PKI Jizzman

Here's a photo dump for the rest of the visit! We never got to ride ET over 4 days, it broke down every time we got in line (3x) Never got on Rip Ride Rocket either due to weather, mechanical, or a 90 minute express wait. Mummy still kicks so much ass and might be the best example of a themed coaster. MiB still holds up. I have such a soft spot for Escape from Gringott's, I love that weird coaster so much. The airtime in the back row on Jurassic Park always hits so well. Fearfall was a new ride for me, welp so I did that! F&F is Cringe: The Ride. From the staff, the premise of the ride "don't touch your phone!!!!", the stupid club scene and the other 100 things wrong with this waste of space. The Bourne Stunt Show was totally worth the time investment, definitely glad TPR called that out! Hagrid's was new for me and honestly there was a lot about this coaster I forgot about! I intentionally avoided videos and pictures where I could since I didn't even experience the DD area/queue. I was pretty surprised with how creepy/dark/semi claustrophobic the line gets down in those caves. Hagrid's ran very consistently every day and the crew seemed to move as fast as they could. Over 3 rides, I got near the front and back and it's just so much fun. It's pretty crazy what all this ride does and how it was put together, but I totally understand those who prefer Dragons. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday we would go to dinner 4:30-5:30 and re-enter the park only to have storms and lightning end our nights early. Honestly I think we left soaking wet each night. We either waited for a night ride on Hagrid or Veloci, but never got rides, but we did get specific express passes exclusive for Hagrid/VC. Finally on Friday we just balled out with them and we ended the night in an amazing fashion: Friday night there was one cell that seemed like it would pass by just in time right before closing to allow VC to open. Our luck was such shit, but this time it looked like we'd FINALLY get a night ride in! The crowd thinned and thinned and thinned, and we watched the ops talk back and forth, look at radar, and at this point our phones were in the lockers so we just hoped. We ended up getting 3 back to back to back rides without getting off the back seat as the crew cycled everyone through, and a lot waited for the front seat. So after 4 days of being tortured by mother nature we had a banger of a finish to the trip. You're the best VC crew! Oh yeah, the other new Intamin I need to ride! I wish there was a better area to just sip on a butterbeer and watch this thing cycle but I understand why. There's a number of well hidden surprises and it's just a big twisted mess of rock and steel. Sweet view of the castle! I think we waited 45-60 minutes in the morning, it was just that crazy at the park even first in the morning. Vroom vroom! Do we see this going on Express anytime soon? I don't know, it still seemed to be the most popular attraction by far. Ello there headmaster. Such a cool room! It never gets old! The raptor cage was working on a few of our rides, so cool to see that working. Suck it JK! Another one that never gets old and was the winner for best AC! That line was amazingly frigid! Florida, land of the OG B&M's. Was very happy to get some front seat rides on Hulk this visit. Hey babes. Oh yeah, forgot to do this last visit so uh, this was fine! The whole super hero island needs an update. Lunch at the Irish pub was very consistent with good food and great service. Brendan Frasier and Imotep, the classic rivalry I grew up with! Even though the franchise as slipped, this attraction will bring back all the good vibes from the original movies! Mmmm...beer. The only attraction that has made me nauseous. How dare they tease me with the original Irish Coffee. If you've never been, get your ass to San Francisco! Nailed it Just checking to see if I have any coins left in my account and that's not a good look. Such an awkwardly-acted scene. Get to the vault!!! After getting shit on by mother nature 3 days in a row and trying to get night rides, it's time to use all of the passes on the last day! The park closes in 10 minutes, we're in line for VC. Most of the queue emptied, we were in the raptor room just waiting for good news.....and it happened. Lightning held off and they opened the ride and we got 3 back to back rides without using our express. Wow. Just the best, honestly. What a way to end the trip! I really enjoyed what the front seat offered as well as the back. 2 incredible experiences. So long Universal. While this trip was far from perfect, it was amazing to be able to travel again, experience new attractions, and see friends! Can't wait to get back there! -Zach

Pretty surprised they won't be open at all in October.

I just got to talk to a few friends who visited and stayed and it sounds just perfect honestly! Exactly what you want when visiting a bucket list park

I'll post a trip report later but wow this park is beautiful. I get why this park isn't talked about much but there's hardly a spot that's ugly. Trees, flowers, mountain background, landscape, and short but sweet coasters with Gold Striker being the well rounded stand out.

Glad you got a second ride, towards the front too! I only rode front and back and loved them both for different reasons. Velocicoaster is such an amazing attraction!

Vortex is one of those travel channel restaurants that I've wanted to visit since a teen, haha. Glad to see it's still going and you had a great time!

I saw they didn't have October up yet and figured they would be open. I dm'd their Instagram so we'll see.

Is the park gonna be open in October? With Kennywood closing Curtain, looking at KK as a back up weekend of the 15th.

Welp, guess I'll be canceling my trip. "https://www.kennywood.com/ We regret to announce the Steel Curtain will be closed for maintenance for the remainder of the season. Our park team will be working closely with the ride’s manufacturer to ensure a roaring return next spring. Sorry the text is dark. Steel Curtain closed for the year.

I'm out of town weekend of October 15th. Gravity Group is legit though with what they did on Racer. Especially the blue side. I've usually gone for rerides when visiting.

Driving 7 hours each way for not even full day visits? You've gotta get FL if you want to have a good time/get multiple rides in. The operations are much slower this year compared to normal years, it's the only way to ride a bunch or rides.

I can only visit 9/12, and my flight gets in at noonish. I am seeing now that there's not even FL+, just FL for $75 for all attractions. Allllrrrriiiiiight!

