themeparkman25

January 16, 2012 - MANTA CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE! It has been over two years in time since I first built the station for my Manta model. Needless to say, these past two years have proven to be exceedingly difficult to find the time and motivation to complete this model as I let college, work and everything else in front of its completion. However, I found the motivation over Christmas break to buckle down and get the construction done because nothing bugs me more than starting a project and not finishing it. Since the last update, I have finished all the track from the MCBR into the brake run, as well as the starts of hand painting everything. I am extremely proud of my work on this model and hope that the effort I put into the model is shown to you by the level of detail and accuracy I have portrayed. Moving forward, I hope to continue this attention to detail in regards to the scenery, queue and station buildings, which will ultimately yield this my best product yet. If I had to guess, I would assume the whole process of decorating the model will take me a semester. That said, look for more frequent updates moving forward as I enjoy sharing these with you. PLEASE share your feedback!! Let's get SWO to notice! Without further words and no more ado, I present to you: MANTA! Manta: The Model! The Splashdown! Couple noteworthy things: 1) The track has to get this low to the plywood because the actual coaster is in a pit. 2) The track doesn't yank as hard as this picture suggests - Please see pics below. The pretzel as seen from the midcourse! You can see all four inversions from this view. Everything you see in this view is what has been completed since the last update. Painting has begun...er continued. I will paint all of the track (twice) and then paint all of the supports. Somehow have to find a way to paint the track while navigating the brush through this mess of supports. If you have any idea on how to paint everything more efficiently, please let me know!! Maybe I can do my own "Bag-O-Crap" Aerial of the splashdown, inline and finale. Like I said, not as jerky as the picture above suggests. And to conclude this update, an aerial of Manta! Please share your thoughts, feedback and opinions below! They are much appreciated!

January 11, 2012 - Construction has resumed! The splashdown is currently drying in place with only a few more pieces to go until the coaster will be complete! Then the fun really begins on making this the most realistic model I have made! Hope you guys are excited! I will be posting pictures as soon as possible!

I really sppreciate the fact that TPR is a supporter of give kids the world. It'd cool

Great trip report! Always great to get back to Gardaland. Thanks for posting. Hans: I hope you rode the squirrel twice...once for me.

EB trip reports are the best. Can't wait to see more.

Hans? EB took pictures of his food....haha Looks delicious. Want to make me one now? Please?

First, sorry for un burying a dead thread. I couldn't find one for the 2010 attendance figures, though it may not be released yet. Nevertheless, I have a somewhat weird question. Is there any figures on average daily attendance at parks? To explain, I'm looking for something that says on a weekly basis, X% visit parks on a Tuesday while Y% visit on a Saturday. I can speculate busy days at parks but I'm curious if there is actual data supporting this hypothesis. Thanks for your help and sorry again!

