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A Love Letter to Falcon's Flight: Stories from Qiddiya City (feat. Ashlie and Keith)
59 Plays1 month ago
A special episode brings TCS friends Keith and Ashlie to discuss their recent visit to Six Flags Qiddiya City. Is Falcon's Flight number one in the world? Is there anything else worth riding? How the heck do you even get to this place? We've got answers to all your burning questions plus the ones you didn't think to ask. Enjoy!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Episode: Thrills, Chills, and Spills
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Thrills, Chills, and Spills, where we spill the tea on all things theme parks, special events, and of course, the spooky season. I'm Rafa. I'm Kelly.
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm Joey.
Introducing Six Flags Cadillac City and Guests
00:00:23
Speaker
I'm Tyler. and we are talking about Six Flags Cadillac City today. And no, us four, we did not go to Six Flags. um We have Keith and Ashley here who are going to tell us about all of it. So thank you guys for joining.
00:00:37
Speaker
Thank you for having us. Yes, thank you for having us. Awesome, awesome. But of course, as always, we're going to start off with some spills before we go into the park
Diving into 'Traders': Errors and Strategies
00:00:47
Speaker
details. Unless you guys have some spills about the park, feel free to to spill on that.
00:00:52
Speaker
um But what do we have? I know, Joey, you have some Traders Talk for tonight. This is recurring segment. will it with you. I mean, i guess minor spoiler alert if you're not caught up, um but it's been out for several days now.
00:01:11
Speaker
The most recent episodes have been so frustrating because like they're so dumb. They are the dumbest faithfuls I think I have ever seen on this show. Like it's to the point of being like they will literally say the traitor's name. I guess I can try to keep this spoiler free. Say the traitor's name and then...
00:01:30
Speaker
Like somehow a couple minutes later. He knows the traitors, but she already believes herself to be dumb. So she won't say it out loud. It's crazy. ridiculous. They end the latest episode with Johnny saying both of the traitors names. And I'm just like, What the heck?
00:01:47
Speaker
What are you guys doing? That's at least two of you vote for them. Yeah, yeah. Like, is there some collusion going on behind the scenes that we can't see where, like, they actually do know that certain people are traitors they're just trying to keep them to the end so they can knock them out? I don't know. Because that is the strategy. but like Maybe it's some editing magic, too, because, like, are you guys trying to make us believe that they truly don't think that these people are the traitors? It's insane. Because if it's not editing, then they're just the worst players, like, ever.
00:02:15
Speaker
I know. i know. Yeah. Ever like as soon as they got rid of Kristen. The challenge. Yeah. Their challenge where they had to sit on that spitting. ride ah Yeah. like why That was interesting. And then two of them couldn't even do it.
00:02:32
Speaker
And then Eric was one of them and he won. I'm like, this seems a little unfair. Yeah, I did notice that they like forced them to go and take their dummies off so they had to like waste time doing that. So that's they tried to make it fair. but yeah yeah yeah It's been interesting.
00:02:48
Speaker
Yes. Is this a finale this week? I think so. Yes, it is this week. Finally, I'm over it. Oh, traitors.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yes. but Do you guys watch Traders? Yeah, i was going to ask that. Do you guys watch it? No. So I guess that could have been my spill is Joey made it sound so intriguing.
00:03:14
Speaker
in the last episode, the way he described it, I was like, I think I'm going to watch it. Now I'm listening to you guys saying it wasn't good. And was like, I'm not sure now. No, it is good. It's a good show. We say it's not good because of the players not being good, but the show itself is a very fun watch. Yeah, I i would definitely still watch it.
00:03:34
Speaker
Because Joey should start explaining everything. The way he explained that, I was like, oh my gosh, this sounds like the greatest show ever. ah Yeah, it's very entertaining. It's very entertaining. And like ah every season kind of has its own thing to it or like certain people that make it special, that kind of thing. And this this season, like definitely some of the people that were bigger personalities have left at this point. So it's kind of like it feels a little bit less dramatic and slower and just like people who aren't as smart trying to figure things out and they're not. But it's still funny to watch them struggle through that. Yeah.
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah.
Concert Dilemmas: The Backstreet Boys in Vegas
00:04:13
Speaker
Shout out Mark Ballas for finally getting some freaking screen time. i know. I love that man. All ah all right. And Kelly, how about you? I see you got to spill yourself.
00:04:26
Speaker
Yes, I have a personal bone to pick with the Backstreet Boys. Okay. They were my first concert ever. I was the biggest Backstreet Boys fan of all of the 90s girlies I knew. i used to make my friends pick a Backstreet Boy and we would sing songs together on the school bus. I used to know and memorize all of the Backstreet Boys fun facts, their birthday, their favorite color. Like I was hardcore. I saw them in concert probably eight times. And now I have been to Vegas on their teeny tiny little break at the Sphere. and then on a weekend that I have free in March that I was trying to see if I could travel somewhere. It's the only weekend in March they are taking a break from the Sphere.
00:05:09
Speaker
And now they're having dates in July and there's only one weekend I can go. And i just don't know. Like, I am so on the fence. Like, do I spend hundreds of dollars to go back to Vegas when I was just there? Because I want to see the Backstreet Boys so bad when they keep evading all of the other opportunities I've had to see them. It just seems seems a little ridiculous. i would say, yes, they should know I'm their biggest fan.
00:05:35
Speaker
Just do it. Yeah. I would say yes, too, because the sphere is worth it in Vegas. Like I saw you two at the sphere about a year ago and like that itself made the experience. I'm not even a big Vegas fan, but.
00:05:49
Speaker
Yeah. and it that In this year, feel like that's so much to be looking at. Like, I feel like it's overwhelming. It was cool. I mean, yeah, it was great. It was better than the one at SeaWorld and Abu Dhabi.
00:06:01
Speaker
They have a sphere. Yeah, they have that ride thing that is supposed to be the the best thing. Oh, the Intamin, like motion-based thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. it was actually... that Like, so the sphere is significantly bigger, right? Yeah, yeah. it's Yeah. Okay, I was going to say.
00:06:20
Speaker
Well, tickets go on sale later this week, so I'll update you next time. You'll have to let us know if you got tickets or not. Yeah. I don't know what to do, but yeah.
00:06:32
Speaker
All right. And I don't have a spill. Tyler, did you have anything? No, I got nothing this week. Keith, Ashley, anything you guys want to spill about? I was in Miami this morning and it was beautiful. And now I'm back. You're not too far away from me. Well, now i'm not anymore, but. no Yeah, now you're gone. Yeah. um No, that's it's about it. You know, waiting for the waiting for the spring and the parks to open.
00:06:59
Speaker
We're in special. It's going to be 90 at the end of the week. So if anybody's tired of snow, we can come out and probably swim in the pool almost at this point in time. That's wild. Oh my gosh. That sounds wild. We need them to finish with hell so we can all come.
00:07:14
Speaker
What's that? How much snow did you guys get? um I don't know. i got home in about an hour ago. A lot. um Yeah, probably like, don't know. Two feet.
00:07:26
Speaker
Oh my gosh. But they're never going to finish Mattel, Joey, so we have to... ah ah I know. I guess I could go for castles and coasters. yeah know yeah We're going to go for ah to hang out with Grant and Ashley. We don't need coasters to do Absolutely.
00:07:43
Speaker
That is the most hardest thing on one of the final approaches. I can see the park. I see the coasters every time I come in for landing. And it's so frustrating. It has to be what Chris experiences in Austin, where you can see everything there and they just haven't opened it.
00:08:01
Speaker
Yeah. it's It's annoying. We had that on our list for potential Buzzbars wobbles last year. Yeah. and mean and oh yeah yes It's been on the list and they just won't open it.
00:08:16
Speaker
Eventually we'll go. Eventually. Yeah. If you guys come out here, Grant should be done with his airplane and he'll be giving aerobatic rides. So that sounds so fun. All right. How many creds is that?
00:08:30
Speaker
It depends on how many elements you want to do You can count as many as you want. There you go. You could really get guitar you could just ah do the like ah ah a B&M dive coaster layout and just do a bunch of emelmans and then land.
00:08:47
Speaker
All right. So since we don't have any spills, I guess we can go right into six
Travel Adventures: Six Flags Kadia and Riyadh
00:08:51
Speaker
Flags Kadia. um So, of course, I mean, before we get into everything having to do with the park, how was how was like your experiences when it comes to traveling, when it comes to getting there? How was it like around there? Like, how did guys feel about that and all of that?
00:09:09
Speaker
Yeah, i I noticed when I researched it a little bit, there was a visa for Saudi. I'm curious if you could speak on that a little bit. but So when I got there, I wanted them to ask me why I was coming into the KSA. So I could say Falcon's flight and nobody asked me any questions. There wasn't even like, you know, you get, you go to Canada, they ask you like 10 questions to get in the country. They just, they didn't even ask for the visa. Yeah. You had to buy a visa and I don't know if they linked it like, so they knew I had one, but nobody even asked me for that. um So that's how easy it was to get into the country. Yeah.
00:09:47
Speaker
Interesting. Did you buy it once you were there You can either buy it there or you can go through their official website.
