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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vertigo, the suspended coaster type ride from Doppelmayr has been postponed until 2007 following technical difficulties... It says the ride passed the initial testing stages, but fails to function as necessary. This is the second high profile ride not to open in 2006, following on from the Flying Dutchman project at Efteling, which has also been postponed until 2007. I'm pretty sure Doppelmayr had built a test circuit for this ride to iron out technical difficulties before proceeding with a park installation - anyone know more?

Confusion in mainstream media has led to a number of inaccuracies and conspiracy theories about Sunday's events. The following is a list of questions and answers provided by Maureen Kaiser at PKI. Q: What happened? When? What were early reports? A: On Sunday, July 9, at 4:45 p.m., a Son of Beast train rolled into the station after completing a full cycle. Some guests complained of discomfort. The Kings Island safety team, as well as Mason Fire and Safety immediately responded. 27 guests were transported to area hospitals. 25 were treated and released that evening. 2 were admitted to the hospital. Q: Other reports say there were more guests at the hospital. What’s the deal? A: We transported 27 guests from PKI. I don’t know about the number of guests who may have walked in on their own. Q: Who is inspecting the ride? A: On Monday, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and OSHA ride inspectors, as well as industry experts, arrived at the park to begin their inspection process. Q: How is PKI assisting with the inspection? A: We are cooperating fully with the Department of Agriculture. In addition, engineers and safety managers from Cedar Fair and PKI, as well as PKI ride maintenance technicians are assisting with the inspection. Q: What have you learned from the inspection? A: Preliminary evidence indicates there is a cracked vertical wooden post. Preliminary reports also indicate that this would not have been found by our pre-opening inspections and likely happened just before or right as the incident occurred. Q: How long will the inspection take? A: It could take weeks. Q: When will the ride reopen? A: The ride will remain closed until we are completely satisfied that the ride is safe. Q: Where is the cracked wooden post? A: In the rosebowl. Q: Is the loop separating? A: No. Q: Is the loop dangerous? A: No. Q: Why is a train stopped on the tracks? A: Two trains can’t be in the station at the same time. Therefore, to get the guests out of one train, another must leave the station. Q: Were guests in the stopped train? Did they have to walk down the hill? A: No. The train was empty. Q: Why is it still there? A: The inspection is in its early stages and we don’t want to jeopardize it by sending a train through a complete cycle. Q: Why were empty cars sent out of the station before this incident occurred? A: We had a biohazard incident earlier, and our park protocol for this insists that checks must be conducted before we can load guests again. Q: How many board feet of lumber will the Department of Agriculture inspect? A: 2.5 million board feet of lumber will be inspected. Q: What is the daily maintenance done on Son of Beast? A: 1) Mechanical (PKI Maintenance) 2) Electrical (PKI Maintenance) 3) Operational (PKI Rides Operations) Park maintenance technicians walk every inch of wooden track to complete the daily inspection. During daily inspections, workers look for anything unusual including loose fasteners, deteriorating wood, misalignment of steel and wood connections. They will also test all safety systems and thoroughly review the trains to insure they are operating correctly. All inspection processes are based on master check lists, developed specifically for Son of Beast. A boom lift is used by the park for the sole purpose of inspecting the loop on Son of Beast every day. Q: Didn’t PKI file suit against the manufacturer of Son of Beast? A: Yes Q: Wasn’t a part of the suit regarding sub grade wood? A: Yes. However, all lumber determined to be sub grade was replaced or reinforced before the ride opened in 2000. Q: Was any of the wood mentioned above in the area we’re focused on now? A: No. Q: Did PKI get a hefty sum of money when the lawsuit was finished? Some $20 million? Why wasn’t this reinvested in the ride? A: We have received a judgment on this case, and we are in the process of recovering a portion of the money promised. At this time, we have received no money as a result of this lawsuit. Q: How many guests does each train hold? A: 30 guests. Five cars to a train. Q: How many guests have ridden this attraction since it opened? A: We have provided nearly 6 million safe rides since the ride opened in 2000. Q: Why didn’t the ride open with the park on Sunday? A: As mentioned above, wood coasters require extensive inspection before they can open. If irregularities are found, we tend to them immediately. This can take time. There was work down in a different area of the ride than the area in question. Q: Does maintenance happen daily? A: Yes. Safety is our top priority at PKI, there is no doubt about that. We will never open a ride to our guests unless we are completely confident that the ride is safe. Q: What about the work done over the winter? A: We did an extensive amount of work during the off season to improve the comfort of the ride experience. Q: When was the ride certified by the state? A: May 19 Q: Is there wood hanging from the track? A: No. Q: Did Cedar Fair voluntarily close the ride Sunday? A: Yes. Our ride operators were fantastic. They recognized the issue and took steps to ensure safety. This set the wheels in motion at PKI. We responded immediately and continue to respond to guest needs. Q: Have you talked directly with the media at all? Or are you just releasing statements and stonewalling them? A: We held a press conference on Sunday night. I did interviews with news crews all day yesterday. My job is to keep people informed and I will do that until this story is complete. We utilize a variety of methods to do this – statements, press conferences, one-on-one interviews. Q: Am I safe on roller coasters? A: YES Q: Am I safe at PKI? A: YES!! I can’t stress enough how important safety is to our guests. Any hint that we’re not serious about that is, frankly, ridiculous and horribly untrue. We exist to provide safe and memorable experiences for our guests and will do everything in our power to provide just that.

