rollermonkey

DD actually never closed. They operated at reduced hours (weekends only) since the painting started.

Yet another thread about forum name changes.

Eejanaika

Ebony? As they manipulate all the pieces of the coaster around creating those weird supports, the wire rope used to support the pieces during lifting rubs the paint off. Since those supports are so crazy, they have to move them around a lot as they build them. Hence, all the patches without the black paint. I will say that they are repainting as they go, as some of the places I had noticed with primer showing before have been repainted.

No Have you ever been on a coaster that was rough enough to make your camera think it was dropped?

Yeah! It's back! Why ask why?

This has been floating around Japanese chat groups for a few months now. The park is now answering questions about the ride with an announcement of the desire to reopen the ride after testing of the new trains. This is a huge difference from the past three years of ignoring questions about SD2K and telling folks about all the other rides in the park! I saw the ride today from about 6 or 7 miles. I couldn't see testing, but it was a Sunday.

Oh, jeez, another rant thread about the forum name changes? ncf, You will likely have that picture above you forever, just because you asked not to have it! Or not, only knows!

Zaneymon, I still love the Bye Bye Shoe thing. What's it from? It looks like Azumanga Daioh, but I've never seen it. < I still like Donkeylicious, thank you.

Random oddness. Lentil soup, Drywall, Radioactive Material, Donkeys, and some guy above just about everyone's avatar. Standing by for probability drive disengagement in 1:15, 1:10, 1:5, 1:3, 1:2, 1:1. We have acheived normality, whatever that is.

WOW. Did you make all those terrible puns yourself? G-d! I Hope not! Standing by for more J&K in Spain!

There's a chance someone will beat me to it. Also, don't expect onride footage. These guys are pretty uptight about cameras on rides. I know they didn't even let Robb, the king of good park relations bring his on Dodonpa! Sometime about 23 September is the earliest I expect to get to Fuji-Q after the opening. That's also typhoon season, so wish me luck!

1600 Posts 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Coincidence? Obviously.

Wow, Japanese from a Kiwi? 10/10 I'm not 100% if that's accurate grammar, but who am I to grade on that?)

I just noticed something today. Intamin has 62 operating steel coasters around the world. B&M has 65. I always thought that since Intamin had been around longer, and B&M is generally regarded as having low turnout of coasters, that Intamin would have many, many more. Add wood, former rides, and construction projects, and Intamin is way ahead, but just current steel rides, and they are nearly even!

Oh, and by the way, I've had the fortune of riding 44 of the B&M's all around the world. (I pick up #45 later today.) I think I know a tiny bit about the layouts and theming of some coasters. Just because RCDB says Loop, Zero-G, Loop, that doesn't mean there might not be an air hill, turn, or helix in there. This is a thread about similarities in B&M layouts. The only reason I mentioned another company in my previous post was to demonstrate that some companies use different names for the same element. (Vekoma - Corkscrew = B&M Wing over) So let's leave the... Arrow/Intamin/Vekoma/B&M/PAX/Giavanola/Zamperla/Mack/S&S fanboyism out of all this, shall we?

Wow, Jarmor, It doesn't take much to get you to go to a park! More Florida parks means more reasons to bring me and the wife there! Agreed, keep us posted!

^ 19 July 2006 That's the scheduled date. Track work 'should' be complete, but these guys seem to work in spurts. So it might not. I'll be going back the last week of June. I'm hoping that they will be testing by then.

Who sang that song "Too Much Time On My Hands"? Wasn't it Foreigner? It's coming to mind right now for some reason. Secret Characters Suggestions: Diabetic Dan: (Can't use Churro Swords or Cola or other sugar-based power-ups.) He's like trying to beat ResEvil with the block of Tofu. Jew: Has difficulty negotiating courses due to his aversion to physical effort. (Monkey bars are his kryptonite, but perhaps there's a working Metro or monorail to get him around?) Guy: Haunted by demonic heads (more ResEvil), fascinated by a cartoon hottie, and gets naked for money. (If it's for a good cause.) His limitation is he negotiates parks with a stroller and kid in tow. JJ: If you can unlock him, it's like ultra easy mode, as everything he does gets him credit points. And so on...

