stellaclose

132 Evacuated When Harry Potter Roller Coaster Breaks Down Orlando Fire Department Crews Respond To Incident A new roller coaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure broke down Friday night, leaving riders stranded. Orlando Fire Department officials responded to 911 calls at about 8:15 p.m. There were 132 people on the ride, and OFD officials said all passengers had been removed without medical complaints as of 9:45 p.m. Universal officials only said that a roller coaster was stuck and crews were attempting to evacuate guests. They would not initially say which roller coaster was affected. WESH 2's Michelle Meredith confirmed that it was the new attraction "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The same ride came to a standstill with a WESH 2 crew on board in June. The breakdown left reporter Amanda Ober and photographer Scott Pisczek lying horizontal on their backs with their legs up in the air. OFD officials said one rider called 911 when the roller coaster stopped Friday night because he thought he was upside down. However, Universal officials said the Forbidden Journey ride doesn't go upside down. An OFD official told WESH 2 that there was some sort of mechanical issue on the ride. He said the evacuations proceeded smoothly, without panic or injury. Guests used the provided catwalks and ladders to exit the ride. In all, 52 cars full of passengers were unloaded as Universal worked to repair the Harry Potter ride. http://www.wesh.com/entertainment/24375560/detail.html

Smells like a Cedar Point future addition.

Splash Town water park in Houston is no longer owned & operated by Six Flags.

I had a dream last night and it looked something like Fusious Baco

I don't understand why they don't have a global pass to all the Disney parks worldwide or include these in this pass?

hmmm..... Safety Restraint Individual over-the-head lap bars with hand grips???? http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/water/shoot_the_rapids.cfm

From twitter.... One last bit of info...it's not a coaster! Details at 9:10 a.m.

The more I think about it, the less certain I think it'll be a coaster. For some reason I have a feeling that it might be be something like this http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/ride.php?rid=20 I guess we'll find out next week.

Just got this on twitter from @cedarpoint (official Cedar Point) about 2010 project.... Aquatrax? and found this..... http://blogged.rollercoasterpro.com/04-01-09.php Sawmill Falls here we come!

Great job. Well done!

When was the last time you went to SFMM? Having visited both Knott's and Magic Mountain within a week of a each other last month, it was a lot easier for me to make a comparison. SFMM is the CLEAR winner out of the two. I think SFMM, DLR, and Universal are all better parks than KBF, no contest at all. Agreed!

Is it really that bad? It isn't that bad (Actually the Knotts hotel next door is more of a dump). But on the bright side they put on a great halloween event, in fact its one of the best in So Cal!!!! I just found the place to be a let down and full of mediocre coasters (Silver Bullet most boring invert ever, Ghost Rider pain, Pony express pointless....the list goes on and on. (Xcelerator was closed on my visit so can't comment on that)

My advice = go somewhere else (SFMM or DL). The place is a dump.

$45 million????? Looks like they paid too much. It looks so ugly IMO compared to a beautiful B&M or Intamin.

I just got the following twitter post from Cedar Point.... "Millennium Force is now open. Sorry for the delay."

Blog post on Cedar Point about land clearing on Millennium Island (since been removed from website). Could this be where the mysterious track is headed? Here's the deleted post. “Let's bring you up to speed on Wicked Twister, since we've had a lot of questions about it. The ride is currently undergoing standard off-season maintenance. Nothing to worry about. Wicked Twister will twist again on Opening Day. Oh, speaking of Opening Day, when you arrive and ride Millennium Force, you may notice something a little different on Millennium Island. It was so nice out yesterday, we took a stroll over there. The peaceful setting of the park is just breathtaking. (pic of the lagoon near MF island) But then there's this... (pic of the cleared land) As you may have guessed, we're doing something over there. But "what?" is the question...”

I'm guessing you are going to Sydney for the Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras tonight. I'll look out for you on the floats

Found this on Wikipedia Giovanola was one of the prominent thrill ride manufacturers in the world, until it went bankrupt in 2004. It was well-known for thrill rides and also built electrical power stations, water storage tanks, pipelines, highway bridges, and many other steel products. The company started out as a small metal forging shop, founded by Joseph Giovanola in 1888. The company was based in Monthey, Switzerland. During its last years in business, Giovanola fashioned steel behind the scenes for companies such as Intamin and Bolliger & Mabillard. The company also built its own thrill rides and roller coasters. Examples of Giovanola roller coasters are Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Titan at Six Flags Over Texas, and Anaconda at South Africa's Gold Reef City.

First drop and many of the elements remind me of Boardwalk Bullet...hopefully this one wont be as rough

I've ridden many coasters and by far the worst is the New York, New York coaster in Las Vegas. I rode it over the Memorial weekend and it was just as bad as the last time I rode it 2 years earlier.....

There is always PARC Management. -Tatum I haven't seen this mentioned before but there is also Village Roadshow from Australia. They already successfully operate the following parks on the Gold Coast, Australia: 1. Sea World http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/ 2. Wet 'n' Wild - one of the best water parks in the world - http://wetnwild.myfun.com.au/ 3. Warner Bros Movie World http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/ They have recently purchased a number of Water Parks here in the US, including one in Hawaii and another in Arizona. I believe they are on the acquisition hunt here in the US and Busch Gardens would be the perfect fit for them, assuming they could handle the debt that the acquisition would bring. Incidentally ,they were hoping to start an African Safari World in Melbourne, Australia (based on the Busch Gardens Africa park model), however this fell through a few weeks ago. They have money to spend and are aggressively expanding.

Millennium Force @ Cedar Point.....front row. rode it 6 times today, ALL in the front row Man that ride never disappoints. My favorite in US.

I was there last weekend.....It's still being constructed.