Jumboshrmp

I actually went with my dad to a special party with the company he works for. The park invited them in to see a shamu show as a fun event after the seminar in orlando. While waiting for the show to start, I couldn't stand just looking off in the distance at a giant B&M coaster, so I left the group for a bathroom break, and rode kraken four times...lost track of time and starting walking toward the back of the park again the way I came. Then I got lost trying to find my way after the park had closed... I had to ask a person who was cleaning the park, and convince them I was with the private party. I'll be going to Sea World the proper way on October 25th. Hopefully I'll get to see some track laying around by then, and I'll be sure to post pictures. I didn't even know kraken was at the front of the park lol.

Too many storms right now... I have no idea which ones going to come first. I need to go read the storm updates. How long till Ike hits? I'm right in the center of the cone

The original poster is clearly using one of those nasty tricks that republicans use to make their candidates win. He added BeemerBoy to the poll to try and steal votes from Obama! (kinda just kidding) Anyway, I was watching the republican speech thingy last night(just curious), and did anyone else see this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPe_W4RsFjE Hilarious! I also noticed a huge lack of anyone young at the republican convention.

I'm loving the blue track! I've only been to Sea World once recently, and I entered from the back for a special event so I have no idea how to get around the park. Where will this be located relative to Kraken and Journey to Atlantis? I'm hoping that it will be kinda far away, to keep the crowds a bit spread out.

But I still would feel sympathy for the family if the person died. Not only would they have to deal with the loss, they would have to explain that it was a result of that person's stupidity.

it just doesn't work like that. And how do you define realistic speed? You expect a model coaster to drop 3 feet and take the same amount of time as a real coaster dropping 160 feet? If the trains went slower, they would not make it around. The reason I brought up length is because a longer train obviously weighs more. And a heavier train will just go faster.

The longer the trains are on these models, the faster they go. The difference between 7 and 8 cars on the train is actually very noticeable. You don't want it to go slow. It's just not as exciting. You can't scale gravity, and if the train is going slow enough for you to be able to focus on it, don't plan on it making it over the next inversion.

This is a very common comment about these models. Yes, the trains go very fast, but in video, it's seems much faster. Not only that, but the more compact the layout is, the faster it appears. I have an extremely compact layout with a huge drop. The diamondback model is very spread out, and doesn't look as fast, but it's actually going faster because of the size of the first drop. I'm not saying they don't go really fast, of course they do. But after a while it's really cool to see several flips in a row at high speed. To really enjoy the beauty of the maneuvers you can just push the train along with your hand. This is tons of fun actually. Part of what is so cool about these models is that they are gravity powered. There are so many parts on these trains (there are 42 wheels), and the parts are so small that making any sort of motor would be very difficult. If there was a motor, then gravity powered operation would not be possible, because the wheels cannot be attached to anything. The trains are moving at just about the same speed the actual coaster would be moving. But these trains are small, and don't weigh several tons.

1/2 CPVC Pipe...Schedule 80 I think. It's hard to come by in some places though. You must be coastergeekrtc on the CoasterDynamix forums.... That avatar gives me nightmares.... I wrote down that size when I went to the hardware store, and gave the piece of paper to the guy at the counter. He came back with something much bigger than I was looking for. I just handed him one of the actual supports and told him I wanted that size. When I picked out a certain kind he started asking me questions like "Are you going to be using these with hot water?", and "Will you be installing this yourself?"

This section is about coaster models too, so I thought I share this one that I just made! Some of you may be familiar with coasterdynamix, the realistic coaster modeling system used to build Diamondback at Kings Island. I made a realistic compact inverted coaster using two scorpion kits and a 4 ft lift bought separately from Coasterdynamix. I'm going to post the pictures of my progress building the model, almost like a trip report. Here's the video: Oh yeah, I'm so excited! My work space. The end of the first night. I'm so proud of this Immelman End of the second night. The final layout I love the first drop Immelman POV!!!!! Helix If anyone has any questions about these models I'll be happy to answer.

I took that music survey and there were a few cool song choices. Most of them I had actually never heard of though.

Unfortunately, I didn't go on it. I hate spinning rides and I just don't feel good with them. If a friend had dared me to go on it with him, I'd probably go. It's actually not really a "spinning ride". My avatar makes it look a lot faster than it really is. The Blender is nothing like a Top Spin or a Zipper, I think that the best way to describe the feeling of this ride is like a never-ending a drop ride. It is very scary though. Won't make you sick if you like coasters, but it's very scary.

I am a grocery store bagger at Publix. The store and all of our orientations tell us to always use plastic unless the customer asks otherwise. The official rule is to ask "Is plastic okay?" (in those exact words) but almost nobody does that. Plastic isn't very wasteful as long as you pack them reasonably. A lot of people are pansies and ask for them light, either because they think they are going to break (won't happen unless the bag is broken from the start, in which case the bag will break as soon as I put it in the cart, not when you are walking up your 20 flights of stairs at the apartment that every publix shoppers says they live in when they tell me to pack light.) Sometimes they tell me to pack light because they are "old and can't carry them. In that circumstance, they pick all the handles up with one hand and walk away.... I'd say maybe 5% of our customers ask for paper, and a few ask for paper in plastic, but these people are rare. The thing with publix, is that we put customer service VERY high on ou priorities, so however the customer wants their s*** bagged, we HAVE to do it. Some people even come up to me, say they don't trust me and tell me to go away while they bag their own. Fine with me, I go to the break room and have some of yesterday's bakery products that they can't sell anymore (as long as another register doesn't need help). And The number of people bringing in reusable cloth bags is getting higher and higher. I'd say about 20% are bringing them in or buying them. For $0.99 you can buy a reusable Publix "Green Bag", and I love these things. Easy to bag, and you can stuff them to the top and people won't mind. So....... for anyone who doesn't feel like reading my bagger rant (actually, my official job title is "Front Service Clerk ), heres a summary: 75% Still are okay with plastic. If I ever shop I get plastic too, but I fill them up. 5% Ask for paper. 20% Either bring their own reusable bags or buy them at the register. 0.1% Want paper in plastic. Some people ask for no bags. Isn't my life exciting?!

