thrillrideseeker

My current background on my new MacBook Pro!! ~Matthew Taken from my room in Vegas!

I am a corporate trainer for Cheddar's! I LOVEEEEE my job! Of all the jobs I have ever had, this is by far my most favorite, and I can see my self doing this for an extended period of time! ~Matthew

The landing from Skyjump is not bad at all. Its a little hard to do because of the angle at which you are falling, but its not rough, or hard at all. I would say you hit with less than you hit with when jumping off a bed. Even though you had broke your hip a few years back, I think you would be fine with the landing! But I am NOT your doctor, and I do not know your body, but I can say that the landing is not hard on your body. By the time you get to the target you are pretty much at a complete stop. I personally think that Skyjump Las Vegas is something that everyone should try at least once!! The package that I bought was $133.00... That paid for the Jump, Two Photos, and A DVD. I highly recommend this package! The speed at which you fall is a brisk 40-45 mph depending on your body weight. Anyways, Thanks for all the comments! I have been uber busy at work, but I will be posting day 4 sometime next week! Have a good weekend everyone! ~Matthew

So Tower Of Terror at WDW is one of my favorites, but after riding Big Shot at the top of the Stratosphere I have a new favorite!! Not that it is really big, or really forceful, but the location is amazing, and the view is spectacular!! ~Matthew

Sadly there is no time of "freefall" you feel the wire holding you the entire time. The fall its self was not scary at all, it was just that initial step off of the platform. Day 3: Day three consisted of riding "Speed The Ride" at Sahara as well as "Manhattan Express" at New York New York. That night we went to see "Cirque Du Soleil - O" at the Bellagio, and it was simply amazing! Anyways... Onward! "Speed The Ride" Waltzing up to Sahara you clearly see speed the ride. I was not to excited for this ride, it to me was just a typical LIM coaster. . . But I rode it for the credit, and I am fairly glad that I did! It turned out to be a very enjoyable ride!! So I bought my ticket, and headed up to the station to climb aboard! I was excited to see that there was not many people waiting for the ride... Sadly we had to wait about 10 minutes for the LIM's to charge... Or at least that is what they kept telling us. Anyways once the gates opened I boarded the train and we set off on our journey! The first launch was rather forceless, then out of the station, underground, and through the loop... The second launch was surprisingly forceless as well, then through the sign, around some turns, and up the tower... Sadly we didn't go very high up the tower at all... On the way back the brakes at the second launch point slowed us down so much that I seriously thought the ride had e-stopped. But no, I'm guessing it was normal. Then back through the loop and into the station. Like I said before it was nothing to write home about, but it was enjoyable once. Defiantly not something I would spend the money on to ride over and over again. "Manhattan Express" So over at New York New York that had this evil little coaster. It looks pretty, and is fun to watch but that is where the fun ends. This ride was hell! Uber rough, and not worth the 1 & 1/2 hour wait! I did as told, and I rode in the first row, and ugh... I can not imagine how bad the rest of the ride is! Anyways rode it once, and I will let the photos do the talking because I don't know how else to describe this ride! As always, enjoy!! ~Matthew Well thats a plus. Prices... Oh look... A tunnel! Death Traps!! Interesting... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! One last look at the little bitty tower! Pretty! Lift hill... Prettyness! Now to find the entrance... Really? Because it sure feels a lot worse than a cab hitting a few potholes. Are we there yet? Finally!! *sighs* Everything looks so... Not small! That little twisty hangy part of the ride was the best! One last look! Day 4 coming soon!

