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Florida March 2017 - Day 4: Fun Spot America

Hutch

Strata Poster
In recent years, my family and I have gone skiing out west for spring break, but this year my older siblings were unable to get enough time off from work. So since it was just my parents and I, we decided to go fly down to Florida and stay at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Resort to do some theme parks!

My dad and I flew down Monday morning, and my mom (due to her work) flew down Tuesday night. The three of us flew back to Boston midday Friday, so I had Monday afternoon, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning to ride some rides! Of course, there was a nice pool to relax and whatnot, but why would anyone do that when there’s some roller coasters nearby?

There were a few reasons we decided to stay at Hard Rock. The two parks are a short walk away, there’s a nice pool to relax for my parents, and there was a selection of guitars available for my dad to rent (he's somewhat of a rock 'n' roll goon). More importantly, the package gave the three of us tickets for 4 days at the parks, and that includes morning ERT for Hogsmeade, Hogwarts express park hopping, and unlimited express passes!

Now obviously, you don’t need more than 2 days at both Universal parks, but it came with the deal, and our location made it really convenient to pop in for a couple hours. It was very useful on Friday morning, where I did Islands of Adventure for 2 hours before checking out of the Hotel.

I wouldn’t say we overdosed ourselves at the Universal parks; I obviously wanted to do a few other parks, but I’ll get to those later.

Day 1 – Universal Studios Florida

My dad and I had an early flight out of Boston Monday morning and arrived to Orlando just before noon. We had a nice Universal shuttle that drove us right to our hotel.

Couple of exciting sites to see on the way, including SeaWorld’s B&M skyline, where I got my first glimpse of Mako…



…as well as Volcano Bay with the impressive volcano structure.



Could barely make out Fun Spot Orlando though, which is far more innocent than the other parks.

I had done both Universal Orlando parks multiple times in the past (most recent time was 2011), but far before I considered myself an enthusiast. So there were a couple of creds I needed to get, and there was also plenty of new stuff to check out.

Today was supposed to be a leisurely day, checking out one of the Universal parks for a few hours. After lunch, we decided to do Studios, mainly for Diagon Alley. I wanted to try the Gringotts coaster early in the week, so I would avoid any cred anxiety later in the week (unfortunately our express passes don’t work for either Gringotts or Forbidden Journey).

Bit of walk from our hotel to City Walk, but the path was rather nice (there was also the option of taking a launch along the pond).



First ride of the day was Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.



Express pass saved us a 25 min wait, merging in with the regular queue up at the station. I remembered from the past that the queue seemed to move pretty consistently, and that was the case today. The number of trains running (at least 5 of them) and the quick dispatches (staff were pretty diligent at getting people on the ride, and not just here) make up for the low capacity.

Being able to choose you’re onboard music is cool and all, but the concept is pretty gimmicky. I tend to forget about it halfway through the ride. When I arrive on the final brake run, I remember “oh that’s right there’s music playing.” Probably wouldn’t be a total loss if it was removed (even though the ride is themed around it), but I don’t care nonetheless.

As for the ride, I feel like there isn’t a lot going on? There’re a few decent sections, like the drop, non-inverting loop, and the turnaround helix in the middle of the ride is actually pretty forceful. But the rest of the ride doesn’t really do anything, with most of the layout is just kind of “there.” Well, there are some pops of airtime when you enter/exit the MCBRs, but wouldn’t you rather just have some traditional airtime hills instead?

It’s still enjoyable though. And I’d say it’s still worth reriding, especially when there aren’t many other coasters in the park. I found it a bit rattly too (but I got a smoother later in the week). 6.5/10



Its aesthetic appearance has actually grown on me a little bit. I think the way it towers above and interacts with the buildings look pretty good.





I did a quick reride by myself, and then we moved onto Transformers: The Ride 3D, a new ride for the both of us.



Despite knowing what to expect (I’ve seen ride footage years ago), I loved this. It’s funny how the movies aren’t good, but somehow this works as a thrill ride. The content is just ridiculous with a lot going on, but it’s a lot of fun. I’d say it’s one of the best rides in the park.

We went back around to check out the Rockefeller Center building (which looks pretty good), but we didn’t realize that the Jimmy Fallon ride, scheduled to open April 6th, was under technical rehearsal.




You could select a ticket for a certain time slot (don’t know if there’s a limited amount or not), but the times available weren’t until later in the evening. We were able to try it out on Wednesday, so stay tuned for that.

Next, we moved onto Revenge of the Mummy.

I’ve decided that this is a better coaster than Hollywood. The initial dark ride section is great, and the effects still hold up pretty well compared to the more recent stuff. The launch into the actual coaster section is best part, and the rest of the ride is fun. The fire room is absurd as well, and the drop afterward is executed well. The coffee joke at the end is amusing, if a bit stupid, but it’s unnecessary and doesn’t fit the tone of the ride. 7.5/10

Like I did with Hollywood before, I did a quick reride by myself. I made the mistake of seeing if single rider was any shorter, but it ended up being longer than express pass.

When I left the building, the area was taken over by a parade, which was infested by cartoons like Dora the Explorer, Secret Life of Pets, and Spongebob. My dad was on the other side of the street, and the crowd made it a bit of a nuisance to meet up again. We watched it for a few minutes while trying to escape.



We kept moving along the edge of the park and arrived at the London street.



And of course, on the other side is quite possibly the best (and one of the most crowded) theme park area you’ll ever see.





The London area outside is very nice, but I love how Diagon Alley is hidden around the corner, just like how it is in the Harry Potter universe. With the setting, interactions, scale, and attention to detail, you kinda feel like you’re there in the movies. There’re countless shops, hidden corners (i.e. Knocturn Alley), and hundreds of other nooks and crannies. You could really spend hours searching every little detail.







I’ve always been a fan of the series, so I might sound bias, but I can’t think of any other theme park area I’ve been to that looks nicer than this. Everything else just seems to pale in comparison to this, especially the rest of this park where the theme is cities/streets, and this is more of a different world.

Perhaps the only downside about this area is the amount of crowds it attracts, making the main alley area very densely filled with people. It definitely adds to the atmosphere, but I’d imagine hanging around there in the summertime or whenever the temp is much hotter can get a bit uncomfortable.

The Gringotts coaster had a 75 minute queue, and they closed off the single rider line because it was “full.” My dad was gonna head back to the hotel soon, so he decided that we should do the Simpsons ride before leaving me (he didn’t want to suck up the wait for Gringotts).



We’d done this in the past, but it was a bit better than I remember. Obviously it can’t quite match Spiderman, Harry Potter, or the other new simulators, but I thought this held up pretty well. There’s still a handful of simulators in the park that can’t match this (like Shrek 4D, which we didn’t do that this trip; although it has been a while since I'd done that), and content and enjoyable as well. My main complaint is that there’s a lot of pre show stuff that’s spread across into three rooms (the main loading area that’s surrounded by characters, the separate room before you board, and one final part where you’re just waiting on the ride). That can take some time and can be a bit annoying if you’re getting re rides.

So while my dad left the park, I kept doing my own thing, which included checking off this +1… Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster. And I actually used the express pass for this… gotta shave off those precious minutes.



After that I figured that I’d go back to Diagon Alley and see if I could get on the Gringotts coaster. There wasn’t really anything else I wanted to do. We still had more time later in the week, so I figured I’d save some rides for later.

Nice to see this display of the DeLorean. I remember doing the Back to the Future ride when I was around 5 or so (first time I came here)… I believe it was just replaced/rethemed to Simpsons?









Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts still had a 75 min wait and no single line available. I knew the queue line would be pretty interesting, so I hoped that wait wouldn’t feel that bad.

Obviously if you want to avoid any ride spoilers, skip the rest of Part 1. I know the ride has been open for three years now, but it’s still feels pretty new, so I encourage anyone who isn’t familiar with the ride to skip ahead. I’ve done so for the most part these past few years.

The queue starts out in the cattle pens, and it took me about a half an hour to actually get inside the main building. It’s hard to tell by this picture, but the cattles pen go on for quite a while and even extends outside in the sun. Thankfully I had shade, although it doesn’t seem like the queue would ever extend that long anymore.





I actually ended up waiting about 60 min, but during the second half of the wait I was very engaged it the stuff that was going. This included preshow sections and detailed theming, making the overall wait much more bearable and exciting.











After the main room, there’s an area where the staff can take your picture (which I guess you can receive after the ride?). I told the staff member no at first, but he was pretty persistent, so I was like “Okay, fine.” Fortunately the process is quick, but it's unnecessary. If that’s something you and some friends want to do, that’s fine. But I just wanted to move on. You then move into a pre show video featuring a goblin and Bill Weasley, which was fine, before going into another pre show section where you step into an “elevator.” Okay, so I actually thought that the elevator’s movement and lighting effects were pretty neat. But after riding this again later in the week, I wished that all this pre-show stuff was gone. The picture in the middle of the queue is silly (just have a regular ORP!). If you haven’t read the all books or seen all the movies, you’re not gonna know (or care) about Bill Weasley or that one goblin. The elevator is cool, but I think I’m in the minority here regarding that. Additionally, the video room and elevator completely get rid of the organized queue (there's just open space), so people get anxious and try to sneak up towards the next door. Overall I’d probably prefer to have some sort of video loop like they did in Forbidden Journey.

