Universal and Busch Gardens

I'm back. Some people may not remember me at all, but I was once kinda active. Wow...it's been a year? Anyways, recently I spent a holiday in Florida. I went to Busch Gardens Tampa for the second time and Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
This was a really fun visit. I rode every roller coaster there except Cheetah Chase (I hate wild mouses). My favorite was by far Montu...underground tunnels double the fun in this unique inverter. Then came Scorpion. I don't know...Scorpion was so fun and intense, it lives up to all the other Schwarzkopf (sp?) designs. Then came Kumba. It wasn't the smoothest ride, and the design wasn't anything too original. But it was pretty fun. Gwazi came next. It was very fun, but nothing too special. I guess Kumba and Gwazi had the same effect on me. Python was pretty fun, but quite rough. Traditional Arrow Corkscrew design with a boring drop. Same ol' same ol'...

Then, we rode Rhino Rally, which was quite fun (in a ridiculous way). It rained (pity), so we left early. It was a fun visit, but nothing compared to my Universal experience the next day.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Islands of Adventure

Well, this was awesome! The Hulk is the first thing you see, and wow, what a sight. It was a great ride, and the queue (sp?) was really interesting with video monitors all around. I wish that there was more drop in the launch out of the tunnel, but the endless corkscrews and barrel rolls made up for it. Dueling Dragons, though, was the best roller coaster there IMO. I chose Ice the first time riding, then Fire the second time. I loved both, but enjoyed Fire more, just because of the trains. The drops were nothing new, but really, really fun. Then, we get to the close calls, and boy, they were close. The loop is quite a sight to see and ride.

Then, to relax a bit, we rode the Cat in the Hat, just for fun. It wasn't to fun, and it's so cute and makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Then we checked out the 4-D Spider-Man ride. I was expecting a normal sit-in-a-theater-and-theater-moves-around kind of ride, but in fact, we sat in a little vehicle and moved around on a little track. It was so much fun, and the screens blended nicely with the real setting.

Universal Studios Florida

They do not have too many roller coasters here, but I rode on the Revenge of the Mummy ride, and it was one hell of a ride. I loved the *fake* ending. And beetles. And water. And...well, it was really fun.

Then we checked out the Earthquake! ride. Actually, it was quite an interesting experience learning about the stunts done in movies, and we got to ride the train in the climatic scene in the movie Earthquake! It was quite a heart-pounding ride. Then, we "rode" the Twister "ride". What a dissapointment. You just stand there watching a cow go by, and there are just some strong winds. You don't even get wet. And the JAWS ride was another dissapointment. The shark wasn't even scary. But the fire that the boat went through was very, very cool. (That sounds odd...a "cool" fire.)

Then we rode the Men in Black ride. It was fun, but I think that the line was more fun than the ride. The ride is fun, so that means the line was even more fun. And this might sound crazy, but I liked the old-fashioned Back to the Future ride.

So it was a fun visit. And I'm glad to be back to the site!

~ loopier ~

great report!

WHAT ABOUT SHIEKRA!?!?!

sonuds like you had fun i kno i did when i went to those parks