BitterOldHag

According to the ride list on the IX Centers website, the log flume will not be in attendance this year but the Crazy Mouse will be. No new rides will be present this year... Just the old standbys like the KMG Freak Out, the ARM Vertigo, Chance Zipper, Larson Shock Drop and the ARM G-Force.

Unless it's a typo, the article states that the incident occurred in 2012. Um, it took her 2 years to figure out that she wanted to sue?

And saturating a park with B&M's is a bad thing? They are reliable, people-eating rides that the General Public seem to enjoy... so why not add more B&M's? I'll take a Leviathan, GateKeeper, Apollo's Chariot or Banshee anyday.

I didn't think Cedar Point allowed photography from the Sky Ride unless proper permission was given. Their website states that photography is only allowed on the CP & LE Railroad. Since I know how fast people are to jump on others here and across the internet in general for not following park rules, I thought I'd point it out.

It’s interesting how many horrid reviews there are of Mt. Olympus online. I have only visited once, back in 2010, and thought it was a pretty decent park. Granted, I got there when the park opened on an early June Saturday, got on all the rides I wanted in under 2 hours (including 3 rides on the coaster then known as Hades) and didn’t eat there, but aside from the long uphill climb to leave, I really had no problems with the park. I also thought it had some halfway decent theming. Perhaps if I would have visited later in the season or spent more time there I would have seen the negative things that people point out. But during my brief time there, I actually sort of enjoyed it. Then again, I also was a fan of Son of Beast, Drachen Fire, and the original Steel Phantom, so I doubt my opinion of MTO means a whole lot!

Disneyland's website lists Space Mountain in the "Closed For Refurbishment" section of their calendar through at least the first week of May. Soarin' is currently not on that list, but is still clsoed as far as I know. Apparently, Matterhorn was slated to be down this week and next for refurb, but as of now, they are leaving it open to compensate for Space Mountain being down, along with Big Thunder which is closed through October or so. Going in two weeks, I am mildly disappointed, but since DCA is new to me and I am a huge fan of DL's dark rides, I think I will survive without Space Mountain and Soarin' being open.

Video of the ride in action from this past Saturday. MUCH faster than I expected!

This is probably a stupid question, but does anyone know what graphic design program is used by artists that draw the maps we see at our favorite amusement parks? I’m not a huge fan of the Cedar Fair maps, but there is a lot of work that goes into one and I was wondering if anyone knew what was used to create them. I’m trying to learn how to draw freehand in Adobe Illustrator, but I can’t get the drawing style down yet. I tried Autodesk Sketchbook Pro as well, but I’m having a problem when zooming in on a particular section of the screen as the program seems to crop it and I lose the rest of my drawing. If anyone has any input, it would be greatly appreciated. I know there are some excellent graphic artists here and I figured someone would probably know!

Lisko and Sons were the "fine" operators of Conneaut Lake's rides from 2008-2010. I seem to recall them bringing their dilapidated Chance SkyDiver to Conneaut for the few seasons they were running the rides. Lisko provides the rides for the Lake County Fair in Painesville,OH and I have to say that they are quite possibly the worst travelling amusement rides I have seen in this area. Their Gravitron had exposed wires hanging from the sign, the Sizzler looked rusted out, and their stripped down Flying Bobs (renamed Flashback) barely went at half speed. I also recall there being giant pieces of black duct tape on that swan kiddie ride. How they can be proud of their ride appearance is beyond me. The only cool piece they had (which was now about 5 years back and I haven't seen it since) was a strange early Enterprise-type ride that spun horizintally, then the entire wheel climbed up an arched support to reach its near-vertical spin position. I was informed the ride was from Heinz-Fahtz and it is the only time I had ever seen one. Wish I would have had my camera that day! Thanks for the fun TR though. Ghetto carnivals always make me laugh!

How about these- The ARM G-Force (shuttle coaster or thrill ride?) And the Conneaut Lake/Camden Park Pretzel Dark Rides. They use a chain lift, have a drop, and are powered by gravity. I find it interesting to see what some people count as a coaster. This has been a good read.

My favorite things about the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride are the mannequins out front to make it appear that there are actually people waiting to get in, and the awesome "Now Open!" sign even though the place has been around for 8 or 9 years now. Hauntings down in Gatlinburg has the same sign and they have been around since at least 1983. I do have to say that I actually have TPR to thank for bringing the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride to my attention. I probably would have skipped this state-of-the-art attraction on my visit to PF last year, but instead, I got to experience the "Plan Nine From Outer Space" of dark rides in all its glory!

