AndrewA86

Last week my GF Melissa and myself went on a Florida trip that we basically planned at the last minute. We had a blast and I would first like to thank everyone on here who gave me some tips about this trip. Those tips made the trip a lot better than it would have been otherwise, so thank you very much! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because I'm not really someone who takes pictures. I just like to go to the parks and have fun. I'll split the report up into the different days and add a day here and there. DAY 1: Busch Gardens Tampa and NHL hockey game As soon as we got off the plane we headed to BGT for our very first visit to this park for a little preview before heading to the Lightning vs Sharks hockey game. Now before I go any further I am very much a roller coaster thrill seeking enthusiast and theming and/or other attractions usually don't do much for me. But with that said I do appreciate if the park is nice and the first thing you notice when walking through security and the front entrance is how beautiful and nice looking the park is. The park was extremely busy this day, it was 80 on a Saturday, and the lines were very long for everything not named Montu, Scorpion, and Kumba. And the lines for those 3 got pretty long around 4:00. I did however resist the urge to get quick queue since we had 2 days planned at BGT later in the week. The first coaster we hit was Montu. We did it twice in a row, first in the front and then in the very back. This is a coaster that if I rode it 2 years ago I would have been disappointed because it didn't live up to some of the expectations and become my favorite invert.. but I have really learned to temper my expectations. Montu is a fantastic ride, but I just prefer Afterburn and Raptor because they are more whippy (if that's a word) and more intense because the elements are all back to back. After the inversion after the MCBR Montu has this section that's just really drawn out and not doing much. IMO that's what places it a solid 3rd behind Raptor (my #1) and Afterburn. But it is a very good ride. It's batwing might be my favorite element of any invert that I've ridden, especially in the back. It is glossy smooth and that first half is every bit as good as Raptor and Afterburn. Then we headed toward the area where Falcons Fury is. But that ride was a 30 minute wait and Scorpion was only 15 min so we decided to hit Scorpion and this ride shattered my expectations. That loop and helix is freaking outstanding! Then we hit what is IMO the star attraction of BGT, and that's MOTHER F------ KUMBA!!!!! Holy f------- sh----!!! This thing is so intense it was like it was designed specifically for my tastes in coasters. For as old as it is I was very surprised that it was as smooth as something that is brand spanking new! Every element was flawless and this is easily a top 10 coaster for me. After riding this 4 times in a row the lines for the rest of the rides were ridiculously long so we left to check into our hotel, eat, and go to the hockey game. The game was great, the Lightning have a great team this year! But one thing that almost screwed me up was that I thought the team played in St. Petersburg because for a long time the area was named the St. Pete Times Forum. But the arena is actually located in Downtown Tampa and it has had a couple name changes since then. That almost screwed me because I was looking for hotels in St. Pete, and if I had seen something I liked I would have booked it and we would have had to drive completely out of the way to stay at our hotel. Thankfully I got something in Tampa instead. And BTW can't we go back to the good old days were stadiums and arenas had 1 name and they would stick with it. I mean seriously, when I was a kid I could name every teams stadium or arena and now I probably couldn't name 15% of them... Anyway, it was a great first day!

