Howl-O-Scream: Nighttime Roller Coasters

Last weekend I made a road-trip through parts of Florida and while I was going to write about all the places I visited in chronological order, I still have a lot to do when it comes to video editing and going through photos. Since I didn’t take my GoPro or my phone into Busch Gardens with me, since I didn’t think they’d be useful in the dark and didn’t want to lose them on a coaster, I figured it’d be easiest to write this one first while I get the visual aids ready for my other posts.

A couple months back I set ten goals for myself to complete before I turn 28. Some of the goals were set with a large degree of difficulty, so that I’d always have something to work towards the whole year, while others were easier, but things that I’d wanted to do for a while and hadn’t. One of my goals was to ride an exciting roller coaster at night. I had been to Disneyland while in California on a business trip and rode some of those rides in the nighttime hours, but Thunder Mountain didn’t feel like it satisfied my bucket list item well enough.

For years I had been considering The Hulk at Universal, or perhaps other roller coasters there, but I really didn’t think Universal offered enough in terms of roller coasters. Instead, I decided to make the two-hour trek west to Tampa where Busch Gardens resides with its many towering coasters. The last time I had been to Busch Gardens was in the summer of 2011, on a day-visit before heading to the Bruins game against the Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. On that trip, I hadn’t gotten to ride the new Cheetah Hunt coaster because it didn’t open until about a week after I was there.

This time, the Cheetah Hunt ended up as my first stop, solely because I happened to run into it first. The line was long, about 75 minutes, but it was the first coaster of the night, a new coaster experience, and it didn’t disappoint. The coaster rocketed around, spinning in the dark, full-moon night. Experiencing the ride at night was intense – I could see by the light of the moon certain things, but it was mostly silhouettes flying past me. Cheetah Hunt was a pretty awesome coaster.

Next I made my way to Montu, which had a shorter line, maybe fifty minutes or so. The last time I was here, in 2011, there were no lines on any of the rides since it was midday on a Wednesday, and I rode Montu six times in a row, including several times in the front row, and ended up getting a wicked headache from the shaking. Back then Montu was my favorite of the coasters, though they all have their own uniqueness. It was still an awesome coaster and a great ride in the dark of the night.

I made my way through the park, passing many of the Howl-O-Scream events. I didn’t go into any of the haunted houses because the lines were so long and the last time I went to Halloween Horror Nights, they really didn’t do anything for me. I did get my fill of “terror” walking through the scare-zones; the atmosphere was nice and spooky and I enjoyed watching all the actors scaring people.

Eventually I made it to Kumba, another of my favorite coasters. The first time I had ever been to Busch Gardens, I was in my teens, I had ridden Montu with my brother and sister-in-law, but when it came to Kumba, I chickened out for some reason. On my trip in 2011, I felt it a point of redemption to hop on the ride and quell those childhood fears. This time Kumba was more fun because of the darkness. In the daylight it’s generally easy to see where you’re going, but in the night you can only see so much and a lot of the turns become more surprising. It was also the shortest line, clocking in only about twenty minutes.

Next on the list was SheiKra, but it was broken down and they weren’t letting riders on (though the ride was running without riders). At first I thought SheiKra had been broken down the last time I visited, but later I remembered its signature rise to the top and then stopping while the front of the coaster is already over the edge of the drop… and then it drops. It’s a cool ride; I only wish I could have ridden it at night.

Instead, I made my way to Gwazi, the park’s wooden roller coaster. Again, the line was a longer wait coming to over forty minutes. Instantly I felt the shakiness that it symbolic of a wooden roller coaster, like riding down a dirt road without good shocks. The coaster rose to the top and dropped down into darkness, shaking, rattling, and rolling up, down, and around bends. I enjoy the uniqueness of wooden roller coasters, but I don’t get the same adrenaline rush as I get from the loops and rolls on a steel coaster.

Once the ride had completed, it was almost midnight, so I made my way to the entrance of the park and back to the parking lot. I hadn’t been able to keep up with the Red Sox game against the Tigers since I didn’t have my phone, but the tram announcer informed me that the Red Sox has been up one-zero at one point. Once I made it back to the car, I quickly looked up the score, scared of what I might find. I had predicted a seven-two loss, but I found that the Red Sox had won five-two and punched their ticket to the World Series!

That marked the end of the first night of my road-trip and the checking off of my first completed goal. It was a good night and it was made all the better by the nearly-full moon. I have a soft spot for our Lunar sidekick in the sky.

