Starliner staying in Florida!(?)

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet or not, but...

I just was taking a look at RCDB and saw that there is a new entry for Cypress Gardens...

"Unknown - 2007 - Wooden - Underconstruction"

Details state:

"Relocated from: Miracle Strip Amusement Park as Starliner".

RCDB is usually pretty good about these things and usually only adds posts for "done deals" (or at least what seem like done deals... like Hersheyparks ill-fated Turbulence".

Anyone know anything more?

I don't know more, but I do know this would be an *awesome move* for both Cypress AND for Starliner...

The only downside? I don't get a new coaster for my count...;) KIDDING! Honestly, there is nothing that *wood* make me happier...:)

bill, noting Duane isn't *always* right, but his batting average is PRETTY high...

My wife has family in the Kissimmee (sp) - St.Cloud area (as well as Daytona) so we usually make a trip down there every two or three years (they travel up here to PA on the other years), so Cypress Gardens (along with Dania Beach for the Hurricane and BGT for their new coaster) was on our list... this makes it even better (if we wait till 2007 that is).

Okay... not a "new coaster"... but hopefully a better run coaster. When we visited MSAP this past june, Star Liner let me down. Rough and slow... it looked like the tracks have not seen any grease in a long time.

Great news! I hope Cypress Gardens will keep the Starliner's dragon tunnel as well. It was running really well on MSAP's last night, so I'm glad to see it live on. Way to go CG!

This would be very good news for that ride! Im glad I made the effort to ride it back in June, the park as a whole was wonderful. Im glad I experienced it!

SLFAKE: I had a blast on the Starliner. It never let me down. Perhaps you just had a bad day for it

I swear, I must have been in an alternate universe on our last vacation (also last June). Was not impressed by Starliner (slow, painful, needed lots of TLC I thought), but I was greatly impressed by Cheetah at Wild Adventures (a coaster that most complain about as being too rough).

Oh well.

Starliner in the FIRST visit didn't really *get it* for me...it was more of a typical family-style John Allen woodie, can't say rough, but sluggish and floaty without any exceptional forces...

The last trip, it HAULED, ripping thru the tunnel with ferocity and intensity, and delivering *considerable* airtime...I'm glad Tina got to experience it like THAT, esp. after Cheetah was done delivering body slams, LOL...

Cheetah, I dunno, last Runnin' Wild event (Jan '04), I rode alone or with only an op for company on the last couple laps I took, about 20-25 minutes into ERT...and yes, it WAS that bad. Thankfully, it should be up and running, Wild ;), again real soon if it hasn't reopened already...

This is FANTASTIC news!!! :)

I did 9 days at MSAP in 2OO4 to say goodbye to the park and Starliner (7 day trips and the last 2 days of operation) and I am thrilled that Starliner will survive!

Some nights it did seem to have more pep than others but I have never been disappointed by it or bothered by any alledged "roughness". Than again, I enjoy "roughness" and many of my favorite woodies are much rougher than Starliner even when it isn't at it's smoothest.

For instance, when woodies "jackhammer" and "shuffle" it dosn't bother me at all; it THRILLS me!

I agree that Starliner was really running well the last 2 nights. Incredible backseat ejector air and great air in my beloved front seat as well. I LOVE the tunnel!

In an ideal world, the tunnel, buzzbars, and skid brakes would be retained. But if not, I am still very thankful that Cypress Gardens stepped up and saved a woodie!

Now Cypress Gardens has leapfrogged nearly every park in central Florida to become one of the 3 I am looking forward to visiting the most! The others are BGT (because they have a great collection of coasters, including a WOODIE, and I love animal parks), and Magic Kingdom (no woodies but this park appeals to the hardcore Disneyphile in me since it was patterned after Walt's masterpiece, Disneyland)

Three Cheers for Cypress Gardens!!! :)

Frontrider

---

rollergator said:
bill, noting Duane isn't *always* right, but his batting average is PRETTY high...

---

VERY high, especially against other news sources, at getting the correct story out quick.

I love this move, now I may get a chance to ride it, but why will it take three seasons? Is it in really bad shape and in need of depsperate restoration?

Well this would be great news if it turns out to be true. I just wish maybe they could engineer a better second half for the ride, as we found it to be a little lacking. The first half was great though, especially that blast of air in the tunnel.

That's right, Bill, and I would DRIVE to Cypress Gardens just to see one of my babies again. :-D

I am SO happy to see Starliner get a new home. Now why couldn't they have moved it north? ;-)

-Tina

I think that this is great that Starliner has a better home than the other one because I think thjat the MSTP sucks like ass.

I have nothing to confirm this with but in the latest issue of Amusement Today (received last week), there are only two rides listed as "still available" from Miracle Strip. The Starliner isn't one of them.

---

Pale Rider said:
Well this would be great news if it turns out to be true.

---

Only word I have seen was on RCDB... but that site is not too quick to jump on rumors. I've seen them in the past actually lagging behind other sites that are talking about new coasters until they can be verrified.

As for the skid breaks (mentioned above). I don't care. The buzz bars... that is a differnt story. If possible, when the choice is between Buzz Bars and Individually Ratcheting Lap bars, I say the Buzz Bars should win out every time.

Dennis, if you went to Miracle Strip expecting a THEME park (SFTP?), then I'm sure you were disapointed. MSAP was built and run as a *beachside amusement park*, something that sadly (IMO) has mostly gone away these days.

MANY beachside parks have left us, and Family Kingdom is probably the one I would compare to MSAP, they were quite similar in many respects...SCBB and Morey's go one step further, but remain in a similar genre. To me, the fact that these parks have become so rare is quite a shame, but, obviously, YMMV...

How true. But let's not forget the "seaside park" in the most unlikely of places- Indiana! Indiana Beach, despite being in the middle of Corn Country U.S.A. has the feel of a seaside park!

You mean Morey's West, Rob...;)

Morey's with a dash of Knoebels, and maybe even a little Rye Playland ;)

This is really good news for me as I will be moving down to the Orlando area in the next year. Florida needs to keep the wood it's got. It's too rare a commodity there. Then again, I'm leaving a state that is becoming a wooden coaster mecca.

With Gwazi and the Dania Beach Hurricane, the wood that Florida has is pretty good!