fraroc

I'm going to definitely try and head over to Carowinds next year for the first time.

1. If you've never been on an SLC before..... I envy you. 2. I think he/she/it is referring to Cedar Fair's Windseeker rides. Lol I actually haven't ridden any SLC. And I must say I am really curious and would like to have a go. I've never ridden one either. However I've heard that they're either A. Steel Mean Streaks B. Smooth, but can never touch the thrill factor of a B&M Invert.

I guess it's time for.... GATEWAY PARK- WRAPPING THINGS UP As predicted, 2008 was a very successful year for Gateway Park with the addition of Rock Star Plaza and the Rock and Roll Express roller coaster. Coaster critics held the new Gerstlauer Eurofighter in very high regard, despite the fact that it's a clone of Speed-No Limits at Oakwood Theme Park. Mainly due to a combination of the ride experience and the extensive theming. However the following year, 2009, did not go as well for Gateway Park as it was in the news two separate times for a negative reason. The first reason was around July of 2009 when a case of both physical and verbal child abuse took place on Golden Lion's station. Many details came from multiple eyewitness reports. Rebecca Parsons said this in her affidavit. "On July 7th, 2009, I visited Gateway Park with a few close friends of mine. I was in Golden Lion's station awaiting my turn to ride Golden Lion when I noticed a commotion happening a few rows up from me. A young boy was screaming that he didn't want to ride and his father was yelling at the child, saying he will go on or face severe consequences. As me and my best friend got into the car and pulled our lap bars down, I noticed a man violently grabbing his crying young boy by his torso and literally THROWING him into one of the seats of the third car. The man then proceeded to scream "NOW YOU SIT THERE AND YOU SHUT THE **** UP!" as he slapped the child with all of his force across the head. Everybody in the station was in shock. Almost immediately afterwards, I saw three people on their cell phones trying to call the local authorities on the man. Minutes later, three police officers entered the station via the exit and arrested the father. Another police officer comforted the little boy asked the child if he still wanted to ride the coaster (The cop probably didn't know all the details of what happened.). The child said no (obviously) and he was let out of the ride." The man was arrested for child abuse and is currently doing 8 years in prison. Reportedly, the child is currently in the legal custody of his mother. The second incident occurred later in the season around Labor Day weekend when a sudden power failure occurred in the chain lift of King Kobra just as the train was about to go over the first hill. Riders were stuck on the ride for an hour before riders were let off. However, as soon as the restraints were disabled to let the riders off car-by-car. However, as soon as the third car was let off, a ride operator accidentally pushed the train....Well, you know what happens next...gravity took over and the coaster began to operate with the restraints open and eight people still on the ride....Without brakes to stop the train, the King Kobra's train went through the entire circuit, blasting through the brake run and station and eventually stopped on the chain lift. Thankfully, no one fell out or was injured. King Kobra was SBNO for the rest of the season, inducing Halloween Haunt. In the beginning of the 2010 season, an announcement was made that on July 30th, 2010, The Rumbler (AKA Pain Express) was slated to permanently close. For the first time, I was actually really freakin' HAPPY to see a roller coaster get shut down! On July 31st, The Rumbler was imploded with dynamite early in the morning before the park opened. However, with the destruction of The Rumbler, the entire left corner of the Midway Americana area of the park began to fall apart. With only one ride (Big Squid) and a snack bar, foot traffic was almost non existent. No Entry signs and security guards were put in place in the area when two teenagers were caught doing a little bit of "urban exploration" in Rumbler's abandoned station. In 2011, the entire area of the park cordoned off and removed from the park map. However, the closure of the area was not permanent. That year, it was announced that it would reopen with new rides and a completely different theme. A theme that was "out of this world". (Gee, I guess what THAT means....) Pretty soon, the new space-age area was revealed, named "Sector Zero". This area featured a re-themed Big Squid, two new exciting flat rides and a 4D theatre. The first of the new rides is an S&S Rides large Screaming Swing, named "Firehawk" after the Vekoma Flying Dutchman coaster at Kings Island, another Cedar Fair property. The second of the new rides, "The Weapon", is a really unique one. The only adequate way I can describe this ride is what would happen if a HUSS Enterprise, a HUSS Giant Frisbee and an Inverting Pirate Ship had a love child. This flat ride was built and constructed by Fabbri and it's model is called "Evolution". Of course, this is Big Squid. Repainted, rethemed, and renamed (Hey, alliteration!) to "ALIEN INVASION". This is Outer Space, the 4D theatre that opened in the area. It's essentially a 4D IMAX planetarium movie. It was a pretty cool little thing, with the special glasses, you almost felt like you were soaring through space exploring the planets.... In addition to Sector Zero, the rest of the park got some upgrades as well. For example, Valkyrie got a brand new white and sky blue paint job. Also, the old Observation Point tower ride was removed and was replaced with a brand