montezooma

^ I agree with you 100% but you forgot to mention Mr. Twister's tunnel on the turn, it was small and tight and taken at those high speeds it was quite scary. While riding White Cyclone over at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan this past summer it had moments of Mr. Twister, it really took me back to what a great ride it was. Click here to see more GREAT photos of Wild Cat and Mr. Twister posted at Scott's Amusment Closet In his post you can see the the train racing out of the very small tunnel.

Wait a minute...they are charging to get up into the museum? How much? This doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I mean as an huge fan of Magic Mountain I would pay the price but I doubt your average joe blow that goes to the park will

ELITCH GARDENS the original AstroWorld is the theme park I miss the most and Elitch Gardens is the traditional park I miss the most. They both met fates that I wish would have been different. Elitch was a beautiful park and traditional in every sense. The Gardens, The Architecture, The Sights and Sounds and The Rides. Wild Cat was an out and back wooden coaster that traveled through the double helices of the incredible Mr. Twister. (the Mr. part of the name was shamefully dropped to be politically correct) Mr. Twister was a John Allen creation that when originally built was quite boring so the owners came back to him a couple years later and asked him to redesign it. He kept the twister part and added a couple of great drops before the original double helix and the ride was an instant hit! The first time I visited Elitch Gardens I was with a small group of my coaster friends and we were on our way back to California from the RCBI (Roller Coaster Buffs International) convention at Six Flags over Texas. It was kind of out of the way but we felt Elitch Gardens was gonna be worth the trip. When we got to the park it was closed. When the few employees that were at the park heard the distance we had come they were nice enough to let us walk all around and under the rides. We really got to see up close those two coasters we wouldn't be able to ride. It sucked to be that close to those coasters and not be able to ride them. I finally made it back to Elitch 4 years later and finally got to ride Mr. Twister. It was such an awesome ride and the new version, Twister II, doesn't even come close to the greatness of it's namesake. This update is a little small just because I don't have a lot from the original park. Some press, photos, a couple of brochures and the highlight is a radio commercial for the three coasters. If any of you have anymore on this traditional park I would love to see it as I am sure many others would also. This park was loved not only by enthusiasts but also by Denver-ites. To have missed the original Elitch's truly was to have missed Denver. Click here to see more GREAT photos of Wild Cat and Mr. Twister posted at Scott's Amusment Closet -Shane Elitch Gardens Radio Commercial POV of the original Mr. Twister http://youtube.com/watch?v=UG6q8-SMwys Tom Selleck loved the Sea Dragon

^^ I am beginning to have my doubts. The longer they sit exposed to the elements, rusting away in some field, the more expensive it becomes to refurbish them...ie: Excaliber, Batman: the Escape, UltraTwister, all the rides at Old Indiana. Plus if the soil is the problem the only way to overcome that is to beef up the foundations. That can be a pretty big cost to a park the size of Joyland.

I don't know if I like the sound of this. I have been hit by bugs while riding Millennium Force and it is not a pleasant experience. I imagine, although at a much slower speed, getting a branch in the face would be a painful thing. OUCH!

Well I can tell you about the Triple Wheel at the California Great America park as I was part of the team that was responsible for the installation of the Invertigo. The park wanted to take out the Triple Wheel since the hydraulics where shot and the control system needed to be updated. The popularity of the ride did not justify the reinvestment so it was decided to use that site for the new coaster, which by the way was a last minute decision since the Morgan hyper coaster that was designed for the park was not approved by the city council. The Triple Wheel was taken apart as to be resold and it was even listed on several used ride sites for several years. It was stored in the empty field behind the two log flumes until the site was needed for the addition of Stealth. The ride was then sold for scrap metal. There were 4 triple wheels built, the two at the Marriott parks, one in Japan on the other in Korea. They have all been removed to make way for other attractions and my guess would be that they have all been scrapped. Bummer cause they were really great looking rides. I loved them, but I must admit they were more fun to look at than to ride.

My guess would be that the AstroWheel and the Galaxi at Magic Mountain were both products of Intamin. They would be the 1st generation, then came the second variation the Zodiac at Kings Island and the Double Wheel at Hersheypark. Finally you have the Triple Wheels built at both Marriott parks. Anyone else know otherwise????

I just transfered a bunch of my old stuff from video to digital which means I will be posting more footage every now and then. I have just updated my post on Drachen Fire with a clip from a TV show that was on E! Click Here to see it.

TOWERS - WAAGNER-BIRO Part 2 I am not sure what the connection between Intamin and Waagner-Biro is, they obviously work together since they market the same rides. I think Intamin is the broker, they do all the sales and project management. Waagner-Biro does the engineering and manufacturing. Here is part 2 of Towers and a few other miscellaneous cool rides (Triple Wheel). Notice the cool concept for the telescoping observation tower, Climbing Globe and Cosmos Tower 2000. They sure would have been cool if they were ever built. Also in this catalog there is the Ferris Wheel that was built for DCA, so I imagine that Waagner-Biro designed and built it for Premier Rides. Shane The Triple Wheel, one of the coolest major rides ever built. They are all gone now

I have gone thru my Hersheypark stuff and came across this stuff from the old Chocolate World, not much but I hope it helps. Shane Hope you will post a copy of your report on here when you are finished with it. I think it would be interesting to read.

