sfmman2000

^^^That was a great satire!!

^ What was this show all about?

Thanks everyone. ^ I liked Apollo's Chariot. Although, I was at Great Adventure a few days after BGW, and thought Nitro was SO much better. The faster speed, better layout, and helix made Nitro a better ride.

PART 2: Starting out with coolest clock ever! I have no idea what time it says, but it's still really cool! That's me! And that's my third hand. Argggg! Apparently she needs to be rescued... This figure is quite dorky. The commentary is taking break. * Ok, break is over... Nice boobs! Trees, trees, and more trees. Those footers blend in so nicely. Everyone has this shot. And that's why I took it... Can't help but be reminded of the famous youtube grape-stomping video. Something about this makes me laugh. As far as B&M hypers go, I thought Apollo's was not nearly the best there is. I'm really glad they have a designated area for this. The line for Pompeii was about 30 seconds long. I really liked the effects midcourse! Don't mind the interlocking loops, this is a picture of the Skyride! Just look at those trees! Cool angle. Real or fake bird? Coasters, bridges, and a boat. What more could you ask for!? Us. (on a boat) That weird flat part after Apollo's first drop. This is Suzanna. This is Scott. This is Suzanna riding the Skyride sitting in an incorrect position. Bad rider! This picture is completely unique. No really, it is! This inter-cave double-helix picture is actually a bit more unique than the interlocking loop shot. Just a bit. What an awesome front car rider. No really, I like this! Weee! If it was your first time at Busch Gardens, you would do this too! Goodbye, Busch Gardens. Thanks for all the tree photo-taking opportunities!

This visit would be our first to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. We had a really great time. The park has lots of shady areas, beautiful landscapes, and great rides. But most importantly, lots of trees! Enjoy the photos: The morning 'coffee-in-hand' picture. Welcome to Busch Gardens! This is the England section. Phone booths = height check stations Big ben? This is probably the LEAST amount of trees you'll see in a any one picture. We see you Griffon! I hope this doesn't count as a credit, because we did not ride the train! Interlocking dragons tail! Cool station. Blah-blah-blah... Going over the pond to Ireland. We ate here for lunch. What a deal! And the food was actually good. Griffon's awesome loading area! Two Griffon trains, one Suzanna! Only one Griffon train , and one Scott. Incredible! Amazing! What a beautiful ride. Twisty. Noted. Really fun inversion. This train is about to spray fluid all over the place! Funny, because it's so close in spelling to 'Scott'. ha ha Noted! And I've never seen a sign like this at any other park. The coolest Invert support ever! Besides Great Bear's... Best amusement park buffet ever! And that's all for PART 1. PART 2 coming soon!

Great Hershey TR! Great Bear really is a great ride. What did you think of the park operations? Last week was my first time at Hershey, and I was not expecting such slow operations. Almost every coaster stacked trains every cycle. The park wasn't very busy (went on Thursday), but for the size of the crowds, the lines were really bad. Granted, I got all of the credits, so I shouldn't be complaining too much, but I expected more in terms of the employees. For example, Fahrenheit was running 3 trains and stacking the other 2 trains every single cycle (over 1 hour wait). Heck, on most coasters, they wouldn't even open the air gates until the other train finished its circuit. Most employees we encountered were not outgoing and did not look happy. Maybe this isn't standard -- after all, it is the end of the summer. We still had fun at the park, but it wasn't all it could have been.

In that case, they should modify all S&S towers, because they can be launched with the restraints open. And, they should modify most old wooden roller coasters as well as many types of steel coasters, because they can be dispatched with the restraints open. My point is that on most rides, the ultimate failsafe IS the ride operator. Should SCAD towers have a better built-in failsafe? Maybe. But again, on many rides, major accidents can be caused if the operator is not paying attention. And there's nothing that can be done to change that.

^ The only "design flaw" I am seeing is operator error. Yes, that is what appears to be happening. I know it may seem like a minor miscommunication, but how distracted was the ground operator to not have realized that the riders weren't yet secured? How many other mistakes like this do the operators make every day? Who knows how many "close calls" the ride has had in its years operating, before the incident... /speculation

Or, just a training manager who doesn't care/doesn't enforce safe operations. At the park I work at, in the rides department, if an employee is caught using their cell phone even to check the time, they are immediately fired.

This video is shot at the same ride that the accident occurred on on July 4th of last year: At 2:15, the two girls and attendant are standing in the elevator. At 2:20, the attendant pulls something out of her pocket which looks to be a cell phone. At 2:26, with the elevator attendant using her cell phone, the elevator starts to move upwards and the attendant quickly gives a palm forward, seemingly to the other operator on the ground, at which point the elevator stops. Was this a miscommunication between the operators, was someone not paying attention? Obviously the riders were not hooked up correctly yet. I'm pointing this out because the video does not support the view that the operators are operating the ride safely and attentively. First, the operator is on her cell phone while 'operating' the ride, and second, it appears there was a really obvious miscommunication between the operators about whether the riders were secure and ready to travel up the tower. Of course, this is all speculation and not related directly to the incident. I also don't claim to know exactly how the ride system functions, but the things I noticed in this video appear to be safety violations.

