Since becoming an enthusiast in the fall of 2015, my dad and I have traveled the country (and Canada) riding as many coasters as possible. However, somehow, we had only found ourselves in Florida once, and that was for a school trip in 2017 so our itinerary was set for us. While we did get to visit Universal's Islands of Adventure, that was all we could do. Driving on I-75 to our hotel and seeing Mako, Manta, and Kraken off in the distance was practically torture. Flash forward to the summer of 2018, my dad and I are finishing our mega road trip to all 7 of the Cedar Fair parks on the eastern seaboard, including Canadas Wonderland. Our last stop on that trip was Carowinds, and little did I know it when I woke up that morning, but my life was about to change forever. That night I met my best friend Chris who lives in Florida. Now the story about how we met deserves a blog post all to itself because it is one of the coolest stories ever. But that's for a later time. This blog post is about Florida.
The first park on our Florida trip was Busch Gardens Tampa. We arrived a little before opening, got our tickets and were immediately greeted by a view of Iron Gwazi. Holy Crap. This ride is going to be insane. We had a bit of time before rope drop so we headed over to get a closer look at the ride, and can I just say, the Death Roll. I can not wait to get back and ride this ride next year (and I'd love an invite to media day!)
After that Chris and I headed over to the rope so we could get on Cheetah Hunt. We were some of the first at the entrance to Cheetah Hunt, but it wasn’t open yet. We thought about leaving and going to ride something else but then we saw the line of people behind us and decided to stick it out. That ended up being a good decision because we got the front row! Overall the ride was really fun, definitely not Maverick, but very enjoyable with some great terrain interaction, for a flat state that is.
After that, we headed over to Cobras Curse. The ride was really fun and quirky with some cool gimmicks (mainly the spinning). Now it was time for our first heavy hitter of the day: Montu. Man oh man do I love this ride. Smooth, fast, intense, long, and it’s photogenic (Yes I do consider that with my coaster rankings). Here are some of my favorites pictures of it from the day.
At this point, our group wanted to split up and do some different attractions so Chris and I headed off in the direction of Tigris. Well, we didn’t quite make it to Tigris. On our way, we passed Falcon’s Fury and I couldn’t resist. This was the ride I was most nervous about on this trip because well I think it’s pretty obvious. After riding this I can safely say it is by far the best drop tower I have ever been on. The tilt and the drop where phenomenal and like nothing else I’ve ever experienced.
Now like I said earlier we were supposed to be headed to Tigris, but once again, we got sidetracked, this time by Kumba. This ride has been on my bucket list since becoming an enthusiast, so naturally, the expectations were high. After all of that, this ride still exceeded my expectations, easily settling into my top ten. The intensity, the inversions, length, and it is photogenic. It’s been 4 weeks since I rode it and I’m still processing the ride experience.
By this point, we gave up on getting to Tigris and headed over to SheiKra. I really liked SheiKra, but just like the rest of the dives, it left much to be desired.
Then we went full-on coaster boy and rode Grovers. Anything for a credit. We met back up with our family and headed to lunch when it started to pour. After a nice, relaxing, and wet lunch, we got in line for SheiKra again. Then we finally made it to Tigris. Here’s my Tigris review, “I have nothing nice to say so I’ll say nothing.” After that, we took my dad on Falcons Fury, rode Sand Serpent and recorded one of the best reverse POV’s ever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW3W6WRCfrE), and then concluded our credit hunting with Scorpion. Chris and I then headed back to Kumba for a mini-marathon and then back over to Cobras Curse and Montu to close out the day.
Overall our day at Busch Gardens Tampa was fantastic. Easily one of my favorite parks I have ever visited and I can’t wait to get back next year for Iron Gwazi.
The next day started out doing something non-theme park related, but that afternoon, it was time for me to finally ride Mako at Sea World Orlando. Like I said earlier, in 2017 we were in Orlando for a conference and were very close to going to SWO. We decided not to go due to the small amount of time we would have had at the park. So for 2 and a half years Mako eluded and teased me. And it almost did again on this trip. A bad weather forecast almost made us cancel our day at Sea World, but we decided to press on and that meant I finally got to ride Mako.
Oh my gosh, this ride. The airtime, pacing, laterals... It’s so good. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that much airtime on a B&M before. If my face in this picture doesn't give you enough information about my reaction to it, I don't know what will.
Mako instantly shot into my top 5, taking a very respectable 4th position behind Lightning Rod (1), X2 (2), and Fury 325 (3). I could have marathoned that ride all day, but with the threat of weather, we decided to go get some other credits. We went to Manta next because it was second on the priority list. After riding Tatsu this summer, my expectations were very low since that ride left me very disappointed, and I am happy to say that Manta smashed every expectation I had. Super intense, some great near misses, and just awesome looking. Super impressed with Manta. After that, we headed to Kraken and I’ll put it this way, we rode it once, I neither liked nor disliked it, and we moved on. Next up was Journey to Atlantis. An interesting ride with some cool scenery and a nice surprise at the end. As we were headed towards Grovers, we stopped and rode Infinity Falls. That was easily the best water ride I have ever done at a theme park. Beautiful scenery, great rapids sections, and the greatest raft drop ever. And needless to say, we got wet.
After that, the weather showed up and it looked like the day was over, thankfully the weather passed and we got our last credit in, and if I am being 100% honest, we had so much fun on it that we rode it twice!
We then proceeded back to Mako for a few more rides before the park closed. Overall I enjoyed my 5 hours at Sea World and can't wait to get back soon!
Now, those two parks were supposed to be it for this trip, however, we decided to add Fun Spot Kissimmee. We headed straight to Mineblower and wow, that ride kicks butt. It is a little rough but the rides sheer speed and intensity more than makeup for it.
We also rode the other two coasters, nothing extraordinary, but fun. Then it was time for the Sky Coaster.
My review, it’s awesome, you should do it because there is nothing like anything else you can do! I had done the one at Kings Island prior to this one puts KIs to shame. With that our Florida Trip came to a close.
As a whole, the trip was a 100% success and we had a blast. I need to thank my best friend Chris for playing tour guide and showing me around his home parks, as well as his family for letting me stay with them! I also need to thank my parents for going on this crazy trip with me! We can’t wait to get back to Florida soon(Fingers crossed for Iron Gwazi Media Day), and be sure to check out the BGT gallery which is now live on the sight! Thanks for reading and ride on!
Comments