Cyclone @ SFNE | Keep Your Chiropractor on Speed Dial
Cyclone takes the cake. My first and hopefully last ’1′. Six Flags New England has the honor of being home to what 
many consider the Best Coaster on the Planet. On the other end of the spectrum, Cyclone is there too. Unfortunately, I really can’t think of ANY positives for this ride. I got off this monstrosity holding my lower back. I felt more like 62 than 26. From the unenthusiastic teens running the ride, to the single train operation with it’s back seat roped off Cyclone was consistently bad. Clearly, this coaster has seen better days and that’s all I could think as I navigated its queue and looked up at the chipped white paint all over its rickety structure.
Riverside Cyclone No More
Cyclone’s reputation as the ‘Riverside Cyclone’ preceded it. For many enthusiasts and New Englanders, its fondly remembered as its previous incarnation, not the demolition nominee it currently is. I could see where Six Flags had tried to re-track the Cyclone when they acquired the park in 2000. Call me crazy, but I don’t think the coaster rehab worked. According to RCDB, first drop was shortened by 15 to 20 feet. I’m not sure how that would have made the ride any better. Maybe then it wouldn’t have been so terribly sluggish, but I imagine it still would’ve been rough. Maybe some New Englanders can explain the Riverside Cyclone to Cyclone transition. At least there was a very short wait and some decent rock playing in the station. Wow, there’s two positives. So I lied.
So, forgive me hardcore woodie fans and older New Englanders, I don’t know this coaster from it’s hallowed past as the 
‘Riverside Cyclone’. So it gets no points from me for its rep. All I have to judge it by is the rough, painful, trim break heavy trip I took on this demolition candidate. So when you visit Six Flags New England for Superman: Ride of Steel as anyone should, take my advice and skip the Cyclone. Your time is better spent re-riding one of the park’s better rides. Or probably riding any other ride at the park. Final Rating – 1.0 (Demolish)
The Cyclone is rated ‘TR’ for Traditional. It’s a 2 out of 5 on my Thrill Scale.
What’s Your Take?
Did you have a bad experience on Cyclone at Six Flags New England? Leave a comment below. Photo Credit: Ric Turner | RCDB
May 10, 2008 at 09:03
If cyclone was one of the least comfortable rides you have been on, what would be the most comfortable?
June 1, 2008 at 15:17
this roller coaster was awful. I was slammed back and forth against my seat back like a pinball until i finally sat forward in my seat. then i just had to deal with being slammed side to side.
July 7, 2008 at 12:57
I road it a few years back. This and the Mean Streak are the only wooden coasters I have ever ridden that I thought I was going to be carted off the ride. The ONLY reason I rode it….at that time, my son would only ride wooden coasters (to chicken to ride metal).
August 21, 2010 at 21:26
Amen. Same here, two worst wooden coasters I've ever ridden.
July 9, 2008 at 18:51
Cyclone isn't a great coaster, but I think it's okay, and a little fun. I kind of like the roughness. It's never given me pain, but if it did like it did to you, I wouldn't enjoy it at all.
July 13, 2008 at 14:19
fun
August 11, 2008 at 06:18
This coaster is the worst I've ever ridden. The trains Vibrated like crazy and threw me on every imaginable directions everytime it reach the bottom of a descent or took one of the unimaginly, awfully rough turns. The airtime was huge, but painful and annoying. The long first drop is incredibly unenjoyable from its start until it reaches the ground.
February 15, 2009 at 16:33
Cyclone was so violent. I've read your review about 1 year ago and the next summer I went to SFNE. I had SROS in mind, but you see, I never go to a park without riding all the major rides it has to offer. Thus reminding your review I was expecting crap out of Cyclone, but I truly had to experience it. It just looked impressive and it seemed to have great airtime, but it also was considered as a classic. So halfway through the day I headed for it and then I boarded the train (lol the SINGLE train operation this sux). Then a thunderstorm came. So I hid under a souvenir shop like everybody. Then guess what, when it stopped, I headed for Cyclone straight again. So then I boarded the train again and I rode. When I reached the lift hill, my car kind of bounced back and forth. I was like OMG WHAT THE HELL AM I INTO NOW??!!!! I was thinking that if the train vibrated so much on such low speed it would be insane at the bottom of those drops lmao!!
