Shockwave

It's an amusement park using an image of another ride to hype up their own shocker! Parks do this all the time. Photoshopping, using other rides to advertise their own, etc etc. I'd think nothing of it.

Great stuff Divv! Nice to see Bobbejaanland again after goign there 3 years ago. And Toverland is looking more amazing photo by photo! Should really get over at some point!

Cool, I was wondering when this one would get built! Might take a trip over to the Netherlands next year and pick all the rides that have been built since I last went.

Haha, nice! Now I can say I've been on at least one of the El Toros by the end of the year.

Here's my first one from yesterday. Been toying with the idea for ages, but didn't get one till I knew for certain what I really wanted. Took about 2 hours so far, it'll be finished off with some shading and hopefully develop into a 3/4 sleeve.

^That bit will be out in the open. But the rest of the ride will be enclosed.

Personally, if I were going to a park at this time of the year which has just opened up from the winter break, I'd expect things not to run smoothly in the first place. So I can't say I'm surprised that things haven't opened on time or there have been delays, especially with the cold snap we've been having over here. I remember going to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the cold with Robb & Elissa about 3 years ago, when we got upto the Big One for what must have been the last ride of the night, and it broke down. That was unfortunate, but I wasn't apalled, because for a start I was having a good time and second I half expected it. Same with Alton Towers a month later, the monorail was shut due to the cold, and the operations still needed a bit of tweaking. I'm going back to Pleasure Beach next weekend on their winter weekends they're running, so I'll have a photo trip report next week, no doubt with a few broken down rides on the day!

Great stuff so far Divv! The credit whore days are always a bit of laugh. And I'm glad to hear that Zeus hasn't cut up too badly either, that was running really well when I rode in 2005. I had a great time at Walibi Belgium in 2006, so it's a shame that it was really busy the day you went. Seems there were a lot of things working against you, but it's good that you got the things done that you wanted to do thanks to the great planning, even with all the school kids. I've always tried to avoid going to parks near the end of school summer term for exactly that reason. Even with ERT or fastpasses, They're not the most pleasant of days.

^^I'm gonna place a bet on California's Great America closing after you visit that.

I agree Shane. I've always had a problem with Cedar Fair's rides being a bit half-arsed on the imagination side of things. But that's just me. Their philosophy seems to be very much like that of a fairground operator - to get the biggest return from the least necessary expenditure. As a result, it's a very well run business (and why a lot of their parks look like glorified fairgrounds). But there's no heart and soul to their parks. Cedar Point felt like there was something there, but nothing like an upper tier chain park like a Busch park or PortAventura. Knott's just felt like it was just being operated on with no anaesthesia the way it has been transformed in certain areas. Anyway - back onto the ride... I think it's a definite improvement over the two previous color schemes that this ride has had in it's life span so far. I'd agree for the Stealth years of this ride's life. That was just plonked on some dirt with a few garden trees sticking up here and there. But as for it's second incarnation as Borg, I couldn't agree with you less. It's like decorating a house - if you don't like or can't carry on with something, it has to be changed. New paint can give a whole new image to a ride and revitalise it. I still think it's a product of a company who, although are very business savvy, don't make a lot of things that appeal to me.

The career builder ad was my favourite out of the bunch. Haven't felt the need to punch small animals yet, so I must like my job a little bit!

Looks pretty awful to be honest. Generic Cedar Fair paint strikes again! Which I might add is why it'll work in Carowinds now that the new owners have settled in and put their own style into production. I much preferred BORG's colours, at least that tried to be a bit different with what it did. This could be almost any big coaster in any of their parks. But the licensing and the old theme is now nonexistent, so Cedar Fair have no need to keep it like that if they don't feel it will fit in to their park.

You mean you're not trembling at the prospect of riding this? You're not shaking in your boots? This ride would certainly get an 8.9 on my scale!

Looking nice and ever more earthquake proof there!

Thanks for posting these pictures Shane! Pinfaris were (and still are) a staple diet of the British seaside amusement park. Whilst the company may be gone, I know that a few other manufacturers have got hold of the Big Apple/Wacky Worm designs, and D.P.V. (which came from the ashes of the old Pinfari company) have built a Z40 clone in Devon, so they may be getting produced for some time yet! Not sure about the other stuff like the looping coasters though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/7868241.stm Can't say I'm surprised. This has been on the cards for some time.

Just did mine today. A Wacky Worm at Twinlakes Park near Melton Mowbray.

This isn't. But it's still amazing.

I'm really looking forward to riding this in July. Apart from the lift hill there's no real high point, so it should carry a lot of speed through the course.

^You'd do well to read the trip FAQ section, that will answer a lot of your questions. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39067

83.9p/litre at my local station. Funny to think that 6 months ago the UK had some of the most expensive petrol in Europe, and now that the Pound has slumped against the Euro it now has some of the cheapest!

Done mine, all the best with your project!

Wow, it's hard to believe that this time your day at Fuji-Q actually turned out worse than the last visit when I was there with you in 2007. That day was bad enough after we had the reschedule following the poor weather on the Tuesday of that second week of the trip. I should explain that I'm always up for giving parks and rides a second chance. But I can honestly say that I would have no qualms about not visiting Fuji-Q again netx time I go to Japan. I was one of the lucky few who managed to get all their credits on their first visit to the park on the TPR Japan trip in 2007, and I was lucky enough to get them all done rather quickly. But this was only thanks to me walking around the park by myself, and some lucky breaks in the weather and where I happened to be in the park at the time. I can honestly say that day was one of the worst experiences at a theme park that I've ever had to endure. As Robb has already said the way this place is run makes you wonder how the park still operates at all. There's simply no excuse for running the rides the way they do, and on a busy weekend day of all days as well! I could go on, but there's not much more to say than what's already been said.

^^Schwarzkopf rides before they get their trains neutered with horrific shoulder restraints make me smile. Goes back to a time when common sense and personal responsibility actually meant something.

I agree Chuck. I was honestly expecting a much worse ride that it turned out to be. It was still pretty awful though. Sounds like we got the lucky year when we rode it!