Eric Stewart: Running Off At The Mouth

I was at Busch Gardens Africa today and was thinking that I hadn’t posted anything to my blog in a while, and figured that I’d go ahead and write a post about roller coasters.

I’m a big fan of going to amusement parks and riding roller coasters.  Living in Florida offers the opportunity to visit many an amusement park and ride many a coaster (except the “water” ones, which, even if I’ve ridden them, I won’t cover here).  So, in no real order (except the first one maybe), here’s my run down:

• Montu

  • Location: Busch Gardens Africa in Florida
  • Type: Steel Inverted

  For me, Montu is currently the coaster by which all other coasters are measured. I’m sure there are more exciting ones out there; I just haven’t had the opportunity to ride them yet. According to Wikipedia, it’s a three minute ride – it feels like just the right amount of time. It’s a very smooth ride – no shaking back and forth, not a lot of bumps, but fast with many twists and inversions. I usually find myself in a row on the back half of the car, but just today found myself in the third row – and it felt like a different coaster (but still just as good).

• SheiKra

  • Location: Busch Gardens Africa in Florida
  • Type: Floorless Steel Dive

  SheiKra was supposedly the first 90 degree dive coaster in North America. I have to admit that for the most part, that’s SheiKra’s only selling point; it drops you straight down twice, with a pause at the top of the first drop. I usually don’t need to be in the first row for a coaster but for that little bit of SheiKra, it adds a whole lot to the ride. It feels like a short ride with not a lot to it beyond the drops. It is floorless so it’s quite interesting in that sense. A fun ride and something to do if the wait isn’t annoyingly long, I do know people who love coasters that won’t ride it because of that straight down drop. When getting in line for the ride it may pay to remember: “The fourth row is actually the first.”

• Gwazi

  • Location: Busch Gardens Africa in Florida
  • Type: Wood, dual

  Gwazi is so far the only coaster I would never ride again. The ride scares me not because of any twists or turns, but because it shakes and rattles me so much that it feels like it hurts my back and I considered visiting a chiropractor after riding it. This may be the nature of wood coasters. I don’t know for sure … I haven’t really ridden that many of them.

• Kumba

  • Location: Busch Gardens Africa in Florida
  • Type: Steel

  A fun coaster but a bit of a rough ride, all things considered. It shakes a bit, and I usually come off of it with a headache, not wanting to ride it again right away. It’s got a nice ride length to it and usually doesn’t have much of a line even later in the day.



Manta

• Manta

  • Location: Sea World Orlando in Florida
  • Type: Steel Flying

  Opening just this year, Manta is a great ride at Sea World Orlando. After being strapped in to your seat, you are then lifted into a face down position. Manta includes (at least) two loopish sections, one where you’re face in, one where you’re face out. On previous visits to Sea World Orlando while the coaster was under construction, it was quite the tease: you could see the track criss-crossing over the walkways through the park. It could benefit from being a bit longer of a ride, maybe, but it’s not horrendously short (though Wikipedia says it’s only a bit longer than SheiKra, that bit feels a lot longer). Definitely a must ride.

• Kraken

  • Location: Sea World Orlando in Florida
  • Type: Floorless steel

  I’m having trouble right this second remembering much about the ride. I guess that means it’s not all that memorable, when compared to other rides. I think there are some twists and corkscrews; it might leave me with a bit of a headache (not unlike Kumba but not quite as severe). Erika says it feels open, long (though this contradicts the two minute length Wikipedia claims), like maybe you go way up in the air. She says it’s a good, basic, satisfying coaster. I’ll agree with that – ride it a couple of times if the line’s not that long.



Incredible Hulk

• Incredible Hulk

  • Location: Universal Islands of Adventure in Florida
  • Type: Steel

  My first visit to Islands of Adventure had me itching to ride this coaster. It looked long and fun, and I was told that the launch was much like an uphill version of the launch of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. While fun, alas it rides much like Kumba – a bit shaky, and left me with a headache. I’d ride it again of course, but I can’t say it’s my favorite of the park.

• Dueling Dragons

  • Location: Universal Islands of Adventure in Florida
  • Type: Steel inverted

  I couldn’t tell you why these two coasters don’t quite beat out Montu as my favorite; maybe it’s because they aren’t quite as long. However, they do run together and their near misses are quite exciting, especially if you’re back a few rows and don’t see the other coaster coming. They are very smooth and beg to be ridden back to back. I’ve heard that, due to the under construction “Wizarding World of Harry Potter”, the coaster may be shut down for a short time for re-theme-ing and repainting.

• Revenge of the Mummy

  • Location: Universal Studios Orlando in Florida
  • Type: Steel

  Very well themed and fun ride. It has features that reminded me of Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It has a healthy length to it, and while darkness is used heavily, you have plenty of parts where the scenery of tombs and Egyptian crypts are well lit, providing the exciting thematic features that make what could be a very boring ride incredibly worth it.

• Expedition Everest

  • Location: Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney World in Florida
  • Type: Steel

  You go backwards here, and that’s very unusual for roller coasters. It’s got a bit of a theme to it, and since it’s the closest thing to a “serious” roller coaster at Animal Kingdom, a must ride if you can manage it. It has a healthy length to it, and while it’s a “steel” coaster, I think it has a “wooden” feel (not so much in the ride, which is smooth, but in the car/track style).

• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

  • Location: Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney World in Florida
  • Type: Steel

  The first time I rode this I wasn’t sure I was going to ride it a second time. It’s a smooth ride, dark coaster (though there are “street signs” lit up as you ride the coaster). I had been told that this was a launched coaster, reminiscent of the kind of ride you’d get if you were launched off of an aircraft carrier. I remember thinking that first time, “Okay, you can stop accelerating now … please stop accelerating now … please stop accelerating now!” The second time wasn’t nearly as bad and it was quite fun. The theme for this, while I have nothing against Aerosmith, is kind of corny but doesn’t detract from the ride (you could say it’s secondary and gave Disney a reason to put it in to this particular park).

• Space Mountain

  • Location: Magic Kingdom, Disney World in Florida
  • Type: Steel

  Easily the best ride at the Magic Kingdom (for me anyway), it feels fast – but could easily be ridden with your eyes closed, as it’s very dark and what is lit up goes by very fast. There are two tracks, but I always seem to find myself taking the right one.

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

  • Location: Magic Kingdom, Disney World in Florida
  • Type: Steel

  Another steel coaster that has a bit of “smooth wood” feel to it. Given that it’s Disney World, you can’t expect much from the ride, but again, for coaster people, it’s a “don’t miss” attraction when you’re there (I guess because between it and Space Mountain, that’s all there is). A fun little coaster with what passes for a theme at Disney World, I’ll ride it if I make it to it while I’m visiting the Magic Kingdom.

Well, I guess that’s about it for now. I’ll add more as I ride more coasters. True aficionados of coasters will think the list quite thin, but then I’m not independently wealthy and there’s more to my life than roller coasters. Happy riding!