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Our Car Recap of a Long Weekend Roadtrip! Minnesota, Iowa, and Some “This or That”
1 Playsin 6 hours
Allison, Mike, and Alex went on a road trip over the July 4th long weekend through Minnesota and Iowa, and we’re giving you a car recap on our drive home! It was quite an eventful trip, hitting 7 parks in 3.5 days, and we all picked up some new creds. We also go through all of your “This or That” questions that you gave us! Advance apologies for the audio quality since it was all recorded on a voice memo while on not great Indiana highways.
A BIG shoutout to our Patreon subscribers! Much love to Chris, Jeff, Alexander, Chad, and Adam for the support! Check out https://www.patreon.com/c/InvertedCreative if you want to learn more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:00
Speaker
You are listening to the Inverted Creative Podcast. I'm Allison. I'm Jen. I'm Brian. I'm Mikhail. And I'm Nate.
Travel Logistics and Spontaneity
00:00:18
Speaker
Want to hear the most annoying sound in the world? No. o
00:00:26
Speaker
Well, welcome back to another episode of Inverted Creative, where apologies now because we are in the car again. So the sound quality probably sucks. but Thanks, Alex.
00:00:40
Speaker
You're welcome, Holland. Yeah, we are on our way back home from a toxic trip over a holiday weekend because that's just who we are as human beings.
Purpose of the Trip: Milestones and Parks
00:00:50
Speaker
We, you know, finally finalized our trip, what, three days before we left? Something like that. Something like that.
00:00:57
Speaker
So you guys get a recap of our trip because we did seven parks in three and a half days.
00:01:05
Speaker
But really the main reason for doing this trip is I was three away from a milestone and i refused to let a long weekend go by without hitting my milestone. So I was going to go on a trip whether Mike was able to get off of work or not.
00:01:20
Speaker
So we ended up doing trip.
00:01:28
Speaker
And these guys who are contributing nothing. Fantastic. We're doing your intro.
00:01:35
Speaker
we were letting you cook. What am I cooking? I don't cook. I don't You were in the kitchen. incredible I'm in a car. i'm Trying to survive.
00:01:46
Speaker
Hopefully Alex doesn't miss any exits while we're recording. Oh, come on.
00:01:52
Speaker
You're never going to let me live that down. Yeah. You missed two this trip. Was it two? Yeah. Ah, don't know. Anyways. Anyways.
Late Start and Arrival in Wisconsin
00:02:05
Speaker
So start with the recap. Yes. So to start this trip. While starting the trip, Alex was an hour late picking us up. Oh, come on. You don't got to poke me on a blast like that. about I'll get about 45 minutes late.
00:02:21
Speaker
Listen, I was trying to take care of the cats and make sure they were okay before I left. We're on Discord. I was actively taking care of the cats. You said you ADHD'd and forgot to leave on time.
00:02:35
Speaker
Among other things, but yes. Allison with the receipts. Yes. Yes. But we finally left about a little after six o'clock.
00:02:47
Speaker
Yeah. We began our journey all the way to Eau Claire, Wisconsin. What, nine hour drive the first night? About nine hours. Yeah. else We got there about 3 Central time.
00:03:02
Speaker
no it was like 2.30. I think we were in bed by 3. Yeah, we were in bed by 3. And then we were up and out of the hotel before
Valley Fair Adventures and Nostalgia
00:03:08
Speaker
8. Yeah.
00:03:12
Speaker
little early morning. Yeah, we... That was rough. We love a good night with about 4 or 5 hours of sleep.
00:03:21
Speaker
But we we wanted to get out of there because, one, allison wanted 7 brew. Yeah. And said if we left the hotel early enough, I would pay for everybody's Seven Brew. Thank you, Allison. They accepted the challenge and we we all got Seven Brew. Who is I?
00:03:36
Speaker
Because Allison has a problem. You know, I blame you for getting me hooked on Seven Brew. Well, I blame Nate for getting me hooked on Seven Brew because I hadn't tried it until used one of his coupons. Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:55
Speaker
But yeah, we left, we got out of the area at like eight o'clock so we could get to Valley Fair for rope drop.
00:04:04
Speaker
And Alex has a special history with Valley Fair. So I worked at Valley Fair as a ride op in 2021 and 2022. And that was, those ah and that was those were like two of the best summers I've ever had.
00:04:23
Speaker
my My first year there, I worked steel venom. which is their impulse coaster. And as far as I know, it's the only one with a functioning holding brake.
00:04:35
Speaker
I'm pretty sure it is the only one. I thought Possessed still had it, but then it just didn't work. I've never... If work, then it's not functioning. You did say it's the only one with a functioning holding brake. Yeah, you know. If it does, I have never been on Possessed with a holding brake.
00:04:53
Speaker
I'm pretty sure it's the only one. Yeah.
00:04:58
Speaker
Um, and then we met up with two my very close friends, AJ and Keegan, whom I've worked with both of them. And we have gone on some stupid trips together.
00:05:13
Speaker
a yeah, they're, they're local to the parks that we hung out with them. Um, you just totally ADHD.
00:05:24
Speaker
You're telling us about your experience working at the park. It's fine. Tell us about your first year. Listen. It's fine.
00:05:34
Speaker
Multitasking, okay?
00:05:39
Speaker
Anyway, it was my first visit to Valley Fair. Mike had been two times prior. Yeah, this was my third visit, which I didn't expect to go once in my lifetime, let alone three times. Okay.
00:05:54
Speaker
Can't wait for the fourth. Yeah, I'm sure we'll be back. You know, in 12 years when they get a new cred.
00:06:03
Speaker
and You know, it's it's been 19 years since they've gotten a new coaster. I think it's time. It is time. Maybe with Enchanted, they'll get something.
Mall of America vs American Dream
00:06:16
Speaker
It's a cute park. Yeah. It deserves something.
00:06:21
Speaker
But... Started off with the Wild Mouse just to get that done. um I was lining up to get my milestone on Excalibur, so I had to do at least one other coaster before Excalibur.
00:06:32
Speaker
So i ended up riding Renegade a few times, which, fantastic GCI. Yeah, it's it's one of the best GCIs out there. Yeah, thoroughly enjoyed it It needs a little bit of love, but the layout's really good, and I had a lot of airtime, even in the morning.
00:06:50
Speaker
It's running very well. Except it bruised my knee when the restraints came down when I wasn't expecting it and slammed into my kneecap. So one train is running really good. The other one's a little rough.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah. But it's still running great. Let's see, we did... Scream and Swing to kill time before Excalibur opened.
00:07:15
Speaker
I think that was all we did between then. Yeah. Yeah, then we got to ride Excalibur and got that for my 800. Yeah.
00:07:23
Speaker
after some questionable ops dealing with a broken seatbelt. um It was a weird ride. It was a little short. It's short, but good airtime. But it it packs a punch. Yeah.
00:07:38
Speaker
There's one, I call it a triangle hill. yeah Yeah. It's right the middle of the ride. And it it tries to throw you from the train.
00:07:52
Speaker
a um don't even remember the order of things after that. Hit everything. Next we went to... You got of a nice ride on Cosmic Coaster. Yeah. yeah
00:08:06
Speaker
We thought you were going to get a Zen ride for a second. But then kids got on to a kids coaster and I just looked like an idiot. Hey, anything for the crowds. Yeah.
00:08:18
Speaker
Oh, just wait. There are a lot of moments of that. um Next, we did a high roller. That could burn down to the ground and I'd be okay with it. Yeah, that was terrible.
00:08:29
Speaker
Yeah, it that ride needs a lot love. It was very rough even in front row. And gravity group, pre-cut track. right Great candidate.
00:08:41
Speaker
You said that a lot this trip, let's be fair. Yeah. oh wild thing next maybe uh yes don't know i i don't remember after i got 800 i didn't pay too much attention yeah after uh high roller we did wild thing which is their monoil morgan hyper coaster monorail monorail there was one good air hill and then nothing like it looks very pretty There are like two spots where it has some decent like positive forces at the valley of the hill.
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah. But that is about all it really has. It's, the helixes are not great. They're not forceful at all like on a... Yeah.
00:09:29
Speaker
Mamba.
00:09:31
Speaker
My first time at that park and then the following day I did... Valleyfair and Worlds of Fun back to back. So riding those two back to back, like, it's a world of difference how bad Wild Thing is. Yeah.
