htomc42

On the desktop:

It's old, and it's small, but I've always enjoyed riding the old Chance Toboggan ride/coaster. Maybe its just those little cars.

Nights in White Satin dark ride, at the long-defunct HRP. Bonus points for riding it 2 minutes after watching the Moody Blues perform the song, live.

There's tons of neat stuff there, non-ride related. There's a bar with a brick wall behind it- that was originally the wall behind the stage at CBGB's. I don't know if they still have it, but they had the bus from 'Magical Mystery Tour'- and it ran, too.

I hope someone gets that too and keeps the lift as is. Very unique but I can see maintenance being a pain and replacing it with a standard lift hill. During the Freestyle season, I was told by a girl minding the closed coaster that they had a machine shop and 3 people, to fabricate replacement parts for the thing. I'm guessing that Premiere probably wasn't too cooperative when the bills were overdue. Just about all the HRP/FP vendors were owed, including a lot of small local companies that could hardly afford it. I heard that these new rides can be monitored and controlled remotely- I wonder if Premiere hit the 'off' button? That might explain why the water coaster also wasn't working when I was there. As I was looking at the mechanism, she remarked "isn't it awesome?!". I responded "yeah, but it would be even more awesome if it worked."

Definitely Central Florida- I'd love to see SoCal, but I can get to Florida much easier!

The "Centrifuge Brain Project" gives an insight on scientific experiments with amusement park rides. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

Yeah, I just can't wait for the Jar Jar ride.

People who drive along I-95 along the east coast should be very familiar with "South of the Border", the kitzchy tourist trap right on the NC/SC border. I just drove by there this past weekend and noticed some changes: 1) Their "Sombrero" ride, a rare Soriani-Moser polyp type spinner, appears to be gone. 2) The L&T Crazy Mouse, that has sat inoperable for years, possibly since 2001, has been dismantled. No idea where that might be going. I drove down I-95 late Friday afternoon and saw it all apart except for the loading platform and lift hill; when I can back the other way on Sunday, the lift hill was almost completely apart. A great place to see pictures of this is: jimvid.smugmug.com/Amusement-Park/South-of-the-Border-41506/1374946_68h5R/2/64892581_gZQXj#64892629_y8n87 3) The arcade has been moved to the building right under the huge Sombrero Tower. I think it might be free now; at one time, they charged to go up it. 4) They once had what they called the "world's largest indoor miniature golf course". That was later turned into an antique store, right on the miniature golf course- they didn't take out any of the holes or anything. That is now completely gone, the building has been torn down and nothing remains. 5) Their big new attraction is the "Reptile Lagoon". I didn't go in, but it sure sounds like the same sort of "Alligator Farm" attraction that was big in Florida 40-50 years ago.

The removal of the entire Pavilion Amusement Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. That park, and its famous Pavilion building on the ocean, were icons for nearly 60 years. Nothing but big empty lot now, for several years. People who experienced it back in its "golden age" of the 70s and 80s know what I mean. Then, just a very few years later, the complete failure of the Hard Rock Park/Freestyle Music Park. This was very embarrassing for the amusement industry as a whole.

Not sure if anyone else from the Raleigh, NC area would be coming up, but at least I will.

No, this is the one that is all the way across the state in Raleigh. In fact, yesterday was the last day of it.

It's that time again for the NC State Fair! This year, it's Powers Great American Midways that is providing all the rides. Plus, all the deep-fried honey buns and doughnut hamburgers you can eat! Early afternoon on the midway. It's not nearly as crowded tonight as it was on Saturday. Still too sober for this one, only about 0.08 on the Piers Scale. Flat ride goodness - they have some of the more energetic ones at this fair. Dark Ride! I rode this one later in the evening, when it was dark. It looks like they spent some money on this- very nicely themed outside, with spooky music, monsters, etc. Once inside, however, it sucked so bad that Bill Tracy turned over in his grave a few times. None of their light effects were working, so they actually had the work lights turned on, so you could (almost) see some of the monsters. The scariest part of the ride was a ringing bell. I have yet to see a really good portable dark ride- if they simply had everything clean and working, with even a bare half-assed effort to make it scary, it would be 1000 times better than the crap that makes it even onto a 'respectable' midway. COASTER GOODNESS - actually, the only coaster that I could find at the whole fair. This one is a Pinfari RC-48, and might be the one that was originally at Morey's Pier. I also rode this when it got dark- no airtime, but a surprisingly long ride with lots of good loops, all in a fairly compact footprint. Classic flatride goodness. I rode this one too, just for old times, it's still a great ride. Another haunted house. Look how nice it looks on the outside. Too bad it's pure lame-ass crapola inside. Let's go back and forth in the dark a few times. These dark rides are embarrassingly bad. An appropriately-themed Huss Enterprise. Some Fun House goodness. Actually fairly "standard" for a fun house, but at least everything works. Actually, the crowd here is far weirder. Save your money. Unless I saw it wrong, it actually looked like the two arms of this pivoted at different angles, "twisting" the car, unlike a regular Top Spin. Classic! I remember riding this one way back in the early 70s. Some more views of that Pinfari coaster, from the other side of the main midway. Let's ride the Turkey Shoot! 20 Gauge goodness! Lots of Flying Bobs and Himalaya clones around. Why do we never see any of the Bayern Kurve type rides anymore? They are from about the same era, and I like the latter much more. Wacky Worm! Unfortunately, no kids available for credit-whoring. Another dark ride. Yes, I had to try it. This one is almost like a roller coaster; it is unpowered, and has a lift hill that takes up up, then the ride does a dip right in that big open area, then goes inside. Once inside, it does a series of mouse-like back and forths until the end. The scariest thing inside was a 2-foot square red area (the Tile of Doom?), but at least it did have an actual operating gag at the very end when the cars came out. Domo !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's ride the Flu Shot! It's probably scarier than all their dark rides put together. Night on the midway. There is a -great- fireworks show at 9:45 Time for another spin on the coaster. Currently at 0.20 Piers Great lights on the midway.

This just in- coaster accident at Knott's Berry Farm http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/knotts-berry-farm-accident-occurs-after-roller-coster-car-fails-to-climb-tracks.html this happened on the 'Pony Express' coaster; apparently the safeties on the lift hill failed, and it rolled back into the station, hitting another car.

So, I'm trying to get the ticket for the East Coast Bash, and I don't have a season ticket, but it won't allow that option! The dropdown where I have to select whether I have the season ticket or not, only allows the 'Yes' option! Did someone steal the 'No' option?