Johnny Upsidedown

I was thinking the same thing, for overall size is in amount moved would be any woodie that has been relocated because of the amount of lumber involved. Arkansas Twister is probably the largest that has been moved. However there may be ones from earlier times that most of us dont know about. Dominator seems to be the largest steel coaster moved at least in the US.

The lift hill chain is missing, take a look at the top photo. Photo was taken yesterday. http://www.angelfire.com/nh/scubanrollercoasters/sros.html

^^I was thinking the ride might get moved, just for the fact that they are taking the ride down before season end and it is being unbolted in a carefull looking manner. I bet it is sold..

Thanks for the info Sue. I was looking into going this weekend also, but I had read about all the other extra groups that will be at the park. Oh well. Maybe at the end of the month.

It looks like he did it. There are places on the back of the restraint and behind the seat that can be reached. You can mess with the mechanism, but what happen is the restraint only locks inplace. I am betting there was a third person involved in the seat behind his and the is the one that tamperd with the seat. Its a perfect distraction, people unloading from seats wouldnt notice a guy stick a screw driver in and walk away. This was done in August so that is about the time all the locker natzie stuff started at the park so that makes sense . Plus isnt it convient that the person that filmed it was in the station waiting in line and not with his buddy on the ride or in the exit lane.

Looks like Dollywoods owners may buy Wild Adventures. Here is some info about the prices asked and stuff. http://www.theledger.com/article/20070908/NEWS/709080402/1004/news Quote from article, An initial bid has already come forward for Wild Adventures. Herschend Family Entertainment of Missouri, plans to bid $34.5 million on the Valdosta park. Herschend owns parks in Missouri, Tennessee and Georgia, including Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta

From this photo http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/events07/bt1a.jpg The closest whole in the ground is probably going to be a baby tiger exhibit area. The building is maybe a tiger exhibit area and maybe a look into mothers and babies in an inclosed exhibit. The other side of the closest building is the original tiger pit which has been redone. IN the back, the steel structure probably will have the glide line flyer ride and some sort of up and down ride. There also be the reamergence of the orangotang in the area. This structure http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/events07/bt7a.jpg toward the back of the work area probably is going to be the new orangotange exhibit. Anyway just a guess on everything but it seems logical. All in all its going to be new and unique and cant wait to see what BGT is up to. All thought I always want new coasters. It is interesting to see what ideas and rides parks come up with. More later.

A lot of work has happened lately. Figured I got enough angles of the work that it was worth adding to my collection, photos other then dirt any way. There is a lot of other ground work for what I am thinking is a water display with fountains cant be seen along the train line at least in the photos. It will be interesting to see how BGT is going to put the whole area together. The announcement can be viewed on webcast here if you are so interested. http://www.buschgardens.com/BGT/bgt_webcast.aspx

Here are the latest construction photos from thursday the 30th. http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/eventBGT17.html

It was closed for a scheduled day of maintance. I heard it was closed for two but is open again. http://www.buschgardens.com/bgw/pi_hours_events_month_Generic.aspx?MonthID=8

In english http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=101606

There was a bunch of other work going on in the area. Alot of new walls were getting ready in the Tiger Pit area. The skyride was closed so the only photo I got was on the train ride as the back gate was open. There seemed to be alot of work going on, wish the sky ride was open, oh well.

Thats one of the reasons I dont wear any type of club shirt or logo. Sometimes others are a little embarrasing. When people ask who I am a say I am a photographer and a coaster tourist. Somebody asked above what I had to do as an employee. Well, my job for one hour was to test the coaster. The coaster is waiting a final state sign off. The only people that are able to ride are park emplyees and the makers of the ride. So the only way we could was to be given emplyee status and given an interview and a buck. It was all in a sinse a formality but it covers the park for liable if something happened.

