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Devil's 2017 Trip Reports - Universal Orlando and Wrap Up

Visited a theme park and have a wild time?!? Post your trip report here and tell us all about it!


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Hey guys! This is my thread for my 2017 Amusement Park ventures. It's a bit of an off year for me with not many new parks, but I did have plenty of visits to parks I've been to and overall had a good summer for roller coasters and theme parks.

Before I start though, I want to update you on what's been going on in my life, and why I haven't exactly been active. Back in January of 2016, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which is a very curable type of cancer. After getting chemo and radiation the doctor told me it was all clear and that I could go on with my life. I spent the summer doing a giant amusement park trip right after (you can see my 2016 reports for that). Sadly though, my next scan came back saying there was cancer still lingering. We tried 3 different treatments before I finally went into remission in July. I then spent almost the entire month of August getting a stem cell transplant. Right now, everything is looking pretty good. So in case you were wondering where I've been and why I've been inactive for the past year, I've been a little distracted, but I figure I'd share the amusement park trips I was able to squeeze in before my transplant.

Anyway, my first park of the year was Hersheypark, which was on Memorial Day weekend on the Saturday (worst idea ever?) and then I ended up going again during the summer as well. Since I've talked about Hershey before and I've been there plenty of times, I won't do a full report, but I will share a few bits and pieces that stood out. The same will go for Six Flags Great Adventure.

Hersheypark

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My brother-in-law is friends with the person who created the design for the outside of the triple drop tower, so he was able to get me in on a preview event for the new ride, and I got to meet a few Hersheypark executives. Everybody at Hersheypark is great, and they were no exception. I had a great time. Anyway, I loved all three drop towers.

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The tallest one (The Hershey's Tower) is essentially just a combo launch/drop tower. However, the launch upward is unbelievably powerful. Easily the strongest upward launch I've experienced. The drop was decent, but I noticed that it was better later in the year.

The middle one (The Reese's Tower) is essentially a large double shot. You get an easy launch and two mild ejector airtime pops at the top.

The shortest one (The Kisses Tower) only has one pop of airtime at the top, but it straight up slams you and it's amazing.

I actually liked all three equally the first time around, but when I rode them later in the year, the Hershey Tower was much much better than the other two since the drop was actually quite good.

The next day, we spent the day at the park, but it was packed. The lines for food were an hour and every ride ended up with a 2-4 hour line by the end of the day. I think this may be the most crowded I've seen a park... and I've been to Six Flags Great Adventure at Fright Fest.

When I went in June, I had a much better day with way less crowds and way shorter lines, but still, I think this is one of the most crowded parks in America.

I was wondering if I was going to see Skyrush ride very poorly again, and it definitely wasn't up to par with my first rides in 2013, but it wasn't Nitro levels of intensity this time. When I went later in the year, I had to wait until late in the day to experience the brutal intensity again, and it reminded me why it is one of my favorite hyper coasters. But ouch my legs.

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As you can see, on the Friday, we wandered around the back of the park to find some crazy views.

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Wildcat is still not as rough as everyone says. I think the second valley has finally gotten to a point of being "too rough" but other than that I don't have a problem with the ride. That weird pop of ejector airtime/ laterals is just bonkers. It's just such an amazing moment.

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I have such mixed feelings about Great Bear. It has some really great moments, but as an overall ride, it doesn't hold up to most B&M inverts. The drop is great, the zero g roll is so snappy and there's a cool airtime moment. You would think I would love it, but instead I think it's just ok.

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Lightning Racer is still horribly overrated, Storm Runner is great, Fahrenheit is fine, Comet is meh and Sooper Dooper Looper is alright.

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I tried out Sidewinder with the new trains, and it isn't better. Those restraints crush my shoulders terribly, and it isn't any smoother.

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I did get a chance to pick up a credit with Laff Trakk. This was on memorial day weekend so I waited 2 1/2 hours for a decked out Maurer spinner. When I say decked out... The theming is kind of bad and adds nothing to the ride, so I can't say it's much better than its outdoor counterparts.

