Zand

Beast Mountain Coaster - Killington, VT on Memorial Day. Despite being a diehard skier for 20 years, this was somehow my first mountain coaster. It was crazier and more of a laugh fest than I imagined it would be and I have to admit I hit the brakes a couple times! There's a good number of these in New England so I'll definitely be seeking them out. Don't have any pictures of the layout as it's totally in the woods, but theres a few pops of very unrefined airtime and some good turns with a pretty intense helix near the end. Summer skiing and then driving a quarter mile down the road to a coaster made for a great day!

Seems like a weird thing to just kind of...not announce. Sure $7 isn't much money and a lot less than seperate gate waterparks usually charge. But I can forsee a lot of disgruntled people and negative reviews being left.

I noticed a few flying around on my one ride 2 weeks ago. I'm surprised but not surprised that they haven't done anything to mitigate the situation. I'll be back in 3 weeks so it better be running, wasps or not lol.

I'm the last person to ever actually ride Rapids rides, but I found it kind of ridiculous that Infinity Falls AND the Rapids at BGT are both down for maintenance in May. Shouldn't that be a winter project?

Maybe Knoebels will have RMC convert Phoenix just to get people's heads to totally explode. I like Wildcat a lot more than Lightning Racer but neither one has a very inspired layout. Nor do many GCIs, IMO. Maybe RMC could do both at once

When I had my pretzel at BGT I had to keep looking down at the paper with the logos on it to remind myself I was actually at a Busch Gardens. They were decent, but I set my expectations way too high after BGW lol. Garden Gate not having food was pretty lame. Even worse was looking for an alternative to Zambia Smokehouse, then coming across a food place near the Log Flume which had a menu of...Chicken Fingers. That's it, that's all. Same chain as Williamsburg. Sure. Sure was hungry for convenience but BGT was more hungry to have me stand in a hot as balls 40 minute line instead.

When I was there Giraffe Bar was open but the new restaurant in the same building still said "coming soon". Not sure if that's what he was referring to. The only food in there was the pizza place. I still can't believe BGT only has 3 air conditioned restaurants that aren't Chick-fil-a. F*cking SFNE has 3 air conditioned restaurants and is like 1/3rd the size and hits 90 degrees about 250 less times per year.

Maybe that's actually the new SeaWorld coaster and B&M is going to tell RMC where to shove their outward banked turns?

Been raining there most of the day. They basically use the Cedar Point method when it rains. Candy is closed too. Been there once on a rainy day and Great Bear was the only major coaster open. You know...the only coaster that will leak grease on you the whole ride when it's wet.

I keep forgetting that this isn't a CF park lol...I almost got burned at Cedar Point AND Kings Island last Memorial Day weekend because they sold out days in advance. Preordered one of my CP days so at least I had that one. So yeah, I absolutely will wait and see how the park looks that day but continue leaning towards not buying one. I can't really use the Sunday before as a guide because it's Memorial Day Weekend but I'll keep an eye on the next 3 Sundays.

Fixed the original press release. WTF even is this thing? It's like someone made a bet that a ride worse than Green Lantern could not ever be designed and "Ride Engineers Switzerland" (had to look that one up on RCDB) said "hold my crack pipe."