00:09:49
Speaker
Compared to Mamba.
00:09:54
Speaker
Then did we do Corkscrew after that? Yeah, after that we cut across a Corkscrew. Which, for an aero looper, it's probably one of the better ones out there, in my opinion.
00:10:10
Speaker
i don't know what you guys think. I did not ride it. I got donuts with ice cream. Yeah, of course it was fine.
00:10:20
Speaker
It was after riding it, I realized those are the only ah coaster inversions in the park. And then got depressed. Yeah, yep.
00:10:29
Speaker
and a think that was when we split off for another ride on Renegade. ye um Before going all the way back over to Steel Venom to finish off the park.
00:10:41
Speaker
yeah Oh, and that weight was just like fully in the sun. Yeah.
Lost Island Experience and Fire Runner
00:10:45
Speaker
Not ideal. It was not very efficiently operated. No. Good ride, though. I like impulses. Yeah, the impulses are fun times.
00:10:54
Speaker
Certainly unique and very much like a dying breed. Yeah. Because they haven't built one in quite a few years. Yeah. There was one built not super long ago.
00:11:10
Speaker
ah the one in China. Yeah.
00:11:14
Speaker
Didn't even know they built one in China. Yeah, it's essentially like a Wicked Twister. yeah Legendary Twin Dragon. It opened in 2021. So it has the new style lap bars. Oh, interesting.
00:11:30
Speaker
Yeah. Lap bars would be weird on that. Yeah. But, I mean, that is the newest one other than like Before that, it was Possessed, which obviously was relocation. so
00:11:47
Speaker
Wicked Twister is the newest like round up before that. gee Because the other two that opened since that were relocations. Geez. Steel Venom opened originally at Valleyfair. Steel Venom is the newest other than Legendary Twin Drugs.
00:12:09
Speaker
which twin dragon instead of using the lims they used the lsms yeah
00:12:20
Speaker
i think it's massive though is it a twist and twist yeah and it's two or thirty foot tall wow yeah i thought was like a twister Is it the same? I think Wicked Twister was, what, I think? 216. Okay, so not too far off. No, but it's technically a hyper coaster. Yeah. Yeah. But it's weird looking at Legendary Twin Dragon because it uses the... Oh, we like the newer track style. Yeah, but it doesn't use the box track like the old... Oh, that's weird. Oh.
00:12:55
Speaker
Tangent. That was a tangent. Yes. That's fine. um So that finished off Valley Fair. Overall, cute park. Enjoyed it.
00:13:06
Speaker
Bought a t-shirt. which I'm glad I did because I ended up needing it later in the day. We'll get to that. oh I'm glad to see ah a company like Enchanted bought it because even their CEO specifically said, we understand these are regional parks. yeah Yeah. They're not really meant to compete with you know Cedar Point, Kings Island, Magic Mount, like these big parks in the chains.
00:13:34
Speaker
They're going to treat them and like they are, like regional parks. Yeah. and
00:13:42
Speaker
And I think they're gonna do a lot of good things with those parks. I hope so. we haven't real They haven't really had much time to do anything. It'll be probably 2028, 2029 before we really start to see any real real effects by them because they're still just kind of learning what all they have. right The entry process was easy.
00:14:04
Speaker
They checked our pass, made sure we had a valid pass. took a picture, put our info in, and now we have an actual physical card for Enchanted Parks. Yep. And we'll be able to use it if we go to any other ones.
00:14:18
Speaker
So. Yeah, TBD, if we go to any other ones, is here. But overall, a good experience. Yeah, I enjoyed it. was glad they finally get up there. Yeah. We went to lunch at a local place that Alex is obsessed with, I believe. Yep.
00:14:36
Speaker
Lion's Tap, right? Yep. It's very much like a hole-in-the-wall burger joint. you know They have like five different burgers on the menu. Yeah, it's literally burgers, fries...
00:14:50
Speaker
and a couple beers. And a couple drinks. yeah That's it. It was tasty. Very simple burgers, but you don't have to have these big elaborate fancy burgers. They were good. Yeah, it was definitely the style of burgers I like.
00:15:03
Speaker
Yeah. and Very, very much compared to a village burger. If you know me and my local village burger in Atlanta.
00:15:14
Speaker
Yeah, we ah definitely killed those burgers. And then went on a side quest. To Como Town. To Como Town. A place of all places. Listen, it wasn't that... It wasn't as bad as I expected. No.
00:15:30
Speaker
Everybody that I've heard talk about it says how bad the place is. But it... It reminded me of like a lower tier, almost like a Bay Beach.
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah. Where it's just, because it's like a city park, isn't it? Yeah. it's where It's connected to the zoo. Yeah. It's connected to a zoo that's owned by the city of St. Paul.
00:15:54
Speaker
Um, it's just kind of nice to have a park like that that's owned and run by the city. You can just walk through for free. You can pay per ride. Like it was really, it was different. Yeah.
00:16:07
Speaker
You don't see many places like that. It wasn't the best now. crazy It was a cred. It was a cred. It was a Zyklon. Was that a amazing yeah s SPF? SPF Zyklon, basically. me tim bo Made some funny noises. Yeah.
00:16:25
Speaker
The brakes farted. Yeah. yeah But nice little plus one, even if it was a quite far out of our way. It's only like, what, 20-minute detour?
00:16:35
Speaker
Yeah, I guarantee. Yeah, that felt further. I definitely passed out on that drive. Can confirm that both Mike and Allison did fall asleep. I needed it after a minimal sleep.
00:16:50
Speaker
To be fair, it was also pretty toasty. Yeah, it was a hot day. It started off not bad. Like when we first got to the park, it was very overcast. It was a little breezy. it felt like it going to really nice day.
00:17:03
Speaker
And then that sun came out. It just got scorching hot. Yeah. um Yeah. So after Cometown, we made our way over to Mall America. of the Nickelodeon universe.
00:17:21
Speaker
And that place was quite busy.
Ride Comparisons and Thrill Discussions
00:17:25
Speaker
Yeah. was kind cool to see in trucks with the turbine, the fan, the blades from the wind turbines. Yeah. Those things are, you don't realize just how big those blades actually are until you see them in person. I know some of them can get up to like 200 feet long. Yeah.
00:17:43
Speaker
yeah
00:17:47
Speaker
Yeah, so we started you off with Orange Streak. Orange Streak. Yeah, so Allison and I rode Pepsi Orange Streak. That was it ride. Which is their Zaire Tivoli.
00:18:02
Speaker
Nice views of the area. Yeah. that is That is one thing I will say about that. That really does give you a nice kind of overview of the whole park because it kind of just goes over the whole thing. Yeah. a lot longer than i expected to. Yeah.
00:18:15
Speaker
Two lifts. It's kind similar to the Orange Streak at... What's the other? American Dream. American Dream. Yeah. This one actually of integrates a little more and goes through. There's more scenery for it to kind go around. Yeah.
00:18:33
Speaker
Which I will say, i think, I've said this when we were there, think American Dream has the better coaster lineup. But overall, Mall of America has the better park. Yeah, i agree. The scenery is so much better. It feels like the park was actually built, meant to be there. Yeah, it's a more complete park. Not just where they added a warehouse onto the side of a mall. Yeah. I said, hey, let's put coasters in here.
00:19:00
Speaker
Yeah, the Nickelodeon universe at Mall of America has character. Yeah, it's got a lot of characters. Literally lot of characters.
00:19:10
Speaker
So after that, we went over and you and I rode... Spongebob! Spongebob Rock Bottom Plunge. Love that entrance sign. Yeah, the entrance sign is so good. But also just being a fan of Spongebob in general.
00:19:25
Speaker
Ride wasn't bad. No. It tracks pretty well for yeah for a little bit older Kerslauer. don't know old. That thing's almost 20. twenty Is it? Wow. That's what i was curious. that was about to look up. I know from the ah Orange Street line, I was just watching the ah the track for Rock Bottom Plunge.
00:19:43
Speaker
And after the train went through, just how long that track shook. I feel like that's all the... I don't know. I just, I really noticed it on Rock Bottom Plunge. Yeah.
