Ah, America. Land of guns, flags and patriotic slogans on tshirts in IMPACT FONT. How I've missed you and your massive coasters.
It's not usually the kind of place you pop over to last minute. But I was feeling very deflated when my bands big upcoming european tour in Feb / March got cancelled. What will cheer me up, I pondered, during this bleak off season? Perhaps...riding Velocicoaster? Needless to say, @Slamming Coastercore didn't need much convincing.
Fast forward two weeks and after frantic booking of PCR tests we were there. Orlanding in Orlando. You could see that monstrous new drop tower on I-Drive from the plane. In fact, the 430ft tall Orlando Freefall became a handy beacon to find our way back after every park. There is something incredibly novel about having a huge drop tower just standing there right on the street by your hotel. I wish all directions home included the phrase "turn right at the drop tower!"
We made a beeline for Islands of Adventure with a one track mind. One track and a double spine to be precise. And it was on this glorious day that I performed my biggest coaster opinion u-turn of my life.
First thoughts of Velocicoaster: Noooo! Gutted. It's overhyped. It rides like a Mack, suprisingly gentle. It's also a bit rattley. It's got nothing on Taron. (Note, these thoughts were based on a 9am ride in row 3) I quickly messaged @nadroJ expressing my disappointment.
We met up with @Scottingtonville and I woefully launched into my criticism of the ride. Scott shook his head and laughed: "ride it in the back."
Second thoughts on Velocicoaster: (lunchtime, back row) WOAH! Am I going to die from the mad ejector on this top hat?!! How on earth is this the same coaster I rode earlier?! It's so intense! Lets go again. Immediately.
[Happy post-Velocicoaster faces]
Third thoughts on Velocicoaster: Oooh I'm noticing way more theming as well as a dynamic range of strong forces! This ride could actually be something very special...I wonder what a night ride will be like.
Also, this queue just doesn't get boring! I could watch those trains launch and be chased by raptors all day. (Fun fact: those window / screens for that effect cost $40,000 each! A worthy investment.)
Fourth thoughts on Velocicoaster (night ride) : OH MY GOD THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ROLLERCOASTERS ON THE PLANET! Launching into pure darkness, raptors lighting up, smoke, rockwork, the blue lights of the train reflecting in the water as you hurtle through the final inversion. I sheepishly messaged @nadroJ again to retract every word of my early criticism!
We ended up riding it 9 times on this trip. By ride number 9 I had no thoughts: just a pure Velocicoaster grin plastered all over my face. What a ride. Just goes to show you really can't judge a coaster on one ride.
Hagrids, by contrast, was an immediate hit. This ride is a masterpiece. It perfectly blends narrative, animatronics, vehicle design, seven launches, one drop track and one spike into a purely immersive experience. I was expecting this coaster to be good, but not THAT good. Wow! Everyone on the train was smiling and applauding like mad as we pulled back into the station.
Agreeing that a night ride on Hagrids was a must, we joined the long queue again when darkness fell and managed to watch the entire Hogwarts fireworks show from the Hagrids queue. This offered a perfect view with no obstructions / crowds, and we didn't miss out on a Hagrids night ride!
Rounding up on the Potter-side of things, we were both excited to get back on Forbidden Journey. I mean, this ride blew my socks off in 2016. But alas, out-of-sync audio, jarring screen-to-set transitions and sickly maneuvers ensured that my socks remained firmly on this time. This is no longer one of the best dark rides in the world, in my opinion. It's not even the best dark ride in the park. That title belongs to...
Spiderman. Nestled unassumingly next to the pretzel shop in one of my favourite themed lands of all time; Spiderman gives me that 'Universal feeling' the most. You know the feeling I mean? It's not saccarine childlike Disney-wonder. It's not the gothic romance of Efteling. It's not the impressed wide eyed goon at Phantasialand. The Universal feeling feels like watching your first horror film. Playing your first 18 rated game. Universal feels like when you first get into WWE. It represents that early adolescent stage where you're branching deeper into your own realm of pop culture with the money you earn from your paper round and discovering stuff... like comic books.
I lost count of the amount of times I turned to Alex and exclaimed: "I love this area!" when walking through Marvel Superhero Island. I adore this iteration of Marvel. It really does feel like stepping into a comic book: loud, bright, full of motion and a rockin' guitar soundtrack. It makes me feel 14 years old again.
