Shellemonster

I don't see the hidden Mickey, expand my mind please! I would hope the hide some interesting items around the area, like the Barbasol can at Jurassic Park.

I think it's rather funny how long this has been out for (2007 from the description) and no caught it until now. There are pictures in there that are finally coming to light. But about the howler ... isn't the point of a howler to embarrass the person receiving it? Why then, would they use technology to limit it to a certain person. I understand the noise might be too much, but it would seem seem out of place to me. On another note, I ran across a website www.wizardingworldharrypotter.com/ that had an interesting, albeit older, picture I had never seen before. They say that the former Enchanted Oak site is generally where Hogsmeade is going in, and at one point the construction workers set up the general building outline using green oil barrels. Check it out, it's a short ways down the "update" page.

Why has no one said Cedar Point yet. Sheesh, snow, Gemini. Although, that Gemini button looks like its from one of those portable motion simulators that let you ride Cedar Point coasters, like in an arcade with that SEGA stuff. I would guess you are going multiple places though, tough call... I know practically nothing about your families, but I would guess you visited a set of parents along the way, hence the two important things.

The Orlando Sentinel's website has a nice listing of pictures from the press event. I know many of these haven't been posted yet so I'll add the link. If someone wants to extract them and post them here be my guest, but I have a report to write now so no time and no more distractions! http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/orl-manta-roller-coast-seaworld-orlando-photos,0,3267909.photogallery Almost all of these are brand new. There is a great look inside the queue area from above and below the aquarium tanks and some close ups of the cars. Very cool stuff.

Gahhh .... Must .... Go ....

Very cool. That's my home so this report means quite a bit to me since I haven't been there for a while. I went to high school right near the fair grounds. I guess Taylor Swift wasn't enough to lure you into the amphitheater? What a shame.

I love seeing these new images! This is definitely my most anticipated attraction that's been annouced right now. This place looks like it will sell some cool stuff (like broomsticks), but I was hoping the shops would have a more unique look. That "chandelier" is awesome though. Also, it looks like the shops will be interconnected which I don't think was mentioned before. The post office is to the left as evidenced by that writing on the wall. So if the post office is accessible, that means that there will be some interactive or animatronic things going on with all the owls in there. I have faith they will show us some very cool things later.

Just for the record, I don't hate treehuggers, in fact I quite agree with their ideals, but I totally agree with HatetoFLY when it comes to PETA. Not to long ago they wanted to buy SeaWorld from Inbev and free the captive animals. A funny quote from the press release By the way... That BBQ stingray looks really good. I quite want to try it now.

With all the people dressing up to go the park, it vaguely reminds me of the days when people would wear suits and dresses to go the parks. Not that I was alive then, just sayin.

Adding to CoasterEricHP and his requests for the retheme. DONT PARK SERVICE VEHICLES UNDER THE RIDE! Last time I was at the park, there were multiple service vehicles in and around the under track area for DD. It looked horrible and really detracted from the immersion. On that last note, retheme the ground area to have something to do with the ride. There is a vehicle entry point back there with a gravel road which doesn't look very good. Put some dragon eggs and craggy rocks around the grounds, like the movies. It could really use a HP theme to remind guests what the coasters have to do with HP while on the ride. This last one is probably the most unreasonable, but the simulated forest backdrop really needs some work. It was terribly faded. That would be very expensive to fix and difficult to place something less fade prone in its place.

Perhaps they will start serving Manta Bars along with Shamu Bars. I vote for a Manta Bar stand, yum. I wonder if you can eat real Ray meat... Is that even legal or good?

Kraken is going to be the red-headed step child now, but that's not a bad thing when it's sibling is Manta. I understand that there will be two entrances, one for aquarium and one for ride, so am I correct in thinking that the location with the Manta sign going up is for the ride and that bridge going into the building is for aquarium? I believe the photo caption for the bridge was something like "you will enter here when Manta opens" so I'm not sure.

Space Mountain Mission 3, coming soon to Disney's Carolina Kingdom. Based on the former Led Zeppelin - The Ride, Walt Disney Imagineering decided that Space Mountain was boring, so they called B&M for an infusion of awesome to the classic ride. Bonus: Find the hidden Space Mountain: M3 Hyperspace Tunnel Official Entry #1

What a high quality production! Thanks for the link. Let's not forget that there is going to be the option to walk through the line area as an exhibit and not have to ride the coaster. It's supposed to be another entire walkthrough attraction for non-riders, so I think this commercial hit all the bases excellently!

