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Everything posted by Zand
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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)
Zand replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
The pretzel place at BGW by Verbolten and the Drop Tower is one of my favorite food places anywhere, so if it's anything like that then I very much look forward to it! -
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)
Zand replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Seeking advice! Doing a no-Disney Florida trip 4/24-5/2. Will be at Universal Sunday thru Thursday. Rented a car Friday through Monday when we leave at 2:30. I bought a 2 day 2 park ticket to use at Seaworld and BGT. My current plan is to go to Seaworld on Friday and Busch on Sunday and avoid Saturday. I've been to Seaworld once (on a weekday in January like 10 years ago, it was deserted) and dont plan on getting QQ, as there's plenty of time in one day to hit everything they have to offer. I've never been to BGT so I have,no idea what to expect for crowds on a Sunday mid spring now that spring break is over but summer vacations aren't starting yet. QQ unlimited is $100 and then $130 to include 1 ride on Iron Gwazi. Obviously I want a ride or two on that, but otherwise I'll be happy to spend most of the day on the B&Ms. Should I plan on buying QQ (and can I buy it in the park if necessary or does it sell out?) or are Sundays in early May not too bad? Also, if anyone has any strategy advice on what to hit early/late to avoid crowds as well as best food at each park, any help is great! Really looking forward to especially BGT but there's so much new to me stuff at all the parks so the whole week will be a blast. -
Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread
Zand replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I experienced the best and worst of Cedar Point's inconsistent policy in the same night last Memorial Day. I rode Steel Vengeance and it had NO line (well... except for in the clusterf*ck tunnels after the lockers but we won't mention that) but they closed off the line at 7:25 with an 8pm close. I got off at 7:45, had time to get on the train, ride through Boneville, get off and walk over to the still open Millennium Force line at 7:57. It was a walk on, and as we came around the last overbank I saw people STILL getting into the line at 8:05. Back in the station they had popped open the magic gate and I got two more rides on it. The night before, as far as I could tell, they closed every line in the park by 7:50. It's a total crapshoot. Hopefully someday when staffing gets better (hahahahaha), Cedar Point will go back to their old policy of keeping almost every major ride's line open 5-10 minutes past park close. If the park is mobbed and you don't mind being there till 1am, you can get in line for something with a 3 hour line right at closing and no matter how long the line is, they'll get you on. I remember going to the park the year TTD opened and they were still running it at 4am one night. I'm sure we'll never see days like that again and it's understandable, but hopefully they'll at least get past the inconsistency of closing some lines 30+ minutes early while keeping other lines open 10+ minutes after closing and you pretty much have to cross your fingers that you're finishing your night at the correct ride. -
Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread
Zand replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
It's a start. But the Dale Earnhardt coaster and the alien coaster don't make sense in the jungle either lol. -
Six Flags [FUN] Corporate Discussion Thread
Zand replied to davidmorton's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I was too lazy to actually go to the page and read it before I posted...my bad. Glad existing memberships are staying intact for now. I just wouldn't be surprised to see pass prices go up closer to CF prices. And, like you said for memberships, they might raise those prices to a point where people say screw it and move on to regular passes. -
Six Flags [FUN] Corporate Discussion Thread
Zand replied to davidmorton's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I feel like with the (at one time anyway) change regarding season passes only being good at the home park, they might be going with the Cedar Fair method of cheapish passes for a pass for your home park and a more expensive pass to get to the whole chain. I feel like they lose tons of money on memberships (even my diamond membership with a dining pass membership is only $17 a month) and the new ownership is going to start tightening those strings. I feel like the price points will still be slightly below Cedar Fair's, but say goodbye to the insane deals you get now... Hopefully they let people already on memberships keep them, but not holding my breath. -
Has anyone stayed at Aventura or Cabana Bay that could recommend either one (or not recommend)? Planning a late April trip. Never intended on staying on site, but they have a pretty good deal for 5 days of park to park tickets and 5 nights at either hotel above for $1290 for 2 people. My original plan was to spend 3 days, and a 3 day park to park ticket costs $700 for 2 people. Then an off site room would still cost $100 a night plus daily transportation, so the way I see it its worth ~100 more to spend a couple more days and be able to go at a more leisurely pace. Last time I was at Universal was 2012, Dragons were still there and Forbidden Journey was the only Harry Potter attraction open. So between the new Harry Potter stuff and Velocicoaster I have a lot to look forward to! Plus I plan on hitting Seaworld and BGT at the end of the trip as well as the Fun spots. Disney will have to be its own trip some other year. I was leaning toward Aventura as they have the rooftop bar, but if anyone could let me know what they think it would be appreciated!
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You guys are killing me with all the Velocicoaster rankings. I've finally started planning on an April Orlando trip. I've purposely avoided Velocicoaster POVs and reviews because I want to ride something new where I don't know what to expect, which hasn't happened since I rode Skyrush for the first time (I kind of fell out of coaster enthusiasm in college, but we stopped at Hershey while traveling through PA because I at least knew they had two new Intamins, but I hadn't read any reviews and had no idea how f*cking insane Skyrush was going to be). I watched the Steel Vengeance POV a hundred times before I finally rode it, and despite some of the elements inside the structure still taking me by surprise, I knew what was coming for the most part. I don't want to ruin Velocicoaster for myself, but I'm still going to really expect insane things with all the #1 rankings I'm seeing. Also will be riding new to me stuff like Hagrids, Mako, IceBreaker (obviously), Kumba, Montu, Iron Gwazi (which is the reason I waited till 2022 to go to Florida, this will be my first time at BGT), and maybe even the FunSpot woodies so really expecting some changes to my list within a few months. Also still possible I end up at SFMM or Knott's next week, so maybe something from one of those will pop in.
