Skycoastin Steve

^I know Screamscape is all rumors, but HOLY CRAP if this is true. I mean, there's no way they could pull something off like this, is there??

^Oh I definitely am looking forward to riding it, I'm just not expecting it to be some KAAA-RAAAZZYYYY ride, either.

Japan looks like an infinite amount of fun. That is all.

^Wasn't the cuckoo clock part of the original decorations on the front of the building?

^With places like Yankee Stadium, I'm sure they only have so many parking spaces, so I can imagine the parking prices are that way to encourage people to take other modes of transportation to the game.

^3:30 is technically how long you are on the ride from when you got on until you get off. It's the official time released from the park, you're going to have a hard time changing it on Wikipedia.

Ha, I've done hypers in the rain before, and I knew I had ERT later, wasn't gonna happen! I will say that I was completely exhausted by the time I got home. Sleep was easy that night. Thank you! The flower day at BGW was absolutely gorgeous, I'm glad that I was able to capture some of it! And I'm not sure if that was the right side of the tower or not, I just guessed. Was that the correct side?

This thread has taken a turn for the hilarious.

If people would realize that they are just tall Wave Swingers, maybe they would have more realistic expectations.

^Sorry man! It was a bit of a last second decision to go. I'll definitely let you know next time I'm heading down there, which actually might be Monday.

So today I made a late trip to KD to check out the Snoopy Starlight Spectacular and to ride Grizzly and I-305 at night, all of which were, in the words of Borat, a great success!! I really think KD did an awesome job with SSS. It's definitely a different atmosphere than CP's, so it's tough to compare the two. CP's is more themed to the seasons and is more spread out, whereas KD's is more of a modern music/Peanuts theme song extravaganza. Either way, these Starlight shows are really a big hit with the GP, and they beautify the parks at night, so hopefully we keep seeing more of them. Hopefully I'll get to check out both KI's and Carowinds' at some point in the future. I did get to take several good pictures at sunset of various attractions, as well as some good night shots of the park along with video of SSS. The video will be up probably tomorrow morning, just depends on how fast Youtube works for me tonight. Enjoy! And please comment! Edit: And now we have video! So after thinking about it some, it dawned on me that I've never really seen any dusk/sunset pictures of I-305. I had to park on Doswell Road and climb through a ditch to get these, so you better enjoy them! Airtime! They just built it in an awkward place that isn't exactly conducive to taking sunset photos. Harumph. But I did what I could. I edited this one a little differently. Weeee!!! More airtime! This ride was built perfectly for sunsets! Hey KD fanboys, does that make Dominator world class? Just wondering. Sun going down inside the loop and most likely melting the track. Maybe that's why it shuffles so much? Sweeeeeet. Cobra roll, because it looks like a cobra. Good stuff. Okay everybody at once now: ohhhhhhhh................ahhhhhhhhhh!!! I rather like this shot. Alright so it isn't the real La Tour Eiffel, but who cares? Purty sunset tonight. Through the trees! There was absolutely not a soul on Shockwave, but I like the blurry effect. Carousel. Americana. At one point I saw teenagers standing up and dancing in one of the gondolas. And people wonder how these kids fall out? Star light, star bright, The first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight. Next purchase: tripod. Ever wonder what a Wave Swinger would look like at warp speed? These turned out well. Ever wonder what a Scrambler would look like at LUDICROUS speed?? Orange fountain. I wonder if it tastes like Orange Crush? Well crap, now the water is red. How do they switch out the dye so quickly?!?! Must be the blood from all the people that have died on Shockwave. I really like how the front of the park looks at night, glad it's open till 10 all summer. For all you Dave Matthews Band fans: This is, the LAST SHOT! heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy............

^And I'm also fairly positive that Beast had the magnetic brakes prior to 2007 (the first year that CF could have possibly installed them after the purchase). It's not like Monty Jasper flies from park to park saying TRIM IT UP, BABY! A lot of financial decision making goes into trimming a wooden coaster. And it's not like Monty and Dick sit up in their offices in Sandusky and snicker as they decide which woodie to trim next. If the cost of installing and maintaining a trim brake is less than the cost to keep making repairs to the track because it was a poorly designed ride (pretty much every Dinn coaster), then the trims are going to be installed. A little information never hurt, and a lot of ignorance just makes you look, well, ignorant.

Based on the layout released, this won't be entirely like 305. It might have some small similarities, but it looks as if it'll be set up more as an airtime machine than a twisty machine.

That was a PTC decision, they weren't going to sign off on the use of their trains anymore if the parks kept running them backwards.

