Galaxy Spin at Cypress Gardens media event

[Imhotep]

I will be visiting Cypress Gardens for the first time tomorrow to attend the media event for Galaxy Spin. Is anyone else from TPR attending? I will update this thread with a trip report and hopefully pictures after the event.

 

Hope some people are going!

-Imhotep

[BarryH]

Nope, I got to go to work! I wish I could, though.

[CoasterJunkie]

I would love to go...I live only 20 mins from Cypress Gardens, and still have yet to go. But sadly I have to work. Post pics and a full report

[NitroJoeC]

Yeah I don't work til 430pm tomorrow so I will be going. Yay, another spinning mouse!

 

Might spend some time in the waterpark, too.

 

JC

[ChrisFL]

Is that when Ashlee Simpson will be "performing"? (I use the term very loosely)

 

If so, I unfortunately don't have enough of rotten tomatoes to throw at her...but Im anxious to ride the coaster

[Mind Eraser]

Is that when Ashlee Simpson will be "performing"? (I use the term very loosely)

 

If so, I unfortunately don't have enough of rotten tomatoes to throw at her

 

The whole Anti-Ashlee thing is so unnecessary. She did what what almost every other performer does - singing along with a recording of your own voice. It makes the vocals stronger and sound better. It's hard to sound good when you're also bouncing around and dancing. People went way overboard with the whole "lipsync" thing.

 

 

-kip-

[Imhotep]

^^ Agreed!

 

She took the heat for either someone elses mistake or a compuer glitch.. I remember when I saw the performance on SNL I felt really bad for her.

[ChrisFL]

no it's hard to sound good when you CAN'T SING. She's been booed off the stage at 3 events already, how much more do we need?

 

She's only famous because of her sister.

 

(Sorry for the derailing of this topic)

[Mind Eraser]

I'll agree that she rode in on her sister's coattails. Personally, I don't care for her voice, but I wouldn't say she "can't sing". Her voice is different, that's all. Take Macy Gray - I can't stand her voice, but she does have singing ability.

 

As for Ashlee getting booed, this was all after her SNL performance, when everyone was on the "Let's Hate Ashlee" bandwagon.

 

 

-kip-

[Jew]

^Did you not watch the Orange Bowl? They booed her because her voice was freaking terrible!

[Mind Eraser]

I saw her get booed at a sports game. Was that the Orange Bowl or has she been booed at two sports shows?

 

 

-kip-

[Gregory DG]

I will be visiting Cypress Gardens for the first time tomorrow to attend the media event for Galaxy Spin. Is anyone else from TPR attending? I will update this thread with a trip report and hopefully pictures after the event.

I am going! What are you guys going to be wearing? I'm going to get some more photos (and video) for my site!

 

I'll probably be wearing my red St. Louis Cardinals shirt. Here's a photo of me wearing said shirt with my son. (He won't be coming though.) Just come up and say "hi!" The name is Greg.

[Imhotep]

right on, greg. Ill make sure to say hi. I dont have an ace shirt, CG shirt or non descriptive rollercoaster shirt like they ask, so Im wearing a plain grey adidas shirt. Ill be there with my girlfriend and her son.

 

BTW, no more ashely simpson talk. Im too metal to get into that

\m/. .\m/

[Gregory DG]

Whew... Just got back from the event. Photos and video of the "ribbon cutting" will be forthcoming. I just need to de-burn for awhile! Buescher is the man!

 

Had a great time with you guys, Don! Hope you got to see the Ski Show, Banyan Tree, and the Island in the Sky.

Me and "da man!" (I take the world's worst photos though. )

[KrakenKing]

I was hoping this ride would be like "Mr Six's Pandemonium" but isn't it just like the one at Animal Kingdom...

 

I didn't like that one very much, getting slung around and the restraint getting pushed against my stomach wasn't my idea of a good time...

 

Maybe I'll get to Cypress Gardens when they add Starliner

[Gregory DG]

There's no stomach restraint with Galaxy Spin. It's a lapbar. But the first round of "back 'n' Forths" are pretty rough because the car isn't spinning yet. The second round is actually fun.

 

BTW, added my Opening Video to my site. You can see the entire ride path.

[Imhotep]

Greg: We did get to see the Banyan Tree and the Ski show. The Banyan tree was out of this world. Ive never seen anything like it. We caught most of the ski show and it was really good. As you know it was hot as sin and we were tired, so we skipped the island in the sky. We got sucked into the living statue show, that was something else.

 

Well, Ill go ahead and give my little trip report. I was really impressed with CG!! Buescher has really done something for this place. We got there in time for the Ribbon cutting (or ribbon 'busting'), and stood around for a little while while waiting for the media to arrive. Luckily, there was some nice shade from a tree, and free water provided by the staff.

