Goliath is a mini Intamin hyper at Walibi Holland. I played a lot of Roller Coaster
Tycoon 2 growing up, specifically the Six Flags Holland scenario featuring this ride,
so it was always on my bucket list. While it doesn't quite reach the 200 foot barrier,
this coaster does bare a lot of similarities to Intamins original hyper coaster layout
in Ride of Steel. Find out why in this review. Back when this Dutch park was owned by Six Flags,
they added the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in the Benelux for the 2002 season.
While those records have since been broken by another ride in the Walibi chain in Kondaa,
Goliath still has quite the presence. You can see very little of this coaster
from within the park itself. You just see this ride's 154 foot or 47 meter
tall lift hill as you approach the ride plus the ride's bunny hill finale. But
this isn't the first time you'll see Goliath. Much of the ride's layout takes place adjacent to
the road into the park. The drop in the distance plus the giant s-hills and helixes above the water
really draw you in. It's a brilliant placement since it gets guests hyped for their day.
The ride originally featured a weird paint scheme. You had kelly green track and pink supports.
It was iconic. But it was repainted during the 2016-2017 off-season.
Now it sort of looks like a baby Millennium Force with the royal blue track. But it does have black
supports and trains to differentiate it. Six Flags loves the name Goliath.
They've used it 7 times. However, this was only the second time they used the name and it made
sense for a record-breaking ride like this. I also like the ride's entry plaza with the giant
logo sign and large lift looming in the distance. Don't expect any theming. This is an attraction
where the size and elements do the talking. It does require a bit of a hike to reach this
ride's plaza though. It's in the very back of the park accessible only by a long dead-end pathway.
It looks like the park's next addition will be added back here to give Goliath some company.
While the location is a bit annoying, it does have the advantage of making the ride a walk-on
for the early part of the day since it takes most people a little time to get back there.
And by midday, it'll usually have one of the longest lines in the park.
The ride can run two trains. Each has 8 cars seating 4 riders in rows of 2. However,
the ride has run one train in my visits likely due to the weather. Both my visits to Walibi Holland
have occurred on extremely rainy days. After a train is stopped on the brake run, a rubber drive
tire needs to push it back into the station. When this wheel gets slippery, it can struggle to move
the train. I've seen this issue on Six Flags New England's Superman on rainy days as well.
Walibi Holland mitigates this issue by running one train to minimize the time the train is parked.
Goliath runs the original style Intamin hyper trains. You have seatbelts plus
those glorious t-bar restraints. These lap bars are fantastic. Their minimal profile
leaves you very exposed and they give you plenty of room to experience the airtime.
I imagine these restraints aren't very accommodating to larger guests based on
what I've seen at other parks, but I didn't see too many people struggling at Walibi.
As for which seat you want, I recommend the back car. While you feel the full force of
the 66 mph or 106 kph speed in the front row, the back has the superior airtime. And that's
the main reason I ride hyper coasters. Once dispatched you ascend a cable lift.
I'm surprised Intamin made this choice. It didn't have the towering height of Millennium Force and
it also doesn't have the same speed of the cable lift on something like the mega lites or Skyrush.
This one is also set-up differently. The catch car doesn't engage the train in the station.
Instead the train is pushed onto the catch car, which is waiting for it on the incline.
Once at the top, you are sent over the 70 degree first drop. Those in back get some
great ejector airtime. It just doesn't last too long. Unlike some mini hypers whose drops
feel similar to their larger counterparts, Goliath's first drop felt noticeably short.
Next is one of those classic Intamin camelbacks with powerful and sustained ejector airtime.
It’s the best moment on the ride by far.
Goliath then speeds around a low-to-the-ground right hand turn. This reminds me of the turn
after the drop on Ride of Steel. You have so much speed and come mere feet from the grass.
Next is the world’s first Stengel dive, which is an element combining a camelback and overbank into
one. Don’t expect to get much airtime here. You only get a little floater in the back.
This element is about the laterals and whip. These forces are solid towards the back,
but excellent towards the front. This is the one element I definitely preferred up front.
Goliath then charges around another low turn. This one has some good positive Gs
as you turn 270 degrees towards the water. You then cruise over this large s-hill.
Unfortunately, this element is a dud. It seems a bit too big and drawn out for its own good,
as it has no airtime nor laterals. It leads into a 360 degree upwards helix.
I like the visuals above the water and dodging supports. And you have pretty
good speed. But it’s not really forceful. This leads into another s-hill. This one
is marginally better if you’re in the back as you’ll get some very weak negative Gs.
But it’s another fairly tame element. Goliath returns to form with its finale.
You have 3 consecutive bunny hills running along the lift hill and station. All three deliver great
ejector airtime if you’re in the back row. In the front, the airtime progressively weakens from good
sustained ejector on the first, decent ejector on the second, and good floater on the third.
You then have another low turn that leads into the final brake run. I wasn’t expecting much from
this turn, but it has some shockingly strong positive Gs and a great sense of speed since
you whiz past bushes. You then hit the brakes, ending the 3983 foot or 1214 meter long coaster.
Even after 2 decades of operation, this ride is still running smooth. And it feels
quite fast start to finish, even if some of the elements towards the middle don’t quite stick.
As I mentioned at the start, this coaster reminds me of Ride of Steel. Why is that?
First, you have the exact same ride model and nearly identical trains.
Second, both coasters have a layout that runs outside the main park next to the road. And
then chunks of the ride take place over water. Third, the pacing…for better or worse…is similar.
It’s uneven. Both rides have strong starts and finishes. But the middle sections don’t measure
up to the rest of the ride. While it’s cool having the s-hills and helixes over the water,
they just didn’t pack the punch I expected. So what would I rate Goliath?
I would give this mega coaster an 8 out of 10. This is a great coaster. It’s not quite as good
as the top tier Intamin hypers or some of the B&M hypers, but it does have its standout moments.
I love the outward leg and returning bunny hills. And the ride has a great sense of speed because
of its location. I just wish the pacing was stronger towards the middle of the ride.
That’s my biggest issue with the coaster, but it’s still an attraction any Intamin fan will love.
While Untamed supplanted this ride as the best ride at Walibi Holland, Goliath is still a ride
you’ll want to experience multiple times. So those are my thoughts on Goliath at Walibi
Holland. What are your thoughts on this Intamin mega coaster? How do you think it compares to some
of the other hypers out there? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!