Fun Spot Orlando
The second and final SkyNEXT evening social took place at Fun Spot Orlando. This was my first time at the park, and while personally I have a larger interest in their other properties, I definitely wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to hang out at a park for free!
Unfortunately, Freedom Flyer was closed for annual refurbishment. My only Vekoma SFC so far was Phoenix at Deno’s, which was a great experience, and it was a shame not to get on another, even though this likely would have not been quite as good. There was no way to work out way into riding this though, as the train and many drive tires were missing from the circuit!
Given that we were going to do a group ride on White Lightning later, my first credit was on their Miler kiddie coaster, Go Gator. For true kiddie coasters, these rides are quite expressive, with all of their little bumps. No forces on this of course, but it was a perfectly adequate coaster for the kids and we almost didn’t get any weird looks while riding.
Next we did their sky coaster. I have never done a sky coaster, mainly for the exorbitant cost typical of them, but also because I really don’t love heights. I’m fine with coasters because I am well secured and trust the engineering, but sky coasters, while I know they are safe, are far more freeing. I also extremely dislike the anticipation of waiting for a surprise drop, like on most drop towers, so I was worried about that, especially with all of the compounding factors. However, this model, which is the second tallest at 250 ft, seemed to be something I couldn’t chicken out of. Besides, SkyNEXT had graciously given us free tickets to it, so I had zero excuse. I went with a group of two other guys from the event, and it was probably some of the most fun I had on the trip. It was great interacting with people before and after their rides, and the ride itself was sublime.
Turns out that these rides don’t have automatic releases; there is a ripcord that one of the riders have to pull themselves. I was given that opportunity, which really helped with the anticipation issue. The suiting up process went well, and the attachment went all well. The operators were by far the most charismatic of the night, and even had some spare attachment hardware and bolts on the lift to “drop” to fake out scared riders. The lift up the back tower was beautiful and terrifying, as we were riding right at sunset. The large catenary curve of the structure was lit up with a nice lighting package. The heights were terrifying though, as you have such a minimal restraint and are forced to stare straight at the ground. I pulled the ripcord when required, and the next second or so is just completely gone from my memory. The others I was riding with had the same experience, where the second after release was just so insane that we didn’t remember it happened. One second we were horizontal, the next we were vertical and flying through the air. Then, it was incredibly enjoyable. We were flying at an insane speed for having virtually no restraint, and it was awesome. The only really negative part about the experience was the fact that since we put 3 pretty tall guys on the same cycle, we did not stop for a while. I think it took nearly 10 minutes for us to stop, and while the restraints were fine for the most part, they really started to get uncomfortable during this time. We were so heavy in fact that by the time we had grabbed the arrestor cable, we pulled it so far as to wrap around the camera system and slightly break one of them. Overall it was definitely an experience that I enjoyed, but I would likely not pay the price to ride one again, at least $40. Maybe for like $10.
White Lightning was definitely “the” coaster at the park, and certainly looked very nice. The white structure and colored lights popped, and the trains looked neat. However, in classic GCI fashion, the coaster disappointment in the ride experience aspect. The coaster felt like many GCIs do, where it’s super twisty, but overall it felt like the hills were pulling their punches. The ride outside of the Titan Track section was also quite rough, on the level of Mount Olympus.
Speaking of Mount Olympus. That’s really what this place felt like. An all dry Mount Olympus. Outside of the Skycoaster operators, the staff were either cold and unfriendly, or actively a nuisance. One of the operators of White Lightning held the dispatch of the train after I was on a patch of grass she didn’t like. There’s a small patch of grass near the first drop, just off the path, that I wanted to take a picture of the ride from. Apparently she held the dispatch of WL just because I was standing there. That grassy patch had no signage or fencing, or even a curb to tell you that you couldn’t be there when the ride was operating. Additionally, this operator was quite rude to others in the group even before this happened. I am all for following rules, but if the rule isn’t posted anywhere, and I am doing something wrong, tell me politely at least. I get people have bad days, but it was a terrible customer experience.
Overall this park definitely exists. I would come back to get Freedom Flyer but that’s probably it. A ticket is very expensive for what they offer, similar in price to what SeaWorld down the road offers on sales. Next time in Florida I hope to try out the Kissimmee location, and I hope I have a better experience there.
