K-Pop Credit Hunters in Virginia://Part 1~ Expedition PanTerra

               Date:8/15/2025-8/18/2025

Destination: Virginia

Goal: Busch Gardens; Kings Dominion

Distance: 444 Miles

Means of Travel: Driving

Potential Credits: 3

Well, I was going to start this off with a long retelling of my enthusiast’s life story, but that’s already present and readable on the blog. So TLDR, I grew up kind of a troubled teen, in 2010 I went to Kings Dominion on family vacation, I’d been in the roller coasters part of YouTube, and despite growing up around engineering all my life, it was seeing Intimidator 305 and Volcano and the engineering that went into them that made me so passionate about this. While I did have the common reckoning later in life that I wouldn’t get paid to play Rollercoaster Tycoon, this interest in coasters is what turned me from unemployed sixteen year old without a driver’s license into some semblance of a functioning adult. That started out in Virginia at Kings Dominion, near another Virginia park that’s important to me.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A black roller coaster train with green eyes races along a length of orange track against some trees.

With Kings Dominion getting a new launched Raptor coaster, and Busch Gardens getting the new Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge (story on that next update), on top of also having DarKoaster which I needed to ride, there was no question that Virginia was in the cards for 2025. Ben was my choice for travel partners, being the only guy friend I have left that hasn't done this Virginia thing with me. So the night before I drove to CMH to pick him up and we got Skyline on the way home to watch Big Brother.

The following morning we got up, packed the car, and headed out on our drive.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A hand holds a white coffee cup marked with an orange D in a restaurant.

Because my partner Keely is awesome, she bought me Dunkin for breakfast on the way out.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A biscuit holds a piece of egg, cheese and bologna on it.

West Virginia wasn't far away, and we got Tudor's Biscuit World for breakfast! Gotta love the Politician, it was Ben's first time here and while he hated the breakfast food he loved the biscuit sandwiches.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a grassy hill flies a large Confederate flag.

YUCK!!! Seeing this garbage let us know we were close, at least...

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a wooden wall hangs a black and red menu board with red and white text advertising gluttonous trays of food for $7.99 and $6.99.

After arriving near our hotel in Richmond, Ben and I got Cook Out for dinner, phone book menu and all. Delicious as always, but I’m not sure which was less tolerable to listen to: the god awful Christian shit they play, or the obnoxious kids’ birthday party behind us. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett wears an orange Hawaiian shirt, white towel over his shoulders, and a green Survivor buff in an outdoor pool.

We got to the hotel and decided to go for a dip, since it was too late to reasonably pop into KD. So I took a swim in the pool, destroyed my shoulder again, my friend Forest called us, and we headed up to bed knowing we had a big, hot day ahead of us.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A hand holds a water bottle over a toilet.

I was gonna put this here, but the story behind this water bottle is so horrible I'm not sure it belongs on the internet, the internet is a place of wholesome content compared to the horrors of this bottle. Ask myself or Ben or message the Coastervivor page if you really want to know what happened here.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a white table sits a bowl of Cheerios, a plate of hash browns, sausage, an omelette, and a plate containing a Belgian waffle.

The following morning I got up and enjoyed a nice, big hotel breakfast (didn’t eat everything on this sampler platter, don’t worry) before we got on the road to Kings Dominion!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Out the window of a car one can see a Busch Gardens Big Bad Wolf billboard atop a grassy ridge.

Petty AF Busch Gardens putting a billboard for Big Bad Wolf right next to their rival park.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A long line to get through a metal detector.

Good morning, KD! Had no idea how hellish bag check was to get in this morning!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A golden coaster train with five winged cars dives down a green track.

Ride number one of the day was the new kid on the block, Rapterra (or as I’d heard it called, Crapterra) as my second new to me B&M wing coaster of 2025, and the first to go up in the US in ten years.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett holds a backpack at the entrance to a coaster called Rapterra, to the right is an African-styled building reading "RESEARCH CENTER."

The last time I rode something here, Volcano: The Blast Coaster made me a coaster enthusiast for life, let's see if it was rightfully replaced.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A queue goes through a dig site, weaving under a stone ruin surrounded by ash and wheelbarrows.