new and more thrilling observation experience....The Windseeker! Overall, when it opened in 2012, Sector Zero was a huge success for the park. The two new flat rides, Firehawk and The Weapon were ranked very high among the flat ride selection in the park and the space-age props in the area were praised, with people saying that they were "cheesy, but charming" Late in the 2012 season however, the higher ups at Cedar Fair and the general manager of Gateway Park began to research the market demand for a new roller coaster in Gateway Park. By the middle of the 2012 season, it was pretty much all but confirmed that a new steel roller coaster would be put in the new Sector Zero area. Teaser ads were then placed around the park using terms like "Taking Flight". Of course, for coaster enthusiasts, it only meant one thing. Gateway Park was getting a B&M flying coaster for 2013.... You could understand our shock in December of 2012 when Outer Space was removed from the park without any formal warning and a massive plot of land was cleared. That wasn't what shocked us, though. What shocked us was the pieces of INTAMIN track on the cleared land. We were all prepared for it to be a B&M Flying roller coaster, only for Gateway Park to throw us a curveball and build Intamin A.G coaster! By March of 2013, construction was complete and "Sanctum.exe" was slated to open that May! Sanctum.exe is an Intamin A.G Accelerator coaster with three inversions, a top hat element, an overbanked turn and two airtime hills that are packed with ejector air! The name "Sanctum.exe" comes from the central theme of the ride. You are an ultra-powerful computer virus who's mission is to get inside and infect an extremely secure mainframe. The coaster begins with an immediate swooping helix out of the station and into the underground! Originally, Sanctum.exe was planned to have a "freefall drop" element similar to Verbolten and Thirteen immediately after you leave the station before you go into the hydraulic launch. The idea was scrapped after they found that the hydraulic mechanism took up too much room and there simply wasn't enough space for an effective freefall drop mechanism. It's a shame, because that would have been just freakin' AWESOME!!!!! Immediately after the first helix, the train slows down to an absolute halt as the catch car latches onto the train. The "event tunnel" shows a series of green ones and zeros travelling across the screen in a normal fashion. Suddenly the green numbers flash a bright red and the train pulls back...an alarm sounds, signaling the beginning of the swift and powerful 0-78MPH launch! Immediately after the launch, you bust right into the first inversion, a 120 foot tall Immelmann inversion! The second element that the train goes through is a 140 foot tall top-hat that is just packed with floater airtime! After the top hat is the most unique element that Sanctum.exe has to offer. A gigantic 132 foot tall cobra roll. This is also the tallest cobra roll of any roller coaster! The high speed in which these trains go through these small hills will deliver some absolutely killer ejector airtime! This overbank hill is actually a lot more forceful than you would think. A second airtime hill, a brake run and a helix wrap up this awesome Intamin rocket coaster! Name: Sanctum.exe Built: 2013 Manufacturer: Intamin A.G Type: Steel Track Hydraulic-Launched twisting/looping coaster Height: 140 feet Length: 3,864 feet Top Speed: 78mph Height Requirement: 54 inches Inversions: One Immelmann, one giant cobra roll As expected, Sanctum.exe became a massive hit with the general public when it opened in May of 2013. Some people going as far as to say it's one of the best steel roller coasters in the entire country! I love this shot that I took during my latest trip to Gateway Park. Rock and Roll Express' vertical lift and beyond vertical drop paired with Sanctum.exe's cobra roll makes for an awesome Kodak moment! Want some proof that Sanctum.exe is immensely popular? Just take a look at this line. When I went to Gateway Park, I waited an hour and 45 minutes to go on Sanctum.exe. And that was with two six-car trains running! Even now in 2014, it's still debated whether or whether not Sanctum.exe dethroned Golden Lion as the king of all coasters in Gateway Park. One side says that because Sanctum.exe is launched and it's top speed is faster than Golden Lion means that Sanctum.exe overthrew Golden Lion. The other side says that even though Sanctum.exe is faster, Golden Lion is still the tallest roller coaster in the park at 202 feet tall and has more airtime hills. In my opinion however, they're both still amazing roller coasters. Albeit in different ways. It's almost scary to see how much a park can change in a period of eight years....I mean, look at the aerial shot of Gateway Park when I made my park guide back in 2006.... And this is what the park looks like NOW in 2014.... Creator Comments: Well, this is it. The end of the Gateway Park updates. Overall, I'm proud of the coasters I've made in the park. I'm very satisfied with how Golden Lion, Valkyrie, and Sanctum.exe came out. I think they look pretty damn realistic if I say so myself. The child abuse incident on Golden Lion was very sadly based on a real life event that I witnessed on Dominator at Kings Dominion when a quote-unquote "father" called his son a pussy because he didn't want to go on. Also, the incident on King Kobra was based on the incident on Python at Efteling where the ride restarted as passengers were being let off.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1394678/canada-s-wonderland-retires-iconic-stand-up-roller-coaster-skyrider-after-29-years Maybe a nice park in Bangladesh will buy it.

