Florida Mega Weekend Wombo Combo TR—[Busch Gardens Tampa], [Seaworld Orlando], [Islands of Adventure], [Universal Studios], and both [Fun Spots] in 2.5 days (I am quite tired)
Listen, I know these parks are very common TRs because so many people visit them, so I wont waste too much time going over all the general Orlando stuff. Suffice it to say, I impulse-booked this trip last month and, after a slight delay due to illness, made it down to the sunshine state for some great coasters. I’ve actually been to all of these parks (sans Fun Spots) before, but it’s been over 12+ years at the minimum, so all the best rides were completely new to me.
Anyways, the trip ruled hard overall; rather than ramble about everything, I figured I’d just give a run-down of my most memorable experiences. Do you care for Iron Gwazi review #1,863? Probably not! But here you go; you’re welcome.
Iron Gwazi- Good god, what an absolute MASTERPIECE!! I’ll admit that, given the hype surrounding this coaster, my morning rides left me slightly disappointed. But when I revisited it during the afternoon, I was absolutely blown away. When Iron Gwazi has warmed up, it is absolutely UNHINGED, seriously just batshit crazy. It is without a doubt the best-paced coaster I’ve ever experienced, just ripping through its layout like a hot knife in butter. I swear to god you hit the brakes at 70 miles an hour; the ride does not slow down. Just crazy.
The other aspect of this ride that stands out is the intensity. Again, I know I’m not the first person to bring this up, but IG is a powerhouse, offering several moments of notable positive Gs—a rarity for RMC. This, combined with the aforementioned pacing, makes IG a really unique experience in the RMC catalogue. And, what’s more is that the layout is just kind of… weird, with turns and broken-up elements in almost unnatural sequences. I guess that’s what you get when you put a 200ft ride in the plot of a twister woodie half that size! But IG really is a unique experience, not just among RMCs, but coasters generally. I’m not sure what other ride I’d really compare this to—it’s a tall, fast ride that doesn’t have too many big sustained moments like SteVe or more traditional hyper, instead focused on chaining small moments together at lightning pace.
Anyways, this ride is absolutely amazing and became a clear number two for me. I got 11 rides on this bad boy, and I am absolutely in love. I can’t quite put it above SteVe for a few reasons I won’t go into too much detail about here—mostly SteVe’s ridiculous length (though I do actually think IG is a fine length for the experience it offers). But IG is nonetheless a world class ride, certainly worthy of the hype and an absolute must-ride for enthusiasts. You MUST give it a chance to warm up before you render final judgement, though. I normally don’t fuss about warmed-up rides too too much, but it’s a drastic difference for IG!
Also, I met two Alex and Chris, two really awesome enthusiasts that I spent some time with at BGT. Shoutout on the off-chance y’all are reading this!
Velocicoaster - I always had a feeling my personal feelings wouldn’t quite match the hype of this ride, and I was right. I expected a top 10—but not top 5—ride, and that’s exactly what I got. To be clear, I enjoyed the ride immensely, and I think it’s actually the perfect ride for IoA’s “general public thrill seeker” audience—but, for me personally, I want a little bit more oomph from a coaster. The first half is just too tame and inconsistent, and I found both launches quite lackluster, too. I also thought the locker process was a little chaotic in terms of just dumping everyone in a room at once (but the crew overall did a great job keeping the queue moving).
I will say, though, the mosasaurus roll is indeed as good as everyone says—what an absolutely amazing element! It is undoubtedly one of the most devious elements Intamin has ever cooked up. And the tophat is gnarly in the back row, as you’d expect. Otherwise, I was perfectly whelmed during my 5 laps on this ride—VC is a great coaster and an S-tier attraction overall, but I PERSONALLY just wish it had a bit more bite. Perhaps my opinion might change if I get a rip-roaring, super-hot evening ride on it at some point in the future, but, otherwise, I’d say VC met my (reasonably high) expectations precisely. It was just about as good as I thought it’d be!
Also—HUGE shoutout to Quan, if you are reading this, you are an absolute LEGEND!
Cat - this black and white cat was living near my hotel. She was skittish at first, but quickly came up to me and let me pet her, very sweet. I got her some tuna from the nearby Walgreens. If you didn’t know, if you ever see a stray cat with one of their ear-tips clipped off, that means they’ve been spayed/neutered as part of a trap and release (TNR) program.
White Lightning - this ride actually kicks so much ass. Given that it’s a relatively diminutive coaster at a glorified carnival, it’s easy to write it off as a GCI-lite or some sort of otherwise comprised experience. But the truth is this coaster is an absolute blast, doing all the GCI things I’d expect and love. I actually think it’s better than some of the bigger GCIs I’ve ridden—it has fantastic pacing, great lateral transitions, and airtime over literally every hill. It’s also pretty smooth, unlike the other Floridian Fun Spot woodie (more below), with just one weird pothole during the turnaround. Aside from Gwazi, this is the ride I got the most laps on this trip—I actually hit it up both nights of my stay! It’s a great coaster (s international).
Mine Blower - What the actual fuck is wrong with this ride??? This might be the least comfortable coaster I’ve ever ridden. This ride is ROUGH over most of its layout and features the absolute worst pothole I’ve ever experienced during the entry of the zero-G roll. On top of that, I actually found the ejector moments mostly uncomfortable because the weird Timberliner restraints don’t handle strong negatives that well (though floater is fine).
Honestly, something just feels… off with this ride. Saying it runs on square wheels is an insult to quadrilaterals, and I don’t want to insult triangles, either; suppose Mine Blower runs on nonpolygonal one-dimensional lines that just beat the shit out of you the entire ride. And it’s made even weirder because the RMC 208 reTrak sections cause the train squeal like a butchered pig; it was actually quite jarring when I first heard it. Low key, I think this ride sucks. I rode it twice and look forward to never riding it again in its current state again. Which is a shame—because the layout seems mostly awesome. Fun Spot just needs Gravity Group to fix this whole ride with their pre-cut track.
HRRR - I think the concept for this ride is fun fun, so it’s a shame the actual ride is just okay. I don’t hate it—the ride pulls some decent forces here and there—but I can definitely see why USF wants to replace it. HRRR is undeniably shaky and moreover feels… outdated. The Guitar Hero aesthetic has aged horribly, and the ride just lacks any wow factor to justify existing at a park with a triple-digit ticket price. I’d say even the Mummy is better, and VelociCoaster just across the way makes HRRR blush with embarrassment. I’ve honestly always thought USF was a pretty mediocre park overall, so hopefully something awesome goes here.
LIGHTNING ROUND - Montu is as intense as I remember, but it needs that midcourse turned down a bit. Cheetah Hunt actually kinda slaps, but it needs the soft collars Maverick/i305 got. Pipeline was an unexpected highlight. Mako’s legendary camelback is as good as everyone says, but the rest of the ride is nothing special.
Umm, what else… I thought Manta’s pretzel loop was actually more intense than Tatsu’s and I also realize I hate them. Kraken is mid/kinda bad. Ice Breaker never opened, sad. Cobra’s Curse was neat but kinda boring (thoosie on a family coaster moment). I actually quite liked Phoenix Rising for what it is. Uhh that’s pretty much everything.