The entire process took about 30 minutes. That time is counted from the time you start suiting up until you start to take the suit off. It was amazing to get to stay up there and watch the fountains... The only down fall is that you couldn't hear the music =( Alrighty on with the update... Day 2: Day two consisted of Skyjump, and that was about it!! Skyjump Okay, so I arrived at the Skyjump store and I was very very nervous. While trying to fill out the paper work I was shaking so bad I could hardly write... Not sure why. I have never really been scared like that. But anyways, I filled out the paper work that said random things like "I agree to the following statement... 'No one is forcing me to participate in Skyjump Las Vegas' . . . 'I am not under the influence of drugs, or alcohol' . . . 'I am not pregnant' . . . 'Friends and family members can not hold Stratosphere Hotel & Casino responsible for injury or loss of life.'" YOu know... the usual. After filling out the paper work I waited for a group to suit up, and then I began suiting up in my jump suit! At this point I was beyond nervous. I was so scared I could hardly function. But some how I managed to get the jump suit, and harness on... After that they spent about 15 minutes tightening the harness, and all this mess. After I was in the harness it was checked by 3 different people, I was weighed and then I had to wait for the other 3 people in my group to suit, and harness up. Once we were all 4 harnessed up... (Ohhh by the way they do groups of 4 at a time.) Anyways after we were all harnessed up we walked out of the shop, and through the mall to the elevators. We took the elevators to the 108th floor and exited to the left where we were lead to the Skyjump area. Once there we waited out side a glass room. While waiting we got to watch the jumpers in front of us, and that made me just that much more nervous. Finally my turn came... I was led into the little glass room, my harness was checked again by two different people, my shoes were checked, I posed for a picture with one of the "jump masters," and then I was attached to a cable, the doors opened and I walked out on that what I thought was a little blue platform, but it was actually large blue platform. Once on the platform I was attached to a new cable, released from the cable I was attached to from the inside. Then I posed for another photo with a different "Jump master." After all the photos I got to take a nice look down at where I was going, waved to the camera, and then got attached to the "Jump Unit." Once attached from the jump unit I was unattached from the "safety cable." This is when everything seemed to happen so fast! They told me to put the front half of my feet over the edge of the platform, they said "We've got Matthew in 3...2...1... GO" and I jumped... Sadly the fall was not nearly what I was expecting, but it was still very fun! Got to the ground, unharnessed, and went back inside the Skyjump store to get out of the jump suit. After it was all said and done I LOVED Skyjump Las Vegas, and I would gladly do it again! Now for the photos, and video! Day 3 will be posted soon but for now . . . Enjoy!! ~Matthew Filling out the paperwork... Not a true story, I watched a girl back out from the jump platform. My zipper went up, I guess that means I'm going down... My how wrong that sounds... Trying to get that stupid harness on! I finally got it one right! This target looks really small from all the way up there! (Credit to my sister for the next couple of photos) Yes... That little spec up there that just jumped from that little blue platform... Thats me!! Getting closer!! Almost... There we go! All done! I was all smiles for the rest of the day!! Okay... If you say so. The thing that keeps you from plummeting to your death! Random sticker that was peeling off. Camera... mounted on one of the guide wires. One last look at just how far down that really is...

So as many of you know I headed out to Las Vegas last week! Had the time of my life! Did many exciting things including jumping from the Stratopshere! Yay! Anyways, this is a image heavy trip report so it will be done in segments! Don't worry there will be plenty of roller coaster photos as the thread progresses!! Enjoy... Day 1: On the drive there we stopped at the Hoover Dam! I had never seen this so it was kind of nice to see the giant thing that I am always seeing on TV! Anyways... The first day we checked into our room at Planet Hollywood! After check in we headed down to Stratosphere so I could make my Skyjump reservations! The room was amazing! It was no suite or anything like that, but it had a beautiful view, and an amazing bathroom! The hotel over all was very nice, but I HATED the parking situation! It was either Valet, or a schlep through the Miracle Mile Mall. All in all I LOVED Planet Hollywood, and if I am ever going back to Vegas I will stay there again!! Hoover Dam: Hoover Dam was HUGE! Like... Way huge! We did not spend to much time there. It was way to hot outside, and we were just ready to get to the hotel! But we did get out and walk around and take some pictures! All in all it was a nice stop, but ugh the traffic due to the construction was ridiculous! The Room: The room was as I said before... Amazing!! It had a beautiful view, two amazingly soft beds, and a HUGE bathroom! The bathroom had a nice glass shower, and a separate garden tub, as well as a separate room for the "potty" There was a nice large marble counter top, but only one sink. Back to the room... The room was kind of dark, no lights except in the entry way, a small lamp on the night stand, and a small lamp on the desk. None of which provided much light. There was also random Sylvester Stallone stuff every where. Including a nice blood covered shirt hanging on the wall. Maybe it is just me, but that is not the first thing you want to see when you wake up in the morning. . . Now on to the view... OMG! The view was breath taking! At least for me! We had an amazing view of the Eiffle Tower, as well as the fountains at Bellagio!! I can not tell you guys how many hours I spent just sitting there looking out the window!! (I know... I'm lame like that!) Skyjump Reservations: The same night we checked in I headed down to Stratosphere to make my Skyjump reservations! The Skyjump shop was great! There was a lot of Skyjump stuff to buy, as well as a TV hanging on the wall that played live feed of the current jump! You could also head out back and be down by the target where the jumpers land! After making reservations I head out back and watch a few people jump, and I quickly started re-thinking my jump! That was a LOOOONG way to fall! Its one thing to see it on the computer, but to see it in person! Oh my, I was seriously thinking I would not be able to go through with it! But... I did! (More info about that, as well as photos and a video on day 2) Now on to the photos! As always, questions, and comments are welcome! Enjoy! ~Matthew To start is a few Hoover Dam photos. "Nevada Time" It seemed like the water was WAYYYYY low. ... Oh really... So this is the dividing line? "Arizona Time" This thing was HUGE! Bridge... Pretty bridge! That was a LOOONG way down! Pretty building thingy. Okay... Enough dam photos. (Sorry I couldn't resist) Planet Hollywood! Elevator Area! 26th floor incase I forget... The room... The beautiful bathroom! The beautiful view!! Its even more beautiful after dark! Skyjump Reservations time!! YAY! The pretty pretty store!! My ticket!! That's a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way up!! That's all the photos for now! More coming soon!!

