verticalzero

I flew to Chicago for 4th July, hired a car, drove to Cedar Point, Kings Island, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Washington Bay. I had $460 left to spend in Chicago (loved Old Navy shop) for 3 days before flying back to England. All within 2.5 weeks. Had an amazing time, can't wait to go back and try Mt O, Timber Falls, SFGA and a few other parks as well.

A pointless TPR, please make it more interesting rather than have one about the cats and how the footpaths are boring. Hope Randy Andy did not try anything with you

Any new updates for "Blue Streak" and some recent pictures if possible.

Any SLC, it's a headbanger

Dragon's Fury - Chessington MF - Cedar Point SOB - KI Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park Cobra - Paultons Park Air - AT Oblivion - AT

Scenic Railway - Operating since 1920 at Margate.. http://rcdb.com/ig875.htm

Connect the PS3 to the monitor and try the resolution.

Is it lack of maintance from the park or does the track n wheels take a bad hammering to make "J2" spine altering.

I am glad BPB will not be removing the mouse in the near future, but you never know what "Amanda" has in store for the park.

The paint has started to come off "Infusion" already, check out the top of the air gates.. No-one should take any type of camera on a rollercoaster unless they have full permission from the Park, if your silly enough to sneek one on, it falls and hits anyone you can expect a summonds in the post. Hopefully your be thrown out of the park if caught. Blackpool does deserve a better image than today's one, I have always had a good time at "Funny Girls" or "Flying Handbag" pubs. I love the atmostphere of BPB and the "Classic" woodies. The good thing is I could buy a 4/5 bedroom or 7 bedroom guest house in Blackpool for the cost of my house down south, but the pay is not great for jobs.

Very interesting to learn how the park looked and grew in the 70's and 80's. Any update on the sale of the 3 woodies..? Some up-to-date pictures of the woodies and BD with NAD trains on it would be nice to see. Cedar Fair should be able to run the 3 coasters as well as the Water Park, They are just being lazy.

Do you call a hill / mount a "bluff"..? I've looked for some more pictures on the net, but all I can find are Oct ones.. Someone who lives near could go to the area and give us a update on the bridge status.

I don't know the exact date, maybe when BPB opens for it's new season in Feb / March time.

I am playing to visit in 2008: Oakwood Lightwater Valley Thorpe Park Alton Towers Blackpool Chessington Heide Park Toverland Walibi World Plopsaland Parc Astrix (ride Megafobia's Bigger / badder Brother) Lisberg De Eftling Paultons Park If I could afford it next year, maybe 2009 or 2010: Cedar Point Kings Island CLP (if open), if not take photo's of Blue Streak Park where "Ravine Flyer 2" is being built. Mt O Timber Falls Park where "Cornball Express" lives Chippa Lake Park - try to find a local who can give me a tour and pay my respects to Big Dipper and the "Bug / Turtle ride" Six Flags Great America GP and all of the Water Parks in Ohio

Most people have been saying it's getting rough etc and GG are gaining a name for creating intense rides. That's the price you pay for such a compact twister woodie, the wheels, track and structure will take a huge amount of beating. I guess it will have to get re-tracked within it's 1st birthday. I wonder if a Pre-fabricated track woodie would work in a layout like this..

The bridge will be the most expensive part of the ride, the owner has been waiting for this moment to arrive for years (they missed the original Flyer) and he will pay any cost to get a coaster over the road again. A tunnel like "Hades" would of pushed the project up millions of $$$. How about a bridge on the outward stretch and a tunnel (with chaser lights to make it look like your going faster, have plenty of "Dry Ice" as well for good measure) under the road on the return leg I am sure an "In-line twist" like the below picture is possible on a woodie. The only flat 90 degree track I have been on is the "Wild Mouse" in BPB, have to brace yourself for the slam sideways.

It's very sad to see any "Classic" woodie get "razed", looked a fun size ride with a hint of . Please post anymore photo's of it being taken down. The new owners can add more exciting coasters and make the park a bigger success. I hope this does not happen to the "Nash", "Rollercoaster", "Big Dipper" and "Wild Mouse" at BPB, none are protected which of course they should be, they are all riding "jems", even if the "mouse" shatters your ribs..

Got some pic's of work being done on the Wild Mouse. All the brackets that support the rides frame are being replaced, by doing this it will be a good number of years before the ride needs scaffolding around it other than for track work.

