downunder

Phone rings... Caller answers "Rocky Mountain Coasters how may I help you". On the other end: "The name's Ghostrider and nobody loves me anymore".

Chiropractors and back specialists in Buena Park and the surrounding area are extremely disappointed about the development with Ghostrider. I actually got some good front row rides during Scary Farm though the train was half full (some early buffet faux ERT).

^Well isn't that just dandy, consider yourselves cast as the the two psychos for Funny Games 2, no acting experience required because you'll be getting beaten for real.

Some more movies I saw during the holidays while rained in: Inception: I'm not sure if I just dreamed I saw this one, or was I dreaming that I dreamt I saw this one, or did I see it in that dream. Ellen "Smart People" Page's raised eyebrow spoke volumes. I got it but I won't be dreaming about it. Machete: good old fashioned schlock, good to see Lilo in a film you'd actually want to see. American Psycho: Never seen this before, Christian Bale is absolutely chilling, a very striking film. Funny Games: the 1997 foreign language version which was remade by Hollywood in 2007. Gruelling, cruel, psycholigical game of cat and mouse. The two psychos were such complete a$$holes that I'd like to personally make Funny Games 2 - which would be me kicking the the living s**t out of them. And what was that high pitched screaming death metal from the opening, it was hilarious, it sounded like the guy was getting his balls stung by scorpions. The Others: normally I associate Nicole Kidman with curing insomnia but this is a lovely gothic spookfest. It would have been scarier if Tom Cruise made an appearance as an angry ghost dwarf but he just settled for being producer - so it's probably loaded with subliminal scientological messages - as I balnkly stare at this screen, I think L Ron Hubbard is cool.

I was stuck in Brisbane with day after day (and night after night) of constant torrential rain, so it was time to catch up on some movies. The scariest part is there was a neighbour called Noah (no kidding). Scott Pilgrim vs The world: perhaps it was a little too hip for the box office masses but it was a fun, original film. The Town: great followup to Gone Baby Gone, the main character walks the tightrope of potentially inspiring audience antipathy but Ben affleck pulls it off. What next Ben, Phantoms 2? Yo Affleck, you was da bomb in the Town. Predators: this wasn't bad at all. Adrien Brody isn'y exactly Schwarzenegger, but he's a good enough actor to make me believe he's a super soldier and not some gay wimpy piano guy. The expendables Good old fashioned action fun, Stallone and co obviously worked out hard to not be called The Expandables. Let The Right One In: beautifully realised, wintery tale of young love - and blood sucking. Kind of like Twilight for the non-lobotomized, and probably the only Swedish film most have seen that doesn't involve porn. The Runaways: a really interesting film, I liked it. After this and Adventureland, Kristen Stewart is batting 2/2 for me, what were those other movies she was in?

I wasn't planning on going to the Dungeon when I was in London in June but after TPR joyous pillaging of the place I gave it a go. It was a lot of fun and good value for London. They seemed to want to pick me out to demonstrate the various tortures and executions. I remember being burnt at the stake, bled at the wrists, and that drop ride at the end was surreal. They sound like good additions but I think they should shoehorn in a megalite (just kidding). Unfortunately I didn't get time to check out the coaster at the Amsterdam Dungeon.

I think you owe a lot of really good woodies - Raven, Cornball, DB Hurricane, Viper, etc (and a bunch of others I haven't been on like Ravine Flyer) - an apology for wanting to take perfectly good rides and bastardize them I was just stirring, I totally agree - Raven, Cornball and Viper I have ridden and they were great. Ravine Flyer was fantastic too, I was a part of the 2008 ERT session of near death. Damn I wish I'd slept last night.

THANK YOU!!!! SOMEBODY AGREES!!!! The only rides that I think are good there are Raptor, MF, Top Thrill, and Maverick. I'm sorry, but although Magnum is a classic IT IS NOT A GOOD RIDE!!! I sat 1st car 1st row, 2nd car 1st row, and 1st car 3rd row. My thighs felt like they were bruised in all three of the seats. All the other rides there are "meh" for me. Gemini, Blue Streak, Mine Ride, Iron Dragon, Wildcat, Corkscrew, Wicked Twister, Disaster Transport, Mean Streak (OW!), Mantis (OW!). Really wasn't impressed both of my TWO visits this summer. Cedar Point, definitely a disappointment for me! I have to admit that Cedar Point's coaster line up has lost some of it's lustre the more I have travelled and rode lots of great coasters. Before I went to CP, I thought SFMM was awesome, then I thought SFMM was crap by comparison. Then I started riding the better than MF Intamin Hypers, Pre-fabs, and the great non pre-fab wood coasters (Boulder Dash, Phoenix etc) and CP became far less special to me. I still think Dragster, MF, Raptor and Maverick are outstanding and I loved Magnum until my last visit but none of these coasters make top ten anymore. And also CP just aren't the one's pushing the coaster envelope anymore, who knows maybe they'll make a comeback in 2012 but I'm not holding my breath.