^Here are the pictures

While I love the look of Anton's box beam loop, nothing compares to the beauty of the open lattice loop structure. It was much more sleek than Arrow's design.

Eric- Thanks for that information about Magic Mountain's Sky Tower. I had no idea that it wasn't originally designed for the park. I always thought it was strange that they showed a rendering for the tower with Playboy Club on the side, now it makes sense. The 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver, British Columbia also had a parachute-gyro combination tower. It had a crazy UFO theme and was called the USSR Space Tower. After the fair it was disassembled and for years it was advertised for sale on Ital International's web site. It ended up rusting away in some field and finally scrapped. Shane

TOWERS - INTAMIN Part 1 Your going down the freeway, anxiously anticipating your arrival to Kings Dominion..."where is it? Where is it?" Nothing but trees...and finally you spot it! The Eiffel Tower. It stands majestically over the park and makes quite a statement. The same is true for many other parks, Magic Mountain, Six Flags over Texas, even the Sea Worlds in Orlando and San Diego. They can be seen for miles around and signal your arrival. Towers have always been favorite attractions of mine because they really symbolize the amusement park. While these towers usually serve as a landmark to parks, unfortunately not all of them have survived. "The Great Gasp" from Six Flags over Georgia is sorely missed from their skyline, especially at night. The "Sky Jump" at Knott's has been mutilated having all of it's arms cut off. And I am pretty sure that the Sky Scraper from Geauga Lake is soon to meet the same fate that AstroWorld's "AstroNeedle" did. This update takes a look at the beautiful structures designed, built and conceptualized by Intamin. I picked up this brochure from the Intamin IAAPA booth and it has been one of my favorite pieces of manufacturer literature since. Now this would have been a cool tower, too bad no one ever built this. Playboy Club??? Such a phallic statement for this club.

^Those aren't actual commercials for Great America, the background music is from an old Marriott's radio ad, but all the videos are home movies I shot and edited together.

I posted this over on the other thread about Northern California theme parks back in 1979 but wanted to put it here in my thread too. What a Day! What a Place! Marriott's Great America Tidal Wave

What a Day! What a Place! Marriott's Great America Tidal Wave

Vekoma makes several versions of portable corkscrews

Schwarzkopf made some really good flats. The Enterprise from Magic Mountain, Knott's, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, SFGAd, SFoG, SFoT, SFStL and both Great Americas are Schwarzkopfs as are all the Bayern Curves. So is the Bay City Crawler (Lobster) at Six Flags Great America and the Ferris Wheel at Cedar Point.

^ Tilt-a-whirl has been in three locations. It was first where the Jolly Monster was (Goliath entrance) and it was called "Jolly Roger", it was next up on Baja Ridge near the entrance of the "Revolucion" (not the Revolutions entrance) and Viper where it was named "Balle de las Flores". And of course lastly it was where the Circus Wheel once was and surprise...it was called Circus Wheel.

Just for curiosity sake how about asking him about the details of the recent listing of Magic Mountain for sale. I mean come on, what was the thought behind that move. -What brought them to decide they would be better off without a presence in the LA market? -Did they really want to unload it? -Is the land more valuable than the parks profits? -What groups were interested in buying the park? -Was it really ever in danger of being closed and sold off for housing. PS- I still find AstroWorld a very interesting topic for another time and place. PSS- Ask him if the park is still Haunted by a Phantom and if KISS will be brought in again to save the Mountain

I would love for you to ask him his feelings on the closure of AstroWorld. What honestly were the main reasons for this park to be suddenly closed down... -Was it the parking issue? -Was it the value of the land? -Or was the park simply getting old and to expensive to refurb? Also I would imagine that Houston is still a huge market. Would Six Flags ever consider building a "New Improved AstroWorld" in an area further outside of Houston where the land is much less expensive. It seems that AstroWorld was loved by Houstonians and I would think they would love to see something like this happen. Also it would be fun to know what his favorite regional, non Six Flags is?

^Actually this is not Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. MarineWorld Africa USA was first located in Redwood City, CA. The original park was closed down and in 1986 it was relocated to Valejo, CA where it eventually changed to SFDK Great pictures, I can't wait to see Marriott's!!!!

Disney announces a new park in Japan! "Introducing new technology and creativity that will be enjoyed by the people of Japan and of the world!" Boy that hit that right on the mark. This park and it's neighbor are simply amazing!!!

^^^MRHS Falcon has some great ideas. Smart kid and very business savy for being 19 years old. Six Flags should take note. I especially love the ideas of prizes being picked up at the entrance gate and giving the power back to the parks.