Fun Spot's White Lightning is up and running...
Just checked out some youtube videos of it testing, hot damn does it really whip through those first few hills!
Well, park says tonight on FB that it will not be operating by Sunday.
The passholder party is the 4th, so if I must wait that long, I suppose I can. I started this thread when I had multiple reports of "people" on a train, but it may have been employees or ride construction/industry folk and not a soft-opening deal.
Why do I feel like a 4-year-old on Christmas Eve? What's the G-rated version of "giggity?"
Not sure, but we're excited for you and can't wait to hear.
And yeah, "people" who don't mind climbing a ladder to get on? In that off ride vid it looked like the station and public access areas weren't close. I might be wrong?
Even though I live about an hour away from Fun Spot I'm going to wait until next year before I rise the coasters at Fun Spot because ACE is going to hold their Summer Conference next year at Busch Gardens (Do I smell a new coaster there as well? - there are rumors going around) and Fun Spot so I'm going to wait until next year to ride their coasters.
This isn't a zombie thread...it was just "mostly dead" for the last couple weeks.
Now - finally got to Fun Spot today, passholder day and an excuse to bail out of work early for the weekend. The place was pretty quiet since we've been getting rain bands from Andrea. Nonetheless the park was very hospitable with food and beverages and gifts and whatnot (i.e., "gravy"). Got to ride 2 of the 3 new coasters, the Miler kiddie "Sea Serpent" model not quite operational yet. Did get to ride Enterprise - it went Wheelie wheelie fast... (SFoG joke). Also got a trip on the Scrambler, nice long cycle. Was going to ride Rip Curl, but they tend to keep the music on those too loud for me to enjoy...I'm old.
But not too old to enjoy 10-12 laps on FL's best operating wooden coaster. Great drop, a lot of high-speed action, way more "vertical air" than you'd expect from a more typical GCI creation. The double-up in the front seat was pretty vicious, a real giggle-inducer. Climbing the 90* wall coming out of the double-down and then dropping into the turnaround was a very creative way to get speed back up for the return leg while still conserving precious space (the ride is pretty tightly shoe-horned in). Several good drops, a little Voyage-esque "careening", and an old Texas Giant/Knoebels Cyclone right-turn drop, hop, and fly maneuver to end. I rate White Lightning as one part Prowler, one part Wooden Warrior, and one part Rollo Coaster. An excellent addition for Fun Spot, and will really help bring in people.
Also really want to give a shout-out to Freedom Flyer, a Vekoma junior invert several steps above the rest. Vastly superior layout to the standard version, and OTSLs combine to deliver a surprisingly intense and fun ride. Much more than we were expecting...
The only "miss" was Skycoaster being down, but it didn't dampen our spirits. This is going to be a real winner as a nighttime park, esp. when nearby Universal and Disney start closing early again this fall...
Noted future flatride addition suggestions: Air Race, log flume, antique cars, flying scooters, KMG Afterburner, Huss Breakdance, and the Street Fighter Revolution from Technical Park.
Tyler Boes said:
This ride looks like it has a ton of air time, and it has twists and turns. If it were twice as tall, 15-20 mph faster, and 1,500-2,000 feet longer, it'd be a top ten coaster.
Jeff, please implement a vote down feature. :)
Anyway, it looks like it really smokes through the course.
Edit: And thanks for telling us all about it Gator!
White Lightning is a fantastic little ride. Last week when we were down in Orlando, I snagged some 40 rides on it or something... Girlfriend had close to 60!
It is a really fun coaster... Pacing is excellent and feels much bigger than it really is. Great pops of air, very smooth and honestly some of the best staff I have experienced (rarely stacking trains, having fun, happy, etc...).
Well worth the trip if you are in the area.
I'm deeply sorry for this. I know I shouldn't quote the post above, but this is too easy.
honestly some of the best staff I have experienced.
That's what she said...
Better than the best staph he's experienced...
Ah, youth. When will they realize a coaster doesn't have to be the tallest, fastest, or longest to be a bomb-ass ride? I think White Lightning looks like a gas, and I can't wait to ride it. Maybe Tyler was just #ing us. It's always so hard to tell...
Mr. Gator, I like your wish list of potential flats for the park. Does it look to you as if there's lots of space there for further additions? Oh, and please, what Knoebel's Cyclone are you referring to? Either I'm confused or not familiar.
Capitalize wrote a nice trip report about Fun Spot and mentions how good it will be for the area. True, but I worry about traffic there. Fun Spot doesn't get a lot of daytime action, it's always been more of an evening place people visit after the big parks are closed. The park is back behind some strip mall type buildings on I-Drive past Universal. It's kind of out of the way, and I've experienced that nightmare of evening traffic that is I-Drive. I'll never forget one Saturday night I inadvertently got caught in that mess and sat at a stand still for over an hour. There was no wreck or anything, just people out cruising. I almost ran out of gas. Even at the Fun Spot end of the strip the cops had blocked the parking lots and intersections so people couldn't make any turns. Awful. I don't know how on certain nights people will be able to get in and out of there.
