Associated parks:
None
I just got home about 1/2 hour a go and am already writing my trip report. So here it goes....
7/2
The trip down- Left Cleveland around 10 am, stopped in Lake Norman, NC around 8.
7/3
Left Lake Norman, NC around 8. I didnt know exactly where PC was, but knew i was real close to it. I see PC right along the highway, and my dad just has to stop to get some gas, so whats he do...pulls into the gas station next to Carrowinds for about 10 minutes, then we leave....
so after that we stop in savanah for a couple hours. eat, and keep going on. Around 3 we entered Florida. And then arrive at the ROyal Pacific hotel around 7ish. THis hotel looks nice, but it has its flaws. The hotel opened 1 week before we were to arrive. It took at least 45 minutes to just check in, with only 1 person ahead of us in the check-in line. Strike 1. Finally getting in our room the first thing you notice about the room is the darkness. THe rooms are small and dark. Also a big bottle of water cost $7, more expensive than the others (keep reading) After that we wanted to check out the hotel, so i went down to the pool, its the same pool as the other 2 usf hotels, but it has a mini-treehouse type thing, that wasnt really working. Then we ate at Jacks American Grille, one of the 5 restaraunts at RP. The food was just ok, but the service was slow, once again they were in training and werent sure what to do. Strike 2. I got an okay burger, but figured out the theme of the hotel from a nice book. Here's the theme:
A famous pilot is to marry an actress, but during one of his test runs for the Royal Pacific Airlines something goes wrong. Jack goes crazy, calls off his engagment and takes one of the Aqua Planes to Balli and opens a hotel.
Nice theme, but most of the theming items arent in place yet (like the aqua-plane thats sitting in a field next to the hotel). I don't really care about the theme though. So the next morning me & my dad go to play some beach volleyball. The court is right next to the river though, and after losing the ball several times we just called it quits after a score of 7-4.
We just decided it was small things at this hotel that made us not like it. So we switched over to the Hard Rock, which we stayed at last march (right after they opened) and had no problems (same thing with Portofino). RP will probably be a nice hotel once the problems are worked out, but for now they're not.
7/4
It was IOA day and Independence Day! We didnt care about lines because we had Front of the line access! The best thing to ever happen to theme parks. I got on everything by 1, this was my 3rd time going to IOA.
Reveiws.
Hulk-6/10-3 rides
Great, unique 1st half, but redundant B&M 2nd half.
DD
Fire-8/10
Ice-8/10
Both sides are just great, much more enjoyable than my last visit. Got about 6 rides combined on 7/4
After this we went on Flying Unicorn-4/10
good ride for the kiddies
JP:River Adventure-7/10
Fun ride, but you dont get wet on it.
Dudley Do_Right Ripsaw Falls-7/10
Fun ride, that you get drenched on
Spiderman-10/10
Great ride that had a 20 minute wait for express
Dr Dooms had a long wait for Express so i skipped it.
After finishing all of IOA by 1, we went over to USF
MIB: Alien attack-8/10-Score 85,000
Great ride, but a little short
THats all i could get on that day due to a mid-day storm.
7/5
While the rest of my family went to City Walk i went to IOA & USF for 2 hours.
Got on MIB and got 165,000
Then i went over to IOA and went on Hulk 4 times, DD 12 times, and Dr, Doom 8 times.
Express lines were non-existent that day becuase they stop handing out the tickets at around 6, so i could just walk right on.
7/6
Went to USF
MIB-no wait, score-202,750!!!!
ET-6/10
fun ride, just too dull
T2:3D 10/10 one of the best rides i have ever seen..period..
Kong-1/10 flat out one of the lamest rides ever
Back to the future-5/10- the rides showing its age
Earthquake-5/10-old ride, but they added new effects in the theatre.
Jetsons (forget real name)-4/10, just not a great simulator.
The next day i went golfing at Magnolia and went to Sky Venture for a sky-diving type ride that is an absolute rush! I suggest going, imagine airtime for 2 minutes.
Then it was the 8th and time to leave FLA to go to SFoG. It took about 7 hours to get from Orlando to Atlanta, we stayed at the Courtyard Six FLags 3 miles away.