So I'm thinking about doing something kind of insane but here's the back story... For the past 3 or 4 years, my wife had been asking when we were going to go back to Florida since we hadn't been since 2012. My answer was always "When Iron Gwazi opens, we will go to Florida." True to my word, within a month and change of the ride opening, down to Florida we went. Even when we walked into Islands of Adventure last Monday, I looked at VelociCoaster and said "this is the secondary reason for this trip!" then proceeded to fall in love with the damn thing. Finally, on Sunday we made our way to Tampa to finally ride the coaster that was the main reason for this trip (and the main reason for putting it off for 3 years). Naturally, after 6 days in the hot sun Sunday would be the first super humid day of our trip and after getting one somewhat disappointing ride in the morning (and pledging to return in the afternoon instead of immediately using the one-time IG skip the line pass that I paid an extra $30 for) I spent the whole middle of the day feeling ready to pass out. One thing led to another, I ended up not returning to the front of the park until 6:00 and as soon as I made my way into the IG station, the storms blew up and ended the day far too early. SO.... On Sunday June 5th my plan is to fly to Tampa early in the AM (on points), Uber to the park, spend the day (AAA has a good deal on admission + dining pass which is cheaper than just admission on the BGT website), stay at the Hampton Inn across the street that I stared at through the pouring rain last week, then Uber to the airport Monday morning and fly home (also on points). With points taking care of the flights, I would only need to pay for Uber, the park ticket, and one night at the hotel which, all told, should be in the $300 range. My one and (probably only) question regards Quick Queue. This past Sunday 5/1 QQ felt like a total waste of money. If you could get unlimited IG, it would be one thing. But the park was pretty dead, the rides in the back were walk ons all day save for Kumba which inexplicably ran one train. The front of the park had small lines in the AM, but was deserted after 5PM. This potential trip will be exactly 5 weeks later, also on a Sunday. How much busier (if at all) would the park be in early June compared to early May (assuming similar weather)? With my own experience in mind, I'm definitely leaning towards not buying one, but does the park get significantly busier in the next few weeks? I haven't booked any of this yet, but would like to do so soon. I know no one here will find it weird that someone would make a special trip just to reride one coaster (more rides on Kumba, Montu, and Cheetah Hunt are also pluses, plus hopefully Falcon's Fury will reopen by then) but I feel kind of insane for considering this. I obsessed over getting back to Great Adventure after getting shutout on Jersey Devil opening day last year, and did the 8-hour round trip two days later to go back and ride it. This feels similar, only it's more expensive and 1200 miles further.

To be honest, I feel like buying QQ was a waste of money. Especially with IG only getting 1 ride (which of course I never got the chance to use). It would be different if IG was unlimited. Otherwise, I skipped ~30 minute lines for Cheetah Hunt and Cobra's Curse early on but when I returned in the afternoon they were total walk ons. Montu was running half empty. The only other time I skipped any kind of line with QQ was Kumba with its one train ops. Even Scorpion, Sand Serpent, and Tigris were 5 minute waits or less midday. I just wish I could've had QQ for that shitshow at the Smokehouse lol. I have to admit I was shocked at how dead the park was. I thought maybe I was having crowd withdrawal after Universal and Disney but on one of my Montu rides I could see that they had maybe 4 rows of cars beyond the tram station. Unlike Cedar Fair they didn't jack the price up on QQ last minute or take them off sale on site, so next time I will definitely wait and see how the crowds look.

Manta. After this trip, here's my Florida top 15 (Mummy was closed and I haven't ridden it in 10 years so I omitted it). 1. Velocicoaster, 2. Mine Blower, 3. Montu, 4. Kumba, 5. Hulk, 6. Iron Gwazi, 7. Cheetah Hunt, 8. Mako, 9. White Lightning, 10. Manta, 11. Everest, 12. Ice Breaker, 13. Sheikra, 14. Space Mountain, 15. Kraken. Go ahead and rip it apart. Mine Blower for life.

I feel like we kinda got screwed up on the layout by taking the train (which was fantastic BTW) from near Cheetah Hunt to Kumba. If we just walked, the park does form a complete circle. But it does suck being stuck past Sheikra near the kids area just trying to find air conditoned dining (after walking past the line out the door at Zambia Smokehouse), then finding out the Garden Gate Cafe doesn't serve food. So you try heading to Dragon Fire Grill which might as well be in another area code because you have to go all the way around the park to get to it even though as the crow flies its not that far, then by the time you get around the bird enclosure you're ready to pass out and say f*ck it and just wait in the Smokehouse line. There are a few smaller areas that are confusing as well, such as the aforementioned Sheikra area as well as trying to get into Pantopia from the Tigris area and figuring out which dead end looking path is the correct one. And I didn't even know until after that there is a path from Cheetah Hunt that connects up near Dragon Fire so I totally missed the Hippos.

