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Two weekends ago I made my way back to the Universal Orlando Resort to experience the new Mardi Gras offerings, but also to get a chance to see Velocicoaster testing. I'll have photos from Mardi Gras to share soon, but I figured I'd start with the most exciting update first, which is a giant Intamin coaster opening in Orlando! Entering Islands of Adventure, you'll notice something new on the horizon... I thought my timing couldn't have been better... A few seconds later I stood corrected. I finally had the chance to see the Velocicoaster in action and it looks ridiculously fun! Jurassic Park wasn't the only section of the park that was looking great today! Passing through Hogsmeade towards Jurassic Park, you get a view of the bowl section of the second half of the coaster... Making its second loop around before making its way back towards the station. New Velocicoaster signage has been put up in Jurassic Park matching the styling and theming from park signage shown in Jurassic World in the film of the same name. The entrance path features several raptor statues. It is going to be neat to walk this space with trains flying upside-down overhead. There are few spots in Jurassic Park where Velocicoaster can't be seen running at this point. This is a pretty awesome thing in that it adds a new kinetic energy to the land. Definitely cool to see! The walls have come down around the first half of the coaster. I was so excited to see the coaster running up close that I totally forgot to get an overview shot of what the area looks like from behind the themed barriers, but as you'll see in the following photos, they allow you to get some really fantastic, unobstructed views of the ride in motion. The entire first half of the coaster can be seen from this side of Jurassic Park. I absolutely love this angle... So I stayed in this same spot for a few minutes to watch the trains cycle. Velocicoaster weaves in and out of itself in a really neat way. Time to fly into the second launch! It really is a spectator-friendly coaster! The rockwork does a really great job of framing the coaster elements. Dive! Dive! Dive! It looks so great! I also love the design of these trains! The transition into the 2nd launch is really quick. Rockwork appreciation... Zoom... Zoom... Zoom... I feel like this will probably end up being the most photographed section of the Jurassic Park after the coaster opens. More fun angles. I'm ready to ride. How about you? The skyline at Universal Orlando has definitely changed!

so late last year, the Circuit of the Americas F1 racetrack in Austin, out of the blue announced a new addition: COTAland - a kiddie carnival area, with a bunch of kiddie rides and a kiddie coaster: https://www.facebook.com/CircuitofTheAmericas/videos/216323643344037 it made sense, as they have a go-kart track there, and several other more adult things (Concert Venue, with bars, and the COtA tower, you can buy a ticket to go up and overlook the F1 track).. . . but really not much for the kids to do (other than the kiddie track, or a ride along with an adult in the two seater carts on the adult track) but there have been a lot of queries as to if they are going to be getting any "adult" rides. . and the answer is "yes" as several things have been getting teased (on local pages, and by the manager of the COTAland site) - yes, mainly carnival type flats, but that's still SOMETHING permanent in the Austin area. (as opposed to the Carnival that comes with the annual rodeo). well, just about an hour ago, it was revealed that COTAland is getting a ride that is coming from a UK park, and they are going to refurbish it and give it a new name. And after a "word scramble" guessing game, it has been revealed that it will apparently be "Raptor Attack" from Lightwater Valley that they just shut down in 2020. the actual unscramble was: Anton Schwarzkopf Wildcat so yes, it's going to be a traveling carnival coaster, but so what? Austin is getting a Schwarzkopf Wildcat. how cool is that?

Wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing! I am pumped for this coaster. No, it won't be "best in the world" (I don't know why we ever set those expectations for any new coaster), but it is going to kick a$$. Crazy hang time and theming in the first half, then a 70mph launch into a top hat, zero-G stall, funky inner and outer banked turns, and a fast heartline roll over water? All with comfortable and minimalist lap bars? Yeah, sign me up. This and Iron Gwazi (and Ice Breaker, I suppose) are all the more reason I am excited to move to Florida in a few months.

People always forget just how far the economic impact of a theme park really goes. It’s not just the people they employ and the guests they bring...all the parks suppliers and vendors account for a massive economic impact too! Im glad Chapek was honest in saying late April. The rides department at DOSH in Southern California isn’t that big...and now they’ll have to inspect literally every ride in so cal! Each inspection is typically 2-4 days since it involves watching technicians perform inspections, watching ride operations open and operate the ride, perform a mock evacuation of the ride, and auditing all the paperwork of both operations and technical services. And that’s just the rides. I’m sure local health departments will be all up in the parks too inspecting covid safety stuff and food venues. It is going to be a massive undertaking for all parks. But at least there is an end in sight. Newsom finally relented.