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I love Hersheypark, and I think it's a great example of a good straight up "Amusement Park." I love that it doesn't pretend to be a theme park by putting up cardboard cutouts like Six Flags. It just doesn't try and there is something to be said for that because it knows what it is. The staff is good and the park is well taken care of. Plus it has great rides :D

Six Flags Great Adventure

I have another season pass this year so I ended up going three times. I've come to like this park more and more as it becomes less crowded. However, some of the new policies this year are infuriating.

I've decided I am not going to do my morning marathoning of El Toro anymore since it seems to be extremely rough in the morning. It could be because it's an empty train or because when it warms up, it goes so fast it skims over the rough parts. Who knows? Specifically, the bottom of the "Rolling Thunder" drop has become particularly brutal. The left side of the train is much worse because it banks into the bottom of the drop.

The new Justice League ride is quite good. It's about the same as the one in St. Louis. It's like a half baked shooter version of Spiderman, which is still very good lol. I would prefer it not to be a shooter, but beggars can't be choosers; we have a dark ride at Great Adventure. I'm happy.

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Kingda Ka is still outrageously rough. I rode it more this year than I ever have and I must say, 3rd row is the best. The wind in the front row is dumb and the second row is violent. And everyone knows not to ride back on Kingda Ka.

Skull Mountain and Runaway Mine Train are both amazing back seat rides. Anybody who says otherwise is crazy. Skull Mountain's drop is out of control and the final airtime hills are nuts on Runaway Mine Train. In fact, every coaster except KK is a back seat ride for me at this park.

So the new policy for Kingda Ka and El Toro are that you cannot have anything in your pockets even if they are secured. And then they make you pay for a locker on top of that. It's pure evil. Plus Kingda Ka and Joker have this weird thing where they and you a small piece of paper with a number indicating your spot in line and you have to give it to the person at the end. I suppose it's to prevent line jumpers? but it is really strange.

I still had great days at the park. Their strict policies are insulting at times, but I can get over it.

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These are the rest of the parks you can expect in the report:

Morey's Piers
Rye Playland
Fun Spot America Kissimmee
Universal Orlando
Lake Compounce

Not a huge year, but I went to Universal Orlando for the first time which was huge enough for me.

Thanks for reading!
Last edited by devilsrule911 on June 26th, 2018, 9:24 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Post September 18th, 2017, 1:10 pm
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Were you not forced to buy a locker on El Toro as well? When I went in April they forced me to buy a locker even though I secured everything in zippered pockets.

Glad to hear you're doing alright.
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Just don't employ stupid people and you're golden.

That's like finding a Waffle House with no white trash in it.

Post September 18th, 2017, 1:29 pm
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Fahrenheit needs paint lol. Thanks for the pictures.
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Post September 18th, 2017, 2:42 pm

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Yes El Toro and Kingda Ka are the two where I was forced to remove things from my pockets. And on the Joker the guy at the entrance said that we had to remove our phones and keys, but not our wallets or something like that. It was really strange and I haven't heard anything about that before.
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Post September 18th, 2017, 7:49 pm
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Yeah it's definitely new this year. Thankfully we had a person who didn't want to ride in our group hold our things, but forcing people to buy lockers is absurd. If they're going to enforce such a strict policy the least they can do is provide free lockers.
Coasterkidmwm wrote:
gouldy wrote:
Just don't employ stupid people and you're golden.

That's like finding a Waffle House with no white trash in it.


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Morey's Piers

I chose to take the trip down to Morey's Piers this year because of the refurbishment of that gross Vekoma thing. The one time I went, Surfside Pier (the one with the SLC) was closed because it was the off season. It didn't matter too much to me since there were no important credits over there. This time of course it was open and I got to try out all of the rides over there. It's about a 3 hour drive down to Wildwood, so it's not worth a lot of trips down. The last time I went was 3 years ago.