There’s one last room with normal queuing that leads up to the station, but it’s actually pretty nice. There’s a spiral staircase that goes up to the dual loading station, and the room is themed to the depths of the bank. Unfortunately the ride had a malfunction right before I boarded, but the staff had a pretty quick turnaround and was able to let people back on within minutes.



Okay… can’t believe I just wrote multiple paragraphs about a queue… let me talk about the ride itself now. The trains look excellent (the big light on the front is the best feature) and feel comfortable. After leaving the station, you start out in the first screen room (I knew there’d be 3D screens like Universal’s other rides) where **** goes down. The really cool feature is the tilt track similar to those Vekoma tilt coasters (i.e. Gravity Max). It’s not as steep as, say, the dive machine holding brakes, but it still feels steeper than what it really is (it’s probably around 45 degrees). A fun drop into the darkness follows, and then there’re more screen rooms where the cars (two cars per train) spin and shake around, similar to Spiderman and Transformers (honestly, if you’ve been on any Universal dark ride, you know what the drill is for this one). Towards the end, there’s one last launch, but you slow down almost immediately, leaving you with a final “Hooray, you escaped” scene before returning to the station.

I really enjoyed it, but after this first ride I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. I think it’s because I was expecting a more substantial roller coaster section. There’s really only two actual coaster elements: the first being the tilt track, which I think is quite cool, and the second being the fun little launch. As for the rest of the ride, it’s another excellent dark ride that focuses on screens and interactions. So while it is definitely a coaster, it feels more along the lines of Forbidden Journey and Spiderman, rather than Revenge of the Mummy.

I managed to get a second ride later on in the week. I enjoyed it much more that time, mainly because at that point I knew what to expect. I really like it overall, and I think it’s my favorite of the coasters in this park, even though Mummy has the better coaster section. You really have to treat it more as a dark ride than a coaster. 8/10

It was around 6 PM when I exited to so I had to leave soon for dinner. I hung around in Diagon Alley for few minutes before making my way back to the entrance (obviously had to get a shot of the dragon breathing fire).















Later that night, my dad and I went to City Walk to eat at the Hard Rock Café (very good). I don’t know if this is the best picture, but City Walk looks fantastic at night. It kind of feels like its own town.



Next up will be my Busch Gardens Tampa report. That will probably be the longest part of this whole PTR as it was the new major park for me, with plenty of new coasters, and the most pictures that day during the whole week. Don’t how soon/long it will take me to write, but I’ll get to work on it!
 

Hixee

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[My original reply posted twice, so I tried to delete the second copy and it seemed to delete both! Burden.]

It's one of the most well known parts of any park in the world, I would say, but I'm always pretty impressed by the Harry Potter stuff. It's really quite remarkable.

I'd always said that I'd leave a return trip to Florida until I had kids, but I'm finding myself feeling more and more like I'd like to go in the not-to-distant future (sooner than I'm likely to have kids, at least... :p ). You get to see plenty of reports of the place, and it really does look so good. Plus, there are plenty of new creds since last time I went. ;)

I look forward to seeing the rest!
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
You know, my dad and I kept wondering that there seems like a lack of actual rides that kids would enjoy . Okay, obviously there's the Dr. Seuss area at Islands (and maybe Toon Lagoon), that area near the Woody Woodpecker cred at Studios, and a handful of other rides geared towards kids (Despicable Me, Hippogriff), but those can all be done in a few hours. Kids under 10 could still go on the other major rides, but some of the content seems like it would be a bit overwhelming for a child (i.e. Mummy, Forbidden Journey, King Kong, Jurassic Park, Men in Black, all of which have frightening creatures that get in your face). Even more lighthearted simulators like Simpsons or Jimmy Fallon have some jokes that kids wouldn't understand (I mean, does a kid really want to go on a ride themed to a late night talk show?). It probably contributes to why you'll find more families and children at Disney rather than Universal.

I don't remember enjoying more than a handful of rides when I went in 2004. I went on Jurassic Park for the first time then, and I was traumatized by the end! I had a much better time at Magic/Animal Kingdom. Going to Universal when you're in the young teen demographic is much more suitable.

Of course, on the other side, you would have a kid with you to get the Pteradon Flyers cred!
 

Hixee

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I suppose I was thinking I'd use the kid to justify paying to go to Disney. ;) Oh, and Pterandon Flyers I suppose!
 

Rachel

Coaster MILF
Ahhh I love a Florida report! I completely agree with what you've said about Gringotts - I also expected the coaster parts to be much more substantial but still it works very well as a dark ride!
I'd always said that I'd leave a return trip to Florida until I had kids, but I'm finding myself feeling more and more like I'd like to go in the not-to-distant future
I said this after the first time I visited but there's always so much being added that the temptation is always there. Its such an easy trip to organise as well!

But anyway looking forward to reading the next part :).
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
I usually read spoilers but I decided to skip this time with Gringotts! Great report and looking forward to reading about Busch Gardens!
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
I'm kind of glad this trip lasted less than a week. If it was any longer, it would be summer before I finish this PTR at this rate.

Day 2 – Busch Gardens Tampa


My dad and I went our separate ways this morning. While he went over to Islands of Adventure to do the Hogsmeade ERT (and eventually to get his first ride on Gringotts), I had an 8:30 bus to catch. I reserved a spot on the Mears BGT bus a week in advance, and it picked me up at the bus stops from Universal resort. All you have to do is show the driver your park ticket, and you get a free round trip! The return trip departed at 7 PM, which meant that I’d be staying at the park the entire day, but it meant that I didn’t have to rush through the park.

I arrived about 20 min early at the bus stop (it felt pretty good walking in the opposite direction of the City Walk crowds) and waited with a stranger who may or may not be a goon (he brought up Cedar Point, so clearly he’s interested in roller coasters). Soon my bus arrived, and despite the dozens of other buses coming and going, mine was pretty obvious.



The drive itself was easy. Unsurprisingly, there weren’t a lot of people coming from Universal, but there was one extra stop 10 minutes in which filled up a majority of the bus. It’s a little over an hour away, but when you include the extra stop and some brief highway traffic, it took about an hour and a half from the time I boarded and exited the bus. There was a series of BGT animal documentaries, which helped pass the time… I was getting excited!

I arrived at the park a little after 10 AM, just after opening. They had a staggered opening with the some of the rides/area, so I had to stay at the front of the park for about an hour.



That’s fine with me, because my plan was to do Cobra’s Curse first anyway.



I’m really glad I decided to ride this first thing, as it was walk-on. Later in the day, the wait hovered around the 30 min range, and it even had a couple of breakdowns. I didn’t bother for a re ride, so it was nice to not have to deal with that mess in the afternoon.

This is a weird coaster isn’t it? I thought there were a couple of odd design-making decisions. I actually think the elevator lift hill looks aesthetically nice, and the system is cool in itself. But it doesn’t feel as special when the MCBR wastes the momentum almost immediately, and then they just have a normal lift hill anyway. I think I also would’ve preferred to have the starting section allow for spinning (it just starts facing forward). The actual free spinning later in the ride only lasts for like 15 seconds, so you might as well get a bit more out of that and use it in the beginning. I imagine I wouldn’t be hard to make that change in the future?

In terms of enjoyment, it’s perfectly fine and does its job as a family coaster. It’s smooth, there’re some fun turns, the spinning is nice, and the little helix in the middle where you go backwards is more fun than I thought. The interaction with the pathway below is also really well done (I made sure to check that out later). I wish there was more spinning, and the MCBR and second lift hill should’ve been designed differently to allow for a better pace, because it really does break up the ride. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t feel like doing a re ride, but I’d definitely do it again if/when I return to the park. 6/10

Right nextdoor was Cheetah Hunt, another coaster I expected to be pretty popular throughout the day.



Since it was still early, I waited about 15 minutes in line, but it was definitely starting to fill up behind me. Of course, when I got to the point where I only had to wait for a couple of train cycles, it breaks down. I waited for a bit, hoping for a quick turnaround like Gringotts had the previous day. It looked like that was going to happen, but after sending out two empty trains, it stopped again. So I left it, and went over to try out Montu while I was still in the area.



This was undoubtedly one of the coasters I was looking forward to the most in this park, and it didn’t disappoint. For the time being, I got one ride, but I was able to hop on the back row in just a few minutes. I immediately fell in love with it. The first drop is decent, particularly in the back where it whips you around. There’s your typical yet forceful loop to kick things off, and then there’s a great little tunnel before the immelmann.



There’s actually a little kink in the tunnel too, creating some quick lateral forces before you’re pulled into the immelmann. I’d say it’s one of the better immelmanns I’ve done (others are much more floaty and gentle than this one), though it’s definitely not a highlight of Montu.



Then it gets better: there’s a fantastic zero g roll, which I’m always a sucker for. There’s plenty of intense snapping going on, especially in the second half of the inversion where you’re whipped around a lot faster. Definitely my favorite moment of the ride.



The intensity doesn’t let up, because now there’s the batwing: a first for me. I’ve heard great things about this element and it didn’t disappoint. More snappiness galore, and there’s also a lot more great positive g forces I expected, particularly halfway through the batwing when you’re near the ground. One other thing: there’s actually a trim before the batwing, but it’s handled pretty well and I didn’t even notice it until the afternoon.

Then there’s an MCBR, which is fine, before going into another great loop. The second half of the ride is filled with a lot of fun trenches. There’s one nice moment after the second loop where the ride immediately banks into an upward turn, providing another snappy moment below the ground. Perhaps the section between the loop and the corkscrew is the only weak part of the ride; there isn’t a lot going on for a few seconds. But then the ride finishes off with an excellent corkscrew. You can never go wrong with this inversion on B&M inverts.