Spiderman remains thoroughly exciting and fun, even when some villains in your car decide to get their phones out for the whole ride.
Toon Lagoon feels significantly less relevant as a themed-area, but shout out to Bilge Rat Barges and Ripsaw Falls for being both the greatest and the wettest water rides in existance. Somebody call Oakwood cos we got absolutely drenched!
[It doesn't show up on all black clothes but I was soaked!]
Also, I could stand on the Ripsaw Falls bridge watching boats drop down the eggy-waterfalls for hours, it's such a visual feast.
Speaking of visual feasts, the queue and station for Kong reminded me so much of the crypts in Skyrim. The towering skeletons could be Draugr. I wish this ride continued on from it's brilliant queue with a traditional dark ride and sets, as opposed to veering off down simulator alley.
You walk through the impressive queue and it feels a bit like a tease. You stare at the flames and the skulls and think: this is the kind of dark, immersive ride they could have built. But no. 3 x screens + 1 x Kong = the Skull Island ride. (Replace Kong with cars and you have the recipe for Fast and Furious! Replace Kong with Jimmy Fallon and you have the recipe for Race Through New York! Congratulations you have cracked the Universal Studios Screen-based formula)
In my bid to conquer drop towers, I finally braved Dr. Dooms Fear Fall. It was nice and floaty with excellent views. Plus, have I mentioned how much I love that Marvel area?!
Well, aside from Hulk. Hulk was far from incredible, bashing my brain around all over the place. When I shared to my GP friends that I was at Universal, the common question was "oooh did you ride Hulk? I love that ride!" I didn't have the heart to tell them this iconic coaster structure, whilst visually stunning, is actually the worst coaster in the park. Also, of course I've ridden it Neil, I've ridden nearly 700 coasters.
[It does look amazing at night though]
Islands of Adventure is an outstanding park with an excellent line up of rides, with Velocicoaster elevating the park into the current peak of modern coaster technology and design. We ended up visiting IOA 4 times on this 8 day trip. It's one of those parks you just can't get enough of. And Velocicoaster is one of those coasters you just can't get enough of. Welcome to the Top 10 oh raptory one.
It's not usually the kind of place you pop over to last minute. But I was feeling very deflated when my bands big upcoming european tour in Feb / March got cancelled. What will cheer me up, I pondered, during this bleak off season? Perhaps...riding Velocicoaster? Needless to say, @Slamming Coastercore didn't need much convincing.
Fast forward two weeks and after frantic booking of PCR tests we were there. Orlanding in Orlando. You could see that monstrous new drop tower on I-Drive from the plane. In fact, the 430ft tall Orlando Freefall became a handy beacon to find our way back after every park. There is something incredibly novel about having a huge drop tower just standing there right on the street by your hotel. I wish all directions home included the phrase "turn right at the drop tower!"
We made a beeline for Islands of Adventure with a one track mind. One track and a double spine to be precise. And it was on this glorious day that I performed my biggest coaster opinion u-turn of my life.
First thoughts of Velocicoaster: Noooo! Gutted. It's overhyped. It rides like a Mack, suprisingly gentle. It's also a bit rattley. It's got nothing on Taron. (Note, these thoughts were based on a 9am ride in row 3) I quickly messaged @nadroJ expressing my disappointment.
We met up with @Scottingtonville and I woefully launched into my criticism of the ride. Scott shook his head and laughed: "ride it in the back."
Second thoughts on Velocicoaster: (lunchtime, back row) WOAH! Am I going to die from the mad ejector on this top hat?!! How on earth is this the same coaster I rode earlier?! It's so intense! Lets go again. Immediately.
[Happy post-Velocicoaster faces]
Third thoughts on Velocicoaster: Oooh I'm noticing way more theming as well as a dynamic range of strong forces! This ride could actually be something very special...I wonder what a night ride will be like.
Also, this queue just doesn't get boring! I could watch those trains launch and be chased by raptors all day. (Fun fact: those window / screens for that effect cost $40,000 each! A worthy investment.)
Fourth thoughts on Velocicoaster (night ride) : OH MY GOD THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ROLLERCOASTERS ON THE PLANET! Launching into pure darkness, raptors lighting up, smoke, rockwork, the blue lights of the train reflecting in the water as you hurtle through the final inversion. I sheepishly messaged @nadroJ again to retract every word of my early criticism!