This is actually an interesting thought. Let's take a few things out of the equation. Looking strictly at the Roller Coasters ONLY. NOT: Operations, weather, crowds, price, other rides, atmosphere, food, etc. I would say these five in no particular order: Cedar Point, SFMM, Busch Gardens Tampa, Hersheypark, Nagashima Spaland I chose these for a well rounded lineup of stuff that I at least personally like as well as quantity. For less well rounded and less quantity I would probably throw in Holiday Park, Knoebels, and Sea World Orlando.

Great! Wish I could go again. But I can't. Still hope that everything works out, both for organizers and attendees. Bert and Snoopy, with myself holding them up. After a Sunday afternoon of BBQ, friends and drinks at Famous Dave's. CoasterMANIA! 2017 Weekend.

Best photos I've seen so far. Awesome work.

Great photos! Thank you for sharing

Amazing photos... especially that Port of Entry one.

To each their own man....but just by looking at Google satellite maps I have to call BS on your claim of their waterpark being better than Hurricane Harbor NJ. And "it's better than SFA" isn't exactly the biggest claim to fame....

Well I was there this past Sunday; temperatures were about 45 degrees which kept the crowds minimal. Everything (except for Ragin Cajun) was one train operations. Early in the season, I was surprised at how quick they was moving, though Superman: Ride of Steel did get stuck on the brake run a couple of times! (it's currently running the Red train, the blue one is on the transfer track). The Macho Nacho place does have the shrimp quesadillas/shrimp tacos, but oddly enough I was NOT able to use my dining pass on either of those; specifically I was told that those items weren't even on the meal plan! I was thinking internally to myself "Look numb-nuts, those items are listed on your board as being able to use the dining pass on!". But I just walked away .... thinking "maybe early in the season, their systems aren't updated yet". Yeah it's the 2nd GCI ever built (and the ONLY one that runs with PTC trains as far as I'm aware) which means it's bumpy as frick; but in colder weather, I can tolerate this coaster. And I'm also aware that said trains are shipped up to PTC in the off-season for refurbishment. I'm hoping for a future makeover (whether it's Millennium Flyer trains and Titan Track by GCI, Iron Horsed by RMC or even retracked and Timberliner trains by Gravity Group). Thumbs up to the Wild One; first roller coaster I ever did solo at the age of 7 (back in the Wild World era and way before I learned to sit in the middle rows of 2 x 3 x 4 PTC trains!).

Judging rides before they open is literally half the reason this website exists, so maybe don't reprimand people for doing it. Fact is it looks slow AF thru much of the first part of the ride - you don't need to experience the ride firsthand to notice this. Now the question of whether or not this is a good or bad thing is completely up to the individual rider. I think it'll be cool to have a scenic jaunt around the rockwork and other theming at a slower pace in the first half, which will give good separation between the two halves, but not everyone will have the same opinion.

I try my best. But seriously how many times are people going to judge a ride before it's actually open based on some testing videos? This isn't anything new, just wait to ride the thing before calling it slow, or bad, or disappointing or whatever. Personally I think it's kind of cool to have the first half of the ride be a little slower through the scenic elements and the rockwork, then hit a mid course launch into a second half that's way more intense and exciting. It's such a brilliant design concept that it's almost like they planned it that way or something.......

You know that Cedar Fair runs this event in Canada and both other major parks in the region run Christmas events with basically their full parks open, right? If their attendance sucked they have nobody to blame but themselves. The weather in Kansas City is fine.

As predicted by many of us on this site who know about how parks run, it was announced today that Disneyland will NOT open April 1, but hopes to open in some capacity by late April! Woo!

Imagine having no desire to ride a perfectly decent coaster lol.

For my own sanity, I'd rather La Ronde get Vipere than something I might get the urge to ride...

I still maintain that it was SFMM that ruined the ride and it could run great in another park. Granted, La Ronde is probably not the park to do it right but there's always a chance!!!

Nice report. That’s cool that they’re alerting guests of changing elevations. If only there were some kind of ride that could magically take guests up or down that steep hill near Lickskillet on like a cable or something... that would be some crazy sh*t, right?