Well the first of the ribbon cuttings has occured. The mayer was on hand and several media affiliats were on hand for the occasion. Unfortunatly an announcement was made that the coaster was not going to open at all today. So it wasnt pretty, there were about 150 or more people in line that were turned away. But really if you want to see something real cool and read more about how what was a bad day turned into something special and awsome. Go read here for the whole story and some cool photos. http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/starliner0.html

Speed should be in the range of about 45 MPH. Construction Update June 30th, 2007! Its opening day but unfortunately due to some delays in construction the opening has been been pushed back a week or two. This will be my last construction update that I will be doing of the Starliner rebuild as most of the main construction work has been completed. However I will have a set of photos from opening day. What is new it looks like they are finising up the last bits of the lift hill track. Work getting done in preparation for installation of the lift chain and motor. More work going on with concrete walkways and ramps for entrance and exits. One of the trains is sitting on the tracks although covered it is a good sign. The rest of the coaster still needs some paint and lots of ground work for landscaping needs to be done. Saw the first of the new signs for the Starliner coaster. Thats about it for the construction of the Starliner hope eveybody has enjoyed the photo coverage. Enjoy!!! http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/starliner0.html

If they are going to open in 7 days, I guess they arent going to break it in at all by running the trains for a couple days or so.. I mean from the looks of it and what still remains to get dont I dont see it opening next saturday, they havent even finished the wood layers allthough ony a little remains. I heard they have a small delay with the lift motor and chain for the lift so we shall see what happens. My guess would be another week but you never know they may just get it done. Here is some other stuff. Here is who is going to be at the Opening. http://www.cypressgardens.com/events/2007/06/starliner_grand_opening.php Here is a promo video. 70 mph WOW> (more like 45 mph) http://www.cypressgardens.com/whats_new/special.php

Construction Update June 23rd, 2007! Well its getting closer everyday but will they make it. This week is appears most of the wood track layers have been installed or getting finalized. Looks like around 50 percent of the steel layer has been installed. More work happening in the middle section of the ride. Up in the station house and lift hill area a lot of work has been done this week. Exit and entrance stairs and ramp work is getting done today and looks like the last bits of wood track going down the lift hill this week. Enjoy!!! http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/starliner0.html

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i306/bille3/geaugalakewolfbobincident/investcar.jpg Take a look for your self. Seen this on RRC. J.

Construction Update June 17th, 2007! Lets see what is new at the Starliner construction site. Up in the station area it looks like more work getting done for the stairs for exit and entrance. The lift is coming along with some signs of track work. Along the middle section more track is getting ready to be installed. They have started to install the top steel layer this week. Looks like from the middle main drop through where the tunnel would be and halfway through the trun around. Looks like most of the final braceing has been installed and looks like some more painting has been done this week. Photos this week show some of the new steel layers, photos of the station area and what looks like what may be an onride photo booth. Enjoy!!! http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/starliner0.html Johnny still thinks a first to mid July opening.

It seems to be legite. I have read that it seems it may be the G train that derailed or what ever it is that happened. I have read some track seems to be torn up as well.

That is a really good question, I really do not know and forgot to ask. They were only running 2 trains for the event so they were only using the back section to load people onto the train. I have to admit that I never really paid attention to the front area, but I assume its there. If it is not, then SheiKra will have serious capacity problems. Its still setup for dual loading. Everything is in place and all the trains have been converted. The shed was open in the early morning and you could see the other trains are ready. Loading will be the same as before and literally you dont notice the floor coming up or the gates crossing it is a fast smooth operation. I wonder how the lines are today, if there is an increase or just the normal amount. I bet its pretty buisy over there. Here is the front load bay.

Nice upgrade on SheiKra, I must admit I was a bit sceptical when I first heard that they were going to make the switch. Media day was pretty cool I was there as part of the fill in riders with ACE and FLCC. The front seat is great for visuals as riding on the huge sized track is awesome. Back seat is still my favorite seat but the front is well worth waiting for. Over all I would say it was an improvement to the ride. Lots of photos here. http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/sheikra14.html

ERT and ERS in Europe. Answer your question. A walk back is when you and your group are escorted to a ride to be first riders of the day.

Construction Update June 9th, 2007! Had a chance to hit the park today because of a concert at the park I could get some photos from the bleachers. All the bents have been erected for the ride. They have added the lift hill motor house and lots more work has been done on the station area. The far end turn around is mostly done just waiting for steel track layers. The middle section seems to be where most of the work is happening. The ride is starting to take shape as it looks like more track layers have gone down and more support braces added. Below are some photos of the lift hill and first drop, some photos of the station house and the far end turn around work with the usual random photos of the ride from different views.. Enjoy!!! http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/starliner0.html Top of the lift hill.

A photo in this story http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=129055 video report at this one http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=14f7d32e-faa9-41e7-b059-d408c4b8b982 A slide at the Big Splash water park collapsed with one person on it. Police say part of the Master Blaster collapsed while a woman was on the slide. She was left suspended 25 feet in the air. They were able to get the woman down to safety. She suffered minor injuries.