SenseOFone

I'd say your were confused. If I'm basing it off the correct theme, The EVIL Within maze is based off a video game, not a movie Great review. I wish I were a bit closer to Australia to be able to check this out.

I'm excited to be going to the WCB at Knott's this year. I wanted to just have something clarified. Check in for Knott's will from 6:30 to about 7:50 right? I know it says 10 minutes before ert, but the backstage Sidewinder tour is throwing me off. Thank you

Most of your... rant, I totally agree with. Universal is getting a tad obnoxious by just cloning their attractions at one coast or the other. I am excited (ish) about all the new stuff, but, besides being my "home" Universal park, I'd rather save up and make the trek out to Florida for most of this stuff. You then pulled a 180, though. Disney was doing the whole "clone" thing for a while. And still is a little, with Little Mermaid and stuff. However, they are breaking the monotony a bit. I personally have never been to Florida, but if I ever get out there, I look forward to riding Expedition Everest, Test Track, their Mansion/Tower/Space because I know from several sources that they are vastly different. Anyways, I'm sure we can dance the issue to death on Disney, so I'll just leave that as is I certainly hope USH can into its own with these new additions, but it definitely is feeling more than ever like it's trying to save a few dollars with clones from the East Coast

As a piece of advise from a local to all those coming from out of state. This weekend is going to be hot. Dress lightly, especially at SFMM. My gf and I went last year right when the heat wave hit, and I just about passed out from heat exhaustion. A great place to eat inside the park to escape for a little bit is the Mooseburger Lodge, although I don't know how the crowds have been since YOLOcoaster opened up. See you all Sunday!

What I mean by the earthquake thing is that, I feel like at least a small part of not having trackless ride vehicles is that they would obvious operate independent of anything else, meaning that if an earthquake were to occur, the brakes and other safety systems would be reliant fully on the vehicle itself. Meaning, worst comes to worst, these vehicles would be free to slide around the floor run into any other vehicle, scenery, etc. Or even flip if really bad case. That's all I meant by the earthquake codes

I would love to see a Trackless Ride Vehicle system here in CA at the DL Resort. I feel like the problem will be the earthquake codes. I am aware Japan has earthquakes and they can do it. But, in the end, I feel like the govt doesn't have a giant OSHA sized stick up their butt in Japan. And they actually maintain their equipment to earthquake-fighting standards. But one can dream

^I feel like that 160 acres includes, the parking lot, Independence Hall, and Soak City. The park itself only sits on about a full city block. And it shares that space with the hotel, the south parking lot, and the Haunt warehouses backstage

This is looking incredible. For me personally, I love how much attention Bud Hurlbut got. He really was the pioneer of the early dark ride, and deserves so very much recognition The park isn't near as big as you'd think. As long as the crew stays on the job, the line shouldn't get that bad. It's rare to have the park nearly its capacity. And mind you, the park is only a block large. Haha

There were a couple reasons that float around about the Sky Jump's closure. The simplest is the fact that the technology of that ride was behind the times, and it would have cost way too much money to actually update the system to be fully computer controlled. Just like the Haunted Shack, they measured the cost of fixing it vs. the cost of just taking it out. We know which one won out. As for the other reason, there has always been a strong rumor that the ride closed due to a man committing suicide from the top because his girlfriend had recently broke up with him. I don't know how much that might have lead directly to them shutting it down, but as a park manager, I'd probably look at that, then look at making the system more modern and more dummy proof. And then weigh the above options

^^Sorry to hear that Robb. As a coaster enthusiast, I find the guts of how a coaster runs just as interesting as riding. I guess it helps that I'm an engineering student. This discussion about the X2 trains is rather interesting, with some interesting theories. One thing people have mentioned is the Dinoconda trains seem to do the same thing as the X2 train, whereas Eujanaika does not. I remember when it was X, and that hard rocking motion at the beginning of the ride was evident with the old trains as well. It's most likely something with the track setup that somehow was fixed in Eujanaika, but then reintroduced at Dinoconda.

I read this article and was first sickened, but then I thought of DCA and smiled a little. Although not perfect, since the park is ADA compliant, there is quite a bit more restriction for the "special" privileges of disabled folks.

