shivtim
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Posts posted by shivtim
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A few more classic keychains, including what I think is probably my oldest keychain (Riverview Park).
Old-school keychain!
This park closed two decades before I was born. They had a total of 19 different coasters over the years.
Carowinds, before Paramount or Cedar Fair.
Home of the 1938 Blue Streak.
RIP, Pavilion! I think the trains on the hurricane were cursed. First Hurricane closed in 2006, and then the trains were moved to Son of Beast. We all know how that worked out!
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Opening day for Hurricane Harbor is scheduled for Friday, May 30.
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Today I have a few more old-school keychains.
Canada's Wonderland before Paramount or Cedar Fair
Fiesta Texas before Six Flags
Rattler before RMC
Remember Questor?
Home of CCI's first coaster, Sky Princess / Kingdom Coaster
Home of two classic dippers (big and lil)
Another defunct park. Anyone get the chance to ride Screechin' Eagle?
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Don't forget to check hotwire. I use it all the time and you save a TON of money. You don't get to pick your exact hotel, but you can pick the area and see the reviews before you decide. For example, I looked at the first weekend in June, and there's a 3-star hotel in Wisconsin Dells that is 95% recommended (with 237 reviews), has a pool and free parking and wifi for just $89 a night. You can use betterbidding.com to try to figure out the hotel - it looks like this one is the Ramada Wisconsin Dells.
A couple weeks ago I got the Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Orlando on hotwire for $59 a night.
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What little scholarly research there is indicates it could be a problem, but it's not really clear:
"Although the arrhythmias observed in our study of healthy individuals were benign, the magnitude of increase in heart rate raises the possibility of risk for individuals with underlying cardiac disease." (Kuschyk et al. Cardiovascular Response to a Modern Roller Coaster Ride. JAMA. 2007;298(7):739-741).
In a systematic evaluation of 40 roller coaster fatalities over a 10-year period, at least 7 deaths were attributed to cardiac causes."...further research is
needed on roller coaster related deaths resulting from intracranial hemorrhages and cardiac problems to determine what role, if any, roller coasters play in these deaths."
(Pelletier and Gilchrist, Roller coaster related fatalities, United States, 1994–2004. Inj Prev 2005;11:309-312).
That being said, anything that raises your heart rate and/or produces g-forces on your body could have the same level of danger. Athletic activity, riding a bike, taking off in an airplane, stressful emotional situations... and so many other things. Obviously you can't just live in a bubble. Discuss it with your doctor, weigh the pros and cons, and make an informed decision.
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After seeing good reviews and yummy-looking pictures on here, we went to Antojitos for dinner while we were at CityWalk to play minigolf. It was awful! I don't know if it's gone downhill since it opened or it was just a bad night, but our food was bland, cold, and way overpriced. The duck tacos were a disaster. And I usually love both duck and tacos! Just a fair warning for anyone who is looking for a place to eat at Universal.
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Indiana Beach had some very unique keychains. I love it when parks have a lot of quirky merchandise, instead of just generic "SIX FLAGS BATMAN" stuff. Anybody know of other parks with off-beat and unique souvenirs?
IB Crow and donkey ride LoCoSuMo! The mine cart slides back and forth across the keychain.
A faux-bronze Indiana Beach eagle? Why not?
A whole mini deck of cards inside a keychain!
Old-school film roll keychain that pulls out, revealing Indiana Beach attractions.
Early 90's Indiana Beach
Notice the Hoosier Hurricane wasn't even built yet. At this point the only coasters were Galaxy and Tig'rr
And of course, a plush IB Crow!
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My photos from Media Day:
Amazing. You've got some photography talent.
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Superman El Ultimo Escape at Six Flags Mexico once again didn't have enough riders to be included. It was only ranked by 9 riders, but most of them have big track records. There's a huge difference in how Superman was ranked:
#7 (out of 259)
#15 (out of 52)
#15 (out of ~200)
#23 (out of 111)
#64 (out of ~200)
#109 (out of 251)
#176 (out of 337)
And then two who used a grouping method:
#39, Grouped/tied with coasters such as Full Throttle, Goliath (SFOG), and Afterburn
#50, Grouped/tied with coasters such as Montu, Maverick, and Incredible Hulk
Personally I loved the coaster, but there seems to be a pretty wide range of opinions. I wonder where it would rank?
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Time for an update! Here are a few more random keychains from the late 90s.
From the Paramount ownership days of Kings Island. Weird color scheme for the Beast.
From the opening year of Medusa (now Bizarro), the first floorless coaster! The train kind of looks like a row of pigs.
Another SFGAdv coaster - this one moved to Brazil in 2012 but hasn't been re-constructed yet.
Yay Phoenix! Such an awesome coaster.
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What would a theme park forum be without wild, unfounded speculation?
The newest rumor is that all B&M hypercoasters are installing airbags this season.
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From downtown Atlanta:
All parks:
1. Six Flags over Georgia (15 min)
2. Fun Junction USA (25 min)
3. Lake Winnie (90 min)
Major parks:
1. Six Flags over Georgia (15 min)
2. Wild Adventures (3hr 20 min)
3. Carowinds (3hr 45 min) and Dollywood (3 hr 45 min)
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Cedar Point keychain time! Here are some slightly older ones:
Leather Raptor
Aww, I miss Demon Drop.