The good thing about the location is it's walking distance to the Sweet Tomatoes and Del Taco!
bunky666 said:
but hey! I walked right into it.
That's what she said.
Hobbes: "What's the point of attaching a number to everything you do?"
Calvin: "If your numbers go up, it means you're having more fun."
I'm going to wait until next year when I can ride it during ACE's Summer Conference.
RCMAC said:
Mr. Gator, I like your wish list of potential flats for the park. Does it look to you as if there's lots of space there for further additions? Oh, and please, what Knoebel's Cyclone are you referring to? Either I'm confused or not familiar.
The good thing about the location is it's walking distance to the Sweet Tomatoes and Del Taco!
Not too much space unless they go further into the swampy area further away from I-Drive. There are some weird and LARGE bugs, two kinds, back there judging from the ground near the coaster tonight - so they'd need to do some drain-and-fill to make that happen, if they even own/could acquire that vacant land. Driving around that area tonight, that would add considerable area. The area left in the lot they obviously now own is where they're currently storing what looks like junk more than "parts." It is probably about a third as large as the newly-developed area, so they'd need to get creative to add too much more without having some of the other land further back.
Knoebels' "Cyclone" is apparently what I call Twister when I'm delirious about having this good a ride dropped in 90 minutes from home. ;~P
Don't even get me started on Sweet Tomatoes - that came in between Transformers/Fun Spot tonight, and was awesome as always.
Finally - the Miler Sea Serpent kiddie ride was "caution taped" yesterday afternoon. Tonight, saw it running a couple cycles empty, and asked when it would open....it opened tonight. :~)
RCMAC said:
The good thing about the location is it's walking distance to the Sweet Tomatoes and Del Taco!
Sweet Tomatoes is our Orlando 'crack' if you will... Love this place so much. We even found the Soup Plantation variety out in Cali and the locations in Texas as well. The other week they had Key Lime muffins that were insane!
Now I want some :( Too bad they have not made it over here yet, although they are in Chicago... Cleveland is not that far away now! :)
You know... We have been meaning to try it the past few trips to Orlando but it just never happens...
We should add 4 Rivers Smokehouse to this list. Incredible BBQ...
Sadly, it is not close to the I-Drive area... But it is worth the trek before a riding marathon at Fun Spot... :)
Two of my favorite restaurants are located adjacent to Fun Spot, Camilla's and Vittorios (The former is located across the street from Fun Spot, the latter is just down the street. Both are all-you-can-eat Brazilian Buffets. Whenever I'm visiting one of Orlando's Theme Parks, I make sure to descend on one of these restaurants for supper. Why eat at the Theme Park when you can go to either restaurant and eat TWICE the food for HALF the money. :) Don't forget to wash your meal down with Guarana, the Nectar of the Gods. :P
What's that? You just found out you LIKE Guarana, and you'd like to take some home with you? Fear not Meu Amigos, next door to Camilla's there's a Brazilian Supermarket. Enter the premises and KNOCK YOURSELF OUT!!! :D
Always wondered how that Brazilian places was across from Fun Spot... Always look a bit scary to me, haha. We generally hit up Texas De Brazil when I get a buy-1-get-1 coupon or the one at City-Walk at the Latin Quarter which is REALLY good.
SteveWoA said:
Always wondered how that Brazilian places was across from Fun Spot... Always look a bit scary to me, haha. We generally hit up Texas De Brazil when I get a buy-1-get-1 coupon or the one at City-Walk at the Latin Quarter which is REALLY good.
Don't worry about the Brazilians across the street, they don't bite.
I've never eaten at Tejas De Brasil, but I have eaten at other Churrascarias (I've been to Brazil four times on Mission Trips with my Church). We do Vacation Bible School with children in various villages. The first two trips were to fishing villages along the Amazon River about halfway between Manaus and Belem, the next two were to various farming villages west of Recife. All four times we were treated to supper at a Churrascarias. There's a couple of other Churrascaias along I-Drive. The last time I ate at a Churrascaria was last year when I descended upon Albuquerque to Visit Cliffs Park and see the Solar Eclipse.
I guess I-Drive knows what side it's bread is buttered on. On my last three or so trips to Orlando I noticed how many Brazilian tourists there were at the parks, apparently it's a huge vacation destination for them especially during our winter months. I was told many employees at parks and restaurants have learned Portuguese. I'm sure there's cultural differences, but I'm sorry to say many didn't seem to practice good manners when queuing. Even at the Del Taco.
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