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aero21

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Everything posted by aero21

  1. I'm thinking we might see our first Shazaam! coaster. 1. Its a better name for a coaster. 2. You can ty in the other DC characters better to it as he's in the Justice League. 3. The movie did very well and we have a sequel on deck for next year as well. I could see yellow track with red supports, throw a Lightning logo front car to complete the look. Maybe theme the que to the Rock of Eternity (his lair). Just thinking out loud......
  2. Hey guys, Just got home from the media day for Batman: The Ride. It was quite a morning for the park and everyone involved had been at the park extremely early so I appreciated all the friendly employees and animal ambassadors. This ride was completed just in time for this preview with the State of California signing off on the ride just hours prior to the event. I am sure glad we didn't get another repeat of the Harley Quinn debacle from last year. The park is throwing an opening event tonight from 10pm until 3am and they still have a lot of work to do as most of the fencing surrounding the que was still in need of installation. The ride is the newest addition to the newly re-themed DC Universe area of the park which includes Superman, Wonderwoman, Harley Quinn, The Joker, The Penguin, and the re-themed The Flash: Vertical Velocity. A new restaurant called Big Belly Burger and a still yet to be finished quick service location between Batman and Harley Quinn. The area looks nice and fun but could use a few more themed elements to put it over the top (may I suggest moving the wave swinger and retheming it to the Gotham Crime Wave). Some major changes also seem to be on the way as it looks like the "Marine World" side of the park may be getting phased out. Removal of the Dolphin exhibits and infrastructure is underway and there are construction markers all the way up to the Sting Ray Bay exhibit. Hopefully this is all just to build a grand entrance to the DC area, but it feels more like a retreat from the original animal-centric version of the park. I was able to get about 12 rides in on The Batman and I think this was a wise investment as it is not only fun to ride but it adds a different kind of energy to the park. The park spent a good amount getting the que experience up to par with cool displays and techy type gadgets in the first building and a Batmobile (different one than id ever seen before) along the line. I won't go into detail about the ride experience because I am sure most of you have read about the these rides before. I will say the seats do not spin as much as I would have liked but that really depends on who your sitting with. On a full train you will get a much different experience than riding alone. Oddly enough I was able to ride with 3 of the band members of Imagine Dragons who are in town for a concert and we really spun. Also, as noted by a few of the ACErs in attendance, if your plus size you can really spin too. In all I want to thank Six Flags for having me out and I can't wait to see what you have planned next! The Flash: Vertical Velocity. Really nice repaint. The Joker Big Belly Burger Harley Quinn Crazy Coaster (when its open) The Penguin escaped!! deconstruction of the dolphin pool Overseeing his new toy. Batcomputer in the que more que themeing, more stuff is incoming. overview Still on the loose, and he found the donuts! He's getting away! Thanking my awesome host!
  3. Thinking of heading to the park for New Years, anyone know what the crowds are typically for this event?
  4. When the only forces you are experiencing is "shaking", then you know there is a problem. The entrance into the stations is where I noticed the most amount of roughness.
  5. Anyone else wondering why V2 hasn't been rebranded to The Flash yet? That side if the park is gonna get very crowded but I'm happy we are getting one. Harley was a massive disappointment so this helps. They are going to have an interesting decision to make about the animals in the park. The exhibits are in a very sad state and the shows, although educational, are depressing. I would love to see Six Flags open a animal only park nearby and bring back a version of Marine World/ Africa USA.
  6. Hey community, Going to the park for the first time in awhile this Saturday. Does anyone know what rides are down at the moment besides green lantern and apocalypse. Looking at fast pass possibly as well, you think it will be worth it?
  7. We sat in the front row on the right side train. I was hoping for a bit of interaction on the opposing train but I don't remember doing anything with the other riders. Once it started running it was so shaky that I was too busy trying to keep my head looking straight ahead that I didn't pay much attention to the other train. Its one of those rides that are really fun to look at but you really don't want to wait for if there is a line.
  8. I went down on Monday for the season pass preview. I have to say both my kids and I all agreed that the ride was not that great. Even with almost no lines they both agreed that they didn't want to ride it again. Its slow, shaky, and has a short cycle. If it was twice as big then you may have something but for now its more of a kids ride (which is oddly themed to the least "kid friendly" character).
