Orlando PTR (BGT + IoA)

Well, I knew I was gonna go to BGT for sure sometime this past week, and my sister and I were also contemplating Harry Potter world. We ended up going to Harry Potter world and I rode the roller coasters at IoA. I kind of thought, due to money I wouldn't end up actually being able to go to BGT... I was at peace with this because I never went on Dueling Dragons or Hulk before, and riding those roller coasters really refreshed my roller coaster fiend. But in the end my mom paid for my BGT ticket as a birthday present, and I'm so happy I didn't pass it up...

The lines at all parks were non-existent. It was bliss.

Well.. anyway.







That's what I like to see.











That's what I like to see.











Love seein' that...





I love Busch Gardens =D =D So cute lol.



This beaked bitch actually landed on my table and took a french fry... but he's kinda badass I let it pass.



I tried to avoid coming close to Cheetah... unfortunately the only way to Montu is walking alongside the track the entire way. If you see blood stains on the path right outside Cheetah, that's just little pieces of my heart, no big deal.







Love it.



This peak actually has a small small amount of air, and I definitely don't remember that from a few years ago.



SheiKra lines... Love it.





I claim SheiKra to be one of the most graceful coasters around.





That's one of the coolest parts of Kumba I think.

Nice pictures, sounds like you had a great time. I'd love to get back to the Florida parks sometime, last time I was there was Gwazi's opening season.

How did you manage such short lines?

^I've actually had great luck with BGT. Most of the time (that I'm there), lines are short.

And yeah, SheiKra is really cool. It's funny how it's still one of my favorite rides even though coasters like Maverick are much more extreme. The near sub-floater G's really give that butterflies feeling, and the big curves and drops are just fun, as well as riding super far from the heartline with no floor.

Uh, I lived in Florida the whole year and the lines always look this. Proof:



The crowds are really only bad during the summer, which pretty much starts up this coming weekend (Memorial Day). From September-May the parks aren't really that busy at all (except Halloween, Thanksgiving and Xmas week of course).

Glad you have fun though! BGT is pretty cool. Screw Harry Potter though.

Didn't know jakizle was a girl?

Lol I like how your proof is one picture. But I believe it, I imagine only during the hectic spring break era of the year do they get belligerently packed.

Don't screw Harry Potter!! The ride inside the castle was SO much fun and surprising. So much better than Spiderman.

Originally posted by GerstlCrazy

Lol I like how your proof is one picture. But I believe it, I imagine only during the hectic spring break era of the year do they get belligerently packed.

Don't screw Harry Potter!! The ride inside the castle was SO much fun and surprising. So much better than Spiderman.

Really? I absolutely love Spiderman every ride but Potter gets so boring...but I think you can understand from someone who goes like every week. I don't think Ive seen every effect working since opening, either

And I would show more proof but I don't wanna load this up with pictures

cool pics, any news on Ripsaw Falls @ IoA? Also, have they started full-on testing of cheetah hunt yet? the only tests I've seen are the ones that are already posted, not exactly what I would call exciting.

Originally posted by spacemountainfan619

cool pics, any news on Ripsaw Falls @ IoA? Also, have they started full-on testing of cheetah hunt yet? the only tests I've seen are the ones that are already posted, not exactly what I would call exciting.

Ripsaw has been open since like March 5th, lol.

And as for Cheetah Hunt, it is making full speed test runs and with people. Search for it on Youtube, Display by Upload Date, and the newest videos will appear!

I'm shocked at the short waits, Florida is such a major tourist destination, and a fairly large state.

Yeah, gotcha Jake I can see the ride not retaining its spark... I was just SO surprised when the gondola was lifted in the air and the ride turned into such a motion freak-out.

Spiderman was AWESOME, don't get me wrong. But I gotta consider my roots; I'm the Potter fan, not a Marvel man.

Ripsaw Falls is one of the BEST water rides I've ever been on!! It was such a whim to go on it, I didn't think I was going to ride it at all- even though I wanted to ever since I missed my chance about a decade ago with the family. But with such short lines, I went on it three times! I was not expecting the two drops prior to the finale! Truly a masterpiece experience on that ride.

Yeah Ripsaw Falls is nothing short of amazing!
I'm back to Florida in December hopefully, need my Montu fix, hands down the worlds most underated coaster, and Busch Gardens is a splendid park.
As for the Potter world thing, they we're constructing that when i was there last and i didn't really like the idea of it but it looks pretty cool. It just makes the Dragons look really, really gay.

