hoppedup

White Lightning at Fun Spot Orlando. What an amazing coaster!

I went to the park with my daughter Friday. We rode Ice Breaker x2, Mako x2, and Kraken x1 and all were walk-on or a station wait. When we arrived at Manta they were advertising a 60 minute wait. I hadn't purchased QQ in advance and really didn't want to shell $30 x 2 to save time on Manta. I decided to ask about pricing at the nearest spot selling QQ. The cashier said it was $14.99 and that it was unlimited but didn't include icebreaker. When I paid, she asked if I had a membership. She scanned my pass and the total for two unlimited QQs was $14.99 + tax. Never hurts to ask. When we got to Manta, they were only sending people with QQ to one side of the station. So it was easy to get several rides in. Later in the day as it got a little busier they were using both sides of the station for non-QQ. The coaster itself is awesome. Probably my favorite flyer, even over Tatsu. We ended up riding Ice Breaker again (10 minute wait maybe), and many rides on Manta and Mako.

We had a fantastic day at BGT last Thursday. We got Iron Gwazi x2, Cheetah Hunt x2, and Montu x2 before the deluge that lasted two hours. When the rain cleared the park was dead. I think we rode Iron Gwazi a total of ten times. While not as intense as Steel Vengeance, or as relentless as some of the smaller RMCs, this is one damn fine coaster. The number and mixture of elements is crazy. I think the downward barrel roll was my favorite. The rain started back up around 4:30 and they announced they were closing at 5. We got on every coaster running that day except Scorpion which was down a couple of times during the day and we had bad timing. The queue for IG all day:

Looking forward to getting back down to Florida next Thursday and riding Iron Gwazi. It was testing when I was there in February. Also looking forward to Montu. It was being painted on my last trip. Don't really care that Sheikra is closed on this trip as well. Excited to have my daughter join me on this one. She will be 21 in January and I'll lose my DD

Was playing geoguessr this morning and got this one Easy peasy!

That is great news. I've been waiting for Fury to be added. I might just have to return to Winterfest this year.

Spent almost 8 hours in the park Saturday. I got a lot of laps on TT. Only got I305 once as it was being fickle. I returned at one point for re-rides and the line was backed up to the entry bridge/tunnel and the FL+ line was back to the entry attendant. I knew the crowds would pick up in the evening for the haunts, but wow! Glad we had FL+ I also rode Windseeker and you could see that a lot of track has been removed from Grizzly. The haunt lines were insane. I've never done one and wasn't about to start. The french fry stands were insanely busy. Do they put crack in the fry salt? The locker system at TT is awful, just like its big brother in Sandusky. The queue for TT at times was almost to the entrance attendant. I noticed the wait time sign only goes up to 75+ minutes. My daughter and I had a great day due to Twisted Timbers and FL+ Our first four rides or so were walk-on or a station wait. We probably waited 20 minutes at the longest for a ride on TT. ETA: I don't think I've ever seen that many people smoking in the park, even back when they had smoking sections. People weren't even trying to hide it and even congregating to smoke and I never saw a park employee say anything.

Finally made it back to BGW this weekend. Yesterday was cool and overcast. We were in the park from 10-2:45 and got all the coasters at least twice except Tempesto. The park was pretty dead and with the exception of Pantheon, everything was a walk-on. Nessie was running great. Pantheon was great! I really didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I enjoyed the launches and every element, from the top hat to the zero-G stall. Probably not in my top ten, but a great addition to BGW. We rode it first and then it went down for a while not long after. It was bit drizzly and windy at times. We got it with about a 20 minute wait when it reopened. The real impetus of this trip did not disappoint. Typical wait times: Kid was acting up a bit:

I am a glutton for punishment. I'll try it at least once. Having ridden three stand-up coasters (Vortex, Scorcher, Green Lantern) and three floorless conversions (Patriot, Rougarou, Firebird) All three conversions were much better than the stand-ups. If Carowinds doesn't scrap Vortex for a new coaster at some point, I would hope they might consider a conversion for it. I speak to non-enthusiast locals who say Vortex is their favorite ride in the park. Masochists. Maybe this new restraint system and train configuration will wow me. I sent my daughter a link to the Pipeline video and I got the "Y tho" meme back. She rode Scorcher and Vortex and skipped Green Lantern. Fool me twice, won't get fooled again.