00:09:58
Speaker
i think it was about $90. And it was just a matter of everybody got their visa pretty much approved almost within an hour, I'd say. So it was just one of those things that if you you had to find the official website,
00:10:14
Speaker
go through, put in your information, and then you had, within an hour, you almost had an immediate copy of your visa. Of course, you couldn't read it very well, but it still had your picture on it. That's the biggest thing. You needed a picture, but we didn't know how long it would take at the airport.
00:10:32
Speaker
So all of us, Larson did it the night before. and We had ours done about two or three weeks ahead of time. Larson went Well, yeah, Larson got pulled aside for a minute. it was that um It was kind of a weird moment. We all kind of came through and we were around by baggage claim and all a sudden we see Larson get taken away to some room and...
00:10:57
Speaker
It was either something got flagged on his visa or or the passport. Oh, his fingerprints. And yeah, all sudden he went into another room and he shot out a quick text and we're all standing by the baggage claim going, well, we're not sure we're going to see him again. But it was all fine.
00:11:14
Speaker
At this point, we removed him from the group text and we're like, well, that's what you get from entering and exiting Poland like 16 times in like a two-year period. They've obviously flagged you for something. Wow. Wow.
00:11:27
Speaker
But to back it up a minute, so like this trip was it was kind of a funny like um how it came together, right? Because you guys know like they didn't announce when this park was opening. And we wanted to go. And we kind of had like a window that we wanted to do it. But we didn't book tickets until we had definitive dates. And then even we were holding our breath because we're like, well, is Falcon's Flight going to open with the park? um yeah so And you know, because you were going to go, Joey. And you were like, yeah, this is way too...
00:11:55
Speaker
you know, it was very down to the wire. I mean, like even yeah the tickets on the website weren't available. like Yeah. So, I mean, and, you know, Ashley and Grant jumped on this, like kind of like, you know, they said at last minute, but it wasn't like, we were still like trying to figure this out, like going into January, like three, four weeks out, but it's very, it's,
00:12:15
Speaker
fairly cheap to get there from the States. I mean, the Etihad flights are, you know, we're under thousand dollars and it, you know, straight to Abu Dhabi. And then it's like a jump or some people went to Dubai and then like a quick jump down to Riyadh. It's like an hour and a half flight from the UAE.
00:12:30
Speaker
And yeah. And so, yeah, you basically get the visa and like, I'm joking, I'm sure you needed it, but it it was a very kind of streamlined process to get there, like a lot easier than a lot of other places. Yeah.
00:12:43
Speaker
Yeah. Emirates, I think, actually wanted to see our visa. So we decided to fly Emirates. Easiest thing for us. And we didn't really have an interest. Some people took like a seven hour stopover in Paris or we could have done like a seven or nine hour layover in London. So if you guys are trying to do something else, you can definitely find that way.
00:13:02
Speaker
For us, we went to l L.A. and took the nonstop from L.A. to Dubai because we did Dubai. that was a 15 hour and 44 minute flight.
00:13:14
Speaker
We decided to um bump up our fare because that's a long time to sit in an airplane. And so that's the way we went. But I think people, if they choose to go, they can certainly. ah Matt talked about possibly trying to do a quick Disneyland Paris run like in his six hours.
00:13:36
Speaker
um Yeah, there is definitely ways that you can go do something quick um if you pick the right layover. Yeah, it seems like there's lots of opportunities. I mean, I was looking at it, too, when I was doing the research about all the different places that we you can connect to Riyadh or to Dubai, obviously. And there's, you know, plenty of European cities that will fly there. So you can kind of if you want to break up the flying because it's so long, that's definitely something you could do.
00:14:01
Speaker
I would definitely say give yourself a little time because we were late on our flight from um Dubai to Riyadh. I guess it was either a heavy push time or something, but we were about an hour late.
00:14:15
Speaker
um So we had planned our time trying to plan it out and the the pilots came on board and said it was because um I think it was just a heavy push. And with that being a huge airport and especially when that newer airport opens,
00:14:30
Speaker
ah Just plan. like We had everything planned down to the second that we were going to be there right at RopeJop. Well, that hour kind of pushed us back an hour late getting there. yeah Yeah, that's always tough with travel.
00:14:43
Speaker
it's It's hard to plan to be there the day that you arrive on a plane and then do something immediately because a lot of times it just doesn't go the way you were planning. Yeah, for sure. The reason why we chose it is we decided to spend an extra night in Dubai instead of spending the extra night in Riyadh. So...
00:15:00
Speaker
It was, it was just, it's personal choices. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely flexibility there. So then once you got there, it sounds like the visa process wasn't too bad getting through immigration and everything besides Larson.
00:15:12
Speaker
ah What did you guys opt to do? Because, you know, we've heard, obviously, some other people around the community have talked about it. And um I've heard various things. I've heard somebody who actually decided to drive there and they rented a car. And I've heard people talk about Ubers or using transit. So, like, what did you do in terms of getting to the hotel that you were staying at? um And where did you stay? And then how did you get to and from the park? um So...
00:15:38
Speaker
Keith was brave and drove. um Larson decided to ditch the car because we were traveling a lot with Larson. um So we decided to take an Uber and I would have to say they were probably the most interesting Uber rides we've ever taken.
00:15:53
Speaker
ah We got there, there were six of us. Keith hopped in an Uber with ah Sarah and Sloan. and i think we had larson matt grant and myself and the other uber and uber drivers didn't really so he didn't speak english very well i mean he could do a few things which is fine because you know you're communicating on the app on where you want to go so we got going and about just right outside the airport all sudden we pulled in the convenience station he looks at us he goes two minutes to pray hops out of the car leaves it running
00:16:31
Speaker
So, I mean, that was just a fascinating moment and we're all sitting in the car. We're like, well, I guess he left the keys here. So we think he's coming back. And we were like, okay, this is different. We were right in front the Starbucks. So I guess if we needed a coffee, we'd be good.
00:16:46
Speaker
ah Most restrooms actually have prayer rooms attached to them for both men and women. So I think that's why he chose that. um So then I think about 10 minutes later, he came back, got back in the Uber.
00:16:59
Speaker
And um we were driving along maybe about another five, 10 minutes. We pull into another convenience stop with like a tire store and Grant had seen it. His um flat tire sensor was on. So he put air in the tires. So the joke was the guy was doing his errands on Sunday with us in the car. we were just riding around doing the Sunday errands. Yeah.
00:17:22
Speaker
but But Ubers are cheap. But yeah, so so you get into Riyadh Airport. Riyadh Airport's like on the northeast side of the city, and it's about about a 40-minute, you know, 15-mile drive into town. um And then we were staying in the south side of the center of the city. And then the park is like 30 miles to the west outside of the desert. Like you take this road that goes off into, you know, the middle of the desert and eventually jet a nine hours later. But Saudi Arabia is a huge country. It's like you know larger than Alaska. And the city is 8 million people and it's you know dense and very developed. But then once you get outside the city, it's absolutely nothing.
00:17:58
Speaker
um And you know they're building Qadiyah in the middle of the desert. And the only thing that's online is the road to go there and the park. And they haven't actually even really finished the interstate interchange to take you out there.
00:18:11
Speaker
Um, so even though it's only like 25 miles by the crow flies, it's a haul to get out there right now. That's going to change when those resorts come online. Um, and yeah. And then, so the other thing happened that we didn't even really realize is that,
00:18:28
Speaker
you know Their weekend is Friday and Saturday. So when we were leaving for the park, our first night, which was a Thursday, it was rush hour out of the city. So that was kind of like the adventure. So I was coming in hot off the the airplane because i did I went to Riyadh first. Everybody else is kind of coming in from Dubai. And we all kind of converged at this hotel on the south side, um and which should have been an hour from the park.
00:18:55
Speaker
from the park but it was not the case. Right, Ashley? Yeah. it um it So during rush hour, everything you've heard about the driving being crazy, we we took Ebers out the first night.
00:19:10
Speaker
So once again, we're split in a couple of Ebers. And it's rush hour and it's the craziest driving I've ever seen in my life. And I think all of us have talked about it and just because they'll pass on the shoulder. um Yeah. There's a honking system that's going on, you know, they're all communicating and it was just so the driving was insane. There's no other way to, no other way to describe it. And we were all texting each other in the same car.
00:19:45
Speaker
Like, hey, Larson was sitting up front. So we're like, how's it going up there? And yeah, it was and there was a checkpoint and Scott and Hunter were in an Uber in front of us. And they their driver had been turned around twice the checkpoint because he had gone the wrong way.
00:20:03
Speaker
And it it was insane. And Keith drove through that. No, no. So the first day, like, I'm going to see what it's like. you know okay So I jumped in the car with Sloan and Sarah. They're sleeping in the back seat. I'm in the front seat. We got like a half an hour on the other car, um which was perfect because like me and Sloan are both trying to sink a milestone. So we're like, we need three and then do the big one. And Larson was like...
00:20:30
Speaker
fuck you guys, we're riding Falcon's flight first, which is like a an argument that I couldn't, you know, like, this is why we're here, like, you know, lie about your mile milestone, we're going on the ride first. So I'm like, awesome, well, like, we're gonna go get the three credits and do this, you know. legitimately.
