deathbydinn

^^ It's just to advertise Fright Fest and to get people excited for it. I know for sure that Great America and Great Adventure have Fright Fest displays up, and I'd assume most if not all of the other parks do as well.

Wow, that looks amazing. I've seen parks make smaller mazes, usually with hay bales before, but nothing to that extent. Leave it to Holiday World to be the ones who go bigger and better!

I'd think Iron Wolf being B&Ms first roller coaster and Batman being the first inverted would be noteworthy as they're firsts. Gravity Max would be a pretty unique one to talk about.

For the first time ever, the WI State Fair began managing it's midway rather than having it done by the rides company. Similar to other larger US fairs and European fun fairs, the rides and games were provided by multiple companies, rather than just one like in the past. This allowed the fair to be more selective and provide even better rides. The Stratosphere and Flipper both made their US debut here, and many other rides like the Sky Wheel, Fun Factory, Rotor, etc made their WI debut this year. Many of the typical fair rides like a Scrambler, Matterhorn, Zipper, Wacky Worm where there as well, but I focused on the more unique rides. Enjoy! The Stratosphere stands 200 feet tall and is the most visible ride of the midway. Unfortantly, it seemed to be having some issues as I never saw it run with people. A Zamperla Windstorm replaced the Schwarzkopf Wildcat from the past two years. It was really really janky. Not necessarily rough, but it kinda felt like there were speed bumps on the track. This hill had a little pop of air. I don't think I ever feared for my life so much as I did on that drop. I felt like I was just going to nose dive into the ground. There were running both trains though, which was nice it could have done fine with one. Across from it was this thing, that looked like an Enterprise on steroids. This is a ride I'd very much like to see more of. It starts out easy enough. But it gets real crazy and it really throws you around when your car spins. The Skywheel ran pretty fast, but they were only using two seats on each wheel. The wheels spin independently which is great if you're on top because you don't have to stop to let others load/unload. I wish they were more common, as it was much more fun than a normal ferris wheel. I had no idea portable rotors existed, but we had one. Not sure why they really needed this and a gravitron as well. There was an awesome looking fun house with some really creepy animatronics around it. The highlight for me, was the KMG Fun Factory. It's basically a tilt a whirl where the cars also bounce up and down while they spin. However, the spinning is controlled, so it gets really crazy. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once your on it it's insane, especially the last few seconds. Since it's a fair, I have to put in some animal pictures. There were some jumping dogs. A calf. A bathing horse. And a cannibal pig. Thanks for reading!

The newest clue. Look for them every Wednesday.

^ You'd think so, but the workers at Mount Olympus are so out of it that they barely even notice. When I went,Hades' ride ops would just dispatch the train, go sit down (on the track) to talk, and have no regard for the train until it hit the brake run. Don't worry, yours is much more in depth.

^ No, Six Flags season passes will get you into all Six Flags theme parks and water parks that are included in a park ticket. SF season passes don't work at: - Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark, Lake George, NY - Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Arlington, between Dallas and Ft. Worth - Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Los Angeles - Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, New Jersey - Six Flags White Water, Atlanta - Six Flags Wild Safari, New Jersey' The time it will take to process a pass will vary. On opening day this year, SFGAms season pass line was huge and probably around an hour or so wait. But when I got my 2012 pass at the end of 2011, it took ten minutes. The first few weekends could be bad, but after that it should be fine, maybe 20 mins.

Does Cedar Point do anything in the park for ride announcements? I'll be at the park that day so if there was anything happening I'd be sure to go see it.

^ I think they just kept the former station because it costs money to tear it down. Great America tends to leave things up until they really need to be taken down. Splashwater Falls and Great American Raceway remains stood until the land was cleared was X Flight, and the bottom of Trailblazers pole and its backdrop are still standing. I'm not saying it couldn't be reused, I'm just saying I wouldn't assume thats the only reason why it's still standing. I don't think we'll be getting a Sky Screamer next year though. Other than many of the other SF parks getting them, I haven't seen much solid evidence to back it up. I've seen much more leaning towards something more kiddie and family oriented.

