Favorite Steel Roller Coasters

What is my favorite steel roller coaster ride? Busch Garden Tampa’s bottomless roller coaster Montu. I call it the “Cadillac” of roller coasters because of its incredible smoothness. I’ve experienced some really jerky rides on other steel coasters elsewhere, most notably with Dollywood’s Tennessee Tornado and Wild Adventure’s Hangman, Boomerang, and Swamp Thing. Cypress Gardens has the best, in my opinion, “kiddie’s” steel coaster with their Okeechobee Rampage. Disney World’s MGM Studios has a pleasant coaster in Rock N’ Roll with Aerosmith, but my problem with that one is that it is enclosed, with my view very limited. And seeing how high up in the sky I am is one of the fun parts of riding a coaster (as well as seeing the world turn upside-down during loops)! Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain is also indoors, and is too jerky as well. Universal’s Islands of Adventures contains two good coasters: The Incredible Hulk and Dueling Dragons Fire (or Ice). The Hulk shoots the passengers out like a rocket at its start, while I prefer a slow gradual rise. And with Dueling Dragons, another bottomless coaster, there is a slow initial rise before the dramatics. But then, that ride is a bit too short for me. Shortness is also a problem with Busch Garden’s much-hyped Sheikra. Their Python coaster is too rough and extremely short. I do like Busch’s Scorpion, though, which though short is very well-designed. I guess my second-favorite steel coaster ride would be Busch Garden’s Kumba. I think that I could spend all day at that park just alternating between Kumba and Montu (with occasional forays over to their great double wooden roller coaster Gwazi). Oh, by the way, another thing making my roller coaster experiences at Busch Garden more enjoyable is that I usually don’t have to wait very long in line to ride them!