00:20:45
Speaker
um so But yeah, you guys, it took you like two hours to get there the first day. um The second and the third day, I did drive. And I mean, i remember Tyler told me once that his driving or my driving scared him. um I think when were in Poland.
00:21:02
Speaker
yeah So I was right in the mix of it. I was all right. i i mean, it was it was very um crazy to drive because of like the this stuff. But once you got the hang of it, I didn't think it was bad. I mean, all the roads in the infrastructure are is like super um like modern. So it's not that bad.
00:21:22
Speaker
but I think the craziness is when you hit traffic on the way home that night. Yeah. there was an accident on the highway and it was shut down and we were just going along and all sudden we're in a sedan. All sudden the driver pulls off and starts off-roading.
00:21:39
Speaker
And we're like, okay. So we all kind of start filming this because this is fascinating. And we think we're going along in a good clip and then we're getting passed. And then they reach a point on this off-roging adventure where you can't go any further. So then everybody's turning around and now you have a bunch of people merging onto this one point trying to get back onto the freeway. And it was just, there's no other way to describe it but wild.
00:22:05
Speaker
Yeah, the first day, the way out and the way back was like, comically, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. There was like a 18-wheeler that fell over something and closed the highway. But the other two days were fine. but and And we had people at the park apologizing us for like that experience first day. they Like, it's never like that. But I mean, that really did um kind of ah ah shadow and tint our view, um whether it was a ah legitimate ah take or not. But yeah.
00:22:32
Speaker
It was fun. I mean, I i didn't... i It was part of the adventure in my view of it. The second day we decided to do the Metro...
00:22:44
Speaker
And it is a beautiful metro system. It does add some time onto it. So basically we had a metro stop. We had two of them pretty close to our hotel. One was about a 15 minute walk.
00:22:58
Speaker
And so we did that one. And then the metro took about 50 minutes to get to the Jetta Road Station, which is where you can pick up the Six Flags bus.
00:23:09
Speaker
And so for me, the Metro, ah we did, i think the regular Metro might've been 50 cents for two hours. We upgraded for $2.50 and went on the first class car.
00:23:24
Speaker
um So it was one of those things that for me, the Metro was a great experience. It was nice. It's beautiful. I mean, it's brand new. um Just a little beware. We panicked on our first jump trying to get into a car and Larson, Jake, myself and Grant jumped into the family car, which it was OK for me to be there.
00:23:52
Speaker
but um but It's basically the kind of women and children car. So um everybody was kind of staring at all of us. And at the next station, we promptly jumped out of that car and found the correct car for us. So it's there's it's so cheap to ride. It does, I think, add about another 50 minutes. But if you don't want to deal with cars and Ubers, um it's a great, great way to get there.
00:24:21
Speaker
Yeah, and that would take you about halfway. And then Six Flags was running buses from there to the park. The entire metro in Riyadh was built in 2024. They have like six different lines. So it's a pretty extensive system. And it is, yeah, like Ashley said, it's beautiful because it's all brand new.
00:24:38
Speaker
And then... um Yeah, then the bus. So the interesting thing about Six Flags, too, is like they didn't actually even build a park a parking lot at the park. It's like a perimeter lot, and you have to take a bus in. Because I guess like you know it's going to be such an urban area when it's done that like all the development is just going to butt up against the park. There's not going to be service lots.
00:25:01
Speaker
um So by taking the bus from Jetta Road, you avoided that other transfer. So speaking of Riyadh, I don't know how much time you guys were able to spend there, but did you do any like sightseeing or have any good local food, anything like that?
00:25:18
Speaker
um So the only thing we did was um we were there for just basically, I'd say, a day and a half when we were doing the park. But we did stop at um a local mall that had a really good Indian restaurant.
00:25:33
Speaker
So that was where our metro station was. So we tried that, but we just didn't really have a lot of time. So our stuff was, and I think we'll hit this topic later, at the park, the food was really good.
00:25:50
Speaker
But we didn't do a lot of sightseeing. Gotcha. How about you, Keith? not on the front end. It was like roller coasters, roller coasters, roller coasters, but I did double back to the city at the tail end of my trip for three days and, um, did not go back to Kadia, which was very painful because, um, at that point things had been established, but, um, yeah, I saw a good deal of the city. I mean, I took a few long runs around the city. Um, you know, I tried to dive in and, uh,
00:26:16
Speaker
you know it's ah It's an 8 million people. you know it's It's a huge city and you know there's a lot of things to see. It's definitely got like a you know a dichotomy between the old city, which is kind of where our hotel was in the old downtown, and then like the modern city, which kind of marches north in this linear way. up to the airport and the buildings just get crazier and crazier and um i mean there's like so much western amenities there and everything that you would find i would say like even more so than like japan like just in terms of like brands and stuff it's just and it's just modernity of like facilities and malls and stuff i mean there's a lot going on um in the city so yeah it's cool i mean if you like you know just exploring urban stuff
00:27:00
Speaker
Did you have any communication issues out there in terms of like people speaking English or needing to translate things or? No, not really. I mean, in the the tourism sector, everyone is speaking English. And in the other areas, I mean, you kind of just work around it. I mean, with apps and relying on your phone these days, like it's pretty easy to, you know, figure something out, even if you don't have an en English speaker um available to you.
00:27:26
Speaker
um So no, I never encountered an area when I was stuck. Yeah, i felt like everybody in Kadia at Six Flags spoke perfect English. All the customer service guys that we were around, i mean, maybe a little bit of, it it was all good. I mean, the Uber driver communicated with us through the app. We could tell that he didn't quite understand because I think Larson tried to engage with him, a conversation, and it didn't we didn't have that much of a conversation. but And now in Dubai,
00:28:00
Speaker
Everybody speaks English. So if everybody's doing the trip where you're hitting both, so that wasn't a problem. Yeah. I mean, all my Uber drivers were writing to me in Arabic throughout the course of the Middle East. And then I was translating and I was writing back. So even though we were speaking in two different languages, we were communicating perfectly.
00:28:20
Speaker
Nice. Cool. I was wondering, and we kind of you kind of just touched on this in that last question, but I was wondering if you could both touch on like the major cultural differences or surprises with the experiences you've had.
Cultural Insights: Saudi Arabia Travel Tips
00:28:34
Speaker
um Obviously, too, it's no secret that even though there's been like some significant changes in women's rights, um particularly since Vision 2030 reforms are initiated. Obviously, it remains a big question, I think, and potentially concern for female enthusiasts specifically. We um were just wondering, Ashley, if you could touch on that as well.
00:28:57
Speaker
So yeah, I'm not going lie, I've done quite a bit of traveling and I think Grant could see it. I was getting nervous about this one. I don't think I was nervous about Dubai, but I was definitely... um He sent me a great website about Saudi, you know, like just kind of expectations and stuff like that. And I did, um and Sarah did too, Sloane's wife,
00:29:21
Speaker
I dressed in pants and I had longer shirts. um Now when we went, it did get cold at night once the sun went down, but I would have dressed that way the whole time.
00:29:34
Speaker
i didn't feel like I had to cover my head. We didn't get a chance to visit any um religious sites or anything, but I think it's definitely um more conservative is the way to go.
00:29:47
Speaker
um you know, We had a weird, the only weird thing that I felt a couple times, I felt like if I was talking to somebody that they weren't really like responding back to me very well. And then the one real weird thing we had is we were trying to help each other share Uber costs.
00:30:10
Speaker
So I ordered the Uber when we were at Jetta station to go back to the hotel. I don't have a picture on my Uber account. So the first guy um just took forever and then he canceled us. And the second Uber driver got within 20 feet of us and saw it was me and Matt and Larson or Jake Larson and Grant, I think that night. Yeah, it was anyway.
00:30:40
Speaker
And he saw us and canceled it. right there. And i was like, I think it's because he saw it was me, um, ordering the Uber. That was the only really weird thing I had because then, one of the guys ordered the Uber next and he picked us up.
00:30:59
Speaker
So i think there's still, you can definitely travel over there. I would tell everybody to be respectful. Um, you know, it's where the appropriate clothing, um,
00:31:14
Speaker
And yeah, that's that's my best version on that. ah There's still a little bit, I think, of that culture. I didn't see a woman driver at all.
00:31:26
Speaker
There were no women drivers. I saw a bunch of them. Did you? Yeah. Yeah. I didn't see one. But... You know, people are out and about. Women and family are out and about and in the middle of the night, too.
00:31:40
Speaker
So was to me, I felt safe. But there were definitely a few things where I was like, oh, OK, I think this is happening because I'm a woman. But not that it would stop me from going back.
00:31:51
Speaker
Thank you. So now let's get into the park, the moment everybody's been waiting for. so um Obviously, most of us know a little bit about the coasters. So we want to talk about some other things first. So um obviously, the park split up into different areas.
Exploring Six Flags Kadia: Themes and Attractions
00:32:09
Speaker
Can you speak a little bit about the theming and the the different areas of the park?
