Went again today and it was great. Basically, get there early and have a plan and it works. I'd be surprised if anyone here, reading a theme park forum, wouldn't do that already though.
Still can't stop thinking about that drop, tho...
- Rope dropped at 8. Got there @ 7:50, we were let in 5 minutes later. No line was more than 15 people deep; maybe the overcast morning kept some people away.
- Instead of getting a locker by the Waturi Marketplace, we hit the lockers down by Maku Puihi. Much better location and, oddly enough, these were $12 rather than the $15 I spent on Marketplace lockers on Weds.
- Apple spellcheck loves the names of these rides! :saywhat:
- KAC was a walk on, and we did it 2x in a row. This coaster is an absolute blast.
- Maku was a walk on. Tame, and the geysers were not working.
- Puihi another walk on. First time we had to ride with another family (3 of us, 2 of them) on one of these rides. Lotta touching feet on these raft rides.
- Punga Racers walk on. Noticing a pattern? Neat idea having the mats have handles and going down head first. I am 6 foot and had to scrunch up to keep my knees on.
- Ohya has was a walk on. Ohno was but we had to wait about 10 mins and the Tapu stand said 20 when we were done.
- About 9:30 now and that was the first ride we saw that needs a tap.
- Fearless river, almost no one on. I got flipped by a wave! Fell off and the TMs did not like me walking it the rest of the way.
- Kala and Tai Nui body slides (KTN) have a 10 minute tap wait but the bars are not open yet and there is no way in hell im doing those sober.
- So it's not quite 10, we have our snack, and Taniwha tubes and one Serpentine slide are all that are left on my plan. We're skipping Honu and Moana after doing those on Weds.
- 2 Taniwha tube rides, both walk ons. Light blue has you travel on the wall for a bit, pretty neat.
- A get a beer @ the blue Boat Bar while wife and son wave pool it. The wave bell is working, which was not on Weds. This is the clock-like tower that shows which wave profile is going. Loud bells ring when it changes, very cool.
- We Tapu in for KTN w 105 min wait (@ 10, GP gets on, and weather was starting to look good). Stand says " see you in 85" and that is what displays on our devices.
- For the first time ever, we drop the kid off. He does Runamukka reef while we go to locker to get me a dose of insulin, and to Bluebar for drinks. There is an eating area over looking the kids area, so that was a nice touch.
- More wave pool, walking the path way thru the volcano, and it is time.
- Maybe the disrepency w the wait time is it take 20 mins to climb that damn thing!
- It is an absolute cluster F on the platform! All 3 slides are there; KTN is one line and you choose at the top (only Punga and Taniwha are like this, everything else has separate lines).
- Only 5 or so people in front of us.
- Most rides have nice " batter's box" scale to weigh everyone. Up here is a regular bathroom scale, painted black.
- 10 yr oled decides to walk back down. We congratulate him for this decision later.:thumbsup:
- Wife goes on green tube, but is in the coffin like enclosure for about 20 seconds before they hit the button. :jaw:
- My turn. I hit between 200 - 205 on the old timeydial scale and the girl says "wait a minute please" and hurries to the drop slide operator. She eventually comes back, asks me which slide I want and I'm wishing I had joined my son at this point. "Green!" After a few seconds, she says "Um" while mashing some buttons. "Blue then".
- I get in and HOLY #%&$ CRAP WHY DID THEY EVEN BUILD THIS THING.
- The free fall was great except for all the water up my nose and mouth. Once I could breathe again, it was like a faster version of a tube slide such as Ohno. Then you crash into a wall of water that is the bottom pool and relive all of the water into all of your face holes.
- I said "never again" in that instant but I cannot stop thinking about it.
- Guy on the way up said the drop slide is actually tamer.
- Wave pool, beer, and out by 2.
Tee Hee! Thanks for the review
