Invertalon

What gatekeeper? ^ AFAIK, they do not have a gatekeeper 'mascot'. They do have plenty of advertisement though around the park for the new ride.

Was at the park Friday and Saturday this past weekend... I must admit, this was probably the best start of HW I can remember. The makeup/costumes with the scare-actors was excellent, the energy was very good all around and the atmosphere in general just felt great. Especially on the main midway with the luminosity lighting rigs. It just simply felt more festive, which is always a good thing. The new house Eden Musee was quite good... I really liked the one mirror room inside. I think Cedar Point in general rely on a bit too much "shine bright light in your eye and make loud noise" scare in their houses versus the more set development and 'bait and switch' scares (have something going on in one side of the room and somebody else scares you from the other), and this one is no exception... So that is one downfall with most of their houses, but anyway....We also were finally able to check out Boo Hill without a kid and seriously, I wish they had an adult house like this! The rooms were great (although nobody inside). They needed to throw a few goons' in there and they would have an excellent house! It is well lit, decorated well and quirky. And not a single bright light shining in your eye to be found! The new cut-throat cove walkthrough under maverick IMO, was a downgrade from the old Terror Island location. Although the views of Maverick are cool, I just felt the location not being nearly as fitting at the old one (not to mention maverick going by so often is a bit distracting). But maybe it will develop more as time goes on as far as "feel" and the set of the entire scarezone... It felt longer though than the old location and got better towards the end of the walkthrough. Scares were good though. The Mechanical Steampunk midway this year was fantastic. They added more specialty lighting which really improves the whole atmosphere of the area. One of the best years for this part of the park. Did not do cornstalkers this weekend (it has honestly sucked the past few years anyway... They should take note of CW's version, same with Club Blood which was AMAZING at CW)... But we do plan to do it next time. Club Blood was same as always, although the people inside were very good this time around. Sometimes it can be extremely lame, depending who is working inside. The halloween show in the goodtime theater was very good as well this year. We saw it twice, once Friday and Saturday. We thought the singing was great and overall, a very fun show. Worth a watch! We really think using the Luminosity stage to do the overlord spiel was much improved over the projector tower in years past. They also gave the overlord a makeup upgrade, which was nice. The stage also tends to reduce the insane mobs of people standing around in one area, so it helps aid congestion a bit. But overall, a really great weekend. Perfect weather and beautiful start to the halloween season. Here are some photos from the weekend, with plenty more (140 or so total) at my flickr page: First off, we start with DT's tombstone... 6M3C9673.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9677.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9686.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9695.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9719.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9731.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9738.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9740.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9763.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9765.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9767.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9771.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9775.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9778.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9780.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9782.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9791.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9792.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9797.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9800.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9821.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9830.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9831.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9837.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9846.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9850.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9872.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9878.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9903.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9908.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9948.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9952.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9964.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9972.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9987.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0005.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0027.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0049.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0081.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0086.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0092.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0103.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0107.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0108.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0110.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0112.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0165.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0179.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0190.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0212.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0220.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0235.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0255.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0256.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0266.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0299.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0306.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0311.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0322.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0328.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0335.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr These final ones along the lake right by CP: 6M3C0345.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0357.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C0365.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

A few shots from the Cleveland Aquarium! More can be seen by clicking on any image and going to the set! 6M3C9199.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9007.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9025.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9032.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9157.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9049.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9051.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9148.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9151.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9122.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9080.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9163.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9159.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9090.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9170.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9169.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C9069.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

Uploaded another 70+ images today that we came across. Some from when we worked at the park including plenty from our lift walks on X-Flight and some old Fright Fest stuff and so on. All POV shots were given permission to be taken by the operators, nothing was 'illegal'. Here are a few more from the collection... More can be found here: Here we go round 2! MindEraser.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr CoolZone.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN4781.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN5136.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN5141.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN5145.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN5148.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN5149.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN5152.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN5159.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0673.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0675.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0677.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0681.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0683.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0691.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0703.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0720.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1278.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1279.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1280.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1281.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1282.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1284.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1286.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1287.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1288.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1325.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1332.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1339.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1409.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1413.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN2866.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN2867.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN2875.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN2877.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN1337.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0727.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN2779.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr DSCN0339.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

Slushie, A fisheye can really be used for many things... There really is no requirement for when to use one. They are simply another tool to get a different type of perspective. I own a 14mm rectilinear lens which is simply awesome if you don't want the distortion. I just wanted to try this lens so I loaned it from Canon. Cost me a whole $20 for a week rental (just shipping back to them) so it was well worth it. I have thousands of normal photos from these parks, so I rented it to get something a bit different. In my other sets you will find hundreds of normal images if you prefer But since we go so often I plan to rent something I usually would not buy to have while down there. Many uses with a fisheye beyond just skateboard photography though... Quite a silly statement. But yes, they are limited use I would agree.

