Evan1127

I spy a familiar face in the crowd...

Did you go to the creepy part of Centralia where the smoke from the fire is venting and all of the vegetation is dead?

I've heard the contrary, especially for parks in that area. Perhaps they're not as obvious, but I know of at least a couple other parks in Southern California that have substations there and a few others around the country with offices for the local law enforcement. And those are only the ones I know about.

Except for the first rides of the day and when there is absolutely no wait, the idea of the preshow is that it takes up time you'd be spending waiting in line anyway. Whether or not this is exactly the case is up to the park to figure out and, from what Robb and others have said, this is what they're tweaking. If there wasn't a preshow, you'd still have the same amount of people in front of you in line. It just wouldn't be as entertaining.

There's definitely a FlashPass queue. It joins the regular queue before the preshow. I don't know if it will be available this weekend, if that's what people were referring to when they said it isn't available. Also, the station is the same size as every other ride we do (except Gwazi and Lightning Racer, obviously). There are ten spots with floater airtime. I verified in both the front and back.

Finally, I can say something! Obviously, I'm a bit bias in discussing the ride itself, but I think Jeff has outdone himself; this ranks among the best of the GCIs. But what I had no idea what to expect was the theming that Six Flags put in. I was very pleasantly surprised by the queue, pre-show, and everything else the park did. The queue is propped well, with vehicles and other props taken directly from the film (as in, they're the actual vehicles used). The pre-show tells a story that sets up the ride well, whether or not it convinces you of the tie between a wooden coaster and Terminator. It makes you enter the station with a sense of chaos and urgency. The operations staff only reinforce this by hurrying you to your row, and the on-board audio playing in the station keeps the mood. The other train flying above your head only helps this. Today was a great day and I (we) appreciate all of the comments that people approached us with, and enjoyed talking to those that stopped us. Thanks for all of the great coverage of the ride so far, and I look forward to reading what others think as more continue to ride. (Shameless plug: If you get any good photos, we'd LOVE to showcase them on our website! Click here for more information and to submit photos.)

Seriously. Me too.

Thanks for the Riverside info! An interesting tidbit: The horse from the original 1909 Ilions carousel that is pictured is "American Beauty" - the lead horse. Rumor is that the workers tasked with carving the horses were under such pressure from their boss to get it done quickly that they took this beautiful horse and carved male genitalia into it. I can't confirm the truth to the story (though it is widely accepted by those at the park), but you can clearly see the area in question in that photo... Part of the story also included the fact that the original horse is worth millions because of this and was removed by Premier and replaced with an exact replica. Again, I wish I could confirm this, but it's an entertaining story nevertheless.

Almost, but Terminator's first drop crosses back through the lift immediately, so the dynamics at the bottom will differ.

As long as this thread is being bumped, check out these curves: Courtesy of the GCI Interns.

It's the restraints. That's why the height limit changed after the 2004 accident with the new regulations. The idea is that if one's legs are too long, the lapbar cannot come down far enough. The clearance in the tunnels is fine.

What I am worried about as an investor is the following:

Roar and Evel Knievel have different front banisters on the lead coaches, as well!

I applied for - and was subsequently rejected from - the Ambassador program in 2005. It was great when I later became friends with the person in charge so I could bring it up as often as possible. I do have some friends that did it, though, and I hung out with the Ambassadors when I went to IAAPA that first year (on my own). It seemed to be a pretty intense (time-consuming, energy-draining) program, but I've only heard overall good things to say about the program from those that have done it. Keep in mind that they're not only interested in people in the amusement industry, but that they like people in hospitality management, as well. I suppose for that reason, it may be helpful to emphasize the qualities you have that would help in your role at IAAPA as an Ambassador, rather than just your qualifications in the amusement industry. (If all else fails, just register on your own. It's costly, I suppose, but cheapest if you register early.)

Stephen Colbert did a segment last night in response to this article and talks about Six Flags. Thought some would enjoy it... Bears & Balls - Company Bailouts

No lift yet. Those are the first drop bents going up.

Thanks for the update, Jahan!

That bent is from the deadman turn, for which photos have already been posted. It just doesn't have the batters yet. It'd be pretty crazy to have a lift bent that heavily banked

A few more photos from Friday added to the Intern Site.

Updated construction photos can be found at the Intern Site

How many GCIs have you seen use cables?! What goes there is something not unfamiliar to the GCI twister... Thanks for getting the photos, though. A GCI Twitter update may be in order.

The animation's banking does not accurately reflect the real banking.

I have so many from SFNE it's ridiculous. It's probably not wise to post many of them, but I have two from Superman's first tunnel because it is no secret that I was required to clean in there hundreds of times. And the photos of Pandemonium under construction from Flashback's second lift were taken while being escorted up the lift for that specific purpose. I will however include the following warning: These photos were taken with permission during non park operating hours. The applicable rides were all shut down and locked out, and I had been trained properly to be in those specific restricted areas. Please do not try to reproduce them (especially Pandemonium under construction). Looking up Superman's first drop from the first tunnel Superman's first tunnel Pandemonium under construction Pandemonium under construction

Our inspirations come from less obvious places. For example, the plan view of Troy looks like Jay Leno's face. Prowler was a failed attempt to spell "Jeff" in cursive with roller coaster track. And wait till you see what Magic Mountain's plan view resembles... Prowler Troy

From Yahoo: