Here at Oh Orlando towers we love a good coaster. We really do. What a way to start a day off than been flung around at daft speeds and upside down? Orlando is the home of the ‘coaster in our opinion. You have 4 major parks in pretty close proximity to each other. WDW, Universal, Busch Gardens and Sea World. If you can’t find a ride you like there, then there is no hope for you….
As ‘coaster fans we love the “old school” style, proper steel tracks and silly speeds on launch. That’s not to say we don’t like the “virtual” coasters, we do! We love ‘em. But for us you cannot beat “the wind in your hair and the bugs in your teeth” variety.
I think the first coaster I rode in Orlando was The Hulk. This was back in 1999 when it was a bit more of a bone rattler. As a U.K. theme park fan I thought rides were about as good as they could get, then we went to Orlando…. sweet baby jebus! This thing felt like it was gonna tear my face off! After that, I was hooked!
It’s funny how we all love a good roller coaster, that feeling of being scared to death in the queue, then laughing like a moose when you get off is a very unique one. We don’t think that there is another feeling like it. So, what we are talking about today is some of our favourite roller coasters, (we can’t say all of them) so, without further ado lets get on with it…
These are not going for to be in any particular order, so excuse us if we jump parks or locales. Like I said my very first was The Hulk, this one had me hooked from the start, just the noise it makes as it passes you by, the low growling and rumbling is very intimidating, it almost dares you to ride it. No one calls me chicken and gets away with it… the launch of this ride has always “got me” in a way not many other can, it’s like someone pulling back on a gigantic crossbow and the trigger is pulled and WHHHOOOOOSSSSHHHHHHHHH we are off to the races! The climb into the cobra at the top is stunning. It says hold on from the get go. A little word about the seats, or torture devises as we like to call them, rock hard. Or an “Ass killer” is another. I think these seats were developed by the dental industry, as they seem to want to shake your fillings out too. We once had the brilliant idea of riding the Hulk 5 times in a row, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time…there was no queue at all so we kept jumping back on as soon as we had got off. After the 5th time I realised that maybe, just maybe it wasn’t a good idea to ride it one more time… I sat on the low wall opposite the ride sipping a bottle of water looking as green as the big fella himself. Tracey kept asking “shall we pop on one more time?” “Nope” was all I could manage. This ride has everything you could want, exciting starts, twists turns and inversions and there is never really a long queue for it. Also if you are able to keep your eyes open it has some spectacular views around the park, just don’t have a big breakfast or lunch before riding it. *top tip* if you want the ‘extra thrill’ on this ride sit at the back, you get longer in the launch tunnel and the “whip” over the jumps is that bit more “ooooooooo” if you know what I mean.
Now, over to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain. This is another of those rides that shakes the bejeuzus out of you, but it sure is fun! I personally love the theming of this ride (anyone remember Space 1999?? No? Just me then..) its very quaint in a retro way. The queue inside is a nice long dark tunnel with lights and mirrors and its a blessed relief from the hot sun. The ride vehicles are bobsled-esq (one person behind another) a very rudimentary seat/padding and lap bar. This all adds to the fun of this ride. It’s not very often you can take your bags onto a coaster but you can on here, the standard putting your legs through the handles and stuffing your Mickey Ears into the mesh bag in front of you. This ride whips along a super twisty turny track in the dark, you feel like you are actually flying through space! It’s so much fun, its one of those where its not that scary really but because it’s dark and the way it corners you actually feel like its gonna clatter into something. This is one of the best rides for the on ride pics. Some of the faces folks pull are brilliant and the state of your hair when you get off is definitely funny, most women with longer hair get off looking like they have been dragged through a hedge backwards. One of the best things about this ride is the speed in which they load people up and feed folks off. It’s a real people eater. One thing we would love to do is to ride it with the lights on, when you watch a few YouTube clips of this you see just how close the structure is to you!