Old school Magnum keychain. Who knew Magnum had an immelmann?
Credit whore Woodstock's Express keychains!
This was the coldest ride on a coaster I've ever had. It was about 39 degrees and extremely windy. Brrr!
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Cedar Fair bought a Vekoma boomerang for Worlds of Fun. They don't really show an allegiance to one manufacturer, with recent new coasters from B&M, Zamperla, GCI, Intamin, and Mack (and Triotech Amusement if you count the new "coaster" at Canada's Wonderland). So I think an SLC at Valleyfair could definitely happen, but at this point it's just a rumor.
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^The easiest way is just to take a taxi. You can arrange an official (safe) taxi from your hotel.
A cheaper option is to take the Metro line 3 to the southernmost station, Universidad. You don't need to speak Spanish to take the Metro, everything has pictures and is color coded. There's a large taxi stand right outside the station (next to the buses), and it's about 40 pesos ($3.50) to take a cab to SFM from there. It's only about 7km away and takes maybe 10 minutes depending on traffic. On the way back, you can catch a taxi on the street right outside SFM, and take it to Universidad station to do the trip in reverse.
Have fun!
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A few more keychains from Florida parks
The Gwazi logo is pretty cool
Kraken on-ride
I really like the colors on this Kraken keychain
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I absolutely love Kumba. It's my 3rd favorite steel coaster. Perfect blend of smoothness, intensity, and environment.
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Skyrider at #20 ? I found it to be awful! What did you appreciated so much in it ? (Just curious )
I know most people hate Skyrider, but I loved it! The airtime on the camelback after the loop is incredible, and the last two bunny hops are insane. Sure, the restraints are incredibly awkward, but if you sit(stand) in the front its an amazing ride. I'm not sure why, but to me it just seemed way smoother and more intense than its clones I've been on at King's Dominion (and formerly King's Island). When I went to Canada's Wonderland this past summer, it was one of the few coasters we rode multiple times. I guess I'm just weird, but it's definitely one of my favorites.
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A couple from Dueling Dragons (Dragon Challenge):
One of my favorites. Fire Dragon on one side, Ice Dragon on the other side, and it lights up red/blue when you push the button.
Such a cool concept for a coaster!
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Just finished mine!
Top 20:
1)Favorite Wood (Phoenix at Knoebel's)
2)Expedition GeForce, Holiday Park
3)Millennium Force, Cedar Point
4)Kumba, Busch Gardens Tampa
5)Montu, Busch Gardens Tampa
6)Storm Runner, Hersheypark
7)Blue Fire Megacoaster, Europa Park
8)X2, Six Flags Magic Mo
9)New Texas Giant, Six Flags Over Texas
10)Leviathan, Canadas Wonderland
11)Euro-Mir, Europa Park
12)Mindbender, Six Flags Over Georgia
13)Bizarro, Six Flags New England
14)Talon, Dorney Park
15)Shockwave, Six Flags Over Texas
16)Incredible Hulk, Islands of Adventure
17)Superman el Ultimo, Six Flags Mexico
18)Volcano: The Blast Coaster, Kings Dominion
19)Afterburn, Carowinds
20)SkyRider, Canadas Wonderland
And the hall of shame:
Fav Vekoma Corkscrew
Fav Chance Toboggan
Roller Coaster, New York New York
Goudurix, Parc Asterix
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A few more keychains on a sunny Thursday:
Some Lake Compounce Keychains from around 2000 or 2001.
Long Island Adventureland keychains!
SFOT keychain from 2001.
RIP, Six Flags Astroworld!
A couple of old SFOG keychains.
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An immersive shooting dark ride is possible. Maus au Chocolat at Phantasialand is a good example. Yes, it's a shooter, but it also has an inventive story line and really good theming. Best of both worlds. Some of the Sally dark rides are actually pretty good. It's fun to ride once playing the shooting game, then ride again and just take in all the details.
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A few more, including from some defunct rides.
I love the whale tail / snowflake theme
Solo ride on Hydra
X-Scream at the Stratosphere
Some old Magic Mountain keychains, including Deja Vu and the original X
And the old High Roller from Stratosphere
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Today, some more international coaster keychains!
Europa Park is an amazing park, but they had a very poor selection of keychains. I didn't see any coaster/ride keychains.
Some Walygator keychains
Hanayashiki in Tokyo
Tokyo Aqua Stadium - home of the indoor Intamin launched looper with lapbars!
Coaster and Park Keychains
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
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This week's theme is "all American keychains"! From the patriotic to the tacky.
Summer fireworks at Cedar Point! From 1995.
Remember Opryland? Well here's a patriotic Opryland keychain!
Ummm.... yeah... this may be one of my favorite keychains. The tacky clipart and rainbow font is magnificent.
"The Park at MOA" was the short lived name of Mall of America's amusement park after Knott's Camp Snoopy and before Nickelodeon Universe.