Skycoastin Steve

I may never go into the Festhaus ever again.

Five trains isn't that uncommon for a coaster. Most wild mouse coasters have that many. Major coasters like Maverick and TTD run with 5 (and Maverick runs with 6 most times).

Mikey is the master of all credit whores.

I've had some pretty bad rattling on MF before, but it wasn't as bad last year. Maverick and Fahrenheit both rattle kinda badly, as well. But I think overall, B&Ms tend to develop more rattle.

"Hold on tight, sit up straight, you're about to be Prowler bait....RAWRRR!!!"

When it comes to wheels, I've never been closely involved in operating an Intamin, but I do know Intimidator at Carowinds went through wheels pretty regularly its opening season.

Was Renegade better than Prowler? Also, did they have a crazy ride op making silly rhymes and saying chomp, chomp, RAWR!!

Here's an off-ride animation of the new GCI, as well as a back seat POV. Looks like fun! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBFa8ZSqZsI

^That must have been before they had restrictions for running roller coasters in the cold.

^^Agreed, Chuck, and there's probably still a lot that I didn't catch while I was there. Kinda crazy how all out they go with pretty much everything there.

^Ah, you're right, it is Brickbeard. My memory is getting worse by the day.

This is pretty much correct across the board for Carowinds' operations during the week, except Nighthawk is always two trains as long as both are operational and have no mechanical issues. If they had one train running on a day you were there, then it was probably an issue with the 2nd train that kept it off the track. The only time they purposely go down to one train on Nighthawk without mechanical problems is when it rains. Hurler typically has one train (and is still a walk on), so I guess you caught a rare weekday with two trains.

^Legos were all I ever played with besides marbles and matchbox cars. I used to build cathedrals. Well, more like big multi-colored cubes, but they were cathedrals in my mind.

^Pretty much on weekends only. FoF and Volcano usually run two every day, but even rides like Backlot only use one train on weekdays.

100% true, it's a travesty.

KD could eliminate the need for a Fast Pass on 305 if they would actually run both trains on weekdays. However, I understand that from a business standpoint, running one train = less staff, less wear and tear, lower maintenance costs, and people will buy Fast Passes. Still, it's annoying as hell when everything in the park except Volcano is a walk on and you still have to wait 20 minutes for 305 when there's a three train wait in the station.

