Markieb

Looks like the rumor is now fact. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/05/29/safd-rescuing-20-six-flags-attendees-from-a-stuck-rollercoaster/

It's been so long since I've posted on a board as I lost of lot of interest when I lost my home park , ASTROWORLD. Forgive my ignorance but is this TAZ's Texas Tornado from ASTROWORLD? It certainly looks like the ride I rode at AW. It's very sad regardless of the reason.

Nice interview, good job. I did not see a link, sorry if I missed it posted already. Here is where I watched it. http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=hln+roller+coaster&tnr=21&vid=AFB70A22CF7D11728612AFB70A22CF7D11728612&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DUA.347672221217%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fvideos%2Fwatch%2F%3Fq%3Dhln%2Broller%2Bcasoter%26vid%3DAFB70A22CF7D11728612AFB70A22CF7D11728612%26docid%3D347672221217&sigr=13mk727jg&tt=b&tit=Robb+Alvey+on+Headline+News+Discussing+Texas+Giant+Accident+and+...&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dhln%2Broller%2Bcasoter%26fr%3Dyfp-t-307&sigb=129f8th3v

For me, observing the 5th anniversary of not having a theme park in Houston. Yep, it has been 5 years since AstroWorlds Death.

Thanks for the pics. So sad as it brings back great memories especially this time of year. I miss FrightFEST. It was pretty awesome at AW. To think I waited 3 hours to ride the year it opened!! It was a huge deal for us in Houston!

Awesome Coaster. Hurray SFOG. I can't imagine this without OTSR. That will be thrilling. I would bet an evacuation on a stuck lift chain could be very interesting on this coaster.

I am embarrassed. I was waiting to see how it would look once it was painted black! I did not imagine this was the final color! Maybe they want it to be kid friendly.

The former AW plot was sold not too terribly long after deconstruction. SF's has not owned that land for many years now.

Yeah indeed, if it sticks to the art concept even 50%, it would be an incredible park. Now we just have to wait a few years to see!

In the initial plans it was more educational, not a theme park. Then AW closed and they saw an opportunity for more. One section is still educational, and separate from the theme areas. Here is a little more background. Notice the title of the article... "EARTHQUEST IS NO ‘DINOSOUR PARK’" IAAPA Funworld March 2009 Industry Notes by Keith Miller EARTHQUEST IS NO ‘DINOSOUR PARK’ PLANS FOR A NEW 500-ACRE ENTERTAINMENT AND EDUCATIONAL PROJECT, WHICH HAS BEENMISCHARACTERIZED AS A “DINOSAUR PARK” IN SOME NEWS STORIES, are taking shape in New Caney, Texas, about 40 minutes from downtown Houston. __ To be called EarthQuest, the development include a for-profit entertainment park complete with rides and other attractions, and a nonprofit educational institute, according to Don Lessem, creator and founder of the park. “It’s a $500 million project with about 50 different rides, including several ‘E-ticket’ rides,” he said, “like going inside a volcano, going through an actual ice cave, launch rides, coasters, and technologies that haven’t been used before.” _ The park will be divided into sections— one devoted to sky, one to water, one to land, and one to prehistory, which will be called Pangaea. There will also be a waterpark and an animal park featuring creatures from Africa, South America, and Texas. At the center of the park, said Lessem, will be the EarthQuest Institute, a $100 million research and educational center comprising 58 acres. “It’s a very interactive environmental presentation,” said Lessum, “and a lot of that is about how we change the way we live. It’s going to have 4-D theaters, reconstructed environments from the past, and lots of very enterprising interactive presentations of new research.” Lessem said the reason the park has been mischaracterized is because of his reputation for creating traveling and permanent exhibitions featuring dinosaurs, his work as an adviser on the original “Jurassic Park” movie and theme park ride, and his creation of the two largest charities for dinosaur research, all of which have earned him the nickname “Dino” Don. Lessem noted that Marlin Atlantis is the company behind EarthQuest, and its principal, John Marlin, is a developer who owns the project’s land. Contour Entertainment of Van Nuys, California, has been brought on board to design the project, and Lessum said they’ve already chosen the suppliers they’ll be using for the project. The institute is slated to open in the fall of 2011 and the park in the spring of 2012. Anticipated attendance for the entire project is 3 million annually.