And it was. The first drop was insane. It threw me like a rag doll at the left of my seat like if it was god's hand while my car was vibrating fiercely. These terribly powerful vibrations haunted me all along the boring second turnaround, then into the extreme death machine-like third turnaround. The drop after the mid brakes was excellent though! The airtime was pretty incredible! But the evil trims sort of killed the ride's ending. It had the same nasty vibrations and it really did not do anything all that special. It was just.. there.
After a first half of pain of incredible intensity followed by the most boring second half I've ever experienced, I was speechless. I left the ride with a weird unexplainable nasty smile of disgust. I was walking all straight and confused, looking at this terribly wrong creation from William Cobb, which created the excellent LeMonstre at LaRonde.
But Cyclone was an absymal mess. It was like the Superman64 of roller coasters. It sucked. I should not have bothered riding it.
February 15, 2009 at 19:24
Thanks for leaving a review Dan. Seems like you exited the ride much the way I did. I almost couldn't believe what I'd just ridden. Maybe sine Six Flags likes giving their ries makeovers these days they'll get around to coasters like Cyclone. Great review and thanks for reading!
May 28, 2009 at 10:28
The coaster is beautiful to see, but if you want to gaze up at its beauty as you're walking through the nearly empty line queue underneath, wear glasses and keep your mouth closed to avoid getting paint chips in your eyes and mouth. I wouldn't be surprised if loose hardware rains down from time to time either, or chipped teeth from its victims.
I love most coasters and I've enjoyed large wooden coasters in the past so I was really looking forward to the ride.
At the bottom of the first drop I remember thinking "I want off this junk heap, now!" Cyclone is a brain rattling, tooth chipping, trip to Hell on rotting wood and rickety steel.
But as Hellish as Cyclone is, I'd ride it twenty times in a row before I'd ride Six Flags New England's most unpleasant coaster, and the worst coaster I've ever had the displeasure of riding, The Mind Eraser. Honestly if Six Flags paid me $1,000 to ride The Mind Eraser again, I'd turn them down without hesitation. But that's a rant for another review.
June 26, 2009 at 16:51
I have had a similar experience today on the Cyclone at SFNE. It was my first time at a major amusement park in quite some time, the second ride happened to be the Cyclone.
I've always enjoyed and admired wooden coasters, I try it out, the first drop was un-bearable *maybe also I have not been on a coaster in several years, who knows* Id great air time but it was unbearable, the restraints were also quite loose, it had literally felt like you were going to fly off at a turn.
I didn't expect too much from a woodie, but I certainly expected more from this classic.
July 2, 2009 at 16:48
Well, judging by the track layout, it looked like when it first opened, it was an ingenious ride that was smooth.
July 2, 2009 at 17:04
oh…wow well ya coaster critic, this coaster is the worst that it could possible get. I actually cant see any other way they can make it worse!
July 7, 2009 at 07:24
This ride won't need a makeover.
It needs to be rebuilt as an Intamin Pre-fab.
That is the only way it will be smooth.
Ever.
July 7, 2009 at 09:41
Rebuild??? Why would they rebuild a WOODEN COASTER into a INTAMIN PRE-FAB COASTER. You cant rebuild a coaster from a wooden to steel. You would have to totally demolish it.
July 7, 2009 at 12:58
Think about what you're saying. That doesn't make any sense.
July 7, 2009 at 14:31
you cant take wood and turn it into steel…wat are u saying
July 7, 2009 at 15:29
This ride sucks. It's rough, bumpy, and rotting. Someone on this ride kept yelling "this rickity piece……." Its just terrible.
P.S. a intamin pre-fab can be wood like el toro.
July 8, 2009 at 04:30
o woops my bad i mis understood! First thing that came to my mind was a steel launch coaster for some reason
July 8, 2009 at 04:36
I said you would have to demolish it.
Also pre-fab is wood.
And proof
ht thttp://www.rcdb.com/ig1562.htm?picture=http://www.rcdb.com/ig988.htm?pictuhttp://www.rcdb.com/ig3938.htm?picture=11re=1420p://www.rcdb.com/ig3183.htm?picture=46
July 8, 2009 at 04:41
I did mean demolish it, and, using the same footprint, rebuild the ride as an Intamin Pre-fab.
By the way, an Intamin pre-fab is wood.
http://www.rcdb.com/ig1562.htm?picture=20
What is comment awaiting moderation anyway?