Fun Spot Orlando & Animal Kingdom 3/21/23

[Yoshi]

Yesterday I went to Orlando mostly for Fun Spot but visited Animal Kingdom for around 4 hours.

 

The main reason I like going to Fun Spot Orlando is White Lightning. The wooden coaster choices here are basically White Lightning, Mine Blower and a junior wooden coaster at Legoland. It's very smooth for a wooden coaster and had some track work done a few months ago. The double up followed by the double down is a fun element and on the return trip back, there is some unexpected air time in the back. I got 5 rides, 3 in the front row including a solo ride and 2 in the back row.

 

Freedom Flyer is fun for a family coaster. The double helix at the end is more forceful than expected for a tamer coaster. I rode twice both times in the front row. 

 

Fun Spot has a good collection of flat rides but the cycles are usually really long compared to other parks. The scrambler's cycle is probably 3 or 4 minutes compared to maybe 90 seconds on Deja Vu. I normally skip them because of that even though Florida parks other than Fun Spot don't have many flat rides.

 

The one place where Fun Spot has lines are the go kart tracks. With their very low capacity and being included with a wristband, the lines can be bad even with not that many people in line. Some of the tracks only were running 10 single karts with 30 people in line. At 6 - 7 minutes a cycle, I didn't want to wait 25 - 30 minutes and went for the 1 track that doesn't have any elevated areas since it had no line.

 

I also tried the Fun House. I was surprised about some of the obstacles in there like a conveyor belt that had a drop off into a curved pit maybe a foot deep. Some of the effects weren't working like light up sticks you have to walk through.

 

I had never been to Gator Spot and stopped in for 15 minutes. If you didn't stop to look at the alligators for too long, you could be done with the exhibit in a few minutes. It's free with a wristband or $6.00 without a wristband. There were also a few birds and a tortoise. It was a little weird to be watching the alligators in their enclosures and then seeing alligators lying by a pond in my neighborhood the same day knowing they weren't behind glass or a fence.

 

Animal Kingdom wasn't too crowded. Kilimanjaro Safari was only a 5 minute wait in the late afternoon. I prefer Great Adventure's safari but this one is fun too. I also saw It's Tough To Be A Bug, Festival of the Lion King and rode Dinosaur twice and Kali River Rapids once thankfully avoiding facing backwards for the drop and not getting soaked.

 

 

 

SFOG's Enterprise. I have never seen it running.

 

 

 

 

 

[pashacar]

Nice report, Yoshi. I'm going down to Orlando in a couple weeks and will have half a day to kill near Universal. Is Fun Spot the best best? Any other attractions or activities you recommend?

[Yoshi]

Thank you.

 

I enjoy Fun Spot but it’s probably not somewhere to spend more than 2-3 hours. White Lightning is great but after that and Freedom Flyer, there isn’t a whole lot besides the go karts unless you want to ride a lot of flat rides. You can get a wristband good for both the Orlando and Kissimmee parks for an extra $10 over buying the wristband for 1 park but Mine Blower at Kissimmee is closed for some retracking from RMC. Also if it’s a weekday, they usually don’t open until 2 pm except during school breaks and summer. 
 

They also offer pay per ride but I only suggest that if you just wanted to stop in and ride 1 or 2 things as it is expensive. $12 per ride for the coasters, go karts and larger flat rides. $7 per ride for everything else.

 

I would have also suggested SeaWorld with their $66 ticket sale if you already aren’t going there but Mako and Journey to Atlantis are closed for refurbishment. 
 

The only other attractions I have done besides the main parks in Orlando since moving to FL is mini golf at Disney and some of the water parks (both Disney water parks and Aquatica). The golf is fun but only takes around an hour and probably isn’t worth the trouble if going there from the Universal area just for that.