^ Sorry to hear that some of the props weren't working. All of the props are checked often and fixed if possible, so if you have a chance to come ride again soon, you may find them working (and others broken!)

The official ride page: http://www.fabbrigroup.com/ride.php?r=134&cat=6 Absolutely horrifying.

Thanks for getting ahold of those pictures, coaster-crazy. They really show off the ride well. I have an update on the operational status of Haunted Castle. The ride was closed for most of this week, due to poor reliability. Friday (6/18), the ride was open all day with very minimal breakdowns. Recently, a few changes were made in the way the ride operates, which will hopefully make it more reliable. The ride is scheduled to be open throughout the weekend and beyond, and is being constantly monitored by many park mechanics and managers.

Gargoyle's have been added to the front of the ride!

These are my thoughts exactly. Although an overall good ride, it lacks many features which distinguish a good dark ride from a great one.

^Anytime! I got an email from the park today: "Dear Boardwalk Season Pass Holder, The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is offering 2010 Season Pass Holders an opportunity to experience the NEW Haunted Castle, before the park officially opens! On Saturday June 5, 2010 just present your Season Pass card at the Haunted Castle from 10:00am -11:00am to enjoy this exclusive offer for Season Pass Holders only. If you have questions about this offer please email guest.services@beachboardwalk.com or call 831-423-5590. See you at the Boardwalk!"

1. Are they done painting the castle on the outside? I don't know the answer to this. The Boardwalk is open every day now through the end of the summer, so I would guess that no more major painting will happen. 2. What's the deal with the "ghostly king"? Is he the main attraction? (He's mentioned in the ride description on the park's website) 3. Do the cars go down the spiral quickly or at a slower speed? The car goes just a touch faster than normal down the spiral, but the brakes keep the car's speed down. 4. Is it possible for someone to take any pictures or videos while inside the ride? Yes, it's possible . I'm not aware of a no camera policy on the ride, but I wouldn't recommend taking any flash photography if you are in the car with other guests, because it might ruin the ride for them.

1. Does the NHC have any clowns of any shape or form in it what-so-ever? No 2. What’s the spookiest scene? 3. What’s the coolest part of the ride? 4. Do the cars have to have four riders all the time? Or can you ride alone like on the old one? We try to fill the cars to capacity, but a car can be sent with as few as one person. Riders on cars with one or two people must sit in the back row.

Edit - I can answer a few of these: Spider and clock? They have not been added yet. Do the old shields and weapons fit in with the new ride? I'm not sure what you mean. The theming is all new inside. Except, there is a ONE piece of old theming that has remained in the new ride! How dark is the ride inside? Varies greatly during different sections of the ride. How was the decided blood and gore level after all? (I remember they said they were debating about it...) Blood and gore is practically non-existent. How fast do the cars go? For a majority of the ride, a similar speed to the old Castle cars. Lastly, which is scarier? Ghost Blasters or the NHC? NHC or Fright Walk? From scariest to least scary: 1. Fright walk 2. NHC 3. GB

^I was working at the park today. Hopefully there won't be any downtime this week...

Excellent pictures, thanks! The old concept art is awesome to see. P.S. The ride opened this afternoon

Unfortunately, the ride did not open to the public today and there is a only a small chance of it opening tomorrow. I'll update the thread as I find out more information.

Hey everyone. I had a chance to ride the new Haunted Castle today. About 85% of the gags were functional, and some that were working were not functioning properly, so I did not have the full ride experience. I will write some of my thoughts about the ride below, WITHOUT giving away any spoilers. Although, I will rate the ride based scare factor, fun factor, etc. If you want to go in fresh, don't read below! (select text to view) But please, ride the ride for yourself this weekend and let me know what you think -- what you agree and what you disagree with in my review.

Off the top of my head, here is what I have to add to the thread: Some amazing videos of defunct Boardwalk attractions from youtube user axbxaxbx. In order, from coolest to not-as-cool! on-ride on-ride off-ride off-ride on-ride on-ride and , only because the operator at 8:30 is me! link to all uploads from user: http://www.youtube.com/user/axbxaxbx#g/u

^ I did have a few chances to walk through the old 3D funhouse. Here is what it looked like from the front (not my picture): Inside, there were many startling pops and bangs, as well as clowns that would pop out from walls. In fact, sometimes they would even have a live actor in the maze scaring people. The soundtrack inside consisted of this looped over and over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hettbehUb0Y /off-topic Amazing how one area (Haunted Castle) has so much history. Hopefully the new Haunted Castle will be the best dark ride the Boardwalk has ever had.