1. Name 3 of your favorite roller coasters, but not your top 3. Phantom's Revenge, Twisted Timbers, Afterburn 2. About how many different parks did you visit in 2018? 8 (Great Adventure, SFA, Kings Dominion, BGW, Carowinds, Kings Island, Cedar Point, Kennywood) 3. Which 2018 park visit was your favorite? Cedar Point opening day 4. Your favorite 2018 park addition (ride, food, show, etc)? Steel Vengeance 5. What ride exceeded your expectations the most in 2018? Twisted Timbers 6. Best meal/food at a park in 2018? The chicken at BGW. Don't remember exactly where it was from. 7. What was your favorite new coaster of 2018 NOT made by RMC or Larson? only new coasters I rode were RMC's 8. Name one park you will definitely visit in 2019. Cedar Point 9. Best ride themed to a bird? Raptor 10. Lamest ride/coaster you rode in 2018? Pipe scream 11. What roller coaster currently sits at the top of your bucketlist? (degree of difficulty: NOT a new-for-2019 ride) Expedition GeForce 12. What new-for-2019 ride or coaster are you most looking forward to? Steel Curtain 13. Name the first totally middle-of-the-road (not bad/not great) park that comes to mind. Six Flags America 14. You're in Orlando and magically have a 1-hour ERT session on 1 coaster of your choice at any park in the city. You choose... Mako 15. Holiday In The Park vs. Winterfest. Who reigns supreme? Never been to either 16. Mystic Timbers mystery shed or Wicker Man fire infusion? Wicker man only because I haven't experienced it yet 17. Which Six Flags have you been to most recently? SFA 18. Intamin or Schwarzkopf? You may only choose one. Intamin 19. Battle of Kings Coasters: Island or Dominion? Pick one. Dominion 20. What was the longest you waited for a ride/coaster in 2018? 2.5 hours for Steel Vengeance 21. What roller coaster have you ridden more than any other? Magnum 22. Best drop tower under 150 feet? Demon Drop 23. Maverick or Millennium Force? (If you haven't been to CP, pick what you want to ride more) Maverick 24. Log flumes or sky rides? You can only choose one. Log Flume 25. What are 3 things you enjoying doing at your home park other than riding rides? Cedar Point museum I don't do anything else 26. What is your second favorite Cedar Fair park and why? Kinds Dominion because of I305 and Twisted Timbers 27. What is your home park and give us two good reasons why we should pay it a visit. Cedar Point.. if you need anything else there's something wrong with you.. 28. Launch or Lift? lift 29. Did you buy fast pass at all in 2018? all the time 30. What is your least favorite wooden coaster? Grizzly 31. Disney fanboys: cool or cult? cult 32. Best Batman themed ride? The inverts I guess 33. Name something that tend to take home from parks that you didn't bring with you. Shirts and mugs 34. Best wooden coaster over 110 feet tall? (rcdb will help you) El Toro 35. Have you ever been hit with something (loose change/a tree/vomit/etc) while riding something? Most recently, some Apple ear buds on Fury 325 36. Skywarps: credits or no? State your case. yes, RCDB says so.. 37. Turkey legs: nah or yaaaaassssss? nah 38. What is the most recent B&M that you rode? Raptor 39. You can eat nothing but corn dogs, churros or funnel cake for the next 48 hours, which do you choose? corn dog 40. Post a great on-ride shot of you from 2018. (DO IT!) Unfortunately I don't have one

About 20 years ago I jumped into a cold Lake Huron in 60 degree weather because the waves were enormous. Wasn't planning on it. Just wanted to walk the shore but saw the waves and I immediately stripped down to my underwear and jumped in! It was fun.. so yes, we are insane..

^ does that mean it’s a new credit for now?? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If your talking to me I don’t have anything new. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok citywalk it is. And riding Sand Serpent is not a big deal to me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to do the 14 day unlimited visit with the dolphin swim on Sunday. And I was never going to use an entire day for the fun spots. I was just going to work them in on those days. I wasn't clear about that. So the week is looking like this: Sat: Arrive in Tampa. Go right to BGT for a little preview, and then to St. Pete for the Sharks- Lightning NHL game. Sun: Discovery Cove and one of the fun spots. Mon: SeaWorld and the other fun spot Tue/Wed: Universal's and Disney Springs on Tue night Thu/ Fri: BGT Sat: Fly home Still looking for something on Wednesday night.

Hey everyone, I just found out my GF has next week off so I'm trying to put together a Florida trip at the last minute here. The only thing I have planned is our flight. We will be landing in Tampa this Saturday morning and leaving next Saturday. The parks I'm looking to visit are the Fun Spots, Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, and both Universal parks. Looking for some advice on a few things: 1. Which parks should I visit on which days.. I was thinking I could do the Fun Spots on Sat/Sun. SeaWorld on Monday (MLK day). The Universal's on Tue/Wed, and then 2 days at BGT on Thu/Fri. 2. What's the best way to do Universal? I see that they have a fast lane system, and they also have single rider lines. What is the fast lane system like? Are there single rider lines at all the major attractions? And then as far as getting tickets I don't see any really good deals on their website as far as tickets and hotels. They have a "deal" that includes staying at the Hard Rock Hotel but it's way more expensive than staying at a hotel with a free shuttle like the Drury Inn and just buying single day tickets. So are there any deals out there that I am unaware of? 3. I see that they offer a 3 park ticket to the SeaWorld parks. It says 3 days of any combination of SeaWorld, BGT, and 2 other parks with all day dining. So I assume I could use that for 2 days at BGT and 1 at SeaWorld. I'll email them to make sure, but that looks like a pretty good deal. What places inside those parks would you recommend eating at? Ok I think that's it. Thanks in advance.

