Posted on by Coaster Kings

Wild Adventures at Wild Adventures

Sean: Alex and I trekked from Orlando to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia with our Nighthawk Vekoma shirts on in anticipation of the four new Vekoma credits we’d be getting that day! – Join us as we explore the third Herschend Entertainment theme park!

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We’re here! The animal-Vekoma-flat ride park people don’t talk about often! Let’s head in and see what we think of the park!

We first rode the Vekoma rollerskater named Outpost Express, which was cute. Immediately after we checked out the park’s Mauer Wild Mouse named Go Bananas!. Both fun, but not spectacular.

The park brought back their Zamperla Mini Mouse when they introduced the new entrance attraction this year. The ride now goes by the name of Swampwater Snake and is beautifully landscaped. The whole area is VERY nice! They did a great job.

Next up was the park’s family Vekoma inverted coaster: Swamp Thing, great color scheme and cute theming. By the time we got to riding this coaster one thing became very clear to me… there is an identity crisis at this park.

The park has a very heavy focus on a safari theme, which all the newer developments and redesigns do a great job immersing you into that theme. However, the park is stuffed with concrete pads, flashy looking flat rides that do not at all stick with the theme. It’s a tad odd, but the park has SUCH potential! Look at these cute monkeys!

And now time for what I came for! The Vekoma SLC: Twisted Typhoon. This particular coaster model is one of the most criticized in the industry, and though I admit there are some rough variations, I love ’em!

Vekoma SLCs (Which stands for Suspended Looping Coaster) have a lovely layout that I would take over the Batman clones’ layout.

Some near-miss elements, and great pacing make for a fun ride. Twisted Typhoon is actually one of the better ones out there. There have been SLCs built after Twisted Typhoon that wish they were as smooth and rerideable. I must honestly say that Twisted Typhoon is outstanding!

Ha! Ready for yet another reride! Fancy a front row ride anyone?

Peace for Vekoma people. #fanboy

In my mind the blue and green “Deja Vu” colors doesn’t sound too good but with the slightly dry and green landscape around the ride it works perfectly!

For experienced SLC riders the part following the Sidewinder is usually the roughest. On Twisted Typhoon, not even a shuffle. Why this installment is so great, I have no clue, but I’m going to ride few more times!

By this photo you’re probably already tired of me talking about SLCs, so we’re going to move on.

Wild Adventures is also a zoo with animals, though their animal collection is not as impressive as most other major animal-inspired parks we usually visit. I would love for someone to just invest 10-15 million into creating a cohesive and well maintained safari themed around the park. Maybe some day!

MORE VEKOMA? Yes!

Peaking thru the trees are these gorgeous Vekoma MK1200 trains matching the track’s colors!

Both Boomerang and the Tasmanian River Rapids are excellent European E-tickets for the park. The rapids ride features a whirlpool drop, water falls, nice landscaping and overall is one of the best rides at the park.

This park loves their big signs/marquees for their major rides, Boomerang is no exception. Boomerang also happens to run very well and do you notice what sets it apart from other Vekoma Boomerangs?

There is no Cobra Roll Catwalk! No platform to evacuate the train when it stalls in the legendary element on the ride.

The park may have a mix match of rides and themes, they are definitely headed in the right direction. The park’s collection of flat rides is impressive. They have a TON!

The park also has their own Safari Train around the small reserve in the back of the park, which offers great views of Cheetah, which had a tough time opening for the day.

Here too the animal collection is a little narrow and not as impressive as some other parks we’ve been to, but we still enjoyed our ride!

AND we get a view of this gorgeous SLC!

Our last 90 minutes or so were spent waiting in front of the Cheetah entrance hoping it would open, eventually a lovely associate got to test ride after lots of maintenance involvement and it was our turn to get on next! – The ride, though not the smoothest, was actually really fun and featured some nice pop of airs. I enjoyed the layout and didn’t hate it as much as some other enthusiasts do!

Alright Wild Adventures, it’s been real but it’s also real hot and humid out so we’re going to seek air conditioning and head over to Busch Gardens Tampa!

We’ll be back! Mostly because you have surprisingly well-maintained and smooth Vekomas!

Also your park is not nearly as ugly as some people made it out to be! I have full faith that Wild Adventures can turn around to be one of the nations nicest family parks, though it does need some work.

Lots of potential and some good coasters!

For those who find Vekoma’s uncomfortable, check out Twisted Typhoon some day and maybe you’ll understand why some (very few) people actually like SLCs!

And now the very last SLC picture, because it’s me who’s writing this report.

Thank you for checking out this Wild Adventures report! We have launched a TON of new updates and reports from around the world the past few days, make sure to check them out:

 

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