IOA Questions

Hi I'm going to IOA on the 19th and staying at portifino. Since we get the free passes is there any thing we need to know like ride closings or any thing. I heard dueling dragons doesnt operate bot trains at the same time. Thanks

As far as I know DD still runs the trains at the same time.

I've heard it said that Dudley is currently down for winter maintenance, but I was under the impression that wasn't supposed to happen until late this month (starting the 22nd or so).  Does anyone know for sure?  I guess I will in 4 days...

-Nate (fingers crossed hoping that Dudley is open!)

coasterdude318, several times I've ben to IOA and seen one side down for maintenance, but I think you'll most likely be able to ride....DDR (the "other" DDR, LOL) is perhaps the best flume I've been on.  Bilge-Rat Barges may be a little on the wet side depending on temps - ben COLD here lately, and the River Adventure was a LOT wetter than usual last time we were there (about three weeks ago).  All very good water rides.  The dragons ALWAYS run dueling - that's why they weigh the trains.  I remember being at IOA and getting to sit on the front row for a re-ride last winter....cold and rainy, and painful, too!
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

Bill...  Bill..  Bill.. 

Sorry to hear about Steve..  well, kinda..

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Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas.

Dudley will be closed from Jan 22 to Feb 14. Thats the only one im aware of.
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Favorite car B&MW

Well, have fun, the room key privelage is awesome.  I was at IOA on November 1st and 2nd and in the morning they would only run one side of DD but by noon, both were running.  Other than that, all of the rides ran all day other than Poseidon's Revenge which doesn't run till later.  Oh, and I know that the Lost Continent doesn't open at the beginning of the day(or at least it didn't the last time I was there).  In November it didn't open till about 9:40 or 10:00 because they have to hire special people to maintain and work in that section(or so the employee said).  The other two times I have been to Islands, DD was fully running, so I don't know what it will be like.  Have Fun! IOA is amazing, I was converted to worshipping it last April.
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Lake Compounce: New England's Holiday World

I imagine that Dueling Dragons will only run one train in case of maintenance, or if the lines are so incredibly pathetic that it isn't worth the bother of two trains. But when I've been there, a couple of times, the coaster has always been running both Fire and Ice. Be sure to try them both!

Homey G, all I can really say about that is OUCH!  Players are fleeing to the NFL like rats froma sinking ship...don't go guys, you might end up with Steve in Carolina, aka pro football purgatory...besides, IOA is only 2 hours from Gainesville, LOL.
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

All I can say about the man who believes he is "Football God" (and may be right) is "Look at Rick Pitino!". I just dont see his coaching style easily translating to the NFL (unless of course he ends up with the Rams hehehehe :))

Anyway back on topic, I thought IOA was getting rid of all of the "head of the line access" programs. Did they have a change of heart or something?
jeremy
--P.S Rex in effect under Mike Shanahan? That might be an even *scarier* combo...

I visited IOA on 1/2/02 and every atraction was open.

They have a very good system of informing people of wait times at the entrance to each ride.

I was lucky, on my visit I never had more than a ten minute wait for anything.  The Q lines there though look like they could hold a couple hours of line though.

Go, Have fun, IOA is simply amazing!

 

Chuck

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Charles Nungester
Park Jockey :)

2Hostyl-- As of the middle of December - All of the big attractions at IOA and USF still have "Express Pass" access, and on site hotel guests can still use their room key for front of the line access all day. I was kind of surprised to see this - I thought the system was going away as well...

Argh!   If there is one name I don't want to hear mentioned on this board its Rick Pitino! 

Me = UK Freshman, lifelong UK fan

Actually I'm a big fan of Ricky's coaching style, but its just obligatory I mention how I hate his guts, hate Louisville blah blah blah.....

Anyways, I can't imagine them not running both sides of DD.  The whole ride kinda misses the point if they don't.  Its a shame about Dudley if its not open when you are there.  It is surely the best water ride I've ever had the pleasure to ride. 

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Kicking screamin' Gucci little siggy.

jeremy is right, as far as I'm concerned.  It's a LOT different coaching 18-20 year-olds.  Steve's coaching "style" may lead to some interesting locker-room discussions. 

as for the "head of the line" programs, and the early-opening hours for on-site guests, IOA is following/leading the industry trend toward having lots of "classes" of guests.  This trend is bad for the industry, IMO.  SF has fast-pass, CP and IOA have "on-site" guests, what's next...royalty...the king and queen of the park are the biggest "contributors"?  It DOES add up to considerably more income for the park, but at what price...

Oh, and now that Mighty Duke has fallen (to the 'Noles, no less), looky who's No. 1 in the hoops polls....(won't last too long, I fear)... 
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Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

*** This post was edited by rollergator on 1/7/2002. ***

I hate to get back on topic, but does anyone know what the ride lines at IOA are like in late March?  I am planning a trip, but have never been and if we are gonna have to wait an hour for every ride, then it may pay to stay onsite for the express pass thingee.
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i hate this place....nothing works here....ive been here for seven years

Not sure about late March, but last year early March found long lines for Spiderman, Dr.Doom's towers, and Dueling Dragons (however I still think that was because the crew for DD were operating VERY SLOWLY).

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

If you are there during the weekdays, i can't imagine the lines to be especially long.  Everything is pretty high capacity, and things move fast. 

And does it go without saying that I loathe Duke with a passion?  FSU is my new team baby!  (at least for a while)

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Kicking screamin' Gucci little siggy.

Yeah well, the only teams I hate as much as I hate Duke are Miami (#1 my arse) and Florida State (what a quandry). But I only hate those teams in football so it's okay.

But as far as the class system goes, that's been around for years. Since the day IOA opened you could pay extra to get group or personal VIP tours. Now you just have to pay a little less (i.e. stay onsite).

I went to IOA in mid-to-late-March last year (Spring Break time) and the lines weren't too bad. Spidey was about 45, The Incredible Ho-hum Coaster an hour, and Dueling Dragons was 15 min for Ice (row 2) and *would have been* the same for Fire (next to last row). I say would have been because one of the ops dispatched the train before a girl had buckled the little belt. My wonderful sister called that out and they had to E-Stop the ride. It took about 15min before they could get it back up (and we were next). Popeye and Jurrasic were walkons near the end of the day.

Note, it also had been raining all week and this day (thursday) was the first sunny day!
jeremy
--who would have thought that everyone would have gone to Daytona Beach instead

Anyone have an idea of what rides are going to be closed for maintainence on the 31st of January?  I'll be at the park that day and I was just curious if anyone had any insight.
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Just wait till next year!