Birthday at Fun Spot.

Today is my Birthday, so I drove to Orlando to check out the coasters at Fun Spot. I first rode Freedom Fighter, a Vekoma suspended non-looper. Fun Ride, Vekoma's Trains for these rides are now quite comfortable. Next was White Lightning. WHAT A RIDE. A "Crystal Beach Cyclone"-style First Drop, then Airtime on all the hills, the "Double-Up-Double-Down" is rivaled only by the one on Knoebal's Phoenix. IMO White Lightning replaces Gwazi as Florida's Best Coaster (If the Dania Beach Hurricane was still operating it too would have been toppled). I rank it No. 9 in my Top Ten Wood Out-and-Back list. Good Job Fun Spot!

I'd like to reformat this TR into Tyler-ese for the thinking impaired:

Today is my Birthday, so I drove to Orlando to check out the coasters at Fun Spot.

Freedom Fighter x1
White Lightning x1

I only do that when:

A: I thought the trip was worthy of a trip report.

And

B: I'm lazy, or I forgot the details.

A: that's not a trip report, it's a data log

B: if you're lazy, and forget the details, why bother posting anything at all?

C: Hay guise! I went to X park today! That's all!

Happy Birthday Regulus. Now I have to go over to RCDB, and see what those coasters are like. Short, but effective trip report. I usually spend my birthday at the Allegan county fair. My birthday is September 10, and last year I went to the fair on the 11th, and saw KISS and Motley Crue. A few years before that I saw Poison there on my birthday, and got to ride my first carnival style Top Spin. Never thought I would see one of those at a fair.

They also had a ride like the troika at Cedar Point, only this one was crazy fast, where the cars almost went upside down! It also had a forward and backwards ride cycle. It had some kind of snake name, but not sure if it was Python or some other snake name. And, if you are wondering it was not a Cobra, as Cobra only has 2 wheels, this ride had three.

The Allegan County fair, usually has one or two crazy rides, though last year, it was pretty much the same old, same old. Minus the great concert line-up.

Glad you had a nice birthday trip, Regulus.

Happy birthday to you x3

Happy birthday dear Regulus x1

Happy birthday to you x1

T-R, that ride you saw sounds like Tivoli's Scorpion.

http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/scorpion.html

I've only seen one over the years, and you're right, it's very fast and the cars really swing. I was quite dizzy after that one.

Regulus said:

... replaces Gwazi as Florida's Best Coaster...

You lost me here.

kpjb said:

Regulus said:

... replaces Gwazi as Florida's Best Coaster...

You lost me here.

Gwazi took over the spot after being refurbished by GCI along with the closure of Dania Beach Hurricane. As I mentioned before, even if this ride was still open, White Lightning would have still toppled it for the "Number One" position among Florida's Coasters. Over all, here's my updated Top Ten Wood Out-and Back Roller Coasters

1. Voyage - Holiday World, Indiana

2. Boulder Dash - Lake Compounce, Connecticut

3. Raven- Holiday World, Indiana

4. Cornball Express- Indiana Beach, Indiana

5. Shivering Timbers - Michigan's Adventure, Michigan

6. Renegade- Valleyfair!, Minnesota

7. Ravine Flyer II Waldameer, Pennsylvania

8. Hellcat- Timber Falls Adventure Golf, Wisconsin

9. White Lightning- Fun Spot America, Florida

10. Legend- Arnold's Park, Iowa

1. El Toro

</topic>

Tyler Boes said:

I only do that when:

A: I thought the trip was worthy of a trip report.

And

B: I'm lazy, or I forgot the details.

I know you're not going to apply any advice given to you at this point, so I don't know why I bother, but here goes:

If a trip is worthy of a trip report, then do a trip report. If you want to do it in Bulletpoint, take a look at Andy's trip reports and mimic his style until you find your own.

If you're lazy or forget the details, then don't do a trip report. You're just wasting space, time, and annoying people.

People aren't laughing with you, Tyler, they're making fun of you. This could easily be a different situation if you'd be less stubborn and pay attention when people give you advice. Stop being stubborn and self centered. It's a lot easier to be a productive member of an internet group, as opposed to a social group IRL, because here people aren't afraid to tell you exactly what you need to work on to become a productive member of this group.

Stop being stubborn. It's a choice.

For the record here are Florida's best coasters IMO. Note the first two are wood.

1. White Lightning - Fun Spot America

2. Gwazi - Busch Gardens

3. Space Mountain - Magic Kingdom

4. Manta - Sea World

5. Montu - Busch Gardens

6. Dragon Challenge - Islands of Adventure

7. The Incredible Hulk - Islands of Adventure

8. Kraken - Sea World

9. Sheikra - Busch Gardens

10. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Disney/Hollywood Studios

Wow do preferences vary...

Space Mountain tops my list, with White Lightning right behind it. Montu, Fire Dragon, and Kumba come next, and Gwazi sits somewhere behind the dumpster at your local sushi restaurant. To quote Jay Sherman..."it stinks!"

Tekwardo said:

If a trip is worthy of a trip report, then do a trip report. If you want to do it in Bulletpoint, take a look at Andy's trip reports and mimic his style until you find your own.

Or you could do it in haiku:

http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Topic/august-20th-the-kennywood-trip-haikus#785142

And Mummy? Where's Mummy?

/hangs head in shame.

