Amusement Park

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay or SeaWorld Orlando?

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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay or SeaWorld Orlando?

Busch Gardens or Good Old SeaWorld? Both parks are great and actually owned by the same company, but which one should you go to? I’ll touch on two things I love about each park and two things I don’t love about each park.

 

(Water rides will not be included)

 

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is located in Tampa, Florida. Busch Gardens has 9 thrilling roller coasters and is known for the fastest, steepest, tallest roller coasters in the country. The roller coasters are Tigris, Cheetah Hunt, Cobra’s Curse, SheiKra, Kumba, Scorpion, Montu, and most importantly Iron Gwazi. You might be asking, “Why is Iron Gwazi so special?” or something along those lines. I say that because Iron Gwazi truly, I feel put Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, well on the map. Yes, their other coasters are good such as Montu but personally, nothing beats Iron Gwazi.

 

Iron Gwazi

Iron Gwazi is the tallest, steepest, and fastest hybrid in North America. Iron Gwazi is 206 feet and the drop is 91 degrees with top speeds at 76 mph. Iron Gwazi wasn’t always this crazy insane hybrid we all know and I’m sure a lot of us love. It used to be a dueling wooden coaster called “ Gwazi “ with two separate tracks with development starting in July 1998. The ride was named after a fabled creature with a tiger’s head and a lion’s body. Trains riding on both tracks, respectively named Lion and Tiger, reached a height of 105.4 feet (32.1 m) and a maximum speed of 51 mph (82 km/h). Gwazi opened on June 18, 1999, and received positive reviews from critics and the public. Over time, the wooden roller coaster became difficult to maintain, resulting in the Tiger side closing in 2012. Following rising maintenance costs and declining ridership, the remaining side was closed in 2015. A roller coaster company called Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) was hired to retrofit the original wooden structure’s layout. RMC takes old wooden coasters such as Gwazi, and makes them into these insane and intense hybrid coasters, just like how Gwazi went to Iron Gwazi. I can say this roller coaster is the BEST roller coaster I’ve ever been on. Better than Cannibal at Lagoon, better than Velocicoaster at Universal Studios. If you have the chance to go on this crazy roller coaster, I 100% recommend it! 11/10 it broke the scale.

 

Montu

Montu is an inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Designed by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, it is the park’s second roller coaster designed by that company following the success of Kumba, which opened 3 years prior. When the ride opened on May 16, 1996, it was the world’s tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster, a title it has since conceded to Alpengeist at sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The ride stands 150 feet (46 m) tall and reaches speeds of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Something that gets me every time on this coaster is something called a “bat wing”. I don’t necessarily know how to describe this inversion but the force that it has is absolutely crazy and super fun too! I’m not a huge fan of the over-the-shoulder restraints but this coaster is definitely an exception! 9/10, I love this coaster!

 

Cons

 

There really aren’t many cons for the park as a whole but I’d say the main cons are the fact schools go there and the odd park layout.

 

I might sound a bit like a hypocrite but it is somewhat annoying when schools located in Florida go to Busch Gardens as a graduation celebration thing. The thing is that the park closes at 8 for everyone else but the schools get to stay until midnight. Like who wouldn’t want to stay at an amusement park until midnight? I just think it is somewhat unfair but I also just want to ride roller coasters the entire time so maybe don’t trust everything I say. Or do, I don’t care!

 

My last con of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is the odd park layout. The park has an odd park set up with lots of walking. It can get really tiring and exhausting to be walking and then standing in line for three years for one ride or something of the sorts. I just wish that the park had a bit of a better layout.

 

SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando is located in Orlando, Florida. SeaWorld Orlando has 5 intense and fun coasters. Those coasters are Pipeline, Kraken, Icebreaker, Mako, and Manta. My personal favorites are Mako and Manta but I do want to say that Pipeline is the first of its kind, being a modern standing coaster! 

