I finally was able to ride Mako Saturday. Last time I went the ride went down and didn't reopen that day. I will say it's the best hyper I've been on (previously was Apollo's Chariot @ BGW). It's now my #2 coaster behind Fury 325 @ Carowinds. Of the 2 rides I had on Mako, the trim was barely noticeable on the 1st ride. The 2nd ride was more noticeable, but allowed the smaller hill before the MCBR have a nice extra pop of airtime. It also flew through the MCBR both times. It was only about 65 degrees so I can imagine them engaging a bit more when it's hot. Each hill had me out of my seat. I sat back row, far left seat both times. I'm glad they let me choose the last row since they were assigning seats. I waited about 10 minutes each time. Had I not been pressed for time I would have rode more.
My only complaints with the park that day was the fact they didn't open the Shark Realm area until 10 (park opened at 9). Is this normal for a Saturday? I can see during the week when it's not forecast to be as busy. I've been going to the park for 10 years and have never seen this when I've gone. It just seems odd the area with the newest major attraction wasn't open (while yes it's been almost a year). We were among the first to arrive in the park at opening too. I had a short window of time to get it in as I had other engagements outside the park for lunch and beyond.
Then we walked over to Dolphin Days and saw the 10am show that was on the website's schedule had been cancelled so I didn't get to see it. I also wasn't able to use my one time preferred seating that I signed up for online (pass member perk). It was free so no big deal I guess. I was wanting to see it since Blue Horizons is no more and wanted to compare. I'll be back soon, but my plans weren't going so well.
While waiting for Mako to open we decided to do Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin since we had only been on it once. Usually when we are there the line is 60+ minutes. We only had to wait about 5 minutes to get into the first room. The ride however went down when we got to the split area (wild or mild ride) for about 20 minutes. We waited it out since the attractions we came for weren't happening yet. The ride was better than I remember, but it's still way too short of a ride which is why we normally pass on it.
After that we headed over to Mako and waited a few minutes for them to drop the rope to let us in that area. I'm just glad they weren't having issues with it and was able to ride with short wait times. After my rides on Mako I went to ride Kraken once especially since it will be going down soon to install the VR & refurb. It has noticeably gotten a bit "rough". It wasn't headache-inducing, but was the first time I can remember not wanting an immediate re-ride. I'm sure the much-needed refurb will attend to that.
After that we viewed the Manatees from above and the Dolphins Underwater viewing before some light shopping on our way out. The park was getting noticeably busier as we were leaving around 11:15. I didn't take my camera in since it was a quick trip.
My only complaints with the park that day was the fact they didn't open the Shark Realm area until 10 (park opened at 9). Is this normal for a Saturday? I can see during the week when it's not forecast to be as busy. I've been going to the park for 10 years and have never seen this when I've gone. It just seems odd the area with the newest major attraction wasn't open (while yes it's been almost a year). We were among the first to arrive in the park at opening too. I had a short window of time to get it in as I had other engagements outside the park for lunch and beyond.
Then we walked over to Dolphin Days and saw the 10am show that was on the website's schedule had been cancelled so I didn't get to see it. I also wasn't able to use my one time preferred seating that I signed up for online (pass member perk). It was free so no big deal I guess. I was wanting to see it since Blue Horizons is no more and wanted to compare. I'll be back soon, but my plans weren't going so well.
While waiting for Mako to open we decided to do Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin since we had only been on it once. Usually when we are there the line is 60+ minutes. We only had to wait about 5 minutes to get into the first room. The ride however went down when we got to the split area (wild or mild ride) for about 20 minutes. We waited it out since the attractions we came for weren't happening yet. The ride was better than I remember, but it's still way too short of a ride which is why we normally pass on it.
After that we headed over to Mako and waited a few minutes for them to drop the rope to let us in that area. I'm just glad they weren't having issues with it and was able to ride with short wait times. After my rides on Mako I went to ride Kraken once especially since it will be going down soon to install the VR & refurb. It has noticeably gotten a bit "rough". It wasn't headache-inducing, but was the first time I can remember not wanting an immediate re-ride. I'm sure the much-needed refurb will attend to that.
After that we viewed the Manatees from above and the Dolphins Underwater viewing before some light shopping on our way out. The park was getting noticeably busier as we were leaving around 11:15. I didn't take my camera in since it was a quick trip.