00:19:55
Speaker
Like, it just kept going. Maybe it was just because there was a ceiling behind it so I could kind of see that movement a little more. I didn't realize how cheap that ride was. I listed it as $2.9 million. dollars It's kind of cheap. To be fair, it is a pretty small ride. Yeah.
00:20:12
Speaker
But it's a really... it kind of gives you a nice thrill level yeah for in that park, but it's not, like, too crazy. It's not like Shell Razor at American Dream, where that thing... i wouldn't know. That thing is a way higher thrill level. Yeah.
00:20:31
Speaker
But... Yeah, it's a good ride. It tracks pretty well. Really didn't have too much head back. Yeah. Did Barnyard, Back at the Barnyard, whatever, next.
00:20:45
Speaker
Another shameful ride for me where I could ah barely even consider that a cred.
00:20:54
Speaker
But... And then you did... And I did Avatar. Avatar. out That line took forever and I was surrounded by teenagers. yeah And now... oh we get to shame you. I'm going to shame you just for Nate. I really don't care. Now let's skip a cred.
00:21:14
Speaker
Oh no, I chose my health over cred. Shame. I could feel a migraine coming on and riding a spinner at that point in my life was not going to be good for me, so I opted not to.
00:21:25
Speaker
um But our entire group did the log shoot instead. but And I hated my life after that. I got put in front row with um Mike right behind me and then AJ in the boat with us.
00:21:42
Speaker
And we were the second group to go. You guys so planned to ahead for this. Keegan and I were very smart. And him and I went in our own boat.
00:21:55
Speaker
And so, you know, we went through the ride. Didn't get that wet. And Keegan and I are standing next to the exit. And we see Mike and Allison and AJ coming down the drop.
00:22:09
Speaker
And they hit the splashdown. Let me preface this with earlier in the ride, though. to The point first was the water changeover something. we had crossover.
00:22:20
Speaker
We hit that. And I get a little splash. And then I get a wall of water to my chest. And I'm like, oh, no. i was already soaked, feeling like i would had just jumped in a pool.
00:22:32
Speaker
Um, and then we went down the first drop once again, nice little spray and then wall of water to my face. And I'm like, fantastic. And then Mike mentions that there's still another drop and I'm like, I'm going to regret every choice I made right now because once again, i got a wall of water to the face and I knew it was coming. And I even like physically put my hands out as if hoping that would do anything to stop the water And it did not. And just that one just fully hit my face and like all of my hair was soaked.
00:23:08
Speaker
And we get back into the station and the write off that they know was laughing at me and said that I was the wettest that he had seen that day or something like that.
00:23:21
Speaker
I had never gotten that that wet on a long run. Yeah, we got absolutely soaked. Like, like that was all that was probably beyond, like, Popeye's level. Yeah.
00:23:34
Speaker
I think AJ also got pretty soaked. I could hear him behind us.
00:23:45
Speaker
I was... Oh, my God. We were so soggy. it was bad enough to the point that AJ bought the on-ride photo. I was already soaked even in the photo.
00:23:55
Speaker
You can see it. And there's, like, video of me afterwards, like, literally dripping water.
00:24:02
Speaker
um And, like, I thought about going to change in the mall. I'm like, we only had, like, a 45-minute ride to the hotel or something like that. I'm like, I'm going to change my shirt to the nice new Valley Fair shirt that I had just gotten.
00:24:13
Speaker
ah And, yeah, just kind of sat in my own moisture for that car ride. Yeah.
00:24:24
Speaker
oh I was absolutely okay not doing that spinner, especially after that ride. I did not need that spin cycle. I was okay. So we stayed about...
00:24:38
Speaker
45 minutes south. Yeah. What was that city called? Oatani or something. Oatana. Oh, okay. Close enough. It was a neat little town. We found a little pizza place like block and a half away from the hotel. Yeah.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah, they went and got and picked up the pizza while I took a very needed shower. An actual shower, not a log flume shower.
Arnold's Park: Unique Attractions
00:25:02
Speaker
Enjoyed some pizza in bed. Very reminiscent of Italy. Yeah, it was a pretty good pizza too. Yeah, I enjoyed it. I wish I could have eaten more of it.
00:25:15
Speaker
um Next morning we got another early start because we had about a three hour drive. Yeah, it was about three three and a half hour drive.
00:25:27
Speaker
To the middle of nowhere Iowa. To start the morning, I got up and went to put my shoes on. They were still soaking wet from That stupid log flip.
00:25:39
Speaker
My clothes I had laid out, um, like right in front of the air conditioning unit, which barely worked by the way. Um, my shoes were fine.
00:25:51
Speaker
My shorts were still damp. It was that wet of a ride.
00:25:58
Speaker
Very... Moist. If you like getting wet on the water rides, ride front row with that. Have fun. With a full boat. With a full boat, yeah. Yeah, if you have more than two people in a boat, you're probably going to get... Can confirm.
00:26:12
Speaker
Shout out to three moist mics at a Grand. Yeah. A couple years ago. Yep. If you know, you know. Yep. Yeah, we took a nice long drive to Arnold's Park.
00:26:25
Speaker
Um... Not a very big park, but very charming. ever It kind of reminds me of a like lakeside Stricker's Grove. Yeah. A lot of kind of like older flat rides with their standout being a and a little bit older wooden coaster.
00:26:46
Speaker
It's just got a weird kind of janky looking layout. Yeah. I don't know what the brake run was. That thing was weird. It was like a weird combination of like magnetic brakes mixed with blocks of like four by sixes bolted on the bottom of the train. Yeah. Kind like skid brakes. Yeah.
00:27:09
Speaker
um
00:27:12
Speaker
First thing we did when we walked in, went over, found out that the, their Herschel Wild Mouse was closed. Yeah. It said temporarily down, which later we talked to a supervisor and they informed us that the ride is officially closed for good. Yeah. So. It'll be removed to make room, to make room for something new. Yeah. It hurt a little bit less to miss that credit. Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:39
Speaker
But to make up for it, we usuallyly we did some shame usually you're not allowed, if you're over a certain height, you're not allowed to ride the kids' coaster. Well, thanks to Nate, we found out that, oh, if you go to guest services and talk to them and tell them your coaster enthusiasts they're wanting to ride the coaster, they'll walk you back there and have a supervisor come over and talk to the ride ops. Yeah.
00:28:08
Speaker
and let you ride one at a time. Yeah, sure enough. they ah They brought somebody over and they're like, you guys the ones wanting to ride the kiddie coaster? We're like, yep.
00:28:19
Speaker
He's like, all right, follow me. So he walked us over there. and Yeah, we did it one by one. Definitely filmed all of us riding it for the shame. um You know, we weren't complete jerks and we let any, you know, any families or, well, I guess kids, not families going on it, but, you know, let kids ride it between us riding it. So we weren't fully,
00:28:42
Speaker
taking over. Yeah, weren't fully taking it over. So it took a while for all of us to ride it.
00:28:48
Speaker
Yeah, that was awkward having like kids kids there and like parents, oh, guess we're not tall enough to ride it with you. And then they're like looking at these adults getting on one by one. I got really confused real quick by the GPS. Why? I forgot that where we're stopping next is in Eastern Time Zone. Oh.
00:29:06
Speaker
Because the numbers don't match up. up Hour 13 to go. 2.13 until the arrival time.
00:29:17
Speaker
Yes, time zones exist. Nate. Nate.
00:29:23
Speaker
The time zones going up I-65 towards Chicago are weird because I don't know where the time zone actually changes. Right. Going to Holiday World is kind of easier because i think it's about half an hour or so before you get off the highway going to Holiday World. Yeah.
00:29:44
Speaker
We'll just randomly look up in the clock will been changed. Yeah. But, yeah, so that was that was our shameful cred for the day. yep least our shameful. friend yep oh like said another one skill to come you know um And Keegan got an unexpected plus one because he hadn't been able to ride that before. yeah Right. so So he was excited.
00:30:08
Speaker
So next we went over and did their wooden coaster, Legend.
00:30:15
Speaker
It's fun little ride. It's neat. I'd heard a lot about it. It's had a lot of work done on it in the recent years by ah GCI. It was a fun little ride.
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah. Not the biggest, craziest, but it was it was a solid little family wood coaster. Yeah. We all got two rides on it.