The fair usually runs somewhere around spring break for the local schools, so a good estimate is Easter. This year's fair runs through April 15. The G-Force ride pictured (the u track ride from ARM) does not have spinning seats. It simply pulls the cars to the top of he hill and drops it. The car rolls back and forth until it stops. It is really quite lame. YouTube has some videos of it if you do a search. And if I recall, the very first IX carnival was held in November. I guess the spring break time frame must bring in more visitors.

I believe the ride duties are split between Bates and North American Midways. The Crazy Mouse is booked in through Amusements of America. The mid 90's were the best years for this event. In addition to the aforementioned Galaxi and Reverchon Log Flume, there was a Pinfari Looping Coaster, a Larson Crazy Train, the first ever Top Spin in North America, and the most evil ride ever created, the Tivoli Force 10 (known as the Black Out). Based on your TR, I may pass on this year's installment. Thanks for posting and I look forward to seeing the rest of your photos.

These are the "new" rides Fun Slide: Jitterbug Swings: I believe these are from Swank's Steel City Shows who seem to have partnered up with CLP once the Lisko's left town. The Roll-O-Plane is being retired as well based on a sign posted at the ride's entrance. The Train and Bug were also undergoing maintenance.

Anyone who loves CGA should hope it isn't a Cornhole game...

Wouldn't that have been Light Magic? At least the locals even turned against that one. My disappointments: - Violence at amusement parks. Seabreeze had to close over Memorial Day weekend because of rumors that a gang fight would be held at the park. Over at Kennywood, two girls got into a fight and one ended up being stabbed. When I was at Waldameer in July, two guys were hurling f-bombs at each other in line for RF2 and kept making threatening comments. When a ride op asked what was going on, one of the guys said "You'd better shut the f--- up or you'll be next." Thankfully it ended well with security escorting a very irate guy out of the line, but still, at a family park, leave that crap at home. - Wild Thing at Valleyfair. What I expected was a decent ride like Dorney's Steel Force. What I got was anything but. - The fact that someone at Cedar Fair thought the updated music for Cedar Downs was great. It's simply awful and I feel sorry for the ride op that has to listen to that infernal song over and over and over again each day. Ray P (trying to have more fun and take things less seriously)

Great pics G-Dog. I loved Haunted River and still rate it in my Top 5 Flumes of All Time. I remember there being a Rotor inside that mountain too. One question though- would Drachen Fire have been considered "groundbreaking"?

If I'm not mistaken, Japan's now-defunct Moonsault Scramble was the first "200-foot coaster". Sort of like how Superman The Escape was the first 400-footer. And Bandit at Yomiuriland (I believe) was also close to 200 feet. Dickie even admitted that's where he got the inspiration for Magnum from in an old interview that I don't care to find right now. Magnum has mostly hills, three tunnels and one turnaround. MF has 5 hills, several turns, 2 tunnels and a turnaround. They sound similar, no? I have been on both hundreds of times and yes they are two different ride experiences... but to the GP, they aren't that much different other than one being bigger. I like that you present your opinion as a fact. "Definitely Better". Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but to come across so arrogantly that your opinion overrules Geauga Dog's is sort of lame. I personally think the single-end impulses are better than WT also. Does that make me an ignorant CP hater? Again with your opinion as fact. Because YOU feel size = groundbreaking doesn't mean everyone else does. I agree with Geauga Dog. Batman was ground breaking as it was the original and nothing else was like it at the time. Agreed on the "next level" part. Too bad that next level involved sending shards of metal into riders faces and having the ride shut down for much of its debut season. It doesn't get much more innovative than that! I said it before, we're all entitled to our own opinions. But when you present your opinion as fact, don't expect everyone to agree with you and take it so well. I have visited CP for 37 years now and I still like the place. I just don't think it's the ultimate park that many make it out to be.

I found two for Darien Lake: Haymaker Rodeo Roundup Again, the quality is meh.. but if they can assist, I'm more than happy to contribute.

Unfortunately, these are the only pics I have of The Brat. Looking into the station The course Slightly overexposed action shot

On the Erieview note, here are some more Erieview pics: Roll-O-Plane Octopus Eli Wheel Flying Scooters Tilt-A-Whirl Carousel All photos taken by Ray P, the Bitter Old Hag. I miss Erieview...