Fun Spot America Discussion Thread

[DILinatorI prefer to mate with donkeys over humans!]

After riding everything at Sea World, my friend and I concluded that Mine Blower was our favorite ride of the day.

Even though I love Sea World, and count Kraken and Manta among my favorite coasters (haven't ridden Mako yet), this doesn't surprise me in the least! Mine Blower looks SO freaking legit!

[bgtloverA donkey is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family.]

Got a few rides on Mine Blower today for opening day. The steep first drop and crazy barrel roll make for an awesome opening. Plenty of airtime on the hills. Didn't find it rough at all, felt smooth for a woodie. I give Mine Blower a 5/5!
Went to Sea World after fun spot and Kraken VR had a 190 min wait, compared to Mine Blower which was a near walk-on on its opening day. After riding everything at Sea World, my friend and I concluded that Mine Blower was our favorite ride of the day.

The lines supposedly got much longer throughout the day. Several people on their Facebook page are complaining about having only one train operation and having to wait a long time to ride. I'm sure the park has a good reason for doing so.

Oh and a 190 minute wait is much better than the 405 minute wait I saw on Monday for Kraken Unleashed...lol

[WestCoasterKingChallenge me at Donkey Kong...I dare ya!]

^ The turn out of the station, the turn after the lift into the drop, the inversion, the valley turn after the inversion, the overbanked turn, ext. The Timberliners can turn on a tighter radius than almost every wooden roller coaster train out there and TGG designs their rides to take advantage of this.

How does GG woodie track design compare to others? It looks more traditional than RMC topper track does. How are they able to do the inversions while GCI can't. The track design looks almost the same, than say topper track does.

[WOFanaticI own the website www.donkey.com]

^ The turn out of the station, the turn after the lift into the drop, the inversion, the valley turn after the inversion, the overbanked turn, ext. The Timberliners can turn on a tighter radius than almost every wooden roller coaster train out there and TGG designs their rides to take advantage of this.

How does GG woodie track design compare to others? It looks more traditional than RMC topper track does. How are they able to do the inversions while GCI can't. The track design looks almost the same, than say topper track does.

GCI's can, they just haven't yet.

[disneyfan1313Don't make me kick you in the donkey!]

TPR was at the grand opening media event this morning for Mine Blower at Fun Spot in Kissimmee, and WOW... what a ride! After filming the POV a few days before, I was ready for an intense ride... but I was pleasantly surprised when the ride was intense (in a really good way!) but also solidly fun! Sure, there is a bit of shuffling in a few parts but it is a GREAT addition to the coaster scene not only in Orlando, but really the South Eastern USA. Fun Spot continues to raise the bar in what an FEC can offer and I can't wait to see what they bring to the table in the next few years!

Fun Spot is offering an awesome throwback deal on their two park season pass good till the end of 2017 - only $74.50 through Sunday. You are going to want to ride this more than once, and the season pass is a great way to do it.

On to some photos of the event! Thanks to Jack Crouse for some of the photos.

[InvertalonChallenge me at Donkey Kong...I dare ya!]

^ The turn out of the station, the turn after the lift into the drop, the inversion, the valley turn after the inversion, the overbanked turn, ext. The Timberliners can turn on a tighter radius than almost every wooden roller coaster train out there and TGG designs their rides to take advantage of this.

How does GG woodie track design compare to others? It looks more traditional than RMC topper track does. How are they able to do the inversions while GCI can't. The track design looks almost the same, than say topper track does.

GCI's can, as stated previously, but they have chose (or perhaps their customers...) not to.

For me, construction wise, you can tell the quality difference between GCI and Gravity Group. GCI's are built more robust with what I believe is not only a more dense structure (more ledgers per foot of track), but also from superior track construction methods. This one in particular (Mind Blower) based on the POV's already looks to have sub-par carpentry work for the track itself, causing the shuffling being reported. You can see it in the POV. Yet go watch Mystic Timber's or any other GCI, it tracks beautifully. I don't believe it is the train, just the quality of the design and the work being done by the contractor (M&V or whoever it is).

I look forward to riding this in a few months, but it is a bummer that there is already reports of shuffling. Knowing Fun-Spot, they will likely get GCI to do the trackwork properly within a few years

[djacksonI ask dumb questions.]

Mine Blower was very smooth imo on Friday night.

[NrthwndBAYSIDE STATION!!!]

Ha ha love the socks souvenir!

And I love how the inversion just sweeps over the station.
To me, putting the inversion there was a great idea.

I love the front of the train, too!

[gerstlaueringvarMUST BUY RMC MERCHANDISE!!!!]

^ The turn out of the station, the turn after the lift into the drop, the inversion, the valley turn after the inversion, the overbanked turn, ext. The Timberliners can turn on a tighter radius than almost every wooden roller coaster train out there and TGG designs their rides to take advantage of this.

How does GG woodie track design compare to others? It looks more traditional than RMC topper track does. How are they able to do the inversions while GCI can't. The track design looks almost the same, than say topper track does.

GCI's can, as stated previously, but they have chose (or perhaps their customers...) not to.

For me, construction wise, you can tell the quality difference between GCI and Gravity Group. GCI's are built more robust with what I believe is not only a more dense structure (more ledgers per foot of track), but also from superior track construction methods. This one in particular (Mind Blower) based on the POV's already looks to have sub-par carpentry work for the track itself, causing the shuffling being reported. You can see it in the POV. Yet go watch Mystic Timber's or any other GCI, it tracks beautifully. I don't believe it is the train, just the quality of the design and the work being done by the contractor (M&V or whoever it is).

I look forward to riding this in a few months, but it is a bummer that there is already reports of shuffling. Knowing Fun-Spot, they will likely get GCI to do the trackwork properly within a few years

M&V did not do the construction of Mine Blower. The thing is, shuffling is part of the fun on a wooden coaster and I think a reasonable amount adds to its intensity (Voyage, Apocalypse, Raven, Beast are some of my favorite coasters). I absolutely love GCI coasters as they toss you around with interesting forces and they are perfectly smooth, but I also like how Gravity Group coasters have that raw feelings to them. Plus Timberliners are light enough that they wouldn't damage the track too much. Gravity Group woodies use a more traditional method to build the tracks yet GCI tracks come from "offsetting" which give them smoother track work but the construction periods are much longer.

[VigilHoly crap you have a HUGE donkey!]

What is offsetting vs. the usual track construction methods?