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We started with Surfside Pier because it opened first. First order of business was the newly refurbished Fly the Great Nor'Easter

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To get started, they had metal detectors sitting outside the ride and they are wanding everybody down to check for nothing in our pockets. Maybe they think they're Universal or something? Very very strange. Plus the repeating announcement about it outside the queue is loud and obnoxious.

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I was really hoping this ride would be good. As much as I have a passionate hate for everything Vekoma, I really liked that Morey's Piers was willing to put the effort into improving their rides. Sadly though, it is still very jerky and very uncomfortable. Plus these new Vekoma straps kill my shoulders. I noticed that whenever the ride was going straight, it was silky smooth, which is an improvement for most SLCs, but those large jerks and neck snapping transitions still exist and are in full force. I must say though, I noticed that it was way more intense than the average SLC, likely because it was faster. I would say that the retrack is an improvement from the traditional SLC, but I have to say it was not worth it, and it makes me feel really bad for the park that put all that effort in.

We went on to try the other coasters on the pier, starting with Flitzer

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It was a fun little coaster with some moderately intense turns.

Next was the wild mouse, Doo Wopper

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I hated the Zamperla Wild Mouse at Rye Playland, but this was only moderately bad. It was a bit more trimmed. We went on to do the rest of the rides on the pier.

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This was a good forceful drop tower.

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These flying scooters were quite a bit off the ground, so when I got them to pop, I was dangling over the edge. Very cool.

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This was the star of the show on this pier. "it." is easily the best claw I have ever been on. It is so fast, so forceful, and has tons of airtime. It comes from it spinning so powerfully and making you fly up when you hit the top. It is a must try if you ever go here. You do have to get over the "it." puns though.

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The Log Flume was really cool. However, it is quite a bit of a soaker.

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After the first drop, it dives under the pier.

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It plays the song "Under the Boardwalk" and has some theming under which was really cool to see.

We also rode the old fashioned dark ride on that side, which was only good because some actors surprised us. There's another one over on Mariner's Pier.

After all of this, we headed over to Mariner's Pier. Since that pier was the farthest away, we chose to not go back.

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We did a lot of the smaller rides over here. Including one of the monorail type rides which had terrible stacking (we probably waited about 15 minutes to get into the station)

I had ridden both of the coasters on this pier, but my sister needed to get the credit. Rollies Coaster was first, which is a fun little ride that is not nearly as rough as you'd expect.

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The it was the Vekoma Boomerang, Sea Serpent.

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This is my personal favorite boomerang (That's not saying much though). It doesn't have those giant jerky moments on the cobra roll, and I don't gray out on the loop. It is more bumpy than most boomerangs, but I can handle that. I feel like because it's more rough, it rides slower and takes out those awful transitions and the obnoxiousness of the loop. Still not great by any stretch of the imagination though.

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This is actually one of two tilt-a-whirls on the piers.

It was then time to head over to Adventure Pier since it had finally open.

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There was a giant antique car show going on on the beach, which is actually the second time in 2 times at Wildwood, that I have seen one. Completely accidental. At least it let the piers be empty.

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It was of course time for the best ride on any of the piers, Great White.

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I love Great White. No, it's not the best CCI by any stretch of the imagination, but its a solid, fun ride. Most of the airtime is floater and the laterals are rather minimal. But it's a nice, smooth, fun ride that has a few surprises thrown in. Definitely do back seat on this. The drop out of the 3rd turnaround has a nice pop of airtime.

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This right here might just be the best part of the ride because you get the strongest laterals and the best airtime in the back seat. It's genuinely really really fun.

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We did a few more things around the pier, but not too much, and headed home after a few more rides on Great White. Overall, I like Morey's Piers, but the general atmosphere around the place leaves a bit to be desired. I don't quite understand why people rave about this place. It's fine, but operations are dodgy, there aren't many great coasters and the boardwalk is in disrepair. Maybe it's because I'm not a big fan of the Jersey shore in general, but still, I don't think its worth a trip more than once every few years.