00:30:38
Speaker
Ours was a little bit of a rain ride. It was just starting to sprinkle when we were on it. Yeah, Alex had... Both of Alex's rides, for some reason, got a lift stop. Yeah. Which was very interesting. Yeah. i I looked around. Nobody had their phones out. The first one, somebody in the very back of the train had it. Okay.
00:31:00
Speaker
But other than that, yeah. It was weird. Yeah. Cute little park. They certainly have an interesting collection of rides. Yeah. Like, they have, for example, a Rocco plane. Yeah.
00:31:14
Speaker
That was fun watching Keegan ride that. They have just a bunch of really weird, huge rides. Yeah. oh They also have a... Outside the park...
00:31:27
Speaker
They have their kind of store in a maritime museum that is like also a park museum a little bit where they have a very weird wooden slide.
00:31:45
Speaker
Yeah. Why is it there? Was it like in the park at one point? It might've been.
00:31:52
Speaker
I'm wondering if that building was originally part of the park. It could be, because that whole area was just like one big complex. Like they put on um like shows and concerts there. But it's a very, it has a very steep drop to start. Like I posted on my story, like is this slide or is this a dive coaster?
00:32:13
Speaker
that's up It's a kind of steep drop. Yeah, if if any of you guys have ever been to a county fair or something like that, it's it's pretty much the same thing as those giant slides.
00:32:29
Speaker
Same kind of idea. that's fun I chose to film everyone else riding it, which worked out. It was fun to get those reactions.
00:32:39
Speaker
And then played around in the museum for a little while. and then we went over to um a very appropriately named lunch place.
00:32:54
Speaker
Oh, I was trying to remember where we went. Yeah, we went there for Which is called bullets. Yes, we went there for Mike and his bullet. It was pretty tasty. We went and ate outside and then very quickly regretted that decision because it started raining on us.
00:33:09
Speaker
Specifically, Alex regretted that decision because he was the only one that wasn't under an umbrella.
00:33:19
Speaker
So we ended up swapping... Because it was two small tables pushed together so that we could seat all of us. One of them had an umbrella. The table I was at didn't have an umbrella.
00:33:31
Speaker
So the server and I swapped tables so I could have an umbrella. And my back was still soaked. Yeah, I think ah AJ's back was soaked.
00:33:43
Speaker
I was fine. Minus the ah one of the umbrellas dripping water onto the table and everything kept splashing and hitting me. So I took the drink menu and put it on the side and blocked it. That worked out well.
00:33:54
Speaker
But it was it was a tasty lunch. Once the rain passed by, it was very nice out. Right on the lake. Right on the water. Yeah. Super nice.
00:34:04
Speaker
And then from there, we got back on the road for another three hours. Across Island? Lost Island. Yes. I was very excited to get back to Lost Island.
00:34:18
Speaker
Alex had never been to Lost Island, so that was new for him. it's It's a park that I've, you know, had my eye on for a while. It's just, it's also one of those parks where it's like awkwardly in the middle of nowhere. yeah don't really know when you're going be able to get to it.
00:34:36
Speaker
But yeah, that was my first time there. Yep. Um, we got there fairly late in the day. Um, we got there about six. Yeah. Um, met up with our buddy, Shell, because he's, that's basically, or I think it is his home park.
00:34:51
Speaker
Yeah, i think he lives about an hour from there. Yeah, so he, uh, met up, met up with us there, and, uh, Keegan and AJ also went, even though I think they're there fairly often.
00:35:02
Speaker
Yeah, they're, they're about three hours from the park. Yeah. Um, started off getting Alex on the wacky worm. I mean, listen, a cred's a cred. Yep.
00:35:16
Speaker
But it wasn't as shameful
00:35:21
Speaker
as the one earlier the day. Yeah, not at all.
00:35:27
Speaker
We didn't have to talk to guest services.
00:35:31
Speaker
Nate is trying to call right now. I wonder if he's going to try to call me too. Probably. We'll see. um Yeah, and we tried to go over to Napuco.
00:35:47
Speaker
um There was a sign that was temporarily closed. We saw somebody with a ladder in the station. um So we were hopeful that it would reopen. Well, I say hopeful.
00:35:59
Speaker
Alex needed the cred. but But yeah, that was down, Skyboard was down. And how do you pronounce it, Volcanoe?
00:36:13
Speaker
Volcanoe. Whatever. That was down for a good portion of the time we were there. So we're at first kind of having a rough time. But we took a lap around the park, just kind of walking around, checking everything out.
00:36:25
Speaker
ah The new carousel looks fantastic. Oh yeah, that thing's beautiful.
00:36:32
Speaker
Went over to Madagani. Got a few rides on that. That's a good ride. It's fun. ah The articulation of the trains, those seats get very close to your face.
00:36:52
Speaker
And then after Madagani, we hit Fire Runner, their new Raptor, and it was part of the reason that we went there this time. because I was new cred for both Mike and I. And I have a new obsession with that ride. That ride, so that was my first um RMC Raptor.
00:37:14
Speaker
And i thought it was fantastic. Yeah. They really pack a punch into those, you know, small layouts.
00:37:28
Speaker
Because those don't take up a very big footprint. Yeah.
00:37:36
Speaker
Yeah, theyre thing those things hit hard. Yeah. And i love I love fire, so having a fire-themed coaster always makes me happy. Shout out Wildfire at Silver Dollar City.
00:37:47
Speaker
Great ride. Yes. Yeah, anything with fire, I'm all over it. Hashtag Allison's book, if you know, you know. on Yeah, that thing is intense.
00:38:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was... It's interesting riding, like... Jersey Devil and what the Wonder Woman and Magic Mountain. Because those have the 12 car trains.
00:38:13
Speaker
And having written the original layouts with the 8 car trains that are already insane. No, that's a grown one. When you put the... I'm going to ignore that. When you put the 12 car trains on those original layouts, it just... It's it's absolutely crazy.
00:38:33
Speaker
Yeah. the So they're having issues. They had row 11 and 12 blocked off. But even getting... I got three back-to-back-to-back rides in row 10 without even having to get off. Yeah. It just... That thing whips.
00:38:52
Speaker
I did get a ride in row 11. And that was intense. Probably one of the more intense... airtime yeah I think the heart the spot where it hits the hardest it's coming off that like little almost like the little like mid-course turnaround yeah like it comes up and kind of s curves and then dives off yeah but also like that cut it's not a cutback but like the like twisted air hill yeah like I I shrieked like every time on that thing yeah that that element was really good yeah that thing was wild
00:39:36
Speaker
I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect 12 car trains to make that big of a difference. Yeah. Uh, we ended up marathoning Fire Runner the end of the night. I forget how many rides total we got. I think we got like five rides at the end.
00:39:52
Speaker
I think we ended up with like eight total. Yeah. Every ride we kept saying this is our last ride and then there was nobody in the station when we got back. So we're like, again, fine.
00:40:04
Speaker
Yeah, and, like, they just let you ride through the station. Yeah. If there's nobody there, they just let you go again. Yeah, or in my case, I'm like, can I run to the front? Like, is there anybody in the front or can I run there? Like, they're just like... I think they were saying, like, on the way, on the way. I'm like, are you?
00:40:19
Speaker
Okay. I ran over. And he's literally like, don't put your stuff in the bag yet. I'm like, okay.
00:40:26
Speaker
Well, was a good time, and, like, fireworks were going off. Because this was on July 4th. I don't know. We hadn't mentioned that at all. Um... Yeah, it was on July 4th, so I ended the night with multiple... Fireworks rides. Fireworks rides. visible like from You could see them all over the horizon, all around like Waterloo and Cedar Falls.
00:40:44
Speaker
It was cool. Yeah, I got my front row night ride to end everything. I was a happy Allison. um For a while, we were kind of just sitting and chilling. We all got like ice cream.
00:40:57
Speaker
At one point, we were just sitting over by a near Volcanoe. And then finally we saw them drop the chain and it was open for us. um It seems like they were having issues with some of the guns on the ride.
00:41:10
Speaker
Yeah, there were a couple cars that had like one or two working guns. Yeah. But it's good to see that even on a day where they're just, that park was empty. Yeah. Granted, at near the end of the day, it did start to get a little bit crowd more crowded. Yeah. But that's not saying much with how empty it was.
00:41:30
Speaker
But they were still actively working on rides, trying to get them fixed. Yeah. So... Yeah, I know. I i saw one of the ride mechanics running around the park just trying to get everything fixed and make sure it's all open.