I assaulted my computer when I saw this commercial. Man was I excited. Although, I was told that they did not air this commercial in at least Tampa, if not Florida, but instead ran a different one that didn't promote this offer?

Agreed. Non-rider interaction is a great thing, like on the soaker-coasters (proper name?). I agree it is possible that the concrete section could be empty, perhaps waterfall edges. From looking at it again though, the trench doesn't actually follow the coaster path. Especially where it curves out and away at the end of the curve which is theoretically the direction a splash trail would follow. I now would definitely side with water sprayers now.

From an engineering perspective, I doubt that there will be an actual wing tip dragging in the water. If they designed the tip to contact the water and displace enough water that it would create a large and repeatable effect, then there would have to be a lot of speciality engineering done just for that moment. There would be very very large forces going through the wingtip, and that requires designing everything from the car to the track to handle an offset load. The Busch dive machines use a water splash effect that produces such a force, that it is used as a brake to slow the coaster down. That is all fine and great because the force is parallel to the track. Basically, Sea World would have needed to spend quite a bit more money on engineering than they would for a fake effect. Who knows though, this is designed to be a centerpiece so anything could happen.

That may be one way Universal is satisfying J.K. Rowling's wishes that everyone has a wizarding world experience like in the books. She wanted some very unrealistic terms, as described in this Jim Hill Media article. That sounds like a way to satisfy her wishes while also vastly improving guest flow issues. Nice picture too. That looks like a castle spire, and I've not seen any pictures of that yet. Do you have anymore, because it's rather hard to tell where that is.

On the idea of a hypercoaster at Busch Gardens, they have been toying around with that idea for many years now. The problem they have is that the local height restriction requires that for every foot they go vertically, the coaster has to be a foot into the park, basically there is a pyramid with sides angled 45 degrees surrounding the park they can build within. They could do a pure hypercoaster, but SheiKra took the last building cycle. It will happen one day, the plans and possible areas have been established. Personally, I would love to see BGT's Congo area expanded further, but there isn't enough room unless they fill some retention ponds. They've boxed out a good bit of the park for the animals to roam freely (at least I think that's what goes on over there?), but they have room for major expansion should the mood or money ever strike to reorganize that part of the park and expand into new African themes.

[quote= ISC Systems Corporation is Gary Norton's company and used to be called Getronics. And X-Works has a connection with Getronics. So X-Works points to Gary Norton - the owner of Silverwood. SC could mean "standing coaster" or "sitting coaster" but the rumors I have heard all point to a stand up. How does the mental leap happen between Getronics and this unknown X-Works?

Well, after having read through this freakin long thread... I don't really believe in this too much considering the logical arguments made against Alton earlier, but the idea I had since the beginning was... There is a website for Xworks I found through google that which has a description stating that it is for an investment company. The website has a 2009 copyright, so it is relatively new. The site claims to have its office in the UK, but most of the site wasn't working when I checked, and the office address didn't come up with that company when searched on google maps. Sounds like a fishy thing, or perhaps a front for Alton Towers to start a viral marketing campaign! Ecxept I believe they chose a Dark Forest theme, and the track color doesn't fit. Well Rob, getting warmer?

Gorgeous. That must be a very surreal experience with no one around. Why can't Cedar Point put up the clams for a shed to house their trains in the winter and protect their investment a little more. Cinder blocks in the hotel parking lot is hardly the way these things should be treated; you could push one over and play coaster dominoes.

Good call, that is two words. Death Eaters. I think that recent ideas have been going towards the ride following the chamber of secrets, but they have the sorcerer's stone chess scene in there as well. nice to flip these things around. I don't know how they can tie these story elements together, but I was just refreshing my Potter history, and there is a common thread between the spiders right before this and the next scene that would involve voldemort and death eaters outside... Book Seven Spoilers Ahoy! ... again The death eaters and voldemort amass their army for the assault on Hogwarts in the spider camp. Now wouldn't the battle of Hogwarts make for a thrilling end to the ride! Granted, I think the previously mentioned possibilities are more likely. End spoilers So, that concept art... I only have a faint idea what the middle profile drawing represents. If I had to guess, it may be when Harry and Company slide out of the pipe into the room with the basilisk skin from COS. That vent at the top right looks very important with all the notes. A fire vent? Any idea? Also, the HP website has a new poll about shopping locations. http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/index.html

Holy hot dog batman, it says voldemort and dementors or voldemort and something... and that very big tree is right across from that spot in the drawing.

Wait, I'm wrong, spiders are the scene before that. There is a yellow box with writing that I can't make out what is says, but it happens to be in that area that I was referring to (the blue ground). Huh....