10 days! I just pledged $50. Let's make this happen

^Maybe I'm just out of the loop, but why would Bigfoot be under construction?

^You laugh now... There's a reason Haunt sucked even more last year than previous years... More restrictions in place to really prune that which is his moneymaker. Trust me, I wish it not. But the direction he's taking will essentially kill the event on its own. As they are doing opposite of SFMM with their log ride, they are doing opposite of USH with their Haunt event, and we've already seen where people's preferences lie

It is speculation from friends who have or currently work in the park, but there has been strong news that Raffi may be trying to dumb down and eliminate Haunt altogether... Hopefully not true, but it's a scary thought to think

It's funny reading all these posts about being surprised as to what an amazing coaster Gold Striker is. It seems like all the RMC coasters doing fancy things, we seem to have forgotten what a superb wooden coaster can be. I haven't ridden this yet, but having found faith in wooden coasters in CA after Terminator-pocalypse, I knew Gold Striker would be a solid hit. There is a reason GCI has survived when all other wooden coaster companies have failed

Do tell. I'm not sure if you're trying to be sarcastic here or not, but the statement concerning Big Thunder is essentially correct. However, Rastuso's statements comparing the Disney situation to Bhopal and what happened in Texas yesterday are, at best, over blown. He was also bringing up a good point that especially here, of all places, coaster enthusiasts shouldn't fall so far under the spell that Disney is a perfect company. Just like every other corporation, they care about the bottom line, and if they can get away with the bare minimum, they will. They hide it better than most companies, but at the end of the day, their rides (and coasters especially) are Six Flags or Cedar Fair quality with ridiculous amounts more hype and money thrown in. Their rep just makes Disney seem... fancier and safer.

With all this talk of RMC in all their glory, I can't help but wonder whatever happened to the Intamin Plug and Plays. Both companies utilize a very similar principal to design and build their wooden coasters, so why haven't we seen any Plug and Plays lately...

“During the course of the inspection and prior, the employer, Disneyland Resort, failed to provide guardrails on all open sides of unenclosed elevated work locations more than 30 inches above the floor, ground, or other working areas of a building (Space Mountain) at Disneyland Resort. Employees of Disneyland Resort and HSG, Inc accessed the upper exterior platform of Space Mountain to perform routine and also non-routine maintenance and were not protected by guardrails or any other type of fall protection.” Quoted from Disney Blog. What this means is that indoors or out, maintenance needs some sort of fall protection when working on ladder or surfaces 30 in or more off the ground. Since Soarin' mainly utilizes catwalks and ladders for daily maintenance requirements, they cannot perform routine procedures. Hopefully, Disney can correct this and gets these popular attractions back open. And, just so we're clear, it was OSHA who slammed the company, not DOSH. OSHA is federal whereas DOSH is state. So we may see similar things happen to the other parks...

Honestly, still don't understand what all the noise is about this supposed new mega coaster. Knott's has a solid collection of thrill coasters, and really does not need another one.

via Imgflip Meme Generator

Uh, B&M Flyers and Inverted coasters have a platform that is on the lift hill that is used to get people off in case the trains get stuff on the lift. Next time you ride one you can find it pretty easy if you look. Coulda sworn I didn't say anything about catwalks "which all coasters have" but ok. Hey bud, he didn't say anything about Catwalks. In fact, B&M Flyers have no catwalks directly underneath the ride vehicle on the lift. Therefore, there is a platform that can be moved along a rail that is located next to the catwalks on the side of the lift. So just calm your roll

^Considering the buildings were used to house Perilous Plunge pumps and ride equipment, I'm assuming those buildings will house the pumps for the next pool going in

I have a question after watching the second video. So many times we've seen Martin and Vlemix linked with Gravity Group for wooden coasters, and both take equal credit for them. What kind of company is Martin and Vlemix? To me, it seems as though Gravity Group does the physical design via CAD and stuff, and Martin and Vlemix does the construction aspect. Is that about right? And thank you so much for this awesome coverage of IAAPA. Really is a unique opportunity to get such in depth coverage at a convention like this while sitting at home on the other side of the country

Woodie: The surprise triple down after the MCBR on Voyage Steel: The much underrated Wildcat at CP. So much airtime for such a small ride!