Thanks again for reading!
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Hey guys I'm back to continue my reports. Maybe I can actually finish it before next season lol. I enjoy writing these, but I have to be in the mood and I haven't been in the mood lately. Anyway, my cousins and my sister from Florida had come up with her kids for my other sisters wedding, so we all did a few hour trip to Rye Playland since it is a nice quick drive and very inexpensive. I won't make this long since I have already been here.

Rye Playland

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It's amazing to me that this park can still operate with the treatment it receives. The ticket prices are dirt cheap, and the park seems even more ignored than last time.

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This is the beach area just outside (The park is along the Long Island Sound)

Anyway, we rode Dragon Coaster, which is a fun family wooden coaster. It doesn't have much going for it, but there are a few good moments of floater airtime. It is definitely worth the ride, but it's nothing special. Also, Morgan trains are fine, but they just ride so strangely. They just make you feel so detached from the coaster. I really can't explain the sensation.

One of the best rides in the park, however, is the S&S double shot. You get so much ejector airtime from that thing. It is loads of fun.

My cousins rode the Volare, Super Flight, while at sat out on the worst coaster I've ridden and they didn't seem to mind as much. I think it is amazing that there can be 2 of these on either side of Manhattan and nobody else is complaining about human rights violations.

We went on the wave swinger which is quite simply the greatest thing in the world. I'm assuming it's a Zamperla, but I could be wrong. It tilts and swings you forwards and backwards as it goes around, and you get bruises as you smack into the swing behind and in front of you. It really is one of the craziest experiences on a ride. I've only experienced it one other place and that was a carnival. If anybody knows any other swings like this, I would be interested to know where else they are. Great stuff 10/10

We did the old fashioned dark rides which are loads of fun because of how cheesy they are, but they have mostly working effects and it's nice to see old rides like these sticking around.

Then we went onto the ultimate travesty of the day. I HAD A CHILD WITH ME, and I was going to ride the kiddie wooden coaster, which I was dying to ride, and they STILL wouldn't let me on. This is truly evil stuff. And it's not like my nephew was okay riding alone. Oh well.

I hadn't done the derby racer before (or any), but I did it on this trip and my god that thing was crazy. One of my cousins got scared and had the operators stop the ride. I can't necessarily blame her because that ride is quite terrifying. But that's what makes it great right?

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Anyway, there is fun to be had at this park, but I really wish it could have more to bring to the table, and didn't feel so abandoned.

Sorry for no roller coaster pictures. I don't really think there are that many interesting pictures to take of the coasters.
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Fun Spot America, Kissimmee

My sister and I went to Florida this year to finally go to Universal Orlando. Since we grew up on Harry Potter, it seemed outrageous that we haven't gone. Before that, though, we had landed early the day before, so we went to Fun Spot in Kissimmee to check out the new Gravity Group coaster, Mine Blower.

We had quite a bit of time at the park, but the rain hit early for us, so we spent most of our time indoors. Still we got loads of rides on Mine Blower and a bunch of other rides.

Our Uber dropped us off in Oldtown, which is an area outside the park with unique shops and stands. This area was nice and was where we spent time during the daily downpour.

We went to the booth to pick up our wristbands, but I had left the credit card I had bought them with at home. Apparently they need it. I had to get a picture of it sent to me from home so that I could get my wristband. This may seem reasonable to you, but just think. What if someone wants to buy a ticket as a gift? That person would HAVE to go, or the ticket can't be picked up. IT'S AN ONLINE PURCHASE!! We already had waited long enough to get these tickets because they had 2 ticket booths open in the entire park, and now I had to call somebody to get a picture taken of my credit card. Any other park would have been fine with the person with the name on the ticket being there, but they had to be weird.