00:32:14
Speaker
So I was pretty blown away by the park looking at the construction and kind of following it through. I'm like, eh, this doesn't look great. I mean, especially coming on the tales of Epic universe, I'm like, Oh, this looks cool. But like, I wasn't, I didn't have like, I wasn't blown away by what I was seeing prior to it. But when I got there and just that entrance with the, the music and the visuals and the, the detail, I was like, wow, this is a beautiful park. And, It felt um very cohesive. It felt kind of like um Universal level, especially with like the music and the rock work. It felt like kind of like the entire park was kind of like a slight variation on the Lost Continent in Universal. um You know, it's not like Epic where you have extremely different lands. It's kind of have subtle different lands where everything's kind of connected.
00:33:02
Speaker
um But yeah, it's it's awesome. I agree. I thought the center, the center is set up in like ah a tent. It's supposed to be a a local to their culture, like a tent that they'd have. And then you can branch off into all the different sections and It was just gorgeous. It's funny that tent is air conditioning and it was, ah yeah, they didn't need it quite then, but I guess they're going to air condition it the whole time. But the shops were beautiful. And every, um I think Keith and the rest of us kind of talked about this because we had just gone to Epic in December. And this is definitely a nocturnal park.
00:33:44
Speaker
It is beautiful at night, ah lit up. Just like I think to me when we visited Epic, it's a night park. Like you need to see all the prettiness of that.
00:33:55
Speaker
And that it's just, I thought everything was, if you go into the center, then you can branch off. It's like a spoke system and go to whatever section of the park you want to go. Yeah, it's by far the strongest, most beautiful park in the Middle East. Like, I mean, if you're going to compare it to Ferrari World or Motion Gate, which I guess would be the biggest, you know, contenders in the UAE. But the other thing about the park that's like really special is that these mountains that hug it and surround it are so large. It's like...
00:34:28
Speaker
you know, you can't even compare it to Fiesta, Texas because those are like a hundred foot tall mountains, but everything in this park feels kind of um dwarfed by the landscape around it. So it's such a kind of like natural vibe um that you get from where they decided to build this.
00:34:44
Speaker
And I agree with that. I think once everything fills in, um obviously the F1 track, and then they're going to have this soccer stadium up top and everything. And the water park is opening, but yeah, it's,
00:34:59
Speaker
It's just massive, the canyon walls surrounding that. And that park feels big, but then you, if you go up that on Falcon's Flight and look down upon it, you're like, oh, okay. They've got a lot of space to do a lot of things.
00:35:16
Speaker
What was your favorite like area of the park?
00:35:21
Speaker
Falcon's Flight. Wow, Keith, I would have never guessed. No, I mean, it's really like, again, it's kind of like, it took me a couple of days to kind of realize the nuances between the different lands because it's subtle. It's not like, it's not like, it's very cohesive in terms of the theme, like the steampunk versus the garden versus, I guess the future world is like the most versus where Colossus was has kind of this like old timey area.
00:35:49
Speaker
And then what's the last one? well I don't know what, what the Spitfire area theme was, but. They're very, and and then there's the water area too. But it's, again, it's kind of like you wouldn't like necessarily gravitate to a specific theme.
00:36:03
Speaker
I thought the kids area was really well done. i mean, yes, Falcon's flight, obviously, you know, that area, everybody's going to it for the coaster, but, um, the kids there was really well done because it's got the observation tower in it. And I,
00:36:20
Speaker
Yeah, everything was themed really well. I don't think that there's, if you have a certain coaster, you're probably going to gravitate towards that area of the park and say, hey, that's your favorite. But it was beautiful.
00:36:34
Speaker
That really sounds like Silver Dollar City. No, it's like 100 times better than Silver Dollar City. No, no, no. Okay, all right. But in terms of the consistency of the theme, like, you know, like there are different areas, but they're not, you know, it actually feels cohesive as a, the whole park is like a place. And yeah, whereas Epic is completely subdivided.
00:36:56
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree with that. But it's the theme is better than Silver Dollar City. It's class classier than Silver Dollar City. Classier I could see, sure. Yeah. Universal theming with a beautiful, just natural landscape. That sounds like my perfect park, honestly.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think you would love it. I mean, I think you all would. Yeah. I mean, I think the part that, like you mentioned, like how everything looks so dwarfed, like where you know where it's located, like it's crazy how small everything looks. Considering like how massive like everything is in that park or, you know, most coasters are in that park, it's it's impressive to see.
00:37:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. Falcon's Flight does not have like a a looming presence because it has the cliffs working against it. It also has the track gauge working against it. You're not looking, you're not used to looking at something that has such a wide gauge. So that kind of distorts the scale a little too. But it's not like, it doesn't it doesn't present as like Kingda Ka did when you're approaching it at least.
00:37:55
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like it's not until like you're on it that you see, like you notice how big it is. I'd agree with that. It looks like you're walking up to a regular coaster. I mean, it just the way the queue is and everything, it's not until you get on it. You can see a lot of it when you're pulling up in the parking lot in the buses or something. You can see all that track, but to have it all put together, it's definitely something you've got to experience it. so
00:38:26
Speaker
Could you guys touch on um the specific like food items you enjoyed at the park? I think overall, you know when you go on the website, it seems like there's quite a few different varieties of of food and restaurants.
00:38:42
Speaker
Yeah, so we did um the first night. I think you can get everything you want there, everything from hot dogs to you know typical what you'd think is at a park. We had the barbecue place the first night. And um i had brisket.
00:38:58
Speaker
I think Grant had short ribs. and decent price. The funny part is, is so you get like your your main course and your side and they have the sides, like you can look down and choose the one you want, whether you wanted onion rings or French fries. So we got our main course and then we're like, oh yeah, I'll take onion rings or I'll take French fries and coleslaw.
00:39:22
Speaker
Well, the ones that are in front of you for view are just for show. So they put everything on your little tray and they give it to you and you're thinking, oh, well, i had ordered onion rings, but there aren't onion rings. OK, I'll just take this and we were going to pay. So they basically told us that what is in there, like the boxes of onion rings are just for show. They will cook you up a new one. so So we were all sitting at the table going, I don't know if I'm getting my onion rings and yeah, or your French fries. And then all a sudden they showed up later. So they they made things fresh to order. And I don't know if that was just because that night we were at the park on Thursday.
00:40:01
Speaker
And then I've heard a lot of people talk. We ended up the second night doing that Navigator restaurant. the Grant had pork chops, full pork chop dinner for two.
00:40:13
Speaker
lamb chops for $22. That's a sit down table service restaurant. I didn't get to go there, but I wanted to, but yeah, they have the park. Like Ashley said, there's a diversity of stuff. um you know The service where even if you're going to a quick serve, they're giving you kind of table service and coming up to you. I had the best coffee I've ever had at an amusement park there. It was like really good. um s Salvano stamped the cheesesteak that they were serving there. So I guess that was good too. Yeah.
00:40:43
Speaker
I mean, he would know, right? um But yeah, it's, it's you know, it's it's theme park food, but it's above average. And we didn't feel like sitting down at Navigator's... um our Our whole comment was, it was, they were, it was on real plates, real silver.
00:41:01
Speaker
Diane, you know, a waiter was there. i think he'd put the napkin on your lap. If you, all of us were saying we had never seen food like this at a six flags. I mean, it was just one of those things and it was good. it was a good amount of food for the money.
00:41:16
Speaker
So. Did Larson eat at the barbecue spot? Larson was just riding Falcon's flight the entire time. He actually did that night with us. And for everybody that wants to know barbecue place.
00:41:31
Speaker
Yeah, it was. We all actually enjoyed our barbecue. So we all each had something different.
00:41:40
Speaker
Interesting. Nice. And then as far as like the, I mean, obviously, you know, we talked about food and beverage and all that, but ah like as far as queues go, I mean, besides the coasters, like how was, like, how are like the wait times? Like how were, like, how, how was it with waiting the food, waiting on the food and waiting on like anything there really?
00:42:01
Speaker
We were the only people in the barbecue restaurant ah when we went, so there was no wait. The first night we went, as Keith had already mentioned, their weekend is Friday, Saturday, so on Thursday, no lines.
00:42:16
Speaker
um We did go ahead and buy the Go Fast Pass for both nights, but on Thursday, you needed nothing. It was, you could totally just get in whenever you wanted.
00:42:30
Speaker
Except for Falcon's Flight, it did cut it down, but that's because it has kind of capacity issues. But yeah, the park was quiet on Thursday, like quieter than a normal park would be on the Friday, but there was you know still a two, sometimes three hour wait for Falcon's Flight and then quiet again on Saturday.
00:42:49
Speaker
um So that go fast definitely helped. But again, it was the only ride you needed it for was the Falcon. I think we walked on everything else on Thursday and maybe we had a little bit of a wait.
00:43:04
Speaker
I think stallion, we had a little bit of a wait when we did it both nights. And that's just because it gets, um as Grant says, people get backed up at the block and then it slows everything down.
00:43:19
Speaker
And so that was the one that I think we waited for the longest. If besides for Falcon's flight about three to me the longest line, as Keith said previously, was just for Falcon's flight.