Very Funny video: http://www.lutzkonerding.de/woodlover.wmv

Why don't the Ops make this a racing woodie anymore..? Is it just being lazy by Six Flags

Vertigo, the suspended coaster type ride from Doppelmayr has been postponed until 2007 following technical difficulties... Press release here: http://www.walibi.be/walibibelgium/vertigo/index_fr.cfm It says the ride passed the initial testing stages, but fails to function as necessary. This is the second high profile ride not to open in 2006, following on from the Flying Dutchman project at Efteling, which has also been postponed until 2007. I'm pretty sure Doppelmayr had built a test circuit for this ride to iron out technical difficulties before proceeding with a park installation - anyone know more?

Have you seen this game working in Alpha or Beta form..? Is it like "RCT3" where you can use "Coastercam" to ride your creations.?

I have "Tarta" sauce with Roast Beef and chicken. Cheese and jam/marmalade sandwiches mmmmm Salad, cheese and mayo in a roll

All of "Black Eyed Peas" songs. They are all meanless and very annoying

Titanic, Team America, Dawn of the Dead Remake and I-Robot

Can you imagine all the fuss if there was a Christians-only day?” If it must be held, then why not on a out-of-season weekday rather than a busy weekend. It would be funny if supporters from the BNP Party turned up

A couple's plans for a £5,000 wedding at Alton Towers were thrown into confusion yesterday after it emerged that the theme park had double booked them with a fun day for 20,000 Muslims. Amanda Morris, 30, and her fiance, Scott Lee, 31, have been told that if they go ahead with the ceremony they will not be allowed to go on celebratory rides together. Furthermore, Miss Morris and her female guests will have to cover up to be in line with guests of Islamic Leisure wearing hijabs. "I've been looking forward to this day for 18 months, and suddenly it's in ruins," she said yesterday. "Everything was booked - the photographer, the hotel rooms, everything. Then some of our guests started getting letters saying they would have to cover up because it was a Muslim event. "Alton Towers haven't even had the decency to let us know they had hired it out. It's not the Muslim event - it's not their fault that Alton Towers have double booked. "The people with Islamic Leisure want their day as much as we do. I don't blame them at all. But Alton Towers shouldn't have done this. They should at least have rung us to discuss it." Miss Morris, a recruitment sales advisor, and her fiance, a market trader, booked their wedding in the Emperor's Suite last year. The bride-to-be said: "It's a nightmare. We have been planning this for so long and now this happens nine weeks before the ceremony. "People are ringing us saying it must be a joke. I don't know what we are going to do now. I would still like the wedding to go ahead, but I just don't know how it will all work out. I'll be gutted if I have to cancel it now." The couple, who live in Leeds, chose Alton Towers as the venue for their wedding because they have previously enjoyed staying in the complex's hotel. At the time they made the booking the only date available was Saturday, Sept 16. They were happy to accept it, believing that they and the 60 guests for whom they had booked 20 rooms would be able to enjoy the following day on the rides. Since then, however, Alton Towers have hired out the complex for its first Muslim fun day. Believing that they and their own guests had the complex almost to themselves, Islamic Leisure drew up a list of requirements. These included the provision of prayer areas and bans on music, alcohol and gambling. In the Muslim tradition, women would also need to cover their bodies, as well as going on rides separately to their menfolk. The couple have since contacted Islamic Leisure, whose staff confirmed that the wedding party would be asked to adhere to their conditions. Yaseen Patel, the organisation's director, confirmed: "The body will have to be covered, (though) they do not have to wear the hijab." An Alton Towers spokesman said staff would be discussing "the options available" with the couple. She claimed it was a condition of the Islamic Leisure booking that wedding and hotel guests would be exempt from the Muslim dress code.

