thrillseeker4552

Looking to visit for the first time the last week of March (it would be Sunday and Monday). I know Lightning Rod is always a crapshoot and is completely unpredictable, but how is the rest of the park in the first few weeks of opening, in terms of operations, crowds, etc.? If anyone has hotel recommendations in the area that are affordable please advise as well. I'll have my own car so I'd be willing to stay a good distance away from the park too if it's significantly cheaper.

Doesn't it have something to do with Sansei owning both S&S and Vekoma, with S&S handling the coasters over here and Vekoma for the ones in Europe/Asia? I thought I read that somewhere but it could be a load of crap too. I'd love to see a new gen Vekoma here. Lots of parks could use a modern, unique traditional sit-down looper.

Anyone have a hotel recommendation near Busch Gardens Williamsburg? I am also debating if I should drive there (from central Florida) or fly. A few weeks ago I saw direct Frontier flights from MCO to Norfolk, VA for under $100 but checking now, they have tripled or quadrupled in price. I'm going in mid-April. If I fly it would probably be an extended-weekend thing, if I drive I would probably make close to a week out of it. Just wondering if anyone else has thoughts or recommendations for staying in the area. Whether I drive or fly, I will either have my car or a rental car so I'm mainly looking for affordability/quality rather than immediate location near the park.

Managed to get 3 rides on Ice Breaker today - in the front, middle, and back. I will say that all seats have strong airtime. I think I preferred the front seat almost only because of the step-up into the top hat (VERY strong airtime), but the back was better for the spike and the pull down the top hat. I would say the back half of the layout is pretty similar in all seats. The turnaround is quite good too. It's a fun ride that fits very well into the park's lineup. I personally still prefer all 3 B&Ms in the park but Ice Breaker is a pretty high-thrill family coaster, I think it will surprise a lot of people who don't know much about the ride. They were also pumping out trains pretty well. Not perfect but it has a much better capacity than the single-train Sky Rocket IIs. The line was always moving at a pretty steady pace, and at least from my observations it is quite reliable too - no breakdowns that I noticed for the several hours I was in the area waiting/riding. Happy to finally have this open and if nothing else, it also looks great and is fun to watch.

This perfectly summarizes my feelings about Steel Vengeance. I enjoy the ride but... yeah... ^this captures it perfectly. Luckily Iron Gwazi doesn't seem to "try too hard" like Steel Vengeance and ends after an appropriate amount of elements (a good variety, too) rather than the buckbuckbuckbuck of SV. I honestly think I will prefer Gwazi based on what I know about its layout but we'll see in 2 weeks!

Can't wait to ride it on Sunday. I think the airtime is surprising people, especially the jump into the top hat. Can't wait!

I completely agree. I lives 30 minutes from Iron Gwazi and while I'm completely stoked about it, there is something about Pantheon I love. That beyond vertical dive off the top hat into the ravine is going to be legendary. I can't wait to visit in April.

Supposedly, the reason they delayed Montezooma's closure was because Xcelerator, Supreme Scream, and Log Ride are all down for refurb currently. And yes, Xcel did just re-open from the repaint in December. I was a little surprised it's down again too.

This is what I was thinking. The park got a brand new train from Intamin in 2016, so I read that rumor and thought.... huh?

Exactly, and it kind of blows my mind that Kumba is still going strong after running year round for close to 30 years. I mean it isn't cycled as much as Hulk (just slower and less rigorous operations day-to-day) but it's still very impressive. So I guess who even really knows.

I am very interested in seeing the lifespan of these older B&Ms that are pushing 30. Hulk was only 16 when it needed replacement, but of course it was cycled more than any other B&M ever. Given that Nemesis is the same age as Raptor, Batman at SFMM, and a few others, I am very curious if this will be a trend in the next 10-20 years.

SheiKra last weekend. Upcoming ones are Ice Breaker on 1/30 and Iron Gwazi on 2/13!

I'll be there on the first day of previews 2/13! I seriously cannot wait. It feels wrong to have this coaster only 30 minutes away from me. Iron Gwazi is going to do so much to an already incredible lineup of coasters.

