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Jersey Devil is running today.

Just to help some people out...Robb and I just got back from a quick visit to IOA. Got there at 11:30am, Velocicoaster was a WALK ON! Like, sending empty seats every train walk on! Yay for midweek September!

Here’s the clip that WESH 2 News in Orlando ran about the new Walt Disney World passes featuring Theme Park Review! https://www.facebook.com/themeparkreview/videos/144799674482567

^My favorite Fuji Q moment was being told to put my wristwatch in a locker, only to attach the locker key to the same wrist with an elastic band.

^hope it's like that friday morning but I doubt it lol. Can't wait for HHN to start. Interesting enough they are not doing the passholders weekends for the first few weekends. That should lessen the crowds hopefully. That and the vinyl protectors lol lol.

Okay with Busch Gardens complete, it was time to head to Orlando! Alex and I had looked into a rental car since some of the Universal Resorts have a rental car company built into them, but that idea was quickly dismissed when I realized at Lyft hotel-to-hotel Tampa-Universal was only $80. Easiest decision ever. Turns out it works well for the drivers as they'll take people to Orlando, make bank at Disney/Universal then head home. I scheduled the Lyft a week out, locked in the rate, and it was an easy ride to the Royal Pacific. Even at NOON we were able to check in and get settled, that was fantastic. It also was a Meat Monday, and we were able to meet up with the Alveys + Reed and Stacey (nice meeting you two). It was so great to see familiar faces after 2 years!!! Of course Gyu Kaku is amazing and delicious and their lunch specials are great. Robb & Elissa were kind enough to drop us off at Sea World for our second park of the trip! SeaWorld Orlando The entry is cool with the lighthouse + oceanic waves. I think the day we arrived in Orlando was when Orlando decided to go into full shitstorm summer mode. We probably arrived around 3pm and 90 minutes later we could tell the clouds were brewing and the wind picked up. We got 2 rides on Mako, went over to check out Infinity Falls, which was having some sort of issue. So nope, not getting on the new hotness. We got a bit lost back by Ice Breaker and ended up going into the Wild Arctic, which was a bit spooky to be honest, haha. We had no idea what exhibits were within and it was dark, themed to a shipwreck of sorts, but there were some different sea mammals in there. Upon exiting the building we could hear loud metallic slaps toward the front of the park. The incoming storm was making the cables on the Sky Tower violently shake and hit the tower's structure, which is incredibly ominous We booked it across that wooden bridge that goes over the water in the center of the park and before I could even begin to search for that Shark Bar and Grill we ended up ducking into the Seafire Grill/Flamecraft Bar where we had an incredible view of the storm coming in. We got absolutely shitstormed on for 2 hours, yet people took their time in the lightning and thunder walking over that bridge to the front of the park. How did these people survive 2020 to make it to 2021?! A bit tipsy after sampling some Florida beer, rides were slowly starting to reopen and we made our way to Atlantis, Kraken, Mako, and then the storms came back in, but with no lightning this time. We were already wet, kinda drink, so just kept riding Mako in the rain and Manta had finally re-opened and we got on that before heading out. I wanted to get on that Penguin/Antarctic dark ride everyone dunks on but it's not even operating? Again like the other exhibits we went through, it was just really dark and ominous. We walked through seeing no one then ended up in the station and where the penguins are? It was just really odd and creepy. Manta: I need to get back on this. By the time it had opened, we were soaked, cold, kinda drunk, and it was pouring our entire ride. I really really loved Acrobat/Japanese Manta, but a rainy night ride on Manta just didn't really let me appreciate the beautiful themeing and floral surroundings and water finale. I know this ride is good. Atlantis: I don't know much about the ride's history other than it's not as well themed as it used to be. Regardless, it was a pretty awesome flume/coaster combo. I would love for more of these to be built if they did different layouts and surprises. The first big drop was better than I expected. Kraken: Kinda the ride I was expecting to like the most. A 2000 B&M that dives in and out of the ground, bonus inversions, a classic floorless. Sadly it just didn't offer much intensity, the drop didn't give airtime, and the whole area seems neglected. It's kinda built in between mechanical/support for the surrounding aquatic experiences so it felt like a parking lot coaster. Bummer. Mako: Kraken was my anticipated coaster because I didn't buy into the Mako hype. It's just a new B&M hyper right? Yes, but it hits. This is the best B&M hyper in America, in my opinion. An excellent first drop that rivals the intensity of the gigas, it's just not as tall. The second twisted hill is more memorable than Orion's wave turn as it's almost like an inversion fake out. Then you've got 2 awesome airtime hills with a tight hammerhead in between before the coaster snakes around giving you some more air and twists. It's so good it's worth marathoning in the rain. Alright, I get the hype. Mako is so much fun it deserves to be talked about as one of the best hypers. Next door Kraken needs some love. It's essentially a parking lot coaster with all of that gray mechanical stuff it's tucked in. No wonder they put VR on it! (No, that's still not cool). Looks like a weird steel version of Mystic Timber's layout. Can't wait for this to open and see how it is. (Then huge shitstorm for 2 hours) I was so stoked to ride Kraken, but sadly this coaster isn't running as well as the other B&M's in the park. Can we just turn up the intensity here please? It's got all the classic B&M inversions + some extra twistyness. I was surprised by this one, even if it's not as good as it once was. More of these type of rides, please! Why even have this thing 'open' to walk through, there's nothing going on here. Ya'll see how creepy/ominous this is? This is what most of the indoor experiences were like. No signage about things being closed, they just let you walk through what feels like an abandoned attraction but there's actually real animals in some of them. I was really weirded out. Absolutely soaked, but who cares. Mako is amazing and they just kept cycling us through until we had enough. What a strange SWO visit but I think Meat Monday was the highlight of the day