We ended up riding it 9 times on this trip. By ride number 9 I had no thoughts: just a pure Velocicoaster grin plastered all over my face. What a ride. Just goes to show you really can't judge a coaster on one ride.
Hagrids, by contrast, was an immediate hit. This ride is a masterpiece. It perfectly blends narrative, animatronics, vehicle design, seven launches, one drop track and one spike into a purely immersive experience. I was expecting this coaster to be good, but not THAT good. Wow! Everyone on the train was smiling and applauding like mad as we pulled back into the station.
Agreeing that a night ride on Hagrids was a must, we joined the long queue again when darkness fell and managed to watch the entire Hogwarts fireworks show from the Hagrids queue. This offered a perfect view with no obstructions / crowds, and we didn't miss out on a Hagrids night ride!
Rounding up on the Potter-side of things, we were both excited to get back on Forbidden Journey. I mean, this ride blew my socks off in 2016. But alas, out-of-sync audio, jarring screen-to-set transitions and sickly maneuvers ensured that my socks remained firmly on this time. This is no longer one of the best dark rides in the world, in my opinion. It's not even the best dark ride in the park. That title belongs to...
Spiderman. Nestled unassumingly next to the pretzel shop in one of my favourite themed lands of all time; Spiderman gives me that 'Universal feeling' the most. You know the feeling I mean? It's not saccarine childlike Disney-wonder. It's not the gothic romance of Efteling. It's not the impressed wide eyed goon at Phantasialand. The Universal feeling feels like watching your first horror film. Playing your first 18 rated game. Universal feels like when you first get into WWE. It represents that early adolescent stage where you're branching deeper into your own realm of pop culture with the money you earn from your paper round and discovering stuff... like comic books.
I lost count of the amount of times I turned to Alex and exclaimed: "I love this area!" when walking through Marvel Superhero Island. I adore this iteration of Marvel. It really does feel like stepping into a comic book: loud, bright, full of motion and a rockin' guitar soundtrack. It makes me feel 14 years old again.
Spiderman remains thoroughly exciting and fun, even when some villains in your car decide to get their phones out for the whole ride.
Toon Lagoon feels significantly less relevant as a themed-area, but shout out to Bilge Rat Barges and Ripsaw Falls for being both the greatest and the wettest water rides in existance. Somebody call Oakwood cos we got absolutely drenched!
[It doesn't show up on all black clothes but I was soaked!]
Also, I could stand on the Ripsaw Falls bridge watching boats drop down the eggy-waterfalls for hours, it's such a visual feast.
Speaking of visual feasts, the queue and station for Kong reminded me so much of the crypts in Skyrim. The towering skeletons could be Draugr. I wish this ride continued on from it's brilliant queue with a traditional dark ride and sets, as opposed to veering off down simulator alley.
You walk through the impressive queue and it feels a bit like a tease. You stare at the flames and the skulls and think: this is the kind of dark, immersive ride they could have built. But no. 3 x screens + 1 x Kong = the Skull Island ride. (Replace Kong with cars and you have the recipe for Fast and Furious! Replace Kong with Jimmy Fallon and you have the recipe for Race Through New York! Congratulations you have cracked the Universal Studios Screen-based formula)
In my bid to conquer drop towers, I finally braved Dr. Dooms Fear Fall. It was nice and floaty with excellent views. Plus, have I mentioned how much I love that Marvel area?!
Well, aside from Hulk. Hulk was far from incredible, bashing my brain around all over the place. When I shared to my GP friends that I was at Universal, the common question was "oooh did you ride Hulk? I love that ride!" I didn't have the heart to tell them this iconic coaster structure, whilst visually stunning, is actually the worst coaster in the park. Also, of course I've ridden it Neil, I've ridden nearly 700 coasters.
[It does look amazing at night though]
Islands of Adventure is an outstanding park with an excellent line up of rides, with Velocicoaster elevating the park into the current peak of modern coaster technology and design. We ended up visiting IOA 4 times on this 8 day trip. It's one of those parks you just can't get enough of. And Velocicoaster is one of those coasters you just can't get enough of. Welcome to the Top 10 oh raptory one.
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It looks so good!