00:43:35
Speaker
Yeah. It seems like the whole park is kind of ah built around the coast really. And you can see the demand for it, but also like you mentioned, there's a bit of a capacity thing going on there too. Yeah. Let's see. Okay. I wanted to ask about ticketing and logistics just because um as I was looking on the website, it really seems like they, it
Ticket Troubles and Coaster Highlights
00:43:55
Speaker
only goes out through like a couple weeks that they are releasing tickets. I don't know if that will change in the future. And then I've also heard some people say that they have issues with actually purchasing them on their website and had to use other sources. So just curious, like ah how you purchased everything.
00:44:11
Speaker
I can speak to that one. um So yeah, there's like a weird thing that the American phone number verification OTP code isn't working. So you have to like spoof a Canadian number to get it to work. um I bought like half our group's tickets, although I think you guys were able to figure out how to do that. um But yeah, I think there's still kind of temperature checking on um their capacity. I think also the limited schedule had to do a lot with, you know, the Islamic holidays that are going on now. um But yeah, I mean, that was, yeah, like we talked about before, the kind of the the notice that has been given on this thing since it opened has been kind of very short term. There hasn't been a lot of um foresight on that, which I know is frustrating for international visitors because you're planning more than three weeks in advance.
00:45:04
Speaker
Yeah, they did have a like unexpected closure. I saw it was a couple days um that was very unexpected. I think some people were shocked by that. But I imagine that's all part of opening year and that'll start to settle as they figure out their budget models for like capacity and forecasting crowds and all that stuff.
00:45:22
Speaker
Yeah, that was rumored to be a royalty visit. i don't know if that's true or not. That's what Larson said. But you know when we were there, um there was a prince there with like an entourage of 30 people like shutting rides down for like a half an hour to get his like entourage on. So it was a something like that. maybe But I mean, they're they're fully staffed and they're ready yeah like to go. Nice.
00:45:45
Speaker
We had to do the Canadian thing to a friend of ours, um We texted and we're like, hey, this is going to be really odd, but would you mind helping us out and buying some, helping us out to buy these tickets? So yeah, it was, ah and we checked daily to see when the hours and the tickets,
00:46:07
Speaker
so larson checked daily i checked daily too and so so did grant so we were just checking daily and um as soon as we saw him we bought him and we bought the go fast at the time and i guess for the two nights we were there the go fast did sell out so interesting okay Yeah. I guess it's worth noting, too, that if people haven't looked at it before, their pricing is not Six Flags pricing for a day ticket. It is definitely more ticketed at like the universal, maybe a little bit under like the universal day ticket price. But it's definitely like reflecting a a different style of park for sure.
00:46:46
Speaker
Yeah, but if you're going there and you know you're spending the money to go there, and you know you absolutely should get the go fast for Falcon's flight regardless. I mean, if you want to ride it multiple times. Although, supposedly they just maybe changed that.
00:47:00
Speaker
um But to have that access to it um is pretty critical. Don't go showing up with your Six Flags season pass thinking you couldn't.
00:47:12
Speaker
But, um but yeah, since we've, since obviously now we brought up Falcon's flight, go at it. Let us know, Keith and Ashley, how, how about the coasters? Like how, how were they? Let's talk about the other coasters. I mean, the first ride I rode was Spitfire. That was the first ride I rode in the park, which it's not as good as Top Thrill 2.
00:47:30
Speaker
But what'd you think? I actually like Spitfire. Normally i don't enjoy coasters like that. um i get a little queasy when drawn back so quickly, especially into a spike and stuff like that. So normally that's either the coaster where we plan it out on our trip where I'm like, okay, it needs to be the first thing or the last thing.
00:47:54
Speaker
And I loved Spitfire. Loved it. um I think as Keith is going to say, everything is just bigger, larger, faster. I mean everything there.
00:48:06
Speaker
So for me, the first ride, once I settled into it, the second, I think we did it a couple times, was I love that coaster. It was pretty intense. I mean, it was short. That's the weird part about it. It's a really short ride.
00:48:23
Speaker
Yeah, it seems like people were surprised, I guess, by the amount of airtime on it. oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's got the hill that, you know, Pantheon or Icebreaker has, so you get to launch back and forth like three times. I'm not, like, necessarily a huge fan of that, kind of, like, tedious, like, airtime moment, but that seemed to be a huge...
00:48:43
Speaker
a popularity within our group. And then you have the top hat. And again, I think that the top hat on like Mr. Freeze is like a little tighter and a little better. And this ride, it's bigger, but it does not feel big based on, you know, the cliffs and the adjoining rides. But it yeah was a good ride. Like I would say it's coin toss for like three or four um out of the big rides. Okay.
00:49:05
Speaker
I was curious, like, is the top hat hang time or is it going through that like fast... You know, I was wondering, because there's like there's a stator up there, and I'm like, is this to boost it, to hang it, or to thrust it in case it gets stuck? And I couldn't figure that out, because no matter where I sat, it didn't feel like that thing hit. So it must have been... Yeah, they have one on Velocity Coaster, too. It's in case it stalls, so it probably doesn't anything.
00:49:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the hang time was not, like, awesome on it. I mean, it was cool, but again, I prefer the everything about the Sandusky ride.
00:49:38
Speaker
Samperla did it better. Well, half of that's intimate, so. Yeah, well, yeah. No bias at all either there, right?
00:49:48
Speaker
yeah All right, what else do we have? um Colossus? i so, I liked Colossus, except for the restraints. I think that's going to be everybody's gripe about it. Um...
00:50:06
Speaker
To me, Woody's are kind of a middle of the road for me. um Sometimes they're fun, but it was smooth, it was great, but my legs were hurting because of the restraints. So, i mean, if they just put a different restraint on there, i think that would have been number two for me. And it, yeah, because I really had a good time on it um but I hated the restraint.
00:50:33
Speaker
I freaking loved Colossus and the restraint did not bother me at all. I mean, like the, so if you went on that and you looked at it and you didn't have any idea what the train and you were just looking at the profile, you'd be like, this is gravity. This isn't TCI. It's like wild how tight and bank the stuff is. And like, no matter how shitty the infinity flyers are, they're still better than the timber liners in my opinion. And this ride, I mean, it's basically just like a modified flyer.
00:50:59
Speaker
Coney Island Cyclone layout. But I mean, it looks like something that we haven't seen from the 1920s. It's awesome. I mean, it's like ejector airtime. It's so tight. It's like, you know, trains be damned. Like, to me, it's like, by far, like the hard second in the park, like there's no competition.
00:51:16
Speaker
And done yeah, the way it's lit up, it looks like it should be at a boardwalk park. It's beautiful. it it's It's really pretty. And it's just, you would think that that's where it should be.
00:51:31
Speaker
So. How does it compare to other GCIs that we've ridden? It's the best one.
00:51:39
Speaker
It's there is nothing to compare it to. it's It's more it's more comparable to like a gravity like it's more comparable to like, yeah, flyer or but i mean Yeah, like to be fair, in terms of the infinity flyer system, it's a it has a class five restraint. So it like can actually do ejector airtime, whereas the old school GCIs have a different style restraint that doesn't allow for more than zero G's of force. This is like very nerdy engineering stuff. But that's what the trains were designed to do. And all those MBZ Zinger has those trains. It's not the, the ride center line of that ride is not really taking full advantage of what those trains are capable of. So this is the first layout we've seen from GCI that can do new things essentially. Like we've never seen them do this kind of thing before. So that was, yeah. Interesting. I mean, I think some of us were hoping that they might have improved what I would call like their prototype installation of the infinity fires, but it sounds like they didn't.
00:52:35
Speaker
yeah i mean i have it in my top 25 like it's right around 25 so we got to put prog on the itinerary next year
00:52:45
Speaker
yeah i think colossus like has my attention the most out of everything in that park so i'm i'm happy to hear that hear that even though i probably won't be going anytime soon but it looks incredible how about iron rattler you want Keith is a Siren's Curse hater. No, okay, wait, I got a take here. You're you're not going to believe this. All right, let me go first on this one since I was cold out. So I actually think Siren's Curse is a better ride. So Siren's Curse, like, you know, in the Cedar Point lineup, um like, I don't think it's as, you know, hot as you guys are playing it. But like Siren's Curse has like heavy positives. It's got that lateral on the drop. It's got, you know, kind of crazy positives into the double up and then, you know, one of the corkscrews.
00:53:30
Speaker
um If Siren's Curse is Leck, then Iron Rattler is abysses. It's bigger, larger and forceless. It looks great in a POV.
00:53:42
Speaker
Everyone in our group, except maybe Ashley is going to tell me but something different, was like legend was kind of underwhelmed by it. Very interesting. I don't know if it's underwhelming. I don't know if everybody's figured out this. I am not the most technical person when riding coasters.
00:53:58
Speaker
I just like how I feel, um if my butt's out of the seat, and if I can go rewrite it. So like if I can just keep lapping it. um To me, that's what it was. um We just thought it was so, it's just rewritable for me. So that makes it fun.