 

Manta

Manta is a steel-flying roller coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. The attraction allows guests to encounter numerous species of ray before boarding a manta ray-shaped train that takes them on a 3,359-foot-long (1,024 m) roller coaster ride above the park, reaching top speeds of 56 miles per hour (90 km/h). Designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard, Manta restrains riders in the prone position and features four inversions. The well-received attraction officially opened to the public on May 22, 2009. You’re obviously meant to be kind of like a manta ray! SeaWorld Orlando revealed the concept that was to become Manta to a gathering of travel industry representatives and community leaders on April 2, 2008, although it had been in the planning stages for years. The exact specifications were not immediately revealed, but the park said it would be its largest single investment in an attraction and that it would open sometime in 2009. The park also announced that the attraction would include a roller coaster, but that it would be more than just a roller coaster. Joseph Couceiro—vice president of sales and marketing—described the ride as “the next generation SeaWorld attraction” that would immerse guests in elements of marine life. Manta has something that is called a “pretzel loop” like the bat wing, I don’t really know how to describe it but with flying coasters, you are pushed against the vest restraint. But with pretzel loops, you are pushed to the back of your seat like you’re laying down but you’re also getting these crazy forces. Pretzel loops always get me with the crazy forces it has against you is crazy! 9/10 great coaster.

 

Mako

Mako is a steel roller coaster located at SeaWorld Orlando in Orlando, Florida, United States. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the hypercoaster model opened to the public on June 10, 2016. Mako is named after the mako shark and is located in the Sea of Mystery section of the park. It reaches a height of 200 feet (61 m), a maximum speed of 73 mph (117 km/h), and features a track length of 4,760 feet (1,450 m). In April 2015, SeaWorld officials began teasing an upcoming announcement of a new thrill ride for their flagship park in Orlando, Florida. At the time, the only detail revealed was that the roller coaster would be 200 feet in height and would become the longest, tallest, and fastest roller coaster in the city. A month later on May 13, 2015, SeaWorld filed a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name “Mako” along with “Reef Hunter”. On May 27, 2015, SeaWorld officially announced the construction of Mako, which was named after the mako shark. The mako has been identified as the fastest species of shark in the ocean. Mako has so many airtime hills that in the back, you’re out of your seat for a solid 5 seconds! Airtime is the feeling created by negative g-forces which gives riders the sensation of floating on a roller coaster. 9.5/10 best ride at the park!

 

Cons

 

Again there aren’t many cons but my main ones are the weird layout and often keeps dolphins, whales, and other animals trapped with incompatible tankmates.

 

The park layout is just confusing to deal with. One thing is over there and the other is on the complete other side of the park.

 

Some animals are just paired with other animals they straight up shouldn’t be with. The tension leads to fights and even fatal injuries. Staff members drug some animals to try to relieve their endless frustration.

 

Which one wins?

 

I say that Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is better. To be honest, here, Iron Gwazi carries it to the victory line. If you are visiting Florida, you have to go to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It is really just such a good amusement park and I think it has a lot to do and is just a great place to visit.

 

There you go! My personal opinion on which one is better is SeaWorld Orlando or Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. What do you say? Was I wrong or what other things do you wish I included? Say it down below and I’ll try reading them! Enough talking GO RIDE IRON GWAZI!

The Smiler

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The Smiler

A roller coaster is said to make you smile… But some people definitely weren’t smiling.

 

What is The Smiler?

 

The Smiler is a roller coaster at Alton Towers which is located in Staffordshire, United Kingdom, built on May 31, 2013. The Smiler is the first ever roller coaster with 14 inversions and they hold the world record for most inversions.

 

June 2nd, 2015

 

You might be asking yourself, “ Why is that day so special? “ Or something of those sorts. Well on June 2, 2015, a crash occurred on The Smiler. This wasn’t any little crash. This crash would harm Alton Towers Reputation forever.

 

What actually was the crash?

 

The Smiler always had such a long line and June 2nd wasn’t any different. I won’t be naming anyone but if you wish to know more about the victims. Google is your best friend. I will touch on the people who were injured the most by the crash. It was two couples in the front row, the two girls in the middle and the boys on the edge. Enough about the people let’s get to the crash. For some context, there were three carts at the station and one ready to load people. For a random reason the staff said “ Yup let’s send out a fifth cart!” and so they did. A reminder that The Smiler was running in winds that it most definitely shouldn’t have run in. Due to the wind and well it’s an empty cart with no weight, the cart failed to finish an inversion and it valleyed. The cart was now stationary and the staff didn’t think to have the test cart make it back to the station before sending out people. They loaded a cart full of people and sent it out even though that empty test cart was still there. Now something that had happened is called “zone blocking” where if a cart tries to get onto a chunk of track where another cart is, the cart will stop. There are times when this happens but there isn’t another cart, this is considered a “ghost train”. This happened with the people on the cart, so they sent out an engineer but decided, “ Let’s not tell him there is a fifth cart.” the engineer thought there were only four carts. The engineer saw the three at the station and then the one with people on it, so they thought it was a ghost train. The staff overrode the zone blocking. Boom, the cart with people ran straight into the test cart.

