YoshiFan

Probably not much of a surprise but Falcon’s Fury is temporarily closed again. Also Sheikra is going to be closed from November 1st-December 22nd. I wasn’t expecting that long of a closure after it was already closed for a month earlier this year.

I would think it would have to be Candymonium but that is just a guess. It would likely be one of the coasters that operates during Christmas Candylane with all those extra operating days. Wild Mouse, Laff Trakk are low capacity and sooperdooperLooper usually goes to 1 train during that event, same with Wildcat.

Just a warning for anyone going to the park and getting there in the morning. Apparently there is only 1 security screening area opening, no trams running and it's causing 2+ hour waits to get in. This has been happening multiple times in the past week. Thread from reddit: https://reddit.com/r/BuschGardensTampa/comments/vv4zt4/line_to_get_inside_of_the_park/ Seeing those pictures makes me glad I almost always visit later in the afternoon or early evening when there is no line to enter. Also Cobra's Curse has been closed since at least Thursday.

If you want to ride most of the coasters and the water rides multiple times it might be worth it. Otherwise you can probably get away without it. For the most part, the only coasters with consistently more than a 20-30 minute wait on summer weekdays have been Iron Gwazi, Cheetah Hunt, Cobra’s Curse and Montu (later in the day the wait drops for Montu). The log flume and rapids also get long waits. Even if you buy Quick Queue with the Iron Gwazi add on, that only gives you 1 ride for that coaster. Something else to keep in mind is a storm could close the rides for a while and that would give you less time to use Quick Queue but it clears out the crowds. Last week the rides were closed for at least 90 minutes in the late afternoon because of lightning nearby even though it never rained. When the rides reopened, I waited 5-10 minutes for everything except the flume that looked like around a 20-30 minute wait (I used my Platinum single use Quick Queue there).

Iron Gwazi 3 days ago

I wouldn't expect it to open anytime soon. I was there on Thursday and this is the sign at the ride entrance:

Hurricane at Fun Spot Kissimmee

Great report and pictures. I used to visit Dutch Wonderland once every few years when I was a kid. It's interesting to see what rides are still there or changed like the antique cars that used to be towards the front of the park near the monorail station. The $65 price is really surprising. I know it's going to be more expensive compared to when I used to go there but it's really gone up a lot since then. I remember they used to offer a wrist band for unlimited rides or a gate price of around $10 and you got some punch card listed with all the rides listed. You got 5 rides included and then after that, there was a charge per ride, most under $1, some like Sky Princess were a little more and then you turned in the card at the exit and paid for anything past the 5 rides.

Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom on Sunday

At that point, I’d rather see 2 trains on a Cheetah Hunt since I hate waiting on the brakes in the sun when they double stack. A 40 minute wait for 3 switchbacks at Iron Gwazi is terrible. During previews, I waited 25 minutes with the station full but that was with 4 people checking restraints. I have only seen that once or twice since the ride opened to the public.

If this new coaster has a 54" height requirement, that will make it 5 coasters with that requirement. I know that Ice Breaker was supposed to be the coaster for a lower thrill level but with that also at 54" now, they really could use something a step up from the kiddie coaster but not too intense with a 42" or 48" height requirement (besides Journey to Atlantis).

Dorney hasn’t allowed multiple laps on their lazy rivers since I started visiting the water park (2008) with the rare time you get someone who will says you can stay. I guess similar to their coaster re-ride policy where I have been allowed a re-ride a few times total in 15 years of having a pass (I stopped asking but will re-ride when offered).

I have ridden Iron Gwazi on 11 separate days since pass previews started and this past Wednesday was the first time I saw any wasps at the top of the lift. I hope they can find a way to deal with it. The coaster has been having enough down time already without the wasps.

With Spring Break over for most (or all?) of the US, I was interested to see how Iron Gwazi's wait times were going to be considering the wait times haven't been too bad overall since the ride opened. Before the ride opened to the public, I thought with it being a RMC and a brand new hyped up ride it was still going to have a 45-60 minute wait even on a slower day. I stopped in for 90 minutes yesterday around 2:30 and it was only 1-2 train wait. If that's how it's going to be normally on a weekday when schools are in session, anyone who can visit on those days is going to have a great opportunity to marathon the coaster.

Mine Blower at Fun Spot Kissimmee last week.

I’m not a fan of Cedar Fair’s polices and operations in general. At the water parks, SEAS generally uses a red light, green light system and the lines move fast. At Dorney, the platform is chained off and only 1 group can slide at a time. If there are 4 slides and all 4 want the same slide, they typically let them all slide which takes a few minutes while the other 3 slides are empty. Their height restrictions both for minimum and maximum are bad too. When they bought Carowjnds the mine train went from 36” to 48”. Years ago at Dorney, 2 family members wanted to go on rides at Camp Snoopy. Both were barely over 54” tall at the time. They had to ride in separate rows on some rides because only 1 person over 54” per row despite the 1 of the exact same ride at Great Adventure, Morey’s, Gillian’s and Dutch Wonderland not having that policy. There is also the no re-ride policy at many (most?) CF parks even sometimes during enthusiast events.

One thing I keep seeing online is that Cedar Fair treats their pass holders better than SEAS. I have only had my SEAS Platinum Pass for 10 months but I have been very impressed with their pass program. For around $100 more than a CF Platinum Pass I get 6 free guest tickets, plus all the extra bring a friend free tickets in addition to those 6 tickets. For both December and January, there were rewards of an extra ticket for BGT and for SWO each month so that's 4 more tickets. There was 1 for Aquatica for either November or December and 1 for Busch Gardens in August, Sea World in September. In total I have brought family members with me using 10 free tickets and I still have 1 of my 6 free tickets left. Then there are all the giveaways, A free food item at Bier Fest at BGT in the fall, free ornaments in December, magnets in January, $10 Busch Bucks and Sea World Bucks every few months. There is 50% off almost all merchandise and the free single rider Quick Queue per visit.

that is a downside of their parks. I miss the all season dining from Six Flags and Cedar Fair at BGT and SWO

If anyone is planning on going today, it looks like the weather has caused almost everything to close. The only coasters that are open are Sheikra and Kumba. Edit, looks like more rides are opening now.

From their accessibility guide: "Guests must be 40" tall to ride alone OR 36" tall AND accompanied by a supervising companion. Guests over 54" tall must be accompanied by a child"

Here are the days and time from yesterday's e-mail: " CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE CELEBRATION? JOIN US FOR PASS MEMBER PREVIEWS! Even if you can’t make it for Passport to Thrills, you can still ride the all-new Ice Breaker early! Pass Member previews will be available from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. on select dates based on your tier: Jan. 30 – 31: Platinum Pass Members Feb. 1 – 6: Platinum and Gold Pass Members Feb. 7 – 13*: Platinum, Gold, and Silver Pass Members Feb. 14 – 15: All Pass Members plus Fun Card holders *Note: Ice Breaker preview times on Feb. 12 will be 12 p.m. - 3 p.m."

It closed when the parks shutdown for Covid and never reopened.

If anyone is going to the Ice Breaker Passport to Thrills event on Friday - Sunday, they changed the event time from 5 to 10, now it’s 3-8. Platinum pass previews on Sunday are now 12-3 instead of 12-4.

Thankfully it looks like no one was on the ride when it happened. Being stuck in the rain and cooler weather for probably 2 hours at the minimum would have been miserable.

Yes, I was there Tuesday and Friday and saw them painting Montu on both days.