ECZenith

I didnt mean from the Triwizard Tournament, I just meant from the literature in general. There's about 10 of them... http://pictures.linkmesh.com/dragons/harry_potter_dragons.php

Wow! The F1 coaster looks amazing, takes up A LOT of real estate.

I didn't know the F1 coaster was already so far ahead with construction! They do indeed have the same trackstyle, nice to see what KD's ride might look like (trackwise) next year.

^ I have been so excited about the new HP dark ride that I neglected the fact that this land's overlay will in fact, devour the only "non-franchise" island in IOA. I'm sure the new land will look great, but it's definately a good point to mention that there really wasn't anything at all wrong with Lost Continent. I for one am not too upset at the removal of the wolf, I consider myself lucky to have gone on it when I did. I'm sure BGE will make excellent use of the land between it and Drachen Fyre, perhaps a new land?

The hype for this ride has driven me to finally watch the second film of which the attraction is rumored to be based off. Some previous construction photos showed some giant snake head statues which lines the hall of the Basilisk, a 60' long snake that can kill you just by you seeing it. If the rumors are true and the Basilisk is part of the dark ride, that is going to be one intense scene! I'm sure they won't leave out the giant creepy spiders. Universal has impressively kept "The Forbidden Quest" a mystery as to what it will actually contain, but it won't be long now until we can see for ourselves... As for Dueling Dragons becoming "Dragon Challenge", that to me is a bit of a downgrade as far as names go, maybe slap a " 's " after Dragon and it would flow a little better IMO... Has anyone been told specifically which dragons from the Harry Potter world would be represented for the coasters? An earlier post mentions the "Hungarian Horntail" but there are dozens of other kinds the other could be. Hungarian Horntail This ride is going to be scary! The 60' Basilisk as seen in the film.

I heard this place was getting a new ride next year, this photo was taken from the parking lot. Should fit right in!

All of a sudden I find myself missing the east coast... Fahrenheit looks epic!

From what I understand, the overlay will not take very long to install so I wouldn't expect any lengthy downtimes while they get my neighboring mountain into it's Halloween costume.

I am definately interested in watching this develop, I love western themed stuff! <---- See!

Try not to visit the park between July and August and it will be much less crowded and half as dissapointing. SFGADV is my favorite of the nine six flags parks I've been to. Beautiful landscaping, great coasters and a much improved staff. Line cutting should be dealt with immediately, if you ever see someone line cutting, just let a staff member know and they will be removed. Most theme parks have a zero tolerance policy and will remove them. As far as gates being closed on people go... I can tell you from first hand experience that your average ride operator is going to close the gates when he sees that the rows are clear of hands and feet. If your son sticks his hand through the gate while its closing or if the parent was letting their kid get so close to closing gates then of course he's going to hurt his hand. This should really be the responsibility of the parent. Ride operators are not babysitters. It's very hard to see down 15 rows or so and this will happen once in a while, just pay attention to them! You should really give the park another chance... or at least lighten up a little.

This has got to be the best photo I have ever seen of Journey to the Center of the Earth (aka... the ride I want to go on more than any other in existence) Well done on all the shots, the Journey and ToT ones are especially impressive.

^ That's funny, my girlfriend graduated from Whittier High...

All of the POV videos I have seen of Ghost Galaxy are too dark to make anything out but the music definately sounds good! I can't believe HK Disneyland has two walkthroughs for Halloween, I wish they would do one here! Indy's queue is certainly long enough for it.

From the LA Times... http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/disneyland-halloween-4901/ Disneyland is adding a "Ghost Galaxy" overlay to Space Mountain to give it a Halloween theme. This was done at Hong Kong Disneyland for the first time last year. I've been hearing rumors of this for a long time, great to be able to confirm it, new Halloween fireworks sound amazing! Can't wait till the fall!

Goodness! These trains are beautiful! I wonder what inspired them.

I have been "urging" Disney to build Journey to the Center of the Earth in Anaheim. They gave me Radiator Springs Racers. I'm ok with that... Seriously though, I would love to see Captain EO, I never got to see it (besides on youtube). I hear there's still a place cast members can watch it in 3D but I'm not sure exactly where. If it's at the studios in burbank or elsewhere... must research.

I'll always remember Lazer as having a very very slow lift hill which I enjoyed very much because it built up the anticipation for an otherwise short ride. I have only been on a few Scwarzkopf coasters, but I meant to ask... Do all or most of them have such slow lift hills?

I've always wanted to visit Disneyland Paris, not as much as I want to visit the Tokyo reesort but there are definately some things that stick out in my mind that are special about Paris's park. People, mostly fellow cast members that I've talked to that have been there say that Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor are the best versions of the attraction at any of the parks. Big Thunder in Paris actually goes underwater and climbs the first lift onto the main part of the ride located on an island. The end of the ride is supposed to be amazing with one long, dark tunnel to return you back to the station. Phantom Manor is essentially the same ride layout as Anaheim's but the theming is more "adult" in nature and it's also themed to western mansion. You can expect more rotting dead bodies and scary moments rather than the silly nature of the American versions. Don't get me I'm a huge fan of HM but Phantom manor looks amazing! I also hear Crush's Coaster is a lot of fun at the second gate. It's supposed to be a very disorienting coaster in the dark and its theming looks pretty decent from what I've seen. I would say yes, it's definately worth it. Go! And don't forget your camera!

I love how the LED's are programmed to flash differently after they crest the lift hill. The whole experience with the open air cars, unique maneuvers and soungs you get to pick yourself will definately make this an amazing attraction.

^^ Each EMV has a slightly different program so bigger bumps and dips are felt in different places. There used to be a LOT more differences in the audio, with Indy saying different things at the beggining and end of the ride. Mara also shoots different sets of lasers at the vehicles as they cross the bridge, sometimes 3, but up to 6 "fires". No HUGE differences but enough to where you notice if you ride everyday I suppose.

I loved Lazer at Dorney Park but it looks much better now that it's gotten some paint. I"m sure it will get much more ridership on the fair circuit than it did surrounded by Steel Force and the B&Ms.

I've got to wonder if the Saw Maze in Brea this past Halloween was a test to see if the franchise has maintained its popularity. It was amazing and I'd be happy even if Universal Hollywood's saw maze was nearly identical to the 2008 version, but I'm sure we're looking at a whole new creation. Expect this one to be highly interactive. Saw Maze and a new Halloween Disneyland Fireworks Show this year! Is it October yet!?!!?

I have also heard for quite a while now that Star Tours 2 will be presented in 3D, and also that filming has been going on for at least a month now. I heard a rumor a while back while my brother was still working at ST, that "debris" would crash through the roof of the cabin during one of the scenes. To me this sounds a lot like Tokyo's Storm Rider where I hear the effect is amazing! I hope this one's true. I am very excited to hear about the "every ride's different" idea, that is truly awesome! Technically at Indiana Jones Adventure, there are thousands of different ride combinations that can be achieved through subtle changes in the show. Over the years some of the show effects have either dissapeared or just aren't as nice as they were in 1995 but anyone who rides Indy can clearly notice different vehicle movements depending on what EMV you ride in, different fire and Mara's eye laser effects, and different sayings at the end of the ride. What can I say? Lucas and WDI are a match made in heaven! With Star Tours getting all the attention, I think we're forgetting it's IJA's 15th anniversary next year. Hopefully some upgrades will be in store...

For teacups... There was a time where Jungle Cruise skippers could add in (appropriate) jokes to the ride as long as you still mainly kept to the script. Nowadays things are a lot more strict as the public can be offended way too easily by even the slightest "grown-up" joke that would in most cases, fly right over a kid's head. During training, new skippers make their own scripts and have their jokes approved by a supervisor. Completely new jokes are NOT allowed but variations on the existing script are certainly welcomed. Many of my friends are jungle cruise skippers and I give them a lot of credit considering they drive a boat while performing their spiel and keeping everyone safe for 8 hours at a time. The people that work the jungle cruise WANT to be at the jungle cruise. You either have it in you or you don't to be funny all day while performing your duties. I had the opportunity to learn Jungle Cruise as my second attraction but I made it a point to learn Indiana Jones Adventure as soon as possible, mainly because I prefer to work dispatch-type attractions. I couldn't see myself doing it and I feel much more comfortable at Indiana Jones Adventure and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. With that being said... If you're ever at either of those two attractions (or even my rare appearance as a conductor on the railroad...) you're guaranteed to get themed phrasing with every dispatch. I pride myself as keeping the show as alive as possible. If you ever want to meet a really entertaing ride op (cast member) track down Maynard. He's easily one of the popular CM's and he knows many attractions on the west side of the park. This guy is hilarious and just a great guy. He even has fan pages! Sadly I haven't seen him around recently. Could be just that he doesn't work Thunder or Indy anymore.

Tag out procedures exist on most tracked (dispatch-type) attractions, at least on the professionally run ones... Nobody carries around a padlock, there's usually a cabinet or rack on the wall with a bunch of hooks, and hanging on the hooks will be padlocks with keys on little elastic "bracelets". In the case of the rides I run, you put your ID in the sleeve corresponding with the key you are taking, and lock your padlock on the ride startup controls so it's impossible to run the ride while someone is tagged out on the ride path. I have heard at some other theme parks that maintenance crews sometimes get lazy and skip tagging out, the end result is sometimes a scenario like this. Not saying that's exactly what happened but tag out procedures should alway sbe used no matter what ride/what time etc. These scenarios could easily be avoided.