I made sure to whore this later in the afternoon, and I started loving it more and more. The pacing is probably what Montu does best. It’s not perfect (due to the MCBR and that section after the second loop), but the inversions are thrown at you one after another, making the intensity very consistent. It helped that I enjoyed every inversion as well. The back-to-back zero-g-roll and batwing combo in particular is fantastic.

There always seemed to be a lot of love for this coaster, with many considering it the best invert. But I think those people haven’t ridden Nemesis, because that still reigns superior (much more of a “holy ****” ride than Montu could ever be). But it only took me one ride to decide that Montu was my #2 B&M invert; much better than any other non-Nemesis invert. 9.5/10

I have Montu placed #14 on my favs list. Even after all this praise I’ve given it, I still don’t think it could go much higher than that (I guess that speaks for how I feel about the creds placed above it ;))

After my ride on Montu, the rest of the park opened up, so I started moving toward the back of the park where there were less crowds. I decided to do Sheikra, so I had took the path over at the left. It was a bit of a walk (some of the major coasters, the B&M’s at least, are very spread out).

I went through an area that had some really cool large scale garden designs, including an octopus in a pond and a girl holding a butterfly. Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of them (was focused on getting creds at this point), and this was the only time I went through this area.



I expected Sheikra to have more of a wait than some of the other coasters, but the queue never seemed extend outside the station. It really helped that they loaded two trains at once and ran (I think) four. Much better than two trains at Cedar Point! What’s also really nice is that I could choose my own row, which I wasn’t able to do for Valravn or Oblivion, where I kept getting shafted to the back seats. Interestingly, the front row line never seemed to be any longer than the wait for the other rows, so it was really easy to jump on the front row in only a few minutes each time.

I never bothered with the second or third row on this; front row is the place to be. I like the initial climb up, because it gives a clear view of the drop… must be pretty fun for nervous GP. There’s also a fantastic view of the city when you reach the top. The holding drop was very fun (the last time I actually did a dive machine in the front row was Griffon, four years ago). And the drop itself is pretty good as well.



I thought the bottom was pretty forceful; I greyed out on both my rides and my vision didn’t clear up until the top of the immelmann.



The next part worth talking about is the second drop into the themed tunnel, and that leaves the splashdown and a couple more smooth turns.



This is my fourth dive machine, after Griffon, Oblivion, and Valravn (yay I have all the dive machines in North America now). I still rate Griffon on top. It was my first DM, which made it feel more special, but Griffon still has more airtime moments and the extra immelmann. Valravn comes in second… perhaps that has the best layout, but I only rode it once and it was the back row. I’d put Sheikra at 3rd place, because the layout just isn’t as good as the other two. Oblivion, without a doubt, comes in last, because the holding drop doesn’t last as long and the ride ends immediately after the drop. I really don’t know why people think Oblivion is better than, like, any of the other dive machines. The nostalgia’s there, and it may have been a “game changer,” but the rest have more to offer.

Since Sheikra is my fourth dive machine, I think some of that novelty has worn off. The holding brake and the drop is great, as is the second drop. I think it’s pretty reridable as well. There’re a few “dull” spots, but they’re taken at a decent speed so they’re enjoyable, especially since the ride is incredibly smooth. Good coaster, but if you want intensity, look elsewhere. 7/10

I could’ve had another ride, but I wanted to continue on towards the back of the park. I got a first look at Falcon’s Fury though.

Then I found Kumba. It looks nice, doesn’t it?



My excitement for this ride had increased in the days leading up to the trip. I was looking forward to riding it almost as much as Montu.

Since I was in the back of the park, the queue was very quiet, making it really easy to walk onto back row. Front row was the only one that always had a few people in there, so I stuck with back row most of the time, while occasionally trying out the front half of the train as well.

This is an excellent coaster. I’ve done several standard B&M loopers (specifically floorless) with similar layouts (loop, dive loop, zero g, maybe a cobra roll, corkscrew or two, finish), so I was in familiar territory. But it was much better than any other B&M sitdown/floorless I’ve done.

After a fun curved drop, you start out with (surprise!) a loop. It’s fun and a bit forceful, but you also have the lift hill going through it. It reminds me of Banshee’s first loop, but Kumba has a cool headchopper effect when you’re upside down, which Banshee can’t pull off.





I’m not a big fan of dive loops (they don’t seem to do much for me), but this was one of the better ones. Probably a bit better in the front when you’re entering the twisty bit much faster than you would in the back.



Then the ride gets serious. Unsurprisingly, the zero g roll is the best part of the ride, showing off some of that old school B&M snap. Back seat is the place to be here.





The cobra roll is potentially another “best of its kind” inversion. They can sometimes be a bit rough, but this one was great and keeps the intensity going. The section right before it is great too: for a couple of seconds you fly underneath the bridge and trees and bushes surround you.



MCBR and another fun curved drop (which is better in the back)…



…before it drills through the interlocking corkscrews.





This was actually the weakest part of the ride (but probably the only weak part). B&M corkscrews are usually pretty good, but it gets a bit rattly when transitioning through the inversions. I noticed this on all of my rides. It doesn’t neuter the enjoyment, but it makes the section a bit awkward.



Fortunately, the coaster ends on a high note. There’s a fun little overbank turn into a tunnel and a fab helix. Lots of positive g forces, but not too much where it becomes uncomfortable and you start to grey out. And since it’s an upward helix, the front is better here.

So this was fantastic then. It was one of the quieter rides throughout the day so it was pretty easy to get re rides whenever I was in the area. I find it pretty interesting that there’re so many standard B&M sitdowns/floorless with very similar layouts, yet this one somehow manages to be the standout, while the rest can’t touch this. I mean, Kumba’s not trying to be anything special, yet somehow it is. It helps that the landscaping makes this one of the best looking coasters, and the path interaction is well done, too. You can get pretty close to the corkscrews and drop after the MCBR, as you might tell from the above pics. I still prefer Montu, because that has the better inversions and overall pacing is better. Montu doesn’t waste time getting from one inversion to the next, while Kumba seems to be “slower” in between the inversions. This also has the little smoothness issue during the corkscrews, but it’s the second best coaster in the park for me, and I’m pretty sure it found a spot in my overall Top 25. 9/10

I hung around here for a little bit, getting in a few rides in back to back. I decided to move on after my third ride because the queue was starting to extend outside the station, and they were only running one train. I was definitely planning to come back later; I figured they’d get a second train on soon, which would make it easier to reride in the afternoon. So I went over to the Pantopia area.



And of course, I got to try out Falcon’s Fury.



I thought this would be a bit of a wait since it’s still a pretty new attraction, and I feared that it might break down, but it was running well throughout the entire day and the queue never seemed to go beyond 15 minutes. It had a pretty decent capacity as well.

I rode this couple times throughout the day. Each time I rode it, there was a different ride op assigning people seats, but for some they reason they seemed to be struggling with their task. There always seemed to be some unnecessary delay. Sometimes, they’d look around without a clue, but they’d soon get the job done and assign people their seats. It wasn’t terrible, but you’d think they’d be trained well enough to not waste any time.

Falcon’s Fury is by far the best drop tower I’ve ridden though. Obviously you’re not getting any traditional airtime like on other towers, but the tilt at the top is so good, making it much more freaky and enjoyable than any other tower. It feels really cool, and staring down at the concrete 300 ft below, with just a vest holding you up, is insane.





The drop itself is fun as well. It kind of feels like you’re skydiving. The trim brakes start out pretty high, but it didn’t seem like we were going that slow. I always wondered how the transition back the seating position would feel, but it’s pretty seamless and doesn’t have any discomfort. Lastly, the paint design looks great, and I love how you can see it from all over the park. It’s kind of loud as well (although not annoyingly loud), so you can hear it around the park as well. Hope that more parks invest in these rides (Grona Lund is due to get one next, right?).

There are a couple creds in this area. First I checked out the wild mouse, Sand’s Serpent…



Oh.

Well that’s too bad. Obviously a shame that I couldn’t get the cred, although part of me was pretty glad that I didn’t have to deal with another wild mouse. They should probably scrap it anyway.

The Schwarz looper Scorpion was also nextdoor, which, interestingly, had a very similar color scheme to Sheikra.







The line seemed kind of long though. There was only one train running and the line extended all the way back to the entrance. I think the wait would’ve been a little over 30 min, which isn’t terrible, but I decided to save the cred for later in the afternoon when the line would die down.

So I made my way back towards the front of the park, where I could reride Montu and make another attempt at Cheetah Hunt. I needed to get some lunch as well.

I had forgotten that half of the park was a zoo as well, so I got distracted by some of the exhibits on the way back. First, I checked out the elephants for a few minutes.







I didn’t really know why they had penguins here. I figured they’d be more fit at SeaWorld than at an African themed park.



Cheetah Hunt did not show any signs of being open.





I went into the myombe reserve, which had a couple of cute infant gorillas.





I also checked out the Cheetah exhibit as well. I used to ****ing love cheetahs when I was a little kid, and seeing them again brought those memories back.



I guess there was a “cheetah run” show earlier, which would’ve been interesting to see. But when I saw the exhibit, there was a squirrel screwing around in the cheetah’s habitat, so I got to see the cheetahs moving very stealthy in attempt to catch it (they failed unfortunately).