Here you can see the two carts running into each other, one filled with 16 people running into the empty cart at 53 mph. The thing is it didn’t hit once, it hit multiple times going back and forth until both carts collided and stopped moving after a few minutes. There is a hook at the front of every coaster cart to move the cart, and well the two girls in the middle had to get their legs amputated whichever one was closest to the hook.

There fortunately were no deaths and it was mainly the front row with severe injuries and the rest of the rows with serious whiplash. But this is still at an amusement park, so everyone there saw this happen. People pulled out their phones to take videos and photos, not to call the ambulance. The people in the front row were screaming in pain and agony. The ambulance got there after a few minutes, helping the riders get out and rushed to the hospital.

 

What had caused the crash?

 

The crash, like most roller coaster crashes was human error. Roller coasters are designed to be safe and usually crashes on roller coasters are from a human error. There are times when the crash is a derailment. Derailments are when the wheels on a train get off the track. Even then, sometimes human error leads to derailment but usually, the main cause is broken rails. A wooden roller coaster, El Toro, had derailed on June 29, 2021, for repairs. A train partially derailed after the rear car’s up-stop wheels—which sit underneath the train and below the track—moved out of place to the top of the track. Roller coasters are designed to be safe! They wouldn’t be open if they weren’t, crashes just like The Smiler are mostly human error. Not even kidding you have a higher chance of dying in a car accident which is 1 in 93 versus dying in a roller coaster is 1 in 170 million. That’s crazy! Car crashes aren’t even in the thousands and roller coaster is in the millions!

 

Well if you couldn’t tell, I absolutely love roller coasters. Roller coasters are SO safe and if you’re scared then it’s time to get over your fear! If you have something to say or want to say something about the crash or another roller coaster crash, say it down below! Either way, I hope you enjoyed learning about this crazy roller coaster crash!

Lagoon, Utah’s only theme park

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Lagoon, Utah’s only theme park

Lagoon is Utah’s only amusement park that holds some world records and has very intense roller coasters and flat rides.

Lagoon’s pros and cons

 

Lagoon has a great line up of roller coasters and flat rides giving you plenty of things to do while at Lagoon. Something that Lagoon does better than other independent parks is that they take really good care of their coasters. They have kept their coasters in very good condition, such as their wooden roller coaster. They change those tracks at least every year to make sure the coaster is safe and well taken care of. Not a fan of heights or are you scared? There are great family roller coasters and some calming and chill flat rides. Want chaos and thrill? There’s great and crazy roller coasters for you and some pretty intense flat rides. The problems though is the fact that Lagoon doesn’t have competition and that let’s them spike up the price like crazy, nearly being the same amount of money for a day pass at Disneyland. 

 

Lagoon’s rides

 

Lagoon has 11 roller coasters and 46 flat rides with 57 in total. The fan favorite roller coaster is Cannibal. Cannibal is actually a coaster that was made in house by Lagoon. More fan favorites are Wicked and Colossus. The Bat is a good family coaster, the restraints are over the shoulder and is the one roller coaster that you are suspended above. A favorite flat ride is Rocket. The Rocket is made of three independent structural steel towers, 217 feet tall. Two of the three towers have tracks with two very different thrill rides. 

 

Cannibal

(Talk about an intimidating roller coaster)

Cannibal opened on July 2, 2015. Cannibal lifts riders 208 feet and plunges them into a 116° beyond vertical free-fall into an underground tunnel. The 116°  beyond vertical makes Cannibal the tallest roller coaster in the world with a beyond vertical drop along with being the 5th steepest drop in the world and that’s done with JUST a lap bar. Cannibal is Lagoon’s most thrilling ride- including a 140 foot tall inverted loop and water feature. Riders travel up to 70 mph over 2,735 feet and through 4 inversions. You start the ride off going into a literal elevator and then you just see over before you go down the 116°  beyond vertical drop. The custom mega-coaster is unlike anything in the world and will eat other coasters in their tracks. That’s why it’s called “Cannibal”!