For this trip down to Orlando I decided to rent from Canon CPS a 8-15mm fisheye zoom lens, for a slightly different perspective. I have tons of photos from these parks already so my main goal anymore is to get somethign slightly different. This lens is capable of a complete 180* image. This was not an effect added in software, but straight out of the camera. Was a real fun lens to use this trip, but I would not buy it for $1400... A bit too specialized. As far as this trip goes, it was our first time to ride Despicable Me which was a blast. Miles better than Jimmy Neutron which I think we only ever rode once or twice... Pre-show was excellent and the themeing was really well done to the movie. Universal did a really good job here. Universal looks to be quite a big mess right now with the rumored transformers and Potter 2.0. expansion... It will be very interesting to see how the park can handle the HHN crowds this year. Look forward to see what happens with the one job site, but I am not excited at all for the new potter area, if that is what it is. I wish they left all that at one park only... Money talks though! Was a great trip though meeting with good friends in the area and going to some new places we have never been along I-Drive and such (wonderworks, ice bar, etc...)... The touristy stuff... Was a great time. Now on to the photos... [EDIT] - My software updated my flickr stream and all the links got broken. So I deleted all the broken links from this TR and if you are interested in the photos, just go here: Sorry about that!

Dan, I also feel the short lines was the parks kryptonite in a way... People would show up, ride everything and be ready to go after a few hours. People did not stay in the park all day like you want them to. As much as we all love short waits and walk-on's, for a park that is obviously bad news. In 2005 at X-Flight, we rarely had a wait longer than the station steps. When we did, the whole crew was excited. We had motivation to work faster/harder to get everyone through. But generally it was nearly walk-on all the time. In 2006 on Steel Venom I bet I can count on two hands the amount of times we actually had some type of wait out of the station. It was unlikely we even filled the trains completely. I know there was all the bad operation stuff in 2000-2003 or whatever, but I find that hard to believe that is what killed GL. I have been to other parks which are a million times worse than SFO/SFWoA was, yet those parks continue to go on just fine. I think Cedar Fair closing the wildlife side though was the thorn that killed it completely. Either way, not here to discuss what/why, there is a topic for that elsewhere Just wanted to share my experience though.

Nice, great panning shots! ^ I just got my loaner 8-15L from CPS today... Going to be taking it down to Orlando this weekend. Plan to do most of my shooting with it for a different perspective. Should be quite fun/challenging to use. Leaving the telephoto at home, taking only my wide stuff... My samyang 14mm, 8-15L fish, 24-105L and my 40mm pancake... Crazy how much wider a 14-15mm fisheye is versus a 14mm rectilinear lens... I thought 14mm was insanely wide on full-frame until I mounted this little guy. I probably will not use the 8-13mm range too much, unless the shot really can utilize the "look" of it. But 14-15mm should be a blast to use. 6M3C7382.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C7376.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C7488.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

Yep, that was that section! Poor tracking when they had to re-route it due to the wave pool so they had it crawl through there.

Slushie, Love that cockpit photo of the monorail. That ride was always so much fun to 'drive'. Get in, push the button and relax. The only bad part was the section close to the road that it went so slowly by the wave pool. I always like taking a spin on it before I worked there as well.

I agree, SFWoA was the PRIME for that park... Especially in the fall. Octoberfest and Fright Fest were simply amazing. I am currently looking at a bunch of old Fright Fest photos my girlfriend took along with other park photos (lift-walks on X-Flight, On-Ride RWB and Superman stuff (had permission). So awesome! I plan to have these up next week sometime after my trip. I will update this thread once they are up. The photos from fall though give me chills though, especially one of the Villain midway with all the corn-stalks and such. *sigh*

I didn't realized how much was destroyed over there... I just took a look myself on Google Maps and it is creepy to see. I knew all the rides were out and all that, but all the buildings demolished to the ground I was not aware of (to that extent).

Love everything about this addition... The new main gate, landscaping, new B&M wingrider, etc.... It will look so fantastic... The ride should be amazing as well. I am really looking forward to next season. I am glad they are filling the ride with sand to quiet it down over the main gate. Smart move.

There is NO inversion after the MCBR. The foundation blueprints are leaked and you can clearly see there is no inversion what-so-ever. Just a drip, helix and rise into the final brakes. http://i.imgur.com/heARd.jpg

Yeah, Wildwater Kingdom is somewhat bitter-sweet in a way. We go once or twice every single week in the summer... We love the waterpark and we are very happy we at least have something, but you never quite get over what it used to be, what was across the lake, etc... So many amazing memories growing up at those parks. It is extremely weird to drive down Aurora Road and see the parking lot filled with overgrown weeds and all that. Crazy to think what used to be! My girlfriend is going to locate all her Fright Fest photos along with her general park pictures (at the time, she took 90% of the images at the parks before I was into photography!). So I look forward to seeing what else we have from the park. Glad you enjoyed the photos!