I want to apologize to the people I laughed at when they said Cedar Fair or Six Flags have better operations than the SEAS parks. To clarify, Mako was running 1 train with 2+ minute dispatch times (on a B&M hyper with no seat belts) and ride ops who let the train sit on the brake run a few times because they weren't paying attention. End result was a 45 minute wait when the park is nearly empty and Kraken kept flying by with 8 people in the train. Charging nearly $100 per person to watch your star coaster run 1 train with terrible dispatch times should be considered a form of larceny. Ice Breaker was a hoot but definitely a strange coaster. A couple good pops of air. And a walk on because they were actually running 2 trains and usually dispatching trains before the one before it came back. Whale show was great as always and also saw the Sea Lion and Otter show which was cute and humorous. Made my way back towards the front, riding Atlantis for the first time after a 30 minute wait. Acceptable amount of wetness in the back seat felt fantastic on a day like today, but glad I didn't sit in the front and drown on that little hill. The whole ride is actually really well done, felt like I was back at Disney. Hopped into the back on Kraken which was a walk on and this is starting to,get a bit brutal in some spots. Maybe it was the half empty train, but you can visibly see the cars shaking in some spots. The zero G was particularly brutal. It's a pretty forceful ride (though not to be confused with Kumba, Montu, or Hulk) but I can see why it's kinda becoming unpopular with the general public. Paint job looks great though. Hit Manta after a 10 minute wait or so. This has the greatest queue of any ride at any park. Super air conditioned with waterfalls at the beginning and aquariums the rest of the way. Anyway, it's a fun ride with its swooping around fountains and palm trees, what isn't fun is getting stacked on the brake run for 3+ minutes in the flying position. As much as I wanted to stay and see more shows and animals, the lack of shade on a 90 degree day after 9 straight days in the Florida heat was starting to get to us so we quit early. Other than the atrocious ops at Mako, we had a much better day there than at Busch Gardens and next time I would love to hit it early in a trip so we have more energy to see the other shows and exhibits.

Day ended up going from bad to worse at the end. After riding a fun Scorpion (what Schwarzkopf isn't fun?) and the lousy Mouse (standard layout but no bunny hill near the end...what gives?) we headed back to the front of the park. I first turned toward Montu and got two back right rides on that and then a front row ride on Cheetah. Then made my way over to use my one QQ on Iron Gwazi, got into the station, and...thunder. Went down to the covered area near the front gate and waited it out. Around 7 it stopped raining and thundering so went back to IG where they were letting people into the station, but kept saying the whole park was down for lightning (even though that storm had totally dissipated and the closest storm was about 10 miles southwest of Lakeland so...IDK) so admitted defeat at 7:30 and left. I'm pretty upset I never got to use my QQ for Gwazi but at the same time I could've just gone that way instead of going to Montu and Cheetah for more rides on those. Truth be told, I think I instinctively did it because I think they're better coasters. While I wanted to get that coveted back seat ride on IG to really judge how much I liked it, I was underwhelmed by my front seat ride and honestly can't remember more than one or two spots that are memorable to me. I literally don't remember the death roll or wave turn because they didn't really stand out to me. I'm sure it would grow on me if I rode it in back, but I honestly left the park thinking it's the 4th best coaster in the park and that Mine Blower is a better coaster. I do want to go back and hopefully have a better visit next time and get more rides on IG, but my opinion of the park operations, layout, and food options literally fall somewhere in the SFA category after today. Lunch at the Smokehouse was the 2nd most miserable dining experience I've ever had (after Krusty Burger). Ended up being 36 minutes in line because there were 2 people serving food slow as molasses while 5 others were f*cking around doing nothing behind them. Ended up with a super soggy pulled pork sandwich. Rapids, Skyride (which I knew about), Falcons Fury, Looping Starship all closed. Lots of food/drink stands closed. Flume down a good chunk of the day. Kumba running one train with a 30 minute line. Saw instances on Sheikra and Montu where the gates still weren't even open by the time the previous train returned. I hate being mostly negative but I call it like it is. Part of me never wants to go back there again but I know how good the park is supposed to be so I'll be back someday. Seaworld tomorrow then this trip is history.

