Johnny Upsidedown

Thanks everybody compliments always appreciated. Just glad I have been able to go get the photos and have the ability to share. Thanks again everybody. Johnny.

Thanks TDMAMBA. Believe me it was well worth the trip out from Florida for the photos. Even if I could only take one photo it would be worth it. Anwyway one of the things that my contact at the park told me is that if Patriot does good for the park to expect more great things in the future. I did find out something interesting the park has 500 acres of land total. I was surprised by that figure. I do think that the GP is going to eat the coaster up. Its going to be a great addition to the park and I think the ride experience is going to be great.

Glad everybody likes the photos. The strip takes a little getting used to but it grows on you as you see it a few time. Anyway its a beautiful coaster as most are. I have allways loved the way B&M track looks all twisty and stuff. J.

Hi Everybody. Well I was out at Worlds of Fun today 12-21-05 for another construction tour photo shoot. Main track work is just starting to pick up again as they were begining to work on supports. All remaining track is on site and they have another couple deliveries of supports on the way. Main track work should be completed by mid January. No other news to report as I was buisy doing photos. Nice blue sky and some snow on the ground kind of nice for a change from Florida. Anyway I dont post much but I read alot on the site so thought some would like to see my photos so I poped up a post. I have posted 24 photos from todays tour on my site at www.johnnyupsidedown.com or if you like, quick link to the photos here http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/new2006.html Enjoy!!!

Have fun on Sheikra as its pretty fun. Sorry would join you for a few rides but may hit Cypress Gardens for some construction photos and see if the water park and Galaxy Spin are open. J.

Hi Everybody Just some more photos to see. Part of my trip out to Utah for the ACE Preservation Conference also included a factory tour of Interactive Rides http://www.interactiverides.com/ makers of the Frequent Faller ride and several other rides including the Xscream on top of the Stratosphere Tower. This tour was mainly of the new facilities that IR is moving into and was more of a Meet and Greet. So we had a lengthy talk with people from IR about there rides and the company. We were shown several videos of there rides and the installation of Xscream on top of the Strat Tower. Alot of the discussion was about there current rides and about the company. They also do alot of work in the feild of Design and Analysis witch is an off shoot company of IR. They did have a Frequent Faller car on hand to show to us and thats about it for my visit to IR. You can see photos of the factory at http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/eventSIL1.html Also part of the ACE Presevation Confrenece was a couple of days at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah. Basically the usual event details with private ride time over several days. Along with auctions and guest speakers to raise money for the Preservation Fund. I have some photos of the rides at the park and they can be seen at http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/eventSIL2.html Otherwise please use front door to my site at www.johnnyupsidedown.com Thanks and enjoy. ADD IN> Also if you havent seen the S&S Factory Tour photos use this link http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/eventSIL.html it has a full write up of the Tour and lots of photos from S&S.

Take a look at this photos http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/events05/ss46a.jpg Look inside the tube you will see a saddle like the Insane ride had. And they had a seat belt that was over the lap and over the shoulder I believe. Probably like the orgianl Insane rides seats were. Otherwise they were in a standing position but seated in saddle and straped in.

I didnt get to ride as it was done by drawing. The few that got to ride said that it is a free fall to the bottom and that the stop was quick and forceful like a couple of G's. They said it was a smooth stop just a fast forceful one.. Also the ride is 360 feet tall and said to run at 90+ mph. It is one wild contraption.

Thanks I did not notice that the couple of photos didnt publish corretly. I hope I fixed them all. Thanks again. J.

Thanks compliments always appreciated. I have more photos from the Presevation Conference. As we did a small tour of Interactive Rides but it was more of a meet and talk than like the S&S tour was. Also have some photos of the rides at Lagoon Amusement Park. Hope to have everything up later today. The main photos were from the S&S tour as they really rolled out the red carpet for us over at S&S. Wow what a great time and well worth the trip out to Utah. I have a small video that ROB is going to be posting on Theme Park Review shortly. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17992&sid=a9ae52dcb2240250ece3eec08d86ae63 Thanks Rob

Okay photos are up from Yesterdays S&S factory tour and the S&S Amusement park. I have posted 54 photos from S&S and there is a write up on my site about the event. Photos can be seen at www.johnnyupsidedown.com or quick link to the photos at http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/eventSIL.html .. Photos are set up on 4 pages the new drop ride is on page 4. Enjoy!!!

Yes the new S&S drop ride is pretty wild to watch. I was there yesterday for the S&S factory tours and have lots of photos from the tour and the new park. I am working on the photos and should have them up later tonight. Hey ROB I have a small video of the new ride in action do you have space I can send it and you can put on your site. It will kill my bandwidth. Video is not great but you will get an idea of the ride. Unfortunatly the booming sound that the ride makes did not record. The sound is very loud and can be heard from across the park. It sounds as if the whole ride has destroyed itself or that the car did not stop. It actually sounds like a sonic boom it is really wild to watch. Stan Checketts is a crazy man he said he has been working on this for 15 years. I will post later when I get my photos up from S&S.

As for following the reconstruction of the Starliner. My current plan is to go once a week usually on Sunday for updates so I should be able to get some pretty good coverage of reconstruction. Everybody seems to have enjoyed my SheiKra construction coverage witch was incredible to watch go up. So I should have lots of photos and stuff as the Starliner gets rebuilt.. It is a bit of a drive to Cypress Gardens for me but well worth the photos and just to watch them rebuild it. I wish I had been able to drive up to Miracle Strip when they took the Starliner down as that would have been pretty cool to see. Oh well. On a side note I am going to stop through Panama City Beach in a couple of weeks and see if anyting is left of the old Miracle Strip Park. Hopefully get a few photos while there. Johnny

Hi everybody glad you liked the photos. And yes the photo above does show parts of the starliner. And for clarifacation. I did not take the photos from the drop ride. I took them from the safety of the ferris wheel. The lady was nice enough to stop me at the top for a good view. No word on when work will start on reconstruction of the Starliner. Galaxy Spin the mouse coaster should open within the next week or so. I was told the water park should open in the next few weeks as they still have alot to do. Anyway Hey Rob, thought I would pop in and say hi. I will have lots more updates from Cypress Gardens in the coming months as I will be following the reconstruction of the Starliner so check my site often. I also have some photos on my site of Galaxy Spin coaster and some more of the water park from 7-24-05. Thats about it. You can find all kinds of stuff at www.johnnyupsidedown.com See ya Johnny