Revisit: 10 Goals for Age 27

About forty days ago I wrote ten goals for myself that I want to complete before I turn 28 next August. A few of those goals I’m making good strides towards, while others have been left behind. I figured I’d revisit the goals to fortify where I stand and review where action needs to be taken.

1: Complete a Marathon

I’m already signed up for the Space Coast Marathon on December 1^st. My running schedule is currently short runs on Tuesday, medium runs on Thursday, and long runs on Saturday. My short runs are currently at four miles and shouldn’t bump up for a few more weeks. My medium runs are at seven miles, bumping up next week I think. My long runs have maxed out at thirteen miles so far, dropping down to ten miles last weekend, but jumping up to fifteen and sixteen miles this weekend and next. The injuries are starting to build, so I need to be careful and may need to take a day or two off to gain some extra rest.

 

2: Quit My Job

This was one that I was pushing off until the beginning of next year for a few reasons. After having trouble finding a new job, I was looking forward to taking an extended vacation and doing some traveling with some time off before jumping back into the workforce. Last week I was approached by another manager who asked if I’d be interested in working for him. I’ve already been doing some work with him over the past few months and it’s much better than what I’m doing currently. He’s in the process of trying to get some job openings approved and I’m at the top of his list, so now I guess I have options on this one.

 

3: Train for a Triathlon

After getting my bike shortly before my last post, I’ve been putting a lot of miles on it – over 125 so far. I’ve also started swimming regularly, both at the ocean and in springs, and have worked my way up to ten straight minutes of freestyle swimming. I used MapMyRun.com to map out Wekiva Springs State Park’s swimming area and found that a loop around is 200 meters. I only need to complete 400 meters in the Beat the Heat Sprint Triathlon I signed up for and I completed that in my ten minutes last weekend, give or take a few dozen meters since it’s hard to map out with all the trees there. I’ve gone on multiple bike rides around ten to twelve miles and one that was fourteen miles; the Sprint Triathlon distance is 20K or 12.4 miles. The run will only be a 5K or 3.1 miles, so that should not be any problem.

 

4: Go to a Medieval Faire

There’s nothing around here during this time of year and I’m pretty loaded with other stuff to do. Once late-fall and winter hit, there will be many options to experience around Florida, so it’ll just be picking a weekend and driving somewhere.

 

5: Get a Tattoo

I have a few design ideas for tattoos, but sizing and placement are still up in the air. Since I’m so busy training for Tough Mudder, the Triathlon, and the Marathon, this would probably be a good one to do after those events. In fact, I’ll have two and a half weeks off in late December, which I’m thinking of spending up North. My brother loves getting tattoos, so this might be a good option to do then.

 

6: Hike a Long Trail

This would be a lot easier if I didn’t have a job. The Appalachian Trail would take about four months, the Florida Trail would take about two months, and the John Muir Trail would take about three weeks. If I do find myself without a job come next year, I could take on any of the three, although the AT and FT would be more fitting for an early-year start. If I wind up with a new job, the John Muir Trail may be a good fit, as it’ll take a reasonable amount of time, but I would need to wait until the summer months to hike it.

 

7: Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

The one’s been on the bucket list for a while, but it takes a fair amount of time – a week and a half including travel – and a lot of money – close to $4000 for the whole trip. The optimal time to climb seems to be the fall (spring for the Southern Hemisphere) which is already booked for this year and too short notice to get ready anyway. They was the one I threw on the list as a crazy option, so I didn’t expect to actually complete it. There’s still hope, but it’s unlikely I’ll get through this an the long trail above, if I can manage either.

 

8: Ride a Roller Coaster at Night

I already bought a ticket to Howl O Scream at Busch Gardens in Tampa. I’m planning on October 19^th for the trip, so this one should be bagged and tagged pretty soon!

 

9: Learn to Scuba Dive

This one’s a little pricier than I had first thought, but not too bad. There’s a two-week class in November that I’m looking to take, but it’s the two weeks in between my Triathlon and my Marathon. I probably would end up doing something those weekends anyway, but when the calendar starts filling up, it all starts seeming a little overwhelming. Then once the training is complete, I’ll need to find some places to scuba dive.

 

10: Build and Launch a PVC Rocket

I was big into trying this a few months ago while reading Rocket Boys, but with all the training I’m doing now, it’s taken a back seat mentally. I’d still like to do it, but maybe it can wait until the winter months when I have less going on.