John Peck

Those who don't follow the Transformers line: The "EVAC" character in the toy line has been a helicopter in several of the series.

Has Vortex reopened yet?

Camdens Spider is easily the best around. Eyerly released a bulletin about the legs of Spiders breaking off at the fork where they hold the tubs. Most parks have had their rides refurbished and the area of weakness is strengthened. I rode Camden's Spider in 2008, and thought that they had reinforced theirs to spec.

No problem, I was 50/50 on giving you all that info, so I appreciate your interest in history. Myself being a fan of carnival rides, I know a bit about them.

The "Spider" you remark about is actually an Eyerly Octopus. Eyerly made both an 8-tub and 16-tub Octopus as well as the 12-tub Spider and 24-tub "Monster" The octopus dates back to the mid-40's and was still manufactured alongside the Spider for a few years after the Spider's introduction. This octopus has been modified from it's original foundation and has been truck-mounted for easier removal from carnival to carnival. I wouldn't be surprised if all of these rides were owned by the same carnival at one time before being put up in the amusement park.

I stayed there for a night free the year they had volunteers help re-paint the coaster. It had decent rooms but with very few modern amenities—no TV. It's a classic hotel, so I wasn't bothered by it.

I've seen those photos many, many times.

I was at that auction 3 years ago, and I took nearly that same picture myself. Still breaks ol' Johns heart.

Do you know what grinds my gears? The local business owners are complaining about the hours and how it will hurt their business—never mind the fact that Legoland—theoretically—will bring in more than Cypress ever could. And not only that... Cypress was on the verge of closing anyway... so much for those businesses. These are test hours right now, and I'm sure there's a little more truth to it—my guess is that they know not everything will be open on time and having those couple of extra days will allow them to finish up and get their tweaking done.

Cedar Points three markets were some (and still are) the worst hit with the economy. We should thank God that the park is still surviving and profitable and able to add anything.

Other Cedar Point/Nagashima Spaland Similarities: • Both Parks Have a Wave Swinger (but what park doesn't these days—don't answer that) • Steel Dragon and Magnum both race past the water park • Both Parks have a Giant Wheel • Both parks have hotels next door (Though Cedar's is a resort) • Both parks are clean That's all i can tell from the pictures. Did you get a garbage can count?

G-Dog, did you know that the Yo-Yo at Carowinds came from Geauga Lake, too? And of course the Flyer's is my baby from Kings Island. John

"Like"

^ Well, Emiroo, as nice as those choices sound there's a wrench that gets thrown into the gears. Maverick was $22 million and sadly, HW built their Thanksgiving section with a $14 million price tag over a couple of seasons due to running out of time and a bit over budget, so I would think a coaster less or around $12 Million would be more manageable for them—at least at this time. The other problem is the B&M's have a 54" height restriction, so that eliminates a lot of smaller riders. I haven't been to the park in a few years, so I think the only ride with a restriction over 48" is the Liberty Launch.

The main reason why they went for the Windseekers: 64 people per cycle.

Am I the only one who suggested a Togo Windjammer???? (sarcasm)

I don't run Wildcat, so I don't know the blocking procedures, even though I know they exist as I have seen them in action. Again, I was just guessing, but if two cars hit hard enough to send rides to the hospital, I would think you would have a force hard enough to do so, and that force can be found at the end of the ride since the loading areas feature low speed tires... but sure, people have in 5 mph accidents before and have gone to the hospital. As for the dorms and the perimeter road: Today, those would cost Millions upon millions of dollars to relocate or build new ones, and moving the road, the plumbing and drainage, the electrical, etc. makes no sense to put in a new ride.

Mondial has been creating neat fairground rides for years... including those Top Scans and Fighters. A quick note on Wildcat, many of you think that there is room to put a eurofighter or spinner there which isn't the case because Wildcat is so compact, it's the equivalent of two flat rides—or a Wild Mouse. You also need to remember that the Park has the Laser Light Spectacular there and they need the wide midway. The fact that Wildcat reopened so quickly makes me think it was operator error and there was little to no investigation needed. That ride bumps cars all the time, but this time it had riders in it. My guess is the cars were dispatched too close together, and I'm "guessing" it was hit near the end of the circuit.

I was looking on Google Maps and with the space that this took up, there could easily (though I'm not sure how cost effective it will be) be a path leading to the Flying Coaster helping to create a "loop", though connecting it to Thomas Town would be a challenge. Maybe you guys will get a Green Lantern spinning thing, those are pretty small.

The new Dryer and new game is an attempt to bring in more revenue, which can be good and bad. Small infrastructure improvements are always a good thing.

I hope I don't come off as "dark" but there was an incident on the Navy Pier wheel a few years ago where a 45 year old woman purposely jumped off of it. That's why that came to mind first. I just don't see how something can happen like this due to the way the tubs are designed. I suppose if she passed out, slid onto the floor and rolled towards a "perhaps" unlocked door it's possible.

That Wheel is a Vekoma (same type that's at Kentucky Kingdom, navy Pier and Darien Lake) There is no way you can fall out of it as you have to either climb over the bars, or open and unlatch the doors. Not to speculate, but I wonder if it may be ruled as a suicide due to peer pressure, kids can get mean at age 11.

Great Trip Report, Laura! I Love your captions—See-Dragon... classic! The "Afterburner" you mentioned is actually a KMG "Spin-out"

Glad they kept the 36" restriction. That would have been odd if they hadn't. I do hope this is a sign of new family friendly rides to come.

According to the CLP website, they have 2 new rides this year: A 3-lane Giant Slide (portable I suspect) and a Jitterbug Swing Ride—both being built near the parks office. No clue if they are going to put back up the little 12-tub Eli Wheel they had a few years ago, now that the Skydiver is gone (or so I heard) Also to note. Clemeton Lake is around $35 for an all day pass, though you do get the waterpark, but they only have a dozen or so mechanical rides.