OrientExpressForever

I'm curious about the G force element, larrygator - what makes it so horrible? It looks like it would be fairly innocuous. Does the extended inversion part cause a bit of pain due to restraints, or is is something else?

Thanks for the pictures and trip report! I'm glad to see my old friend Zambezi Zinger frolicking about in such a beautiful setting. Oh, the memory of the good times we shared at WOF, . But alas, she had to be set free; free to explore the world and spread the goodness of Anton! But I digress. A couple of questions: Does it seem as if they are taking good care of it? Does it still give a smooth ride?

Most coasters out there, whether custom or off the shelf cookie cutter, include fairly standard elements which are the same or extremely similar regardless of the manufacturer or style of coaster: immelmans, barrel rolls, corkscrews, helices-of-death, etc. So the question for this off-season topic is: What are those rare elements that cannot be experienced anywhere but on one or maybe just a couple of rides on the planet? Keep in mind that the element can be inverting or non-inverting, named or unnamed, awesome or awful, steel or wooden, permanent or portable, currently operating or defunct. Not looking for coaster styles here, (inverted, zacspin, aquatrax, etc.). Please provide coaster name and location, element name and/or description, if you have ridden it - whether it is enjoyable or not, and if possible, a picture of said element (with proper credit if it is not yours). My 2 cents to get the ball rolling: One that immediately comes to mind is the 110 foot tall "spiral loop" on the Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood. The first of 3 inversions on this surprisingly smooth Arrow coaster, this element is a tweak of the standard clothoid loop featuring a little bit of twisting on the vertical entrance and exit of the loop. The twisting effect is subtle, but noticeable enough to make you wonder what just happened and I thought it was fun and added to the experience of the ride. To my knowledge, this element can only be experienced on the Tennessee Tornado, but if I'm wrong, definitely let me know! Thanks in advance for your responses! Here is a picture from RCDB shot by Eric Sakowski: PS: I did a search prior to posting this topic, but I apologize if there is a similar topic out there.

As others have said, I would absolutely want to ride any of the Traver coasters, namely: Crystal Beach Cyclone Revere Beach Lightning Palisades Park Cyclone Oaks Amusement Park Zip The question is, could modern technologies for building woodies make the CB Cyclone a viable coaster in today's theme park scene without altering the original design and specs? To be viable, it would have to appeal to a reasonable segment of the GP and be re-ride-able, not be prone to inflicting injuries or extreme discomfort, and not tear itself apart or become a total maintenance nightmare. Is it possible using the original design or would it have to be tweaked or heavily altered for it to even be insurable? What would be the best manufacturer to take on the task? Intamin with prefab track? GCI with their expertise in twister style coasters and exceptional rolling stock? RMC with topper track or I beam? What rolling stock would be best? Millenium Flyers, Timberliners, Gerstlauer 2 or 3 benchers, PTC 2 or 3 benchers, or something custom designed? Whatever the end result, if anyone actually took on a CB Cyclone recreation or re-imagining, I would be there opening day, squealing like a giddy school kid!

There is a good view of Worlds of Fun in Kansas City coming in from Chicago. It is only a few miles east of the airport, so you get a close look at it. Unfortunately, no pictures because the plane is below 10,000 feet when you can see the park.

I would appreciate an intuitive and powerful terrain editor with some key features: 1) Random tree and vegetation placement for a selected area at the touch of a button, with the ability to select/deselect types of trees to better represent the theme of the area. For example, if building a mountain themed coaster, a mix of different pines and/or aspens could be chosen, but maples and palms could be left out. 2) Automatic tunneling - ability to raise the terrain over existing track sections and an appropriate tunnel will be automatically created. Entrances and exits as well as interior walls of the tunnels should be customizable to varying textures such as stone, brick, wood facades, etc. 3) This one is related to Auto tunnels but not sure what to call it: the ability to move the ride, whether complete or not, in its entirety, within the terrain and have tunnels automatically create around it in the appropriate places. This would include raising or lowering the ride in relation to the terrain, or moving it in any horizontal direction. This should also allow for importing a previously saved track and being able to place it anywhere within the given terrain. 4) Water - creating bodies of water, streams and waterfalls should be simple. There should be a couple of options for creating bodies of water: ability to trace the shoreline in an overhead view and edit by dragging the edges where desired, and when complete, the terrain would be automatically raised/lowered to the water level. The entire body of water could then be selected and raised/lowered or moved in any horizontal direction with the terrain adjusting accordingly. The second option would be to raise the water level the desired amount within the selected terrain area. For streams, you should be able to trace a path from the desired source, set the average width and adjust volume of water, and have it automatically created with natural variances in width and depth. For waterfalls, you should be able to place a water source anywhere, adjust the volume of water and it would naturally cascade over the edge of the intended cliff. 5) Misc. - other things that would add realism to the game/simulation, like random wildlife: occasional squirrels running up and down trees, a rabbit here or there hopping around in the grass, birds flying around, etc. Wind affecting the trees and other objects. Random airplanes leaving vapor trails behind them. Customizable lighting packages for the rides. Ability to build custom structures using a variety of materials. Have I asked for too much out of a landscape editor for a theme park game? Probably so, but these are just wishful suggestions. Some may be feasible and easily implemented and others may just be so outrageously difficult it is laughable that I even suggested them. There's been a lot of great input from everyone here and I'm definitely excited about the possibilities for this game!

The Orient Express at Worlds of Fun.

Flashback at SFMM was an extremely forceful coaster which was rarely operated and left SBNO for several years until it was finally demolished. It had previously operated at SFGAm and SFoG as Z Force. Most people hated it, but I actually liked it for its white knuckle, terrifying experience. It is among the few coasters that was so uncomfortable I actually had to hang on to the restraints out of fear for my safety. That's what I liked most about it. I could be wrong, but I assume low ridership and complaints were the reasons for it's demise.

Those are some of the best pictures I've seen of King's Island. I've never been there and your pix really help me grasp the layout and atmosphere of the park. A lot of those shots have outstanding clarity, contrast, color, composition...and I'm sure many other "c" words - do you mind my asking what kind of camera you are using?

Well, maybe not in 10 years, but hopefully sometime in the future we'll see a maglev (magnetic levitation) coaster. Imagine how awesome a flying dutchman style coaster would be utilizing this frictionless technology! With no rumble or vibrations from wheels contacting the track, it would be as close to a pure flight experience as you could get on a coaster. Of course, the technology is far from perfected and is ultra expensive, so it may be a long time before we see anything like this. I've also envisioned an ultra high speed launched coaster that would simulate a fighter jet using a maglev track. I wonder what the fastest speed could be that would be both feasible and safe for a coaster...300mph, 500mph...what about a sonic boom inducing 770mph? Is it even possible? What do you think?

My family and I were just passing through Wichita a couple of weeks ago and I just had to stop and see what Joyland looked like. It has been over 10 years since I've been there. I thought I heard that a lot had been done to refurbish the place in the last couple of years, but everything looked as run down as ever. It's a shame because I really liked the coaster, though it seemed to be falling apart the last time I rode it - of course that just added to the fun! Anyway, I there was a guy in a pickup working around the grounds, and we didn't have time to waste, so I didn't linger too long. I just snapped a couple of pictures and thought I'd share them with all of you secret lovers of Joyland. Roller Coaster in all its glory. Amazing Panorama Shot! Hopefully not closed forever!