00:54:19
Speaker
And we loved, you know, the guy, the voice up top, of who put the tilt track here? oh that would be me. And so I don't know, from the front row and everything, as Keith said, it is bigger, larger. I've only gotten a chance to ride ride Siren's Curse once. Unfortunately, when we did Cedar Point, it um broke before we left. And so I would love to go back and compare it again. But that that was my first introduction to a tilt track coaster. So right now I've ridden Iron Rattler more.
00:54:54
Speaker
So it's probably the bias of that's the last thing I've been on. So that double barrel roll didn't anything? That is the moment on the ride, the double barrel roll. And the last corkscrew is also very good too. But I would say that the triple down or whatever on Siren's Curse, like you know how that's the moment of that ride? I would say that's like even better.
00:55:16
Speaker
like I don't know. like The 200-foot drop, like the straight drop, like the Siren's Curse drop like with the tilt gimmick, having 100 more feet did not do anything. And the drop on Siren's is better. And the whole ride is better, in my opinion.
00:55:30
Speaker
I could see how a shorter drop would feel more whippy than drawing it out. Yeah, that's very interesting. and That is interesting. Smooth, I'm sure. Yeah, smooth. Yeah, and like Ashley said, it's very rewritable in a very boring way. Not in a very boring way. Not every coaster can be Maddenum XL 200. Yeah. The better Iron Rattler is at Fiesta, Texas. Oh, no.
00:55:58
Speaker
Oh, well, that's probably not a crazy hot take. I don't think that's a hot take. It's still a good RMC. I don't know. I do want to ah preface Keith's takes for everybody. If you don't know Keith, his number one is Magnum at Cedar Point. Not anymore.
00:56:16
Speaker
Okay, well, his number two, and we're going to get to his number one very soon, but his number two is Magnum at Cedar Point. So do with that information what you will. Well, before we get that... Yeah, was going to say... I feel like we should hit anything else from the secondary lineup, I'll call it, that was notable. I think you mentioned Sea Stallion having bad capacity. That's not surprising because it seats like one or two people at a time.
00:56:41
Speaker
was fun, though. It was fun if it was... um if it if it could function without you guys getting slowed down, but we kind of got slowed down in the middle of it. And then it was just like, you were just slow. There's nothing else you could do to fix it So, um but yeah, the the loading and unloading, that's where the seatbelt latches. And then, you know, they're they're asking you, you know, are you are you in? Show us your seatbelt. And so I think that's just loads slow. Now, Falcon's Flight also, because of the whole cooling
00:57:13
Speaker
loads a little slower too every once in a while but yeah i mean i thought all the coasters were great we even went on the water coaster which we normally don't do um and i thought i was being smart and sitting in row three and four and we should have sat right up front if you don't want to get too wet but no so no squishy shoes so we kind of came off of it we're a little wet but not as soaked as we could have been Yeah, I only rode Stee Stallion once and I wasn't driving, so maybe that was the problem. But I would say Stee Stallion and the Vekoma Junior coaster are like not that far behind Iron Rattler. Like they're both really fun, really good coasters. I mean, you know how the Vekomas ride. I mean, they're like really fun. Yeah. Yeah.
00:57:58
Speaker
Yeah, and the the crazy notable thing about the mock coaster is it is like a um a Poseidon clone. And like at Europa, you guys have all been there. Like that ride looks monstrous. And at this park, it looks like a freaking kiddie coaster. I mean, it's so small. Scale, yeah. Yeah, so that's funny. Yeah.
00:58:18
Speaker
I think that's all of them. And ah did we talk Adrenaline is like they they have a custom Vekoma suspended family coaster. I mean, that I don't really know that much about the layout. How does that feel compared to like a Dragonflyer?
00:58:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's good. I mean, I wrote it twice and and it's like, I mean, there's nothing notably. it's a different It is a custom layout, but there's nothing notably good. But it's like as good as the rest of them are.
00:58:42
Speaker
Does it have two trains? time It does have two trains. Okay. All right, Kelly, we got to wrap this up. All right. Yeah. I liked it. But my favorite from now of suspended coasters is not Fiona force. Once I rode that, I'm just kind of like, yeah, that's everything else. I'm just kind of like, okay, it was okay.
00:59:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:59:07
Speaker
What's your next question? That number one. all right, Keith. It's time. Tell us. We're excited. All right. um So, yeah. So Falcon's Flight is the best roller coaster in the world.
00:59:23
Speaker
There's just no, nothing else compares to it. I mean, I've written some stuff up if you want me to kind of wax on this, but. Yeah, sure. Sure. Try not to tear up.
00:59:36
Speaker
I'll try not to. i said, the the reviews for the most part are divided into segments, and I think that's unfair to the flow. I like to call it symphonic movements, an overture, a journey, and a final act.
00:59:49
Speaker
The front end bobs to the launch, weaving the masses to thwarts, playing the greatest hits of this decade's design, looking straight up at the archtime hill above. The ending is so insane the first movement cannot be.
01:00:00
Speaker
But then the actual mountain, the kerf of the rising launch, forced perspective downward off the mount, hundreds of feet below is the top of that boost that you just took. A moment of reflection off the limestone canvas at sunset.
01:00:14
Speaker
Then the last glow of daylight disappears over the deserted ledge. A holding break has never been done so well. The organic drip surface tension, a beat of water, a moment of silence, the moon ahead.
01:00:26
Speaker
The construction lights of Kadia across the horizon, the entire tiny park. The noise of the wind resistance stops, the noise of the wheels stop. Now here, the scale of Kadia is finally understood.
01:00:38
Speaker
The falcon screeches, the tension breaks free into a fall. You're moving by the time you reach the tunnel. Still, it continues, and then the launch. Against logic, against engineering, against gravity, and you feel it.
01:00:52
Speaker
Bottom out, shredding positives, your train now does the screeching. The rise is quicker than expected. A large red beacon flashes off to the peripheral. We could have cleared it 10 miles slower.
01:01:04
Speaker
Honestly, it would have been a better ride, but they wanted the record. I re-rode Formula Rosa two days later, and yeah, Intamin was correct when they stated they could get their LSMs to surpass the intensity of the endangered hydraulic launch.
01:01:16
Speaker
The last second of that boost is the most intense moment on any coaster leaving The back third is a victory lap. Now Rosa and everything else feels s slow. Across the entire park in a matter of seconds.
01:01:28
Speaker
The ride doesn't feel as long as it is. It never gets tedious or excessive. My criticisms of much modern design. Sloan sitting outside the station after the first ride reflects on the journey. How the hell do we top this?
01:01:41
Speaker
It's a good crap question. I'm still dreaming about the Falcon's flight.
01:01:48
Speaker
beautiful Beautiful. I was being read like a bedtime story or something. yeah yes It is bedtime. Somewhere bedtime right now.
01:02:01
Speaker
Immediately after the first ride, number one? Or no? Yeah, I would say after two rides, I said it was number one. right you know I have to i have to like you know ground it. like I give everything at least a second shot before I yeah i say that. but you know I rode it 18 times over the course of three days. um so And there is some diminishing returns on that. like It's not a smooth ride. And like that train feels like it's ripping itself apart. But you know anything at 155 miles an hour is going to feel like it's ripping itself apart. Yeah.
01:02:33
Speaker
Yeah, no, go ride it. go Go there. is key It's cool. Is the front row, back row, I'm hearing a lot of, you know, i don't know a ton of people that have gone. I know a handful and I've heard a lot about front row versus back row making it a completely different ride.
01:02:52
Speaker
I think that's conjecture. I mean, it's a short ass train, like anywhere is. So, okay. So this is, so there is, there is a wing issue in terms of roughness. So like you do have staggered seating. And so like with the nose car, the first row is outer seating, like wing seating. And then the second and row is interseeding. So you're kind of looking between the front car and then third. So, you know, up to seven. So evens are better.
01:03:17
Speaker
Um, yes. Well, yeah, two, four. Yeah, I thought that, I mean, one ride, it doesn't matter. But, you know, if you're going to ride it a lot, you know, then you do get some some efficiency. But, you know, it's like Hyperion. It's like Voltron. It's like any freaking B&M that has wing seat. Of course, you're going to get the interior seat better.
01:03:35
Speaker
I don't know Ashley, you take it away. I've said enough. Well, don't really know how to follow that because I can't be that... but It took me like two weeks to write that. So, yeah Okay, well, good.
01:03:47
Speaker
um It is not my number one. um So my first write on it was different because I will tell everybody, for women who are going, or I think they'd even do this with men with long hair, I had to wear a hood.
01:04:03
Speaker
um So it it covers my hair and it came around my face and down my neck. So the first one I got was a little loose.
01:04:15
Speaker
So for the whole first ride, all I could feel was the fabric like slapping against my face. And I was just having, i think it had been the airplane ride, the car ride. i go to ride this roller coaster. Now I have to wear this hood. It's slapping against my face. I'm still trying to take all this in. And when I got off, I was just like, huh.
01:04:37
Speaker
Okay, I understood why they made me do that. I normally wear my hair tied back anyway but that wouldn't have helped. So I grew to be happy to have that, that that was on later on. um When we did the second ride, I think we ended up in the last row.