Only time will tell. I hope so. What I love is all the water and location. This is in a very wooded area, not in the Houston city limits.

I am not a fan of soak rides for the many reasons mentioned before. At ASTROWORLD, I NEVER once rode the Intamin chute water ride. With that said, thousands of people stood in line each day to ride it and get soaked. People would stand on the bridge to be splashed and soaked by a huge wave. So...people do like this soaked effect. Perhaps just not many of us. Would I ride this? NO, but I bet thousands of others a day will and have the time of their life doing so.

OK , no problem! Hope you like them! We are watching it closely here in Houston. We deperately need something to fill in the ASTROWORLD void. We don't get many updates but the latest is poles were installed for some signage a few weeks back, and the planned ground breaking is next summer. Fingers crossed it actually moves forward soon but only time will tell! [/i]

Still in planning and development phase. This was the last press we saw on it here in Houston. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/humble/news/6588194.html

Awesome pictures and report. Thanks for taking time to share with us.

Understood, but they know in advance when it is time to remove a train, so adding a second driver in the rear end, for the last lap is all it would take. The front driver can just go around the track until the backup driver can board at whatever station. A lot of talk was about mirrors and cameras to see backwards, and I think a set of eyes would be far superior to those options and very easy to implement.

We have light rail here in Houston. There is no such thing as backing up. The driver by procedure has to go get in the other engine, on the other end, to drive forward. It appears the Disney trains have drivers cabs on both sides like ours , but I might be wrong. Would a great safety measure simply not be having another driver in the opposite end take over when the train needs to go in reverse? Such as removing a train from the main track.

Shane First and foremost amazing! Thank you for ending with my first job, AW, and my home park. A real tribute to a good ole gal! Your collection is unbeatable. Secondly I am on the planning committee for an AW reunion this August 15th in Houston. I would like to chat with you about getting some photos from you on CD for our visual background slides. I will send a PM. that tells you how strong the relationship was with the park fans. We still have get togethers to remember and enjoy history. I don't know if it is OK to post the reunion info here but we have a My space and Face Book ad for it. Thanks again for keeping memories that mean a lot for me.

Wow a triple wheel! Nice card!

That is debatable and some suggest Intamin only brokered the rides. They claim the fame so I went with them. Call it made by who ever makes you happy.

Looking back at the AW post card I started laughing. "Ethel" as the Intamin double wheel was known at AW, was one heck of a contraption. for basically a Ferris wheel. You got to hand it to Intamin for coming up with that massive beast. Even the cars on this thing were massive. They later used those cars as employee picnic benches. They could hold a dozen people easily. According to Intamins database the "Double Giant Wheel" only lived at AW and MM. I can Assume MM also took theirs out as well? What a beast Ethel was. Do any of here sisters still operate?

That is one mighty large park! That is Magic!

\A carousel and picnic area were being finished off.

Sf Mexico

Danny / SSA are very serious about pulling it off. You do have to admire his spirit. Problem is it will take a really stupid investor to throw money at this project and generally investors are not stupid. You don't get rich making bad investments. It might happen, who knows, but VERY unlikely. On a side note it was mentioned not everyone could do what is already been done. There is a little truth to that, because he probably has spent a few thousand dollars on artwork, the website, incorporating, etc. So I would say not everyone can do it without a few thousand bucks to play with. As far as the SF's talks go it is not really secret. I have seen the proof document that states SF's is talking with Danny about options. There is no silence disclosure on the contract unless the copy released to potential investors is different than the one this silence promise is on. I do wish you good luck but I am afraid soon it will be like SFAW. Actually better than AW, at least the city wants to put something on the land, unlike AW land which to this day is a big empty field.