Great theming on this ride! Kings Dominion spared no expense bringing Jungle Expediton to further life with the addition of Rapterra.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Under a metal roof is an ancient stone wall with a large hawk head protruding from it.

Some excellent station theming as well. I'm a major fan of Josh Gates's show Expedition Unknown, this reminded me of Gobekli Tepe or Qin's Tomb or one of the other archaeological sites that were hastily covered with one of these roof structures.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Under a metal roof structure, guests mill around a platform with hawk-themed ancient columns and shelves of archaeological supplies hung from the scaffolding.

They didn't need to go this hard with the theming but they went this hard with the theming. This is not a normal Six Flags coaster, definitely the best themed one they've erected hands down!

Accessibility Note: Only the right wing of Rapterra is wheelchair accessible, and I wish KD would fix it because the point of these rides is that they can be ridden in either wing for two experiences in one.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A russet wing coaster train dives down a curve of green track.

So we were assigned a middle row on the right wing first, and it wasn’t bad at all! That launch up the horseshoe curve was absolutely exhilarating hanging sideways up and over the midway like that, the S-curve dished out some great airtime similar to Thunderbird’s, and the carousel over the midway into that odd “wing slide” element was amazing visually. The second half of the ride is a bit basic and “find an interesting way to complete the circuit,” but the front half is what’ll keep you coming back. I rode in the front on the left after, and had a somewhat similar experience, albeit this one was a tad rougher but not by much.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett and Ben in an on-ride photo of Rapterra.

I got a second ride up front on the other call to make a better decision about the ride. Honestly? It's overhated. Yes, there's a rattle, but it's far from unpleasant. By comparison, Rakshasa's managed to make me hit my head on the restraint yoke, this rattle is nothing. If I was Kings Dominon, and my new ride rattled like this, would I be pissed can calling first thing in the morning Switzerland time to speak to the manager? Probably. But to a normal guest, it's far from offensive and won't keep people from riding it.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wing coaster train launches down a track under a stone arch.

Right is the better side I believe, but they're both great. Is it a flawed coaster? Yes. Aren't almost all coasters flawed in some capacity? Yes. Even a personal nostalgia coaster like Volcano that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. But both do something great in that you blast off for a pretty fun flight on exposed trains flying high over the jungle, and in their capacity to do that, it's pretty even. Is it the replacement I personally feel it deserves? No. But is it a fair replacement from a lineup and business standpoint? Yes.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A black coaster train with green eyes and claws rockets around a turn of orange track.

Alright, it’s time for Pantherian! As Intimidator 305, this was one of two Kings Dominion Intamin rides that got me into coasters fifteen years ago. Now that they’ve pulled a concrete wall and deleted Dale Earnhardt, it has been rethemed to match Jungle X as Pantherian. Panther statues in the plaza, a black and orange structure as opposed to McDonald’s colors, and a new bastardized panther/Toothless/race car thing for a train. Though I understand some mechanical modifications were made, hence how long it took to get this cat on the prowl this year. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange and black roller coaster races around a curve with a lift hill and airtime hill in the background.

It’s an improvement! Not just in theme or aesthetics, but whatever they were doing to the ride, it’s running way better than I’ve seen it in the past. It’s by no means perfect, it’s not going to turn me into an Intamin douchebag in a cutoff Skyrush shirt, and some of my complaints about this giga coaster are still very much present…but some aren’t anymore! Yes it still farts around in the turns without snapping as much as I’d like, yes the ride still feels super repetitive, but I actually got airtime over its hills! 305 was a ride I remembered for missing airtime moments, sometimes every single one on the layout, but this time my butt left my seat over every hill. Sure it wasn’t anything stronger than you’d get on Millennium Force, but it’s better. And while even I miss the iconic “gentlemen, start your engines” as you left the station, there’s a panther’s roar and a cool drumbeat that plays now.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange bobsled coaster with brown crocodile-themed trains in its channel.