  9. Just got back from a week long Orlando trip, My first time there. I was able to get 1 day in at Sea World to ride Mako and see what it had to offer, then a 3 day pass to the Universal Resort. First let me say I was very impressed with Sea World, it was very well themed and the shows and rides were all very good. Mako and Manta were the two favorites. I have ridden a few hyper coasters and both the giga coasters having now moved to the east coast and I would say Mako fits into exactly what I was expecting. B&M make great coasters and this one is right there with the others. The First drop, overbank second hill, and low airtime hill are easily the highlights of this ride. I wish the had done more with everything past the mid course brake as it seems to just kinda cruise into the brake run. I do love the music that is played outside the que when the train comes flying through, its very startling. On to my Universal trip. Everything was great! I was loving the details in theming and I cant say I didnt like a single ride I went on. IOA was a dream park of mine and I loved every second of it. Each area was visually amazing and has at least one ride that I had to do at least twice. The only ride I felt was a little lack luster was the Jurassic Park River Adventure. I guess I was expecting more having ridden the Hollywood one and thinking IOA would have had a bigger budget to plus the ride up a bit more. When we scheduled our trip we knew there was a chance that Kong would be open, but we weren't sure. The first day there we were told that the ride would be down and was not expected to open so we moved on through our trip. Day two came along and we were at the studios side and thought it was worth a Hogwarts Express trip over to the park to check on the status. We walked up to the ride and noticed that all the outdoor effects were on, so I asked the attendant and she said that the ride could open but no promises. I decided to wait just a bit due to the odd amount of activity happening behind the barriers by higher level looking people. After about 25 minutes a nice man came up to the fence where we were standing and said "follow me" and we did. So here is my experience and thoughts on Kong. ***** SPOILER REVIEW****** Walking into the que under the large rock formation of Kong is really neat, but the rest of the outside que to the left of the main building was a surprise. You take a trail over to the left of the main building that really feels grown in and tropical, they have misters all along the ground to simulate low hanging fog. Sounds of the jungle are piped in to really make you feel that you are not in Kansas anymore. Every now and then a large expedition truck would lumber by followed by the loud booming sound of the large gate opening and closing swallowing its sacrifices. Past the outdoor que finds you in a quassy outdoor/indoor que with a 1920's NBC radio loop playing through the speakers. If you listen to the broadcast it really gives you a good run down of whats going on. Apparently an island has been found and a team of scientists have been dispatched to explore and retrieve items in the name of science. The 8th Wonder Expedition is what they have been dubbed and the individuals in the party are introduced through various news briefings. This plays very well into the ride as you meet a few of these people through the ride and one of them will be introduced to you as your driver at the platform. Now into the more intense part of the que. Walking under the large black stone opening we find ourselves in what looks like a small temple. Large carvings are on the walls with various bones and sacrificial offerings placed in front, we head deeper. You pass by a large opening in the wall where a pissed off looking native stares back at you and growls. After a few switchbacks we make our way into a room where what looks to be a ritual is taking place. The room is tall and surrounded by large skulls carved into the rocks above us. A very cool orange glow comes from the empty eye sockets that get brighter as the ritual reaches its climax. At the front of the room is a native witch/shaman chanting something that is obviously raising tensions in the room, this animatronic is amazing and you get very close to her. She gets louder and louder and the room shakes when she says the name Kong. This loops over and over and I would say it lasts about 15 minutes from start to finish, its really cool and definitely sets up the next part of the que. We journey up a hallway that starts to get smaller until we are in a hallway bookended by dried up corpses. This hallway is dark for a reason as there is something waiting for you. Screams can be heard around corners and behind you. It looks like that pissed off native is back and doesn't want you around anymore. He appears through holes in the walls scaring you when you least expect it. Its like having a little bit of year round Horror Nights in the que, he got my wife really good on our second go round. Now we have reached the loading dock complete with crates and specimens ready to be shipped back for study. Most of the boxes have really cool labels and some of the boxes you can hear collected specimens. One box of course contains a large worm that watches you and reacts as you walk by. We collect our safety glasses and are led to the dock where our huge vehicle has just pulled in. We are loaded up and our driver, in this journey it was "Frank" introduces himself to us and gives us a few warnings. This is