gatorchomp83

Thanks again for the comments. The operations at all the parks were good to phenomenal. SDC was running 1 train on Wildfire, but that's all they needed and their load times were great. They were running two on Powderkeg with no stacking. Six Flags St Louis had 2 on Freeze, 2 on Boss, 1 on Knievel, 1 on Batman (with a 45min wait) and 4 on Tony Hawk...All of them with good dispatches. Worlds of Fun was pretty much dead, but their crews were doing very well, too. Patriot and Mamba both had two trains Saturday night and one on Sunday.

Very nice! I want a 40/50D SO BAD. That second Hulk shot got me quite excited. Can't wait to see more.

Timberwolf is easily one of the worst coasters, wood or steel, that I have been on. Boss might be a top 10 favorite of mine. Boss is brutal in a kick your ass kinda way, but it's because the ride is powerful. Timberwolf just jack-hammers through the course and doesn't have one ounce of fun in it. These are solely my opinions, but none of my friends who have ridden Timberwolf like it. I had to beg Kara to ride it with me, actually, and I would probably not ride it again if I was at the park. Boss, on the other hand, I could ride over and over. I'd be curious to know how many and which wooden coasters you've ridden to honestly believe that Timberwolf is a good ride. To me it seems more like a case of love for the home park.

No, Timberwolf IS that bad! I can take rough rides...Voyage is my number one. But there's a difference between intense/violent and rough and raggidy. And Timberwolf is definitely the latter. And don't worry, our planning wasn't bad. I'm excited about Adventureland!

My first impression of Worlds of Fun’s coaster collection was definitely a good one. We had about an hour and a half at the park on Saturday night and got a couple of Patriot and Mamba night rides in, sandwiched around obligatory whoring of Timberwolf and Boomerang. As far as Patriot, I loved the unique layout, the few surprise pops of air and the ending was nice and fast. I still prefer Montu and Raptor over it, but it was definitely a quality ride. Mamba was a very nice surprise…At night. During the day, it was rather boring, but night rides were definitely a good time. Timberwolf was terrible, that’s about all I can say about that. The Boomerang wasn’t too bad, but definitely a one-and-done for us. After closing, we checked into our lush cottage at the Worlds of Fun village, and promptly passed out. A day spent in Branson, St. Louis and Kansas City was definitely draining. On Sunday we woke up and got to the park around 11am, hit up Mamba and checked out Prowler before heading out and getting food at Waffle House (mmmm). Once we got back to the park, I finished my credit run with Spinning Dragons (fun!) and we got another ride on Patriot, hit up Detonator and tried to get the Wacky Worm credit…And failed. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, catching rides here and there and meeting some cool people. Worlds of Fun was overall a nice park, and I’ve gotta say they’ve got a bright future with Prowler….. Showin' the wolf some love After starting in Branson on Sunday, we made it to WoF! Mamba at night Patriot at night Glowing Spinning Dragons at night...There were some raccoons running around by the creek Our abode at the Worlds of Fun Village for the evening Checking out Daytime! Sittin' pretty Whose that?? Looks a bit like Renegade to me.... Mamba is a LOT better at night Hello hai I really do like these spinning coasters Yes, that's me updating my track record Patriot photo shoot time No credit for us Pain washes over me just thinking about this ride Timberwolf broke down while we were there and three maitenance trucks swooped in for the kill Weak And I'll end this with a panorama of Patriot! Hitting up Adventureland on Sunday, so I'll continue this thread once those photos are ready. Thanks for reading.

The officer paced us, and then let us off without even a warning. In the end...No ticket, and both parks accomplished in one day. Worlds of Fun photos coming tonight or tomorrow.

I've got a very strong inclination that this ride is going to be a very big hit for everyone who ventures to Worlds of Fun! It's almost like a mini-Voyage....As you can see in the HD video.

Waking up a lot earlier than I particularly wanted to, we were off from Branson to St. Louis around 8:15am and arrived at a relatively empty parking lot around 11:15am. After picking up my comp ticket at guest relations, we met up with Tyler (neuski) and headed straight for Evel Knievel. Honestly, this ride was about the only thing at this park that even remotely interested me, so I had high hopes that it would deliver. It was definitely a fun little ride, but nothing like I expected...Just wish we could have ridden more than once, but it was a good time!! It definitely has potential, to go right along with its incessant squealing. We headed to Mr. Freeze next and after a 45min or so wait, were on in the back row. I enjoyed the ride, the launch was fun and the reverse top hat was awesome. The rest of the day was spent credit whoring for me, and we ended up with all credits except for the Mine Train and Screamin Eagle. As far as the rest of the coasters, I LOVED Boss, which was a very unpopular opinion in our group. I also had a good time on Tony Hawk, and Batman was very intense…Possibly the most intense one I’ve ridden (SFOG, SFGAm and SFGAd). OH, and can’t forget to mention the amazing portions of food that Panda Express gave us for lunch. So amazing. Anyway, we missed those two credits because we wanted to hit the road and get to Worlds of Fun before closing for some Patriot and Mamba night rides. Pics yo! On the way from Branson to St. Louis! Strip club or Six Flags parking money? We have arrived GCI Goodness Evel Knievel Kara and Tyler (and me!) all loved Knievel Aaaand, next... I really enjoyed Freeze Nussy and Neuski "Turkey Leg!" Three Trains, One Shot LOOOOVED The Boss (No, really!) I spy a hater It's so powerful, and that's reason #1 why I love it Love and hate (of Boss) Touchy... The food LOOKED good... But we got better food in the end Waited almost 45min which killed all hopes of a full credit sweep of the park Loop de loop Damn you, crowds! Resting Crunch Yanked on the way to Kansas City...And off clean. Dinner! My burger will kill your burger Quick nap...Out like a light