We did Reptillian next, something that’s becoming kind of a rare coaster as bobsleds are starting to meet their demise, and I rode up front and thoroughly enjoyed leaning into those curves. Underrated coaster!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: From a grove of tropical plants emerges a green coaster with bamboo-themed supports, a monolith depicts two stylized monkeys.

We could've done Tumbili, but couldn't be bothered with it as we both had the credit and remember it being pretty lackluster for the wait time it had. Still a beautiful coaster that looks great in Jungle X, though.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a wooden table sits a fishbowl of frozen colorful drink and a paper plate of chicken fingers, rice, and a fry bread.

Lunch at Outpost was next, and honestly, I wasn’t hungry because it was so damn hot. Like, there was a heat advisory again. But I ended up with chicken fingers (they were out of pot roast and nothing else looked good) and some pretty good rice and fry bread…plus a refreshing frozen KD 50 fishbowl with frozen margarita and a canned one dumped into it.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Three men smile with a thumbs up in front of a bar, one wears a propeller beanie.

And we also ran into industry legend Clint Novak during our meal, propeller beanie and all!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue roller coaster train themed as a rustic truck dives down a hill of rust-colored steel rails on wooden supports.

With us having done all we wanted in Jungle Expedition, we headed through Candy Apple Grove to my favorite coaster in Virginia: RMC’s Twisted Timbers.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A green coaster train themed like a rustic truck rolls down a twisting drop.

I've ridden this since it opened in 2018 and to me, it's always been a sleeper hit RMC. It opened the same year as Steel Vengeance and kind of in its shadow, but make no mistake: the two are very clearly built to be similar. Right down to the airtime that tries to crush your thighs to leave you one for the road!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across a sandy crater sits a rusty 1950s truck and a coaster train flying over a hill, green and themed as a green farming truck.

Yup! Still as good as I remember it. Probably among the better of the smaller RMCs, it still has no chill and still rides amazingly. I was out of my seat every chance I got, and towards the end it felt like I might as well have been hung out to dry by my thighs by how much I was practically riding the underside of the lap bar. Whew, what a ride! 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden coaster station painted in whitewash bears a red train reading "Racer 75."

Sadly, Ben needed a credit next, so we did the dirty south side of Racer 75 for an airtime-less run out to a very quiet Pantheian and back, seeing a truck parked next to the winch at the base of the lift.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A stone statue of a grizzly bear.

Continuing around, I love Grizzly so we hit that next. Now, Ben and I both qualify for ADA passes, me specifically for really bad social anxiety disorder, I likely would not be able to visit parks to the extent I do without it. Well we aren't picky about rows, I just want to ride not on a wheel seat, and these obnoxious children without present parents give me an attitude for having the NERVE to sit in their seat. We rode, it was good, not great but good, but leaving I (understandably upset but politely) inform these two little derelicts that I had a pass because I have a condition that made waiting in line a source of distress for me. These little shits' eyes turned to the size of golf balls, they peppered me with apologies, but my mission was accomplished and they knew they had done something very wrong and very ignorant. These stupid kids even hid their faces when I casually stepped down the exit as the train carrying them rolled by like a turd.

I was on the fence about confronting them, but did it so that these kids could learn from their actions and do better in the future. Before they grow up into the kind of ableist adult that Keely and I make fun of for being dangerously ignorant about accessibility. But they should not have been there unattended in the first place, and their parents should have taught them better. If you had two unattended kids at KD this day and they rode Grizzly around 4, please do better.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tall orange roller coaster rises high over a wooded landscape.

We hit the Eiffel Tower next for photos, when talking to some of Ben’s friends at the top (who just happened to be there that day) learned that Pantherian’s cable snapped.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An aerial shot of an area with two green and two orange roller coasters, as well as a large white hexagonal building. A lake sits off to the side, and the Virginia countryside continues to the horizon.

I love the Eiffel Tower concept as a whole, and it works so well at both parks. You can see all of Jungle Expedition from up here!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: From the sky, one sees a classic amusement park midway with wooden coasters, colorful tower rides, and a Ferris Wheel. A power plant can be seen in the trees extending past the park.