where I really was blown away. Apparently each truck is driven by a different character so your experience changes slightly per trip depending on who you get, remember these people were introduced in the news reels earlier. You can clearly see someone in the cab but the glass is just dirty enough to not make out specific details. You can see them moving, talking, getting the truck into gear, and driving. Off we go! The truck heads around the outside of the large temple past columns of rock and flames, chanting can be heard and Frank does his best to make light of the situation. A radio distress call comes through and Frank lets us know we need to make a detour to go get his pals. We enter the wilderness through the large gates that slam shut behind us. Frank lets us know that there are some strange things on the island but he has never seen anything to big. We see remains of a large ape to our left and large bats have taken up residence on the cave wall to our right. We move deeper and find our friends off to the left, they are in need of assistance and Frank offers to help. The bats have now awoken and are attacking. One picks up Kate (?) and flies her over us. We drive forward to find her, she has fought off the bat and is now in a ravine to our left. Large bugs and worms start to come from the ground and Kate fends them off with her machine gun, bug juice is flying everywhere. She tells us to get out of there and we do as she is grabbed by a claw and taken away. Driving forward we find ourselves in the jungle on either side, but not alone. Small raptor like dinosaurs have found us and begin chasing us as we drive away at high speed. As with all animal attacks, there is always a bigger one waiting and we are now in the midst of three large T-Rexes. They dispatch the raptors and turn their attention to our vehicle. They begin smashing into our truck with their large heads, their saliva hitting us in our faces. Just as it looks like we are finished Kong smashes through an old temple and saves us. This scene is amazing and having been on the Hollywood one I can say this is truly more immersive. The screens are closer to you and being that you are not in a huge train they can focus the action into a smaller area. Stuff is happening all around you and the movements of the vehicle match perfectly. Kong dispatches the dinos and we are free to drive away. As we turn the corner we get one last visit from Kong, there in all his humongous glory. I recommend taking off you safety glasses at this point so you can really see the detail involved with this amazing animatronic. Im also glad we get to spend more that a fleeting moment with this thing as its just amazing to watch. The sound is insane as well, you can feel him breath and his roar pierces you. Frank lets us know we have to get out of there and we head back to the loading dock. My impressions? This will be a massive hit and I didn't see one person come off the ride that wasn't smiling. Its a little rough for small children, especially the que. We were able to get two rides in and each time I saw something new. I cant wait to do it again. Now for a few really bad pics: Followed the Rep through the que misters all over the ground load station truck incomming
  10. I'm a little curious of what your definition of "airtime" is. Are we talking butt out of the seat or feeling of weightlessness? After riding I305 a few times I am more than glad that those restraints are there on that first hill after the drop. I agree about that trim though, feels like the ride might as well end right there.
  11. OK, so I started this park quite awhile ago. It was going to be my "Disney Masterpiece" inspired by Disneyland. Main street turned out almost exactly how I wanted and so did Adventureland. I got side tracked with life and everything so it's just been sitting on my computer doing nothing. The layout seems self evident with the "hub" style branch offs. You will see Adventureland, Tortuga (Pirates), and a Haunted Mansion to the left of Main Street. Going to the right you will see my take on what was going to be a "Tron" inspired Tomorrowland. Behind the castle was to be Fantasyland and to the right of that was Frontierland. You will notice that there are no rides placed as this was going to be more of an architectural vision, even though eventually there would be a Thunder Mountain added to frontierland. Anyways, hope it opens for you and you have fun with what is there. Disney Experiance.SV6
  12. Any ideas about how crowded the park will be on Easter Sunday?
  13. I have panned my family vacation for June 16th through the 20th and we are planning on hitting the two major parks in Virginia. I just moved to Raleigh this December and we are very excited to finally get some credits out here but don't know the area well. I've been looking at hotels and package offers for the two parks but I'm not sure what to go with. I will be driving to Roswell Monday morning and visiting King's Dominion then driving down to Williamsburg that evening to get a hotel. We plan to spend Tuesday getting some culture credits and then visiting Busch Gardens on Wednesday. Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful.
  14. Just got back from watching The LEGO Movie. I have to agree with what has been written previously. What a fun movie! The cameos are really fun but do not detract from the overall direction the movie was trying to achieve. The voice acting is really good, and the puns were delivered perfectly. Spaceship!!!