Mummy is as good as any of them, save maybe WL and Space. Although Mummy WAS their equal with the creepy crawlies in the bug room. I wish everyone had been able to experience that.

I don't expect White Lightning to hold up forever - it's a brutal environment for a wooden coaster that is going to be hard to maintain. But now, it's as good as Starliner when it re-opened at Cypress....VERY good.

Gwazi is way, way down my list of coasters in Florida, and in general for that matter. I'd probably put it just ahead of Shamu Express or Air Grover (not exaggerating in anyway). Far, far worse than Coastersaurus. Gwazi is just awful... On the topic of Fun Spot, though, White Lightning is fantastic and my #1 sunshine state coaster.

rollergator said:

Wow do preferences vary...

Space Mountain tops my list, with White Lightning right behind it. Montu, Fire Dragon, and Kumba come next, and Gwazi sits somewhere behind the dumpster at your local sushi restaurant. To quote Jay Sherman..."it stinks!"

Wow, I guess they do vary. I'm surprised to see you say that about Gwazi, Rollergator, as I thought I remembered you liking it.

It's still my favorite coaster in Florida, even with the GCI trains. Even though I prefer the PTCs, I will say something positive about the GCIs in that I don't notice nearly the reduction of airtime like I did on Hershey Wildcat after they switched to GCIs.

I'm basically getting air in all the same places I did in the PTCs -

I'm still getting good backseat floater on the first drop, a strong pop going up and over the third drop (strongest in the front), and the highlight of the ride for me is the strong, sustained frontseat float going up and over the fourth drop - which seams just as strong as ever. There are a few other moments of air as well, although the three I mentioned seem to be the strongest.

Gwazi is still my favorite GCI as well, just ahead of Thunderhead, as I really like the inclusion of classic up-and-over camelbacks with GCI's usual twistiness. The only negative I can say about Gwazi is the park's attitude about it - they seem to have given up on ever reopening the Tiger side, and rumours that the entire ride could be removed in the next few years sadden me.

As for White Lightning - I loved it of course. It's a woodie, after all, and it's my second favorite coaster currently operating in Florida. I just didn't find it as epic as Gwazi, it had smaller elements, and the airtime didn't seem as strong. Of course, since I don't live in Florida year round and am not there in the summer, I haven't ridden it since it soft-opened in late May, so maybe the airtime got stronger since then. I did notice the seats seemed a little smaller and the first click of the restraints more tight fitting than Gwazi's, as I had less room to fly up on the few moments of airtime I got (though I certainly had more room than I get on El Staplo - at least I wasn't pinned to the seat! )

I have to give Fun Spot MAJOR props for building this - it's amazing how a "mom and pop" "Family Entertainment Center" that started out as basically Go Carts and an arcade now has a wooden coaster, a nice Vekoma family suspended coaster (with lap bars instead of OTSRs!), and a solid collection of flats, including personal faves like a classic Paratrooper and the Schwarzkopf Enterprise formerly at Six Flags Over Georgia. The 3 Go Cart tracks are fast, long, and extreme with plenty of hills, and, in a nice touch, are included free with your ride wristband or Season Pass.

And the park is open until midnight 365 days a year, completely changing the dynamic of how you can end your park nights in Orlando, as Sea World, both Universal parks, and 3 of the 4 Disney parks usually close much earlier except during peak season. Fun Spot is just a few blocks from Uni and about 3 miles north of Sea World, making it easy to "park-hop" there to end all of one's Orlando nights with night rides on a woodie!

With all the high profile coasters at the big Orlando themers, White Lightning is my fave of them all.

Its amazing how a little mom and pop can put themselves on the map with the big boys just by showing some love for wood.

The season pass I bought was a great investment. And the employees I encountered were all very friendly and the White Lightning team did a great job of keeping the dispatches quick.

Since others listed theirs, here is my fave coasters I've ridden in Florida since becoming a part-time resident there after Hurricane K:

1) Dania Beach Hurricane (wood) (defunct)

2) Gwazi (wood)

3) Starliner (wood) (defunct)

4) White Lightning (wood)

5) Triple Hurricane (wood)

6) Space Mountain (esp Omega Track, due to a stronger pop of frontseat air after an uphill early in the ride)

7) Shiekra

8) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

9) Cheetah Hunt

10) Expedition Everest

Overall Wood - Voyage, Boulderdash, Boss, Boardwalk Bullet, Rampage (SBNO) - All CCI/Gravity Group rides

Overall Steel (none would crack my wood top 10) - Nitro, Carowinds Intimidator, Goliath (SFOG), Apollo's Chariot, Raging Bull - All Beemer hypers (I haven't yet been on Diamondback or the Canadian hypers)

Frontrider - indeed, I more than liked Gwazi - I loved it.

Of course, aggressive wooden coasters require "routine maintenance" of track and trains, and an occasional more-intensive rehab. My feeling is that by the time Gwazi got its extensive rehab, sub-par routine maintenance (and sun, and 365-day ops) had taken far too heavy a toll. For me, the MFlyer trains came after the point that the re-track/re-train could have done the job.

I don't like saying it, and I wish it weren't true. Half of my visits to BGT these days don't even include a single lap on a coaster I used to love. The Platinum Pass back-seat rerides of old are no more...now even when I do ride, I'm grateful to leave after one lap. Sad...

Are you suggesting that Gwazi is unsalvageable (using ordinary coaster rehab techniques) as a quality ride?