From there, we decided to go ride Twisted Timbers again because it's awesome and we came all the way here.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue coaster train navigates a curve of brown track on wooden supports against some forest.

Twisted Timbers is a front seat RMC if I've seen one. As I said earlier, you basically ride at near constant speed as the pacing just gets crazier and crazier until you're practically riding the underside of that bar through some of the most ridiculous airtime you'd never expect on such a small coaster. It's an incredible ride, and still my favorite coaster in the Old Dominion state.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A brick monolith holds up a panther statue in the foreground of a tall orange roller coaster.

We were going to go hit Rapterra and Pantherian again next, but Pantherian was clearly toast if what we were told earlier was true. Still walked back there for these interesting photos of the plaza empty, though.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A green roller coaster sends a golden train through an overbank.

I guess we hit Rapterra next?

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A russet-colored wing coaster train navigates a curve of green track in the foreground of another green coaster.

I still didn't mind the rattle here, Ben HATED it. He said it was the worst wing coaster he'd ever been on and that it jackhammered him the whole ride. He was on the outer tip of the wing, but I'd ridden there too and had no issues with it. I like this ride, but Ben walked away from Rapterra with a very bad taste in his mouth for this coaster.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue coaster train themed as a truck races over an airtime hill of brown steel track on wooden supports.

With Pantherian taking a cat nap, Twisted Timbers happened instead, whoops. On the platform, there was a mother telling her daughter in line to ride might fly out, so I told her, "ma'am, I don't mean to interject, but I'm a degreed MET that likes roller coasters and I can assure you your child is totally safe."

"Oh," she responded as her daughter's train left the station. "I know, I just think it might be too scary for her because she's never ridden a roller coaster before." Guarantee that child is now traumatized and will never set foot on a coaster again.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A cardboard tray of cheesy jalapeno sausage, a bowl of baked beans, and a corn muffin.

We went to grab food next at the fire station place over by Snoopy, just because it was new and the barbecue looked good. Loved how they were playing Johnny Cash when we walked in, but the line was brutal to get food. Fortunately, I found us a quiet corner where this spicy sausage could destroy me peacefully.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A yellow steel coaster at night rises behind a silver sign reading "DOMINATOR."

After dinner, I wanted to pop in and snag Dominator on the way out, so that's what we did. This B&M floorless never fails to impress me, sure it wasn't the epic night ride you usually close out on, but we were on a time crunch to get to Williamsburg at a reasonable time and check in, so this was a decent way to end the night on the way out.

There was a dad and his daughter riding in my row, apparently this was her first big coaster ever. "K Dad, you owe me $20!" she told him on the brakes, the whole exchange was wholesome and adorable.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A staircase has a sketchy accessibility ramp going down the three steps, precariously perched on one of them.

After snagging a Rapterra hat and watching someone shoplift from the gift shop in front of everyone, we got on the hot, sweaty drive to Williamsburg with the A/C blasting.

Eventually, we got there and checked in, but got up to the room (complete with this...interesting approach to making it accessible) to see that the air conditioning doesn't work in it. Frustrated, I told the front desk, who moved us to a room we were told was downstairs. We get there, the key won't unlock it, turns out it was actually the room next to ours. It had one of those in-window units because the built in one didn't work, but we had air conditioning! I grabbed a beer, called Keely, took the coldest shower of my life, and passed out. Busch Gardens needed us tomorrow!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An inverted coaster train takes a turn of red track, with the front car resembling the head of an angry wolf.

UP NEXT: The Wolf gets its revenge! After almost 20 years of feeling cheated I didn't get to ride Big Bad Wolf, I finally get to ride it in a pretty crazy twist of fate at another park that's incredibly special to me. Two credits await at America's most beautiful park, and as an added bonus I spit Sicilian wine all over the wine tasting like an idiot! One half down, one hilarious second half of the trip report is on deck!