Here are my top coasters for wood n steel. I have not been on as many coasters as most TPR readers so the list is quite short: Wood: Colossos - Heide Park (Perfect , please build more of them) Beast - KI (Night-time rides are something to remember) Megafobia - Oakwood (The only USA style woodie with proper in UK) Wild Mouse - BPB (Amazing and brutal) "Nash" at Blackpool (True Classic Twin) Racer - KI (Classic Twin) Mean Streak - CP (Power, height and 1st drop brakes) Robin Hood - WW (Fun ride with some ) Blue Streak - CP (Classic n smooth) Rollercoaster - BPB ( Classic, getting seatbelts and lapbars for 2008 season) SOB - KI (Not my type, but had to do it just to say I've rode it with the loop) Steel: MF - CP ( Power, Speed, Height and Lift Hill night-lights) Goliath - WW ( Amazing layout with tons of , wish a copy was built in England) Magnum - CP (Classic ride, lovely 1st drop with great views) Turbine - WB (Fantastic start and loop in the dark) Nemesis Inferno- TP (Great Inverter, my local ride) Vampire (Great swinning action) Mantis - CP ( Lovely stand-up with strong G's in loop) Raptor - CP ( Best Invertor I've been on) Dragon's Fury ( Spinning freely with good layout) Nemesis - AT (Good theming, but so-so ride) Revolution - B-J-Land (Unique enclosed ride, love the projections n lights) Ultimate - LWV (Fast, mental banking in 2nd half) Air - AT (Fun ride, but slow pacing and no Pretzel Loop) PMBO - BPB (Only the 1st drop is worth the ride) There are plenty of other coasters which I have been on in the UK and Europe but they don't make my list.

Just watched the new video, Ravine Flyer 11 has a fast filled layout, nice use of tunnels and I love the 1st drop into a tunnel and then over the bridge, the netting is there to stop any stupid people trying to hit cars with coke cans etc. A nice touch of history could of been made if the the original Ravine Flyer station got converted to house it's big brother's trains. I've never been on a woodie which has a 90 degree corner, GG should of tried and if successful added a full 360 degree "in-line twist" located within a tunnel. All the best with the success of this coaster, I will be visiting this park if I am at nearby Cedar Point. Eeek that's a 7 hour drive from Chicago. How far is it to drive to Chippa Lake and the Big Dipper from this park..

A Suspended coaster has the most hangtime. X-Coasters and Screaming Squirrel have the most.

Play RCT3, read any the news regarding coasters on the internet, watch DVD's and read books. My 1st fix could be Oakwood Theme Park on March 30th, I have not been there for 8 years, can't wait for the front / back seats of "Megafobia".. I've been hearing stories the coaster as become rough and needs to get re-tracked soon, anyone confirm this..

I have found the atmosphere in UK Parks on the decline, I visited Drayton Manor in March 07 and I found there was graffiti, litter everywhere, staff slow at loading the coasters, guys jumping on and off the train when it went past and generally messing about. I have not been to Alton Towers since 2002 so I can't say if the Park has improved. Last visited Lightwater Valley about 10 years ago, the "Ultimate" is not that bad, just needs some TLC to make the train bank the corners properly. Thorpe Park and Blackpool seem to of stayed the same and you can enjoy yourself but there is the problem of Q jumping which I can't stand. Last year I visited the following European Parks and found them all to be 2 or 3 times better than the UK ones: Plopsaland Bobbyjannland Walibi Belgium Walibi World (5 times in 2 years) De Eftling (feels like I'm on a different planet, so perfect) Heide Park I have not been to any USA Parks since 2000, I visited Cedar Point and Kings Island, I found in both parks, great care is taken in the surroundings, the gardens, the manor or staff, everything about them is perfect. Each country have their own style of parks and the up-keep of them is so different. The UK ones are def fading unless something happens to turn them round. All comes down to respect and up-bringing of the generations. The young now and the below generation have less respect of anything than in my generation. The re-vamp "Bubbleworks" at Chessington is typical of a UK company, Most things are sponsored by food or cleaning stuff which is quite depressing. The ride is still fun as the ending has not changed. I am the sort of person who sends a letter of complaint to the parks if I have a bad day, just to give them some feedback and help with any problems which need addressing. Generally I have a fun day at the Parks I visit, I try to make sure I go out of season and during the week when the schools are not on holiday. Q time is about 5 / 10 mins in Oct.

Excellent Picture, what park can you find him at.. All we need now is to have "Big Boy" Burgers next to "Mr Hot Dog".

The wonderful "Corkscrew" at AT was my 1st looping coaster, this was back in the 80's when it was just as rough as today. We love "Vekoma".