  15. I hope I can help out as it looks to be a very promising game. I have been playing RCT since it came out, I play at least 5 times a week. I have built countless parks and continue to do so because I enjoy getting the thrill from making something that I would visit or ride in real life. I tend to stay on the more realistic side of things so here is what I would like to see: 1. Buildings - Keep the designing process for buildings simple. One of the things I love about RCT2 is that I can build a structure to my desire and specification. It really got interesting for me when the smaller building pieces were introduced as user created stuff. The more detail I can put into my structures (restaurants, coaster stations, and dark rides) the better I connect with the game which keeps me coming back. I like the grid system of building, so I would keep that, just give me the 45 degree angle option on walls and roofs. A building editor outside the game would also be very useful. Maybe give me blank pieces (walls, roofs,windows, and doors) that I can attach textures to that the community can create. 2. Gardens, Trees, and Shrubbery - I like what I see so far. I might recommend being able to "size" these items within the game. Let me pick a tree for example and then make it bigger or smaller with a plus/minus tab to fit into the area and to also add some variety when I put 5 or 6 of the same trees together in an area. Don't worry about seasons as most people only visit a traditional theme park during the summer. I would also like the ability to turn off the weather or daytime clocks as well, not easy to build in the rain or dark. Again, the use of a land grid would still be helpful, but allow me to build through trees and shrubs to create depth within the square or triangle. 3. Coasters - Again, I like what I see. With the grid and diagonals within that grid as I discussed before, we should be able to make just about any regular coaster design out there. The one thing I would like is give me the elements predesigned so I don't have to go nuts with an editor like in No Limits. Make sure you allow the ability to upload new elements so as new designs are created in real life they can be uploaded as you see fit. Best example I can give is think RCT2's designer with the addition of angles into the editor and with the ability to add new elements into the predesigned drop down list. 4. Flat rides and extras - Sounds like you already have the right idea for the flats. Only thing is make sure we have the ability to replace the standard ques or entrance/exits with our own designs. For the motion rides like ghost houses or Pirates of the Caribbean type rides - just give us the vehicles and track systems, if the scenery is free form enough than we can build around them fairly easily You can add scenery packs later for a fee. Lastly, of course make the upload ability easy for when new rides are developed. 5. Peeps - This I really don't care too much for, in fact I rarely make a park that I can open to the little mayhem makers. Just make them not dumb. Variety is a good thing too like adults and kids. If I open a park with a kids area I want to see a family with kids head over there intuitively, likewise with teen booking it to the newest thrill ride. Don't worry about parades and the smaller random stuff as those things can be implied by a good designer. Give us the ability to create good realistic coasters, atmosphere, and buildings and you'll have a winner on your hands. In fact, give me RCT2 with the advancements Ive wrote about with the ability to export that world into a 3D type environment like RCT3 and it would be a perfect game in my mind.
  16. Just got back from media day at the park for Superman: Ultimate Flight. It was a great event with food, gifts, and Superman as the main attraction. I was able to take 3 rides on this one of a kind beast and it did not disappoint. I will tackle the worries about load times first. If the crew stays sharp for this ride, then I dont see that there will be the issues with occupancy as I had first worried. The station is quite small and the load teams do not have far to go to check restraints and get the train in motion. The train also comes to a perfect stop at just the right place every time, which will cut down the load issues that are seen on V2. The outside que area is very large with a whole bunch of switchbacks and there are TVs and info boards about Superman and his story throughout. Now, the ride. All I can say is Six Flags has a real gem at this small park. Everyone riding came back with huge smiles on their faces and rushed to get back in line. The launch is smooth and fast and gets you moving at quite a rapid pace, everyone of us in line for our first train were in awe watching this train shoot through the station a little faster each time. The front spike is my favorite followed by the back drop into the non inverting loop. The lap bar restraints are also a major highlight as they keep you in tight, especially through the slow speed twist, but do not restrain your arms or upper body in any way. Anyways here are some pics. Enjoy! Got in with some help from Captain Lee They handed out some newspapers for the event great little party with multi colored rock candy stations and some great food, and an open bar. Mmmmmmm The park president said some words, then.... Pow! Lets go! This first spike at full speed is amazing! The que uses the old Zonga station cover, but they added a lower level on the concrete. They also put a lot of comic style info boards for infotainment. Here is the outside of the station, I like it! (i'm told the ladder will be removed before opening) Here is the inside of the station, liked this too. some control panel porn for ya. The Daily Planet store awaits you at the exit. Absolutely gorgeous! Its a very photogenic ride. Special thanks to Captain Lee (superman), by the way he had rode this ride with media 28 times straight before this pic. Surprised his face wasnt blue too. Anyways, Go Ride it NOW!