I think this argument is getting out of hand. If there were hundreds or even dozens of types of inversions out there, and B&M was only using 5, 8 or 12 of them all, then yeah, I could see that as being a problem. The truth of the matter is there really aren't THAT many ways to go upside down: (I'll use the B&M term when other companies use a different name for the same thing, this is a thread about B&M, not Vekoma.) Batwing Cobra Roll Dive Loop Flat Spin/Wingover Flip 360 inline Roll Inside Top Hat Zero - G roll and DerekRX's Favorite: Vertical Loop That's nine common elements that invert riders. (Yeah, two invert twice.) Sure there are some one-off inverting elements, like the Vekoma Butterfly, or Medusa's(W) Sea Serpent, but these are the big ones that actually get used. Last time I checked, they invented the pretzel loop, too. B&M also uses an incline loop on occasion, they've used inclined Immelmans, as well as some other less than common elements. Truth is, B&M's (outside the clones) tend to be unique from one to the next. How are Medusa and Hydra similar? They aren't. Neither are just about any other pair of similar type coasters that aren't actually clones. So, to be fair, everyone rips Vekoma for all the Boomerang (44 copies operating+5 invertigos, and 4 giant boomerangs) and SLC's (32 or 37 depending on the 'custom ones'). So let's look at B&M Clones: 12 Batmen 2 Raptors 2 Medusas 2 Oblivions That's it. 18 clones (of 64 installations.) 8 of those Batman clones are 6F's orders. 3 of the other 4 were ordered by other companies outside the US. I think for the most part we'd all rather ride any BTR than an SLC, right? End result, in my humble opinion is that B&M makes some pretty great rides that may share elements with other coasters by the company, but each one usually has at least one thing that makes it special. Sometimes it's the theming, sometimes it's something just different than seen elsewhere. (Hydra's cobra roll is definitely different!) I'd love to see B&M throw a top hat in somewhere, or maybe they could pull off the butterfly without killing everyone on board! Until then, I like what they are doing, and I will continue to seek out and ride B&M coasters around the world. If you want to call me a fanboy, ok, whatever. There's never been a death on a B&M (knock wood) and they don't give me a headache. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go try out Pyrenees tomorrow for the first time: Loop, Zero-G roll, Loop, Cobra Roll, Wingover. Who knows, maybe I'll hate it, but I really doubt it.

Freecell, mostly A little Kingdom of Paradise on the side.

THREADJACKED! (Quite nicely, I might add.) So, Mr. Everest, if you are having trouble posting pictures, maybe ask for help?

^ Freely admits that he likes it rough! < Knows what BeNeLux means. \/ Doesn't.

Nope. Do you hate waiting for 'enough' people to play this game so you can play again?

Here's some happy thought (for me:) I go on vacation for 26 days in only 8 days and 21 hours. Since Monday's a holiday, and I don't actually work next Saturday or Sunday, I have 4 work days until my vacation starts. Tomorrow morning, I'm riding a train to Parque Espana, staying the night and hitting another park on Sunday (Higashiyama Zoo). On Monday, I'm picking up a kiddy credit and checking on the status of the Halfpipe in Tokyo. Then, the following Monday, I fly to Amsterdam to ride Belgian and Flemish coasters before going to Legoland UK the day before joining the TPR UK Trip, with add-on. When I get back, I'll be doing my final Fuji-Q construction update before the ride opens. Then, I'm going to Niigata to hit two parks before I go back to work on the 1st of July. But wait! That's the Saturday before another 3 day weekend! Then, life will suck for about 15 weeks, as I won't be home to Japan until September. But wait! That's when I get to ride Eejanaika, the new Tower of Terror, and possibly Steel Dragon 2000 before moving to the US in the first half of October. And I finally get a REAL home park when I get there! Who wants to go to 6FGAm in October with me?