churchpunk

I'd be interested in finding out how the position of Skyplex would affect the USO/IOA skyline. Is there going to be a 500 foot tower appearing behind Hogwarts and ruining the illusion? If a tower that tall were to be built that close to Disney, wouldn't they throw a fit too? I want to see Skyplex succeed, and I definitely want to ride that coaster, but I understand USO concerns over preserving the immersive environments they've spent billions creating. ***Edit: Looking at Google Maps and drawing lines from different areas of Universal, this really doesn't look like the tower would be all that intrusive to the Universal skyline, and for the most part you would expect to see a roller coaster looking toward the Skyplex from almost anywhere in either Universal parks. I did some calculations based on sight lines and distances, and Universal could always just build a 175 ft tall wall along Hollywood Way to ensure none of their guests would ever have to see Skyplex. Seems resonable. (Just kidding, please don't think I'm serious about my musings from beneath a foot of snow here in the midwest .)

The final brake run on Screamin' Eagle at SF StLouis... Great ride, but I think people scream more at the sudden stop than anywhere else on the coaster! V2's vertical brake at Great America has a similar feeling, but more expected and less painful.

I think this is an ingenious way to get people talking about the ride. By the time they officially announce it there will so many people talking about the ride that doesn't exist that people will be waiting anxiously for the announcement. I know this is one of the top projects I'm watching simply for the fact I love the hilarity of it. (The train robbers are always good for a laugh too)

Works well

If I remember right, from the old Discovery Channel specials on the making of IOA, many of the buildings and themeing are carved out of a type of foam. One would think burning foam would most definitely cause a thick, dark smoke.

Great trip report! You've got me researching camping options in the area already, hoping to get my brother to join in me in breaking away from our wives for a weekend and making the 6 hr drive to visit HW. (We're both Mt. Dew addicts, so the free drinks are definitely a plus!) I recently bought a Canon SX20 IS. Shoots great pics, feels like a small SLR, and the HD video w/ stereo sound is great! Definitely recommend it to anybody who's looking, and will definitely be taking it with me to HW if I go this summer. (I also recommend anybody taking cameras on the road with them insure them. I have all of my photo and music gear insured and only pay $7.00 a month to insure gear worth a couple grand. That's how I bought my new camera, from money I got from the last one I broke!)

Even though I didn't win, I'm grateful for the 11 votes! Man, there's some crazy creativity going on here, good job everybody!

Couldn't resist this topic. Oh what fun... Official entry. Final image.

"Off the shelf" things I will never complain about: - Chevy Corvette - Fender American Stratocaster - Giant High-Def TV's - B&M Hypers Although I was never an Earnhardt fan, I gotta love this coaster!

All videos loaded fine and looked great. I'm running at 2800 Kbps with an ati radeon vid card.

Hey Robb, I was just looking through some news articles and found one that might help. Here's a quote: The article shows the 20 most unhealthy drinks in America. It's kinda depressing, but check it out anyway! http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100219935&page=1

ever since we discovered City Museum on a family trip 5 years ago, we haven't been able to last a year without revisiting, and it's four hours away from us! I've been making Six Flags and City Museum a yearly trip for our youth group, and if you search "Platypus Fun City Museum" you can see a video we made a couple years back of it. The coolest thing about City Museum is that it is ALWAYS CHANGING! Every time you go back there are new caves to explore, bigger and bigger slides, and more stuff to hurt yourself on (my brother-in-law recently broke his arm in the skateless park.) They are currently working on a junkyard-themed waterpark on the roof that looks crazy. I can't believe they can get insurance for the place, but it is very reasonably priced and very kind to groups.

Hey, just thought it was funny that the crazy stock guy Jim Cramer was just talking on Conan O'Brian about roller coasters being his way of relieving stress. He talked a lot about Sea World's Kraken and SF Georgia's Cylcone. He kinda makes being a roller coaster junkie sound crazy, though. Anybody else catch this interview tonight?

In development of X2, engineers asked theme park enthusiasts, "What 2 things can only make a roller coaster ride better?" The replies were "no OTSR's" and "a shooting aparatus." However, after lengthy testing by S&S using an office chair and a Nintendo Wii, they decided that this concept was not feasible and settled for fire and fog. It's too bad, too, because the bonus games offered while waiting in the brakerun would have been well worth the wait. (My official entry!) X2 Midway Mania!

As I have two toddlers, this ride looks like a winner for my family! We just spent a couple of days at Silver Dollar City...my four year old's favorite ride was the flooded mine. At King's Island it was Scooby's Ghost Blasters. I haven't had the opportunity to get my son and daughter to a Disney park, but I can definitely see this as an instant favorite in my family. That being said, I probably wouldn't go out of my way to ride if the kids weren't with me