What makes a roller coaster elite? Is it the airtime? The hangtime?
Or rip your body in half intensity? What if I told you a roller coaster has all of that. And
it’s commonly overlooked. I mean I don’t blame them. You have an elite wooden roller coaster
in the same park, a solid B&M invert that’s just an absolute crowd pleaser.
And not to mention an hour away is the park with the most roller coasters in the US. Hangtime gets
lost between all of those elite coasters and it’s understandable. But what makes the ride so good?
In this video I will break down each element and give my thoughts on the overall ride.
The presentation of this ride is phenomenal. It dominates the pathway surrounding it
and the colors look so vibrant. I get why this has the longest lines in the park.
At the start of the day it wasn’t too bad, I probably waited around 30 minutes but later in
the day the crowds really kicked in. I waited over 2 hours for Hangtime and it was totally worth it.
I’m not even gonna lie, this ride is intimidating. The lift hill can be seen from anywhere in
the park and it dominates over the surrounding rides. When you walk up to it on the path it’s
massive. Videos definitely don’t do this ride justice. Not to mention the lift hill
is just so photogenic. I wanted to take so many pictures from across the park. I just can’t get
enough of these vertical lifts. They're so different from your traditional lift hills,
like you can’t even compare them. I enjoy sitting on the far left seat just for the
views you get of the park to your right. And let me tell you, you feel so exposed going up that
vertical lift with the minimal lap bar. The last Gerstauere I rode had over the shoulder restraints
and it this lift feels much more menacing with the lap bars. Sometimes I would prefer a standard lift
if the views are exceptional but the thrills of the vertical lift just can’t be compared.
My first ride I was holding on tight, extremely nervous that whole lift ride up.
Once you crest the top you get an incredible view. You feel unbelievably high up. And you
absolutely dominate over the pathway next to you. It’s crazy to see all of the people on the path
below looking up at the riders. You’re up there for a bit. With the holding brake you’re going
to feel up there for longer than you actually are. The anticipation while up there is crazy.
I underestimated it from POVs and off-ride footage. As you're hanging it already feels
ultra-steep. Your body leans forward over the edge anticipating the drop to come.
But then the drop hits. And it hits fast. This drop is seriously amazing. In the back, the drop
is a quick, powerful ejector pop. It’s sharp and fast. This will leave your stomach in the dust.
Strong ejector airtime for sure. Honestly I’d call it one of my favorite drops on a coaster,
which is saying a lot. Then you rocket up into a giant negative g stall loop.
It’s a pretty underrated element on the ride. It throws you to the side and you get lateral airtime
on the left side of the train. But in the process you’re thrown back down. The
whip coming down is obscene. It’s different from traditional inversions and I love it,
one of my favorites. It slams you back into your seat after a moment of airtime and into an
immelmann. This is the best inversion on the ride by far. Here’s where you’re gonna actually get
hang time as the name suggests. The hangtime on this inversion is actually really good.
People bash on the ride for not having hangtime. And that’s probably the number one complaint
about the ride. But I’d just point this element to them. It’s a really fun element and powerful too.
Usually I don’t like Imelmanns because most of them are forceless but this one and the
one on Velocicoaster are some of the best inversions I’ve experienced. This element
paired with the negative g stall loop makes for the best sequence of inversions on a coaster.
However I still think the dive loop and immelmann combo is better on Velocicoaster, it just doesn’t
compare. Next you enter the corkscrew. The profiling is unique compared to traditional
corkscrews. Off ride this is another visually pleasing element. I always love watching the train
rip through this element. Following that is an overbanked turn. It doesn’t offer that much force.
At least not enough to make it a stand out element. Although it sets up another
stand out moment of the ride. And honestly one of my favorite elements on the ride,
this hill is ruthless. I always heard people hype up this element online but I never got it. But
when it hit, it hit. Straight powerful, unexpected airtime. Feels like one of RMC’s ejector hills.
It actually feels like it’s trying to remove you from the seat. And it sets up the cobra roll.
Another great element on the ride. It’s taken faster than other cobra rolls, and
it kinda feels like your traditional cobra roll. This is the final inversion of the 5. The whip
exiting it is crazy in the back before another ejector hill. This ends the ride on a bang.
Yet again another forgotten element on this crazy ride. Every element
hits and no element is dull or boring. This is as close you can get to a smooth ride.
It’s got that new coaster feel to it. And I love it!
Also those lap bars are super comfortable. They also leave you really exposed, as I said before.
This was the coaster I definitely was not going to skip in California.
I made sure I got every angle of this thing. And I wasn’t going home without a re-ride.
The first ride I chose to sit in the back row and the second I was auto assigned the back.
I heard that doing this ride in the front was a must.
And I wanted a night ride too. People say it’s one of the best coaster experiences at night.
The whole ride I was thinking for a ride named Hangtime this sure doesn’t have a lot of Hangtime.
But I’m glad it doesn’t. Full Throttle in the same state already dominates that category.
But frankly I don’t think it needs to. It’s already a great ride and I’d consider it elite.
Although it isn’t the best in California or in the park it’s still up there as one of my favorites.
Yes it may be a shorter ride compared to Ghostrider in the same park but it doesn’t leave
you on the break run wanting more. It’s pretty fulfilling for what it works with. And I think I
will return in the future just for this ride. Have you ridden hangtime? Tell me in the comments below
and share your thoughts below. Thank you so much for making it to the end of this video. Goodbye!