 

Buescher spoke a little about the park in general, and about some future projects that are currently under construction. Then he boarded the Galaxy Spin for its inaugural *ahem* spin. Luckily for Beuscher, there were no glitches, however shortly there after there was a computer glitch that caused a brief delay. We decided to take this oppritunity to get some AC with Greg, and hit up some other rides while GS worked itself out.

 

Greg showed us around the adventure area of the park. We rode pretty much all the flat rides, and Greg joined us when he could, and he even was nice enough to keep an eye on Alex for some of the rides. Thanks again, Greg. The Disk-o was a pleasant suprise and is definately unique! The back restraints reminded me of something from the movie Aliens. Overall, it was a comfy ride.

The drop tower was kind of a shocker.. It seemed much taller than it looked. Maybe it was because it brought us up the tower at about 2 mph, I dont know. But anyways, once you are at the top, it lets you go. No time to soak in the view or get prepped for a drop. I think that actually added more to the ride, because the whole slow trip up, you are wondering when you are going to come roaring down, not wondering when you are going to stop at the top.

Power Surge was ok. I dont know, for some reason I didnt feel safe on this one, and I prob wont ride it again, but its worth giving a shot once.

Later on in the day, we rode the Inverter, and I enjoyed it! It was an odd sensation.

We also rode the river rapids ride which made me stupid dizzy, but didnt get me wet.. We checked out the nice water park while Greg got shots of the wave pool and slides for his site. You can also get a good look at some of the parts from Starliner from the water park area.

 

On to the coasters.

We finally got on Galaxy Spin, which is of course the ride we came for.. Let me put it to you this way.. Its kind of like when you go to a concert to see the headlining act, and it ends up that all the supporting acts are way better. This was our least favorite coaster out of the 3 we rode today(we heard Swamp Thing was painful so we skipped it). Yup, The first half of GS was rough, and the turns in general were painful. The second half was completely different. I guess due to the spinning nature of the cars, the ride was much smoother and enjoyable. I wish they could make the cars spin the entire time. If they did that, I probably wouldnt have anything negative to say. Now, onto the 'supporting acts'

We rode the vekoma roller skater, which was nice and relaxing. One cool thing about CG was, there was absolutely no lines so they were letting us stay on some of the coasters for multiple runs . We rode this one 4 times in a row. The best part of the ride was the woman behind me on her cellphone.. She was screaming "help, Im trapped on a roller coaster, they wont let me off!" Heh. At least she was trapped on this vekoma and not others hehe.

Triple Hurricane was a pleasant suprise. In the back row, we actually got some airtime out of the first 2 hills, and again on the last hill before the unbanked curve of doom. Alex couldnt get enough of this one! Packs some punch for a coaster of its size.

 

So overall, I really liked CG. Its a great place to take your kids, as most rides have a 42in hight requirement. Thanks for showing us around Greg and pointing out all the cool stuff. We had a great time! Look us up when you head to Orlando.

 

-Imhotep

[Gregory DG]

Nice TR, Don! Did Alex go on the Inverter too?

 

Just added today's photos on my site. In addition to the entire opening ceremony, I happened upon the Bay News 9 story and captured it too.

 

I go sleep now...

[Imhotep]

nah, he was way too short for the inverter, but he didnt seem to want to ride it so he didnt mind watching us take turns.

[DenDen]

Wow, this spin-mouse looks very close to Reverchon's, with much more comfortable cars! (I don't like Reverchon's because if you sit in the middle, the restraint kills your arm.)

[Imhotep]

If Kent wants to add a major thrilling coaster after Starliner, and put Cypress Gardens on the map as a must-visit FL park, CG should get a Gerstlauer Eurofigher. It has a small footprint, and being able to say they have a first-of-its-kind ride in america with more than a vertical drop with inversions will definately bring people. I can see this fitting in really well with the style of the adventure part of the park. What do you guys think?

[CoasterFreak24]

Is it just me.. or it doesn't spin as much?

[Gregory DG]

It definitely could use more spinning at the top. Sitting still is what makes for a rough ride!

 

I guess it's safer though. It might be bad if it went down the hills sideways... :?

Edited August 23, 2005 by Gregory DG

[Imhotep]

^Yeah, I can testify on that note!! Remember when we went over the bunny hop at the end of the ride? If my thigh hurt then I could only imagine taking that drop sideways.

 

I do like the slow spinning part though.. feels like you are being pushed and pulled in all directions. Im glad the spinning isnt like that river rapids ride!!

[Gregory DG]

Went this past Sunday... Don, would you believe there was about a ~10 minute wait to ride it? Looked like there were about 40 people waiting in line at about 5:30pm! (Told you it gets "busy" on weekends. )