I've been sitting here at the pretzel place (which is the only redeeming proof that I'm actually in a Busch park) and I wish I was exaggerating when I say Scorpion has been sending trains almost as rapidly as Sheikra. Like...who TF has 3 minute dispatch times on a B&M dive coaster? Hitting IG, Montu, and Cheetah one more time then honestly heading back to Fun Spot for the evening. Maybe my expectations were too high based on the reviews people give this place and based on the fact it has Busch Gardens in its title. I didn't expect getting the full Six Flags America experience instead lol.

Not sure if I just got super spoiled by being at Universal for 5 days, but damn is this place miserable. Log Flume closed, Rapids closed, Skyride closed, coasters either running 1 train or the ones with multiple are stacking the crap out of them. There are 3(?) air conditioned restaurants in the whole park but the layout of this place blows so it's a 10+ minute walk to get anywhere. Currently in a full queue for Zambia Smokehouse which is at least out of the sun but not really any cooler. I can't believe this is the same park company as Williamsburg. If i didn't have quick queue I would've left already. The food situation is almost making me want to leave anyway. Willamsburg has food every 5 feet, this place has like 7 food places and two of them are Chik-fil-a so out of luck with that today. Even with the great coaster lineup I can't see myself driving back here on my next Orlando trip. Like I said, maybe I got too spoiled by Universal because I didn't really my night at enjoy Magic Kingdom either. But this is the second major park in a row that I've been to where I keep saying I'd rather be at Great Adventure right now. Anyway, I'm about half done with the coaster lineup so far. Started with Iron Gwazi in front, great ride but kind of underwhelming compared to Steel Vengeance or even Velocicoaster but will ride in back later as I hear that is the better seat. Cheetah was actually really good and if they got the soft straps then it would be close to elite. No one will confuse it for Maverick but I really liked it. Rode Montu in the back right. The Batwing was insane but this is another one I probably played up too much in my head as I think I prefer Banshee and Raptor. Cobra's Curse was excellent, not much spinning but super fun and unique. Rode Kumba in the back right and yeah...insane. Zero G roll and cobra roll are batshit and it really carries a lot of speed right to the end. It shuffles quite a bit and is a headache inducer but the ride is so insane that it's worth going back to later. Currently 20 minutes into the Smokehouse line and finally starting into the final switchback where it is hot as hell, so, if I don't pass out, hope to report back on Sheikra, Scorpion, and back of Iron Gwazi!

So this trip was all about Velocicoaster and Iron Gwazi. But going in, I knew Mine Blower was quite the polarizing coaster and that usually means I'll like it. Verdict: OMFG! Is it rough? Absolutely. Is it one of the best and most insane wooden coasters on Earth? Also absolutely! Don't ever leave without riding it in back. Also, the Hurricane coaster in the back of Old Town might be one of the more frightening coasters I've ridden. It's so janky and the cars feel like they might fly off on any of those tight mouse style turns. What a bizarre coaster, but fun nonetheless! I did stop at FSO earlier and White Lightning is good pure fun! Nothing mind blowing (or...mine blowing if I do say so myself) but worth stopping in.

