next to the New York-New York's entrance. The train ascends another hill and curves left again onto the roof of the casino, dropping slightly to enter a vertical loop. Immediately afterward, the train twists to the right and enters the dive loop. Exiting the dive loop, the train ascends into a hill with a mid-course brake run, then turns 180 degrees to the left, ascending an airtime hill. The train turns 180 degrees to the right, dips into two airtime hills, and traverses a 540-degree helix to the right, traveling through one last airtime hill before hitting the final brake run. The ride then travels indoors above a replica of Little Italy, Manhattan, on a structure that resembles an old elevated railway. Critical reception When the Manhattan Express opened in 1997, the Las Vegas Review-Journal said that the "unmistakable Las Vegas mystique" gave the "Manhattan Express a unique appeal". A reporter for The Boston Globe wrote that many of the early riders seemed to have "enjoyed this coaster immensely". Paul Goldberger of The New York Times wrote that the ride looked "like a rope that has been used to capture [New York City's] landmarks and hold them hostage, a mirage of the New York skyline in the desert." Conversely, the website TripSavvy wrote that the Big Apple Coaster was rough, saying: "Instead of doubling the fun, The Big Apple’s hypercoaster heights and looping inversion elements cancel each other out—and cause some pain to boot." The Los Angeles Times said of the virtual-reality option: "The VR experience does a fairly accurate job of rendering the Vegas Strip, but non-MGM properties get short shrift." Among the issues were that the site of the Tropicana Las Vegas was rendered as a parking lot and that the Vegas Vic neon sign was incorrectly shown as being at Harry Reid International Airport. References External links Buildings and structures in Paradise, Nevada Roller coasters in the Las Vegas Valley Roller coasters introduced in 1997