^God, I'll soon miss those days when parades and shows weren't our thing.

Not gonna lie, I’m a little bummed that it’s going to cost us an additional $1,000 per year for the two of us to keep the same AP perks we already have, so we will most likely downgrade our passes then add on the PhotoPass option. Will we still go and support the parks? Yes, of course. But we will have to make different choices now.

Cedar Point Trip Report August 9th - August 12th I picked that week since it was the last week of daily operations where the park was open 'till 10pm and they had the CP 150 festivities going on. As scary as it was to think about exploring hotel options that aren't Breakers/Lighthouse/Breakers Express, my choice of Cedar Cove (right across from Thirsty Pony) ended up being a delight. I used my Chase points, but rooms start at $87 a night. That's nothing compared to the $350-$400 CP wanted for Breakers Express and LH. Breakers wasn't even available. Cedar Cove will definitely be my spot from here on out. Rooms were clean, bed was fine, you got free bottles of water daily and breakfast. Thirsty Pony has always been the loveable cheesy bar with decent food and they still have a solid offering of beer and food. Prices are just up a bit, but Sandusky is really trying to make that area "Cedar Corner" into a nicer offering. Cedar Cove is refreshed, the old Rain hotel is a horse themed boutique (LOL) hotel, and there's a new Holiday Inn to give CP Express some competition. Monday was the best looking weather day, so I made sure to get there at opening and make the most of the day. I arrived around 915am and parked in the 2nd row, got in no problem. Okay this is where you need to take note if you're visiting CP this year: Monday I was able to purchase fast pass + for the FP price with my platinum pass discount in park at opening. Amazing. Tuesday I was able to purchase fast pass + for the FP price with my platinum pass discount in park at opening. Amazing. Wednesday, upon going right to the FP store at opening, FP+ was sold out already, so to have FP+ you must have had to buy it the night before. You could still buy FP. No discounts of FP though. The same thing happened on Thursday. So if you really want FP+, make sure you get it while it's available because there's no guarantee it will be there to purchase in park. Monday and Tuesday with FP+ were amazing, Dragster had the most uptime of all the coasters and had short waits. Millennium was have major issues and I only rode on Monday, sadly. It was down Tuesday, Wednesday, and maybe ran an hour or two on Thursday. After riding Sheikra, all of the other dive coasters are a big step down in my opinion. Raptor still kicks so much ass. Magnum was running great, I had a lot more fun on it than I remembered. Wicked Twister is leaving and that's just fine. I like these coasters and they're really strange, but I do agree the twists and pull out are a bit jerky. Gatekeeper has grown on me and I really enjoy the front seat. Windseeker at Cedar Point is a must ride. I never rode Rougarou or Iron Dragon, huh. Power Tower provides such a great view and it's bad for an S&S tower, I ride it every time I walk by. Maverick, Dragster, and Steel Vengeance are all incredible, but when you're missing a long relaxing Millennium Force, you're gonna end up leaving the park with bruised thighs due to so many extreme airtime filled rides on those 3 haha. Maverick is still my pick for best coaster at CP, it's one of my favorite coasters of all time. I had visited Japan and Velocicoaster since my last Maverick rides but it still holds up. The airtime hill is so so good, the launch is forceful, the stengel dives and long airtime hill finale are epic. What more do you want?! Steel Vengeance's new locker system for this year is fine, and you can store your beer in it! It just fits, haha. But the 2 split lines make no sense to me. They were never even. Why have 2? Just have one or make 1 FL and the other regular? Anyways, Steel Vengeance is such a beast. If you got off Maverick wanting more, this coaster has more. I love love love the mini wave turns in the 2nd half of the ride, the inversions are a complete WTF, but I think my favorite moment is sitting front seat for the airtime hill up, turn, up into the MCBR. Wow what an insane moment of airtime. Food - I stuck to Melt and Famous Daves. The bartenders were really friendly, attentive, and there's HAPPY HOUR DEALS!!! at both!!! Why eat anywhere else? I gave Chickie & Pete's one shot and that place was a shitshow. Messy, sold out of standard items, and staff arguing with guests over seating/meal plans, it was a disaster. Somehow this place continues to provide good service, food, drinks, and timely delivery even in 2021. Sadly this 'ol Intamin was only up for probably 10 hours during my 4 day trip. It's still a legend. Theme park accidents suck, but I was shocked to hear about Dragster after it was running like a gem during my visit. Being a single rider + FL+ holder gives you many opportunities. I rode Dragster front row 3x, and 11x overall on that Monday. What a day. After being down the entire weekend of my last visit, Maverick was Mr. Consistent during each of my 4 days. This coaster is perfection, even without the botched heartline roll. Glad they got it right on Veloci! This airtime hill is one of the best ejector moments anywhere on the planet. But those stengel dives are just something else. So unique! So Maverick and Steel Vengeance ran in the rain on Monday and Tuesday. It wasn't heavy rain, but holy crap they kept running them!!! Are we finally creeping back into normal rain policies at CP?! Ya hate to see it. Wednesday and Thursday were pretty stormy, but the park does an okay job getting things back up once lightning is out of the way. The new queue layout does allow you to get some cool photos! Honestly I didn't mind just sipping on my beer and watching the coaster fly all around you. Hidden barrel roll a bit more exposed now, so cool to get up and close to the ride!