Alright, Disney TR time from Friday 4/29. Just gonna put it in here as I spent the majority of my time at MK, but will include some notes on Epcot and AK as well. I bought Genie+ as it's a whopping $15 and it honestly made a big difference, especially in the afternoon when we got to MK. Started the day at Epcot with an already booked time at Test Track for 10:15. Upon arrival, I hit Mission Space (5 min wait) for the first time which was pretty fun. Then went over to Test Track for the first time since they "updated" it. It's definitely not as fun as it used to be, but at least the outdoor section is still good. We were able to make a pick at 10:30 and decided on Soarin as Frozen didn't have anything until 5:30 when we would already be at MK. Made a lap around the world checking out the flower festival topiaries and food/drinks selections. Love this section of Epcot and the festival only added to the fun. Rode the Mexico Boat Ride which was air conditioned and otherwise fun to sit for a few minutes. Once around the lake we hit Figment which was cute (wife wanted to ride it lol) then our time for Soarin came up and we rode that. Got an end seat unfortunately so got to look at a bunch of curvy landmarks such as the Bent Eiffel Tower and sideways Mt Everest. Made another selection at 12:30 and seeing as we had already completed Epcot and MK wasnt filling very fast, we took advantage of a 2:45 time for Expedition Everest and planned to pop into AK for a bit. On the way out we of course stopped at Spaceship Earth for a walk on. Always fun to hit that after the masses move on. With our Hopper going going live at 2, we drove over to AK for a quick ride on Everest. Not my greatest idea as it was a lot of walking across the lot and back plus to the back of the park just to ride one coaster, but Everest is worth it. A bit shorter than I remember but the backwards section is fun and the theming is tremendous. Hope to return here soon to check out Pandora! Took our time heading out from there and got to TTC right around 4:30 and after tramming and monorailing got into MK around 5. Our first Genie reservation wasn't until 6:30 at Splash Mountain and we had food pickup at Casey's at 5:40 so we shopped and the wife pin traded for a while. At 5:40 we headed to Casey's where we were directed into the longest line and it took at least 10 minutes to pick up the food. Kind of defeats the purpose of mobile ordering. Also not many tables left inside and what was open was not cleaned at all. Very unexpected to see this in a Disney park. On the way to Splash Mountain we waited 30 mins for Pirates which was fun as always, although I don't remember having like 12 boats stack up near the end like they were yesterday. Continued over to Splash Mountain which broke down 3 times while we were on it and ended up spending 34 minutes on the ride. It looked like a scene out of RCT with a bunch of logs stacked up inside and stuck on lifts at random points. This caused the water in the inside part to get really choppy and at one point a wave went over the "door" and totally soaked the lower half of our bodies. It was kind of entertaining at first but honestly once we were soaked it got pretty miserable. Managed to get a Thunder Mountain reservation aligned with the Splash Mountain one so we headed over there and thankfully got a normal ride in on it. Great theming and some good air pops as well. Started heading back across the park as we had Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain reservations, but as we got to Haunted Mansion the fireworks started and it was a walk on. Simply put, one of the best rides on Disney property and I always look forward to it when we go. Went over to Seven Dwarfs as I still have never ridden it and hoped the line died down during the fireworks but unfortunately still 1:05 posted so the wife did more pin trading while we waited for 9:30 to come for Space Mountain. I don't know how a coaster with a 28 MPH top speed can be so insane and have so much airtime, but god do I love this thing. Hit the always entertaining Peoplemover before heading out. Love how it goes into Space Mountain and also had some cool views of Tron's construction. Headed out around 10:45 and the monorail got stuck at Grand Floridian for nearly 25 minutes while they "removed a monorail train ahead out of service" (right at park closing?!?!?). We were tired from the long day and still had wet underwear from Splash Mountain's malfunctions, and getting stuck in a crammed monorail car hammered home the feeling that we had just visited a Six Flags park instead of the flagship Disney park. Looking forward to getting back to the resort soon to get to ride the Avatar stuff, Star Wars stuff, and Toy Story stuff for the first time. But yeah, MK was a disappointing night overall and if it weren't for Tron I wouldn't even go there next trip. Currently 18 hours away from riding a certain purple RMC, can't wait for tomorrow!

First time in Florida? Lol...this is the average forecast for like 300 days out of the year. And definitely not rain all weekend. I'll be there tomorrow too...first time! Got QQ with 1 Gwazi ride included lined up, but will go there first to make sure I get at least 2 rides on it. So pumped to finally get to this place.

Haha...I couldn't help but think they were doing a damn good job making it exactly like it would be in the show lol.