I had a quick look at Cheetah Hunt’s entrance for any update… still broken down, but it was time for lunch anyway. I ate at the Serengeti Overlook, which is probably one of the nicer restaurants at the park. I’m glad I ate here, because if you sit out on the deck you get a nice view of the “Serengeti Plain,” the park’s main animal field. It’s actually a lot bigger than I thought, and there’re several different species. It was a nice atmosphere.




There was a decent view of Cobra as well.







I timed my lunch pretty well, because when I left the building I saw that Cheetah Hunt, conveniently located next to the restaurant, was finally open! I quickly decided to ride it before it got crowded, but other peeps had the same idea. So while it turned out to be close to a 30 minute wait for me, it didn’t seem like it would get any shorter later in the day. Clearly, the park has a popular ride here, but they seem to be treating it well because they run it with like 5 (maybe 6?) trains and load two at once. Although I don’t know if running with 5 trains is necessary, because there’d always be two on the brake run. Anyway, I eventually hopped onto the back row.

The initial boost out of the station is a fun way to get things started. It’s also a nice preview of what’s probably my favorite part of the ride: the second launch. This one is much more powerful, but obviously can’t hold a candle to the Intamin accelerators. It’s still a ton of fun, and the trench adds to it as well. The sounds that the launches make are amazing, too.



Even in the back row, I got a bit of airtime coming up to the top of the figure eight. Unfortunately, I never tried the front, but I imagine it would be much better up there. The figure eight itself is fine, but the drop into the trench is fun with a bit more airtime there.





Unfortunately, the ride just kind of wanders around after that. It’s enjoyable and very smooth, but the elements mainly consist of curved hills that don’t really do much.

Fortunately, halfway through the ride, it tries to be a bit more interesting. There’s barrel roll (which I forgot existed), which I probably would’ve loved years ago, back when hangtime was “new” for me and I loved the feeling. It’s still a good element, and I’ll gladly take it over another dull turn. After the MCBR comes a section which I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would: the series of S-bends. By itself, the section would probably be acceptable at best, but the surrounding environment it goes through makes it much more fun. After that there’s another fun, if a bit weak, launch, and then another moment of airtime. After that airtime hill the layout resorts back to uninspiring turns and hills, before returning to the station.

I thought it was a solid coaster, but the layout is very inconsistent. I really enjoyed the first few moments with the launches and the figure 8, and I also liked the middle section with the inversion, S-bends, and final launch into the airtime hill. But there’s too much gentleness to keep me fully interested. I think the ride would have benefited from sharper transitions rather than the drawn out hills. That being said I still enjoyed it, especially the main launch. 7/10

I would’ve liked to get a re ride, but I didn’t like the ride enough to want to wait for another half hour. I would’ve preferred to ride it in the morning and re ride it again in the afternoon, but obviously the break down prevented that from happening.

Here’s an example of the impressive garden theming they had around the park.



Even though I still had a couple of creds to get, I still had plenty of hours left before closing, so I could start returning to some of the really good stuff.



I got 5 more rides in on Montu, and it was amazing. Now, this park didn’t seem to have any single rider queues for any of their creds, but I still benefited from being a single rider. Whenever I’d be waiting for a row in the station, chances are there’d be a party of 2 or 3 ahead of me that I could join. This occurred on almost all of my rides on Montu (as well as other coasters) and it kept me from having to wait for an extra one or two train cycles. Obviously, it wasn’t as quick as a single rider, but the normal line was pretty short anyway and I could still choose what row to sit in.

After many intense rides on Montu, I “relaxed” for a bit and had a wander around Cobra’s Curse. It actually broke down at one point; a couple of riders had to be evacuated off the second lift hill.











Despite the coaster not being as good as it could have been, I thought they did a really nice job with the interaction. The giant cobra statue looks really nice as well.

The path brought me over to some more views of the Serengeti Plain.



Flamingo Land:







The path brought me back over to Cheetah Hunt, where I stumbled across a “cheetah walk” encounter. So I hung around for a few minutes to check this out.



This is where I also began noticing some of the detail in Cheetah Hunt’s theming, including these tarps along the supports. The ride has a lot of other detailed theming that I didn’t really begin to appreciate until looking over some pictures. It’s probably the best themed ride in the park.





I forget exactly what they were feeding him, but it looked like piss to me. Beautiful creature though, ain't it?



Then I did something that I pretty much never do at theme parks: riding the train! It gets you a bit closer to the animals on the plain, but you also get some exclusive views of some of the creds!













I've probably glanced at this photo dozens of times, but now I'm starting to ask myself why the hell was I taking a picture of a trim? What kind of goon have I become? o_O









There were some really nice distant views of some of the B&M’s, specifically Kumba and Sheikra.











It’s a shame that the Skyride wasn’t open that day. It probably would’ve been very useful and I missed out on some cool shots of Cheetah Hunt.







I didn’t plan out my next part accordingly. I got off at the stop near Kumba, but I was looking to eventually make my way back near Sheikra and get that kiddie cred. I probably should’ve just stayed on the train; I didn’t realize there was another station to where I wanted to go. Then again, while on foot I got to check out a couple of more animal exhibits.







Kiddie coasters have become a bit of a nuisance to get. The process can seem slow, and the ride operators typically aren’t the park’s best team. Air Grover in particular was annoying because it’s not exactly near anything of interest. I got lost in some kiddie playgrounds on the way too.



On the way back towards the back of the park, I got another ride in on Sheikra.











Then I got a couple more re rides in on Kumba, which was excellent. As I suspected, they got a second train running so it was more or less a walk on at this point. I stopped after two rides though. Kumba might be one of those rides where you can only re ride it consecutively for so long; the intensity was beginning to wear me out!

I went back to the Pantopia area to finally get Scorpion, but the line wasn’t much shorter than earlier in the day, and they were still only running one train. I still got on in around 25 minutes, but I didn’t think any longer line would’ve been worth it for a Schwarzkopf.





The ride as a bit better than I thought though. The loop is decent, the final helix is good, and, if I remember correctly, there’re some pretty great head choppers. Lap bars are also a plus for a ride like this. The only coaster I can really compare it to is SooperDooperLooper, which I prefer. This is still kind of a fun ride, though wouldn’t bother for a re ride unless it was a walk on throughout the day. 6.5/10

It was time for dinner, and I ate pretty quick because I had less than an hour left to catch my bus, and I wanted a couple more re rides. Naturally, after eating, I did another go on Falcon’s Fury. All good then.

I planned to end the day with some final rides on Montu, the best coaster in the park. I got distracted by this lion though.



I only had time for two quick rides on Montu, but I rode it a total 7 times throughout the day so I was pretty satisfied. At 6:45, I stopped everything I was doing and exited the park. Apparently I was the last one to arrive at the bus (pretty easy to find BTW; just outside the entrance and just look for you’re specific bus number), but I still arrived before 7 PM, like the driver told us (I was busy riding Montu!). Remember during the drive this morning where they showed us BGT documentaries? Well this time, there was this really bad kids movie I never heard of featuring some bratty child actors (as well as bad adult actors). I think it’s called the Lost Medallion (I can’t believe I just spent 10 minutes Googling the movie to find its name).

I got back to City Walk at around 8:30 and quite tired. Tomorrow wouldn’t be as crazy (at least when it comes to traveling). The plan was to do more Universal stuff.

I loved Busch Gardens Tampa, and it was my favorite day of the week. Compared to the others parks we did, Busch has a bit more of a focus on the roller coasters. In terms of overall quality, I think this has one of the better coaster selections, based on what I've done. There wasn’t really a coaster I didn’t enjoy (except for the kiddie cred, plus I didn’t deal the wild mouse). Montu and Kumba are fantastic, and Cheetah Hunt, Sheikra, Cobra, and Scorpion are all solid supporting coasters.

Compared to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, I think I enjoyed Tampa a little more. Montu is my favorite among both parks, but both parks have good coasters and it really just comes down to opinion (i.e. I prefer Montu over Alpengeist, but Griffon over Sheikra, Verbolten over Cheetah, etc). I also need to go back to BGW at some point and experience that stuff again, as I was just an amateur enthusiast back then. But I think the main reason I enjoyed Tampa over Williamsburg was that Tampa has the better animal exhibits. And it helped that the weather is much better than it was during my BGW trip.

Excellent park, and nice to cross that off my bucket list after being up there for quite some time. Definitely a place I’d like to return to in the next several years.
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
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Nice report! Sounds like you had a really good day, with loads of attractions done and plenty of re-rides.

Montu really blew me away on my visit (2006!), and I always love hearing that it's still such a beast of a coaster!

Thanks for sharing.
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
Love this report! I especially liked the analysis of Kumba - top 10 for me. Haven't been since 2007 so I really need to get back and experience the place as an enthusiast.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
Finally getting around to reading some of these reports. Very thorough reporting! Looks like you had a really good time. I'm getting jealous of seeing all the sunny pics and of reading about Montu and Kumba - feels like an age since I last rode them.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
Great report, nicely phrased and reasoned. I preferred Kumba to Montu when I went, but they are literally side by side in my rankings so there's nothing between them. You are right about Kumba's intensity though, I can marathon nearly anything but I had to stop at 3 on that beast.
Shame you missed out on Sand Serpent, It's one of the better mouses imo, not incredible at all but still decent.
Glad to see Cheetah Hunt is still as underwhelming as ever ;)
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
Thanks for all the comments!
Shame you missed out on Sand Serpent, It's one of the better mouses imo, not incredible at all but still decent.
Is it really though? I've only done a handful of them, but I don't particularly remember any major differences (other than Dark Knight at Great Adventure being indoors with theming, of course). They're kind of fun (probably more fun with friends), but as I do more of them, I don't think of them much more than a +1.

