Sorry the pics might be big, and sorry it's been over a month ago, but here they are. Also they were taken on different days, so that large sign on the side of the lift hill was mysteriously removed on the 2nd week:
:images erased:

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Thanks for the pics, Phil. Looks awesome. Very interesting rolling stock.

Pat-O

Thanks Pat!

It's a very neat looking coaster, with some unique elements. Queue line is way to loud (sorry, I'm not that old) I don't like having to yell to my friend next to me so he can hear me. But then I'm finding more of Universal seems to be going that way- forgetting that background music is supposed to be in the, duh, background. Not dominating the atmosphere.

I'm not sure what to think of the ride itself though. I only got one ride on it a couple of weeks ago and, honestly, I got 3-4 good jolts to the spine. Others on my ride seemed to like it, and are smiling for the camera, but you can tell I'm not ecstatic. But I wonder if that was partially me as well, as I also had rough rides on Hulk (that seems normal though- it vibrates my head into the otsr's bad), and even Fire didn't give a good ride.

Need to go back and give it another shot, as I honestly wonder if it was just something going on with me that I wasn't enjoying the coaster rides.

> It's a very neat looking coaster, with some unique elements.

Looking forward to trying it for ourselves next month :)

> Queue line is way to loud (sorry, I'm not that
> old) I don't like having to yell to my friend next to me so
> he can hear me. But then I'm finding more of Universal
> seems to be going that way- forgetting that background
> music is supposed to be in the, duh, background. Not
> dominating the atmosphere.

Seems they're trying to follow the example set by Cedar Point.

> I'm not sure what to think of the ride itself though. I
> only got one ride on it a couple of weeks ago and,
> honestly, I got 3-4 good jolts to the spine. Others on my
> ride seemed to like it, and are smiling for the camera, but
> you can tell I'm not ecstatic. But I wonder if that was
> partially me as well, as I also had rough rides on Hulk
> (that seems normal though- it vibrates my head into the
> otsr's bad), and even Fire didn't give a good ride.

Thanks for your honest evaluation, George. Sorry to hear about Hulk and FD though, as DD has always been a favorite.

> Need to go back and give it another shot, as I honestly
> wonder if it was just something going on with me that I
> wasn't enjoying the coaster rides.

Laurie and I will be in Orlando for two weeks Nov 7-20 and we'd love to meet you sometime, especially since we missed you on our last trip to Fla in '08. This will be our first time back at USF since they put in the Mummy. If you get a chance pls email me at: rob at leclaire dot com. Thx.

> Thanks for your honest evaluation, George. Sorry to hear
> about Hulk and FD though, as DD has always been a favorite.

Hulk didn't surprise me, and Ice still gave a good ride. Honestly, I walked away wondering if it was the coasters or me getting old. :P I really need to get a day back at Busch and some serious riding in to figure that out.

> Laurie and I will be in Orlando for two weeks Nov 7-20 and
> we'd love to meet you sometime, especially since we missed
> you on our last trip to Fla in '08. This will be our first
> time back at USF since they put in the Mummy. If you get a
> chance pls email me at: rob at leclaire dot com. Thx.

Which parks are you going to? Disney will be easy to meet up, but right now I'm out of tickets for Universal and we've let our Busch passes slip while we were waiting to see what happened with the park purchase. Don't know if I'll have them renewed by then or not. I'll try to get an email out to you. Feel free to drop one to me as well: gburnash at earthlink dot net. Or you can always catch me on Facebook.

Thanks fr the photo's Phil. It certainly is an interesting looking coaster. We have seven days at USF/IOA next month and hope to get in at least one ride on RRR. Do you live in the area?

We have a week at Universal, mine being a freebie won during the last superbowl. We had already planned to visit WDW as both our birthdays are in Nov (a week apart). I've bought a weeklong USF pass for Laurie but we're not sure how we're going to work the Disney parks. Most likely buy multi-day passes w/o park hopper and do one park per day.

We don't have to meet in a park. We have two weeks in our timeshare and will be dining out and such, maybe visit some other local attractions (something we've done very little of in the past). Also we'll be visiting friends and family in the Tampa area.