I did and it was... Amazing! I don't know how else to describe it! Simply amazing!! ~Matthew

Skyjump Las Vegas is officially the most amazing thing ever!! ~Matthew

"Beauty From Pain" - Superchick

Oh my! This looks fantastic! I can't wait to see more! Keep up the great work!! ~Matthew

Ha. I should have known better than asking.

Hey guys, I'm heading out to Vegas in a week, and will be there for a week and not sure what to expect. I know many of you all have been there and I was just wondering what all is a "must do" and what all is just a waste of time. So far I have reservations for Skyjump, and tickets for Cirque Du Soleil, and I really don't know what else to do... Any advice you guys may have is greatly appreciated. As always, expect lots of pictures when I return! Thanks in advance. ~Matthew

Just bought my iPad today! Not sure why... I really have no need for it... But it was pretty!! Anyways... So far I am LOVING it!! ~Matthew

I have to say hands down Top Thrill Dragster, although Maverick is pretty good too!! ~Matthew

Glad to see Manta back under construction! I always love following the construction of your projects! You do simply amazing! Keep up the great work! I can not wait to see the end results! ~Matthew

A pic from tonight! Yay... ~Matthew

Ummmm... an upside down launch? That just seems like a poor decision. Just think of what would happen if the coaster were to e-stop mid launch. I for one would not be to excited to be left dangling upside down while waiting for the computers to reset. It sounds like a good idea, but then again... I think it is something that is best left untouched. But thats just my opinion. ~Matthew

HOLD TRAIN... This explains why all those little signs say "reaming seated, FACING FORWARD" Oh... I get it now. But really... I know for sure that I have turned to talk to someone, or to look at a friends reactions many many times, and of course countless times on Dragster. I always love watching my friends reactions during the launch. Hmmmm... ~Matthew

^ Personally I would say photo 3. I like the reactions of the riders in photo 3 more than I do in photo 2. . . and Photo 1... Well I am just not a fan of. So I say Photo 3! ~Matthew

Holy wow! That is amazing!Uber realistic! Great work! ~Matthew

Oh my! That is... intense. As stated before I am glad no one was seriously injured. ~Matthew

Ok... So I have been working on a new project. Its my first coaster using Newton 2... Well my first coaster using Newton period. Ohhh and it is my first wooden coaster. Its not going to be perfect by any means, but its worth a ride! A bit of information about the coaster... STATS - Name - Tempest - Style - Wooden - Max Height - 145 ft - Coaster Length - 4,318 ft So like I said this is my first wooden coaster, and my first Newton coaster so it will NOT be perfect, but it will still be pretty good! First up are a few screens for you! Download will be up later! Let me know what you guys think so far. ~Matthew

The true question is . . . "Does this count as an inversion?" ~Matthew

"So unhappy... Yet safe as can be." ~Matthew