which one do you choose?

They both sound fantastic, but I am a little disappointed to hear Konda isn't quite the monster it looked on paper. Should have stuck with the more traditional stuff, I suppose...
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
All of that and no final verdict?! Come on!

Ride one again, right now, which one do you choose?

They both sound fantastic, but I am a little disappointed to hear Konda isn't quite the monster it looked on paper. Should have stuck with the more traditional stuff, I suppose...
He's almost as indecisive as @emoo 🙈 🤣
 

emoo

Hyper Poster
Who'd have thought that Kondaa would have not been the clear winner of new coasters in a year for Europe in any year ever, let alone it's home country.
 

Benenen

Hyper Poster
I rode both last week and liked Ride To Happiness more. Kondaa is solid but the coaster that got built was not the coaster Intamin showed at IAAPA in 2018 to a room full of shocked gasps and loud cheers. The layout and pace is heavily neutered compared to what was shown and while it rides fantastic and there are out of your seat airtime moments something about the coaster feels sterile. I rode Geforce a few days later and preferred Geforce, a basic layout but more of a raw intense feeling.

Ride To Happiness blew me away. It's like nothing else and was the most I've smiled and thought 'whoa!' on the brake run of any first coaster ride I've had. The airtime is strong and frequent, much more so than Kondaa. The levelling off of the top hat in the front two cars is a mind blowing out your seat moment and there's several camelbacks in the second half that create insane airtime especially if the spin direction further pushes you over them. The inversions while spinning also work more than they should, the only way I can describe the sensation is it just feels 'right'.

So track and train the competition belongs to RTH. In terms of theming Kondaa is gorgeous, the facade and station look striking. There's a buzzing ambience in the station and the dispatch audio brings the whole thing to life. Trains are stunning too. RTH also excels in its theming. I love the contrast between the mellow ambient music and serenity of the queue compared to the EDM fuelled energetic madness that is the ride itself. It's a beautiful ride and the tone and ambience is spot on.

Like others have said this time last year I would not have anticipated a weird new Mack concept to be better than a brand new Intamin hyper. Both are great coasters and Kondaa is brilliant but it's something I've seen before and done better elsewhere whereas RTH is a breath of fresh air.
 

chainedbanana

Hyper Poster
All of that and no final verdict?! Come on!

Ride one again, right now, which one do you choose?

They both sound fantastic, but I am a little disappointed to hear Konda isn't quite the monster it looked on paper. Should have stuck with the more traditional stuff, I suppose...

Haha - I was toying with a final verdict - but felt it would be a lot of repeating what I'd just say and actually needed more time to THINK about it, But in conclusion:-

I'd say Kondaa for me is actually more re-rideable as a solid fun and quirky coaster. it's more 'Memorable' than say Goliath because of its funky elements - It's top 25 material for me (but I've not really done much of the States) - it's definitely a top 20 European coaster! I'm very fond of the coaster, It's not as intense as maybe people had hoped but it is FUN and thats important to me!

Ride to Happiness is a revelation - and is SO MUCH - it's hard to categorise - I feel it HAS to be top 10 for just existing and being what it is! But its hard to rank within that top 10.... HOT take....it's NOT no 1..... it exists somewhere between number 4 and number 10 in my top 10.....I just can't quite work out where!!

hot take .....I secretly probably Preferred Kondaa in enjoyment value, but can't get RTH out my mind!.... I struggle to articulate which one I'd rank higher PERSONALLY.

I'm just happy both exist and are so close to the UK!
 
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