Bravo!!

Do you expect him to come out and say “Don’t get your hopes up because the next coaster won’t be nearly as good as Steel Vengeance!” ? It’s marketing - don’t look to far into anything. I believe there will be some truth to it. “Top” could simply mean that it’s taller than SV. I’d like to see a Gerstlauer Infinity. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is where you lose me because we’ve already established that BGT doesn’t get a tom of spillover from the Orlando parks based on the numbers. But even if it did, or heck, even if RMC was to put something in Orlando it wouldn’t matter because by definition the GP doesn’t know who RMC is. And they won’t seek out other RMC’s. That’s why their highest profile projects are going to be the ones thrill seekers and enthusiasts like, not the GP. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If theming, landscaping, and park aesthetics carried more weight then wouldn’t BGW have more guests than CP? Plus BGW has a longer operating season. It’s a little more complicated than that. Disney and Universal have very specific theming to the most popular movie and tv characters. It’s that plus the fact that it’s a park designed for families. As far as non themed parks just catering to the locals. That isn’t true with CP. CP is a destination for thrill seekers, and there are a lot of thrill seekers that are GP and not enthusiasts. And they make those cross country trips to CP. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My park would be the Detroit version of Kennywood. I’m so jealous when I go there because Detroit had a few parks back in the day that could have been on par with Kennywood today. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree that CP needs something like Kentucky Flyer, but didn’t the park or maybe even Tony Clark say it would top Steel Vengeance? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now that I think about it more, the GP doesn’t know the ride manufacturers. So trying to use them in an argument as to which is the most prolific RMC is like asking people who don’t watch football who will win the playoff games this weekend. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The whole ride? I'll take it and set it up in my backyard...

Yes they definitely do. I think you have this backwards. Enthusiasts care about the end result and the GP cares about records. With all due respect I think all of this is irrelevant. So what if it's a 365 park. Cedar Point actually has more guests than Magic Mountain despite being open less than half the time. BGT barley has more guests than CP. The fact is (according to the numbers) the vast majority of people who visit Disney are not visiting BGT. And if RMC's are enthusiasts coasters (and they are) then RMC Gwazi isn't going to attract the Disney crowd to BGT. And BGT is? It could be argued that CP is the biggest blip on the radar behind Disney and Universal. When the average American wants to learn about parks and coasters they are going to go to something called Google and search "best parks/coasters in America". What they will come across are the GP ranking lists, the wikipedia record rankings, and the golden ticket awards. The park that is going to be mentioned the most by far is Cedar Point. Not sure what you mean by higher tier. SeaWorld is a more well known name nationwide but nobody outside the enthusiasts know that Busch Gardens is owned by them. So it's a little illogical to clump them together when talking about the GP. Based on all those things I said above I would say CP is more well known than Busch Gardens. And Dollywood isn't even in the top 20 most popular parks...

I think they should go for a racing coaster. The only RMC racer would be really cool and unique. As far as being RMC's highest profile project to date, I gotta say no. SV broke a ton of records and I don't see the Gwazi structure producing something that can challenge SV. Mainly because Gwazi isn't that tall, and therefore wouldn't be that fast, unless there is a launch. But I'm sure the end result will be fantastic!

Getting really excited for this!!

Red Baron sign?

1. Phantom's Revenge 2. Lightning Run 3. The Beast 4. Tennessee Tornado 5. Joker's Jinx 6. Gemini 7. Rebel Yell 8. Sky Rocket (KW) 9. Flight of Fear (KI) 10. Wild One

Definitely: Cedar Point Kings Island Kennywood 95% Likely Easter/Spring break trip: Six Flags over Georgia- 1st Sea World Orlando - 1st Fun Spots- 1st Busch Gardens Tampa- 1st Dollywood Probably: Six Flags Great America- 1st Indiana Beach-1st Michigan’s Adventure- 1st (always say this is the year and never go... but This is the year) Possibly: Dorney- 1st Hershey-1st Knoebels- 1st Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Diamondback

7/10 Bulova watches? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, unfortunately this isn't going to happen because I had something come up. I hate being a grown up...