KINGS DOMINION - AUGUST 9-10, 2010 After checking out Busch Gardens Williamsburg the day before, we headed up North to go to Kings Dominion. This was actually my first time at the park, and I have to say I really liked it. Like, I REALLY liked the park. I thought it had an excellent ride selection, I fun and different layout, and an absolute ton of things to do. Of course, one of the things I was really looking forward to riding was Intimidator305. I'll save the review for the pictures, but all I can say is WOW-what a truly fantastic ride. The shocker of the trip, if it can even be a shocker, was Dominator! This coaster absolutely rocked my world! Outside of that, I really enjoyed the rapids ride, Whitewater Canyon. After all the European rapids, I was super excited for this one, and it did not disappoint. Anyways, on to the pictures! Enjoy them! After this, I will start my European pictures, with Chessington Worlds of Adventure. Did you know, I absolutely love tower rides. I think they really make a park, and are a great experience for everyone. Doesn't even matter if it was built of a parking lot...it is a phenomenal (and extremely different) ride. Kid wood coasters! I love the idea! And I thought this was a great one. Volcano: The Blast Coaster. I think much like everyone else on the planet, this is one of those coasters you want to ride as a kid. Rides that roll back are great. Still haven't gotten a roll back, though. Fantastic ride! Absolutely incredible to get to ride in person. I wish it did more when it goes into the Volcano, though. Flight of fear! Premier rides are fun, and this one didn't disappoint. Anacanda-another arrow looper. I swear you can see Mr. Toomer bending clothes hangers with this one. Backlot Stunt Coaster! These rides are some of my favorite smaller family coasters. The home stretch of i305. Definitely full of airtime. These quick transitions provide fantastic "pops" of air. And really, the restraints don't matter at all. So this coaster took number 6 in my top 10. I think the work they are doing this off season might put it in a position to gain some ground, too. Again, nice pops of airtime here. Really an all around solid ride. One of my favorite parts of the ride is how well kept the grounds are. And I just like this picture. From lots of supports, to no supports. Crypt! It was a hot, hot day when we were there. And this ride pushed my body haha. Top Spins are always fun, though. Avalanche! Can never get enough bobsled coasters. Typical lift hill shot...Honest review, the trims were noticeable, but by no means did they "ruin" the ride. There was still airtime and the train still hauled through the course, so its whatever, haters. Crypt theming! Ghoster Coaster-great color too! Gah! Couldn't get enough Dominator. We came back in the morning of the second day, did the water park for a little, and then sessioned i305 and Dominator. Best morning at a park ever! Shockwave! Only my second TOGO ever... (They really aren't that bad, lets be honest) There is still plenty of hang time coming off the back of that hill Headed towards the back of the park! The ferris wheel was a nice one. I also really like this picture Hurler looks heavenly. woah Hurler through a tree! This ride wasn't that bad either, despite how much it gets trashed. Shoot. Im forgetting the name of this flume. It had a great queue, though! And it was next to America's best rapids ride! Perhaps atop the Carousel. Old PTCs. My absolute favorite. I need one of these in my mark so bad. Anyone selling? Such a great ride. I literally couldn't get enough of it. And I definitely didnt want to quit riding it. Except for Dominator. I think one of the reasons I loved Dominator so much was the layout. It was unlike any other B&M I've ridden, and it was really forceful. I loved how big the loop was, and how it went into the low-to-the-ground turn. A simple picture, but one of my favorites! Just look at all the stuff to make a coaster go. I hope you enjoyed this update! Stay tuned for the Europe trip! I can hardly wait to post that update! Dominator! This ride took a position right behind i305 at number 7. It is my second favorite B&M, only behind Riddler's Revenge.

What great pictures! Hahaha, thanks for posting these, Hans.

But lets say you're considering a top 10 wood coaster ballot...and you have 2 or 3 favorite steel roller coasters that you would throw in the mix...how do you manage that? Or do you only consider your single top favorite steel coaster? Thanks again!

I may be stupid, but can someone explain the favorite steel ranking in the favorite wood poll, or visa versa. I don't understand how we are supposed to rank a steel in my mix of wood coasters. /Stupidity

