rollermonkey

Canobie Lake Park mid to late 70's before there was a corkscrew, log flume, shoot the chutes, etc. Benson's Animal Farm. Same period. Those are the parks I remember as a kid.

BPPB opens in FEBRUARY?!?! That's amazing! It gets cold up there in June! Brrrr...

Wow, that sounds painful and yummy. That'd be a lot of G's in the lower portions of an element like that in order to get all the way through. I've grayed out a couple times and blacked out once (multiple rerides led to that one) I doubt I'd make it through that thing awake!

Wait no longer, I think the one you are talking about is the bent cuban 8 that is being built into G-Force at Drayton Manor.

^Certain conditions? How many people were SHOT in amusement park parking lots in the past 5 years? I'd say it would be pretty easy for that to happen in the states!

When you figure out when you are coming, drop me a PM. If I'm not out to sea, I could meet up with you if you'd like. It sounds like you are coming to do more than coaster whore, and that's great. I can give you station names for some of the more interesting sites in and around Tokyo.

I think Vikingar is already gone. Noah's Ark is one of the Historical Landmarks. (I doubt it's going anywhere without a serious fight.)

Finished. Good luck!

Since you said THEME park vice amusement park, I'll go with Nara Dreamland. It's horrid. The only redeeming feature is Aska, and that's a completely unthemed ride. I have been there. It bites.

No, but I have sent an e-mail from ny phone today. Did you brush your teeth after EVERY meal today?

Read a book. (Although Japanese Terebi (TV) is hysterical.) Would you rather watch The Sopranos or The Family Guy?

One. I had a scaphoid fracture from being crappy at basketball. (It's a bone in the wrist, thumb side. It required a cast that went above the elbow!)

What's so weird about a susbended looping wild mouse? There are looping mice out here in Japan. There are inverted/suspended single-car coasters, too. (Seen a batflyer?) It shouldn't be too hard. Capacity would suck, and who would be the target audience? Spinning boomerang? Also not impossible. Check out the trains on Spin Turn Coaster at Nasu Highlands. That train would be able to negotiate inversions. Vekoma Rocket? Um, Booster Bikes. A launched bobsled coaster could be done. Nearly all, if not all are capable of operating on normal track and do so on the lift, in the station and on the brake run at a minimum. They could be launched, but why bother? An inverted log flume? OK that doesn't make any sense, but it COULD be done in the same fashion as Mack water coasters, but there would need to be a wheel carriage above the car and it would be very unsafe IMO. The cars would be very top heavy and lie to one side when floating. After a drop, that could be disastrous.

^Gak! I can't believe you would compare a Batman with an SLC. Yes, there are 12 Batman the ride clones including the mirror image ones. You do have to remember that TEN of these were sold to 6FI. That's not B&M's problem or fault. The other two are at independent parks outside the US. There are THIRTY SEVEN SLC's in the 5 flavors they come in. (Pretty much is there a helix or not.) Vekoma SLC's are pretty much all rough pieces of crap that simply get horrid with age. B&M BTR's are intense machines that even the oldest of which are just starting to get vibrations thirteen years later. Vekoma designed the SLC as a cheaper alternative to the B&M inverted model at a time when B&M simply couldn't keep up with demand. If you can, really compare BTR at 6FGA with an older SLC (6FKK or my personal least favorite SLC Blackout at Suzuka Circuit). You'd know the difference immediately after you got off. The oldest SLC is a year younger than the oldest BTR, but even the newest SLC's are still rougher than the eldest BTR. I may be a (33 year old) B&M fanboy, but Vekoma SLC's are still crap. I always think that there are way more clones out there than there really are, but even the much copied boomerang design has 'only' 45 copies out there not counting 4 each of the giant models and the inverted version. End rant or am I not alone in this?

"Take your clothes off" Morningwood

I always find it funny how fast folks jump to conclusions on some of this stuff. This could be anything from a coaster to a flat ride to a western themed stunt show for crying out loud!

The one you are on at the moment you are on it! After you get off, it's all about what you like. Do you like loops, airtime, laterals, a great view? Subjective question based solely on opinion and personal preference. NEXT!

I am shooting for 12 February to drive out there again. I am out to sea a lot this month, so we'll see. If I can't go that day, it won't be until March 4th that I would get another chance.

McDonald's: The Ride An Intamin accelerator with TWO giant golden arches (tophats) and booster LIM's between 'em! The Side Boob Experience Coaster with multiple not quite inversions: Incline loops, overbanks and lie-to-fly/fly-to-lies The official park mascots would be Don and Katsu the Taiko Drum Masters and Whatshisname the TPR Donkey. There would be a complete Land of The Giants from Huss. This could be themed to escaped land whales in a jurassic park / ACEr buffet gone horribly wrong sense. The attached (pay one gate/get two parks) waterpark would be named Dan's Unacceptable Levels of Wetness World. Dan would have a lifetime ban from this side of the park. The shoot the chutes would have uncovered boats for winter use and covered boats for summer for complete WTF value. The Perilous Plunge name is available again, right?

X (I should get a substitute for it in July) Atlantis Adventure (2 trips to Lotte world and still haven't been able to get on the d@mn thing!) Megaphobia (In June?) Thunderhead (Distant future, I hope it's still good by the time I get there!)

^ Senyo Kogo makes rides, but they are also a rides broker in Japan for several companies. I see their stickers all the time on rides from Zamperla, Vekoma and others.

I really suspect that so far we have it completely wrong with inverted lifts or launches. I do not think the structure that is in place is the first element or the top of the lift. I believe that this will have a vertical drop at the top of the lift. I can see two ways for it to go from there, and neither make sense from the footers as I follow them, as neither seems to proceed to the raven turn we can see very quickly unless this monster turns out to be a LOT bigger than it looks so far. All I know for certain is that there IS a raven turn, and that I will be getting out there as often as I can afford to so that we can all follow the construction of this ride. I also want the announcement that it exists to be made! Outside of the in park signs, it is still all a big secret, and those are all teasers! (New signs posted at RCDB shot by yours truly.)

I'm not in port today, but after I get home I'll ask her what they say. (I love the misspelling of 'chickets' (sic) on the 3rd sign.)

^Sorry, I think you've circled the wrong lines of footers. The station should be the large bluish rectangle to the left of your pink circle. Those footers in the pink circle will be a major element, they are SUPERSIZED footers! The lift hill should be the line of footers connecting the bluish rectangle to the structure that has been erected. Just my opinion, I could be wrong too!

Every type of Vekoma coaster, including the prototypes that have never been built, for extra headbanging goodness. There'd probably be a Journey to the center of the Earth clone, too. Oops, Journey to the center of Robb fills that role nicely, doesn't it?