00:41:46
Speaker
they're They're definitely there putting in the work. Yeah. And you even saw the ownership walking around the park throughout the day. So that was that's always cool. Something you'll see a lot more in the smaller...
00:42:00
Speaker
family-owned parks like that, yeah where the the family is just going to be walking around, seeing how the day's going, checking in with all their workers, just gives it a little more personal touch. Yeah.
00:42:14
Speaker
What were your thoughts on Vulcan Hill? Alex? It was interesting. I wasn't expecting it, there to be, like, a three d element.
00:42:28
Speaker
Um... They do a good job of like using a mix of live sets and video screens. Um, no, that was also my first Sally, uh, 3d Darkless track. The track was dark. Darkless track ride. Yeah. dark Listen, it's, it's been a long week. Yes.
00:42:51
Speaker
Um, but no, it was, it was good. Not something you would expect to find in a little park like that. a little one-off family home. You know, but and everything there at Lost Island is so well-themed.
00:43:09
Speaker
You know, all the queues have character to, you know, the language that they created for the park this is really cool. There's so much story behind the entire park.
00:43:25
Speaker
wow, this road sucks right now. Okay. I'm very curious if that carries over to some of the water park too. i won worried so I would love to go spend like a week in there and actually kind of explore the story behind the park and see the water park. Yeah.
00:43:41
Speaker
And marathon fire on her. Yes. Very lappable ride. Yeah. Yeah. Yes and no, because after a while, that thing gets really intense. I was fine. like i I think on my third ride on our late evening you know marathon, i was I was starting to get nauseous, and I had to tap off.
00:44:08
Speaker
I'm honestly kind of surprised i don't have bruises on my shoulders. Is that what you were just checking? Yeah, I might have that tomorrow. I can feel it. I have bruises from other rides, but I don't think I have anything from that.
00:44:20
Speaker
It's the only downside to those, like the straps they use on that. Yeah. And like, I'm very headache prone on rides and I never had an issue on Firerunner.
00:44:31
Speaker
Like, I could feel my root beer float coming back a little bit, but never had any ah headache issues. And I could have gone a few more rides. You feel kind of feel the track joints a little bit, but not nearly as bad as you have on some of the other Raptors.
00:44:46
Speaker
They did a really good job of kind of smoothing that out. Yeah. It's just the nature of that style. You're never going to get it perfect. Yeah. But it is definitely my favorite Raptor now. Yeah, I think I agree with that.
00:44:58
Speaker
I got figure out where on my list it is. But it'll be there. Just with... It was good vibes. Good ops. All the ops were... Like, all the ride ops were just super nice and just having fun.
00:45:14
Speaker
Oh, we were also there during Cinderfest, apparently. And so they had a pyro show going on, like, every half hour later in the night. Yeah, it's like a festival they do. Apparently they do, like, around Fourth of July.
00:45:27
Speaker
this time of year. Yeah. The only other thing I saw was like... The different food places have some like spicy food options. I saw like a raspberry chipotle sundae or something like that. Yeah, that was like the one place. Yeah.
00:45:40
Speaker
A few different places have different options like that. Yeah. But yeah, we ended up watching the fire show like three different times because they changed it every time. and it was cool. It was just people like doing, I think flow is what they call it.
00:45:55
Speaker
Just... playing with fire and there was a fire, she ate fire at one point. on The guy dropped one of them at the end of the first show. um And then me and Joe were sitting like right at the front of the chain and this, you know, flaming pole just starts rolling towards me.
00:46:15
Speaker
I'm very sad I wasn't filming at that point, but I had to ah stop that with my foot so I didn't get hit with it. And the guy apologized profusely. But it was cool. I had fun taking pictures of them playing with fire in front of Fire Runner.
00:46:31
Speaker
I got the i got the ah very flame picture I was hoping for. I was happy. That was a good one. Yeah. But overall, just phenomenal night at Lost Island.
00:46:44
Speaker
Yeah, that was that was the first night of the year that they're open as late as they were. They were open until 9.30 yesterday. Yeah.
00:46:56
Speaker
And then went back to the hotel and we all proceeded to die. We all killed some McDonald's. Yeah. And then proceeded to pass out. Yeah.
00:47:07
Speaker
And then had another early morning this morning because... Why not? Because of who we are. So this morning we woke up right early. We got on the road, what, about 7? Yeah, it was pretty early.
00:47:22
Speaker
First stop, Iowa 80 truck stop, the world's largest truck stop. It was underwhelming. It's neat. it's not It's not targeted for us. Yeah. It's more it's not like a Buc-ee's.
00:47:37
Speaker
It's meant more for like actual truckers. Because if you're there and you got your you know you've got your truck getting worked on, they've got a barber, a dentist, chiropractor, almost anything you could need to take care of yourself over a couple days while your truck's broken down. Yeah.
00:47:56
Speaker
it's kind of It's a neat thing to have. I got Starbucks and Taco Bell. Yep. We all got Taco Bell breakfast. Yeah. Before getting back on the road to head to our next destination, Safariland. Safariland.
00:48:10
Speaker
Had to go check out the new Congo Cruiser. I was very sad that Tiger Terror got taken out because that was a very elite coaster. If you went on it, you know that that was
Safari Land and Six Flags Great America
00:48:22
Speaker
an elite coaster. The rave coaster. Yeah, especially when they had the lights off and the music going.
00:48:28
Speaker
Good time. um
00:48:33
Speaker
Yeah, the they have a new miler. Was it the newest miler to exist? Yeah, it's the newest miler to be built since like... I don't remember. It's almost 10 years ago. 2017. Yeah, 2017 at Castaway Cove was the last time they built a mile.
00:48:49
Speaker
So... it It was fun. oh Mike sat in the front. Alex and I sat in the back. And we got ejector on one hill.
00:49:00
Speaker
it's It's a very tight layout for that spot, but it covers a good... It's a custom layout. you know So it covers a decent bit of track for the size that it is and for the space that it fills. But it's got a nice little triangle hill after the first drop. Yeah.
00:49:22
Speaker
I enjoyed it. Yeah, it's a good time. Good little pit stop. No, it's not as good as Tiger Terror. No. It was still a neat little ride. And they still played music. Like, whenever they ah dispatched it, the music came on, the lights came on. It's still little bit of a rave coaster.
00:49:39
Speaker
Yeah. There's a sign following over on the side of the road. I thought it was a trailer in the ditch for a second. Oh, man, that got torn apart. What happened to that? It looks like a straight line win. Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:54
Speaker
Maybe one of the spinny boys detached and just like catapulted towards it. It's so many spinny boys. Well, after Safari Land, Alex missed an exit and then we ended up at ah Six Flags Grand America.
00:50:10
Speaker
They're building them over there. Look at all the parts sitting in the field. neat. They're building even more spinny boys over there. So many spinny boys. Yeah, Alex took a wrong turn, missed an exit, and we ended up at a Six Flags Great America.
00:50:26
Speaker
the The big reason we wanted I wanted to go there was for the first time in almost 10 years, they have, for their 50th anniversary, they have American Eagle Racing Which, like I said, it hasn't done it in almost 10 years.
00:50:44
Speaker
So, it's very neat to go and check that out. Our train, me and Alex went to the red train, Mike went to blue. And we won significantly.
00:50:58
Speaker
But we also had the inside of the helix. yeah oh I definitely slammed my arm on the little thing on the side of the train. My arm came down hard on that and it's still sore.
00:51:10
Speaker
It ran better than I expected it to. It ran about how i expected it to. That's to say, not great. But Helix is very cool visually.
00:51:25
Speaker
After that, Alex, you went and rode Goliath for the first time. Yep. I bet it's a smooth ride. Yeah. I mean, it is starting to show its age.
00:51:37
Speaker
How old is that thing now? Ten years, I think. Where is the time going? i walk My log ride's not cooperating, so Mike will have to get you the information on that. He's active on RC2. 2014, so it's 12 years old. Jeez. Yeah.
00:51:55
Speaker
Yeah, so for a 12-year-old RMC with topper track, it's pretty dang good. And I doubt they've done any kind of retracking on the wood. No, it didn't look like it. So, I mean, that's...
00:52:08
Speaker
That would be the third RMC ever built. Wow. Certainly a smaller...