The park was also just not as nice as the other Fun Spot. It was fine, but it felt more like rides plopped down somewhere than a fun little park. It was fine though.

The first order of business was the brand new wooden coaster, Mine Blower

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This is a really great roller coaster. My first thought was that it reminded me of Voyage a lot in the way it rode. It was rough in a very similar way, and delivers laterals very similarly. The quantity of those laterals is much lower though. I would argue that the airtime is significantly better on this over Voyage though. At the top of the lift, the turn is like a bad hand built No Limits 1 coaster. It shudders very awkwardly and I had my hands down in the back. This might just be tied for the best Gravity Group drop with Wooden Warrior because it is really great. The inversion is serene. I would say that this competes with Wicked Cyclone for best inversion. It delivers the hangtime so beautifully and so abruptly that it feels like upside down airtime. It is really quite perfect. The rest of the ride doesn't have anything sticking out. The pace is quite good and the airtime is good too, but half way through you start to really feel its low speeds. The turns were boring and sometimes uncomfortable, which made the pacing feel choppy and each section disjointed. Overall, though, they packed a really great ride into a small space. I also do not like the trains. Wooden Warrior doesn't really have laterals, so I never had a problem. On Mine Blower, I had no support for the laterals like I would in a PTC of Millennium Flyer. Instead I find myself going all over the place. I think that with a smoother track and more interesting turns this could be a top 20 competitor, but for now, it sits just outside for me. I do think it's better than White Lightning, but to me White Lightning is more of a family coaster, and this is more of a thrill coaster. White Lightning is much smoother though.

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In total, we rode it 4 times throughout the day. Later in the day, it reminded me of Twister at Knoebels where it just gets rougher and not any more fun.

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My favorite part was definitely the inversion, which I never would have expected. The section of airtime hills right after is also really great and well paced. The best seat is the back, but the front is worth a try.

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This is my 3rd favorite Gravity Group coaster. I would rank them like this:
1. Ravine Flyer II
2. Voyage
3. Mine Blower
4. Wooden Warrior

Next was the spinning wild mouse, Rockstar Coaster. I would love to share my opinion, but I do not really remember it. I do remember the stairs in the queue falling apart , though. I'm assuming if I don't remember, it was just like every other one. Relatively rough, but otherwise fine.

We also did the kiddie coaster, Kiddie Coaster. +1

It was around then that it started raining. We were able to start riding again after the thunder passed, and we rode a bunch of flats that were basic fair flats. The S&S swing was closed, and my sister refused to ride the sky coaster, so I wasn't going to just pay for me.

Something to note if you haven't been there: They have an entire area of the park tucked away in another area of Oldtown. Be sure to refer to a map because otherwise, you will think the park is tiny.

Anyway, we had a good time but it was mostly ruined by rain. Our sister from Florida picked us up after her work, and we had dinner at Disney Springs, which was really nice. I had never done it before so it was cool to walk around. The crowds were something else though.

The next 2 days were at Universal for my first ever trip. My sister had been a very long time ago, but she didn't remember. We were very excited.
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Interesting to hear about Mine Blower, I really felt it sort of flew in under the radar but it's a shame the trains hurt the ride however.
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France 2019 Mini Trip Report


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Hey, I know it's been a long time, but I still wanted to wrap up my reports from 2017. Basically, what happened is that I ended up to need more treatment for my cancer, so I lost motivation to work on this. I have actually found some time between treatments this year to visit some parks, so you can expect my 2018 reports at some point as well.

Universal Orlando Resort

The highlight of last year was my trip to Universal Orlando. My sister from Florida set me up for 2 days of free tickets for both parks, which was great within itself. When we received the tickets, we were dumbfounded to see that they also provided us with unlimited express passes. That wasn't the end of our surprise though. When we get there, they gave us what they call "gold passes" which are an exclusive VIP ticket that lets you skip the express lane as well. Right before getting a stem cell transplant, this was a much needed amazing surprise, and I couldn't have had a better day at a theme park. The staff at Universal were amazing about and very helpful in making sure we got the tickets. So, basically, we were able to finish both parks in one day. It's just a bonus that both parks are amazing. Anyway, here is my report:

This was my first time ever at Universal, and it was long overdue. I really couldn't hide my excitement to finally experience this place.