  17. Yes, thats me. I haven't been able to finish anything the past few years but I'm always working on something. I put two of my unfinished parks in the exchange under Kingdom Hearts and Thunder Valley.
  18. It was the resolution. My graphic card is set to 1080p and the wide screen was causing a conflict every time I switched between windows. Now I just change my resolution to match the game and it works great! New problem though. I started my park in the Landscape Editor and it is looking great so far. I noticed that when I try to move it to the next stage it tells me the entrance path to the park is either not complete or has too many curves. I deleted all the path and made it an almost straight shot to the gate but it still is saying there is a problem. Anyone had this happen and what can I do to fix it?
  19. Thanks for the help. It is frustrating, but I can understand. It is giving me a "windows Display Driver exception" error, not sure what that means.
  20. OK, so I started to get back into RCT2 and I installed it on my new computer running win7. whenever I go to open a trainer (any trainer) it shuts down my game, is there an issue? I changed all the compatibility settings to WinXP but they all still shut the game down. Im sorry if this has already been brought up, but I searched the forum and couldn't find an answer.
  21. WCB was awesome! I drove down from Sacramento on Friday night (where it was in a torrential downpour) to find that the weather was perfect for the event. I have to say I love Magic Mountain, well maybe not the mountain part as my legs are still sore. I brought along a few coaster noobs so they could see what a real coaster park was all about. Morning ERT was awesome, although I wish there was a little more time. Goliath was the highlight for most of my friends except for Shawn who fell in love with X2. The Q & A was a highlight as well, and I have to note a few things. I agree Gold Rusher could use a dose of indoor dark ride elements, tunnels, and fire. I hope everyone caught the silence on the drop tower and 2012 questions. Apparently Apocalypse was meant for those who have just graduated from The Loony Toons kids area but aren't mature enough to ride the bigger coasters (thanks Smurfs), and honestly everything else will seem trivial when Road Runner is changed to "backwards" Road Runner (that is if Tim can get it "erected" in time) and of course fire is added. To give you an idea of why these events are worth every penny let me share with you my experience of the day. At 1pm my friends and I entered the line for Apocalypse and waited 2.5 hours to get on the ride due to 1 train and crowds. From 9pm to 11:30 (same time frame) my coaster count went like this: Superman 2x, Batman 3x, Scream 2x, Goliath 3x, Tatsu 3x, Apocalypse 4x, and 3 rides in on X2. Thank you Six Flags for a wonderful event! I don't care if you make a small profit off of me, it was worth every cent and I'll be back next year! Batman: The Foggy Knight Fog, lights, and then they made it rain as well. some alone time with Goliath. Too soon Ninja, too soon. Hi Ya! The new soundtrack was hilarious, but we need more volume. Shawn wondering what he got himself into.
  22. This is sad news. I really enjoyed Invertigo when I had a chance to ride it. Watching this park from its beginning with Marriott's and eventually through its Paramount days, I really have an emotional tie to it. I know it will never see its hay day again, but watching it die a slow ignored death is really awful. I havn't been able to get to the park since Cedar Fair bought it, but I check in on whats going on there quite often. The park as I see it is suffering from a few things, First is it lost it's identity and second the mentality has shifted from a family park to a baby sitter style park (kids are just dropped off and left to cause havoc). I would love to see this park focus on bringing its themed areas back to pre-Paramount days, make the atmosphere about entertaining guests as opposed to just thrilling them with new rides. This park back in the day was almost like a poor mans Disney, Hometown Square was a good example, there were shows and themed areas that had substance. The rides were almost secondary to everything else, but they were fun because they were just as much a part of the themed atmosphere. Remember the Yankee Harbor area before the Action FX theater was installed? That whole area was one of my favorites, and there was a ride for every age. Yankee Clipper, The Lobster, and Tidal Wave fit that area perfectly. Now look at that area, absolutely no cohesiveness to it at all. I truly hope this is not the end, the park still has great potential customer drawing power.
  23. Took the kids to Discovery Kingdom for Fright Fest. Fun, but you can tell some corners were cut this year. The best thing about this park for Halloween is the effort they put into changing the animal shows. The Dolphin show for this year was absolutely amazing, themed to a 70's disco. Front Fountain Fog Horn back from the dead Host for the Disco
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