A.J.

This discussion is turning into Skyrush all over again.

It should be noted that the only "news outlets" that have picked this up so far are effectively celebrity gossip outlets.

I mean, I still have a whole lot of respect for S&S - they're at the very least being a decent company that cares about their clients by eating the cost of the re-manufactured track.

Bill, your wisdom please: Seriously, that particular variant of coaster does not exist anywhere in North America. Freedom Flyer, maybe, but who the heck is cross-shopping a vacation to Dollywood and an evening at Fun Spot?!? Unless it is developed on a completely flat parcel of land, a cloned coaster is still fairly custom and still has to go through all the same design stages as a "true" custom coaster, apart from developing the center line. Add to it the obviously high standard of theming that Dollywood always holds itself to, and the fact that it is being built along side a completely new themed land, and I really don't see an issue here. Also, neither of the flagship Herschend parks has done a suspended / inverted coaster before. Also also, no typical Dollywood guest will even realize or care that the same ride type exists in Denmark, Turkey, or China. While Lightning Rod is (apparently) one of the best coasters in the entire world and they hired Rocky Mountain specifically for that purpose, our demographic is not and will likely never be Dollywood's target, especially now that they're becoming a destination resort.

Being a Penn State alum and former theme park club exec, I can tell you point blank that students would much rather drive the two hours to Hersheypark than the 45 minutes to Lakemont. There are plenty of opportunities for those students to go at the beginning (Apr-May) and end (Aug-Sep-Oct) of the operating season, and parks are often generous enough to set up construction tours for the club during the off-season. Kennywood and Knoebels are also somewhat frequent destinations, but Hersheypark is the closest "thrill" park to State College.

I think it looks really fun, but it also looks like it's too difficult to keep the vehicles under control without them spinning out.

Orlando's Paratrooper is going to Atlanta and being replaced by a looping pendulum ride, not sure which manufacturer though (either Zamperla or SBF).

For all we know, they could let the coasters cycle a few times every once in a while once it gets warmer even though the park is closed. Respectfully, it's not like there are people standing outside the property all the time waiting for testing to happen. They could do overnight testing and we wouldn't even know it. The term "family entertainment center" and the offerings typically associated with it has changed over the past few years. Yes, the typical indoor arcades with Miner Mikes / Python Pits / SBF spinning coasters still exist everywhere, but the term is often now used when talking about super-small amusement parks. Heck, there are plenty of people that still consider the Fun Spot parks to be family entertainment centers. In fact, if I recall correctly, the leadership of Fun Spot Orlando was featured in the "family entertainment centers" section of an issue of FunWorld Magazine one year. EDIT: Here it is, May 2015, and this was after the park's big renovation. www.iaapa.org/news/funworld/funworld-magazine/family-entertainment-centers---may-2015

Smooth as silk.

Honestly, for my case back in 2011 when I was a College Program participant, I didn't have a car and my apartment complex was dull and not close to any really nice places. Hopping on a C.P. bus and just popping into the parks for fun or respite was very nice, even if I lugged my laptop with me. That being said, working for them in Glendale previously and having an annual pass for Walt Disney World now, it's much less convenient and I am much less likely to do that. Disneyland was over 30 miles away (which translated into drives of anywhere between 45 minutes and an hour and a half from where I lived in Los Angeles), and Fun Spot is closer to where I'm living now!

To attempt a serious answer - the direction that a coaster turns the most is generally arbitrary and is often based on the plot of land that the coaster is being built on.

Another tidbit about the Evolution rides. Whereas most Frisbees and swinging pendulum rides pull the floor out to allow for clearance for the big spinning arm, the Evolution (in its original state) and another example, the Imperator, actually did it in reverse - the ride arm itself retracted upward before each cycle really got going. Check out this video of the Imperator from 2004: It was necessary because it was obviously not feasible to dig a huge hole in the ground every single time the ride was set up at a fair, and a retractable platform for a 64-passenger ride (that's 16 cars, 4 people each) was likely too complicated to develop. For Six Flags, digging the "clearance ditch" was probably no big deal because the Evolution was added as a permanent installation each time. I would say that the trailer-mount version looks much more imposing because of how much closer you could have gotten to it while it was operating. EDIT: Also, apparently 14 trailers to transport one of these things. Just let that sink in.

Seriously though, I wish them the best of luck. If it does so happen to work out I will gladly have a nice serving of humble pie, but call me skeptical.

As someone who works in this industry, I can tell you point blank that putting blanket numbers like that as a budget, even if they are estimates, is not how it's done. You have money that has to go into concept design, architecture / L-arch / civil eng / interior design / design visualization, construction, marketing...it is nowhere near as straightforward as the GoFundMe user is making it out to be, even if they are categorized as a "business".

When I was on my college program I would occasionally bring my laptop with me on the weekends when I was off (though that was at Magic Kingdom). I would say Disneyland is a less likely place for "quiet, nice places to work" due to the crowds though.

Now I don't feel as bad for missing Fiesta Texas' opening weekend when I drove through Houston / San Antonio last week...

It sounds like exactly that - Disneyland's interpretation of Magic Kingdom's Skipper Canteen, with the long required reservations that come with it.

Disneyland doesn't have roofs over the loading areas of many of their tracked attractions.

Honestly, that's a stretch, as Maverick's "twisted horseshoe roll" is effectively the same thing, just not as high off of the ground. Rocky Mountain does great work, but honestly, all I see on Twisted Cyclone (and Maverick too) are two corkscrews / zero-Gs separated by an intense turn.

Yeah, I expected that coming in but I just HAD to get my Space Mountain ride in as soon as I got here from California.

Took my first stint with my annual pass yesterday, and things were packed. Space Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train were often seen with queues as long as 165 minutes. But crowds were manageable. Very interesting contrast, having gone to Disneyland literally just a week prior. Same horrible wait times but you actually have room to breathe.

Hey! I actually have a permanent job and can post here now! Multiple visits: Walt Disney World parks (I live in Orlando now) Fun Spot parks (same) Definitely: Busch Gardens Tampa Dollywood Knoebels Thinking about: An international trip to Denmark / Sweden, possibly Grona Lund > Liseberg > Bakken > Tivoli Gardens but it might not work this year

Curious - will they be keeping the new-style Vekoma trains? If I'm not mistaken they just put them on a few seasons ago.

I agree wholeheartedly. BUT for those of you that do like to keep score, generally an inversion is any maneuver where the track is rolled or banked more than 135 degrees. Above 135 degrees, your head is pointed more downward than it is toward the side.

Okay, I get that they would cut a multi-sensory, everything-that-can-break-down-will, immersive dark ride for budgetary reasons, but something as simple as a freestanding net structure / adventure fort? I don't get it. One of the whole points of that sort of attraction is that it doesn't have to be staffed as heavily as a dark ride either. SeaWorld's is old, I get that, but Sesame Place replaced their old structure with a new one for Cookie's Monster Land. If Busch Gardens hasn't been maintaining it, that's unfortunate. I've met the team that designed the Treetop Trails and they've been really proud of it. Reasonable argument, Sand Serpent too. But there now really isn't anything for the 36" - 41" height bracket apart from Air Grover, which itself is 38". Even then, the coasters with 42" restrictions all have elements that may seem scary for children of a younger age (hairpins, loop, spinning, large drops), and may turn them off (EDIT: Sand Serpent is actually 46"!).