On-going Photo TR. Keep checking back for updates! Trip Report Directory: Silver Dollar City Six Flags St. Louis Worlds of Fun Como Town and Zoo Adventureland Nickelodeon Universe Valleyfair! I landed in Minneapolis around 3:45pm on Thursday and got snatched up at the airport by girlfriend Kara (timberskara) and we were off on an 11 hour drive to Branson, MO. We headed south out of Minnesota, deep through Iowa, and into southern Missouri. This was all a new part of the country for me, and I’ll say one thing: Iowa sucks. I mean, the Wind Farms were cool but everything else was quite uneventful. We checked into our hotel in Branson around 2:45am, but not before getting a bit lost in the Ozarks. And seeing the SBNO Wildcat peaking over the horizon in the early morning light was a neat surprise. It really is a bit sad, though that that ride is just sitting there lifeless these days, as the coaster looked to be amazing. After a terrible night of sleep for me (damn dog next door was barking all night…of course, Kara didn’t hear it at all…At least one of us got a good night’s rest) we woke up, hit up the AMAZING Grand Country Buffet and headed off to Silver Dollar City; a park neither one of us had ever been to. We opted to park in the free lot (Lot 5) and took the tram to the entrance. The location of SDC is amazing, nestled nicely in the mountains, surrounded by nothing but rolling hills and forest. I also must say this, between SDC and Dollywood, these two parks are EASILY the most scrumptious smelling places I’ve ever been to. Theme park or not. On top of the smells, it’s a complete sensory overload, as the sights and sounds are amazing as well. Everywhere you turn is great theming, awesome horticulture and the sounds of nature and the mechanicals of superb rides. Which brings me to…Wildfire. Both of us had very high expectations for this ride, and it completely blew both of us away. The setting, to begin with, is incredible; right on the side of a steep mountain. The trains are beautiful, and they feel a lot different than Hulk and Kumba. The first drop is absolutely nuts, as you get a nice whipping action after disengaging the lift and being thrown around the curve before being absolutely yanked down the drop. I’m talking extreme ejector air that didn’t stop until the bottom of the drop. The rest of the ride, while rather short, is a fury of intensity, power and a great mixture of inversions and transitions. Easily top 10 for both of us. After Wildfire, we headed to Powder Keg, and enjoyed a nice, fun ride on it. The launch was surprisingly strong, and every hill throughout had great airtime. My biggest problems with it were the lift hill was a bit out of place, and the hard plastic seats really deterred the experience for me. The rest of the day was spent credit-whoring and exploring the amazing park. We ended the day with a marathon on Wildfire, ending up with eight rides. The biggest disappointment, however, was that the cave tour was closed for the day. We were both really looking forward to doing that. And we're off! Travel setup...Add in two laptops and an iPhone. Love their park map Wildfire! SDC is beautiful See? "Magic Wall" in PowderKeg's queue Ready to launch Screamin' Swing Checkers Break! Better than Magnum About the only good view of Thunderation Yes Flooded Mine...Nothing too exciting I'll not post the score picture to save someone certain embarassment Cha-Ching Pathetic Pathetic Pt 2 Sad Cajun-seasoned chips! A healthy dose of Wildfire, now. Cobra Roll Panorama Wildfire is now a Vekoma Boomerang...You've been warned Not complaining Co-Sign Artwork Honey, I Shrunk the Coaster Enthusiasts! Toodles, SDC Ozark Wildcat looked so sad sitting there dormant Coming Soon: Six Flags St Louis.

As I'm heading out on a week-long extravaganza to the Midwest tomorrow, followed by a 3-week long stay in the Twin Cities, I decided to head out to SeaWorld for one more update today. This might be the last time I get out to the park for an update before the ride Soft Opens, and by then, everyone else will be getting all the good stuff. Anyway, work on the splashdown continues, and it appears as if they are painting the concrete blue. There is now a huge, purple "object" stationed behind the waterfall that looks to be half of a stingray, and is ready to be hoisted into position...Somewhere. A lot more trees have been shipped in and now cover the entrance area immensely. Work on the half-circle "portal" at the entrance continues, and now with all of the foliage in, it is very difficult to see what work is happening on the exterior of the station. The ride continues excessive testing with employees, and reviews I have overheard thus far are extremely, extremely positive. I most likely won't have another update until it has soft opened, so enjoy! It's been fun keeping everyone up to date! And finally, a group of lucky riders. Overall view of the progress. I got TERRIBLE timing on my SkyTower ride, unfortunately. Second-half Diving into the pretzel loop Overall view...Note all of the new trees Near the entrance to the ride, and what looks to be the on-ride photo booth...Or gift shop? New pathway under construction. Don't want to say too much, but there will be plenty of options on how to access this ride. Foliage makes it very hard to see the theme work going on Another look at the zero-car and little rays Closer Giant, purple half-ray Work on the waterfall appears complete, at least on this side.

