Chris DeLine

Photos taken August 2, 2024 at Lost Island Themepark in Waterloo, Iowa.

Ride Rankings:

1. Matugani: This is the shorter ride of the park’s two coasters, but incomparably more enjoyable. Immediately you’re shot out of the gate on this one, and while this ride offers a much shorter track, it was remarkably smooth for being as wild of a ride as it was.
   
2. Shaman’s Curse: This one had the right amount of intensity and duration. Faster than it appears, the spinning ring and low-key coaster action made for a great ride.
   
3. Volkan – Quest for the Golden Idol: I can’t think of another video game/ride experience that I’ve enjoyed more than this one. We went through the ride a second time and had just as much fun. The contrast between 3D virtual reality and practical settings was really sharp.
   
4. Sea Swell: This one’s a classic boat ride, plain and simple, with zero bells and whistles. It makes for a great warm up to the more extreme rides and remains as fun as I remember it being as a kid.
   
5. Yuta Falls: One of two rides we went on twice during the day, and the second splash is a good one. Classic log ride.
   
6. Amara Aviators: This winged ride isn’t too dissimilar from several other aerial rides, save for the ability to control the rotation of your individual seat. It takes a bit of work to sway the individual pods, but with enough momentum you can get them swinging upside down.
   
7. Wakani Whirl: A classic tea cup ride. Sometimes the more simple a concept is, the better it is, and that holds true here. It’s wild how fast you can get those things moving.
   
8. Skyborne: However visually startling it this ride appears as an onlooker, the execution provides a very controlled, soft descent and landing. If nothing else, it’s a fine way to find out of you have a fear of heights. I can check that off my list.
   
9. Rokava: This is a tough one to call. I appreciated the intensity of it, but looking back on my life I’m pretty sure there’s never been a time where more blood rushed to my head than happened on this ride. The triple backwards flip was intense.
   
10. Nopuko Air Coaster: Coincidentally this one’s the only ride we saw that did, in fact, have puke on the ground just outside the exit. Nopuko took the cake as being the most intense ride of the day, but did a number on my equilibrium. It seemed to be a good for one of the kids though, who loved it so much they ran it back two more times after the rest of us tapped out.
    
11. Eeki Eeki Escape: A great ride for younger kids, the lower intensity height and rotation speed make for a chill ride.
    
12. Dream Spinner: A fun entry level ride, providing a standard swing experience.
    
13. Alzanu’s Eye: A classic ferris wheel, providing one of the day’s better views of the entire park and beyond.
    
14. Kukui Station: Techno-fied bumper cars. The navigation isn’t so bad, but periodically the cars spin without control. It was fine but the inability to maintain navigational control over the vehicle was a little drawback.
    
15. Awaati Water Battle: This one was a dud. A few of the water guns on our boat didn’t work and there isn’t much to take aim at aside from the two brief moments you cross paths with another passenger boat.