Pre-empting the success of Rocky Mounatin makeover. Except for any Intamin pre-fab, Phoenix, Boulder Dash and most GCI's - every wood coaster in North America needs some RM lovin'. Braces for brickbats. Alton could use an Intamin Mega-lite but what park that doesn't (that doesn't already have one)? I agree with the comment about Oblivion (it's more Oblandion), and that the X-sector of Alton could use some livening up. Fuji-Q needs q-bots, c'mon Japan it's technological - you'll love it. Common sense applied to their operations would help too. A meg-lite wouldn't hurt. No point making over a ride when the line so long you can't see the ride from the end. It sounds like Euthenasia could be a little less painful. Knott['s could use some more trees and a recapturing of it's old charm. As far as Ghostrider goes, Rocky Mountain or incineration, the choice is yours. Put in a meg-lite while they're at it. Luna Park in Sydney, in spite of the small tract of land could be a great Amusement Park with some more rides. Before the 1979 fire, it was like a mini Blackpool (without the scummy neigbourhood). This could be an indiana Beach like amusement park but sadly there is no appetite to take the property in this direction. A mega-lite would fit there. The existing rides don't need makovers so much as removal on the grounds of blandness (except Coney Island). Movie World on the Gold Coast (Australia) parks needs a serious A-grade attraction, they haven't done anything significant for a while - I think they've been resting on their laurels. A mega-lite maybe? Their Batman simulator ride makes the Adam West Batman look modern, demolish it.

Hard Luck Park, damn that was dumb. Did anyone think California Adventure was pretty much p!ss weak world for at least half the decade (I went in 2001 and wasn't that amused, haven't been back)? At least Disney is fixing that.

*I'm indifferent about Harry Potter, but has any new attraction had such a dramatic impact on attendance and revenue? From my own perspective: *Intamin Plug and Plays - I've only been on two, and they both in my top 2 fave coasters. *Breaking the 400 foot barrier - that was the development that made me travel specifically to go to a theme park which was a first. *The continued growth of Halloween events, especially HHN.

I've been on both, and I think speed is a big factor in the arrow suspended ride experience. During the day at CW in 2008 it was tame and then at night, it was set to warp speed. Flight Deck was okay but I didn't experience going at the speeds Vortex was going at on that magical ERT session. If you look at Eagle's Fortress, it has a listed speed of 40 mph, but I think they would have been running it a lot faster than that to produce the ride experience that everyone raves about. BBW offers 2 very different ride experiences in the one coaster, it's more Draggin' Iron the first part and then Vortex the second half. Wow, I just realised I've been on every operating Arrow Suspended in North America, and the world if we exclude Vampire at Chessington.

What's the availability situtaion for Tokyo spots? I noticed in the store there seem to be no add to cart option above the Japan options or am I just missing something?

Good to know it wasn't just me, that ERT session was wild, and to think I was going to skip Vortex in ERT. I wonder if they turned off any trim brakes, that thing was going so fast? I think BBW got to that kind of Vortex intensity at the big river drop and the bit after but Vortex was insane the whole ride.

^I did ride BBW at night, after park close, at least 20 times in a TPR ERT session in 2008. That's I mentioned the time I did Vortex and that it was with TPR because that night it was amazing, the cars were swinging wildly once the train stopped at the end because it had been going so fast. I mentioned it was TPR ERT session because maybe they did something special that night, trust me, it was like someone had pressed the fast forward button. I rode BBW about a week later on the same TPR tour, and I'm not trying to be argumentative, but my BBW rides didn't come close to my Vortex experience. The funny thing is I rode Vortex during the day and it was tame, if Behemoth wasn't late for ERT I wouldn't have bothered with Vortex ERT but what a pleasant surprise. I can only base my opinions on my personal experiences. I've wondered if the way Vortex ran that night during ERT was an aberration. Maybe someone who was on that ERT session and has ridden Vortex at night during general public hours might be able to enlighten us - ***cough Jason cough***.

I didn't think it was amazing but it was certainly fun, Vortex at Canada's Wonderland at night is amazing (at least during ERT on the 2008 TPR BehEMOth tour). So what did I like? Flying over the village was fun, though not intense. The drop down to the river was great and the brief period after that was the only time it really cranked up to Vortex like intensity. That second part of the ride uses the terrain brilliantly too. Hopefully, the new coaster will use the terrain as well (or better than) as BBW did.

