Raptor (Cedar Point)

I can hear the groans now. Ugh, not another Cedar Point coaster. Well, I just went up to Ohio last week, so I might as well review most of them first and foremost before the details of the ride slip away. Anyway, it was day three of Cedar Point and I still hadn't ridden the great and mighty Raptor. As soon as I entered the park on July 11, my brother and I headed straight to Raptor. I've been on plenty great inverts like Montu, Afterburn, Banshee, etc. but from what I heard one may think Raptor is the best of all. Once in the station, I got pretty excited, especially since we were alone in the station and we got a walk-on front row. Of course since Raptor is a earlier B&M model, it doesn't have the great Banshee-style restraints, which is a slight bummer. The lift was relatively fast, and we reached the top fairly quickly. I got a momentary view of the entrance and Gatekeeper, but not for long, as we dove 119 feet at over 57 mph. The drop and first loop were awesome, as was the zero-g roll. But the cobra roll was not on the level of Afterburn's immelman, or Banshee's dive-immelman. It was a bit rougher and not as forceful or fun. The best part of this ride was perhaps the noticeable speed. Although the max speed is only 57 mph, the ride feels much quicker and really rips through the inversions.The helix area of the ride was the part I really dig, as well as the pop of airtime before the last corkscrew. The helices were forceful, smooth and flat out fun, and the ending was probably the best part. All in all Raptor is a great ride, and although it is not quite up there with Banshee, Afterburn or Montu, it is still great B&M invert fun.

Drop: 7/10
Length: 7/10
Comfort: 8/10
Inversions: 7/10
Speed: 9/10
Smoothness: 8/10
Intensity: 8/10

Overall: 87/100 (Great)