montezooma

Space Mountain At Disneyland Tokyo

^ It also had a train, two monorails and bumper cars

Congrats Big Mike on ONE GREAT YEAR of fun pictures, great reading and hilarious antics. PS I love your new banner! what a great idea!

Sid got some great shots from outside the fence, here are a few from inside the fence. Most of the work going on now is underground. The pump house and huge balance tank that holds all the water for the play structure are the focus now. Some of the structure has arrived as well as the rest of the slides. Another shipment will be in Thursday. I am happy we were victorious again over a FEC competitor down the road who has been trying very hard to delay our project. The city council voted unanimously in our favor. I personally had to pick each and everyone of these colors. So if you love it let me know. If not...keep it to yourself The three open body flumes will be green, blue and purple this is one section of the tower that will support one of the giant buckets 65' up in the air the finished floor. 10's high walls and ceiling go in this week essentially this is a huge underground pool that will hold the hundreds of thousands of gallons that will flood the giant playstructure There is a lot of testosterone on this job! all this hard work and money just gets buried in the ground

^yes...Summer 2009...lol Yes my excitement level was pretty high when the first shipment came in, but it failed in comparison to when we first signed the contract with White Water, it was tough to keep quiet, but I had to until I had all city approvals.

Will Jeff Johnson get the senior rate, or is there a special deal for being over 5,000? He can get the special rate but he will have to wear a swim diaper. We can't afford any leaks.

Texas State Fair Comet All you Dallas locals and older coaster fans should remember this GREAT old ride from the State Fair. It had those great silver NAD trains. Too bad this ride did not survive. It was always the highlight of the fair. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=TexasStateFairComet[/coastertube]

Yes toddlers 3 and under will be admitted free and seniors over 65 will have their own price too.

Funny you guys should mention Tennessee...it has always peaked my interest and before we settled on Salt Lake being our test market I had seriously considered several sites in Nashville & Memphis. I think it is a GREAT market that is under served.

Hey Mark- Remember this park? After riding Goliath I was ready to head out after 20 minutes. Yawn. Amazing effort went into creating the back of these cards. Behold the Magic!

I wonder what the GP thinks when they hear the term B&M. It still makes me a little uncomfortable every time I hear it. It takes my back to my childhood when my aunt used to ask "Do you have to go BM?"

Isn't that what B&M calls their corkscrews? Flat spins?

You ought to look at this update I did on Knott's back in the 70's & 80's (click that link) I did a week long look at the park as it was back in those days and there are early maps that show the locations of each of those rides, there is also video that shows some of the rides as well as historical facts and information on the park Here are a few of the answers off the top of my head. The Loop Trainer and propeller Spin opened in 1977 as part of the Airfield expansion Both the Tiajuana Taxi and Gasoline Alley were Arrow creations The Fiesta Wheel as a Chance Trabant Mexican Whip was a sellner Tilt-A-Whirl. That ought to get you started, but really check out that link. There is tons of great stuff that should really help your report

I love those old postcards from Carowinds. It has always been one of my favorite parks and I love to see it in its earlier years. Thanks for posting them. I have one to add.

I am so excited I am going to get a second chance to visit this park. I am not going to take any risks and make sure I get out there within the first week or two of its opening. I am not holding out hope for Wild West World or Granite Park tho...