^I echo your sentiments. While I understand it is likely not going to still be here in 10 years, I really hope it is. I adore the ride. Also, on topic of the thread, I believe Viper received train donations from both Great American Scream Machine at SFGAdv and Ninja at SFOG, so each Viper train now is probably just a combination of parts from all over. I know Ninja also got train donations from XLR8 at Astroworld. Perhaps this is why those Arrow classics are still going strong.

To each their own. I enjoy Kumba, Montu, and Kraken as well, but Incredible Hulk just runs like a bat outta hell. I find it faster and more forceful than any of the others. I also love the launch, insanely whippy zero-g, and the unique layout rather than the typical B&M looper sequence of elements. I also think it's a lot smoother than Kumba and Kraken (although none of them are really rough). But you're right, it does die after the MCBR. Luckily the MCBR is about 3/4 through the ride and that first 3/4 is just so, so good and nonstop insanity.

Just here to echo everything said about Universal (IOA in particular). I have never been a Universal or Disney person, and honestly if IOA had never built Velocicoaster I probably wouldn't have bought a pass. But after going multiple times now since moving to Florida I have to say the park is so much more than Velocicoaster too. I think Incredible Hulk is the best B&M looper - period. It's basically my favorite B&M behind Fury. I also love Hagrid's but low-key I sometimes forget it exists because Hogsmeade is always such a clusterf*ck of people and with the whole virtual line crap that's always maxed out to capacity it's just difficult to ride. (I work weekdays and can only visit the park on weekends so maybe that's why). And yeah, you can do SWO in a couple hours if you only care about coasters.

Xcelerator down again? Hmm, interesting. Maybe the closure back in Nov-Dec was for repaint only and not regular maintenance? Or maybe (hopefully) they're painting over the ugly gray sections? Lol. Also, throughout my entire lifetime of going to Knott's as far back as I can remember, I've never seen Supreme Scream down (obviously not 100% true but it has incredible uptime)! They always have it least *one* tower open. Supreme Scream and Silver Bullet are the ol' reliable for the park. Also, the concept^ looks great! Excited for all these changes coming to the park.

I love the look of the new eatery. That area of the park did need some TLC. And I am all about more easily accessible and higher capacity drink refill stations. Glad they reopened Monte for the time being. I was a little surprised they gave such short notice initially. Who knows why they did that (aside from the downtime this weekend) but it's not a bad thing, get your "last" rides in everybody!

Wrapped up my Top 10. The more coasters I ride, the more difficult this is, but it's still enjoyable nonetheless! There are so many great coasters out there now. 1. Jurassic World Velocicoaster 2. Intimidator 305 3. X2 4. Skyrush 5. Fury 325 6. El Toro 7. Kingda Ka 8. Maverick 9. Steel Vengeance 10. Millennium Force Can't wait to see the results. I have a feeling Velocicoaster will be a welcome addition to the Top 25......

If had to take a guess, I would say a new LSM launch system/braking and new trains. I have a very close connection to Montezooma. It was my first launched coaster, first looping coaster, and really my first "big" coaster ever. I am thrilled the park is choosing to upgrade, modernize, and maintain this ride when they could easily scrap it. It's a 44 year old Schwarzkopf (that has operated year-round, might I add), they could so easily say "it has reached the end of its service life, bye." Such great news!

Exciting news! Montezooma's Revenge is getting some upgrades and set to reopen in 2023.

Anyone ridden the Orlando Free Fall? I hear reports that it is pretty insane. I'm wondering how it feels compared to Lex Luthor or Zumanjaro. Probably gonna head up and try it out in a couple weeks.

^I agree. Given they are just now breaking ground in January, I give this a late 2022 opening at best.

Don't forget that Kraken's track is now almost the same color as Hulk's. I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! In all seriousness, this ride does fill a nice gap in the park's lineup. And, well, they could've opened it in late 2020 or early 2021 and beat Velocicoaster to the game. I'm sure they had their reasons but... you snooze you lose, I guess.

Very excited for this! Despite being overshadowed by Iron Gwazi (and even Velocicoaster), it looks like the ride will have some pretty strong pops of air. And even though the quad-launch is a gimmick, I appreciate the extended ride time. Now I will finally have a reason to visit that side of the park lol