The Ultimate New Years Eve Party, Pt. 1

Photo courtesy of Jeff Johnson

WOW!!! INCREDIBLE!!! UNFORGETTABLE!!! These are the best words to describe the amazingly *perfect* weekend we had in Florida over New Years! I've been home less than twenty four hours but my mind and heart are still on a coaster with my friends in Florida! Could there BE a riskier trip to take than this one? Leaving Thursday, Dec. 30 and returning Sunday, Jan. 2, you'd need a Y2K-ready computer to calculate the number of potential disasters awaiting us. Bad weather, crowded airports, flight delays, lost luggage, rental car mixups, hotel room mixups, rowdy neighbors, instant cash or credit card refusals, busy roads, crowded parks, long lines, missile launches. Our trip began Thursday morning, Dec. 30, with an easy trip to the surprisingly un-crowded Hubert H. Humphrey charter airport, and an on-time flight to Orlando aboard Sun Country Airlines. We were then upgraded, at no additional charge, to a cruise-control equipped Toyota Corolla, thanks to Avis Rent-a-Car. In less than an hour we were off the plane, out of the airport and checked into our hotel! The weather in Florida was simply perfect all weekend! We couldn't have asked for better conditions and thanks to one of our New Years Eve companions, Jim "Weather is an integral part of theming" Westland, beautiful blue skies with highs in the mid-70s and lows in the 50s graced us each day. Our New Years group consisted of the following ten people: Jim "Theme Me" Westland "Solid Gold" Cindy Stout "Champagne" Steve Nuss Jeff Tolotti Kevin Teufer Kaley, Kevin's roommate Victor "Itzadapope" Figueroa Jerry Danes Susan Barth Mark "So Fine" McKenzie Susan and I stayed at the Quality Inn Plaza on International Drive. This was a very nice hotel, with three restaurants, two lounges, a great 24-hour convenience store, three pools and a nice gift shop. Unfortunately they also have the now-commonplace "Guest Services" desk, which you are directed to by the front desk after checking in. This "service" desk purports to offer for sale advance tickets to theme parks. In reality it's nothing more than a front for some timeshare condo salesperson to harrass you into attending a "no pressure" breakfast in exchange for a pair of reduced tickets. Here's the "no pressure" exchange we had with Greg, our "Guest Services Host": "No thanks, I'm not interested." "You're not interested in saving money?" "I'm not interested in attending your breakfast." "You're not interested in avoiding long lines? You're gonna wait 90 min. just to get into the park!" "We won't be here for the breakfast." "You can't spare 30 minutes out of your day? You'll spend twice that time waiting in line at the park!" "We have friends we have to meet before your breakfast." "Fine." (slams down our complimentary brochure). "Have fun waiting in line." I would hate to see the "no pressure" breakfast. Needless to say, there were no advance park tickets to purchase. I filled out a comment card to the hotel letting them know my feelings regarding this sham and, in particular, Greg's boorish behavior. We would never return to this otherwise fine hotel as long as guests are being encouraged to endure this disgusting charade. That unpleasantness aside, the rest of the day was an absolute joy. Jeff, Steve, Victor, Kevin, Cindy, Susan and I drove to Busch Gardens Tampa. I had prepared myself for long lines, but when I saw how full the overflow parking lot was - so much so that we were forced to park in the VIP lot next to the entrance, I thought to myself "uh oh." Silly me. We entered the park and what a bizarre sight it was for this Midwestern boy to see Christmas in Florida! A giant Christmas tree was beautifully decorated at the entrance. Inside the park, holiday lights and decorations lined every tropical walkway and plaza, Some of the decorations were quite amusing. Along the edge of the African safari, pointsettas were hung, only partly covering the tropical plants underneath that are displayed year round. There were also funny cutouts of animals hung overhead and lit with holiday lights. We walked over to Gwazi and immediately saw what looked like a ninety minute wait. Jeff insisted the milennium would long be passed before we were dispatched by the now-infamous Gwazi crew. We decided to head instead over to Kumba. Ah!!! Kumba's had a bath! It looks totally different now. Gone are the pale pink and faded teal colors, having been replaced with their originally painted colors. The supports have a more orangey-red color, while the track is alot more green than I expected! It's purdy. And what a sweet, smooth ride Kumba delivers! Not only has it been repainted, but it's also received some new tracking and restraints! Folks who've been complaining about Kumba's roughness can breathe a sigh of relief - she's back and better than ever! The sign said Kumba had a twenty minute wait. Uh, that should have said for the front! At most we waited five minutes for each of our rides. I prefer the back right of Kumba, especially during the second half. Alot of people used to complain about the roughness of the corkscrew - not anymore! And something very unusual happened during our rides. A *wonderful* aroma enveloped Kumba's lift hill, making the carnivores in our group want to find the source of that smell and eat it. These rides were the best I've had on this coaster. Nearly all of our group got off saying Kumba had vaulted in their rankings. Next we made the long, long, long, trip back toward the front of the park for Montu. But first we decided to have dinner at the Crown Colony House. We ate outside on the terrace with a view of Montu. I had a very nice salad, but I have to say I saw their pizza and it looks like some of the worst I've ever seen. Is it possible Busch Gardens food might be overrated? Next we went to Montu, and by this time it was dark. The ride was a walk-on! What are all these people in the park doing? It was also here that we met Jerry Danes, who joined us for the rest of the evening. Everybody kept asking if we'd ever ridden Montu in the dark, which we hadn't. I was just hoping it had nothing to do with those crocodiles - I would hate to have one of them snap at me (you can tell I have little experience with tropical environments). Montu at night is INCREDIBLE!!! We held out for the front, which took all of ten minutes! Kevin told us to close our eyes in the immelman, which preserved our sight from the photo spot flashes. And there is NO LIGHTING at all around the batwing! Ahhhhhhh!!!! The mid-course brake is being applied less than when I first rode it back in February, making the second half much more enjoyable. I just love the dips into the inversions! Montu has firmly surpassed Alpengeist in my inverted coaster rankings, and it's really a tough call to pick between Montu and Kumba in my Top Ten steel coaster list! Finally, we headed back to Gwazi to finish out the night. I love Gwazi. It's become my pet. It's a sweet, sweet coaster that doesn't want to hurt you, it only wants to thrill you. That wonderful *pounce* it makes into the lift hill is just so much fun! And while it's very friendly and fun-loving during the day, at night it shows its wilder side. And I love my pet Gwazi at night! Four of us waited for Gwazi Tiger's front row, which turned out to be about thirty minutes. I rode with Cindy for her first-ever ride, and I find it so interesting how two people sitting side by side can have a completely different ride experience! Kevin and Jeff rode behind us, and while they could clearly see me being vaulted out of my seat several times, Cindy got no airtime whatsoever. Was she stapled to her seat? She didn't think so. I most definitely was not! In any case, Kevin and I were thrilled to death with our rides, while Cindy seemed somewhat underwhelmed. That would change with her next ride, this time on Gwazi Lion. This side gave her the airtime she missed on Tiger's side. While I had a great ride and about three good moments of airtime, it wasn't as extreme as the ride I had on Tiger. I do like the opposite direction we turn on Lion better than Tiger though. It feels very unnatural and I like that. I haven't ridden either side enough in the back to decide which is better, but the rides I've had have been *very* good! Gwazi also had a fantastic smelling lift hill! I don't know where this smell came from, either, but who knew Busch Gardens had such tasty smelling rides? The Gwazi queue is so festive and fun, with it's big, open station and pseudo-carribean feel. The music is great! I really want that CD! One of the things we laughed at was the Spanish safety announcement, which is first read in English, then in Spanish. The Spanish announcer has a distinct pace and rhythm, "Por favor, la la la" and he ends with a very slight and dramatic pause before saying in his sexiest voice, "la la la la la de...Gwazi." Another thing peculiar to Gwazi is the substitution of the word coaster for train. Everytime a train returned to the station the recorded announcement began "When the coaster comes to a complete stop...." At the end of the night a ride op came over to those of us waiting for the front/second row seats and said "If this becomes the last coaster of the night, you'll have to fill in the remaining seats. I can't run another coaster." I thought Jeff was going to have a stroke. We ended our night at Busch with a third row ride on Gwazi Tiger. We hollered our way through the entire ride and Cindy became a convert. I'm not sure if she likes it better than Hersheypark's Wildcat, but I definitely do! I would love to come back to Busch and ride this thing *alot.* After the park closed, we all went to Steak N Shake for a late night dinner. This was alot of fun and Steak N Shake is just the best! But their service can be slow, and before we even realized it, it was five minutes before Steve was to meet his mom, and us a good hour away. Unfortunately I was the one who offered to drop him off. When we pulled into their designated pick up spot an hour later it was obvious she was upset. I tried to smooth things over and she was remarkably understanding in my opinion. I think it would be *very* hard to be the parent of a young coaster enthusiast! We dropped Cindy off at her hotel and prepared for what would be the the most wonderful day I have ever spent in an amusement park. UP NEXT: New Years Eve at IOA!