Alrighty it's time to talk about TPR day at BGW! We were a small but dedicated group of TPR members that had a great time at a great park. BGW gave us a wonderful backstage tour of Darkastle, Alpengeist, and Europe in the Air, and the ERT on Griffon, Alpengeist, and Apollo's Chariot were a very nice touch, as well! I got to meet a lot of great people and had a fun time chatting it up with fellow enthusiasts who actually know their stuff (which is a nice change of pace from trying to talk about this stuff with family/friends who don't know jack). The weather was a little moody and it rained a couple times, but I'll take that over 100 and sunny any day! Anywho, it was certainly a fun day (as they always tend to be at BGW), and I got to see a couple shows I had never seen before (Celtic Fyre and Mix It Up), which solidified BGW as one of the top live entertainment parks in the country in my opinion. I honestly think Celtic Fyre is the best show I've ever seen at a theme park, so if you're ever there, see it!! The only pictures I really took were during the backstage tours, wasn't in the documenting mood other than that, and I've taken pics of everything else at that park already. Got a few construction shots of Verbolten, as well. During the Darkastle tour, they also let us see what a ride program looks like when the vehicle is just sitting there in the maintenance area. Of course, I had to take video! After our ERT on Griffon and Alpengeist was over, it was time to start our backstage tour with Curse of Darkastle! Entering the maintenance area...... Maintenance area! This is the open pit, where they throw all lost children not claimed by the end of the day. Also, anyone caught in the backstage area (or in the boneyard) not wearing one of these gets thrown into the open pit! This rail provides power to the ride vehicles, and as you can see, leads all unsuspecting GP into the open pit. For all you wheel nerds. Maintenance can monitor where the ride vehicles are by looking at this screen. The fireplace where Ludwig wants to heat things uppppppp!!! He's so mean. Maybe his mother didn't hug him enough? Fake library. Everyone who has ever worked at the ride has signed the fake library. I wonder what the fine would be for returning a book to the library after you had signed it? This is where you spin like crazy, and where our first ride of the day got stuck because of a "door fault." Whoops! Sideways building. Who was the genius that built this building on its side? Oooooooooooo scary! Back to the station. Some of the computers that control audio and video for the ride. I've done work running lines for servers before. This had to have SUCKED. Apparently this is the "brain" of Curse of Darkastle, and the machine that decides who gets thrown into the open pit! More theming. Dysfunctional family of dead people. I think there's a possibility for a reality show there..... Tree. Main control panel inside the operators' booth. Two screens used to monitor where the vehicles are during the ride and if the scenes are working properly. Eight video screens so the operators can monitor the guests who are riding. Anyone caught misbehaving gets thrown into, you guessed it, the OPEN PIT!!! Blueprint that was hanging up in the booth. I wanted to name this ride "Der Fallinfast." Apparently, it's "Der Fallintoofast." This is a well that is 540 feet deep and provides water for all three water rides in the park. It was built way back when Le Scoot first opened, so B&M had to design the maintenance bay around this. The 3rd train wasn't being used on Sunday. For those of you who aren't familiar with B&M transfer tracks, the trains have a separate set of wheels that sit on those outside tracks. That way there's no stress put on the road wheels and maintenance can work on the wheel bogeys freely. Holding a road wheel, I wonder if I can get my car custom fit for these? Next up was a tour of Europe in the Air. The ride itself is rather boring, but the tour was pretty interesting! Here's the control panel, where you can monitor the ride both with the video screens and by looking out the window, which overlooks the ride area. Watching the ride vehicle do its thing was pretty awesome, the hydraulic legs made it look like an Autobot coming to life. I actually think the 4th Transformers movie will be about this ride standing up and throwing unsuspecting members of the GP into the open pit. Time to look at the big pile of dirt that will soon be Verbolten. A couple old BBW footers, I guess they aren't reusing these ones. Come ride Mach Tower, where we don't need magnetic brakes, that's what the ground is for!! Construction buoys protecting the water from all the nasty things that will roll down the hill. You get a decent view of the construction area from the train. Pile of Dirt: The Ride.

Quoted for truth.

^I think you're a little behind the discussion.

Agreed 100%.

It was definitely a fun day all around, even if I was half asleep for it! And Chuck, the wheel wasn't THAT heavy.

Don't regular Wave Swingers do the same thing? Obviously, if the ride wasn't safe to operate, it wouldn't be open. Two of them are already operating, with a third opening soon. I think it's much ado about nothing.

Was this a serious post?

^Not sure that pictures taken while sneaking into restricted areas are really going to be lauded around here.

^Yes, he's one of the main tour guides.

^ PERFECT!

^I wish there was a cringe smiley.