Yes. KD. I have KI on the brain since I was there last weekend. I didn't check the Howl-O-Scream tickets because I assumed they were just for haunts and mazes. Looks like QQ unlimited is sold out for Sunday, so I may switch up and do BGW Saturday. Or just go without the QQ on Sunday.

I may go to KI and BGW this weekend. I was trying to figure out which order to do the parks, looking at opening times, driving distance, etc. When I looked up Quick Queue for BGW, all I see are single use passes for seven attractions. Three of which I care nothing about. Are they serious with this? Even at half price for a platinum passholder, this still seems ridiculous. Am I misreading the way this works? Monday through Thursday it is $14.99, $89.99 on Fridays, $149 on Saturdays, and $69.99 on Sundays. I have decided to do BGW on Sunday because they open at 10 a.m. vs KI's 12 p.m. and it's a 3.5 hour drive back home. Still not sure I want to pay $35 to skip the line on four coaster rides. I wouldn't buy in advance anyway. The real impetus for this trip is Pantheon and maximizing my platinum pass. So I'll be happy to be there at rope drop and get what I get.

Kings Island 10-2-2022 After a great day at Cedar Point, I was at KI for rope drop. I hustled to get in two rides on Mystic Timbers and Diamondback. Then I made it over to The Bat, definitely the best of the Arrow suspended coasters I have ridden. After a ride on my 2nd favorite B&M invert, it was on to a new coaster for me, Orion! What a great ride! While it lacks the intensity of other gigas, it was a terrific ride. The airtime allowed by the ride ops not stapling was wonderful. After re-rides on Orion, Diamondback, and Mystic Timbers, I faced The Beast. It rode a lot better than I remember from 3 years ago. Life in the fast lane... What a great park. Arguably a better lineup than CP, IMO. Superior invert, superior mine train, superior woodies, best B&M hyper. I love this park!

Cedar Point 10-1-2022 A few weeks ago I hatched a plan for a trip to Ohio. I really needed to justify the expense of the Platinum FL+ pass. Timing was great as my town had a lot of flooding and power outages due to Ian. I visited 5 breweries in Cleveland with a local friend the night before and was still in good shape by the time I reached CP. Raptor and Magnum never ran that I saw. It was a really windy day. FL+ was pricey! I decided to grab a couple of rides on Steel Vengeance first. I would probably do the pay locker next time. The lockers in the queue were a PITA. Love the first drop! Then it was on to my favorite coaster...Fantastic as always! Wait was about 15 minutes for FL+. The regular queue was already at 90 minutes. After a couple of rounds with Maverick, it was time to feel the MF'n Force! Second best ride in the park, IMO. And why not take a ride on Valravn? Lake Erie was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli... After a few more re-rides, I took a break for a late lunch. I have a dining plan, but the lines were so long that I went to Famous Dave's. After lunch I walked a round a bit and caught a ride on Gatekeeper. I worked my way back to Maverick and the FL+ wait was 45 minutes. So I bailed and decide to start heading towards Kings Island. I took back roads for a lot of the trip. I decided to route through Dayton to stop at Toxic Brew Company. Delicious as always!

At this point, I'd have plenty of time to finish on TTD

The Coaster Campout at Carowinds benefited the Boys & Girls Clubs of America the year I went. I took my daughter and two of her friends in 2019. I don't think it has returned since COVID. Hopefully it will be back next year. It was a blast. Camping in the shadow of Intimidator was really cool. Half of the campers didn't even show up for the ERT on Copperhead Strike and Fury 325.