During my 4 days the most common things I heard after riding were: "That was more fun than I remembered but it's too short" "I forgot about this!" "This is my 2nd choice when dragster is closed" "I haven't been on this since we took my sibling was doing the kiddie rides over there." I'll miss it, but you gotta believe it's part of a plan so there will be another park for it and there will be more concrete and garbage cans in the future

And as we approach fooseball season, I am assuming it will be ever more popular than usual. I'll be curious to see if they are worse than the Valravn or Cheetah Hunt or Falcon's Fury crews, haha. Those deserve as special place in theme park hell this year.

Anyone got advice? I guess I'll just budget for FL.

Visiting for the first time in 7 years next month. Looks like there's only 2 options for their Fast Pass: $130 VIP $59 skip the line on the coasters once each. For a Saturday in October and Steel Curtain only one train is the VIP pretty much the only way to get multiple rides on it? I'm assuming it's gonna be slammed on a fall Saturday.

4 Days of Universal Studios Finale! This portion of trip could be defined as 'ecstasy and torture' due to the weather, crowds, and bad luck, haha. I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I did and I can't recall the order of stuff, so I'll start off with an intro and Velocicoaster post. We stayed at the Royal Pacific, so express pass is included and you get the early entry, and the parks are a 10 minute walk away. Morning Day 1 was a reality check. Early Entry started at 8am, park opened at 9am. By the time we left the hotel at 730 the line to get into City Walk was almost to the path that leads to Royal Pacific. And it was not moving much at all. The line for the boat by that time was probably a bit less of a wait but we were already in this line and an HOUR later we get to City Walk. The massive line we were in ended with only 2 metal detectors. No wonder it took so long to get in. Never. Again. So after getting up and being hyped to get in the park, we were already pissed off. But wait, more confusion. My 4 day 2 park ticket that I bought was coming up as already used. Oh boy. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long to get help confirming the ticket had not been used, I had proof of purchase, etc. But all of that frustration started to melt away when I was Velocicoaster running. At this point it was close to park opening and VC had a 45 minute wait, which is totally fine, you really get to appreciate the coaster going through the whole queue. Velocicoaster: It's as amazing as I wanted it to be and more. The level of detail, commitment, creativity, design, to every inch of this attraction is awesome. It's as if every room has all been thoroughly double checked by multiple teams because I don't see any flaws anywhere. The locker system is efficient and easy. The lighting package for the area with how it changes and syncs is so eye catching. The raptors you see in the queue are too cool. There are Easter eggs everywhere. There's real talent in the pre show videos. Universal also kinda breaking the wall with saying "You asked for this. Faster. Crazier. More airtime. More speed. More teeth." Then you have the trains. They are special. They're so comfortable, your feet can't touch the ground, they give you something to hold onto. The ride itself completes the package and the crew/team running the ride makes Velocicoaster the best coaster on the planet. I can't compare it to Maverick, that's unfair. The Jurassic Park/World theming is awesome, this coaster is so perfect. The first half is pretty unique with a big blend of strong airtime, unexpected airtime, laterals, high speed turns, and the initial launch out into the paddock has some fun theming. Anyone else really love that mini roll back wiggle it does when you first arrive by the raptors? The second half really goes wild. I love how minimal the supports are on the top hat. Riding in the back seat, you really get to appreciate being up on that top hat, it feels like time pauses for a moment.... until you're absolutely ripped out of your seat down that drop. It's seriously amazing. The stall stretches for a long time to allow you to look around upside down, and then you've got crazy twisted airtime until the barrel roll over the lagoon which definitely deserves the title for best inversion. Somehow it tries to throw you in with a burst of airtime before you bounce up into the paddock/station. Thank you Universal and Intamin teams for this huge hit. This coaster is world class and it feels like a coaster from the future! What a way to start the day! It's finally my time! Loved this center piece. It's stunning. There was a fire alarm pulled or something on our first day, so we were able to get in a quick ride right when it re-opened! There's the most unique, crazy, intense burst of airtime here and it makes no sense! Yep, right here it's like an upside down airtime hill making you think you're going to end up in the lagoon. Hey Elissa! Don't sleep on Blue. Best coaster I've been on so far. Sorry DoDoDonpa. Sorry Maverick. Sorry Hakugei. Sorry i305, Skyrush, Phoenix, Outlaw Run, Millennium

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

Shows and parades aren't my thing, I saw a minute of song and dance walking by. I think CP has posted full videos on their socials

I stayed at Royal Pacific. In late June over 4 days, getting in line for park opening at 715am was not good enough. Either by boat or the sidewalk (which ends with *two* metal detectors) it took an hour to get in, and by then the lines were already 45 min +. Maybe that was height of craziness in June, but you've gotta get there eeeeeearly. I'd get up at 6am and head over at 645. Mind you this was all Tuesday-Friday June. From what I understood it was either boat, sidewalk, or walk all the way down to the opposite end of the resort to get a bus. Maybe I was unlucky but it really seemed like it was impossible to get in at 7am early entry unless you got up at 6am or earlier. If that's the way then fine, I guess I didn't know better.

It's amazing what you can accomplish when it opens on time, stays open all day, and all night. The big difference is that the new FL line goes all the way to the station, there just really wasn't more than a 10 minute wait for FL. Dragster's crew is always good, they call out for single riders every time there's a seat, so a number of times it was a walk on when I got called ahead! Morning rides are crazy, they really send that train over the hill! Closest I came to a rollback was 2 trains away, at night.

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!

Sounds like they are just having a pretty down year when it comes to quality of staff, that's too bad! Interesting to know that used to be a sit down Italian spot! The whole area over there is so pretty, they have a big opportunity there. A quick Sea World report is up next!

The new attractions at this park look incredible! Can't wait to see more as people visit.

I should be in town as well!