I liked this quote: "“Control is Disney’s middle name, so they have always been on the cutting edge of this kind of thing.” Maybe they'll work out how to control Disney visitor's minds, well at least the minority that have a mind. Then the rides will be empty and the resturants and gift shops will be full - evil spider robot Walt Disney (refer Robot chicken for visual) says "buy, buy, buy!".

From the list: I think the Rocky Mountain re-work of Texas Giant may open the door for a new coaster hybrid that could be amazing. Some of those TG photos don't look real, like an RCTer's wet dream. If Texas Giant turns out as good as it looks, then in the future we may be talking like giddy school girls with a crush about Son of Beast and Mean Streak (pure speculation on may part that they may get Rocky Mountained). Both Intimidator 305, and later in the season, Intrimidator 305, both look awesome. I wish I'd had time to go on the TPR trip, and there's plenty to look forward to in the future with the re-profile. It's great to see another huge Intamin go up, B & M are getting a bit too cookie cutter with their hypers, even though they are good rides. Not on the list: Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights: The huge success of Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights, I went fairly early in it's run and it was sold out every night, even Sunday. I get the feeling they want to get some completely new film properties on the roster for 2011. I saw a message from John Murdy saying he was looking at what new properties to get, I replied "Evil Dead, Evil Dead, Evil Dead..." and then he replied "I hope, I hope, I hope." Booking my plane ticket right now for October. Busch Tampa HOS: I thought the whole MyX concept at Busch Gardens Tampa's Howl O Scream was a deft, creative touch. I really liked the concept. Although I thought it was little pricey, the Alone maze was also a nice development. Formula Rossa at Ferrari World looks exciting, it's good to see a coaster going up that pushes the envelope a bit, hopefully something like this will go up in a location I'd actually go to. Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary, although I didn't get to this, it looked like an awesome haunt. Combining Sinister Pointe creative with the Queen Mary location. If they do it again, I think Long Beach will be on my itinerary for October 2011.

POV video: Santa does some coaster enthusiasting on the number one coaster in Sydney! http://video.dailytelegraph.com.au/1707136561/Santas-wild-ride

These names are absolutely horrifying, I didn't know the Cedar Fair naming dept was contracting out to other chains. I have to admit though Hootie and the Blowfish had some good songs; Rocky was inspirational for at least 2.5 sequels; Sheldon is creepy but funny - maybe he can team up with the Six Fags guys for the The Gang Bang Theory; and "Honey Swings" - sounds like a girl I'd like to meet.

Zoomerang at Alabama's Adventure was previously located in Sydney Australia as Demon and before that, in Brisbane, Australia as Titan - and I've been on it in all 3 locations, only by chance, not design though.

Rita Queen of Speed's Name The ride was temporarily renamed to Camilla - Queen of Speed on 9 April 2005 to celebrate the marriage of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles. This simply involved banner signage to notify guests of the name change. The reason for ride's name has never been explained by Alton Towers. However it has been suggested that 'Rita' stands for 'Alton Towers - Intamin Rocket' backwards. And to think, I always thought Rita was just the local Crystal Meth Whore...

I don't understand those people who seem to not mind winning a stuffed animal the size of an ACEr early in the day and carry it around everywhere but I guess they don't understand either, and unfortunately for them they don't have !_ockers the size of bank vaults. As for lockers, I think in general Locker policy, is an irritable revenue raiser. Down with ride lockers, no more lockers - lockers, lockers, lockers! TPR Australia trip peeps be warned, Superman Escape has the most draconian !_ocker policy I have ever come across, nothing in your pockets, not even your back pocket. I've even had my back pockets padded down by one girl. I haven't been there in 3 years, but I doubt it's changed.

Robb, but wasn't Soaring actually good, or was that just Disney fanboy hype? Maybe they could spice it up by making it Soaring Over Californication? More disappointments: *2 more failed attempts to get the Pterandon Flyers credit. *Rip Ride Busted a Sprocket not working, though I'm assuming it sucks, and they spent $60 million on that? *The continued lack of coasters down here, I mean what other city in the civilised world with over 4 million population has only one small wild mouse coaster?

Another disappointment, I read somewhere that World of Colour increased California Adventure's attendance by 20%, that sucks because it will encourage them to put in more crap like World of Colour. Props to Knott's Scary Farm for their World of Colour piss take, very niiice. RIP/VIP Halloween tours: I'd never done them before and on the nights I went to BGT HOS and USO HHN, I could have covered in an hour what they took 5 hours to do, complete waste of time and money - maybe worth it on apocalyptically busy nights. And they only take you through each maze once.