Event Announcement: ACE Summer Cool Down

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Greetings Florida Region!

I have another exciting announcement for our region!  Please join ACE Florida Region at Island H2O Live in Kissimmee, FL for our 2nd annual ACE Summer Cool Down Event.  This year, the event will be held on Sunday, June 6th, 2021.  For those of you who joined us last October, this event will be mostly the same just with a few minor alterations.

Event price is $30 for ACE Members and $40 for ACE Guests.  Guests must be accompanied by an active ACE Member to join.  For that $30, you receive an amazing value worth over $125!  We will start with a quick group photo in the wave pool, followed by early morning ERT on three awesome slides!  The park will provide us with a small continental breakfast and a lunch buffet!  Lunchtime will include raffle prizes and guest speakers.  Enjoy the rest of your day at the park and then meet us at closing time to partake in the ACE Mat Slide Race Competition and have your chance to win some insane prizes!

I cannot speak highly enough of Island H2O Live, and I really hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy a fun-filled day at this park at this incredible price!  I have some FAQ’s attached to the bottom of this message but feel free to email me back with any direct questions.  Also, please see that attached flyer for more details about the event and COVID-related policies.

Event Flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HUZ-7pQOrpOstIYLDsuG3lmF7ITNh67m/view?usp=sharing
Online Registration: https://ace-florida-region.square.site/

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Event Announcement: White Lightning 10k

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Greetings Florida Region!

I am excited to announce the details of our 2nd White Lightning 10k Riding Marathon Challenge at Fun Spot America!  Come join us on Saturday, August 14th to ride White Lightning 16 times to complete 10 kilometers of track.  Attendees who complete the challenge will receive a custom-made die-cast medal and bragging rights that they have completed a Roller Coaster 10k Challenge!

Price of the event is $67 for all ACE Members and only $27 for ACE Members who have a 2021 Fun Spot Season Pass.  Non-ACE Members can join for an additional $10 but must sign up with an active ACE Member and are limited to 1 guest per ACE Member.  Riders will have 1 hour of exclusive riding access to White Lightning before the park opens to get as many rides in as possible.  The event may continue into park opening, but a boxed brunch will be served at 11AM.  Guests will then have full riding access to Fun Spot’s Orlando location for the rest of the day!

This is an exclusive event to Fun Spot and since timing is everything, we have a maximum limit of 45 attendees.  Make sure to sign up as soon as possible!  We will open a waiting list if necessary.  Please see that attached flyer for more details about the event and COVID-related policies.

Event Flyer: WhiteLightning10k_2021
Online Registration: https://ace-florida-region.square.site/

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Florida Region ACE Photo Contest

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Hello ACE Members!

For the 2021 year, we plan to have a monthly photo contest to help showcase our wonderful Florida theme parks! All ACE Members are welcome to join in, but please follow the guidelines below:

  • Photos must be your own work.  If another person took the photograph, you cannot enter that photo “on behalf” of another photographer.
  • Photos must be recent, within a month or two old.
  • You must be an active ACE Member when posting photos.  This will be verified by the photographer’s name.
  • You may enter multiple photos, but please limit photos to 3 maximum per person, per month. Only one photo per person will be eligible for the Top 10 list for voting.
  • Parks in your photos must be a Florida Park.
  • We would prefer general park scenery photos, but all photos can be admitted.  Any predominant person(s) in the photo must be following Park Guidelines and ACE Code of Conduct (example: wearing masks, in guest boundaries, etc.)
  • No backstage areas unless from a legitimate ACE Event.  Helicopter/Airplane aerial photos are permitted.
  • Photos are to be submitted through Google Photos.  A Google Account is required.  The name on your Google Account will be associated as the photographer.
  • Ineligible photos will be removed, and you will be sent an email with an explanation.