01:04:57
Speaker
And then I could totally appreciate what was happening. um I don't know the technical stuff. Went really fast. My butt was out of the seat for quite a while. um Yeah, it's it was an incredible ride. It is not my number one. My number one is still Velocicoaster.
01:05:18
Speaker
And my number two is Eginica. And it is coming in in the third spot for me. And I think it's just because, um you know, Formula Rosa, I had ridden that a couple days prior and I loved the launch, but then the rest of the coaster felt felt like it got lost to me. So this is definitely ahead of that, but um great coaster like Keith.
01:05:46
Speaker
I think when we left, we were like, okay, that's checked off the list. I don't have to go back. And now all of us are kind of like, Yeah, I think I'd like to put it back in the realm. I do want to go back and ride it again. so But this is what I love about the coaster group and and all of us. We all have something different that we like or is our number one or what what makes us happy on a coaster.
01:06:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's nice to hear some different takes on the same experience. Like, even though you both might say it's number one in the park, it might not be number one in the world for everybody, which is, yeah, just different tastes, you know.
01:06:20
Speaker
I mean, number three is still really high, though, when you've been europe Japan, everywhere. Number three, like, that's that's still very high. Yeah, it's definitely do a high spot um to me and in my my coaster creds. You know, it just there is nothing like it.
01:06:38
Speaker
So I think that it's really hard to compare it to other stuff. Keith put it great. That's how you feel on all of it. I mean, when you go up top and you go to make that drop, it is so deadly quiet up there.
01:06:51
Speaker
And then you just drop.
01:06:55
Speaker
so yeah Yeah, I was going to say that the Beast of the Middle East is not like that off. I know that that was diminutive, but you know, a Broken Clock is right twice, but it does have that kind of like, this scenic element, and then the second half, like, just like all hell breaks loose.
01:07:15
Speaker
I can definitely see that. Yeah. the The first part of the layout. i don't want to say meandering, but yeah, it kind of feels like a lead up, you know, to yeah what's coming and then the launches that follow and and all of that. It's where it really kicks it into high gear.
01:07:30
Speaker
Yeah, but the ride is so long and the second half is so intense that there's no physical way that the first half could be more extreme. Yeah, yeah. People are like, oh, yeah, like the first half like doesn't have it. Like, dude, you can't do like it's like it's like the voyage, you know, when you get off the voyage and like you're shell shocked and like the train is like kind of completely silent on the brake run.
01:07:50
Speaker
Like that's the only other ride that I can think of. that has like the, this is such a physical endeavor that it's like you're, you're kind of, yeah, you're, you're silent shell shocked when you're at the break run.
01:08:05
Speaker
I could see that. Yeah. I agree with that too. a Voyage with no trims is pretty like intense. And I, I think it's not the speed and everything, but it's just the intensity. So I would agree with that.
01:08:21
Speaker
Very interesting. so you spoke a little bit about this having the longest line and like a cooling down period. How, what was exactly going on in that station? It never went down for a very long time, but like just, yeah, like, I mean, you saw El Toro's Ryan's video. I mean, that kind of explains it all. But again, like the ride is not something you want to ride more than half an hour. So if it takes a half an hour to cycle through the fast pass lane, like that's good. Like this is a ride that you want to sip, not chug. It's a ride that, you know, you're, you're going to go on.
01:08:52
Speaker
You're not going to, lie you're not going marathon this thing. But yeah, I didn't see it. Like it was, it was up. It just didn't like, you know, it doesn't churn people. So everybody would write it once in the beginning of the night. And then the line would be down to like nothing by the end of the night.
01:09:08
Speaker
But you also have to remember it's new and the write-ups are new and their rules and regulations. It it went down a little bit while we were standing in line because there was a squeak. in that they didn't like.
01:09:21
Speaker
And so it brought everybody out in the inspections and everything, and it kind of slowed things down. So I think it's just, you've got to remember, The coaster's new, the ride ops are getting to know the coaster.
01:09:35
Speaker
And so it just, I think everybody's being cautious and as they should be. So it's a brand new ride. I think as people get to know it, especially the the operators that it, you know, they'll understand. We saw everybody come through and tighten a bunch of stuff like on the whole train. And it was just, I think that that's what they're doing. so
01:09:59
Speaker
So it was little slow. They were also cycling. So four the trains when we went, I think this will get better as time goes on. Four the trains could hold passengers. And six, they were just cycling. The other two, they were just cycling through.
01:10:14
Speaker
So it just its slowed everything down. It's it's brand new. It's possible they were still commissioning it if they needed to get their minimum number of rides, like cycles, empty on it.
01:10:25
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Jumping between... you know, three trains and five trains. Sometimes they were using one station, sometimes they were using two stations. um So, yeah. I mean, the train does feel like it's tearing itself apart, so hopefully it doesn't go like TT2. Yeah, that's kind of what we're all going to have watch and see. I feel like it's too early days to see, ah you know, kind of what's going to happen with it. But I'm very interested to see the longevity of it, considering especially as we go into the summer. That's what I'm real curious about. Because you guys, I mean, like you said, I think it was wasn't in the 50s at night or it it was it was not warm. like Yeah, I would definitely say... um
01:11:06
Speaker
I needed everything I had on. I had on long sleeves. I had on a jacket. The next night I think I threw on an extra layer. So it's kind of like typical. It's what Arizona does. I mean, it can be, know, seventies and a little bit of eighties in the day. And then the desert cools down.
01:11:23
Speaker
So desert cools down at night. And when it does that, um, I think Sarah ended up buying a sweatshirt the first night or something. So just be aware. i don't think I could handle the park in the summer.
01:11:36
Speaker
Um, but that's just me, even though, yes, I live in Phoenix. I think, uh, that would be a little hard for me. Well, 125 degrees is a little different than Phoenix even. Yeah. Don't go in the summer.
Visiting Tips and Park Atmosphere
01:11:50
Speaker
Don't go in the summer. Go in. Go when we went in early February. It was perfect. I mean, don't go during, you know, the high holidays. um But yeah, no, I think our timing was pretty perfect.
01:12:00
Speaker
Yeah. I agree. you Cool. All right. Well, we talked about the big one. um We didn't talk about things that weren't roller coasters. Did you ride anything that wasn't a roller coaster there that was interesting? Yeah.
01:12:13
Speaker
The sky watch, the Intamin observation tower that they haven't built since the 1970s. That thing is awesome. We probably went on it like, don't know, three or four times. I agree with that.
01:12:24
Speaker
That was amazing to be on and loved that. So if you want to take some pictures, see the park. um Yeah, that was great.
01:12:34
Speaker
And i I enjoyed the dark rides, you know? So for me, I thought that that it was well done. um So it was kind of fun little break and yeah, it was great.
01:12:48
Speaker
How many do they have? I'll admit, I don't know. Two Dark Rides? Okay. Yeah. One is themed to let the Greenhouse one, which is more physical sets, but there is some screens. And then there's like Into the Deep, which is mostly screens, but I thought that one was really good too. um Yeah. Yeah, they're better than average Dark Rides by sure. like they're They're both pretty cool. I only wrote them both once, but yeah, they were both cool.
01:13:11
Speaker
um I liked Into the Deep better than the Greenhouse one. Yeah. We all rode the greenhouse one together. it was like the last ride of the night and we were pretty spent.
01:13:22
Speaker
I'm trying to think what else I rode. Oh, the log flume. They have a very good log flume, Tyler. It's yeah like a modern log flume. it has it has like it It has kind of this like Rapids vibe. Me and ah Matt wrote it and yeah, it was, it was good. it was, yeah. I don't know who built it, but it was, it was like, yeah, it was the long log flume and it's kind of ah depressed. Like, you know, they built like this kind of like ah oasis, like you'll see like all around the Middle East when they build like water features, they kind of build it into the ground, I guess, cause they can, they can kind of create like a, you know, ah like a humidity zone beneath the,
01:13:56
Speaker
beneath it. So that's how they did that there. So that whole like area where the water is is depressed. um I did not go on the Zamperla thing because like it looked like you got soaked, but it looked really cool, like the the drop splash thing.
01:14:09
Speaker
um And then, so the first night we were there, the S&S Tower did not open at all. The second night, they opened it 15 minutes before close. And I know you guys laughed. And I think Matt got on it that second night. And then me and Larson got on it the third night.
01:14:24
Speaker
it's no joke, the worst S and S tower I've ever been on. There's like no forces on it at all. I mean, they're still commissioning it too, but I mean, other than the view and they were, they only had two sides going and they had this like weird, like 20 minute cycle, but it was like, and ah supposedly it's the second most expensive park ride in the park after Falcon's flight. But that was like a, and they need to figure that one out.
01:14:49
Speaker
That's so funny because it's like the tallest in the world, right? You didn't miss it. You didn't miss anything. Well, it was on our bingo card. oh Oh, yeah. i did It was on the bingo card. It was on our bingo card. And both of us were like, okay, we'll get this on our bingo card. And was like, dang, it didn't open.