^ Except that when you buy a hamburger you don't get a terms and conditions saying no refunds. It says on the back of a season pass that they will not be refunded, and as 3Mutts pointed out he already used the pass for more than he payed for it, so a refund would have resulted in the park losing money from any visits after his first and him getting those visits for free.

Looks great and I'd love to play it, but the download is just giving me an empty folder.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/07/six_flags_new_england_gets_agawam_ok_highest_swing_set_ride.html

^ As of June it was still standing with not much work done on its removal. http://www.parkz.com.au/update/2012/06/29/296-Sea_World_June_2012.html

^ IT doesn't go upside down.

From a recent SFGAM picture teasing Fright Fest additions.

Yes! Oh? https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Son-Of-Beast/313135991408 https://www.facebook.com/ReopenSonOfTheBeast https://www.facebook.com/pages/Reopen-the-Son-of-Beast/312641725477214 https://www.facebook.com/pages/If-we-can-get-5000-fans-Son-of-Beast-wont-get-knocked-down/107817369243438 https://www.facebook.com/pages/whoever-decided-to-tear-son-of-beast-down-is-stupid/337884522425 https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-dont-care-if-someone-got-hurt-you-cant-tear-down-Son-of-Beast/341455203878

From TheCoasterGuy

http://www.screamscape.com/html/six_flags_st__louis.htm

Looks like a Mack watercoaster will be opening in Australia next year! http://www.parkz.com.au/article/2012/07/16/297-Water_coaster_bound_for_Australia_in_2013.html

I always thought the old sign looked too cartoony, like it would be a better fit for a family coaster or flat ride, not something that's meant to be a big intimidating coaster. The ACE "event," you'd think they'd at least want to have ERT on Whizzer, but nope! Besides the landmark dedication they have nothing else planned for the day. The park posted this picture on Facebook revealing some clues for Fright Fest 2012. Link Looks to me like: - Scare zones/mazes in Roaring Rapids and Hurricane Harbor as said at NCC - A new meet and greet or band in the Hometown Square pavilion - Something where Iron Wolf was - Something on the path underneath Demon or that general area, possibly the return of Southwest Scare-tory in that part of SWT Edit: Some details have been released! 250 scare actors (last year had 200), no more Studio 13, new haunted house, new haunt in the rapids and the return of the haunted train! http://newssun.suntimes.com/entertainment/14017823-421/six-flags-great-america-needs-250-to-work-fright-fest.html

In other sign news the sign referencing B&M and the park president of the time is back in BTRs queue. Link Not huge news, but just nice to see the park bringing back little details even though it's something only the dorks will understand.

They're meant to be a Kia car.

Only 200 pounds maximum? Is that normal for a boomerang slide to be so low? I guess having only single tubes will help, but it just seems really low. Hopefully they'll have a scale or something at the entrance so people don't wait in line only to not be let on. Also, El Toro has again been ad wrapped, but I'd say these are much better than the stride ads and actually look kinda cool. Pictures from GrAdvHistory