Fiery Runnings://Lost Island 2025

                 Date:7/3/2025-7/7/2025

Destination: Waterloo, Iowa

Goal: Lost Island Theme Park, Fire Runner

Distance: 500 Miles

Means of Travel: Driving

Potential Credits: 1

So as I said in the last installment of this blog entry, the plan for this trip for almost a year now had been the Ax Murder House and Lost Island for Fire Runner. I mean, how could it not be ready by the Fourth of July? Well, turns out it wasn't, for reasons beyond the park's control. But that didn't mean there wasn't another cool, new coaster that I was trying to get to this year! 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange roller coaster on a single rail twists through a curve woven into a sloped Asiatic roof of a red and gold building.

After getting home from Iowa and having Keely for a bit longer, Fire Runner opened not long after she returned to New York. So it was on me to head out to Iowa once more and ride it!

I’d not been a good noodle about trip prep this time, and with me going to Scene 75 last night with family, I wasn’t exactly ready to roll out of bed and go this morning. So I did trash, dishes, packed, and got my stuff together and was on the road about 11. Not gonna cover the uneventful 8 hour death march through the corn field, nothing happened as nothing ever does.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A sunset over a Polynesian-themed entrance plaza, with a coaster in the background.

Alright, Lost Island, it is good to be back, and even better to be back now that this is a park with an RMC! I rolled in at sunset, with my ticket for the next day and plans to just buy a second at the gate if I got there in time. But when I explained this, they just let me in for free since we only had two hours in the operating day left.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett smiles in front of a volcano shrine and orange roller coaster, wearing a beige Kondaa hat, red Jersey Devil Coaster shirt, and pineapple button-down.

We've finally made it here, let's do it!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Against an orange sunset, a roller coaster rain dives out of a dive loop against a station.

And the conditions for Fire Runner couldn’t have been more appropriate! Iowa had been dealing with wildfire smoke from Canada, so here I am in a hazy, smoky sunset walking to a coaster called Fire Runner as the sky casts an orange glow over the fiery Mura realm.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A coaster station with orange walls and a red roof has a long red train of single seat cars parked in it.

…and it happens again! Anybody who knows me knows I’ve got a bit of a curse with these Raptors, something always seems to happen right before I ride them. It happened in 2018 in Texas, 2021 in New Jersey, and briefly back in May of this year. Add Iowa to the list, because the second I step up to ride I get told “they’re closing the ride” by a family that’s leaving. So I waited around for like 10-20 minutes and it reopened no problem.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: In a sunset, a red coaster train twists over the roof of an Asiatic-styled station.

And I rode in the front for my first ride and it blew me away! Having come off of YoY, and knowing this was a smaller model that I’d heard was weaker, I was expecting to see the trend continue of these Raptor coasters dialing it back a notch. Nope! Fire Runner is about as intense as Railblazer, my current favorite Raptor and a former #1 of mine.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A single-seater coaster car at the front of a train has lead car art depicting a bust of a Mura warrior with a golden skull and wings headdress and red hair amid a backdrop of fire. 

Fire Runner's theming is a sort of a cross between Lost Island's Polynesian vibe, and Greco-Roman influences. The lead car art is definitely the latter, it's giving Hades 360 and that isn't a bad thing at all.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A volcano shrine with urns of bright red fire and a coaster in the background.

Your ride starts with a climb up the lift and a flat simple turn, unlike the little dippy one you see on the Wonder Woman model. From there it’s a brisk little dive back to the ground before it rises up into the dive loop…and flips you really hard into it! From there, it rockets through the off-axis airtime hill dishing out the best ejector moment on the coaster, it abruptly rips you from your seat with gusto and slams you up into that restraint. From there it climbs into that elevated slalom, which dives back down and has another killer pop of air the further you sit in the back. It then twists through a cutback built into the station roof, the curvature of the track nestled into the sloped Asian-styled roof and its spire. It then goes through the overbank which is full of positives and then hits the brakes really hard, which is a hard miss of the air in the back but towards the front is a good final kick.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A monolith of stone with flames reads "MURA" against a backdrop of Fire Runner.