Nice pics Gerstl!

I can't wait until the Friday!!! CHEETAH HUNT!!!!

Originally posted by GerstlCrazy

Yeah, gotcha Jake I can see the ride not retaining its spark... I was just SO surprised when the gondola was lifted in the air and the ride turned into such a motion freak-out.

Spiderman was AWESOME, don't get me wrong. But I gotta consider my roots; I'm the Potter fan, not a Marvel man.

Ripsaw Falls is one of the BEST water rides I've ever been on!! It was such a whim to go on it, I didn't think I was going to ride it at all- even though I wanted to ever since I missed my chance about a decade ago with the family. But with such short lines, I went on it three times! I was not expecting the two drops prior to the finale! Truly a masterpiece experience on that ride.

Oh dude, if you're a Potter fan I can see why the whole ride experience of Forbidden Journey is awesome. I just don't get Potter lol, while at least the original Spiderman movie was badass.

Originally posted by english coaster guy

As for the Potter world thing, they we're constructing that when i was there last and i didn't really like the idea of it but it looks pretty cool. It just makes the Dragons look really, really gay.

Nice pics Gerstl!

The ounce of disrespect I have for Potter world comes from that. The dragons don't look like they belong with those colors (I wouldn't be surprised to see a color change soon) and the queue line they put in for the dragons is obnoxiously long. The walk I had to make each time I rode it was like 5 minutes long just to get to the stations, where the line's back was lmao.

Also...... Dueling Dragons are unbelievably fun! The immelman and wraparound on Fire Dragon is so surprisingly powerful. I also really like Ice Dragon, it was my preferred side. The first turnaround was fun, and the zero g was nuts.

Just take the re-ride entrance that take you right back to the station.

I've been wanting to say this for a long time, why did they keep the dragon theme, it isn't very Harry Potter-ish, IMO they should have re themed it to like a quidditch tournament or something.

... ...

The obnoxious queue line was there before te retheme. I'm not sure why they didn't fix it, though...

Originally posted by Jcoasters

Just take the re-ride entrance that take you right back to the station.

The reride entrance takes you to the entrance of the castle you tool

[approve]

Originally posted by GerstlCrazy

Originally posted by english coaster guy

As for the Potter world thing, they we're constructing that when i was there last and i didn't really like the idea of it but it looks pretty cool. It just makes the Dragons look really, really gay.

Nice pics Gerstl!

The ounce of disrespect I have for Potter world comes from that. The dragons don't look like they belong with those colors (I wouldn't be surprised to see a color change soon) and the queue line they put in for the dragons is obnoxiously long. The walk I had to make each time I rode it was like 5 minutes long just to get to the stations, where the line's back was lmao.

Also...... Dueling Dragons are unbelievably fun! The immelman and wraparound on Fire Dragon is so surprisingly powerful. I also really like Ice Dragon, it was my preferred side. The first turnaround was fun, and the zero g was nuts.

Agreed mate.
Ice is much better, although the immelman with wrap around is absolutely awesome, the first two elements on fire are pretty lame. As for ice the Zero g roll and cobra roll are both full of forces, and i even like the first overbank. Potter has somewhat ruined both tracks as you said though.

I think the first immelman on Fire is alright, the second one definitely seemed to have a little more power, whip, and of course the spectacular helix down to the ground.

Ice does take the cake though, even Ice's wingover seemed better. Fire's turnaround post-wingover seemed a little more forceful than Ice's, but I didn't find Fire's inclined banked turn into the second wingover as special as I thought it would be.

Both two great B&Ms though. I definitely liked them both more than Hulk.

Your right about the Hulk. The launch is pretty nostalgic and has a nice sensation, especially in the front row. But the rest of it is pretty lifeless. It gets slightly interesting after the mcbr with a couple of the turns producing a couple of pops of air but thats about it.

Best coaster in Florida in my opinion, in operation of course, is Montu. There's some absolutely savage g's in the batwing, the zero g roll is spectacular and i love the drop into the second loop. EVERYTHING in fact is awesome, and its my 3rd favorite out of 197.
I think it could do with a lick of paint and maybe a re-theme, but its still awesome.

I want to go out there so bad now! (start saving )