There’s a special kind of thrill in visiting a park I’ve never stepped foot in before. No nostalgia clouding my judgment… just research, passion, anticipation, and time for exploration. There are no childhood memories tugging at my sleeve or maybe ruining my time at the new park. I have plenty of preconceived notions about what experiences should be excellent because of what other Thusies* have said… But there is ultimately just me, the skyline, the park map, and the truth the queues lead to on the roller coasters.
Over twelve days in August 2026, I visited three parks I had never been to prior. One of the new parks is in in Illinois and the other two in Florida… One of these a long‑standing bucket list destination for me, and two parks that each housed a bucket list coaster I’d been waiting far too long to ride. What I found was a mix of beauty, frustration, humidity, high temperatures, varying shade circumstances, floater airtime, ejector airtime, surprise, and clarity. All of that because when I strip away familiarity, I see parks exactly as they are built and evolved by those that own and run it, not me.
- Six Flags Gream America: bucket list park for me
- Mako at SeaWorld Orlando: bucket list coaster for me
- Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa: bucket list coaster for me
Stop #1: Six Flags Great America: The Best Legacy Six Flags Park
I’ve said before that I believed that I would rate Six Flags Great America would be the best legacy Six Flags park in the chain once I experienced it. Well, now that I’ve finally visited, I can say it with even more personal conviction even though my home park once had 20 roller coasters in the same location, running at one time.
This park:
- is beautiful
- has character
- has charm
- has a stacked lineup
- is clean
- is in an excellent location to draw crowds
The park actually feels curated instead of copy‑pasted, even though four of the coasters are just that… CLONES. Most importantly, it housed my chance to ride Raging Bull, a coaster that finally proves what a B&M hyper should feel like when it’s designed with personality and airtime in mind instead of just statistics.
Raging Bull: The Hyper That Magic Mountain Wishes It Had
I lapped Raging Bull multiple times on that day with my buddy Matt. It started immediately after rope-drop, right after we arrived at the park. Every ride on Ragin Bull delivered, every moment of airtime moved it up my favorites list, after every drop. The floater airtime moments and slight ejector moments feel intentional while keeping wishing for more. It’s everything “David” at Magic Mountain isn’t and yes, I’m calling it David, because SFMM’s Goliath has earned that demotion.
Raging Bull has:
- Floater moments that exist
- A layout that flows
- A first drop that matters
- A personality that matches its name
- All while Magic Mountain’s “David” has… a ramp
Goliath (the real one: not that one, or the other, and certainly not the one at SFMM)
Goliath at Great America is the main coaster that deserves this namesake. Full stop, it’s fast, aggressive, original, compact yet thrilling, and actually behaves like a giant wooden beast. I only got two laps in, and both reminded me why the RMC version is the true heir to the name… Six Flags please fix that across the chain!
Maxx Force: The One That Got Away
This was supposed to be the third most important ride of the trip for Matt and me. It was down, all day Saturday for whatever reason… Oh the agony and sting… woe is me! Even with that loss, Great America delivered a day of joy and airtime. It’s the kind of park that proves Six Flags can do things right when they choose to.
Stop #2: SeaWorld Orlando: A Pilgrimage for Mako
This was my first time riding coasters in Florida though I had been there three times prior. I went to SeaWorld Orlando for one reason: Mako!
SeaWorld Orlando needs more shade throughout the park. It needs more…
- Mature trees
- Canopies
- Ride queues under coaster stations
- Sun sails
- Tunnels to get between points in the park
- Shade!
The coaster lineup at this park is strong, but the sun is stronger and more intense than any ejector airtime moment at this park.
Mako: The Best B&M Hyper Ever Built (that I have ridden)
I’ve ridden a lot of hypers across the US and at one park in Canada. I’ve ranked all of them and maybe I will end up with just a list of hypers and gigas one day to share. I’ve complained about a few of them, mostly that crap we have at SFMM “David”. But Mako, that’s the perfection I have been seeking as it includes all the following.