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The entrance plaza is very gorgeous, but when you go for the first time, it is somewhat confusing on which way to get to each park since the signs were so small. Image

We made it over to Universal Studios first.

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I love the studio feel of this park, and it really gives off a fun vibe that I also enjoyed at Hollywood Studios. Our first ride of the day was Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit

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I can't really say I enjoyed this ride. The restraints are uncomfortable and overall the ride is very very rough. It has a lot of weird jerks and kinks to it. The advantage was that the airtime was pretty good. It also really suffers from all the midcourse brakes.

We then explored the rest of the park hitting up a bunch of the dark rides in the area. The new Jimmy Fallon ride was ok, but there was nothing overly special about it and it didn't have anything going for it that was unique. It was a fun flying theater type ride, though. It just wasn't very special.

The highlight of the area is Transformers. There is loads of theming all over the place for it and the ride itself is so much fun. There are loads of practical effects to make it feel immersive.

We also rode the minions ride, which had a fun queue, but the ride itself left a lot to be desired. I really did not like the seating set up and there wasn't much fun movement to the ride.

The Shrek 4D ride was just another cheap 4D theater with very very gimmicky effects and the most boring pre-show on the planet. I actually hated this ride.

We then headed over to Revenge of the Mummy. It's a little outdated and rough, but the ride has quite a few intense pulls and is very fun. Plus it looks great from the outside.

It wasn't even 12, and we started heading over towards the lake area. I really love the setting on the lake and all of the theming around the place is top notch. There are tons of little nooks and crannies to find.

We rode ET, which was actually one of my favorite rides in this park. I loved the feel and how many practical effects were used around the ride.

It was at this time that we said enough is enough, and we headed straight for the Harry Potter section of the park.

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The London facade is amazing and all of the detail in the area is amazing the way it hides Diagon Alley. Growing up on Harry Potter made walking through the building and seeing Diagon Alley mesmerizing. The detail is beyond anything I've ever seen.

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Every corner of this place is filled with details and little hallways and shops. The smell pods throughout the area top it off. Somehow, they perfectly captured the smells I smelled when I watched Harry Potter. Plus every window had something to show off making the entire place feel beyond alive. All I can say more is that you need to see it for yourself if you haven't.

We hopped right on to Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts which happened to be my 250th coaster.

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I have to say, it's definitely good. It's just not the amazing quality I was expecting. The ride itself doesn't have much going for it. I would have loved to have seen more practical effects and full emersion. Don't get my wrong, it's well done, but I would have liked to have had a better 250th coaster. The next time around though, we did it right. We waited in the queue which to me is a better experience than the ride itself. It takes you through an extremely detailed replica of Gringotts that you have to see to believe. Every detail is amazing. It's just disappointing that the ride left a bit to be desired.

We then headed over to Islands of Adventure via the train. Again, I can't express the extreme detail that went into this place and the idea of taking the train across is true genius. The train ride is really cool as well. You can tell that the scares are a little tame because kids have to go across as well, but it was still a very cool experience.

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We hopped off the train and headed into Hogsmeade. Again, such a cool experience to see the castle off in the distance for the first time. I can't believe how well they make you feel like you're going through the world of Harry Potter.

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We headed straight to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. All I can say is WOW. This is truly the best dark ride I have ever been on. It's intense, detailed and just beautiful. The way the screens are integrated are so cool and the practical effects are chillingly real. Getting up and close with a dementor brought back so many memories of watching The Prisoner of Askaban. We ended up riding it 11 times in the 2 days there, and every time left me with a gigantic smile on my face.