And I wasn't exactly underwhelmed by Cheetah Hunt. I went on with an open mind, so I wasn't all that surprised by how it turned out to be.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
Personally I found Cheetah Hunt underwhelming too. Compared to other family launch coasters (Juvelen, Anubis, etc.) it was very weak. I think one of the main problems is that it's too spread out (to try and take in all the animals) that it reduces any real snappiness in the layout. Individual elements are good (like the waterfall s-bends) but then there are sections with nothing really happening. And the meander around the tree is a bit lame.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
Is it really though? I've only done a handful of them, but I don't particularly remember any major differences (other than Dark Knight at Great Adventure being indoors with theming, of course). They're kind of fun (probably more fun with friends), but as I do more of them, I don't think of them much more than a +1.
I distinctly remember it being one of the best I'd ridden at the time, as it was fun and not brutal like many. Maybe now I've ridden a bunch of others it would be bland, really should head back soon.
 

Coaster Hipster

Giga Poster
Very enjoyable read :) The foliage and landscaping at BGT looks gorgeous and I really appreciate your pictures of the creds. So many great colour schemes! I also liked a lot your reports on each coaster, good descriptions of each ride's sensations and experiences. Whoring Montu sounds like a dream made of snappiness and intensity galore :D
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
^Thanks! It's always nice to find an intense yet comfortable ride to marathon.

Day 3 – Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios Florida

My mom had flown in the previous night, so the three of us spent the full day at the resort. Unlike yesterday, which consisted of a traveling and light crowds, today we experienced more crowds, but without any traveling. Even though we had fast passes, most of the Harry Potter stuff didn’t so we had to plan around that. While I was at Busch Gardens, my dad did 8AM ERT at Hogsmeade, did a ride on Forbidden Journey, took the train over to Diagon Alley, and tried Gringotts when the line wasn’t incredibly long. We wanted to ride Gringotts together, so the best option would be to either go to USF first thing at 9 AM, or do what my dad did. We did the latter.

Another 7 AM wakeup for us on Wednesday morning. Not incredibly early but I’m far from a morning person. That being said, nothing motivates me more to get out of bed than knowing that you’re gonna ride some roller coasters!

We started walking over to the entrance at 7:45, and while the entrance wasn’t quite a **** show, it was still very packed. Nonetheless, we got inside the park just after 8 made our way through Dr. Seuss Landing to Hogsmeade. Staff had organized the path to file everyone in the right direction and blocked off other attractions and areas.

Our day started out pretty cloudy, but it slowly cleared up within an hour.



We planned to do Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey first thing, which most people were obviously heading to. We saved Dragon Challenge for later in the afternoon, as they accepted our fast passes, and it’s not a particularly popular ride anyway.



I’m just realizing now that I didn’t take any pictures of the queue, which a shame (I think I had put my phone in my mom’s mini shoulder bag). Then again, any pictures probably wouldn’t turn out great anyway, due to the lighting inside. The queue was a little slow and it was already up to a half hour wait (you would think that there’d be walk-ons during the ERT, but when several hotels provide that perk to residents, it fills up very quickly). While the queue was slow, it gave us time to look around and check out all the scenery. It’s much better than the queue at Gringotts, mainly because the setting is much more interesting and there’s more opportunity for a wide range of details and different set pieces from the movies. The holograms are much better than I remember, especially Dumbledore’s—it honestly looks like he’s really there when you’re standing from the right angle.

One little thing about the ride: each seat has a little compartment where you can store any belongings (my mom was able to stuff her mini purse inside). If the staff didn’t help stuff the bag inside, I wouldn’t have known about it. Onto the ride then:

Just as we were about to leave the conveyer belt, the ride stops! Ironically, it was immediately after Hermione said “1, 2, 3,” :rolleyes:. So we briefly sat in an awkward position, but the ride got running again in less than a minute.

I loved this thing when I first rode it years ago. It took an idea like Spiderman to a whole other level. For some reason, when I got to ride it again this morning, I felt a little underwhelmed. Maybe the mini breakdown disturbed my experience, but I also felt like the ride was running a little slow. Turns out the latter was just me. I got plenty of rides in later in the afternoon and I enjoyed it much much more, similar to how I felt when I rode it years ago.

Here’s what my opinion has come to: it’s one of the best rides in the entire resort (probably my favorite non-coaster ride out of both parks). After riding it more later, I decided that I prefer it over Gringotts, mainly because it’s longer, uses a mix of screens and physical sets, and the content is just better. The transitions between the physical sets and screens are almost seamless, and I had a lot more fun riding it in the afternoon.

When we got off, staff actually offered us a free ride due to the breakdown, but it was around 8:40, and my dad suggested we line up for the Hogwarts Express. I think the train officially started running at 8:50, but they were letting people through the queue (and there were quite a bit already) and scanning tickets. While the queue area obviously wasn’t as detailed as Forbidden Journey or Gringotts, it was a pretty nice environment. It also offered some exclusive views of Chinese Fireball’s lopsided immelmann.





Unfortunately (but unsurprisingly), it’s not a real train; it looked like it runs on a cable. For those of you who don’t know, the inside of the train booths have TVs that simulate windows and outside environments that follow along with the moving train. The window effects and graphics don’t look great, especially when some of the characters appear; they looked like they don’t belong there. What I found far more interesting are the shadow effects from the train booth doors. You get peeps, dementors, and other **** walking by. The voice of Hermione was quite jarring though. You’d think that the park could’ve found better a better impersonator! Another neat little aspect is that the window/shadow effects are different each way, which encourages you to ride twice (and yes you can park hop twice in one day). At the end of the day, it’s more of a way of transportation than a “ride,” but the theming is good. The whole idea of “traveling from London to Hogwarts” is kind of genius though, especially for Harry Potter goons like myself.

I like how the train dumps you off outside of Diagon Alley (it would’ve been far more hectic you exited into the actual area, considering the crowds density). The three of us went over to do Escape from Gringotts, which was honestly the best time to ride (during the day at least). They made us get a locker for my mom’s bag though, which was kind of annoying. At least it was free (for a limited time), but lockers are always nuisance to deal with, especially when there’re constantly crowded at Universal parks!

The line for Gringotts started out a little shorter than when I rode it (it still spilled out into some of the cattle pens), but we ended up having to wait close to an hour due to another breakdown. This time we skipped the dumb photo, and the section after the “elevator” was pretty quick. Now that I knew what to expect, I enjoyed the ride a bit more. I just wish it was a bit longer and/or had a better coaster section. Theming is still phenomenal though.

We hung around for a bit in Diagon Alley, but the dragon didn’t seem to be breathing any fire (the flamethrower failed to go off after the dragon roared). So we did some other rides.

We actually ended up doing the same stuff my dad and I did Monday, but my mom had never done them. We did Transformers, Simpsons, and Mummy in that order, which were all fun. I’m assuming you read the first part, so I won’t bother with going into detail about those.



After Mummy, we checked out Rockefeller Center and managed to reserve a few spots for a Jimmy Fallon technical rehearsal, and the allotted time wasn’t too far off. So I got my mom to try out Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, which I think was smoother than my rides on Monday. When we got off, she mentioned that she prefers roller coasters over the hi-tech simulators, which she finds more disorienting. I don’t blame her. We met up with my dad again and we all tried out Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon.



I like Jimmy Fallon and the Tonight Show, but I was never really on board with this choice of ride. The Comcast building looks pretty good from the outside, and inside feels very new and slick. I found the way they organized the loading pretty interesting (not 100% sure if this has changed for/since opening). There isn’t really a queue line. Instead, riders are given colored cards and there’re two floors which include Tonight Show theming and a lounge area to chill and wait. Eventually, the lights inside change to the color of your card, indicating that it’s time to start loading. You have to turn in your card to a ride op, whom directs you to the preshow (I imagine this might cause some confusion for some people; the process is actually pretty simple to understand, but there’s bound to be some clueless riders).

The pre show consists of Jimmy doing a monologue, but I forget exactly what he said. There’s a sign that lights up and prompts you to applaud at specific moments, which was very cringe worthy.

So the riders are basically the audience of the Tonight Show, with the simulator/seats themed to the auditorium. As the name suggests, the ride has you race Jimmy around New York, and eventually you start flying (and to the moon!). There’s a bit of humor thrown around, some of it got me chuckling a bit, but the content is pretty weak compared to the talk show itself. In terms of simulation effects, it’s pretty underwhelming when you compare it to stuff like Transformers, Harry Potter, Kong, and Spiderman (and isn’t Spiderman like 15 years old?!). It’s more along the lines of perhaps Shrek or Simpsons.

I enjoyed it for what it was (my parents really liked it). The theming and sets are pretty good it’s still a fun simulator, but when I compare to some of the others I mentioned above, I realize that it’s not as innovative and kinda meh. I think it comes down the technology and the obscure theme.

For a brief second, we considered doing Despicable Me and Shrek. We had done Shrek in the past, but Despicable Me was new to us. That being said, I wasn’t eager to do either of them. It was around lunchtime, and I wanted to get back to Islands of Adventure and finally do the stuff over there. I don’t really know much about the Despicable Me ride, but I haven’t heard anything amazing about it. Never saw the movies either.