I got rides around the train, tried out a few seats in the back, front, and middle, and just spent my evening enjoying Fire Runner just getting off and running around. And honestly, I had rides that were among my best experiences I've had on a raptor! But with the long train, not every seat can do that, which is why I think Railblazer is the better coaster. The worst seat on Railblazer is better than the worst seat on Fire Runer, but the best seat on Fire Runner is better than the best seat on Railblazer.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange roller coaster behind temporary metal fencing weighed down with cinderblocks over gravel.

And I better not hear any criticism about how long it took to get open, the second they were able to open it they threw the switch. There's still construction wrap and temporary low zone fencing in spots, be glad it opened at all for 2025.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An ancient temple with a large green snake's head glowing red in the mouth, green coaster track weaves around in the background.

Enjoying the ride, I figured I'd go pay Matugani a little love, so I went over and did that once before returning to Fire Runner.

Got a few night rides on Fire Runner as the sun went down and the red lighting package went on, and it's great zipping around that molten little rail as the sun set into the hazy pasture. Fully warmed up, power lapping the RMC, my shoulders are absolutely killing me right now from the airtime, life is good.

Was gonna make Fire Runner tomorrow's night ride, so I headed over to Matugani to close out the day. Like Fire Runner's track glows a smoldering ember red, Matugani's green track is illuminated a bright emerald under the stars, surrounded by a ring of island lanterns circling the blacked out lagoon.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A fire shrine shoots water geysers into the night sky in purple light, contrasting glowing red flames.

Good night, Lost Island!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: At dusk, several palm trees sit illuminated in a colorful square with a Ferris wheel and drop tower in the background.

From there, I went to the sketchiest hotel for the night and snagged Taco Bell before falling asleep over the phone with Keely. It was gonna be a big day tomorrow!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A steep straw roof of a Polynesian structure is adorned with colorful trim and two flaming tikis. A sign held up by bamboo reads "LOST ISLAND THEMEPARK."

I woke up early and drove to Lost Island for the full day I had planned there. Good morning, islanders!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A black rocky lava cliff grows grass and wheat on its upper surface, with an orange roller coaster dropping a red train on a single-railed track behind it.

I wanted to start the day off on Volkanu, but it went down, so I headed over to Fire Runner for some of the first rides of the day.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: In a dark cave lined with orange ribbons of bright lava, a throne sits before a basalt statue of a priest, holding up a golden headdress as if to crown who sits on the throne.

Obligatory cool queue line shot. They built this throne surrounded by relics of the Mura tribe, you can sit down as the statue of a priest crowns you the winner of the Fire Runner Challenge. Cool selfie spot to market the ride, very smart investment on their part!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Through some foliage, a black and orange disk with riders riding on its perimeter and a fake torch at its center traverses a shallow W-shaped black track, with an orange swinging ride and green roller coaster in the background.

Went to Shaman's Curse next, which was fun and forceful. As much as I trash Zamperla on here, this is the kind of thing they should be doing.

Okay, Volkanu works, let's go save Lost Island! This ride is so good, and two years later, everything still works just as well as it did. Pyrotechnics blasting off, that cool Pepper's Ghost shaman still popped up, the lava demon animatronics were all working, this is their baby and they take care of it.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A boom arm raises an array of seats equipped with flying machine wings into a cloudy sky, one rider tilts his wings to spin his seat.

Went over to the air-themed Udara realm next to do terrible things on my favorite flat ride, one that straps its human riders to giant pinwheels for those skilled enough to pilot such an intense flight.

I'm way too obsessed with flipping these things. There's something oddly dopamine-releasing about feeling that seat complete its first full revolution and then just whirling out of control like an airplane propeller.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tray holds two shrimp tacos and a container of macaroni and cheese topped with BBQ pork.

Because literally the only thing worth doing in the water-themed Awa realm is eat, I elected for food at Whalebone. I pigged out a bit and got some BBQ mac and cheese and these special shrimp tacos. Food here is cheap, this is why I need stapled to fit on anything!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A green roller coaster's neon yellow train passes over an arch of green supports spanning a pathway between two planters, as a man walking along the path turns around and looks at the coaster.