We parked in the lot to the right of the entrance. This lot was only 2 rows full, so i figured there must be another lot. I flashed my SFWoA pass and went to the left, i walked under one of those nice shade tunnels to see a sign saying that area doesnt open until 10, so i walked back and rode Georgia Scorcher. I walked right on. This is a great ride. It looked similar to Mantis, but its not, its so much better. The drop is great, 1st time ive ever gotten airtime on a stand-up. I do think the spiral/twist camelbacks are overused. Overall 8/10
Next was Georgia Cyclone, i waited 5 minutes. I was expecting this to be like Psyclone @ SFMM, but it wasnt, it was great. Best woodie at SFoG, 8/10
Then it was 10, so onto Acrophobia. I had to wait one cycle. This ride is awesome, just absolutley awesome. It sorta hurts though on the brakes,but its not as bad as a TOGO stand-up. 8/10
Then it was the Dehongla Mine Train (or however you spell it). This ride was just boring, it has too mnay lifts and terrible banking. 2/10
Now it was time for flight, S:UF! The ride is sort of out of place in the Cotton Expo, but so is Ninja, so whos to talk. The sign said 90 minute wait, which i was willing to wait in. I waited about an hour and got on in the back seat. The transition into flying position is kinda weird, but fun. I'm not sure if i like going up the lift on the B&M flyer or the Vekoma version, its somewhat uncomfortable because you can't really see anything. But the drop on S:UF is much better, the pretzel loop is intense, but not as intense as people say. The rest of the ride is a little slow and dull, and very short. There are a lot of "headchopper" type effects that make this ride fun. So it gets a 8/10 and my #7/111.
I just walked past Ninja since i didnt feel like getting a headache.
However that would happen anyway since i went on GASM. This is almost as bad as Rebel Yell @ PKD. I sat in the back so maybe it was rougher, but this ride either needs some serious work done, or a wrecking ball.
I walked over to Deja Vu, saw what didnt look like a long wait, until i saw a hidden barn with tonds of people waiting. Since i was on the SFMM Deja Vu i figured i didnt really need to wait 1.5 hours for it.
I went under the tunnel and entered Gotham City, making my way over to Mind Bender. I waited about .5 hours for this. I like the green water all over the place, but don't get why this ride wasnt just called "Riddler's Revenge", but not being into comics i had no idea who Mind Bender was, i just saw the question marks and figured....Back to the ride, i sat in back seat. This ride is great, its intense, but has some great pacing, and is in a nice location, although i don't see how they consider the one turn a loop... 9/10
Then my final ride of the day, BTR. The theming is much different than the theming at SFMM, and so is the ride. ITs much smoother and rideable. I really enjoyed this clone. 7/10
Over all park ratings
IOA:8/10 need more rides
USF:6/10 needs to have rides themed to newer movies that people have actually seen
SFoG: 9/10-Needs better layout, should have been made into a circle.
I took 178 pictures and am in the process of adding them, they'll be up by 6 pm on 7/11
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Since Jeff made Track Record a "perk" for CB members i'll just post my count here: Coasters:99 Parks:14
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-Sean Newman
88 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC Coaster # 100 in July.
Nitro Laps:105
B+R Launches:28
Glad to see you had a good time at all the parks. I was impressed with IOA when I went but had the same thought as you, that it needs more rides. USF surprised me a lot, I didn't expect much out of it.
As for SFOG, GASM is terrible in the back, which is a shame because it was very smooth years ago. Ride in the front, it's not so bad there. And Mindbender was never renamed because there was a huge public outcry against the change, so it was just repainted. I like Mindbender more than RR anyway (as a name).
It's not looooonnngggg but its 1,700 words, which i think is long for a TR. I have a digital camera so its easy to just delete a couple of the bad pics. I took about 40 at SFoG, and 132 at IOA & USF combined. I easily couldve added another 1,000 words on the fireworks show, it was amazing, the best show ive ever seen. I took about 100 pics just of the show, but only 30 came out ok, and 10 are really good.
Also im thinking of adding some pictures from SkyVenture. If you go to orlando you MUST go, its $38, but you get to fly for about 10 minutes in a huge air tunnel: heres their website[url="http://skyventure.com/" target="_blank">
*** This post was edited by HurricaneGeauga on 7/10/2002. ***
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-Sean Newman
88 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC Coaster # 100 in July.
Nitro Laps:105
B+R Launches:28
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