My dad decided to call it quits, but my mom stuck around in the park with me for a bit. Lunch was tedious. Due to crowds (and a group of school kids), just getting lunch took a little bit of time, and we had to eat at a park bench outside because all the surrounding tables were full.

It was time to take the Hogwarts Express again, so we went through the King’s Cross queue line. The wait was around the same as the earlier train ride, maybe more packed. Overall, I prefer this half of the ride as opposed to going the other way, for a few reasons. First, in the queue, there’s a hologram that’s set up to give a cool illusion of peeps walking through Platform 9 ¾. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it's supposed to look like the peeps are walking through a brick wall. Second, the shadow effect in the train included the dementor scene where it tries to open the door. Best effect of the entire ride. Lastly, the idea of traveling to Hogwarts is much more “exciting” than leaving it.

And since there isn’t a complete circuit, I got a kick out of the train backing into the station.







Like my dad earlier, my mom was thinking about heading back to the hotel for the pool, so she only wanted to do a few more rides. Because of that, we didn’t do every ride in the order we saw them. But we did start out with Dragon Challenge.



We were pretty lucky to experience plenty of rides on Dragon Challenge when it dueled (it was just a few months before that **** started throwing change at the other riders). There’s been some speculation on whether Universal should scrap it, given it no longer duels and that the coaster area itself is a bit of a mess when it comes to aesthetics. Despite that, I honestly think that these two are still the best rides in the entire resort. They’re so much better when you compare them to the coasters at USF, and I think it just comes down to the elements and intensity being more consistent and overall good.

There may not be much (any) theming in the coaster section, but the queue and station are actually pretty well themed and hold up to the rest of the Harry Potter areas. Nothing is incredibly detailed or in your face, but it looks nice and you have the crashed flying car from Chamber of Secrets there as well.

I always preferred Chinese Fireball over Hungarian Horntail, so we just went with that for now. Both drops are pretty good and not too drawn out. I mentioned that Montu had one of the better immelmanns, but I actually think Fireball has the best that I’ve experienced. The first one is a little snappy, but the second one (the weird wrap-around immelmann) is the highlight of Chinese Fireball. It’s much more snappy and there’re some pretty good g forces as it immediately goes through the helix. And of course, in between the two immelmanns you have a rare airtime moment on an invert, giving some nice gentle floater.



The loop used to be one of the best parts about the ride when it dueled, especially in the front row: you don’t often go face-to-face with another coaster, and it seemed like you could kick the other riders’ feet. Obviously that’s not as good as it used to be, but the loop is still fun on it’s own.

That leaves you have a couple of fab corksckrews, and it’s over. You’ll have to wait for my Horntail opinion/comparison when I inevitably return to the ride later in the day, but I still like Fireball more.







We went through Jurassic Park next. While the area isn’t as spectacular as the Potter ones, it still probably one of the better themed areas at the resort (definitely nicer than Toon Lagoon and Marvel Superhero Island).

We did Jurassic Park River Adventure, which traumatized me when I first rode it at 5 years old. Even though we’d ridden this multiple times in more recent years, I’m glad I did this again and with someone else, and it was still really enjoyable. The theme and “story” is great, even though some of the animatronics look a bit **** compared to some of the newer stuff (the T-Rex still looks decent though). Perhaps they could consider updating the ride soon? Fun ride, but we did get a bit more wet than anticipated. We skipped Dudley Do Right and Popeye, thank you very much.





My mom only wanted to do one other ride, so we made our way over to Incredible Hulk 2.0. Yes, it is a new cred, why wouldn’t it be? (Imagine Old Hulk getting relocated somewhere else, and now New Hulk is built. Two clones = two creds).



It looks great BTW too. The big mess of green track had always looked good, but now there’s some nice-looking trains with headlights, a sweet light package for the evening, an awesome “huurrgh” scream when the train launches (which is the best theming/effect of the ride), and, of course, this ridiculous entrance:



Old Hulk was my first large-scale roller coaster and first B&M. It was way before I knew anything about roller coasters, but around the time my interest sparked. I had loved it. I didn’t love it as much when I rode it a year later (2011), but I still thought it was great.

The ride experience itself is identical though. I didn’t think it’s become any smoother or rougher than before, but then again I didn’t really notice those things several years ago. I think it’s smooth enough, nothing perfect but not that shaky.

The tunnel now has some different lightning and sound effects, but I think I prefer the “Everything looks good” indoor SFX than the new indoor effects.

The launch into the zero g is the best part… spectacular moment. The inversions following that are good too. Going up the cobra roll had some powerful g forces and didn’t have any headbanging. The loops and first corkscrew are good, and the helix around the lift hill is taken at a decent enough speed that it doesn’t slow down the pace. The turnaround immediately after the second loop has a fun banking transition too. So the first 2/3 of the ride are very good.







Unfortunately, the last third can’t match up with the rest of the coaster. The entire coaster in general slowly gets less exciting/interesting as it goes through the layout (i.e. amazing start, good and powerful inversions in the middle, okay ending). The last corkscrew is fine, but the ride doesn’t really know what it’s doing at this point. It’s just a few low turns before hitting the brakes. Maybe some city scenery could’ve kept this section interesting?

Hulk 2.0 also received one other change: on board audio. And it’s TERRIBLE. It’s just bad action music that’s being blasted into your ears throughout the entire ride, and it’s kind of distracting. I feel like it’s something Six Flags would do. Get rid of it.



I really like the coaster as a whole though. The updated stuff is great (minus the on board music) and the layout is good, for the most part. Post-MCBR is kind of just “ok the ride’s over now,” but the launch into the zero g roll is incredible (pun intended). 8.5/10

After one ride, my mom left the park. I decided to continue riding Hulk on my own. I moved on after a few fun rides and started backtracking the way I came, doing some rides I skipped before returning to Hogsmeade. The Amazing Adventures of Spider was next up.

I loved this years back, but this was the first time I tried it with the enhanced graphics. And they looked fantastic! It still maintains that colorful and cartoony vibe, but everything looked more clear and crisp. I think I prefer Transformers over this though, maybe because it’s just newer to me, but I also find the screens/action sequences more fun and ridiculous. I think Transformers has more screen sequences where you’re “moving” a lot, whereas Spiderman has more “stationary” screen sections (if that makes sense). But Spiderman also has more physical effects, including a sweet flamethrower that synchs up perfectly with the previous screen.





I didn’t want to get stupidly soaked on the Toon Lagoon rides, but I stuck around for a few minutes to check out Dudley Do Right. The main drop area looks pretty cool to watch, even if it does look a bit absurd. I do think Toon Lagoon might be one of the weaker themed areas, though. Well, the water rides are good, but I'm not a huge fan of the theme and overall setting. And honestly, does anyone know who these characters are anyway (the only reason I do is because my dad showed me Popeye when I was little)? I wouldn’t be against a re theme to something more recent.

Skull Island: Reign of Kong was another new attraction for me. I actually never really paid attention to the construction of this, and didn’t even know that this existed until a few months ago. Obviously skip the next few paragraphs if you don’t want spoilers… I’m going to go into detail for a bit as it’s a new ride.



The structure looks pretty good from the outside, and it’s quite big. Obviously, King Kong isn’t affiliated with Jurassic Park, but the ride works well being at the edge of the Jurassic area. It’s fits the jungle theme, plus the ride itself features dinosaurs anyway.

This one actually had one of the longest queues at both parks. The regular queue was 60 minutes, but thank god this accepted express pass (had it not accept fast pass, it could’ve stirred up our morning plan of attack). With express pass, it was about a 20 minute wait, but the queue moved slow. It didn’t help that the queue I was in mainly consisted of a narrow hallway, with not much to keep me entertained (I did get a brief glimpse of the old demon lady animatronic though).

Now I knew that this ride was another modern 3D simulator with a car/truck in motion (a la Spiderman/Transformers/both Potter rides), but I didn’t know what else to expect. I hadn’t heard a lot of opinions about it either.

I loved it! I liked the safari theme and how it encourages you to look around (you don’t look forward, but on either side; be sure to sit closer to the right, you’ll hear why in a minute). The ride starts out driving outside, and the big temple doors open up the cave… cool stuff. Then you stop by a couple of screens that show some characters you don’t care about getting their ass handed to by a bunch of gross creatures (seriously though, they went all in on the scary mutants and snake things… might scare some of the children). The creatures then spit at you and the trucks gets bumped around. A group of bats really benefit from the 3D effect though; it made it seem like some of theme were flying inside/through the truck.

Then the really good stuff happens: you drive into a big room with two giant screens on either side of you depicting the lush jungle and gorgeous visuals. The truck is stationary here, but it simulates a fun chase scene with some dinosaurs. Then King Kong finally shows up and all hell breaks loose. The dinosaurs are knocking over your truck, riders are getting spat on countless times, and soon we start falling off the edge of a ****ing cliff. ****’s going down on either side so you don’t know which way to look. On one screen, Kong will finish off one dinosaur, then climb over the truck and appear on the opposite screen. Whew!

That was the main sequence, and it lasts for what seemed like a few good minutes. We eventually leave the room (there’s a brief section where there’s no theming going on either side of you, unfortunately; just a dark tunnel) and slowly drive around another room with a huge King Kong animatronic, found on your right (which is where you should sit on the truck). The set looks awesome and ****s all over Jurassic Park River Adventure’s dinosaurs. Part me was kind of hoping that Kong would **** us all over and eat us, but that didn’t happen. There’s not much going on here other than the chance to see a really cool set. And that’s it!