The park looks very good and I love the wing coaster....but what makes the inclined loop any different than those that already exist on B&M standups or Top Fun Typhoons?

I KNOW...Great coaster, but that entire time is just constant BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG in your ear.

Alpengeist is definitely one of the loudest lifts out there.

Don't blame him, the guy is in his 80s and has designed many of the best coasters in the world. His retirement is well deserved.

Farewell tour? That means it's definitely coming back

If hypothetically, a US park bought it....Who would be more likely? Cedar Fair or Six Flags?

Kings Dominion to get more flats. Then out of the blue, an announcement was made on Theme Park Review that for 2015, Vortex at California's Great America would be getting floorless trains and also, an Intamin accelerator coaster with Skyrush trains and four inversions was confirmed and it would be named.....

That's a very good point, but B&M hypers have a similar concept and in my opinion are designed to be more comfortable. And since they're mechanically ratcheting restraints they don't typically tighten on your legs so its a more "free" experience You see, I have the opposite problem. I have somewhat muscular legs and pretty big hips and because of that, the few times that I rode Apollo's Chariot, the sides of my legs would constantly be pinched by the restraints. Good ride otherwise.

I've been to KD three times and I've never had that happen before....In fact, as a bigger guy, I find that to be one of the easier coasters to get in. For the woodies and Flight of Fear, I have to tuck my balls between my legs in order to be comfortable.

You see, I actually love Skyrush's restraints. I love the feeling of having nothing to the side of you or on your chest. You're upper body is completely free which makes for a pretty exhilarating experience, especially for first time riders.

I'm a big guy, but I managed to squeeze into a few non-big boy seats on B&Ms. Not comfortable, but what are you gonna do? I only managed to get into an Intamin T-bar once, and it was super uncomfortable. Thank GOD that it was a good ride to distract the feeling (Millenium Force). Also B&M hyper trains are a pretty tight.