^Yes Lagoonisfun.com has had the scoop on this for sometime now and has done a great job covering it. Let me answer some of the questions: 1. This is an outdoor facility, the entire park will be on 2 acres and we share parking with the adjacent factory outlet shopping center. It should work out great as the summer is their slow season so we will have plenty of parking. During the christmas shopping season we will be closed so they can have all the parking they need. 2. Future attractions: The park has been planned with a 10 year expansion plan. One great thing about the water play structure is you can add onto it like a giant tinker toy set. The bowl slide you see on the plans is for a future addition. All the footings and pumps will be built now so when we want to add the slide all we need to do is put it together. There are also plans for a flow rider, and mat racer. 3. The concept of the park is not to be a full blown waterpark but more of what we are calling a "neighborhood waterpark" This will be an activity that you can decide spur of the moment to come do. You don't have to spend an entire day to feel you get your moneys worth and it will be an alternate entertainment experience in place of a movie of a visit to the FEC. 4. Price will be $15.99 for 48" and over and $10.99 under 48". That is pretty reasonable when you consider local water parks are $21.00 or more plus you then have to pay for tube rentals and parking. POP at the FEC is $25.00 or more. 5. Opening date is set for early Summer which means hopefully the first of June. We have met some difficulty with the local family fun center Boondocks. They have been appealing all our approvals with the city. Luckily they have been shot down on everything but it did set us back a couple of weeks. 6. If all goes well with this project we do plan to build other parks but but no plans as of now to go to Australia...sorry 7. Yes there will be plenty of things for kidtums. We have three slides just for kids that size plus a special area that is less intense.

I can't think of anything more fun than a TPR cruise!!! and to be able to get a semi-credit, well that would just be icing on the cake! Celebrity cruises are great I took one to Alaska and loved the ship!

Screamin' Demon This ride is one of my favorite rides from the past. It was the first Arrow Shuttle Loop I rode on my first visit to Kings Island back in 1979. This is the original footage I shot back in 1979. You can tell I was fascinated with this ride as I shot it from every possible angle. I t was beautiful at night with the different lighting patterns. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=ScreaminDemon_2[/coastertube]

Thanks everyone for the great comments and well wishes. I really appreciate getting your thoughts and ideas on this project. Of course all TPR-ers that are in the area are more than welcome to come by and give it a try. Big Mike- I will personally be there waiting for you in my floral beach shorts.

^ ha ha ha, that is exactly what I said when I was 14. But now after dealing with attorneys, engineers, sewer departments, health departments, un-friendly neighbors, banks, accountants, contractors, vendors, building inspectors, deadlines and competitors I sometimes wish I had just kept my job at Nordstrom. Honestly I have to say, it is A LOT of hard work but in the end the Amusement Business really is the most fun business to be in!!!!

Here's an update on the first shipment of slides. So far 6 trucks have been delivered another 24 are on their way...and that is just for the play structure. These parts are for the 3 high speed enclosed slides It is like a Skittles explosion These parts are for the open body flumes, there will be three of them from heights of 18', 27' & 35' No code to decipher here, it is pretty obvious what this part is for I know it is not B&M track parts but still kind of exciting. 1st delivery of slides more geek shots Geek shot construction has begun. The site is being developed as part of the Factory Outlet stores, that way we share the parking.

One of the best Schwarzkopf coasters around I liked it best when it was white with blue trains.

This is SO great! I can't wait to see more! Looking forward to Circus World

Yes seven years is WAY to long. This is a park that I try to visit at least every other year, I sure hope that the greatness of this park and the Busch Gardens in VA is not lost with the new ownership whoever it might be. I am still keeping my fingers crossed the the Busch Family retains the parks.

Well in my spare time between historical posts and updates over at Shane's Amusement Attic I have been working on a little project I am now thrilled to share with everyone. Cowabunga Bay is a new waterpark project I came up with after visiting Hersheypark a couple of years ago, and it finally taking shape in Draper, UT (15 minutes south of Salt Lake City). After my kids and I spent hours playing in the East Coast WaterWorks I thought, how great would this be as a stand alone attraction that we could change a small admission fee for...Well we took the basic Hersheypark (thanks to those at Hersheypark that helped us with their experiences both good and bad) design and made it bigger, added more slides and play elements and came up with the World's Biggest water play structure. We are also adding some other waterpark staples to round out the park. A lazy river, wading pool, food, cabanas and more. It is very excited to see construction start after a year of planning. As an interesting side note we just learned the the first In-N-Out Burger in Utah will be built next to the park. It is going to be an exciting summer in UTAH! Theme and elevation of the Giant Rainfortress from White Water West The theme elements and layout design