Because I didn’t really know what to expect, I ended up loving it. It was a lot more over the top than I expected, and I was really impressed with that main jungle sequence. During the entire ride, there’s also a tour guide voiceover talking about some ****, but what’s cool is that not all trucks have the same character, which is more encouragement to ride it again. Just writing about this write now makes me wanna go back and ride it again. I think it definitely belongs with the rest of Universal’s high tech simulators, but it’s hard for me to rank them in order (though I like Forbidden Journey the most). They’re all so good!

Sorry for that long essay on one ride (I seem to be going into more and more detail with each ride). Anyway... I had a walk through Jurassic Park and checked out the Pteradon Flyers, but I was spited and couldn’t even enter the little area. I attempted it again early in the morning two days later, but they wouldn’t let me on. Whatever, ride looked like **** anyway. :p



I wanted to finish the day off whoring Dragon Challenge, but I saw that Forbidden Journey’s regular queue had died down, so I did that a couple times. I found the single rider, and it seems like this would almost always be a walk on since it’s kind of hidden. Getting multiple rides on this confirmed my initial impression (years back) that this is my favorite non-coaster ride.

During one of my rides, I sat on the very left and didn’t pay any attention to the was going on in front of me. I knew that the ride consisted of robot arms that ran along a specific path, but I was still very interested to how it all worked. I learned that most of the screens move along with you, and that some of them are concave and rotate around an axis. If have the chance to get plenty of rides on this thing, I’d recommend doing this.

I wish they did a better job of covering up the white building that actually houses the ride lol.



I had forgotten about Flight of the Hippogriff, so I did that. I actually might’ve done this when I was little, but I have no memory of it, so this will confirm it for the +1.



It’s actually one of the better kiddie creds I’ve done, that’s mainly thanks to the theming. It has a nice station and landscaping, but there’s a pretty cool Buckbeak animatronic right next to the lift hill. The layout is decent for a +1 as well (still meh overall :p).



They actually had a show going on, so I caught the final few minutes of that. Meh.





Next, I decided to whore Dragon Challenge for a while. Unfortunately this (along with Hulk and Hollywood) requires you to get a locker if you have anything in your pockets (this obviously because of the incident in 2011 which caused them to stop dueling; but the metal detectors would prevent this from happening again anyway, so why not have them duel again?). It meant I couldn’t really get better pictures of the ride, but whatever. At least the locker was free for an hour.

These coasters are really easy to whore, especially considering that the station is usually pretty quiet, and that there’s a shortcut from the exit to the queue (so you don’t have to go all the way around again). The only issue is that they make you go through the metal detectors every ride. Express pass wasn’t really necessary here, but it’s probably a much shorter path to the station than the regular queue.

I got seven rides in a row, switching off between red and blue. I’ll talk about Hungarian Horntail now (specifically in comparison to Fireball).

In terms of intensity, both rides are about the same. Both have a loop and an interlocking corkscrew, but Horntail has a sweet zero g roll that’s taken at a great speed, and a decent cobra roll. The zero g is great, but I prefer Fireball’s immelmanns over Horntail’s cobra roll. Fireball also has the better start and end: while Fireball begins with an immelmann and ends with an extra corkscrew, Horntail starts with an overbank turn and ends after the interlocking corkscrew. While I prefer Chinese Fireball’s selection of unique elements (immlemmans, airtime hill, extra corkscrew) over Hungarian Horntail’s (overbank turn, zero g roll, cobra roll), Horntail is still the second best ride in the entire resort. It’s still quick and has one fun intense element after the other, making Dragon Challenge an excellent pair of coasters. 9/10

Coincidentally, there were actually a couple of times where both coasters were dispatched at the same time and started out climbing together. But alas, the lift hills were programmed to slow one train down and speed up the other. Bit of a troll if you ask me.

I timed the hour pretty well when I retrieved my stuff from the locker. It was almost 6 PM by then. Pretty soon I needed to head back to the hotel, shower, and get ready for dinner (I think it was the Italian restaurant at City Walk). But because I could, I did one more ride on Forbidden Journey. I leisurely made my way out after that.

I’ll say this: I’ve never done any of the rides in the Lost Continent. What is it, Poseidon’s Fury and some other stunt show? I knew nothing about them, but since they aren’t creds, I wasn’t bothered.





Cred or no cred? Obviously not if you ask me. If it was then we might as well start counting the monorails at Disney World.













Good day then! While the parks were right next to our hotel, I was still pretty exhausted that evening. I’d done plenty of walking and did dozens of rides on the coasters and simulators. It was nice to only have to wander home and not have to deal with a 90 minute bus ride.

Thanks for reading. Next up is SeaWorld Orlando… who knows when I’ll have that part done.
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
Great report! Would you say it's necessary to do both directions on the Hogwarts express? For some reason it never occurred to me that they might offer different experiences! Also do you only get the full Forbidden Journey queue experience in the regular queue line?
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
Yeah, single rider on Forbidden Journey doesn't give you all the theming, so I'd recommend the full queue at least once. Then whore it with single rider.

I don't think it's necessary to do both directions of Hogwarts Express, at least in one day. That Wednesday was really meant to be focusing on IoA, but we wanted to fit in Gringotts and take advantage of the IoA ERT, so that's just how it turned out to be for us. TBH, unless you're a Harry Potter goon, you probably don't need to take it at all if you have a day at each park. It costs more anyway (although our hotel provided it for us). But if you are interested in trying out the ride, the ticket would allow you to go back and forth multiple times in a day, so I guess it wouldn't hurt.
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
Day 4 – SeaWorld Orlando & Fun Spot America

My mom and I had done SeaWorld in 2011 and really enjoyed, so we were looking forward to coming back. My dad had never been, I still needed the kiddie coaster, and of course they just got a brand spankin’ new B&M mega coaster.

Our tickets included round trip bus transportation, similar to Busch Gardens. My mom and I did the 9 AM departure, while my dad did the 10 AM bus and met us at the park, as he wanted to lounge in the morning for a bit.



It was probably the quietest park we did that week, which was a really nice change from the Universal crowds (although I shouldn’t be complaining when we had express passes). The queues were pretty quiet, but there were still decent crowds for the shows, which most people probably come for anyway.



The goon in me wanted to get some rides in on Mako first, but I should’ve known that the park would do a staggered opening. The back area wouldn’t open until 10, but we had 20 minutes until they dropped the ropes. So we looped around and did Manta.



We both loved this years back, especially since it was nothing we’d ever done before. The pretzel loop was a big wow moment for me too. It’s definitely slipped in my rankings as I’ve gotten more experienced, but it’s still the best flying coaster I’ve done, and the theming/surroundings are great. Unfortunately they made us get a locker for my mom’s bag, which was annoying considering they have bins (albeit small) in the station of the coasters.

It definitely has one of the better queue lines as well. Smart way to squeeze to "attractions" in one.







The queue didn’t extend much beyond the station, and it seemed to stay around that for the entire day. They were using the dual station, but they were only running two trains so the dual station seemed to make the process slower. But it didn’t take long for them to assign us to the back row.



Manta executes the flying aspect very nicely. I’ve always enjoyed the flying sensation, so there wasn’t a single part where I was bored. The pretzel loop is the best part. Their exclusivity to flying coasters making them a bit special too. It’s pretty ridiculous that it just dumps you on your back, but the forces are so good and I love it! The back row also gave us some really weird but cool airtime entering the loop as well.



Of course, the intensity is toned down after the pretzel loop, but another incredibly forceful element isn’t really necessary. The remaining inversions are still very fun, and the rest of the ride overall is very enjoyable.



The section after the MCBR has the better surrounding environments, including the synchronized water feature that you’ve seen hundreds of times. You might get a bit of fun spray of water while riding.



And it wasn’t until this visit where I started to really appreciate the near misses here. You get really close to the ground/plants for a second, as well as the waterfall. The ride may be slower down here, but it’s still at a good enough speed for the near miss to work well. And it’s nice that they squeezed in a final inversion here, especially when you look at the height difference between this and the MCBR.





I’m a fan of flying coasters, even if they’re pretty gentle compared to other B&Ms, so I might like this more than others. It’s very re rideable, has a big intense wtf moment, features more fun inversions, and looks great with the surroundings. 9/10.

After one ride it was just around 10 AM, so it was time for Mako!

I always thought that this had one of the more interesting B&M mega layouts, with low speed hills and funky overbanked turns. This was my most anticipated new cred of the trip, and I’ll say this: it didn’t quite reach my expectations during my first couple rides, but after several rides I ended up loving it.



It was more or less a walk on during the entire day. I’ve only gotten a handful of rides each on the other B&M megas I’ve done, so it was really nice to be able to whore this. As expected, SeaWorld has done a good job making the surrounding area look really nice, obviously going for the shark theming. One of the supports near the entrance is themed to a shipwreck.

The queue is themed well too, focusing on nice aesthetics and a flatscreen showing information about makos. It’s not the easiest queue to go through when you’re whoring it though; lots of quick zig zags and whatnot. The station has some nice lighting effects, and the trains are one of the better themed designs on a B&M, even if it looks a little funky with fewer cars than normal.

I’ve actually never heard of this ride having any long lines at all, which is amazing since it’s brand new and should be able to draw in a lot of peeps. But I guess when it has high capacity, good operations, and located at the back of a park where most people (I would think) are drawn to the marine life, it’s probably rare for this to have a bit of a wait at all! From what I saw it seemed like there’d be plenty of empty seats during most rides.