 

Cannibal is made in house by Lagoon themselves. Each cart holds a total of 12 people with 3 rows and 4 people per row. The coaster has 4 inversions and the first ever Lagoon Roll. A Lagoon roll is a counter-clockwise heartline roll immediately followed by a clockwise heartline roll or called a barrel roll, giving you some great hangtime by being pressed right up to the lap bar restraints. Cannibal on a scale of 1 – 10 has got to be a 10/10, i may be biased since it is my home park but this is truly a one of a kind coaster.

 

Colossus : The Fire Dragon

Colossus: The Fire Dragon was selected by People Magazine in 1984 as one of the top 10 coaster rides in the country! Colossus had opened up in 1983. Zooming through breathtaking 65-foot diameter loops, 75% of your body’s weight is pressed into the seat. The Fire Dragon is one-and-a-half times as high as the Lagoon Roller Coaster, and twice as high as Jet Star II. 

 

A great thing about Colossus is the fact that the line goes by pretty fast! Since the carts can hold a good amount of people in one go. This thing allowing you to just keep going on it ride after ride after ride. Pretty good ride and a solid 8.5/10 for me, i just wish it had a bit more to it.

 

Wicked

Wicked was opened back on June 1 2007. Riders launch to the top of the 110-foot tower at speeds close to 41 mph by means of a linear synchronous motor (LSM) drive system, essentially rocketing riders up and over the top of the first hill. While riding Wicked there is a chance that the cart actually doesn’t make the launch. This is a rare occurrence but if it fails to finish the top hat then it will go back and they will reset the launch and get ready for launch once more.

The 8-rider vehicles travel individually and achieve speeds of up to 55 mph, passing through steep valleys, high-banked turns, a half-pipe, a heart-roll inversion and more. The lap/leg restraints will provide an exhilarating upper body freedom for riders. Something that can happen on Wicked is that on the launch the restraint pretty much staples you to your seat. How to prevent this is by holding onto the handles but also pushing forward on said handles on the restraint, but even if you get stapled while you’re waiting in the station to unload they actually release the restraints slightly since they know it hurts. Wicked gets a 8.5/10 same thing with Colossus, i wish it had more other than the launch.

 

Primordial

Primordial is the newest roller coaster that Lagoon has being released in 2023. Primordial is a interactive coaster with roller coaster elements. There is eight different endings for you to get on Primordial, allowing you to get different endings when you ride it. 

 

There is an entire storyline but i won’t spoil anything. Primordial is a great family ride and just a great ride overall. Forgot to mention but Primordial was built in house by Lagoon, just like Cannibal. Overall i’d give it 7.5/10 since i wish it had more roller coaster parts but still a great ride!

 

Roller Coaster

No im not kidding it’s actually called “Roller Coaster”. To make this less confusing i will be referring to it as the Wooden Roller Coaster. In 1921 is when The Wooden Roller Coaster opened up. With it being over 100 years old at 103 years old, the Wooden Roller Coaster remains one of the most popular attractions at the Park, and one of only a few wooden coasters between Denver and the West Coast.  It is also one of the oldest roller coasters in the United States!

 

In 1953, a fire destroyed the front of the coaster. It was rebuilt the following year, and sections of the roller coaster are rebuilt from year to year. It is also called the White Roller Coaster because before said fire, it was painted white. A great ride and has a lot of airtime, overall a 8/10 for me.

 

BomBora

BomBora is a dynamic coaster with numerous state-of-the-art high speed thrilling elements including sudden drops, banked turns, compound spirals, and more. An innovative 16-seat train pairs riders side by side accompanied by rocking music and elegantly lighted theming. The amply padded seat and restraint securely holds riders at the waist to provide exhilarating upper body freedom during the ride. 

 

Each seat may accommodate an adult or child rider. BomBora was opened on April 2, 2011. BomBora is a great ride to start out on if you’re scared of roller coasters since it is a fun but still calm family coaster. Due to BomBora being a family coaster, it isn’t one of my all time favorites but it is still a solid 5.5/10.

 

Until Next Time

 

I’m going to stop here for now. Next time when i talk about Lagoon i will have a interview with a actual roller coaster enthusiast. If you have some extra comments, some questions you want me to ask, maybe some hot takes, or even just what your favorite thing to do at Lagoon is. Just say it down below! Well hopefully you still have your ears and i didn’t talk them off but most importantly hopefully you look at my interview with a roller coaster enthusiast. See you hopefully next time!

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