Continued around the loop to Matugani next, which was great as much as it was last night.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A flat ride consisting of a gondola between two vertical red arms sits at the base of a volcano, with a statue of a rock golem rising from the lava rock reaching out over the machine.

Decided to hit another new to me ride in Rokava, which wasn't open on my first visit. I wanted to sit up front to film, but they said with only me on the ride I would have to sit center back so the ride and the footage basically sucked. Such a cool concept but I was told the ride just doesn't work as intended, hopefully Lost Island can switch it out for something that'll make good use of that cool lava golem.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange roller coaster with a narrow single-railed track twists around over a length of lava stone, with a red train whirling through a corkscrew.

Nabbed one more ride on Fire Runner next, this time getting accelerometer data. Whew, this thing does not play around! This is more Gs than rides typically exert at least in terms of airtime, I don't want anyone complaining that it's weak or slow or anything when it's trying to fling you across a cornfield.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A purple suspended coaster with violet supports sends a violet train through an overbank against the cloudy skies.

I wasn't sure I wanted to do Nopuko again after it nearly killed me in '23 on that horrible rollover, but I decided to take it on again to see if Lost Island's work on it had done anything positive for this Vekoma SLC. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A purple roller coaster flips riders through an Immelmann loop, with a purple, wood, and white pinwheel structure in the foreground.

Good news: it did not kill me. Bad news: it still tried. Yes, they fixed that pothole in the rollover, but it still bucks around really badly and it's just not pleasant at least up front. The back, however, did dish out a fun ride and I'd do it again, maybe towards the middle-rear.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A glass of cloudy liquid rimmed with red pepper reads "FIRE RUNNER."

I went over to Thirsty Voyager next when I saw they had pepper margaritas for Fire Runner, and got a nice spicy and sour margarita in a take home red light up glass. Drank this with a couple of seasoned parkgoers that partake in alcohol, they were bragging about whatever happened at HHN a few years ago and I'm 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A coaster sits in a gravel field surrounded by temporary fencing, with a train parked on the brake run.

I wanted to go back to Fire Runner...but saw it was down.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A ruin in an archaeological dig site rises in front of a green roller coaster, framing an orange roller coaster in  the eye of its loop.

Matugani would have to suffice, which I've ridden a million times now between my two times here. It's like mini Maverick almost, and in this day and age, I'm really starting to appreciate these Intamin rocket coasters as their breed dies off. This is proof that sometimes less is more, the tiny rocket coaster is great but it's also still around.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A maze of rope fencing in a cave of paintings illuminated with colorful lights.

Snagged another ride on Volkanu, hoping Fire Runner would open up. The dad and his son I rode with were a riot, they loved it and the son noticed it was trackless and said it was just as good as the rides at Disney.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A hand holds a cake donut dusted in red cinnamon sprinkles, with a fire shrine and orange roller coaster in the background.

$5 for a half dozen freshly fried fire donuts would have to hold me over til they got Fire Runner open. However, as the sun dipped into the corn, maintenance despite their best efforts clearly weren't going to rekindle this flame, so I went for, you guessed it, more Matugani.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A beige coaster station has green track running through it with a red catch car.

I got one lap, went back for one more, and as we waited to launch...clunk! Ride ops said to just get off, they knew that sound meant no more Matugani for the evening. So I elected to just take the L and head out.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett sits in a pool, holding a can of Simply Spiked Mango Peach/

Drove to Davenport that evening and took a dip in the pool, with alcohol I totally did not sneak in.

Following morning, I checked out of La Quinta, bid a farewell to the rude morning clerk, and enjoyed a slow drive home through the cornfields.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange roller coaster with black supports twists around a compact layout over a red and gold pagoda-styled station, against a bright green prairie and blue cloudy sky.

So far, my favorite new ride of 2025. This thing is so intense, it blows YoY and Rakshasa out of the water, and while I've still got a few more to experience, so far nothing from this year has touched this. Lost Island, that tiny little place in Iowa next to the waterpark, has built the best new coaster of the year, and if that isn't motivation to get there as is, IDK what is. A few weeks are left to get here, make sure you get to experience Lost Island and Fire Runner for yourself ASAP.