Steel Coaster Prelims #1

[erhswimming]

Okay, first up is the Florida steel roller coasters. As far as I know BGT, Universal, and MGM are the only places with considerable steel roller coasters in Florida so those are the choices.

Choices:
Dueling Dragons (Islands of Adventure)
The Incredible Hulk (Islands of Adventure)
Revenge of the Mummy (Universal Studios Orlando)
Kumba (Busch Gardens Tampa Bay)
Montu (Busch Gardens Tampa Bay)
Rock 'N' Roller Coaster: Starring Aerosmith (Disney-MGM Studios)

Please only vote once as only two of these rides will be making it to the finals (there are a LOT of steel coasters nominated). 72 hours from this post will be given to vote. In the case of a tie we will re-vote but with only the coasters in a tie. There are only going to be two rounds of voting since only two rides from each prelim "heat" will be advancing to the finals and there's about 18 coasters in all. Sorry if some of the rides are up against tough competition but I am trying to group them by some sort of commonality. Write ins are accepted but only for steel roller coasters in the state of Florida for this particular "heat."

[erhswimming]

Okay, just to remind you guys, one major steel coaster I left out in the state of Florida is Kraken (Sea World Orlando) so if you want that to win don't vote on the poll and write-in a reply with Kraken.

[Digicub]

HEY!!!! How could you forget the mighty Kraken @ Sea World????????

[ The only floorless steel B&M in Florida ]

Montu and Hulk are close ......but Kraken gets MY vote!!!


http://www.planet-group.co.uk/kraken11.jpg

http://www.planet-group.co.uk/kraken16.jpg

http://www.planet-group.co.uk/kraken22.jpg

[erhswimming]

I didn't forget it per se, I just, uh (fumbles around for an answer), put it in a special spot, on the posts. Well just for the record, that's one vote for Kraken at Sea World.

[Digicub]

LOL, that's okay...it's just a pretty BIG one to miss out mate! :D

I LOVE The Hulk, Montu, Kumba and Duelling Dragons - but the awesome Kraken stole my heart late one night in June 2003....8 times non-stop on the front and back rows at 9.00pm at night. Try riding this monster in the dark - it blows your head clean off!!!

[erhswimming]

WOW, it must be a purty darn good ride! I've never personally rode it, I'll probably ride it before the end of the year though since I live only 30 minutes away from Sea World and I got season passes there. I went to Sea World once but I didn't want to make my dad and little brother wait for me while I rode the Kraken so I skipped it but this time I'm not!

[Digicub]

OMG - you only live 30 minutes away from SeaWorld / Orlando and you've got a SEASON PASS! Man, you Americans don't know how lucky you are to be spoiled with such great Theme Parks and Coasters! If I was you I'd be there at least once a month! Get yo ass 2 Orlando boy!

[erhswimming]

Only 14 hours left to vote! Get votin'!

[alpengeist04]

A very hard choice here. Should I vote for Kumba, Montu, Hulk, or Kraken, my vote is for Montu.

[erhswimming]

Poll closed everybody! Remember, Kraken got one vote too.

[erhswimming]

Okay, on Digicub's suggestion (well actually my family wanted to go) I went to Sea World the other night (the second time I've been). I have passes until the end of the year so I just went for the evening to see a show or two and some exhibits and ride Kraken. Well we went and ate at this pizza shack (I think it was called Voyager's), it was okay, nothing to write home about. Then we went over to the sea lion exhibit (they're so funny when they bark and beg for the minnows!) then we went over to ride Kraken. I never had given much thought into this ride since moving to Orlando a year ago, it didn't look like an OMIGOSH I GOTTA RIDE THIS kinda ride. Not like the Incredible Hulk. I mean, I had never gone up to this ride while at the park, the closest I had ever been was by Journey to Atlantis (which I don't think is that great). And from the road it didn't look like all that much. But boy was I wrong! This ride blew my pants off! And my brother and sister too. I loved it so much! The floorless part was awesome, the inversions were great, and the ending was great. I liked it even more than the Incredible Hulk. So did my brother and sister. But I still have to give the edge to Montu at Busch Gardens. But Kraken is my second favorite ride in Florida (only in Florida though, Ohio coasters are way better). Thanks Digicub for whipping me into shape and getting me over there to riding that ride! Oh yeah, after I rode that we went over to see the sharks, then to the candy store, then over to Shamu Rocks America just as it was starting (we had to stand b/c this stupid lady was saving 15 seats at the top rows). It was all great up until then. Then we went and watched Mistify. BOY WAS THAT TERRIBLE. It was the most cheesy show on Earth. It was about this stupid little 7 year old kid who wanted to be friends with Shamu so he swam underwater and went around and asked all his "animal friends" where Shamu was. Even the fireworks at the end were terrible. The aftermath of trying to get out of the park was even worse. We started walking out at 10:20 and didn't get home 'til like midnight (it usually only takes us 45 minutes to walk out and drive home). So four tips for Sea World: Ride Kraken (duh), don't watch Mistify, if you're gonna see Shamu Rocks America (the night showing) show up a half hour early, and GO SEE THE SEA LIONS! That's like the best exhibit they're so cute and funny and fun to feed! That little thing of fish to feed them with is worth the $5.

[Digicub]

Hey erhswimming!

Im so glad you went to Seaworld and rode Kraken - it really is an awesome ride, I agree that Hulk and Montu are the probably most jaw-dropping, fiercest, in-your-face coasters in Florida - but Kraken is very powerful, smooth and BIG! The floorless trains are brilliant, a lot of people say it's a novelty but get on the front row in the dark at nightime and tell me Kraken doesn't kick butt!

I loved the shows at Seaworld when I was last in Florida and yeah the sealions were really funny ( if a bit smelly! ) and I also loved the baby dolphins ( awwww! ) but enjoyed every bit of this under-rated park. Its great because they still have room to expand - hopefully with some more big rides, but I suppose they have to be careful not to disturb the animals...

Just planning my first trip to Cedar Point for next year - I'm SOOO excited I could barf!

:D

[Digicub]

...oh and by the way have you, or anyone you know rode Revenge of the Mummy yet at Universal Studios????

I'm dying to know what it's like....

[erhswimming]

Actually I've ridden Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Orlando 4 times now so I think I got a pretty good idea of what it's like. I personally love it, Universal Studios was in dire need of a ride like this to keep up with IOA. It's definitely not an Incredible Hulk but it's still a lot of fun. To answer the question of whether or not it's lived up to its hype that went along with it or not, I would have to say no. I was reading previews online and I thought this ride was going to blow my pants off, which it did, but not to the extent that I thought it was going to. But of course not many dark rides live up to their hype. Nonetheless ROtM is an awesome ride, if you ever go to Universal Studios (either one) you have to ride it. It has a great dark section, I won't give any details because that would spoil it, and it has a great coaster section, though a little short, it still has some great airtime. Ride in the front too, even though the cars are only four rows deep, it makes a difference. And there's no shoulder restraints, just lap bars which makes a huge difference. The special effects on this are AMAZING. I don't know what to say on wait times though, every time I've ridden it it has been like a 20 minute wait or less but that's because I've only ridden it during passholder preview, at closing, and during technical rehearsal. But even if it is a long wait this queue area is probably the best of any ride I've ridden. Even better than Dueling Dragons next door, there's great queue shows and hands-on stuff too. Overall, I still prefer the Incredible Hulk (and definitely Kraken) but Revenge of the Mummy is my favorite ride at Universal Studios.