- Amazing clamshell restraints
- Perfect pacing
- Smooth as glass
- Floater airtime for days
- Laterals that include airtime
- A layout that respects my time in line
- A bit of ejector when the trims are off
- A finale that doesn’t quit
- NO bone crushing positives that take away from joyful airtime
There is nothing like this west of the Mississippi, and that fact alone frustrates me more than I can admit. Hey United Parks, please build a 150‑foot version of Mako in San Diego, call it Hammerhead, and let it run along the front gate area of the park. Make it a smaller because of the crappy rules that the city of San Diego puts on you but make it ours! It may end up being the best floater airtime in California once built!
Pipeline: Airtime on a Standup? Yes, please!
Pipeline shocked me! Airtime on a standup coaster shouldn’t exist in my mind and yet on this ride it does. Let me just say that it’s a glorious experience along with the following.
- Unique
- Smooth
- Comfortable
- Fun
- Attractive
- Re-rideable
It’s the kind of ride that proves innovation still matters in a world where being afraid to innovate is far too common.
Ice Breaker: The Underdog
Ice Breaker was not just unexpectedly total fun, but it was a longer layout than I thought. The spike, top hat, and multiple launches add time to what is a short layout when viewing from off ride, and honestly, I wish San Diego had this instead of the Sky Rocket II clone Electric Eel we got. It’s not a headliner, but it’s a ride worth repeating and enjoying in a smooth fashion because I love airtime and smoothness.
Kraken: A Relic That Hasn’t Aged Well
Kraken was terrible and not in the “rough but charming” way some older coasters manage to survive with. This one just feels outdated, uncomfortable, boring layout, no airtime, and completely outclassed by modern designs. Boooo B&M! The pacing is clunky, the transitions felt like they were drawn with a ruler instead of engineered by a computer, and the overall ride experience is more a hold on and grind your teeth than thrill.
Kraken is the kind of coaster that reminds me how far B&M has come and how far some parks still need to go in updating their lineups. Kraken isn’t just past its prime it’s a reminder that not every classic deserves preservation, despite the nostalgia. If SeaWorld Orlando ever wants a complete with a top‑tier lineup, Kraken is the first thing that needs a replacement with an RMC single rail Raptor and a Mack Striker.
Stop #3: Busch Gardens Tampa: What I thought should be Bucket List Roller Coaster Park…
From a distance, Busch Gardens Tampa has always looked like a bucket list park to me. The skyline is iconic, the reputation is legendary, and the hype was enormous. Then once I walked through the gates, I realized something I didn’t expect: This park needs two more coasters that are packed with airtime at a minimum. They could correct this by adding the following.
- Kumba’s Revenge: A B&M Giga of 326 feet in height with nearly the same floorplan as its predecessor, though adding better restraints, floater airtime, ejector airtime, more speed, smoothness, and capacity.
- Nyoka (“snake” in Swahili, fitting for a twisting coaster) (Pantheon of Florida): Make it nearly the same ride as what resides at Busch Gardens Williamsburg because another launched roller coaster is what they need.
- Koronga (inspired by the African word korongo for a steep ravine or gully): Would be the tallest and faster Vekoma Tilt Coaster in the world once built.
Cheetah Hunt: A Lesson in Outdated Intamin Design
Cheetah Hunt was just plain terrible, starting my complaints with the old‑school Intamin straight track which is the worst way to extend a coaster duration. The restraints are some of the most awful in the industry, no they are at the tip top of the most awful, while the layout felt like a prototype that should’ve been replaced years ago. I hear that there’s a new version of this ride somewhere in Asia, and I can only imagine how much better that one is. We deserve that version, not this one, with more airtime and better restraints.
Montu: The Best of the Large‑Scale B&M Inverts
Montu is the one coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa that truly lives up to its reputation, but it may not even crack my top 25. This is B&M invert design at its peak, is this coaster, as it is smooth, massive, intense, and paced like the designers actually cared about every moment until the final brake run. Montu has that old‑school B&M aggression that newer inverts just don’t replicate with only Tallen at Dorney Park making me gray out more.