Final day at Universal, pretty much just hit the favorites. Kinda slept late and ended up heading into IOA around 12:30, at which we immediately boarded the Hogwarts Express to check out the return trip that we got denied on Monday. It was a big mistake. Not because the train was a problem, but because leaving IOA was the wrong decision. Started off with a couple favorites, the Simpsons and ET with short waits. That was followed up with quite frankly the worst dining experience I've ever had at a Theme Park (and this is coming from someone who's had a Six Flags as a home park for 22 years). I rather enjoy the Simpsons and I made it a point to eat at Krusty Burger on this trip. We arrived to a line out the "side door" which we waited in for 5 minutes before being directed to a maze (which was out of view when you walked in) where we spent 45 minutes before finally getting to the front of that line and being directed to the burger line, which took another 10 minutes because they were literally filling ONE ORDER AT A TIME and taking about 2 minutes each to do so. And then you get directed to another line to get drinks. Finally after cashing out, we sat in the sh*thole dining room full of dirty tables and a screaming child next to us. The burger frankly sucked. Six Flags could never possibly suck this bad and I can't believe this could happen at Universal. Don't ever waste your time with this place, no matter how big of a Simpsons fan you might be. After wasting an hour and 30 minutes on that debacle, we finally got the hell out of Springfield and headed up to Diagon Alley as I wanted to reride Gringotts and hopefully come away with a better opinion than the first time. The wait was only 25 minutes in the singles line. After boarding one of the most uncomfortable trains ever built (imagine an RMC or Premier seat but your feet are forced even further underneath you) we were off and...I still don't get the hype. This isn't even the best dark ride/coaster combo in this park (which is unfortunately down for rehab). It's fun, don't get me wrong, and they did a great job with the theming and all. Just very underwhelming after reading the reviews on it. By then it was pushing 4:30 and I was wasting time that could be spend racing dinosaurs. I made another time wasting mistake on the way through City Walk by grabbing a hurricane at Fat Tuesdays. I figured since I bought it on property I would be able to bring it in (since you can bring anything else in including outside food) but they told me to finish it before going in. Once in IOA (just walking into this place feels so much better than Studios, that entry has a magical feeling to it) I managed to hit Hulk twice, Spiderman, Cat in the Hat, the good Potter ride, and Velocicoaster twice including a coveted night time backseat ride to finish off the night. Same stuff I covered yesterday so no reason to elaborate again other than it was quite a bit busier than yesterday. But there are some great crews in this park and they keep the lines moving always. That's all for Universal but this trip is only half done!

Fun night with @PKI Jizzman getting night rides on this beast! Look how short the line was! Went into IOA around 3 and was once again treated to walk ons and short lines everywhere. In the first hour I was able to ride Hulk twice, Dr Doom, and Spiderman twice. Forgot how fantastic Spiderman is, definitely one of my favorites from either park. Made my way around for a few first-to-me rides, starting with a quick 5 minute wait for Kong. This was terrific and IMO much better than F&F. River Adventure was next, also a first for me on an IOA classic. Kind of cheesy, but really fun and naturally we absolutely drowned after watching people come off bone dry. Always seems to work out that way for me! Went over to Poseidon, also for the first time. While it is a bit time consuming, it's a fantastic attraction with tons of cool effects. Didnt know what to expect going into it, but it really delivered with the wow factor a few times! Hit Velocicoaster next and went to row 2 to get the front experience without actually being in front. The first half of the ride really stands out up here. Seems like a lot more great ejector moments and that dive loop is mental up there. Met up with @PKI Jizzman at the Hogs Head for a beer and we made our way into the line for Forbidden Journey. Well, joke was on us. The ride was a total walk on and we had to stand aside for a few minutes to finish our beers! Anyway, this is by far the best dark ride I've ever ridden and I can never get enough. It pulls off the flying effect perfectly and there are so many great sets. Such a home run. Finished up the night with a couple mental night rides in the back on Velocicoaster. You can't see in the first half and some of those turns are surprisingly forceful when you can't see them coming. The air over the top hat is second to none in the back and then the barrel roll blows my mind. Every. Damn. Time. So sad I have to leave this thing behind after tomorrow. Great to meet a new TPR member, thanks for hanging out Zach! Down to one more Universal day, then it's off to the Mouse.