01:15:05
Speaker
So well i I had a Zen ride on the carousel with all the operators watching a adult woman go around on the horse by herself. So amazing. ah
01:15:20
Speaker
All right. So just to kind of wrap up this discussion, what's your overall impression of the park? I mean, is this a world class park or do we need to give it some time to fill in and sort of um just grow into itself?
01:15:37
Speaker
I don't know, Keith. um For me, the topic of conversation is this is the most un-Six Flags park I've ever been to. um And it is it is gorgeous. um I think it will continue to grow, but as far as if you walk in, you're going to be impressed.
01:15:59
Speaker
um Just the whole setup is good. It's, um it would be interesting to see when it does get bigger. I'm sure they will expand it. But ah to me, it was a whole experience. So i didn't felt like I was lacking in anything because we went to Lost Island in the summer and I love that park, but it needs to grow.
01:16:24
Speaker
And this felt like it was just beautiful from the time you walked in to everything. so I'd say if anybody wants to go, go. You can have so much. The food options, the coasters are fabulous and everything you want to do. It's it's a great experience. The merchandise, I think what had happened and just when it opened, um the merchandise is still really good too, but all the sizes for women.
01:16:53
Speaker
I went to buy a pink sweatshirt and extra large was the only thing there. So, um, so I think that they'll catch up with that, but as far as everything else that we wanted, i think it was great.
01:17:06
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, we touched on how awesome the park was, but, and I think the park itself is done. I mean, the initial build out feels complete. It doesn't feel like Epic where you have all these like expansion pads and like Epic opened with 11 rides. This opened with 28 rides. So, I mean, the park is done. They just need to finish everything else to build out the resort, to give you a place to stay. I mean, ah Aqua Arabia looks incredible. We drove by it each time. You know, we met the the general manager of that. And, you know, you could tell she was a little disappointed because like you, you get all these, you know, early adopters coming out and like, you know, that park's not open yet. And, and like, that was it one of the things where like, oh man, like we're going to miss the water park. We're going to miss the access coaster in downtown, which is both those things are supposed to come online in the the next um six months. um
01:17:57
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, that's what they need to do. They don't need to actually touch the park at all. um kind of a final concluding thought that I, or hot take that I wanted throw out there, and I think Ashley could weigh in on this too, is that between the parks in the UAE and what they have in Kadia now, I would say that in terms of Asia and American enthusiasts going to Asia, I would say that the Middle East is now like stronger than Japan. Like I know Thusis have kind of like this like Far East fetish with going to ride the roller coasters in Japan, but I would say that go to the Middle East, go to the UAE and go to Korea.
01:18:40
Speaker
um Yeah, I would have to say I'm looking I would probably say that statement is true once you see the ah Formula One track, the soccer stadium.
01:18:52
Speaker
um I just happen to love Japan. But as far as a better park experience, this has been one of the best park experiences I've had. yeah.
01:19:03
Speaker
um I think people should flock to it. Keith touched on it. It does need to have the hotel open. If you could have taken out the whole transportation thing and you could have stayed at the hotel and done what Universal does, where maybe maybe you could get a little extended hours going there by being a hotel guest. I don't know if that's on the horizon or not, but that would have been great.
01:19:28
Speaker
Nice. All right. Well, we do have a few questions. And all you guys can definitely help us with those because they're more about the park. um So Jake would like to know what was your most enjoyable aspect of the park from an experience standpoint, not necessarily the coasters.
01:19:45
Speaker
Falcon's flight. ah Shocking.
01:19:52
Speaker
I just enjoyed the um I don't know, the whole ambiance to me. ah There was one um centerpiece in the middle that was showing, like you could see that it was highlighting the different coasters on the globe and it would change. Everything was just...
01:20:15
Speaker
pretty. I guess that's a a girl's way to put it, but you walk in it's pretty, it's it looks good. And of course it's the coaster, but to me for the park, it was just beautifully done.
01:20:30
Speaker
So, and everybody was helpful. They really want to do good customer service there. So. That's awesome. um And then I feel like we know what Keith's answer is going to be to this, but goody two shoes on discord. They're asking what stood out the most as a unique aspect or experience within the park.
Future Prospects and Social Media Buzz
01:20:52
Speaker
I would say getting to it. I mean, oh i Oh, no, I mean, no, I mean that too. I mean, that's the obvious answer, but I mean like this park, like this, this Kadia area is going to like the drive like it's surpassing like, the scale of Disney World when you get off, you know, 192 and say you're driving north on whatever World Drive to go to the Magic Kingdom and imagine like everything else is not there except the Magic Kingdom because that's kind of like, you know, what this situation is now. But when it's done, it's going to be like of that scale and larger.
01:21:30
Speaker
I would have to agree with that. I i knew that there was going to be a time a distance a time and distance thing from where we were staying and how to get there. I had no idea that the experience was going to be that insane to do it. um So that I would have to say that. And it's going to change.
01:21:47
Speaker
If the metro finally continues out there, um if you could just stay out there. But the traveling to and from was definitely the most surprising.
01:21:58
Speaker
All right. And Cpred, last question. It said, doubt it'll happen, but come up with a theoretical fright fest event for the park. Oh. Oh, my gosh.
01:22:12
Speaker
I made a joke at some point that, you know, that it feels vibes like Universal because everybody's wearing robes, um you know, because like the Harry Potter thing. Yeah. ah um I don't, I can't even see that. I mean, even on the dark rides, you were, you were um pollinating flowers or you were turning an angry sea creature into a loving one. So I don't know how they would do a, uh,
01:22:45
Speaker
I don't know how they would do that. I just don't. Six Flags, baby. They'll figure it out. They'll get, you know, I don't know, whatever their terrible IPs are in there, you know. We got to make it like American. That's kind of a nice thing. Don't worry. It'll get there, guys. I'm sure they'll have like ah a Halloween Horror Nights event or something for you guys.
01:23:04
Speaker
That would be very interesting. I don't see it happening, but that would very interesting. I like the fact that that it doesn't have IPs. i like that's yes You know, we didn't really talk about that. But like, you know, so much of this park like is, you know, they paid for the brand name and then it nothing about it is Six Flags. It's just a licensing deal, basically. um So, yeah, the fact that there's no IP in the park, it has a consistent theme throughout. Like, it's just so different from it's funny. I think it's funny as Americans, you know, like. I think maybe globally the Six Flags brand has potentially a different reputation or at least just like maybe name recognition without awareness of some of the quirks that we know. Because we just, you know kind of ah associate that being with like the lower budget, you know, brand. And it's just so it's funny because like half the merchandise says Six Flags Riyadh on it. So like they haven't even like landed on the Six Flags Kadia City like brand. I don't know what that's what's going on there.
01:24:03
Speaker
I just don't see jump scares happening at this park when you're walking from place to place. Yeah. and yeah i don't know I don't think Saudis celebrate Halloween, right? was going to say, I don't think anything else has anything like that. So I doubt that they would step that territory. Maybe some pumpkins and some corn.
01:24:23
Speaker
That would actually be kind of cool like to see a park like that, their version of like decorating for different holidays. You know what i mean? You know, I wouldn't put it past them because like they are really like Western focused and I didn't go to Boulevard world, but apparently there's like a lot of like, you know, like, you know, take rooms and haunted houses and stuff over there too. So I'm sure they'll, if the demand is there, they'll, they'll figure out a way to do it.
01:24:47
Speaker
They're going to put a lot of stuff out there. But yeah, anything else we we want to add before saying bye to Keith and Ashley, which by the way, thank you guys so much for joining. Thank you having us. Thank you. i was going to say, if you want to hear more about this trip, um Matt's posting a lot of stuff under the coasters and brews. You know, Scott's got the the um POVs up under the Coaster Force handle. um Hunter, theme park hunting, he's or hunter theme park hunter he's doing a bunch of, you know, deep dives on all the parks that we went to. So check that stuff out.
01:25:23
Speaker
Do you guys want to shout out your socials or anything? i really don't have any. so find You know where to find me.
01:25:33
Speaker
but okay All right. Well, of course, this week we didn't dive into chills, anything HHN related, which we'll get into next week, of course. um But yeah, but thank you guys for joining again and thank you for listening. um Go ahead and give us a follow on Instagram and X. You guys know the handles. Do you? Do know the handles, Rhonda? Clearly not.
01:26:05
Speaker
that i I do, but if I say it, I'm probably going mix up letters and words. It's going to be bad. so just We exist there. It's there. It's there. All right, well. i Thank you guys so much, honestly. That was a lot of fun.
01:26:21
Speaker
Yes, that was that was great. thank you so much for filling us in on all of this, because it's probably to the long... Well, Joey will probably go before we do, but... chicago You should all go. yeah I would love to go. I just don't see it happening anytime soon, but I would definitely love to go.
01:26:36
Speaker
Forget Cedar Point. Thanksgiving, I'm thinking about Wow, Keith's saying forget Cedar Point. You heard it here first. ons already Do do go with this this is one not that.
01:26:53
Speaker
um yeah no thank you guys very much you know come hang out with us in dollywood i'm looking forward to seeing you'all Yeah, we're looking forward to it too. Stay spooky. Yep, there we go. Stay spooky. Bye.
01:27:09
Speaker
That's tea, actually.