August 8, 2010- Busch Gardens Williamsburg! In order to celebrate another year of life, and a great summer with a couple of my employees, I traveled out to Virginia to visit, arguably, my favorite park in the country, Busch Gardens Williamsburg! I had been to the park previously, back in 2007 I believe, and had a tremendous time, and had to go back for the B&Ms. From what I remember, all three of their "big three" were all on top of my favorite coasters, and the others were great too! Also, with the addition of Sesame Street, I had a new credit to get! All in all, I had a great day at the park but really wish we had longer to check everything out. This was my first park in the States since getting back from the Europe trip, so I was excited to revisit the American way of things, and experience the nation's best. And I absolutely can say that Busch Gardens Williamsburg is my favorite park in the country, and up their for the world. The food is really good, the theming impeccable and the rides were incredible. I honestly have nothing poor to say about this park, other than the fact is a hundred million miles away from me, which sucks. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the update! The first part will have pictures from Go Karts Plus, a little park we happened to stumble upon when trying to find gas. King's Dominion and Intimidator205 to follow! Also, I would like to share a funny story with everyone. Since everyone I was with was under 21, myself included, we were unable to rent a car. Well, the Richmond airport is in the middle of the two parks, but not within a reasonable distance to not rent a car. I consider trains and busses, but it was difficult to work given our schedules. So then the question became, how do we get to all the parks? So, given the fact you have to be 21 to rent a car, I thought about the next best thing. Just previously, I had rented a Uhaul to move to my apartment for college, and I had remembered that you only have to be 18 to rent one of those. So my solution to getting to the parks? Rent a Uhaul! What a brilliant idea. Prolly one of my top ideas ever. ENJOY! At 20.00 a day, and 0.50 per mile. A Uhaul is almost cheaper than an actual rental car. And its way cooler to pull up into the parking lot. Literally driving down the street and remembered the other Williamsburg credits! Bonus! And that's the credit. I think we went around 6 times...which was about 5 times too many. Busch Gardens Williamsburg! My favorite park in the country. The english section of the park. For being American, the theming is pretty good! I think more parks should learn about theming. It truly does make the experiences magical. So, one of my friends had never been on a B&M. Actually, he had never ridden a coaster outside of Colorado. So to bring him into the world of B&M love, we went right to Griffon. Though I like SheiKra more, I still really like Griffon. Actually, I just really like the dive machine. Unfortunately, I had killed my camera pretty early in the day, so I didn't get many pictures of LNM. One of my favorite arrows, though. The day we visited was, I think, two days after one of these Family Guy tube men blew into Griffon. Good thing it was nothing serious! The Italian section? I can't really recall. It's the one with the flying over something ride. Not many parks in Ameirca, outside of Disney, have this level of theming. Actually, come to think of it, not many parks in the country have statues. Interesting... More griffon. She is definitely a picturesque coaster! THis is what we ski back in Colorado. It made me feel at home. I'm not sure which I like better....this picture....orrrrrr.... This picture! You decide. What I like most about Alpengeist, is her size. Every element is larger than life. I dunno, between Katun, Alpengeist and Nemesis, I had quite the decision on which B&M invert is my favorite. Just as a fun fact, they had frames on the wall of the top performering operating crews. One of them dispatched something like 100 trains in an hour, and another did 14,000 throughput on one day. Talk about great operations haha More examples of incredible theming. You knew it was coming...I did get the opportunity to ride Big Bad Wolf on my prior visit. Without going into too much detail, she was a great coaster, but what's coming will be better. Apollo's Chariot is one of the best hypers of ridden. Which of the B&M sort, I have no been on 5, I think. Absolute insane airtime towards the back part of the coaster. It doesn't quite have that magical airtime of Goliath or Diamondback, but still has pretty good floater air. This section in particular always gets me. pretty lift hill! These rapids got me absolutely soaked. One of the better ones in the nation, too, in my opinion. Can someone please tell me what this support is for? I'm literally baffled over it's purpose. Escape from Pompeii. For whatever reason, last time I was here I didn't ride it. Really glad I did this time because it was fun! The new sesame street area. It was packed when we went to get the credit. So clearly it was welcomed by the families! New credits are always fun. Cobra roll getting eaten by Immelmann. Ain't nothing better! First drop...going dowwnnnnnnnnn Looks a little beyond 90 degrees, doesn't it. A nice little pop of floater airtime headed into the splashdown. Mmmmm. Favorite element ever. Especially fifth row on an inside seat. And to conclude, a picture for Hans of some German cake! And it was delicious! Stay tuned for Intimidator305 and Kings Dominion!

JANUARY 10, 2011-Drop off midcourse Just as a quick update. The midcourse has been completed and the turn leading into the splashdown has been started.

January 9, 2010 - Paint and MCBR As promised, I took real pictures of the work done on the model for a full update. Obviously, since the last real update, I completed the corkscrew through the pretzel loop. I have continued on to the first half of the mid course break run, though, I ran out of support piping to finish it. I have since placed an order with the fabulous Evergreen Scale Models, and I should have my supplies shortly! With the completion of the mid course, there really isn't a ton of track work left to do. So expect me to punch that out while I have the time and motivation. In the meantime, while I wait for the supplies to get here, I have started painting the coaster! Picking the right colors to match is always one of the most nerve wracking things with these models, and the realism of Manta just escalated that intensity of the selection haha. Nonetheless, I believe I picked the right colors to match the real coaster. With that in ming, I give you two caveats. First, the lighting is off with these pictures, so the paint looks a little purpley, but I promise it actually isn't. Second, I will have to do a second coat to make sure everything is consistent, so don't worry about an occasional white or light spot. Without much further adieu, the first true update in forever! Enjoy! THe spin is a litttttlllleee flat, but I don't think it will be noticable when all said and done. From above! I think it looks pretty good. I also think this is my best work so far. But then again, I haven't touched her in awhile. Looking towards all the action. Can't wait to see everything painted, its going to look great! Hmmm. Did you know I built the station over one year ago? haha Very, VERY satisfied with the colors. I think they make the model look incredible. To conclude the update! Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you did!