Each month will consist of a different theme and link to submit your photos. The timeline and monthly theme/links are below:

Timeline:
Photos can be submitted from the 1st to 20th of each month. Photos must be uploaded by 10AM on the 20th to be valid.
Between 10AM on the 20th and 10AM on 21st, photos will be reviewed by the Florida Rep Team and the Top 10 photos will be posted into a poll.
Public Voting begins at 10AM on the 21st and concludes at 5PM on the day before the end of the month.
Winners will be announced on the last day of the month. Voting ties will be broken by the Regional Rep Team.
Top 3 winners will be featured on the ACE Florida Regional Pages and the top winner will be featured on the ACE Florida Facebook and Twitter Banners. This will last for an entire month.

Monthly Theme and Links

Any questions or concerns, please use the following form below:

A Message from the Florida Regional Rep

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Hello everyone in the Florida Region! If you would have told me a year ago that 2020 would be filled with more surprises than an RMC Hybrid coaster, I would have laughed it off. But here we are, in the middle of a pandemic, double hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and unprecedented theme park regulations.

I know this year hasn’t been the best for Theme Park events, especially in Florida, but I hope everyone knows that I have been weighing pros and cons of hosting events throughout this entire year. Unfortunately, the cons had outweighed the pros on almost everything I had planned. Our White Lightning 10k event along with a planned Halloween event have been postponed to at least 2021, and I feel that our IAAPA Meet & Greet will not happen as well (it is too soon to tell at this point).

However, we may have some great news coming soon, so make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for email notifications from the Florida region to receive our future event invites and news.


Also, for those of you looking at my picture, that is my newborn son, Owen (and one of my cats, Nox). Owen was born June 20th this year and has been a blessing to both my wife and I. He has also kept me pretty busy throughout the past few months!

One of my duties as a Region Rep is to make sure our members are happy. I really appreciate feedback because this tells me what is important both for a region standpoint and in our events. If you’d like to talk with me for any reason, or send in feedback or ideas, please drop me an email. I really do love to hear from our members!

Thank you all and stay safe out there!

Event Update: White Lightning 10k

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Greetings Florida Region,

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during these trying times.  As you all are aware, the Florida Parks are remaining closed throughout May and possibly further.  Most of them do not have a planned reopening time set, Fun Spot included.

For the safety of all our members and the employees of Fun Spot, we have decided to postpone our White Lightning 10k event until later this year.  Once we have secured a new date for the event, we will send out another announcement.  Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for further event updates.

If anyone has any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact me directly through email.

Thank you for understanding,

Michael Christopher
Florida Regional Rep
American Coaster Enthusiasts

Regional Rep Statement about COVID-19

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Greetings Florida Region,

As most of you are aware, all major Theme Parks in Florida have closed their operations either today or earlier.  The closures are directly related to the COVID-19 virus pandemic.  I would like to take this moment to provide an event update to everyone who follows the Florida region of ACE.

At this time, we had no plans to host any official or informal ACE Florida Regional Events between now and the end of April.  Our next scheduled event is for our White Lightning 10k at Fun Spot, scheduled for May 16th.  This event is still scheduled as planned and, at this time, will not be rescheduled or cancelled.  I am finishing up the final details about this event and please keep an eye out for registration information in the next few weeks.

Iron Gwazi’s track has been completed and it has officially started testing.  I was considering an informal ACE meet-up at the park the first or second week of the opening of Iron Gwazi, but that has now been postponed indefinitely.  We will resume event planning with Busch Gardens as appropriate, upon park operations resuming.

I hope that everyone stays safe and please feel free to reach out to me via email if you have any questions or concerns about future ACE events.

Thank you,

Michael Christopher
Regional Rep – Florida
American Coaster Enthusiasts

Busch Gardens Announces Iron Gwazi for 2020

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For three solid years, coaster fans would dream and wonder what would become of Gwazi at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida.  After it’s closure in 2015, it stood dormant for an extended period before any type of plan was released to the public.  In early 2019, a limited amount of information was released putting the final nail in the coffin for the iconic dueling wooden coaster that fans had either loved or hated: Gwazi would be reborn as a new Rocky Mountain Construction I-Box coaster.

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