I've only been to "CP" and loved the 2 days spent there, i'm from the UK so going to Cedar Point was heaven for me. I have not been to IOA but it does look an amazing park with great themeing. I will have to visit this park before I get 2 old.

If any ride Ops has a MP3 or Mobile Phone in their hands while working in the control room / area they should be reported, it's so dangerous if they mis-check your OHR and something happens. Good idea to have a 1 thead for a park as this will def cutdown on the notes posted.

Great report and lovely photo's What is Steel Eel like to ride, does it have much Is the Rattler a good ride or is it rough..?

I like all inversions, esp the barrell rolls when going nice and slow, you drop into the OHR A "Butterfly loop" looks the same as a "Cobra Roll" My least favorite inversions are on a SLC or Hang n Bang They are so

I have only seen pic's of these rides and not been on one, the nearest is at "Oakwood" in Wales UK, this is 4 hours drive away. I just wondered: Why don't the ops like you "snapping" the wires/cables..? Is the ride suppose to do this and hit the ground?

Thanks "CoasterFanatic" to say SOB also needs to have PTC trains and re-tracked asap I bet King's Island will tear it down if someone dies on it. Someone try to get a member of Kings Island staff to read these posts and see what their reaction is.

I went to Walibi World at the end of May 06 and got: 14 x rides on Goliath and 12 x rides on Robin Hood. I don't bother about the rest of the coasters at the park as they are not worth going on.

Why use Trim brakes on "Mean Streak" or "Beast", both are world class rides and are spoilt by these things. While I was on the "Mean Steak" (I was fascinated by the structure and could not wait to ride it, when I did ride it in 2000, it was a massive let down, height and speed were fine, it's when the brakes appear and you nearly stop) I found the train was slowing down while going round the corners and nearly stopping. On a coaster you should be slammed into the corners and fly down the drops. The designers did not create a coaster to be trimmed to death and nearly stop. Do the parks get complaints from the public to say these rides are 2 fast and rough, this is why they are slowed down? Is it to help preserve the ride for longer, esp wood as it shakes itself to bits over the years. Have you ever asked an Operator to ride a coaster "non-trimmed" Anyone been on a coaster when it has stopped as it has been trimmed so much.?

Can someone describe what happened, was the train heading for the loop after the drop out and one of the "boards" came loose and got stuck under the train..? It would be a great shame for "SOB" to be closed, King's Island should have it re-designed by the Gravity Group or GCI. I think it is a very bad design for a woodie and with all the problems it has had, it's days could be numbered. It's not the height or speed which is the problem but the Premier trains, why not use PTC trains..? Why was it having finanial problems after it was built..? Who decided to have Premier trains on it..? I travelled from the UK to ride it in 2000, a month after it opened and it seemed rough then, the lift-hill is the noisest one I have ever been on, I had to cover my ears. Is it the "anti-roll backs" which make so much noise..?