We'll be in touch later. Just don't leave town (grin).

> Thanks fr the photo's Phil. It certainly is an interesting
> looking coaster. We have seven days at USF/IOA next month
> and hope to get in at least one ride on RRR. Do you live in
> the area?
Thanks. No I live in NYC, but visit Florida yearly.

> It's a very neat looking coaster, with some unique
> elements. Queue line is way to loud (sorry, I'm not that
> old) I don't like having to yell to my friend next to me so
> he can hear me. But then I'm finding more of Universal
> seems to be going that way- forgetting that background
> music is supposed to be in the, duh, background. Not
> dominating the atmosphere.

> I'm not sure what to think of the ride itself though. I
> only got one ride on it a couple of weeks ago and,
> honestly, I got 3-4 good jolts to the spine. Others on my
> ride seemed to like it, and are smiling for the camera, but
> you can tell I'm not ecstatic. But I wonder if that was
> partially me as well, as I also had rough rides on Hulk
> (that seems normal though- it vibrates my head into the
> otsr's bad), and even Fire didn't give a good ride.

> Need to go back and give it another shot, as I honestly
> wonder if it was just something going on with me that I
> wasn't enjoying the coaster rides.

I agree, music was blaring all over. As for the ride, it's ok, but for a 2hr+ wait I didn't really enjoy it as much as I should. If the wait was like an hour I would enjoy it much more.

Thanks for the photos, Phil.
I hope to be there in February, that would make two Februarys in a row to Universal for me (this past was my first ever visit there).

RobLec, methinks you will love Mummy. Was the hit of the Studios for me.

George, I also thought Hulk was a bit on the rough side after years (years!) of hearing how great a ride it is. Not so much to discourage me from riding, but enough to cause me to reach my limit after three rides in succession. Having said that, little to no waits was a good thing.

I loved the Dragons, both sides; I never did actually decide which side I liked the most. I'd ride Ice, that was best. Then I'd ride Fire, that was best. I just gave up on it, knowing that it doesn't matter which side I ride; either is one of the best B&M inverts, IMO.

Mike B.

> I loved the Dragons, both sides; I never did actually
> decide which side I liked the most. I'd ride Ice, that was
> best. Then I'd ride Fire, that was best. I just gave up on
> it, knowing that it doesn't matter which side I ride;
> either is one of the best B&M inverts, IMO.

Fire is definitely the thrill ride of the two, while ice is the scenic tour.
IMO the best inverts are: 1) Montu, 2) Fire Dragon, 3) Afterburn.

> Thanks for the photos, Phil.
> I hope to be there in February, that would make two
> Februarys in a row to Universal for me (this past was my
> first ever visit there).

> RobLec, methinks you will love Mummy. Was the hit of the
> Studios for me.

> George, I also thought Hulk was a bit on the rough side
> after years (years!) of hearing how great a ride it is. Not
> so much to discourage me from riding, but enough to cause
> me to reach my limit after three rides in succession.
> Having said that, little to no waits was a good thing.

> I loved the Dragons, both sides; I never did actually
> decide which side I liked the most. I'd ride Ice, that was
> best. Then I'd ride Fire, that was best. I just gave up on
> it, knowing that it doesn't matter which side I ride;
> either is one of the best B&M inverts, IMO.

> Mike B.

Thanks Mike! [If I have time I'll try to upload the IOA pics.]

Yes, I too totally recommend the Mummy, it's fast and a rush. Only problem is it feels kind of short, but if you enter via the single rider line and have like at most 2-3 people ahead of you, that's well worth the wait for the ride and of course go for a reride.

Hulk, rode it a few times and had no issues with it, only issue was the long lines that limited the times I rerode it again.

For sure, the Fire side is my fav because it doesn't have the cobra roll. The Ice side is nice, but the cobra roll is just rough as well as the block break before entering the station.

In order of the B&M inverts I rode and like:
Montu, Fire side, Alpengeist, Ice side, Batman the ride.

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