Hollywood Tower of Terror is not a “roller coaster” per se but it is a thrill ride! The Hotel detailing is way way above anything we’ve seen before or since. The actual amount of theming that has gone into this attraction beggars belief, and is based on the show The Twilight Zone. You are transported to another dimension and thrown into an alternate reality. One thing we ALWAYS find hilarious is when people get into the “elevator” in the hotel basement and put on the little lap strap, they must think ah…nothing much will happen here…. the then pre ride preamble with the back story of how the hotel came to be shut down and the ghosts beckoning to you too join them then the sudden blackness and that feeling of “are we moving or not??” Then stillness….suddenly UP we go! A slamming on of the brakes then you hang there for a moment looking out through the lift doors….and DOWN! Someone’s bag is up round your ears and kids start screaming (along with the parents) ……dead stop and then do you drop or go up?!?!? This is the beauty of this ride, its a random program that changes each time. The looks on some folks faces when they get off is priceless. Tracey’s nephew Oliver went on it at a young age, his words on getting off it were “thats not for me, I shan’t be doing that again”…….. so funny.
Back over in Universal, the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket is DEFINITELY a coaster. It’s the “alpha male” of the coaster world. We always looked at this and thought well, its doesn’t look too bad… so in we went. The queue was and still is bit of a squeeze, you can feel quite hemmed in at times with the snaking metal barriers, but while you are in the queue you are busy trying to chose your song for the ride, yep, you heard me. Via a small panel on the lap bar you can choose your own music, rock, metal, disco, hip hop and county and western. (That last one has always baffled me tbh?). It’s absolutely crucial to choose the correct track, I always go with Motley Crue ‘Kickstart My Heart” or one of my all time favourite songs the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” you cannot go wrong with either of these choices. Be warned though, if you don’t choose it in time it’s automatically chosen at random for you! Now to the ride. When you are hustled into your seat and you pull the lap bar down you think “hang on is this all that’s holding me in?” Quickly choose your ride music and then the climb starts. A vertical climb of 167 feet. Yup. A 167 feet… yikes. Then the “topple” at the apex then down and round you go! At some points this ride gets up to nearly 65mph. The you are never truly upside down. The loop and roll just after the start go around the outside of the circle so so it feels like you are upside down but you never are. Some hard acceleration on this and when they say keep your head against the headrest they ain’t kidding. The turns on HRRR are vicious, you are trying to get a good look across the park but you are pulled thee ways from Sunday by the G’s. It’s fab! If you can either ride front car or the very last car, the front is brilliant for the initial “topple” over at the top of the lift, the rear is the best for that whipping effect. One fun thing with the ride is they have a built in camera in the lap bar that records video of the ride, jump off and go to the kiosk downstairs and pull up your footage…you think you look cool and suave. Nope. You’ll most likely be gurning like a fool at a 90’s rave.
Over in the Magic Kingdom we have a couple family friendly coaster rides and first off is one of the best looking rides in the world. That’s just our opinion obviously, The Severn Dwarfs Mine Train. You cannot help but smile on this, from the very first “Hi ho” to the last will have you singing along the whole time you are riding it. The mine queue is another that is very welcome in the Florida heat. It’s always nice and cool ‘down there’. There are not many rides out there that are coasters and fun for all the family but this one fits the bill perfectly. A gentle launch and rolling tilting turns are the best for the youngest and eldest riders and the fact the whole train load of people join in singing “hi ho” is an experience not to be missed. This is a fun fun little ride, within one of the best ‘soundtracks’ ever to be had. There are a couple of quick, not fast drops and turns towards the end but don’t worry nothing too scary. The cottage scene at the end is one of the best “Disney moments” that there is on a ride. Please don’t be put off by the queue length, it’s well worth it. And don’t forget to “fiddle/faddle” as Molly says on Allears.net and snaffle that Fast Pass.
Another ride in Magic Kingdom is the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. A cracking ride that is not the ‘full on’ coaster but a great introduction to them. It has some really good detailing all through it. It’s based on an abandoned mine/canyon and the way it’s been been made is nothing but astonishing. Each “rock” has been hand sculpted (if you have Disney+ watch the Imagineering Story, they show you how they did this in Disneyland Paris). The car is an old mine car with a old fashioned lap bar, this is an indication that it’s not too fast. The ride has some decent climbs and turns they are quick but not too quick as to scare anyone really. The thing I like most is the noise the train makes as it clacks and clanks up the hills. It’s got a really old fashioned feel and sound to it. One of the best little features are the decreasing radius turns, these get sharper the more you turn into them. All in all its a great introduction to the coaster world. And what about the Slinky Dog family friendly coaster at Hollywood Studios – ONE OF THE BEST MOST FUN FAMILY FRIENDLY COASTERS EVER! That is all – nothing further to say on this subject! And Everest over in Animal Kingdom is an amazingly themed absolutely fantastic coaster with a fabulous back story, an amazing and interesting queue and has thrills and spills galore – another one of our faves!
