netdvn

Become a fan of my awesome artwork on Facebook! EDIT: I screwed up!

Coming soon... I've been working on this park for about a month now and it's taking shape. The park itself is about halfway finished, but I've had this file stored on my computer for a while. Check it out! What's this??? Hmm... I've done a lot of work since this...

I've got a ton of these... This is fun...

^ LOL You must've either... 1) Accidentally clicked on one of those antivirus ads that appears all over the place. Some of them have a fake close button, be extra careful of those. 2) Allowed somebody on your computer and they proceeded to click through one of those fake antivirus ads out of fear. I've had this happen on my old laptop repeatedly and gotten hundreds of those popups as a result. Just get a legit antivirus (listed above) as well as Adblock +/Flash Block for your Firefox. You'll never run into another one of those ads ever again and if you do, just block the ad/frame.

Juged solely based on looks and leaving out the realism vs. fantasy, I'm not exactly sure about the first or third coaster. The structures seem too large and the layouts seem kinda hard to follow. While a twister layout is perfectly fine, twister coasters are usually smaller in size and more compact. The launch coaster is probably the best of the three because the layout looks simple; however, you should lengthen the launch track. Overall, fix some of your layouts (namely in the size) as well as remove that sharp turn directly after the first drop on the steel coaster going into the loop.

^ The lockers censor is an inside joke over the large amount of people who complained about SF's locker policies a few months back in one of the SF discussion threads. The word is censored as a joke...

^ At the rate of speed most of these Dubai projects are going, I'd say a majority of the proposed projects will not see the light of day let alone open and if any of the corporations that are building for Dubailand are able to get their proposed projects off the ground, they would have to be scaled back because of money issues. It seems that Dubai tried to go big and failed.

There is no big deal about it. It's just that enthusiasts always want everything to go their way. When they don't get their own way, they b^tch and moan about it until they get over it. It's a natural part of the theme park off season announcements and construction. Everyone complained about I305's layout when it was first announced. Everyone is complaining about Thirteen right now. I remember people being upset over Shoot the Rapids Diamondback, Fahrenheit, Maverick, etc... etc... etc... They always complain. In fact, I can't remember a year when coaster enthusiasts didn't complain about [insert new ride name here] ever (maybe in the early 2000s, but I can't really remember). It'll die down once opening day approaches and reviews start flowing in.

^ Perhaps to keep the elements a secret...??? But that's where the problem lies... Alton isn't going in the direction of Phantasialand or Tokyo Disney Sea. They're going in a different direction whether you like it or not. And it works for them because people still walk through the gate and pay money just to ride the newest ride. Maybe if the outcome was a little different, Alton would take a different approach. You should also keep in mind that SF was also adding gimmicky rides to their parks at that time. Remember X? Deja Vu? Superman: Ultimate Flight? The list goes on and on... Look at where that got them... They're in an insane amount of debt as a result. Also keep in mind that SF added a ton of big coasters to their newly bought parks in the late 90s-early 2000s. And then they focused on building capital investments in their flagship parks while neglecting their smaller parks. FIXED

How? You said that all Alton cares about is building rides with gimmicks. Chances are, that's where they want to be. A park that utilizes rides with gimmicks and thrills over atmosphere (similar to the CF parks in the states). On occasion, they'll pump out a ride with a good theme, but other than that they're not gonna put too much effort into that. They can't build the biggest and the fastest, so they want the first... Gimmicky or not...

You can say the exact same thing about SF and their "upgrades". However the upgrades are a cheaper alternative to new rides and serve a functional purpose to extend the life of the coaster a few more years and Thirteen is a brand new ride. But from what I see, the hype comes from the fact that Alton wants to draw people to the park. All parks hype their rides, no matter how big or small they are. SF did it when they upgraded SROS and Medusa as well as for the Dark Knight coasters, Busch did it with Griffon, etc.. etc... etc... The hype is pretty much expected for any new ride at a major (and even smaller) amusement parks. While I can agree with you about theming existing rides and that all parks should follow that example, I don't get where you claim that Thirteen is just a gimmick because Alton is trying to create an experience (by using the horror theme) and incorporate a gimmick into that (the elevator drop and backwards portion). But that's just me... You can say that about any park that tends to build large rides on a regular basis. Using Cedar Fair as an example, they tend to chase after larger coasters without a care for keeping the park's original charm intact. The CF parks could be better/have rides with great theming and excellent atmosphere, but they just choose not to. Same goes for SF during the 90s/early 00s. Perhaps Alton is going the same route CF is taking. Maybe they're trying to set themselves up as an amusement park filled with rides/attractions.

I totally understand, but that was where the "it's not their goal" part comes in, which you covered. Rides like Blue Fire and X were built to deliver extreme thrills through steep drops, plenty of inversions, etc. But my main point is that Thirteen isn't going for that. It seems to be going for a more psychological thrill. To be honest, I see the "medical expert" thing as part of a publicity stunt to make the ride seem much more intimidating than it really is. The horror theme is meant to draw in thrillseekers/adrenaline junkies that would normally brush off a ride like this as "boring". It seems to be built for families with older children than a traditional family coaster, which the "new" Sonic-rethemed coaster is trying to draw.