Still no feedback? Anyways.... GATEWAY PARK: THE SAGA CONTINUES In June of 2006, I posted a blog containing details, pictures, and visiting tips on my home park, Gateway Falls in Bridgeport, CT. Eight years later, I realize that so much has changed since then.....And where else should I start other than the beginning? About a week after I posted my blog, I was shocked to find out about the confirmation that The Wasp was going to be removed by the end of the 2006 season. Supposedly, Gateway Park has been trying to sell The Wasp since 2004 for some unforeseen reason and two years later, a deal was finally made. Dismantling of the coaster began in October and was completed by November. According to RCDB; as of 2009, The Wasp continues to operate in a small park in Russia where it is known as Циклы звезды (Russian for "Looping Star", which incidentally, was the coaster's original name when it was operation the German funfair circuit from 1980 to 1988 when it was relocated to Gateway Park.) Come 2007, I realized what a big void that the removal of The Wasp left in all of us parkgoers. Me and many other coaster enthusiasts I know all agreed that The Wasp was the perfect starter coaster for young kids that don't find kiddie coasters exciting but are too frightened or not tall enough to ride the big guns. While King Kobra isn't too extreme, The Wasp just seemed perfect for that role...Also, halfway through the season, Discoball, the Zamperla Disko was removed. After a period of mourning was a period of excitement. Gateway Park confirmed that they are going to be building a new themed area for the park with a new steel roller coaster for 2008. The steel coaster was advertised to be a "Vertical-diving looping coaster" which set off TONS of speculation that the new coaster was going to be a B&M Diving Coaster like Sheikra or Griffon..... The brand new themed area was a complete revitalization of Thrill Summit, the area where The Wasp once stood. Thrill Summit was now known as Rock Star Plaza and included one brand new attraction and two re-themed old attractions. Fear: The Ride was repainted and renamed Revolution. THANK GOD. No more of that cheesy "scary" haunted house fear shtick and no more of that uber-misleading "scariest ride in the world" crap! Discoball was relocated within the park and moved to the new Rock Star Plaza area. But the MAIN attraction of the new area was a brand new Gerstlauer Eurofighter! The full name for the new coaster was "THE WARRIORS: Rock and Roll Express" but is very commonly known as just "Rock and Roll Express" It is an extensively themed roller coaster based on a rock concert. The queue of the ride is divided into three separate areas, The first is themed after waiting in line for the show. The whole time, a lighted marquee will loop the same message over and over again. "Tonight's Show: THE WARRIORS LIVE!" While blasting classic hard rock and heavy metal hits from the loudspeakers. The second area of the queue is..."The Show"! This area is especially cool at night when they do a rock n' roll themed laser light show on the stage. I've always loved how the laser lights and the lights from the Giant Wheel almost "combat" each other. The third and final area of the queue is "backstage" where riders will meet two Arabian Warrior statues that are, in fact the "singer" and "lead guitarist" of the fictional rock band, The Warriors which the ride is themed after. "The Warriors" will then deem you worthy to ride on their patented "Rock and Roll Express"! Upon further examination, you will notice that the station for Rock and Roll Express is actually a gigantic Marshall amplifier! In terms of the roller coaster itself, Rock and Roll Express is a direct clone of Speed: No Limits at Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales but with different cars. I was a little disappointed to find out that the new coaster for 2008 was a clone and not an original design, but the ride itself is a lot of fun! That camelback after the beyond vertical drop gives you so much airtime and the heartline twist after the brake run gives you a healthy dosage of hangtime! Name: The Warriors: Rock and Roll Express Built: 2008 Manufacturer: Gerstlauer Type: Steel Track Vertical Drop Twisting/Looping Height: 115 feet Length: 2,000 feet Top Speed: 60mph Height Requirement: 52 inches Inversions: One loop, one heartline roll The ride has one more trick up it's sleeve...Every half-hour, a shower of pyrotechnics erupts from the top of the amplifier station! Next post: Another major coaster bites the dust, another new area and a new coaster that rivals the biggest and baddest coasters in not just Gateway Park, but in the entire northeast....

