To be in the kids section of the park, this ride is awesome. I personally feel that this ride should qualify as a "shuttle coaster", but I guess my opinion on the matter won't make this ride KI's 15th active coaster.

Kings Island calls it a coaster....and counts Racer as one, not two.

Sorry, but what was your point in making a whole topic on this?

Just talking about a ride that I really enjoy.

I do wish their was one on the "adult" side of the park. One of the most underrated and, probably, overlooked rides (as far as thrill seekers go) in the park.

it reminds me of the bowling ball game @ ki, chuck e cheese, arcades, ect.

My wife rode this last season, scared her to death, and she has been on DB, lol. She was white as a ghost walking off of it.

Kings Island calls it a coaster....and counts Racer as one, not two.

This is an interesting point you make sir.

After all Racer has 2 coasters, 2 colors, 2 complete circuit tracks, 2 paths( although mirrored). If you take the red track you get a view of the house of Spongebob, and the soon to open swingy thingy. If you take the blue track, you see storage, woods, and soon to open Flintstones on steroids (for free, and you won't have to walk).

Should be 2 coasters.

I love it, and even if I don't have my son with me I try to make it over to that end of the park to ride it.

Hope to ride it this year when my family makes its now yearly trek to KI. Darn thing was down all day when we were there last year. And that ride actually looks pretty intense to be in the kids part of the park.

its considered at Skater Coaster by Zamperla. The park also considers Flying Ace to be a coaster and as well as Woodstock Express.

It should not be counted as a coaster, IMO. As a wiser member of this site once pointed out, it rolls, but it doesn't coast.

I could justify calling it a coaster. Example, Blazing Fury at Dollywood, cars on a track with a motor pushing them for the majority of the ride. Surf dog also a car on a track with a motor that not only pushes but turns the vehicle. Both have drops of similar heights, both are powered, one does more with layout the other more with the ride vehicle. Why consider one a coaster and not the other? Superman at SFMM goes up further but does less with layout and has similar track structure though it uses it power differently.

That said I don't like to consider Surf Dog a coaster in the same sense I would Racer or Diamondback. Just like I don't like putting New Texas Giant in the same class as Intimidator or even the same class as Thunderhead. There's always going to be some who say it should be one thing, and often they will have valid reasons why, then there's the others. Personally I'd love to see it broken down like the Westminster dog show. Best of breed then best of group then best of show.

...Personally I'd love to see it broken down like....

..an INTAMIN its first couple of seasons? (Volcano: The Blast Coaster, Top Thrill Dragster, Kingda Ka, Maverick,...)

Terpy, who just HAD to

Havent we already disscused this already?

^Yes we have...long ago. (And now that I have added that, we can now say that we have discussed this being discussed before.)

I would like to add to that discussion as I too remember it being discussed.

Surf dog is awesome. Totally under-rated. Get a seat on the outside of one of the ends and enjoy.

Does Cedar Fair also consider California's Great America's Tiki Twirl (formerly Survivor: The Ride) a roller coaster?

And honestly, why shouldn't it be?

Who invented the precise definition of a roller coaster?

And does it even matter if it's one?

Does it change anything?

GYK, a student of science who saw every text book in America pulled and re-printed when someone somewhere decided that Pluto no longer fit some definition that some seemingly anonymous group has decided on to classify a "planet"... Only to have that same group of someones change their mind just over a year later*.

* And invent a new designation, 'dwarf planet.'

Poor Pluto didn't change a bit through the whole process. But the semantics of something so inconsequential brought about a lot more debate, financial expenditure, and confusion than were ever required!

Would anyone here have more fun on Surf Dog if they knew that some roller coaster community agreed on it's official status as a roller coaster?

Maybe we could just start calling the almost roller coasters "pluto coasters."

Maybe we could just start calling the almost roller coasters "pluto coasters."

Nah, Disney would sue.

Just had to.

I made a poll so we could debate this democratically.

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23549

Kings Island calls it a coaster....and counts Racer as one, not two.

which makes no sense twice.

http://www.zamperla.com/en/category/index/id/5

PRODUCTS > ROLLER COASTER > Disk'O Coaster

http://www.zamperla....gory/index/id/5

PRODUCTS > ROLLER COASTER > Disk'O Coaster

I guess it is indeed marketed as a coaster, but it is still debatable if it actually is a coaster.

Maybe we could just start calling the almost roller coasters "pluto coasters."

Nah, Disney would sue.

Just had to.

That's Goofy.

Terp, who just had to, too.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Surf Dog is NOT a duck! It is not controlled by gravity what so ever. When it goes up one side, it has a slight hesitation before coming back, and you don't freefall down. It would be awesome if it DID do that, but it doesn't. It's a great flat ride, though! I wish they would make it spin more and they could if it were an adult thrill ride. But, a coaster it definitely is NOT!

I agree with Raptor. A Roller Coaster uses gravity to power it most of the way. A flat ride, even a tracked flat ride, uses a motor to keep it going. That's also why Tumble Bugs are flat rides though in every other sense they may be called a coaster.

^Excellent call with the tumblebug aspect of the argument! I wish I had thought of that. I used to love the two (adult & kiddie) that KI used to have. A few of us from KIC got a ride in on Stricker's kiddie one last year, The Turtles. That was my first ride on one in quite a while!