January 6th, 2011 UPDATE Well hello there! Seems like quite awhile its been since my last post in this thread. Unfortunately, that last semester was the toughest yet, and it truly required every bit of my attention. However, working hard will pay off in the end! With my last few days of break, I have been or plan on punching out this model. It's been sitting around for so long, and believe it or not, I have people interested in it. So, that means it has to be done! The purpose of this post is to resurrect a severely dead thread! I took a shotty picture on my iphone of the progress made so far, so enjoy! I plan on posting a much bigger update maybe tomorrow or friday. In terms of work done since the last update, I have actually done a lot! Namely, the corkscrew through the pretzel loop and the first part of the midcourse. At this time, it is just the spine and ties, no rails. I plan on putting the rails on tomorrow! You will also notice a few supports missing. I actually ran out of one size of tubes, so I will order more tomorrow and carry on! School starts in just a few days, so look for a lot of work over the next week to punch it out and get some paint on! Enjoy! And let me know if you guys are ready for a full update! More higher quality pictures coming! That is, if you guys are ready for them!

May 26th, 2010 - Indianapolis Zoo After my little hiatus, I am back! Since my friend Hans is currently doing a Europe Tour trip report, I will skip over mine temporarily, and finish up my Kings Island/Holiday World trip and move to Busch Gardens Europe/King's Dominion. So, after we finished our great day at Holiday World, we started driving north with the expectation to hit up Indiana Beach the next day. However, after looking at their website, we realized it was closed! Dag nabbit. So, looking for an alternative (and another credit), we settled on the Indianapolis Zoo! Given its size, we didn't spend an extended period of time at this (park), though we definitely tried to fit as much in as possible. If I recall right, the day we were there was rather cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us from having a good time. We rode the only coaster, Kombo, a couple times, and then enjoyed the rest of the zoo. They had mantas and rhinos and other exciting animals! Unfortunately, I do think we only had a total of 2-3 hours at the park, so we didn't have a ton of time. Without much adieu (and a lack of stuff to say about a park that has like 3 rides), pictures! Kombo! Credit 175 range, I think. Wasn't a bad credit either! One thing I definitely remember was that she was an expensive credit. Between admission and the ride ticket, I remember dropping a pretty penny. And that is it, folks! Quite the credit for you. Hmm, could these be the best coaster trains in the history of ever? I think so. What's up carousel I did not ride... I tried feeding them, but it was a fail... He was fat and sinking in the mud. Um, not a credit so I don't know why I am posting these pictures...So...stay tuned! Busch gardens williamsburg will be up shortly.

Don't worry about it, Hans. Chris and I have you covered. Give it time and we will post the pictures, I am sure. And yes, I did feel at home riding "Colorado Adventure", I see bears, Native Americans and wood stoves right now! Good thing I got the culture break, I was feeling the pressures of Italian time. haha. Looking forward to your next update, sir.

Hahaha, nope. Missed my train north and didn't have a means to get in touch the rest of the day. Looking forward to this report, though, Hans. Looks like I am going to have to wait on mine until you finish yours! I am particularly excited for one specific section spanning one specific night on one specific bus ride.

Who made the hubless ferris wheel at La Qua? I want to go to their booth.

Very random question, but who is the manufacturer of the hubless ferris wheel at La Qua in Japan?

If I never hear G6 by Far East Movement again, it'll be too soon.

I'm not familiar with the KMG fireball, are there other models? I tried clicking the link and it just took me to the main Rides4you page.

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Dan Hawkins out at CU University of Colorado coach, Dan Hawkins, has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the football team. During his five years at CU, Hawkins has gone a dismal 19-39 and hasn't won a game outside of Colorado since 2007. Assistant coach Brian Cabral will serve as interim head coach for the team's three remaining games. Can't be happier by this news! This is something that should have done at the end of last year!

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