Was out at the park for the first time in over a week and there has been significant change on the site. First thing of note is that one of the trains now has graphics on all of the little rays, not just the zero-car. Honestly, I didn't even notice until I was editing the photos at home, but after comparing the completed train with one sans-all the graphics, it's a HUGE improvement. I never really understood how someone could not like the look, but when compared to one with just zero-car graphics, there's an obvious void. Many large trees have been planted around the waterfall area, and it appears as though the waterfall is nearing completion. There also has been a little palm placed on top of the structure. SeaWorld has completely blocked off views from the splash area, and I didn't manage to get any good pictures of that area, but from what I saw nothing has really changed. Also, the construction walls opposite of the ride have been taken down as well, showing off the new area. The actual station is looking better and better everyday, as the photos will show, and there has been a new thematic structure constructed to the left of the waterfall. The big news is people (supervisors/park management) have begun riding the coaster earlier this week, and I got a couple shots of people on the ride. Below are a select few shots from today, as well as four videos showing off different angles of the ride testing, shot with a higher quality camera than my phone lol. Enjoy. And now the videos. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_0543_9hii[/coastertube] [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_0526_kqrf[/coastertube] [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_0525_fmh1[/coastertube] [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_0522_l7rb[/coastertube] I should have a very unique update in the next two weeks. Can't really say more than that, but keep an eye out.

I'm not bothered by others posting their work, but this is a desktop wallpaper thread, not just somewhere to post random photos from a park that can't be used as such.

^That's right, San. bgroodog: I LOVE that Tomorrowland shot! I added Renegade and a Busch Gardens Tampa collage to the first page, the BGT one being my personal favorite.

Really appreciate the comments, guys. larrygator, I've got a slew of Gators backgrounds I've made recently that you may be interested in. Send me your e-mail address in a PM and I'll link you to those if you'd like.

There is a small SeaWorld logo on the trains, doubt they'll put anymore markings on it.

There was definitely post processing on every single one of them...Some more obvious than others. If there's enough demand, I could probably go back and make them at larger resolutions. Originally I just worked on them for my own computer (which is 1440x900) and figured I'd share them. I still have all of the originals and if I get some free time, I could probably go back and re-make them at higher resolutions. Either way, I'll keep this thread updated as new ones are produced or updated. Thanks for the comments so far.

X

Those are the 'baby rays', they haven't 'earned their stripes' yet. Absolutely BSing here...

Beemer, don't hate. You know you love the Orange and Blue!

All three of them will have the same design, yes.

Stopped by the park again this evening and hung around for about an hour of non-stop testing. They were running the lift very slow today, and occasionally stopping trains on the mid-course, but were dispatching each train (were running all three) right before or right as a train hit the mid-course. I took a bunch of pictures of the zero-car and took a video of two trains cycling (the second one is the one with the graphics). It was dusk so I didn't get too many good non-blurry shots but you get the idea. Close-Call Graphic train at top of the lift Turn after the 'splashdown' Over the new walkway Bottom of the pretzel loop Thru the new area New footer rock theming Manta at dusk And one last train picture And here;s the video taken with my Blackberry Bold: [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=VID_00013-20090409-1931_w7lq[/coastertube]

Enjoyed the weekend immensely, and can't wait for you to come back. Glad I've turned the Manta love on you, and now I've got Rob taking picture of it as well. And Chomping.

Stopped at SeaWorld tonight on the way home from Busch Gardens to catch a night ride on Kraken, and they were cycling Manta like crazy. Running two trains, using both sides of the station, and dispatching as soon as a train hit the final brakes. The news though is that one of the trains has graphics put onto the zero-car that look AMAZING. We tried getting pics but it was too dark (got there around 8:30) but the graphics enhance the look of the trains exponentially. I'm sure I'll get back out to the park before the end of the week and will try to get some pics if I do.

One little detail I noticed today was the stinger tails on the rays on the trains. Nothing earth-shattering, but that just goes to show even more the level of detail and planning that went into this ride.

I absolutely agree on the interaction with the surrounding area. It's so quiet, as well, so there is no intruding on the environment. It really feels like it's "supposed" to be there. To go along with the new pictures I posted from today on the previous page, here's a short video I shot with my Blackberry Bold. The aim goes rogue a couple times because my camera was dying and was trying to get shots at the same time, but that side of the park provides a great view of the ride. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=VID_00011-20090329-1802_13er[/coastertube]