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We also rode Flight of the Hippogriff which was fine.

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We then rode Dragon Challenge, which I was skeptical about without the dueling aspect. I was right to be worried because Hungarian Horntail had nothing going for it. I was rough and the cobra roll was downright brutal. However, when we rode the Chinese Fireball, I actually had loads of fun. It was intense all around and very smooth. It actually ended up being one of my favorite inverts. It will be disappointing to see it go. I realize though that the quality of the ride itself is relatively non-existent. Chinese Fireball ended up being my favorite coaster at the resort.

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We then headed across the park to Incredible Hulk. I never thought that a coaster could be TOO intense, but this ride is too intense. There are just way to many positive gs to be comfortable. It is constantly berating you with inversion after inversion without much variety. Then once it stops, the pacing slowed down to a crawl. I have to say, though, the first inversion is one of the best inversions out there. It is crazy intense and fun. We rode it bright and early the next day and enjoyed it more since it hadn't really warmed up yet and it was riding less stupid intense. I understand the fanbase for this ride, but I just don't like seeing gray for entire ride.

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Next was The Amazing Spider-man. This is an INCREDIBLE dark ride. It really is the perfect Universal dark ride with a perfect combination of practical and screen effects. Plus the ride is just overall well done. I think it really is the better version of Transformers.

Doctor Doom was very lame and one of the worst tower rides I've done. I was very disappointed.

I suppose I will talk about the rest of the resort out of order since we were doing a lot of re-riding and whatnot.

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King Kong was not a very good ride. I enjoyed it and all, but it is just two screens on either side as you go in a circle. Plus the ride vehicle is very difficult to see out of.

I loved all of the water rides. It was actually cold for our visit (in August), so we had to wait to ride them for the second day.

Jurassic Park was my favorite of the three because of the storyline and the effects are really cool and immersive. It's also not a drencher like the other two.

I also love Dudley Do Right. The drop is fun with the little airtime hill. It just didn't make much sense and the theming was slightly sparse. I loved the area though.

Popeye was fun, I just prefer to get wet from rapids and not effects. The effects were so ridiculous though, which made it more fun than your average waterfall.

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The Cat in the Hat ride was alright, but just seemed very simple and old.

Men in Black was very outdated, and not very good.

I really enjoyed the Simpson's ride and thought it was quite funny.

I think I covered everything. Basically, I loved both parks and had the best 2 days I could ever have at a theme park. As a whole, the resort is my favorite place for rides, and I would say that everybody has to go here at least once for Harry Potter alone. I think my favorite of the 2 parks was Universal Studios because I liked the studio feel to the park and Diagon Alley was absolutely perfect.

My two favorite rides were Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Spider-man. The coasters weren't all that great, but I enjoyed Chinese Fireball a whole ton.

Lake Compounce

We also went to Lake Compounce to try out Boulder Dash's new finale. My quick review is that I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Nothing will compare to the stupidly amazing finale it used to have, but it got too rough. You get a nice pop of ejector air on the new hill and it keeps the pacing up really well. It got really rough on the first turn out of the drop though. I would be nice to see a thorough retrack at some point as well as better trains. Regardless, it is still the best coaster in the world even with the changes. Also, they need to get on 2 train service one day.

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Again sorry for the late posting, and I know this is a little rushed, but I wanted to finish up my thoughts on last season before I started to talk about this season. The year ended up being good considering the circumstances and finally getting to Universal was just perfect. Also, sorry for any typos. Again, I rushed this a little.

This year, I went to Kings Dominion and Carowinds and hope to get out to Cedar Point after I am done with my treatments. Anyway, thanks for reading!
1.Boulder Dash | 2.Legend(HW) | 3.Beast | 4.Ravine Flyer II | 5.Intimdator 305 | 6.Phoenix | 7.Twisted Timbers | 8.Wicked Cyclone | 9.Thunderhead | 10.Storm Chaser


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