SF gets to have more trash cans and concrete theming? Seriously though, at this point I'm personally not jumping to conclusions about this sale. On top of that, if this sale does come through, I see SF going back to the SF of the late 90s, early 00s (building bigger rides in favor of family-style attractions with maybe a bit of Planet Snoopy retheming).

Isn't that the whole point of a prototype? You're not gonna have an extreme coaster that does incredible elements and intense transitions the first time around unless that's your goal. Thirteen doesn't look like it's going for something like that. It looks more like Alton's trying to focus more on the dark-ride portion and providing a more psychological thrill than a physical thrill like Nemesis. On top of that, I'm pretty sure Alton can't build massive I305-sized projects due to height restrictions so they use prototype coasters like Oblivion, Air, and Thirteen to draw crowds in. You've obviously never been to a Cedar Fair park before. Now as for the coaster itself, it actually looks like a lot of fun IMO. The complaints are predictable with every new coaster (see how much people bashed I305 when it was first announced). I'm pretty sure the reviews will be different once people actually get to experience the ride for themselves and not judge based on a video.

A bit old but I just had to counter this guy's claims... Are you joking???????? 1) BB IS a high-end ride. It's heavily themed and it can be enjoyed by the whole family. Big drops and loops DON"T make a high-end ride. It's all about quality. 2) Again... It was either Shockwave, an Arrow mega-looper that you can find anywhere and is always bashed for being a rough ride or a classic/historic family coaster which is one of only two rides left in the world. 3) Young adults DON'T have money... FAMILIES do! That's why SF is trying to attract FAMILIES. FAMILIES are perfectly happy with the new additions. SF's been adding huge coasters to its parks for 20 years and it only put the franchise in debt. Again... Look at parks like Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, Disneyland, and Magic Kingdom. All are family parks and all DON'T have very many huge coasters. All are also hugely successful. SF is trying to emulate these parks. Would you rather spend 7 mil on a coaster that doesn't go after the target audience or spend 5.5 mil on a flat ride that brings families with money in? You said it yourself that Vu was a lawn ornament. Both TDK and Cajun ARE coasters because they run on a track and are powered by gravity. So would you consider a Batman clone to be a flat ride because there are so many of them? Big coasters don't guarantee "high-end" and small rides don't guarantee "low end". It's all about the quality of the ride experience and its lasting appeal. A big coaster like Shockwave which doesn't age well doesn't really have lasting appeal whatsoever.

The real question isn't who's gonna save the property. The real question is "Will this park survivie the hurricane?" Once we figure that out, then we can try to figure out who's willing to salvage the property.

^It draws viewers to the news media outlets. Clicky And this is the perfect time for some obscure group to draw attention to themselves.

I include ride names and logos because.... 1) Sometimes I'm lazy and don't wanna draw difficult portions of the ride. The name/logo blocks out that portion of ride so I don't have to draw it. 2) Expanding on the first comment it saves a bit of time just to put a name/logo around parts that seem to take forever to draw. 3) I like drawing the logos. It's fun trying to imagine what the logo looks like for a ride. But that's just me...

^ The forum was upgraded a few weeks ago.

^ Trying to draw a real park, especially with the level of detail you put into you put into your projects is gonna be extremely tough. I've tried drawing plenty of real parks, but have fallen flat on my face because something was out of proportion or something didn't turn out the way I planned (I guess that's the perfectionist in me ) Some last-minute stuff I need to get out of the way before I show off my next project... Miniland.bmp Miniland 2 final update... Cliffhanger -- Giant Frisbee Rock River -- Heavily themed raft ride There are other rides hidden in this pic... Can you find them random.bmp Base of the waterpark as well as the Bombshell coaster. Next project coming soon.

Facebook has always been acting kinda wonky for Firefox users with chat errors, slow application load times, constant errors, etc... Even before the "upgrade". At least for me that is... I've been using a proxy program to access my Facebook from home so Facebook acts funny for me, but if you're using Firefox, I would suggest using a different browser like Chrome, Opera, or even "shudders" IE for your Facebooking.

... And the plot thickens. This is exciting.

Asian woman: How many traffic signal does it take to cross eight lanes? None? OK! Good luck everybody! ... proceeds to cross eight lanes on a busy highway, creating a major traffic accident. EDIT Wacky Wavy Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man Wacky Wavy Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man Wacky Wavy Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man

Premier WAS Six Flags... I'm still sticking by having the park bought out by either Herschend or Busch as both companies are perfect for a park like this. Eitehr that or another fictional company.

I've got a few fun ones... Most of them come from my parents. Since my mom does a lot of stock trading and bank account viewing on her laptop, she is insanely paranoid about what goes on her computer. She doesn't let other people use it and when other people do use it she monitors what they're doing to avoid "getting viruses". - My mom thinks that clicking the "skip this ad" button on those annoying ads that play while trying to enter another website gives viruses. - Message boards, blogs, and social networking sites are considered "chat" - Almost everything on the Internet contains viruses - Scrolling the cursor over embedded ads contains viruses - Parents don't know about tabbed browsing yet - My history teacher called the Internet server "IE, Firefox, or Safari" - Errors on the computer usually means that a virus has infected it - Upgrading Windows software to the latest version is illegal - Downloading anything off the Internet is illegal (sorta true) - Every time I minimize a program, one of my classmates thinks I closed it