00:52:18
Speaker
I forgot how many built they built those first years. It was the third year that they built coasters. It's the two, three, four, their fifth. New Texas Giant, Outlaw Run, I-Rat, Medusa, and then Goliath.
00:52:33
Speaker
So it's it's certainly on the smaller side of things. But that thing packs a punch. That stall is so good. Yes. It's one of... i think that did they only do two... I think they only did two or... They did three of the toppers.
00:52:55
Speaker
Yeah, okay. There's three topper tracks remaining because Lightning Rod pretty much is... Ibox. All Ibox now. Yeah, yeah that was...
00:53:05
Speaker
That thing is surprising. It's short, but yeah, it packs a punch for what it is. Yeah. Yeah, so while I did that, Mike and Allison went and wrote Superman. Yeah, we went and hit Superman for for Buzz Bars Bingo. For Bingo purposes.
00:53:21
Speaker
We ended up in front row. That was cool. Yeah, I don't think I'd ever done front row on that. It was fun. It went down right afterwards because somebody had a lost article. Of course they did.
00:53:32
Speaker
oh And then we met up And did Raging Bull? Raging Bull, yeah. Which, also a new credit for me, because last year for the Buzz Bars Deep Dish Stumble, that ride was closed because they were actively repainting it while we were there.
00:53:54
Speaker
It looks really nice. Because let's repaint a ride right in the middle of the season. Yeah. And it opened like a week later or something, didn't Yeah. Yeah. but they they did a fantastic job um yeah the paint job looks really good yeah um the ride was running pretty well yeah we got back row i remembered nothing about that layout it'd been a few years since i've been on it the only thing i really remembered was that it just absolutely sends you to the moon from in the back row yeah with the pre-drop yeah that was a lot of fun yeah that thing that thing ran well enjoyed it
00:54:31
Speaker
And after that we would grab some food real quick because meal plans are a thing. I had a chicken bacon ranch pizza for the 50th anniversary. I had some chicken tendies with some pretty dang good mac and cheese.
00:54:45
Speaker
Probably the best theme park mac and cheese I've had. And I had some, there was a teriyaki chicken rice bowl. From Chop 6. From Chop 6, which is quite good. We had a very good variety of food.
00:54:59
Speaker
Um. I think that's one of the few Chop 6 remaining. Because I think they got rid of a lot of those within the chain. I think so. Last I heard, know Magic Mountain still has one.
00:55:14
Speaker
I know Over Georgia did have one, but I don't think it's that anymore. oh
00:55:20
Speaker
Up until last year when Six Flags America closed, oh they had one as well. Magic Mountain does not have one anymore.
00:55:32
Speaker
Really? Yeah. Maybe they're just phasing those out. Yeah, I think they are slowly kind of phasing it out. But, yeah, the food quality at Six Flags has definitely improved.
00:55:47
Speaker
in the last few years, even before the merger, they had started to kind of improve it. But I walked, you guys ate at the little food court by Rakshasa. I walked up to Strutter's up by the drop of Rakshasa.
00:56:02
Speaker
And it's that one's been totally redone. It's got the Cedar Fair style counter service where you kind of, the almost like the buffet style as you go down the the serving line. Yeah. up Yeah.
00:56:18
Speaker
Yeah. And then after lunch, um, and Alex really wanted to get on Whizzer. It had been closed for a while during and the time we were there. But then as we were leaving lunch, saw that it was open.
00:56:30
Speaker
So we went over. Yep. Got some cuddles. It was fun ride. Well, Mike and I got cuddles. It's shocking how smooth that ride still is, other than some kind of janky transitions that you're going to have with something that old. Yeah. And I had forgotten how that thing gets some speed for what it does. Yeah.
00:56:49
Speaker
And going going back to the, you know, rush roughness, I know they did, they from what I've heard, they have replaced a bunch of track in the last handful of years.
00:57:03
Speaker
I know that ride from... at least for the local guests, that ride has a ah cult following. Yeah. Yeah, I know it was like early 2000s, I think.
00:57:14
Speaker
They had announced that they were going to tear it down, and they got so much backlash that they ended up kind of taking that back. I think it was for Superman. They were going to tear it down, and I think that might have been where Superman was going to go.
00:57:29
Speaker
Instead, they ended up tearing out, I think that might have been the year they tore out Shockwave.
00:57:37
Speaker
I don't remember. But I'm glad Wizzer is still there. It's very cute. Yeah, that thing rips through the layout. Yeah. Yeah.
00:57:46
Speaker
There was one, like, bouncy moment. Like, side-to-side bouncy. But that also might have been exaggerated by me and Mike sharing a seat. Yeah.
00:57:58
Speaker
But, yep, then we hit the road because we got work in the morning and still have a decent drive to go. Yep. So that is our recap of our ridiculous road trip that we decided to do this weekend. Yeah. That brings us to right now we're sitting in the car. Yeah. oh The way home from said trip. Yep.
00:58:20
Speaker
Um, so we got about 45 minutes until Wally's cool. Um, so if you follow our social media, um you I posted something on our story about some this or that's where we wanted, well, I wanted listeners to pose just little this or that's for us to discuss on this trip. And I got a lot of responses.
00:58:47
Speaker
So literally what I did, I took all of them, put them in a list randomizer to randomize them. And I don't have names attributed to who... ask them because a lot of people asked a lot of things um and just for the sake of having this go by quicker because i have a list of 29 this or that's for us to go through in the next 43 minutes before we get to all these um some of them will be quick some of them will probably have some discussion so are you guys ready for this i guess send it um i did not put limitations on
00:59:24
Speaker
what people could ask if they're basic or heinous. So there's a little bit of both in there. All right, number one, Dollywood and Silver Dollar City now serve alcohol and have good bars or all soda at Six Flags parks are free.
00:59:41
Speaker
I know my answer immediately. i'm going with Dollywood and STC now. have alcohol. Yeah. The drink pass is cheap enough at the Six Flags parks. Yeah. The drink pass is prepaid for me, so Girlmas says that all drinks are already free at Six Flags.
00:59:56
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to have to go with Dollywood and Silver Dollar. Because just they're so themed at those parks that those would be some really cool bars. Yeah, I agree. And probably some really well-themed drinks.
01:00:12
Speaker
Alright. Number two. This one will probably be more for me and Mike. But Alex will probably have opinions. Europa Park or Fantasiland? Fantasiland.
01:00:24
Speaker
I think I have to go Fantasiland. Which one do you want to go to more, Alex? God, I don't know. I want to go to them both. Which one calls to you more?
01:00:37
Speaker
I'm going to say Europa. Okay. I think Europa might have a little bit bigger it's got a bigger lineup it's got a lot more rides but it does not quite have the level of theming that fantasia has granted i have voltron ranked higher than anything in fantaziland so that there's that too but overall i i want to go back to fantaziland more than i want to go back to europa like I think I even said over the weekend or something, like, i want to go back and spend more time at Rulantica over Europa right now. Yeah, Rulantica's the best.
01:01:15
Speaker
Alright, next one. I immediately know my answer for this one. Airy Force gets relocated to King's Island, where King's Island gets a coaster model of your choice and Airy is then demolished.
01:01:28
Speaker
Bye-bye, Airy. Yeah, agree. Goodbye, Airy. I'm not the biggest lover of Airy Force. um Kings Island is getting a gigatilt. That would be cool, though. That would be sweet.
01:01:43
Speaker
I would love some sort of, like, Intamin Blitz, multi-launch, something like that. Or even, like, something like Abysses. Yeah.
01:01:54
Speaker
God, that would be nice. I'd be happy with... Something with a multi-launch would be happy, and then I really don't care about Airy Force from that, so... Granted, we're still planning in go ride it, but...
01:02:07
Speaker
All right. Griffin or Sheikra?
01:02:11
Speaker
I'm going to say Griffin because i haven't been on Sheikra. So I'm going to, I think Griffin. Griffin is essentially the same layout as Sheikra. Just it's got that extra dive into a loop. Yeah. The second inversion.
01:02:27
Speaker
Yeah. I'm going Griffin as well. I think it's prettier too with Alpengeist right there. Yeah. And the whole splashdown area is a little nicer. Yeah.
01:02:38
Speaker
All right. Bucket list intimate, Soaring with Dragon or Flying Aces?