THE FREEWAY IS JAMMED! BUT WE BE JAMMIN’ these words on the road works sign tell you that this ride is going be “off the hook” as we say. The Aerosmith Rock n Roller coaster is one of the best you will ride. It’s also the only coaster you go “upside down” on in WDW. Don’t let the age of this ride fool you, from the initial get go in your limo you will be scooting along at 57mph, its 0 to 57 is 2.8 seconds. None to shabby. Before I get ahead of myself I have to mention the pre show/queue, one of the best ones in any parks. You enter into the recording studio where Aerosmith are recording some new tunes. After they convince their manager to get you tickets to tonight’s show and order you all a ‘super-stretch’ limo, you pop down to the garage to get into your super fast ride, the cars are filled quickly and then the ride begins. From the first burst of speed you scoot onto the freeway and thats when the speed run through traffic and road work dodging begins. This ride really throws you about. And when I say really, I mean REALLY, you are never sure of what way is up! We love the music on this ride, as a rock fan of “many” years it bring a tear to my eye hearing stuff I grew up on. After whipping about and flying around corners and dodging signs the ride comes to a screeching halt at the concert. We love the fact that most people are doing that ‘half laugh/ half confused face’ when they leave. A.R.R.C. Also has some of the best ‘band merch’ in any of the parks. It’s like the Merch stall at a gig. Rock on!!!
The future is looking bright for coasters in Orlando as well, over in Epcot you have the Guardians of the Galaxy- Cosmic Rewind coaster being built. This is a huge enterprise and the ride building is the size of 4 Spaceship Earths. It will feature a backwards launch and the story is being written by James Gunn who has written and made the films.
Over in the Magic Kingdom there is the Tron Lightcycle ride. This is a direct copy of the one in Shanghai, the look and feel of this is going to be epic. This will emulate riding the light cycles like the films. With sharp cornering and fast acceleration this will be one to beat. And if they do not have Daft Punk doing the music they are missing a trick.
Last new ride being built as we speak is the huge new one at Universal Studios outside the Jurassic Park building. This is a massive, massive coaster, it loops around the lagoon in front of the Jurassic park visitor center and goes all around the back and side. There are so many twists an turns in this as well as rolls, we think this will be the coaster to beat in the coming years. There has been no name for it as yet, with Universal as near as dammit saying “what new coaster?” There have been a few reports that that have trademarked between 10-15 names, the front runner at the moment is the Velocicoaster, but your guess is a good as ours?? Lucky for us we have a few friends over in Orlando who are keeping us up to date with the construction and theming. Stay tuned.
We have not mentioned the new Hagrids ride in this blog, The reason being we haven’t ridden it and of course now have no chance of riding it this year (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!) So we cannot comment on it, except to say it looks blooming brilliant.
We have new plans in place for later this year and also our Orlando trip next year so we’ll keep you all up to date on what’s happening. There’ll be a vlog of us taking about coasters later in the weekend so don’t forget to look for us on YouTube!
Finally, this week has seen the soft opening of Magic Kingdom to cast members and then to Annual Pass Holders, and today sees the opening of both Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom to the general public. We are delighted to know that everyone is welcome back at the parks. Later this week Epcot and Hollywood Studios in Orlando and also the two parks at Disneyland Paris are set to reopen. We will watch (with envy and delight) our friends in Orlando going back into the parks this week and will bring you a full round up next weekend of how it all went and how people felt about it. We hope they all have a magical and safe time and we look forward to our postponed visit to Orlando in 2021, when maybe, just maybe, the new coasters we’ve talked about will be open and we have a whole collection of brand new rides to try. Soooooo excited, we may well pop before then!
Happy weekend to you all.
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