Alright so the day after our Universal adventure, Jen and I ventured down to her hometown (Winter Haven) to check out Legoland and all their new offerings since being transformed from Cypress Gardens. I will admit that I was almost 100% in the dark about everything at Legoland. I didn't really know anything about the other parks, and I purposely avoided early trip reports from this one so I could have a genuine new experience at a park for the first time in a pretty long time. The result was pretty good! All I have to say after visiting this park is Lego sure knows how to appeal to kids! The rides themselves all had some sort of Lego theming included, from Lego statues around the ride to the actual ride vehicles themselves. The attention to detail giving to practically everything in the park was absolutely stunning! During the day, I kept saying that if I was a kid when this park was around, I literally would have been there every day. I would even go so far as to say that park would have appealed to me more than Disney ever did when I was younger (I was a HUGE Lego fan as a kid). I also loved how they included the old gardens in the park experience, as it's pretty neat to see (not to mention a nice way to get away from the crowds and be in the shade for a while). Miniland was also maybe the coolest thing I've ever seen, but I'll have a separate trip report for that. The staff was also some of the friendliest I've seen at any park. That being said, they definitely have room to improve. For starters, the food offerings weren't anything spectacular, although the pizza/pasta buffet was a nice option to have when we were starving in the middle of the day, and it was very popular with families, too. And they had the apple fries, which were delicious! But other than that, it was standard park food that was a little pricey. Ride wise, they had a pretty good amount, but they still could stand to add a few more (and they have more than enough room to do it). Opening the water park is going to be a great addition for them heading into the hotter months. All in all, I was very impressed with Legoland as an overall experience, and I'm insanely jealous that kids get to experience it and I didn't! I took 200+ pictures during the day, but I'm only going to share about half of them on here. I have the full album on facebook (which is public), so if you want to see them all, go here. I will say again though, I'm going to have a separate report for Miniland photos, so if you don't want those spoiled, don't go to the facebook album until after the second report! Time to check this place out! Welcome! The horses on the carousel were Lego horses, love it! They had tons of Lego characters around the park, many of which came with sound effects. This one was snoring. The Vekoma indoor/outdoor roller coaster/dark ride. The dark ride section was terrific, the outdoor was a Vekoma roller skater. Ho hum. This ride was called the Joust (I think), and the Lego horses "galloped" around the track. Unfortunately I was too big for this one, otherwise I probably would have ridden it. Revenge of the Lego Mummy! They had an indoor shooting ride that was probably the easiest I've ever been on. Still fun though. Legoland kept the old Triple Hurricane coaster from Cypress Gardens and re-themed it. While in line, you hear a REALLY loud roaring coming from the back of a truck. Once you round the corner and see into the back of the truck, it's really a tiny dinosaur with a megaphone. The creativity of these people is off the charts! Is this a "Coastersaurus"? For a kiddie woodie, this actually wasn't that bad. They had retracked basically the entire ride with the exception of the station and lift, so it was running pretty smoothly. Over in Imagination, you could build all types of Lego things. I loved the half giraffe and Einstein creations. They also had the Rescue Academy (from what I understand, a staple of Legolands everywhere), probably the best family attraction anywhere! You have to "race" to the "burning" building in a hand pump-operated truck, put the "fire" out with hand pump-operated fire hoses, and then race back to the finish line. Not only is it an attraction that the whole family can do, it also promotes exercise. A win win for everyone! They also have several "schools." This is the Driving School, where kids can drive Lego cars around a road system complete with lanes and traffic signs. They even get their own "driver's license" at the end! Flying School is a Vekoma Junior Hang and Bang. It wasn't too rough, although once or twice it punched me in the jaw. And the third school, the Boating School, let kids drive mini Lego boats around with their parents. This ride was almost like a "whip on water," and while it looked like a lot of fun, Jen and I didn't feel like getting wet. Although I'm 100% sure kids love it. The "biggest" coaster in the park is the wild mouse. It's one of those wild mouse coasters with a big drop at the beginning. The only other one I've been on is at KD, although I do know there are others elsewhere. Love the theming on these cars. This was also the smoothest wild mouse I've ever been on, as the cars were probably just fully rehabbed when this coaster was brought over from Legoland Windsor. Legoland also took advantage of the ski show setup from the old Cypress Gardens and made their own ski show out of it. Complete with skiing Lego men! And Lego men doing jumps! These Lego men were supposed to protect the ship from the pirates, but they just danced instead. So...... Pirates invaded and did backflips. Then they came in the stadium and started splashing the front rows with water. And then, the most dreaded Lego pirate of all stopped by...... BRICKBEARD!!! AHHHHHH!!!! Thankfully this shark chased him away. Funny back story, they had mentioned that Brickbeard was afraid of this shark for the whole show, but we kept wondering how they would introduce the shark. Turns out, they had this inflatable shark attached to Brickbeard's jetski so it "chased" him away as he ran off. I almost hyperventilated I was laughing so hard. Back into the park, they kept this old waterfall that was here with Cypress Gardens, but they added their own "Lego touch." They had Lego wildlife all over the waterfall area like rabbits..... Deer...... Otters, how cute! And foxes! As previously stated, the attention to detail and the little charming bits sprinkled in throughout the park were fantastic. This guy was outside the pizza buffet, and he talked to you as you walked into the restaurant. "Hey....I make ah-pizza!" Jen was once a southern belle at Cypress Gardens, so she had to pose with the Lego belle. The gardens were still intact and beautiful! The Legoland catawampus? As you can see, it was a beautiful day in Winter Haven. And the vegetation provided some nice shade, which will be beneficial during the ridiculously hot summers. Very scenic. I called this the lone palm. Maybe we can give it a proper name. I would name it Dequevarious Shawnterious Smith. I would have loved an orange, but these were too high up, even for me. This is a banyan tree. For those of you not familiar with banyan trees, "roots" grow from the branches to the ground in order to prop them up when the branches grow too far from the center of the tree. This tree is most likely well over 100 years old. Yes, this is all one tree! Apparently Legoland is not just for kids. And now for more Lego characters, here's an old lady watering her Lego garden with her hair rollers in. Can you spot the Lego mouse? This guy is trying to bird watch, unsuccessfully it seems. This guy told corny jokes like "Man, this job really stinks!" May the Lego be with you! R2D2 made all his usual sound effects. We also went up in another holdover from Cypress Gardens, the Island in the Sky! It's an observation tower that looks like a giant sombrero on a stick. While waiting, we spotted another kitty doing his business. At least he covered it up when he was done....... Up high now, we get a nice aerial view of a couple of the coasters. Coastersaurus. And a full view of the Dragon coaster. The building and dark ride portion was added on by Legoland to the existing coaster on the right. The last thing we did was try the famous apple fries. And they did not disappoint, they were like mini apple pies! Delicious! Thanks for reading the first half, stay tuned in a day or so for the Miniland report. You won't want to miss it!

^It's right at the entrance to Citywalk, the last pedestrian bridge actually goes over it.

I'm really excited about this. I'm even more excited that I live about 3 miles away!

That's a given. This does look like one hell of a mini golf course, though. Can't wait to play on it!

I'll be checking out the mini-golf course on Sunday. Until then, just gotta wait and see if anyone else plays it and offers a report.

Jen and I were there from 7 till just after midnight, and the crowds were pretty crazy at that point in the night. Either way, got a few rides on some of my old favorites and had a great time. Not sure how in the world you guys lasted 24 hours, I was done after 5!

I have a feeling this could be the dark horse coaster of 2012, much like Sky Rocket was in 2010 and Wooden Warrior was last year.

^There's no retractable floor on impulses, and they do just fine. I'm sure it won't be an issue.

^Awesome! Christmas Town is amazing at BGW, I'm sure it'll be just as good in Tampa!