MagicMountainMan

That's good that there were no injuries. That's got to be a silver lining in all of this. I wish the best for the whole team at Europa Park. The park is truly a gem and I hope that they are all able to quickly bounce back and keep delivering thrills and fun for all of their guests.

Viper is indeed not going anywhere, at least this year. It's actually going down late summer (around August) to get a complete systems redo. Granted this project was slated for early summer but Revolution will be going down for a bit soon to do some major unplanned lift work and they decided to stagger the projects. Add that to Apocalypse and the back of the park being closed; it's going to be an interesting summer crowds wise. As to Six Flags needing to have something big next year as a reaction to Star Wars? While that might be a tiny bit of the consideration, take a step back and realize that these parks are on the opposite sides of Los Angeles, serve different markets and demographics, and have different strategies for capital expansion. That's not to say that Six Flags isn't going to 'counter program' per-say, but next year's big capex is more of a result of their large capital, small capital philosophy that may or may not be a bit bigger than previous years.

Has anyone else heard anything about these rumors getting closer to become true? I'm not 'anyone else' but April was a floated date however now it sounds like the plan is to close Apocalypse and the rest of Cyclone Bay on June 1st. No, they aren't demoing Apocalypse, but the entire area is going to be closed so get your rides in beforehand!

Call me cynical, but when a ride is advertised as a 400' drop tower, part of the experience is seeing the park and surrounding areas from 400' up and freaking the hell out that you're up so high since you're about to plummet at any second. I'm sure this will add a unique quirk to the ride for a bit, but it takes away from one of the primary aspects that make drop towers thrilling. I wish VR would just go away already, it seems to have about run it's course. My point is that Drop of Doom has run its course. People aren't buying tickets to see a view because it's not something that drives attendance anymore. Being able to re-market a ride as a 'new' experience will always get at least a few people from the gate. But I totally get it, that's why I like tall drop towers too because you are so high up it feels crazy and VR absolutely takes away from that. But the VR is a 'new, marketable experience' and the park is a business and this is a solid business move to drum up new attention to an 'old' ride.

People aren't buying tickets to see a nice view. Like you said, it's a marketing thing. It's a pretty smart marketing thing too as they're using the DC brand and the overlay itself isn't capital intensive. What better way to breathe new life into an attraction? Think of it as a seasonal overlay that many parks do (just with slowed down operations). This doesn't mean that it will actually be good or that we'll like it, but they were definitely thinking, and it's pretty smart thinking honestly.

I think it's honestly a better fit than on Revolution. I had hopes that the content would look a bit better than the Revolution content and it does look a bit better based on the sneak peak. My biggest problem with the whole VR thing (besides the slow load/unload) is the crappy content Six Flags keeps putting on these things. I get it, mobile phones do not have the horsepower to drive good looking VR content... But especially for Drop of Doom it could be prerendered, as in the phone is playing back a high quality animated movie rather then trying to render content then and there, and I would be sooooo much more into it. I have the same gripe with Justice League, it's a good ride, but if that content didn't look like a PS2 game I'd like it a lot more. Maybe I'm just a snob and really like higher quality animation, but the Revolution stuff was rough. However I really do think that it's a much better fit on Drop of Doom, if not purely for the easier load and unload.

I would bet good money that nobody on the marketing team is even aware that the fireball on Apocalypse hasn't worked in a few years. Marketing for the park is just baffling to me most of the time...

^Good on you for speaking up and getting employees involved. If people actually get caught tagging they just get thrown out by security for the most part now. Also, Twisted Colossus is back up, so for those of you planning on going today or this weekend have fun!

We all know that a parking garage would be the first thing built if the park ever actually expanded into a true 'resort'. And we all know that will never happen, either. One can dream though, one can dream.

I really appreciate that Cedar Fair has made a point in installing nice lighting packages with their new big rides and this looks to be no exception. Just the amount of light fixtures inside the actual track looks amazing and I'm really excited to see it at night. I love the big visual statement of a well lit ride at night. (Yeah, I'm that guy) Oh and the ride looks really fun too.

^I honestly don't even remember what was in that tunnel other than the soundtrack and the rope lights that are hardly visible in daylight. Was there another effect?

^^It sounds like they want the solar project complete by sometime next year. Random question #1, does anyone have any footage of the old Batman station effect with the mist cannons? Like how it used to blow mist as the train advanced from the holding brakes into the station? Random question #2, can anyone think of ride effects or park effects that used to work but don't anymore? From what I can remember, there's the infamous Goliath mist tunnel and X2 mist/lights at the first drop and last raven turn. Didn't Superman used to have some sort of atmospheric/lighting effect in the queue/station?

You a part of the construction crew for Newhall Land And Farm? I've noticed you guys moving HUGE amounts of earth back there. It's too bad the park doesn't own any of that land so that they could build a big coaster out that way.

In the shocking news of the day, Apocalypse is actually open! I'm not sure how long it will stay open for all things considered, but a nice turn of events nonetheless.

^It will still spin just like it always has. These new brakes along the track will just prevent it from being really jarring (hopefully).

Wouldn't surprise me if they didn't use actual primer on RR. You can't prime with normal paint. Other paint won't stick to it. Primer is not just an undercoat. It is a flat non-gloss paint that is specially designed to bond to what coat is laid over it. Looking at the photos of when they were painting it the "primer" appeared to be regular colored semi-gloss paint. I'm pretty sure the company that was contracted to paint the ride wasn't that stupid. There are most likely other factors involved. No, they're just magnetic brakes. The spin on Green Lantern cannot be manipulated like the S&S models. The only thing they can do, besides slowing the ride down, to control the spin is to put a magnetic brake on the spin axis of the car itself. The reason that Green Lantern doesn't 'spin' as well as other Intamin counterparts is because of a stronger brake.

