Colossus — Attraction in Borough of Runnymede

Colossus on my rankings is a "Satisfactory" Coaster

Colossus was opened all the way back in 2002 as the rollercoaster with the most inversions in the world. The layout consisted of a Vertical loop, Cobra Roll, 2Corkscrews and 5 Heartline Rolls, the last of which is Counter Clockwise and thrusts you into the brake run. It was Manufactured by Intamin and designed by John Wardley and Werner Stengel, 2 of the finest minds in the rollercoaster industry. Colossus is 98ft high, has a maximum speed of 45mph, 10 inversions and a G Force of 4.2G. Now onto the ride experience.

The first thing you will notice when you board the trains is how cramped they are. I am a shorter lad (about 5ft 5) and getting past the other person in my row to put my bag in the storage area was near impossible. When I sat own, my legs were touching the back of the seat in front of me. The legroom is practicaly nonexistent. This didnt really cause any issues for me, but if you are taller and have bigger legs i can very easily see this becoming an issue. This coaster uses an OTSR restraint (Over The Shoulder Restraint) instead of lap bars. The OTSR is bulky and digs into yourshoulders. It also has no soft padding, which would prove to be a massive issue later.

Now the actual first half of the ride. The Vertical Loop gives some good initial forces, however for the rest of the first half it is headbanging galore. Due to the lack of padding on the otsr this is quite uncomfortable. Roughness aside, the Cobra Roll deivers some great forces, much like the 2 corkscrews which really whip you into a G Force haze,

The second half really isnt as bad, with all of the Heartline Rolls being relatively smooth, thrilling and enjoyable. They also give a sense of hangtime, particuarly that last counter clockwise heartine roll, which for me is the best part of the ride. The ride then comes to a stop outside of the station.

Overall, this most definitely isnt a bad ride. There is little theming, but amazing landscaping and the ride itself is nowhere near as bad as others make it out to be. Yes it is rough and can even be painful in some instances however for what it opened for you would expect headbanging.

This is a Satisfactory Rollercoaster:

Positives: Some great moments of intensity, particuarly on the Corkscrews and Cobra Roll A relatively good first drop Queue times often relatively short

Negatives: Cramped trains with no legroom Little theming Has become moderately rough, painful for some

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My third favourite coaster at Thorpe Park. But Colossus is amazing and holds a special place in my heart. It is so cinematic and beautiful, the views you get of it are great. The soundtrack is just brilliant, and the theme is nice and upbeat compared to the many other dark themes the UK. Now onto the coaster, the layout is really fun, the amount of variety of the inversions is amazing, with the quadruple barrel roll being surprisingly comfortable and really fun. Of course Colossus is showing its age and can be really rough, luckily there is a way to almost completely remove the headbanging and feel less of the roughness. If you wrap your arms around the restraints and pull your head forwards, it will help stop any headbanging. (If you look an ostrich you are doing it right) You don't have to do this during the barrel rolls as they are quite smooth, you may also want to not do it during the vertical loop as you could hurt your neck. The only downsides are the roughness and the trains aren't very comfortable, especially if you are in the backrow of the individual carriages, you have no leg room. Sorry for yapping, but I love this coaster, the power of ten is just great. I would definitely recommend for you to have a...

From a rollercoaster perspective this is good bang for your buck as it's a fairly long ride for a rollercoaster compared to some of the others. I did enjoy that element of it, but what spoiled it for me was just how uncomfortable it was. It was a bit rough and clattery. We were 2nd row and it was really cramped for my legs and I'm only 5ft 7. Also during the ride, my head just got buffeted from side to side and kept whacking the seat restraint. Regardless if you try and 'keep your head back' as the tiny sign on the seat in front said, it's nigh on impossible to do. Next day the sides of my head were actually bruised and tender. I came off the ride feeling really sore. If they could upgrade it a little (or even just get better padding on the seat restraints) it would improve it. Overall though, for an old rollercoaster it was okay and the multiple...