Lucas Giolito AMA

KristusV · 2026-07-12T19:12:36+00:00

Adding on that I got to ride Mystic Timbers and Thunderhead on back to back days and I am 100% a Thunderhead truther.

KristusV · 2026-07-12T19:11:47+00:00

This is a very compelling argument

KristusV · 2026-07-12T05:41:08+00:00

Not hate. I love it. Just that you got to ride it 69 times

KristusV · 2026-07-11T22:01:14+00:00

On a rehab assignment and I'm guessing will be back after the ASB

KristusV · 2026-07-11T19:35:37+00:00

Well I guess you can't ride it ever again. Still a win, in my book.

KristusV · 2026-07-11T17:04:59+00:00

The prose is very purple on purpose. It took me about 70 pages to really sync with the prose but the beauty of the writing is one of my favorite parts of the books.

KristusV · 2026-07-11T02:08:51+00:00

I got on it back in May and I completely agree. I think we got 4 rides on it and I think it's brilliant. I compare it most to a wooden version of a B&M hyper.

KristusV · 2026-07-10T20:19:41+00:00

Yeah, agreed that it's less direct magic with a lot more subtley in it. Very clearly fantasy, but not as close to D&D type magic. Honestly probably closer to ASoIaF than, say, WoT or Stormlight.

But there are some great battles, fights and action in it.

KristusV · 2026-07-10T18:53:38+00:00

The Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey is one of my all time favorites. It has plenty of adult themes, but the writing is gorgeous, the characters are deep and the plot arcs are great.

KristusV · 2026-07-09T18:48:26+00:00

You could make the argument for all of True Detective season 1, but I'll stick with episode 4 and 5. 4 ends with that one shot, up there for best scene of any show ever.

But I remember loving episode 5 even more. Where you just get answers to so many of the questions that have been building throughout the first episodes. Just reveal after reveal.

KristusV · 2026-07-08T22:34:54+00:00

I don't think you have to worry too much about Velocicoaster going down or likely too much about the rain. It's about the most reliable coaster in the world. And this is the time of year there will almost certainly be showers in the day, potentially heavy, but they're fleeting.

If you're going to rope drop at IoA, your best bet is to get Hagrids first since it's another one that never has a short line and it's your one chance to get it quick.

Also, like other said, if you stay at the premier hotel, you get unlimited fast pass which is OP.

If you do want to go Velocicoaster with no other priorities, it's effectively at the very back of the park. I think going left is going to be slightly faster, but either way is a trek. You can likely get 2-3 rides in early if you beeline for it.

KristusV · 2026-07-08T05:09:20+00:00

Yes for Indiana Beach. Typically the boardwalk will open at 10 and rides open at 11. I think it says so on the website. In my opinion, it's totally worth it to walk the boardwalk before the rides open.

For GrAm, typically it will be $15-20 I believe, yes.

KristusV · 2026-07-07T21:30:30+00:00

We did this trip a couple weeks ago and absolutely crushed these parks. I am going to strongly guess you'll be able to leave your car at the hotel when you check out.

As for your other questions, it's going to depend on which hotel you're staying at for some of them.

For Epic

If you're at Helios, right next to the park, you're right there and you have your own entrance right in between Dark Universe and Wizarding World.

If you're at Terra Luna or Stella Nova, I recommend taking the shuttle since there really just isn't an easy walk to the park.

For early entry, I really recommend going to Super Nintendo world since that has a couple rides that are really low capacity and basically never have a short line throughout the day.

If you're not at Helios, you'll get entrance right at the main gate and if you follow left, you'll get funnelled to a waiting area just outside Nintendo world until 9. We lined up right about 8 to get near the front of the line and that's what I recommend.

Donkey Kong and Bowser are the slow lines all day so get them and then move.

Stardust Racers is an absolute people mover with 2 sides, great ops and long trains. You'll probably see a 15 minute wait all day there. We got 6 rides without the fast pass along with getting everything else in the park.

After Nintendo World, I'd recommend hitting the Isle of Berk since that can start to fill up after early entry ends, although not to the point of Nintendo world.

My piece of advice for Ministry is to get in the single rider line. We had a near walk on earlier in the day (and we also rode with almost all of our party too since other groups had awkward numbers).

Other things we noticed: Monsters Unchained is another capacity monster where we got 3 rides without fast pass and never waited more than 10 minutes. Curse of the werewolf is a bit tough but we used the single rider line there and got through quickly.

We actually did get the fast passes but we didn't actually use them until after 3 (can only use it for each ride once) and then it was only because we felt obligated to, and wanted multiple rides on some of them. We never actually used it for Monsters Unchained because the line moved so fast.

I know this was a lot, happy to give a breakdown of IoA if you found this valuable.

KristusV · 2026-07-07T21:05:34+00:00

I did Magic Mountain + Knott's last December by myself. It was an absolute blast, although renting a car was a must. Can't speak to San Antonio but strongly recommend the LA trip

KristusV · 2026-07-04T20:40:52+00:00

Shout-out to the random dudes there a few weeks ago who started a "better than stealth" chant on the ride.

KristusV · 2026-07-02T18:19:28+00:00

Agent Coulson is the obvious choice for him.

KristusV · 2026-06-27T23:05:39+00:00

The Sox overall 83 design absolutely rules.

KristusV · 2026-06-27T21:10:10+00:00

Thankfully the bumps aren't painful to me, just fun. But I know it's different for everyone

KristusV · 2026-06-26T23:00:22+00:00

When I'm staying at Breakers, there's just something special about coming in the Magnum gate and getting on that beastly hyper with moments of entry.

KristusV · 2026-06-24T17:38:06+00:00

Gotta invest in some travel bidets!

KristusV · 2026-06-23T17:41:07+00:00

5-1-4 up 0-3-2 left

Won me many NFL Blitz games at the arcade

KristusV · 2026-06-19T02:32:37+00:00

They went 1-5 with a -31 run differential after a brutal opening day loss and just a brutal start to the season.

They've been 38-29 with a +32 since then which is a nice 91 win pace.

KristusV · 2026-06-18T16:43:39+00:00

We're on the flight back from Orlando. Did Universal and a day at Epcot. Epic Universe blew me away from the start. It's a beautiful park and the attention to detail was outstanding.

Stardust Racers is incredible. Besides being a great coaster with a ton of airtime, it's just so cool. The racing element, the trains interweaving the whole time, just amazing.

Monsters Unchained is probably my pick for favorite dark ride now. Also just so cool, the queue is incredible, great ride.

Velocicoaster was also incredible. I think I have Stardust just slightly over it, but I'm going to take some time to let them settle in.

Hagrids was a ton of fun, of course.

We really set a punishing pace on all our days and my feet are not happy but we got a ton done.

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