Riddler's prep was a power wash. The color you're seeing now is the underlying primer they painted everything before the final coat. It is indeed surprising to see Ridddler's peeling like it is. The corkscrew out of the MCBR has had a spot that started peeling mere weeks after they finished the repaint. Revolution got the same treatment and I don't think it's peeling anywhere, so maybe it is the type of paint they use, I'm not sure. Surprising indeed...

That makes no sense. Perhaps it is a treatment? From what I've been told, it's to help the wood retain moisture. I don't have much of a clue about construction and types of wood and whatever so it doesn't make too much sense, but I kid you not, they water the entire ride. Whenever it opens again, take a look to your left once you get into the first showroom. Water always pools there when it's been watered the previous night.

So Apocalypse actually has a sprinkler system attached to the ride and it gets watered down for, no joke, about an hour every night. That's actually why the structure is so white. The fact that they just did some retracking last year and they're still having this many problems with the ride is indeed telling... I do hope though that the ginormous investment going around the back of the park actually does end up being a nice, long ride that is more than a one trick pony. This park has enough of that already.

I do hope that the ginormous investment going around will spare Roaring Rapids and just go above and around it, but it really is in prime real estate for a new ride. We shall see once survey markings start popping up around here in the next few months. Maintenance does have a factor in the smoothness of all rides. If the wheels are towards the end of their life, it can be a bit rougher (but not substantially), as the tolerance between the wheel and the track expands very slightly. I think X2 is a good example of wheels and their effect on the ride experience since the train is so heavy. Apocalypse just got an outside company to retrack half of the ride at the beginning of last year though which is why I'm surprised that they can't keep up with it, but it's supposedly smoother now. Scream on the other hand is just rough in spots, especially at the bottom of the first drop. I wouldn't say the whole ride is rough, but that first drop gives me a headache every time I ride it...

Little park update: The Crazanity site is still pretty much untouched and has been that way for a few months now. So I really do believe that Knotts will have Hangtime open for park guests before Crazanity is even fully constructed. Batman was down for a few days last week but is back up. Apocalypse is down, and will stay down for the foreseeable future as they're doing in house work on the track again... Not sure why this ride can't seem to maintain operations anymore but they seem to be chasing their tail on this one. It might reopen like it did during Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park, which was incredibly sporadic at best, but I really wouldn't plan on riding it these next few months. The rumor mill is really heating up and it now sounds like there might be some building demolition in Cyclone Bay as early as April. Roaring Rapids might be in the line of fire for this ride as well. Whatever the 2019 project is, it sounds big. Like ginormous investment going around the park big. They might even start work on 2019 before the 2018 project is even done!

I guess there isn't really much to talk about these days since all of the construction of years past has died down, but the Secret Life of Pets attraction that was supposed to be slated for the lower lot next to Transformers is supposedly now being installed in place of the Globe Theater on the upper lot. The whole west side of the upper lot will (supposedly) be full of Illumination attractions. It could become the second most cohesive themed area of the park. The fate of the Globe Theater as a special event space isn't determined quite yet. However, it has also been heavily rumored that some reincarnation of an event space will be resurrected on the lower lot, giving the building actual (useful) backstage access and a more multi-use space that could be easily shared with the movie studio.

Maybe nothing. What are the changes they get rid of it and replace it with an S&S 4D Free Spin? That would be the absolute most Six Flags thing to do. I don't think it will actually happen, but it would be worse than when they replaced Psyclone with Terminator. I can't tell you the amount of people I've talked to that thought Terminator was "that really old rickety coaster that hurts really bad". Granted that comment totally applies now to Apocalypse after these last few years. But seriously though, it would be incredibly stupid for the park to tear out Green Lantern and put in a Free Spin in its place. The public is really dumb most of the time, but I don't think they're really really dumb. I know the comment was in jest, but don't give them any ideas!

^I'm curious to see the pricing structure on these tiers. I wonder if they try to price these high this year and then start raising the Gold Pass tier as well so that they pull up pass prices across the board. Ride updates: Goliath is indeed open. Green Lantern (again, for the two people that care) is down indefinitely. The park hasn't said that it's going to stay down forever, but from what I've heard it's going to be down for a while. Apocalypse is down again. They keep having to do maintenance on its track and they can't seem to keep up with it. Rumors have really started to fly that Cyclone Bay might see a 2019 refresh so who knows what the future holds for this ride.

Taking the time to actually give feedback on those surveys and at Guest Relations is actually the best way for your voice to be heard. The park puts all comments in a database and they are distributed to all managers and higher-ups. Unfortunately a lot of stuff doesn't get taken care of or changed, but needless to say, employees do actually read all of the surveys and comments. Ride updates for those of you wanting to visit the park soon: Green Lantern is for all intents and purposes SBNO. The park's timetable for its closure was through the end of the year, but that has come and gone without a single update on the ride's status. Goliath's lift motor broke two days ago so it's going to be down for a little while as they have to replace the motor unit. If you visit right now you can see one of the trains stuck at the top of the lift where they had to leave it. Also these next two days I wouldn't bet on the park being open based on the weather. While you might get extremely lucky and the rain actually does completely pass the Santa Clarita Valley and you could run around in a completely empty park, it's more likely that in the morning the park will choose to close. I'm definitely not saying it's a guarantee that the park closes, but make sure you check first when there are days where it looks like it's going to rain all day.