01:02:45
Speaker
I'd have to watch another POV of Soaring with
Coaster Preferences and Personal Anecdotes
01:02:47
Speaker
Dragon. don't even remember which one is Soaring with Dragon. But I do have Flying Aces as like a bucket list for me right now, so I might just have to go with that on default.
01:02:57
Speaker
Because I like Skyrush. I think Soaring with Dragon isn't going to be nearly as good. It's one of the first ones with the swing launch. Yeah, I mean, it looks fun. Yeah, but I think Flying Aces is going to be a little higher for me. yeah I'm going to go Flying Aces.
01:03:15
Speaker
This is a tough one. Makar Vakula. oh I think I have to go with Mok. just cause It's Mok. I have Voltron and Stardust
01:03:30
Speaker
in my top three. For me, i i mean I really haven't written that many new-gen Moks. So going to go Vekoma. But all the new Vekoma stuff that I've written, like Sirens, Abyssus, Formula, Lack, they just kick so much butt. Yeah.
01:03:54
Speaker
I mean, I have four mocks in my top ten, so yeah I'm going to have to go Mock. Alright, this one was from Nate. Good luck answering Canyon Blaster, Canyon Blaster, or Canyon Blaster.
01:04:10
Speaker
Manhattan Express. Desperado.
01:04:17
Speaker
Canyon Blaster and Adventure Note is my correct answer. Which, love that, right? Anyway. Yeah, that thing's a good tone. Millennium Force support Orion.
01:04:30
Speaker
Millennium. Millennium.
01:04:35
Speaker
I mean, Alex and I both have Millennium tattoos, so we kind of have to answer that. Yeah, that's an easy one. We had a really good ride on it recently, so I was happy.
01:04:46
Speaker
Now, don't get me wrong. Orion's a good ride. But it's no Millennium. It's no Millennium. yeah Millennium was the OG giga coaster.
01:04:59
Speaker
Let's see. Who would you rather have your restraint checked by? Mr. Six, Kenny Kangaroo, or Joey from Voltron? Joey from Voltron. Joey from Voltron. Joey from Voltron. Love you, Joey.
01:05:14
Speaker
Although having a check by Kenny Kangaroo would be kind of funny.
01:05:19
Speaker
I don't know. Only if Mr. Six is dancing. yeah Is he dancing down the platform as he's checking your strings? Yeah. With the music playing. Yes. Would you rather bring back King the Kha, Dueling Dragons, or Volcano the Blast Coaster?
01:05:39
Speaker
I think Dueling Dragons.
01:05:44
Speaker
Yeah, I agree.
01:05:47
Speaker
Then that pisses all thisss is off all the intimate fanboys, too. But also, just...
01:05:54
Speaker
But also, that's bringing back two crates. Well, there's that, and also it's just, it's it was such a cool coaster visually. it was It was cool. Even when they stopped doing it.
01:06:08
Speaker
For me, as somebody who's an Intamin fanboy, okay i can't decide. Like, Kingda Ka looked fun, but so did Volcano Blast.
01:06:22
Speaker
I can't decide. I don't know.
01:06:26
Speaker
Pick one. Volcano. Okay. I didn't get to ride Volcano. and I just missed it. That would be cool to ride. um Battle for Metropolis or Boo Blasters?
01:06:43
Speaker
Boo Blasters. Probably Boo Blasters. I think Boo Blasters. I think only done one Battle for Metropolis and it was fun. I think I got a little nauseous on it. was one at, uh, Ober Georgia, I think. I don't know.
01:06:59
Speaker
Also, the answer is Phantom Theater. Yes. Uh, Silver Dollar City food or Dollywood food?
01:07:10
Speaker
silver dollar silver dollar city because the buffet yeah i haven't been like super impressed with a lot of dollywood food dolly and it's expensive burn it most of the times i've gone to silver dollar city food's been included because it's been during eases coast for christmas yeah yeah but when we bought food at the dollywood stumble it was like 30 for a meal and a drink at the the new place up where the old Splash Battle was.
01:07:38
Speaker
That's crazy. Yeah.
01:07:43
Speaker
Alright, this one's fun. Would you rather get made fun of relentlessly by a Disney Jungle Cruise skipper or get brought out on stage at the Universal Horror Makeup Show? Jungle Cruise. Jungle Cruise.
01:07:55
Speaker
I have no desire to do the horror makeup show. I will absolutely take being made fun of by a Jungle Skipper, especially if it's Gary. Oh, 100% if it's good.
01:08:08
Speaker
Alright. RMC boss, hurler, or another witty of your choice?
01:08:15
Speaker
I do think hurler needs to be RMC'd. As long as they do it different from two sets. Hurler just needs to be demolished. I would love to see RMC boss, though. Like, that would be a cool layout. RMC boss would be interesting.
01:08:33
Speaker
I don't know. I...
01:08:36
Speaker
I kind of like Gravity Group's product a little bit more.
01:08:43
Speaker
I don't know. It's hard for me to decide. Just because I know some of the people that listen to this podcast. RMC, the Coney Island Cyclone.
01:08:55
Speaker
You would... No. I refuse. I like that ride.
01:09:05
Speaker
Zadra or Untamed? think I'm the only one that's done both. Bless you. But the answer is Zadra. Zadra. Untamed looks fun, but it just looks like one of the lower tier RFCs.
01:09:21
Speaker
But those are also the RFCs that I love. Yeah. When they're not as, like... Horseful. Yeah. That said, Zadra is still the answer. Yes. What about Wildfire, Colmart, and...
01:09:33
Speaker
haven't been on it Neither have you. No, neither have But it looks good. I'm not sure what to think of that ride, and I won't know what to think about that ride until I finally do ride it.
01:09:46
Speaker
Um... SBF Visa, Figure 8, or Wacky Worm?
01:09:53
Speaker
I choose Visa. Yeah. I'm Wacky Worm. Yeah. Wacky Worm's a little more comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. But Visa Spinners, you can get really good rides on them. Yeah.
01:10:08
Speaker
I'm not a huge fan of rides that spin, so I just automatically Wacky Worm. Yeah. Fair enough. Speaking of rides that spin, there's one here in Lafayette. Yeah, we could go get that one.
01:10:23
Speaker
Alex needs that one, don't you? I do.
01:10:27
Speaker
Mike, give me directions. Oh, geez. Well, we might be having to pause this soon. TBD. Are we actually going to go there? Is it this exit?
01:10:38
Speaker
I don't know. No. We better figure out quick.
01:10:42
Speaker
Unless we pass the exit already.
01:10:51
Speaker
We're actively potentially going to get Alex a new crib. can confirm that the gps is changing let's see is it this exit like do we need to yeah was that exit never mind because now it says it's a 30 minute detour to get there yeah well we thought about it little too late no new plus one maybe next time yep all right um
01:11:24
Speaker
Start, bench, and cut. Velocicoaster, Voyage, and Voltron.
01:11:31
Speaker
Start, Voyage,
01:11:35
Speaker
bench, Velocicoaster, or bench, Voltron, cut, Velocicoaster. That's just rude.
01:11:44
Speaker
I'm going to start, this is going to be surprising coming from me, but I'm going to start Velocicoaster. I'm going to bench Voyage and cut Voltron.
01:11:55
Speaker
And my reasoning for that is variety.
01:12:02
Speaker
So... I'm going to start Voyage.
01:12:11
Speaker
Bench...
01:12:17
Speaker
Voltron and cut...
01:12:21
Speaker
Velocico's turn. Velocico's turn. Like a man.
01:12:26
Speaker
You're wrong. Like a man of class. All right. Hex or Villavolta? I don't remember which one is Villavolta.
01:12:37
Speaker
Villavolta, I think, was the one that... I think.
01:12:43
Speaker
I know this is Madhouse. Or whatever and they're called. I know we did we did Hex. Well, Villa Volta is the madhouse at Ethel. Oh. So we have not done that one yet.
01:12:59
Speaker
Yeah. We did do Hex. So I guess by default, we're going to to say Hex right now. Yeah, we're going to go Hex.
01:13:06
Speaker
Click, Alex, pick just based off of vibes. Hex. Cool. Intimate or mock product perfect? Mock. Intimate.
01:13:17
Speaker
Intimate.
01:13:19
Speaker
This is an interesting one and I know exactly who asked this one. Yellow roller coasters or green roller coasters?