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Maybe it's just temporarily not working? It seemed like there were quite a few effects not working now that I think about it. Guess I'll have to go to Knoebels and ride the Haunted Mansion to get my horn fix (or park next to Superman again...you can probably hear that damn horn from Philly). Forgot to mention, I am unreasonably proud of Great Adventure's guests for managing to let the Pine Barrens sign, which is a mere foot from a busy walkway, live through an entire season without vandalizing it. Well done, my extremely low expectations have been exceeded.
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Damn I wish I didn't have to leave early last night. Love plopping down on Nitro at like 8:00 and not getting up for an hour. Did that on NYE 2 years ago and was treated to firework shows in almost every direction. Not sure I would've stayed late if I had the choice though - I got soaked by the sudden downpour on Skyscreamer and was dressed for the upper 50s, so riding coasters with a light but soaked sweatshirt and temps in the 30s wouldn't have been much fun. Early shift is worth it too though. Maybe 300 people there at opening, and 290 of them went towards Nitro/JDC so the Boardwalk was like a personal playground for an hour or so.
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Closing Day report: Arrived about 20 minutes prior to opening. When the gates opened I decided to head left to the Boardwalk as I usually skip that stuff. Flew with the Man of Steel on its first 2 rides of the day, both in back. First train had 3 total people and the second was pretty filled up, and the speed difference was noticeable. Moved over to Green Lantern next for a front row ride. Unpopular opinion, but this is a better coaster than Bizarro. Shame me all you want. Smoother and more forceful. Other than the lack of a zero-g, this is better. Took a walk on Parachute ride which is always fun. Can't believe this thing is still standing and running in 2022, but here we are. Also running next door was Twister, which I rode solo and got 7 or 8 flips on the come out roll. When it's running like that, why even bother with Joker? As I was walking towards the other side of the park, the gates for Houdini opened and I hopped on to be the first rider of the day. Effects all working which was nice. By then the clock was striking 2:00 and I had already managed 6 rides. As I continued walking across, I took note of how every single ride was open as well as the vast majority of food stands, shops, games, and plenty of characters as well. Eat your heart out Cedar Fair, Six Flags managed to staff a park better and get more open in January than you did in mid summer. Hit the back row of Skull Mountain next, followed by the back row of Nitro which has been kind of ruined by Diamondback for me. The airtime is far better in southern Ohio. Nitro is kind of the Millennium Force of the park to me...big fast and fun, but you could take a nap on it. I love both, but time has kind of passed them by on being list-toppers. Nitro was running two trains and usually there was a good 30 second wait after dispatch for the next train to come back, once again reminding me that I wasn't at a Cedar Fair park. Got 3 consecutive rides on JDC next, one in front and two near the middle. The ejector moments are great in front, but I think I like the back more just for the first drop. 2 of 4 trains running here, more than enough to keep up with today's small crowd. From there I did a loop through Gotham, hitting Batman in back, Mouse in a Box, Wonder Woman, and Justice League (which had a 25ish minute line, by far the largest i saw today). Fun rides on all. The truck horn effect on Dark Knight no longer works (although Superman would later hook me up, as I parked right next to its station and they blasted the horn on it right when I got to my car). By then it was getting dark, and while I could've stayed till closing the wife had prior commitments that required us to be back in MA at a reasonable hour. Last night was supposed to be the night riding session, but the park closed for inclement weather that never really happened. I got my Pork Kabobs from Jersey Devil BBQ which are always fantastic. Hit JDC one more time after a 10 minute wait, once again getting the middle. This thing was f*cking flying by now and I can't wait to marathon it next year during HITP. Last coaster ride was Nitro up front, my only night ride on it this year unfortunately but always a good one. On the way out we decided to hit the Skyscreamer. When we sat down it started to drizzle and naturally when we got in the air, the skies opened up and some gusts of wind came through. After being pretty hot and sweaty all day (on January effing 2nd) suddenly the day was gonna end cold and wet. Still a ton of fun, but after that it was time to call it quits. Call me crazy, but even though the World's tallest coaster, World's tallest Freefall ride, World's best wooden coaster, World's best ejector air Mine Train, the World's most mediocre purple B&M, and the Log Flume are all closed I vastly prefer going to Great Adventure during HITP over going midseason. The atmosphere of the park is so much better, the usual ornery crowd is calmed down, and the coaster lineup still kicks ass (even more so with the addition of JDC). I honestly don't even feel like I miss those rides when I go this time of year. It's an amazing event and I know some parks are cutting it next year, but hopefully there's no change to this one. Pics in the FB group since my phone is being uncooperative with posting here for some reason.
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Looks like it might a permanent part of the menu at that BBQ joint and no longer just a Christmas item. I might be too fat for El Toro by the end of next summer if that's the case.
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I hope this is a confirmation that they have them this year. I dont see them on the GADV site but was hoping it's just an incomplete list of HITP food offering. Knowing I might be about ~28 hours from eating one makes me very hungry.
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Thanks for the input everyone. Likely only have the one day, and the more I think about it the more I lean towards Knotts if I have to stick to one park. After watching QueueTimes the last couple days, SFMM has had multiple coasters down each day (on top of the expected Batman closure) and I'm guessing a lot of those might kinda extend through the "offseason". On the other hand, Knotts looked to be 100% open and as long as GhostRider, Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, Montezooma, and Hangtime are open I'll be happy. I figure if SFMM announces a pending closure of something before I have time to do a proper LA trip, I could just hop on a plane and go for a weekend.