This past weekend I took my annual trip up to the Dells for two days of coasters, waterparks, and mini golf. The hot weather kept us mostly in the waterpark, but I can never turn down a chance to ride Hellcat, although I'm not positive I can say the same about Mt. Olympus' coasters. Despite the heat, it was still a very fun two days filled with a good amount of riding. As for the parks themselves: Timber Falls: Timber Falls always looks great whenever I go. They do a very good job of keeping the park looking nice and keeping things throughout the park working. A wristband still only gets you 5 Hellcat rides, but that's fine with the current operations as it would take forever to get any more. The log flume only had three boats on it, but that was ok as it had a very short line. The mini golf is in great shape and the course across the road is one of the best looking I've ever seen. As for those Hellcat operations I mentioned, it's no secret Timber Falls has implemented some changes to save money. From what I experienced, for Hellcat to run it has to either have a full train, or have atleast five minutes between rides if the train isn't full (the times seemed to depend on the ride op.) With the small crowds Timber Falls pulls on the ride side, getting a full train isn't always easy. On one of my rides, I sat in the train alone for about 7 minutes until the ride op closed all the restraints and got ready to dispatch the ride, only for more people to come up so the restraints were unlocked to let them on. Now, I understand the need to save money, but this makes getting 5 rides very time consuming and there is no warning of this before you board. The ride itself is still smooth, full of airtime and just plain fun, but just beware that a visit for what should be a quick five rides, may take up to 25 - 30 minutes depending on the crowds. Mount Olympus: Mount Olympus in general just has a pretty bad reputation. The fact that they call themselves is a theme park is laughable. Really, it's a waterpark that just happens to have some go karts and coasters as well. Nothing more. Going in with those expectations may somewhat help improve an experience. The ride ops were actually slightly better than in past years, and the park was pretty clean, had a surprisingly good selection of food, and a new dj by the wave pool adds a nice atmosphere to the lower waterpark. As for the rides themselves: Lost City of Atlantis: This new for 2012 waterpark addition brings 7 new slides to the park ranging from kiddie to family. The slides are fun, but nothing amazing. You will stay very, very wet thanks to water guns aimed at the slide lines and the giant geysers which will absolutely soak you. Pegasus: This ride just ran weird. It wasn't "rough" but it was..bouncy. It was just weird. Cyclops: Pretty smooth except for the last big turn. Still full of airtime and you gotta love its restraints that come no where close to touching you. Zeus: Doesn't do much, a little air, rough. It's a one and done. Hades: In it's current state, it really sends you to hell and back. It's still fun with its steep drop and crazy tunnel, but it's not exactly a ride you could marathon, even in the front seat. It's a shame as it used to be so much better. It still has enough going for it to bring me back for another ride, but at its current rate of self destruction I'm not sure how much longer that will last. It also will not be released with any empty seats, so if you're a single rider you may be moved to another seat in the train to help fill it up. I like to write as you can clearly see, but here is what I know you all really care about, the pictures. Enjoy. Here's what remains of the old Riverview Park and Waterworld. I believe all that stands from the old days is two go karts tracks. It's now just animals. Very expensive animals. Hopefully, TF won't suffer the same fate. Shirts and prices. So this has been updated to say Hellcat.. but all the other signs still say Avalanche. The panel of the front row has been taken off for some reason. Feels kinda cool. The only good that came from sitting in the train for five minutes is being able to easily take pictures in the train. Getting pictures with the train in them takes a lot of time now. Crazy little bunny hops. The log flume is good, but wasn't very wet. The bumper boats sit right underneath the coaster. All the scattered propellers are still spinning. Sky Scraper, tons of fun and tons of money. It's a big draw during the night. The bright lights and load music are great for drawing in people. The main point of our nighttime return was mini golf. The course is situated right next to the river. Like right next to the river. Theres kind of a mining theme to the courses. It's just a great looking course. And at the end of the course, there's chickens. Because why not? They should really just take the fake window stickers down. They look fine from the road but not too good up close. The one ride that has managed to stay in decent condition. Always fun to take new riders to the back and not tell them about the drop. The three major coasters are all a bit odd in that they all have a drop into the station after the brake run. After my third ride some people just started climbing on the track and hammering stuff. We watched for a while until they just kinda gave up and walked away. The ride tested once, but didn't reopen. Bouncy bouncy bouncy I'll pick the second one. Atleast the sign is cool. The first part is still fun and relatively smooth. It is cool how close the ride goes to the queue line. The lift hill literally goes straight over the station. And then it gets bad. Real bad. Go karts aren't really my thing, but they do have a lot of them. Fun ride, but not worth the new $15 price. This spot once held a Kuka robot arm, the only decent and free flat ride, so of course it was removed. The upper waterpark has the oldest slides, but they're still pretty fun. The best of the three endless rivers. They probably spend more time on making cool signs than on maintaining coasters. The raft slides are fun, but can get incredibly long lines. The wave pool is still the best thing in the park. That giant geyser is pure evil. It shots over the line and into the bowl slide itself, so it will just pelt you with tons of water. There was no one in the indoor park, so all the employees just looked bored as hell. Opa only had three cars on it, so I skipped it. So as a whole, Mt. O is still fun but there's a lot of work to be done, and I hope someday it can reach the potential it has. Thanks for reading!

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