I've been there many times and it's a fun place to go. Did you ride the Blender? (That's what they call their gravityworks skyscraper). It's been closed a lot lately, but that's the best ride there. Look at my avatar. That's what the blender looks like when you ride it at night. (It's not that fast though, the GIF image just skips frames and looks faster.) The Dania Beach Hurricane isn't too bad, but the only other wooden coaster I have to compare it to is Gwazi, which is a pile of crap-o. The drop on DBH is about 100 feet, and the ride is fun as long as you sit in either the back or the front. Boomers is usually very empty though. On the Dania Beach Hurricane, they NEVER send out a full train except for at night when the park is busier, because it takes to long to find enough people to fill it up! I think they have a rule about dispatching it every 5 minutes. That's enough time to walk out of the station, around the building and back to the station gates, which stay open for about five minutes too. You have to sit there waiting for them to dispatch it, theres only one train on at a time, but that's all you ever need. There are signs all around the station saying "walk, do not run" because of the stairs you have to go down to exit. But the little kids there do it anyway, and the only way to get a front seat ride is to run in front of them when they run back around to the entrance again. Good times

That's what I usually think of whenever something like this happens. Hopefully a TPR member will be riding the next time this happens, then they can post here with a great story. Actually, hopefully this never happens again. It's stupid, it's bad for the park, and it's bad whenever people get hurt.

Python at Busch Gardens Africa. That's it. I actually miss it. I only rode it once, the operations were horrible, but I would have rode it a few more times if it didn't take so long to wait for.

I didn't vote in the poll because I don't have enough experience with either of their rides to really contribute. (I can't stand people who say "I voted A or B because I watched some POVs and they look rougher") Vekoma coasters I've been on: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Amazing ride, not rough at all. Expedition Everest. Another Amazing ride, and VERY smooth. A few kiddy coasters, which are usually not extremely smooth, but the lack of OTSRs makes this not a problem. Arrow: Python at BGT (sadly it's now gone). I actually liked this ride. I loved how the corkscrews were a continuous roll, unlike the B&M "snap corkscrews" (which I still like). But, I waited about 45 minutes due to 1 train operation. This was a month after Sheikra first opened and I never waited more than 20 minutes for anything else. Really, the only thing anyone can accomplish with this poll is voting on which company has built more coasters that have given you a rough ride. Neither company is "worse".

Thanks for the quick reply. Glad to hear about the Kraken line. My comment about the candy wasn't about whether they would give it to to teens, it was about this: I was just joking about that. Obviously, if you aren't in costume you don't get candy. And an 18 year old in costume trick or treating at a theme park full of little kids is just creepy.

Wow, this will be on the day that I'm going there (OCtober 25th). Hopefully this won't make the lines for Kraken really long, I've heard that they are usually very short. I also need to go on Journey to Atlantis, I've never been on it before, and I've heard good things. Might as well ride Shamu Express while I'm there (not for the coaster count, I swear!) On topic with the thread, what exactly is an Ice DJ? Maybe I can go dressed up as a dorky college student on a school trip and still get some candy? This seems very odd though. I never thought I'd hear Sea World and Halloween Event in the same sentence.

OK, let's put down the bong and think for a minute... In order to go past 90deg, the vehicle must be attached to a track like a coaster. OK, no problem. You mean that there are some water rides that have drops but no upstop wheels?

45 degrees is more than you might think. Splash Mountain is 45 degrees, and it looks a lot steeper!

I like going back to watch Double Dare, and seeing how incredibly cheap the show is. I mean, what kind of TV game show gives away $25 for getting a question right? I'm not sure if Figure It Out was mentioned yet, but I was obsessed with that show. I always thought it was stupid when the grand prize was a trip to Florida. Who needs that when you are already in Florida for the taping of the show?

I've never been on a coaster that I didn't want to ride more than twice. Sure, maybe kiddy coasters, but that would only be because they are boring. I wouldn't mind sitting on one all day! I don't understand how coaster enthusiasts can sometimes be so unenthusiastic about coasters. On second thought, Gwazi is one ride that I would not want to ride more than once. But I never even liked that ride the first time. Extremely painful, and nothing fun about it. The coasters don't even duel. It's a shame to have such a crap wooden coaster in a park with so many amazing steel B&Ms.

Awesome, it's so cool to see places that are no big deal to me as vacation destinations. It's really fun driving on the beach. I like the picture from the airplane too, it would be awesome if more people posted those. I look forward to reading more, and I'll be watching this thread for updates.

Not a coaster, but this flat ride spun me around and kept throwing my entire weight on my crotch area. Not the frank or the beans, but the area right above. KMG Tango... awesome ride, but I kept feeling it for a week.