Most of the layout is kind of hidden away from the main pathways, so I didn’t really (attempt to) get that many pictures unfortunately. Theming aside it looks really nice, with a cool color scheme, train design, and location next to the pond.



For both Manta and Mako, ride ops were assigning you rows, but since the station was pretty quiet, they weren't offended whenever I'd asked for back row. I didn’t try front row (now that I think of it I kind of wish I did, considering that I only would’ve had to wait for a couple of loading cycles), but I think back row is the place to be, specifically for the first drop. B&M have been kind of conservative with their first drops, with most of their megas rangeing from 60-75 degrees, but Mako has an 80 degree drop, which is Intamin and RMC level! I don’t think the drop is quite as good as Millennium Force or Skyrush's, but the steepness makes it one of the better drops I've done, and it’s definitely more fun than the other B&M hypers I’ve done. The drop also seems to last a lot longer than something like Skyrush’s, which is over within a second.

What makes this element (and the rest of the coaster) more enjoyable than other hypers is that there aren’t any seatbelts, and the ride ops don’t always push down on your restraint (although this depended on who it was; some did, others didn’t). So on some of my later rides, I gave myself a bit of room from my lap and the clamshell, making the first drop a lot more exciting and made me go “Oh my god!” a couple times.

The rest of the ride is more or less what you’d expect from a B&M hyper. The first overbanked turn is actually rather unique for this type of model. Nothing amazing, but the transitions are a lot of fun at that height. The ride alternates between airtime hill and turn/overbank. Some of the hills give off some of the best floater airtime that lasts up to four or five seconds, and I didn’t want it to stop. I expected the trim on the second airtime hill to bite us in the ass, but it’s barely noticeable and didn’t ruin the hill or the rest of the ride (Diamondback’s trim is much more awkward). There’s also a couple of really fab headchoppers underneath the overbank turn, and they occur towards the end of some of the airtime moments.

The MCBR doesn’t ruin the ride either. You start out floating out of your seat as usual, but then there’s an abrupt moment where you get shoved forward and into your seat. That might sound bad but I really enjoyed it, especially since it was unexpected.

The rest of the ride isn’t that special, but there’re still some great airtime leftover and the final banked turns are fun transitions that dump you around, depending on what side your sitting on. It’s over after that, but it’s a good long ride that doesn’t need anything more.

I had high expectations, though I didn’t think it cracked my Top 10 at first. But I got a total of 8 rides in, and I realized how much I was having, and it shot up in my rankings. The long lasting airtime is amazing, the first drop is incredible in the back, and the turns are a lot of fun. Compared to the other coasters in my Top 10, which mainly consists of “in your face BAM BAM BAM” wild elements, this one might be the most re re-ridable. It’s probably the most comfortable roller coaster I’ve ridden, thanks to the smoothness (probably the smoothest B&M I’ve done), lack of seatbelt, and clamshell restraint that hovers above my lap. I wasn’t bored at any moments and was just have a really fun time. 10/10.

It’s now my favorite of the four B&M megas I’ve done. Nitro comes in second: it’s the most intense of the four and has a very good mix of + and – g forces, but I didn’t try out different rows. Diamondback is third because it has an ever so slight rattle and a noticeable trim brake. Apollo is coming in last because I rode it in 40 degree weather, so the airtime wasn’t as good as it could have been (plus I had a low coaster count then so I wasn't as experienced).

The only “drawback” I have with Mako is that its exit path shows off the ****ty concrete that Kraken sits on, which is slightly jarring comparing to the rest of the park’s appearance.



We basically kept at it with riding Mako. At one point my mom went to find my dad, who had just arrived at the park, while she let me keep riding. We all met up with each and did a couple of more rides together. I had gotten in five rides before 11 AM, and I wasn’t done yet.

We decided to check out Clyde & Seamor’s Sea Lion High, a show featuring a couple of seals. It was okay. It’s sort of like a theatre performance and it’s aimed at kids, so it was slightly cringey but we still enjoyed it (I imagine there’s some people on here that would despise this). Basically they’re in high school and the seals have to complete a bunch of “classes” that require them to do cute tricks and whatnot. Oh, and there were a couple of otters too that would occasionally appear and do some recycling. I wouldn’t see it again though. Part of me was eager to get back on some rides, especially considering I didn’t have a full day at the park. They did bring out a big ass walrus at the end though.



The seal stadium was still near the Mako area, so we went back there and checked out the Shark Encounter, which mainly consisted of species that weren’t sharks. (Some of the pictures are a bit ****, but there’s not much I can do).

















Time for Kraken.





Nobody was in the station, so we walked onto front row. I used to really like this, thought it was my favorite floorless, but I wasn’t really feeling it on this trip. I dunno, it has a decent layout and some nice trench bits, but I wasn’t eager to get a second ride. I wasn’t offended by anything, although it wasn’t that smooth as other B&Ms. I think after riding some really good and intense B&Ms in the past couple of days, this just wasn’t as exciting. It’s crazy that Kumba and Kraken have similar size and layouts (at least when it comes to inversion order) and even color schemes (not that it matters), yet Kumba is somehow so much better. Kraken is still good, but it’s not my favorite floorless anymore (Bizarro probably is). 7/10

The entrance area looks nice though (but the rest of the area it sits on could use some aesthetic improvements).





The weather was pretty overcast, and by the time we got off Kraken, I started feeling some ever-so-slight raindrops. It started drizzling a bit more later on to the point where they had to close the coasters for a bit (at least it seemed that way), but it was pretty good timing. It was time for the Once Ocean show and it stopped raining shortly after the show ended.

The observation tower was being weird, so it wasn’t open. Not a total loss, but I wouldn’t have minded doing it for the views.





When I first saw One Ocean in 2011, I loved it. I thought it was really cool to the orcas in person, and I was pretty impressed by the way they’ve been trained. Seeing it a second time, it wasn’t as impressive as it used to be (especially since they recently lost Tilikum, who was enormous compared to the whales), but we still enjoyed seeing them jump around and soaking the audience (we stayed clear of the splash zone).





That being said I wouldn’t be eager to see it again if I return to the park w/in a year or two. I’m kind of in a weird position in regards to how I feel about all the controversy. Since my first visit I’ve become more aware about the negatives of captive orcas, and yet I still found the show fun a second time around. I don’t think it would affect me either way if they kept the shows or got rid of them/free the whales; I’m kind of stuck in the middle. Anyway I don’t want to go into too much detail about this topic, so let’s move on.

Another day, another +1. By the time I got off Shamu Express, I’d gotten kinda sick of going out of my way to get a **** cred with slow dispatches. I’m glad I did it after the killer whale show, because there’s nothing else nearby we were interested in doing.



At least it had decently themed trains (sorry, no picture of that).

We crossed the bridge again to the main area and got lunch. Then we did Manta again, which my dad had never done. This was kind of fun for us. Since he’s a GP who had never ridden this, he didn’t realize that it was a flying coaster until we got into the station. The pretzel loop blew his mind too. He actually rode Superman: Ultimate Flight with me a Great Adventure a couple years ago, but this still got him. I did a third ride on my own afterward.

Next we did Journey to Atlantis. My mom sat out on this because she didn’t want to get wet, but I wanted my dad to try it and see his reaction to the surprise roller coaster bit. Unfortunately it was a pretty slow queue and took about 30 minutes. TBH, if we knew the length of the queue, it’s possible we would’ve skipped it and get in more rides on Mako or try out the Antarctic ride (which we didn’t do).



I am kind of glad we did it though. I normally don’t do water rides, but I enjoyed doing this (as well as Jurassic Park the previous day). When I first rode it years ago I had no idea about the coaster section, so that kind of blew my mind. Now I think the actual coaster section is more of a novelty than it is any good. The first indoor portion is actually a bit better than I remember with some good theming. I think Jurassic Park has a wetter splash, but Atlantis has multiple sections where you get wet, which you may or may not enjoy. More of a fun water ride than coaster (but obviously a cred).

As I mentioned earlier, we didn’t bother with the Empire of the Penguin. I actually would’ve liked to do it, since it wasn’t here when we were last at the park. But at this point in time my parents wanted to go back to Universal soon, so it was either the Penguins or re rides on Mako. I haven’t really heard great things about the ride anyway, and it’s not like I haven’t seen penguins before. I didn’t love the appearance of the Antarctic area either. The theme is decent enough, but the ice structures didn’t look that great imo.

My parents didn’t need another ride on Mako, so they looked at the penguin habitat while I got another 3 rides in on Mako, which was amazing. It was around 3:30 when we decided to leave. Our tickets actually guaranteed a shuttle back to the resort, but it wasn’t until later in the afternoon, so we just got a cab.



I really like Seaworld Orlando, mainly for their coaster selection. I find Mako and Manta excellent, Kraken is solid, and Journey to Atlantis is a nice water ride. The rest of the ride lineup doesn’t really have anything worth mentioning (although a shame that the observation tower wasn’t open). The park overall has a pretty nice and clean appearance, and I was pretty satisfied with the ride ops, both with operations and friendliness. The aquatic shows are fine overall (this really comes down to your opinion), and there're some decent animal exhibits (the shark and manta aquariums are rather good), but that’s not why I come here. I actually prefer this place over USF because I’d rather spend hours whoring the B&Ms than messing around at Studios. But I like IoA over SeaWorld because that place still has more interesting rides in addition to some great B&Ms.

I wasn’t done for the day yet. Next up is Fun Spot America….
 
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