Here is a second batch... These are bit older, from the Six Flags days (2001-2003 or so). Sorry for the small size, it is all I got! Shows a few shots from the White Tiger media day on the Wildlife side, some pre-season prep, pre-modified superman, etc... Pictures 126.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Pictures 132.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Pictures 134.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Pictures 135.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Pictures 147.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Pictures 155.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Pictures 159.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 753.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 760.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 772.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 780.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 792.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 809.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 817.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 822.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 823.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 837.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 838.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 852.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 866.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 870.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 878.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 894.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 897.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 898.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P4030031.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P4100053.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr Zoo Lights 905.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P4100069.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P4100063.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

Of course it did! Our big downtown issue was the individual motors on the back of each train failing (GAU motors? I want to say they were called). So the train would not recline, or stop halfway down or in the complete down position. This required a new one to be put on which took hours. So if we were two train operation it would go down to one the rest of the day. Generally not much of an issue when crowds were so light at the end... If we only had one available train though cause the other was down, we would be down for 2-4 hours for the replacement. By far the most fun ride to work though... We had a BLAST operating it. Checking harnesses and the recline cycles and all that. Made the day go so fast! But overall, we were very reliable actually. Other than the issue above, I don't really remember too many issues. A wheel replacement here and there or something. Superman was much more unreliable. Mr. Hydes took the crown though for most downtime. I believe one day it went down some 50+ times? Always had fun talking about that with the crew after work!

I bet you that the whole sand noise issue thing was discussed the moment the ride design started, and not a last minute thing. Therefor, the engineers could care less. Especially when they have done many rides now without problem. Why would it be a hardship on them now with CP? You make it sound like it is some huge deal when obviously the ride must be fabricated knowing it would be filled. It is a non-issue.

I finally got around to uploading my images from when this park was still in operation. I also worked at the park around this time (2005-2006) on X-Flight and Steel Venom. It is still very sad anytime we drive by to Wildlwater Kingdom... You can't help but feel a bit sad looking across the lake and just imagining all the sounds that you heard every summer. The LIM's on Superman, the roar of Batman and the CCI shuffle in the turnaround on Villain... I miss this place, it basically was my second home. Nothing beat Fall when Octoberfest and Fright Fest started... Especially in the Six Flags days (Cedar Fair really neutered it badly with the no-gore crap). So these are just some of the general photos I took back then... I will be adding more eventually to my Flickr page and such once we can locate old Fright Fest photos and whatnot. So I hope to find some other goodies. I have more images on Flickr - PA310018.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr PA310011.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr PA310014.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr IMG_0396.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr IMG_0388.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr PA310006.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010067.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010058.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010048 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010043 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010042 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010039 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010031.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010028.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010026.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010022.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010034 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010008 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010007.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010006 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010004.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010004 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010017.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010060.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010016.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr p1010014 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010005 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010064.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010046 (2).jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010015.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr PA310025.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010003.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010002.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr P1010001.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr And finish it off with our X-Flight pumpkin, crafted by our maintenance 'X-Flight Tech' John that year! PA310008.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

The sand is nothing more but an option by the company. If CP wants the ride quiet, it will be filled with sand. Saying B&M frowns on the sand because the ride won't sound right to them is just plain silly. Why do they care what the ride sounds like? They got their 25 million or whatever, why should they care? In fact, I believe sand also is better for the structure by reducing vibration fatigue. I doubt it makes much of any difference, but I swear there was an interview about it when Maverick was built (and filled, with sand).

Ride looks amazing! Cant wait. Love the two tone blue paint job on the track.

That video is fantastic. Very, very well done. One of the best videos I have seen like it in a LONG time. May I ask what gear you used to shoot that?

Interesting. What exactly would you talk about for an entire semester? I am just curious lol Is this for some type of amusement park related degree or just a random gen-ed? Anyway, I would add: Millennium Force (elevator lift, first giga, etc...) Excelerator (Cable Hydraulic Launch, in which you can talk about the hydraulic system and how it led the way to Dragster, KingdaKa and the Dubai ride) Hypersonic (compressed air-launch) Linear Gale (linear induction motors) X (4-D style of rides, the failure of the design to launch and the success of the simpler B&M versions) That crazy S&S ride that looks like two log flumes on each side of the track... Can't think of the name, but that is pretty wild. Flying Turns

Congrats Real! Always awesome to get recognition for something you are passionate about and enjoy doing! I had a similar thing happen recently as well, although a little different. I got approached by a company that wanted me to photograph their facility, product and people for a 75th anniversary writeup in a magazine two weeks ago. My images will include the front cover along with many of the articles images. I have done some industrial stuff before, but never for a paid client like this. Was pretty exciting!

Deleted, sorry about that. I did not read through all the previous stuff and did not know it was banned/forbidden from being posted.