The Coaster101 Podcast

Last week, Shane and Mike from the Coaster101 team had the chance to ride Iron Gwazi, the world's tallest and steepest hybrid coaster. Spoiler Alert: It lives up to the hype.

This week on the podcast, Shane joins Andrew to talk all things Iron Gwazi, from ride experience, to merch, to favorite elements, to theming and more. If you're looking for the most in-depth podcast on Iron Gwazi, we humbly present this episode. (Busch Gardens, if you're listening, Shane is pretty good at this coaster marketing hype train thing.)

For Shane and Mike's Review of Iron Gwazi, visit: https://www.coaster101.com/2022/02/11/iron-gwazi-our-review-and-reactions/

Head to our Youtube Channel for some POV's, or click these links.
Reverse/Multi-Cam POV (Front Row): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwog103X3uk
Reverse/Side-by-Side POV (Back Row): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFFuTK6Y1J8

Iron Gwazi opens to the public at Busch Gardens Tampa on Friday, March 11. Passholder previews are currently on-going.

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us! If you review the show this week, you're entered in to a chance to win an Iron Gwazi fanny pack!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

Later this week, SeaWorld Orlando will officially open their sixth roller coaster, Ice Breaker. This multi-launch coaster from Premier Rides is the new centerpiece of an area previously headlined by Wild Arctic. With a height requirement of less than 54" - it gives SeaWorld Orlando it's first "tweener" roller coaster, slightly more intense than Super Grover's Box Car Derby, but not quite the level of high-octane intensity of the park's "Big Three" of Kraken, Mako, and Manta.

We're excited to be joined this week on the podcast by Rob McNicholas, a 22-year veteran of SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, to talk all things Ice Breaker. We talk about SeaWorld's commitment to families, what it was like seeing a roller coaster complete, but not operating for nearly two years, and how Ice Breaker may actually have more air time than Mako. (Yes, it's true!)

Ice Breaker opens to the public at SeaWorld Orlando on Friday, February 18. Passholder previews are currently on-going.

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

When your podcast drops on a Monday, there's often news that is certain to drop on a Tuesday. That was of course the case this week, as SeaWorld offered to buy Cedar Fair for a lot of money. In other SeaWorld Investment news, we talk Iron Gwazi's media day this week, and how a roller coaster may have crossed the northern border, never to be heard from again, we think?

Andrew is joined by an entire cast of characters from the Coaster101 team to talk this week in theme park news! 

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

We're proud to present to you the crossover content that literally no one asked for. There are a lot of really good roller coaster podcasts out there, so we decided to combine two of the more average podcasts in an effort to create a decent episode. 

We're joined by Marcus, Marc, and Mike of The Drunk Riders podcast to learn more about their show, their Coaster Club "Buzzed Bars" and its upcoming trips, as well as some general hilarity by way of listener questions. TDR has carved its own unique niche in theme park podcasting, and if nothing else, we're hoping their listeners tune in to us!

You can find The Drunk Riders anywhere podcasts are found, and on social media at @TheDrunkRiders

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and this podcast...well has a lot more than that. We're joined on the podcast this week by Scott Schaffer of Upstop Media, and past Coaster101 Photo Contest winner Jack Lathrop, maybe better known for his instagram handle @ThrillingMoment. 

We talk the finer points of theme park photography, the recent partnership between Upstop Media and Thrilling Moments Photography, and some of the talented photogs' best and favorite work of their own and others. It's a fun episode, check it out! 

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

Happy New Year! For our first show of 2022, we cover a bit of everything, from Disney's Magic Express, Figment Popcorn Buckets, and the new-for-2022 coasters we're most excited to ride. It's a wild ride. Strap in! 

Nick, Eric and Shane join Andrew to talk about the end of travel convenience from Orlando International Airport to Walt Disney World, the end of sanity when it comes to dragon-shaped popcorn buckets, One Little Spork, Pantheon, Tumbili, Ice Breaker, Fireball, Lost Island, Wonder Woman and more! 

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

Welcome back my friends to the podcast that never ends!

For our last podcast of 2021, we're reminiscing about a park that's no longer with us, and has a bit of a cult status in the enthusiast community - Hard Rock Park. We're joined by Attraction Pros' Podcast Co-Host Josh Liebman, who worked as an Operations Supervisor at the "Park That Rock Built" during its lone operating system in 2008.

We talk a bit about what it was like working at Hard Rock Park, attractions like Led Zeppelin: The Ride and Nights in White Satin: The Trip, the transformation to Freestyle Music Park, Rock Stars trashing trailers, kitchen island-sized banners, and how many energy drinks it took to cycle a roller coaster!

Theme Park University wrote a great multi-part article about the rise and fall of Hard Rock Park. Check out Part 1 here, and click through for the other parts!

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

Last week, Kennywood made some big announcements relating to the park's 125th Anniversary, which takes place in 2023, in addition to some things we already knew. The Kangaroo is coming back! Phantom's Revenge is being painted "Petrifying Purple!" (but is it really more of an "aubergine?")

We're joined on the podcast this week by Palace Entertainment Director of Corporate Communications Nick Paradise to talk all things Kennywood, including a new queue mural at Jack Rabbit, a new beer garden, the expansion of Kennywood's operating season, and more! If you listen close enough, you'll even learn about Nick's favorite potato patch order!

For more information about Kennywood's upcoming improvements, click here! 

You can connect with the show by hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

The time has come. After multiple postponements for COVID, Shane finally made it to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. Of course, for a Star Wars nerd, it was like nirvana, and he wanted to talk about it!

We're joined on the podcast this week by fellow Star Wars aficionado Hunter Hernandez from Theme Park Hunting and the On The Hunt Podcast to discuss ALL things Star Wars and Galaxy's Edge. You have been warned. There are spoilers! 

You can connect with the show by emailing us at [email protected] or hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

We're selling 2022 Calendars to benefit Give Kids The World! Head to https://www.coaster101.com/product/roller-coasters-2022-calendar/ to learn more! 

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.

You never know where you'll find a true theme park enthusiast in the wild.  While many people claim to be a "theme park nerd," rarely are they able to back up that claim with actual in-depth knowledge. Not the case with Broadway Actor Nik Walker (Hamilton, Ain't Too Proud). He. Knows. His. Stuff.

Nik, who had it written into his contract for Ain't Too Proud that he would miss rehearsal for the opening of Rise of the Resistance, joins Andrew and Shane this week to talk all things theme park, and being a theme park nerd. There's great discussions on Marvel, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Disneyland Food, Canobie Lake Park, Touring Production travel and even a great Captain E.O. impression. Don't say we didn't warn you!  

Nik is currently starting on Broadway as Otis Williams in Ain't Too Proud: The Life & Times of The Temptations. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @Nikkywalks

Nik also hosts the Little Justice: Movies & Mayhem podcast on the Broadway Podcast Network. 

You can connect with the show by emailing us at [email protected] or hitting us up on social media @Coaster101: Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram. We also have a website, if you're into that sort of thing: www.coaster101.com

We're selling 2022 Calendars to benefit Give Kids The World! Head to https://www.coaster101.com/product/roller-coasters-2022-calendar/ to learn more! 

Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode! And please give us a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps new listeners find us!

Thanks to JM Music Design for providing our theme song. For more on them, check out jmmusicdesign.com.