Kingda Ka is open.

Ugh, that's so frustrating! The poor park doesn't need any more drama and to have some guest go into a restricted area and get hurt is just crap!

Here's an article on the incident:

^ I had a small crumbled tissue in my pocket, that I had forgotten was there, but they spotted the tiny pocket bulge and was told to go put it in a locker. I didn't spot the trash can nearby and had to locker it in exchange for a wristband locker key much bigger than a tissue.

Yes, they basically almost always forced non-Florida residents into the most expensive pass to encourage them to buy tickets and not an annual pass.

I feel like they personally attacked me and my pass! Most of the passes seem very similar as you said, but my old Platinum basically went up $500 if I want the same no block out dates and Photopass! Now I'll have to 'downgrade' to the Sorcerer Pass and have some blockout dates and add on PhotoPass. I do like the $99 Water Park add on though!

Not always. My kids were able to ride 310ft high, 90mph Millenium Force at 48 inches before they could ride 208ft, 70mph Ride of Steel. Both Intamins at two different chain parks.

^After the ACE plaque out front (doesn't mean much to many, but come on) and all the recognition, you think they'd have given that a little more thought. Real butthurt indeed, MB has been my #1 steel coaster since 1990. For a while, Superman at SFNE took that spot, until I rode the new trains on that one. Uck. Here at Great America we have Whizzer, another top steel coaster for me. They still have the 5 original trains. Most years since the late 80s through 2019, they would have 3 on the track. Sometimes 2 running with one in transfer, or all 3 running. They always would rotate 2 out and do a complete refurb treatment in the shop. Last week, Whizzer was running better than ever - even in the extreme humidity. The trains look and feel like brand new, down to the dark green upholstered padding (well.. padding was originally red until they painted the whole ride dark green in 1981). You will never see ripped padding on those trains. They even have old fashioned goldleaf-style lettering below the Whizzer logo on each train "Est. 1976." They sure are proud of that ride as they should be. When they planned to remove it in 2002, they found out how many people really loved that ride. It's still one of the most popular rides in the park. I wish the other great SF Schwarzkopfs could get that kid glove treatment.

Clearly those are markers for Batwing's relocation from SFA.

^^Bring back the Airtime Hill of Hot Death instead of the stupid loop!!!

I'd be down as hell for a two-flat package to make Illinois a better section. Don't threaten me with a good time.