BBC South Today's Today's weather presenter does get out of the studio occasionally to present the forecast from sedate locations like Cowes Week or Goodwood. But on Thursday, she presented the forecast live from onboard a moving roller coaster - thought to be a world first in broadcasting. She was on 'The Cobra', a new ride at Paultons Park in the New Forest. During the forecast, it reached speeds of 47 km per hour and pulled 3Gs at certain points. http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2006/06/08/roller_coaster_feature.shtml

Angola firefighter T.R. Hagerty didn't know what to expect when he was called out the Fun Spot Amusement Park on Saturday. Police said 12 riders were trapped on the Afterburner roller coaster. When Hagerty and the rest of the department arrived, they found the riders dangling upside down, 50 feet above the ground. Link below: http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=5104905&nav=0RYb

Even from here on the ground he can feel its pull, the dips and curves of the roller coaster broken down in his mind into mathematical certainties. For John Fetterman, it's as reassuring as a sunny day. He knows every inch of the Twister because he created it. From its peak more than 100 feet up to its 72-foot drop and swooping underground tunnel, he designed it to pin riders to their seats and make them feel as if they're going to sail into space. It's like that in his head sometimes with the numbers flying around, crashing together. He has to focus hard to bring them back into line, smooth and clear and melodious At 52, he is used to this. His mustache is graying now, and his shoulders slump a little under the forest green T-shirt he wears tucked into his shorts. He learns more from listening to a roller coaster than riding it. The sound of the chains clanking as the ratchet teeth under the cars catch the links and slowly haul them toward the summit. The steel wheels clacking across the track. The Twister is the marquee ride at Knoebels, an amusement park set among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains that beckons with yesteryear charms: bumper cars and carousels under the pines, next to the Swiss Christmas chalet and Haunted House. In between are kiosks where you can buy battered fries, Jell-O salads and home-made fudge. An hour north of Harrisburg, it's the "largest free-admission, free-parking amusement park in the United States," says owner Dick Knoebel. "You can come here and enjoy the park and not spend a dime. But you better not want an ice cream cone." It'll set you back $2.20 to catch a thrill on the Twister. Its old-fashioned atmosphere is what makes this place exotic. Its quirkiness is what makes it right for Fetterman. It's a place he can pursue his obsession. Maybe the only place. Professionally speaking, Fetterman has called Knoebels home for the past 30 years. He lives about a mile down the road and drives his old S-10 pickup to the gravel lot on the edge of the park six days a week. It's about as un-Disney as you can get. While other parks were going for bigger, taller and faster, Knoebels didn't. Fetterman's newest coaster, under construction, is the embodiment of that resistance. "It's the culmination of a dream," he says, standing before the rising wooden form of the Flying Turns, a $3 million replica of a ride first constructed nearly 80 years ago. "It's built on a human scale. I could certainly design something extreme, something stultifyingly stupid, but I won't even consider doing it. It's too easy, and ultimately disappointing." He is determined to show the amusement world that you can provide a thrill with more than brute force. While the top steel coasters can soar 400 feet and higher, the Flying Turns will be all of 47 feet tall, with top speeds of maybe 25 mph. Earlier in his career, Fetterman thought perhaps the industry would sit up and take notice of his work. He gave up on that long ago. But when the Flying Turns is done, it may just be what he has been quietly aiming for all along. In a world of fast and furious, he wants to build the thinking man's roller coaster. Read the rest of the Interview click below: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/03/AR2006070301084.html

SOB and any SLC or "Hang n Bang" Why use "Premier Cars" for SOB if they are so rough..?

In the TV program CSI: A roller coaster runs off its track, leaving six people dead. The CSI team investigates whether this was an accident or foul play. One of the deaths, however, is not what it seems, and this takes the case in an unexpected direction http://www.tv.com/csi/turn-of-the-screws/episode/320447/summary.html Click on view trailer