A lot of people argue that some video games can be considered artistic, especially with the famous PlayStation 3 game Journey. But what about games where you can implement your own creativity? The gist of what I'm trying to say is, would park making in the Roller Coaster Tycoon series be considered an art form? There is no doubt that some people put an absolute exorbitant amount of time into making sure every single fine detail is perfect and that no stone is left unturned when it comes to making realistic parks that would be able to exist in real life, much how an artist in hyperrealism takes extra measures to make sure that the painting is absolutely flawless. Also; and I'm talking from first-hand experience, in order to get good at park making, you just need to keep doing it over and over again to hone your skills. With all of this in mind, would it be considered an art form?

Both can be extremely realistic and unrealistic depending on how you play. With the sheer amount of CFR, CTR, No Limits import tracks, and CS for RCT3, you can easily make parks and roller coasters that look extraordinarily realistic. However, I've never liked using the No Limits imports. Even thought it makes the park look more realistic, honestly, it's no fun to just plop one down and be done with it. I find it a much more fun and gratifying experience to use coaster types that allow you to make your own design, whether it's default or CTR. RCT2 is undoubtly more popular amongst parkmakers and some of the projects I've seen using RCT2 are just absolutely freakin' AMAZING. However, I feel that it takes so much more extra work to make a realistic park. Dealing with the 8 Cars Per Trainer, SOB Trainer, the sheer amount of CS, the lack of "Extended Coaster" pieces, 2.5D Isometric view instead of full 3D. It just seems so much harder which really makes me appreciate the work that goes into those parks.

Extremley good idea for a suspended coaster and I'm happy to see something like this done in NL2. I only wish that Arrow was still around so that they could attempt something like this. Hell, I wish Vekoma still made their "Swinging Coaster" model....

I've always had the idea of Intamin restraints like on Maverick and Intimidator 305 without the shoulder straps so you're being held just by your lap....I guess the closest thing to that is Skyrush's restraints.

Dragon looks like it would definitely benefit from getting some new trains with lap bars. I think it suffers from the same problem that Revolution at SFMM has, unnecessary OSTRs.

I tried to do exactly that on Friday, June 27th of this year at a carnival in Countryside, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) and nearly got arrested and thrown in jail for it. They had the Zipper at that carnival, I tried to go on alone, the operator would not even budge to let me on by myself, then I asked around if anyone was available to ride the Zipper with me, and they complained to the police. And not only did I not get a chance to ride one of my all time favorite carnival rides for the first time in almost 3 years, but I nearly end up spending the night, possibly even longer, in jail. I really have a hard time believing this. Yes, there are some real bitches and bastards in this world, but the notion of someone going out of their way to call the police on you because you wanted to ride a Zipper because you're a single rider is just too unbelievable.

So far, I like it! I once tried to make a park based off of Bumbly Beach in RCT3. It was known as Bumbly Boardwalk Park until it was bought by Six Flags in 1990 and was renamed Six Flags Over Florida....but that was before I really put much effort in parkmaking. Great White and that Arrow is very realistic and well designed, but I don't know why you didn't keep the original woodie that was there....Can't wait to see the other coasters!

Here are some pictures from the 2006 season of Gateway Park that Ellen left out of her blog, all in the proper resolution! Valkyrie and Golden Lion.... Fear-The Ride: The most overrated and overhyped flat ride. Beautiful shot of MaxAIR and The Wasp. DiscoBall, a Zamperla Disko that was built in 2004. Another shot of Golden Lion. The loop of The Wasp. Roller Coaster's lift hill. One of The Rumbler's hills....those poor peeps didn't know what they were getting themselves into... King Kobra's double corkscrew element. Arial view of Gateway Park from atop the Giant Wheel.... A similar view from atop Observation Point, Gateway Park's Intamin A.G Gyro Tower.

I'm already loving it! The station for the mine train coaster is very well built. The skyway reminds me a lot of Cedar Point....I'm assuming that Frontier Forest is going to be a coaster paradise? And seeing as how Frontier Forest is located in Virginia....they're going to have some competition