The trenches add drama and intrigue, the inversions snap with purpose and grace, and the layout never drifts into straight filler track. It’s easily the best of the large‑scale inverts I’ve ridden, and it reminded me why B&M dominated the 1990s and early 2000s with this model. Montu is the kind of coaster that earns re‑rides through sheer quality, not nostalgia. If Busch Gardens Tampa had three more coasters of this caliber, it would be a bucket list park and best in the nation… duh!
SheiKra: A Solid Dive Machine with Freedom of Choice
SheiKra ended up being more enjoyable than expected and a surprise at Busch Gardens Tampa. That is not because it reinvented the dive coaster, but because it delivered exactly what a dive coaster should deliver airtime on the drop, where it has two of. Alone the experience of the back row elevated from the pull‑over of the two drops, and everything in between for variety.
The ride is smooth, forceful enough to stay interesting, and visually iconic in a way that still holds up. It’s not a bucket‑list coaster, but it’s a reliable chain to an anchor in this lineup. BGT desperately needs more modern coasters, but thank heavens this one did not make me gray out like Yukon Striker. Honestly, the ability to pick my own seat, without a fight, made SheiKra feel more welcoming than half the park’s other coasters… because I love the back row on B&M Dive Coasters.
Iron Gwazi: Thank the lord it opened that day, it saved the park and drive for me!
I really want to get deep into this ride, so when I put out my annual roller coaster rankings, I will spend time on this ride and other RMCs in particular. Iron Gwazi was the moment Busch Gardens Tampa finally woke up and remembered what a modern thrill park is supposed to feel like. After Cheetah Hunt let me down harder than any “premium launch coaster” ever has, and after the rest of the lineup hovered somewhere between “fine” and “I guess I’ll ride it again if the line is short,” Iron Gwazi stepped in through divine intervention.
This coaster didn’t just redeem the visit to the park and drive out there, it validated it. Iron Gwazi is everything RMC does well, distilled into one furious, elegant, and persistent package. It’s the kind of ride that reminds me why RMC became the most important manufacturer of the last decade. Well, yes when I put out my rankings, I’m going to spend some real time on RMCs. They deserve their own segment and their own analysis. Rides like Iron Gwazi prove that RMC isn’t just building roller coasters as much as they’re rewriting what a coaster can be, should be, and could have been all along.
The Rest of the Lineup
The rest of the coasters range from “fine” to “good,” but nothing screamed bucket list. Nothing demanded a re‑ride. Nothing justified the hype and that’s the problem. The Park Experience and everything else at Busch Gardens Tampa is top‑notch including the landscaping and animal exhibits. But those pathways got me lost more times than I care to admit. The signage around this park is junk and if one more person calls SheiKra “Shikira,” I’m going to lose my lunch.
What Twelve Days Taught Me
Visiting three new parks in twelve days clarified something I’ve been writing about for years: The queues tell the truth.
- Iron Gwazi had a line, even during downtime
- Raging Bull had a line, second online to the real Goliath at this park
- Mako had a line, that was longer than all others at the park
- Pipeline had a short line, but the park was not busy
- Ice Breaker had a small line, but not more than expected
- Cheetah Hunt was a walk‑on not matter what
- Penguin Trek had no one in line ever
- Phoenix Rising never had a full train much less people in line
- Sheikra was a station wait, which was cool so I could chose my seat each lap
- Montu was always a station wait
- Kraken was terrible, do not ride it
That’s all you need to know, as nostalgia doesn’t matter. These parks were new to me, and I had no bias from memories getting in the way. I just had reality and identity matters.
- Great America has it
- SeaWorld Orlando is building it
- Busch Gardens Tampa is losing it
A bucket list park isn’t always a bucket list experience and sometimes the coaster I traveled across the country for ends up being the one that matters the most.
Final Thoughts
It was three parks, in twelve days, and dozens of laps on handfuls of rides. I had hundreds of observations and one conclusion: The best parks aren’t the ones with the biggest skylines or tallest rides; they’re the ones that deliver the experiences their skylines promise.
- Great America delivered because it just felt awesome being there
- SeaWorld Orlando delivered since I could lap Mako over and again
- Busch Gardens Tampa… didn’t deliver until Iron Gwazi opened for the day around noon
That’s the story the queues told me, not nostalgia.
* Thusies = Roller Coaster Enthusiasts