01:13:29
Speaker
I can't think of yellow coasters enough. We did a very good green coaster yesterday.
01:13:36
Speaker
Yellow?
01:13:39
Speaker
I'm gonna go yellow because technically a lot of wooden roller coasters are made out of Southern yellow pine, including Voyage.
01:13:49
Speaker
but also like Kingda Ka is green, Madagani. Skyrush is yellow. Skyrush is yellow. I mean, aren't the supports on Firerunner yellow?
01:14:02
Speaker
think they're All orange. Yellow adjacent. I'm just going to go off of instinct. Yellow. Sure, I'll say yellow. Mostly because Skyrush and half of Stardust.
01:14:16
Speaker
Love to.
01:14:20
Speaker
What? Montez supports yellow. No. Also can track, like, no. Alex, what was your answer? Yellow.
01:14:31
Speaker
Okay.
01:14:34
Speaker
You have one day for an elite immersive theme park experience. Do you choose del Disneyland or e yeah or Epic Universe? Epic. epic epic
01:14:45
Speaker
Although I wouldn't hate another day at Disneyland soon.
01:14:49
Speaker
Cedar Point on a very busy day without Fastlane or Litch Gardens and everything is a walk-on. Cedar Point. Yeah, i vote Cedar Point.
Road Trip Reflections and Park Comparisons
01:14:58
Speaker
Just because I know I can have fun at that park without riding a thing.
01:15:02
Speaker
I'm going to say the Litch Gardens because I haven't been there. I haven't been there either. Neither of us. But it'll probably just be a cred run whenever I go. Suddenly traffic.
01:15:15
Speaker
Oh, so you're one of those guys that when traffic slides, you people who flash you. Not usually. What was that? For a coaster day trip, would you rather travel by car or by airplane?
01:15:29
Speaker
Depends on how far we're going. Yeah. Granted, we have ah kind of essentially have done day trip-ish Orlando yeah in the car.
01:15:40
Speaker
Yeah. If it's Orlando, definitely flight. Yeah. If possible. If possible. But usually we're going to gravitate to car. Because it's going to be cheaper. Yeah.
01:15:52
Speaker
And then generally i don't have to drive. Which is a bonus. Can confirm. Have not driven this whole trip. She's driving after we go to Wally's. No we're not. or No I'm not.
01:16:07
Speaker
I will continue to sit in the back seat like I have this whole time. oh Kings Island or Cedar Point? Kings Island. Kings Island.
01:16:19
Speaker
Cedar Point. Contrarian. Just gotta to be the different person. Yeah. Contrarian.
01:16:26
Speaker
a Trip to one continent to get 100 coaster credits assuming you have none in that continent. North America or Europe? Europe. Europe. Europe. Mostly because they give a crap about theming.
01:16:40
Speaker
And I think more of my top coasters are from Europe than the U.S. Yeah. at this point. That's a
01:16:51
Speaker
good question. There's also just a lot in Europe I want to explore still. ah Top tier theme park bar to get drunk at, Celestiki or Bar 1919?
01:17:05
Speaker
Where is Bar 1919? Is that the... Rupert. Yeah. Okay. I don't know enough about 1919 because I haven't been there yet. I've not been to Bar 1919.
01:17:15
Speaker
But also Celestiki has the Pina Colada. The Pina Colada, yeah. Yeah, that thing was very good value for Worldwide. Honorable mention to Sky Bar at Indiana Beach. Yeah, that was fun. That was a fun With the Giant Jenga. Yeah.
01:17:31
Speaker
Based off, for me, i haven't been either. But based off of vibes, I'm going to say Celestiki. I feel like Bar 1919 is a better one to just like sit and chill at as opposed to sit and get drunk at.
01:17:48
Speaker
I could be wrong. Mikhail will probably listen to this and correct me immediately. But
01:17:55
Speaker
for now I'm in it. She's still a stinky. Until we go to Fantasio Land again.
01:18:02
Speaker
European parks or American parks? European. European. European. They also said NY. Because European. I just love those parks a lot more.
01:18:13
Speaker
Like I just said, they they give a crap about theming and experience a lot more, I think. Yeah. I agree. You don't have a lot of parks to go off with, Alex, but... No, I have two.
01:18:27
Speaker
Three. You've been to Zaderland. its are True. Krakow, I doesn't really count, but... Yeah, definitely European parks for me oh Cedar Point in 2006 or 2026? What was there in 2006? Where? Cedar Point. Cedar Point. Hold on. The RC DeViz.
01:18:47
Speaker
where see a point here
01:18:52
Speaker
arsvis
01:19:00
Speaker
looking at the text that Nate just sent? No, i was checking to make sure the recording is still going. I think Nate just stopped at a random fair.
Marion County Fair to Cedar Point Journey
01:19:08
Speaker
he did. Yeah, he stopped at the Marion County Fair. Been there.
01:19:11
Speaker
Yeah, we have all three threads. Yeah, I know. Was that Pramta? North American Amusements or something? You're supposed to be looking up Cedar Point. i So it was 2006 Cedar Point? Yeah.
01:19:27
Speaker
So... As far as like closed drives go, they would have had Wildcat.
01:19:38
Speaker
Would have had Disaster Transport at that point.
01:19:46
Speaker
Mean Streak.
01:19:51
Speaker
Original Top Girl Dragster. Blue Streak. Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Quarksprew, Gemini, Iron Dragon, Magna. Was it still Mantis then?
01:20:03
Speaker
It was still Mantis at that point. Millennium, Raptor. I think I gotta go 2026. Just in terms of innovation and like coasters that I like. Since 2006 they've opened Maverick, Siren's Curse, Steel Vengeance, they've converted Top Trail 2, Gatekeeper,
01:20:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think I gotta go to 2026. I think I agree. Even though like the crowds are a lot more now, I think. Well, I don't know. waited in some long lines in 2004. Yeah. I'm gonna agree with you guys. 2026. Yeah.
01:20:48
Speaker
Final question on the list.
DC Rivals vs Beyond the Cloud Debate
01:20:50
Speaker
Bucket list mock. DC rivals or Beyond the Cloud?
01:20:56
Speaker
I forget be Beyond the Cloud. i think i Oh, that's the one with the top hat and like the stupid fast part line I think I chose that one. That one looks more my style. Yeah, I think that one looks... That or DC. Yeah, I think Beyond the Clouds probably is going to be the more desirable of the two.
01:21:18
Speaker
Yeah. It's really just you want launch or lift hill. Yeah.
01:21:25
Speaker
It's got a pretty solid launch out the station too. Yeah.
01:21:33
Speaker
I don't know how fast the initial launch is going. It flies through that roller. Yeah, I'm choosing Beyond the Clouds. Yeah, I think Beyond the Clouds is the proper pick for that one.
01:21:46
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I'll pick that. But in actuality, it is Voltron. True. That wasn't the question that was posed, but...
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:21:59
Speaker
Well, that was it for the ah this or that list.
01:22:03
Speaker
Thank you to everyone who gave us things to this or that. That was fun.
01:22:10
Speaker
I got through that pretty quickly, actually. Well, I don't have Nate or Jen here to say that brings us to the end of the episode. So that brings us to the end of the episode, right? Yeah. Is this the end of the episode? Yeah.
01:22:23
Speaker
Oh... ah Hopefully the audio quality isn't too bad on this. There's been some very bad road noise in here, so hopefully I can edit some of that out if I need to. I'm doing my best to avoid the rough parts of the road.
01:22:37
Speaker
It's appreciated. Yeah, these car episodes are always kind of interesting audio quality-wise. A lot harder to edit, too, because it's all one audio file. Um, shout out to our Patreon people. I don't have your list of names in front of me, so I don't want to, like, say it wrong, so I'm just gonna say thank you. We love you.
01:22:57
Speaker
Um, I will remedy this in the episode description when I write it shortly. Um, yeah, thank y'all for listening. If you want us to do more, like, car episodes like this on, like, road trips, let me know if you like this style of episode.
01:23:13
Speaker
And we also just want to do more fun games episodes. Um, Yeah. Thanks for listening. thank keep Think keeping inverted. Yes, perfect.
01:23:24
Speaker
I need sleep. Anyway, goodbye everyone. ya. Bye.
01:23:53
Speaker
Bye.