theGrayZone

... outstanding content updates all around. The historian rabbit-hole just goes deeper and deeper. Thanks for your contributions to the legacy.

... for additional consumer-related and social media commentary (GP) coverage about this topic, check HERE (@ the "Consumerist" site).

Awesome photos and coverage of Black Diamond... easy to tell you seemed to have a good time at Knoebels with some decent travelers. I've been waiting a while for a BD update. Thanks for the views.

Hello Enthusiasts... I'd venture to say most of us have a unique yearn for coastering experiences... whatever the platform... and gaming is certainly an arena of interest to many here. I checked around the different forums (still getting used to it all) and wasn't sure where the following news fit in exactly... since it seemed the "Roller Coaster Games..." forum was dedicated mostly to NL and RCT, etc. So guess I'm dropping this here. the "Groove Coaster" icon Yesterday a sweet new iOS game was released called "Groove Coaster". It's created by Taito and the developers who unleashed another significantly awesome title, "Space Invaders Infinity Gene". The app is simply a tap/gesture, rhythm game... but features a great original lineup of music, particle effects & eye-candy galore, a "techie" feel, and a ROLLERCOASTER gameplay mechanic! Essential play goes like this: There's a line in the middle of the screen. Your avatar runs along the line. Targets appear at certain points (or come swooping in from the side). You tap anywhere on the screen when the avatar and target intersect. Simple and not too unlike other games in the genre. Difficulty ramps up steadily, upgrade and customization options are deep, a hefty reward system is present (including new avatars, items, and skins that may even assist or allow power-ups during play), leaderboards and achievements are well accounted, and social game-sharing lets a group of friends unlock unique ways the game even develops/unfolds. A lot more is included and involved with the game... more than I want or care to get into at this time... but the main thing important to any of us is the fact it uniquely involves ROLLERCOASTERS in some way. Oh, and that it doesn't suck (imto). Here's some related media for you: TouchArcade's "Groove Coaster" review may be found HERE. TA's review has a couple of screen shots and here are three more of my own to confuse and bewilder you: The line (coaster track), the targets (in yellow), and your avatar (the white-ish dot in the upper area with stars trailing) This is a shot of the screen after finishing one of the levels. The camera pans out to reveal the course of the "coaster" your avatar has just "grooved"... groovy. Summary screen after finishing a level. And finally this link to a YouTube vid of gameplay (on iPad2) found . (would some mod please embed the vid? My attempts were unsuccessful. TY) Summary: I'm not personally into most rhythm games (although I enjoy watching friends who are good at them)... but this one keeps drawing me in more and more as I play it. I think it's the dynamic rez-ish, nu-retro and trippy graphical experience... combined with unique and diverse music... wrapped up in the COASTER package that keeps demanding my interest. Plus... I destroyed "Infinity Gene" time and again... and just had a feeling this new iOS title wouldn't disappoint. The learning curve was low. I was up and playing in no time. If you are at all interested in something like this or looking into a new distraction for your waking moments... give it a whirl. Intro price is ¢.99 for now and will go up sometime soon.

(note: all images are from linked articles) I came across a couple of articles recently about World Joyland in China. The articles cover two angles about the park... one, the park itself... and two, the details of significant World of Warcraft and Starcraft parallels... apparently without parent company (Blizzard) endorsements. The first article may be found HERE. The second article, a trip report, is linked within the article above... and may be directly found HERE. The trip report contains a decent narrative along with photos of theming, buildings, rides, and art. Here's a clip from the review: Here are three images from the report... Wow... It says "WoW": The drop portion of a water ride: What we like! ... A B&M in the background (nice, non-curving drop on a flyer!): It's crazy how the entire park has gotten built and is in operation despite the similarities to, and blatant borrowing from, certain franchises... yet I'm reminded of numerous copies and reproductions of many other "name brand" consumable goods that some eastern countries are notorious for churning out. I'm also recalling images and trip reports posted here at TPR featuring parks around the globe that copy designs, rides, art, and theming from other more notorious parks and product lines (Disney, Universal, etc.) to draw the masses! Have any other readers visited World Joyland? Any thoughts about the theming/licensing shenanigans? I can't wait for a thorough and proper trip report and ride reviews about World Joyland... if you go, please share the experience!

The flying bobs... that ride would be the "Apple Bobs" I recall. Found an old 1978 KD park map online and it appears this ride was called "Adams Apple" that year. Or at least an attraction called, "Adams Apple", was located in the spot where I remember the flying bobs existing. However, I still recall it named something different when I went (first visit to KD was either in '81 or '82).

man... just had a memory flash... galaxi coaster... singing frogs & mushrooms under the HB-land skyride station's ascent/descent... some spinning flat along candy apple grove called "apple bobs" (probably not)... the GIANT slide that turned me into a hydrant of tears my first trip to KD (too scared... walked up mid-way... climbed back down)... but I later overcame the menacing challenge and ended up getting stuck in one of the flat sections after the second drop I think... oh, and King Cobra and Mt. Kilimanjaro (which I would stand and watch for minutes... listening to the "whirrring" sound... and occasionally catch it getting stuck).

Oh, and with the planned, done, cancelled, done, cancelled... departure ... there is the LNM cave... "nessie's lair"... which had lights, strobes, and more in early years... dropped those in sophomore years... reinstated and upgraded them later when the queue was more heavily themed with expedition displays (I think that was for one of the anniversaries?)... with colored lights, strobes, a gobo-moonbeam-ish effects light spinning mid-helix, and audio of water drops during upper helix revolutions... culminating with an increasing roaring sound, mist, and a giant luminescent (or maybe just painted) "dragon/monster/nessie" face strobing as you zoomed out of the cave into lift #2... dropped again later on... one light and strobing nessie face only further down the road... dropped once again... and now...? what's happening in the lair this year, 2011?

... So Dragon Mountain definitely got built... But... What about the extensive theming that only got partially started... volcano... animatronic dragon... more... yeah... about what he said from p. 2 any input there?

Wanted to (re)post this vintage image here in a relevant thread (that was taken for a trivia contest prize). It's from a cup that was purchased back in the day... 1987. A nod to childhood KD visits and 70/80's kid memories. Oh, and to repeat cycles through Yogi Bear's Cave.

Slightly digressed from topic... BUT after reading the post about the proposed Disney-developed ski resort I recalled the following project planned for the Western NC mountains at one point... the "Canton Wintersports Center" - is/was to be the first, year-round (365 days/year), indoor wintersports facility. Several slopes were originally planned (maybe 5?). Looks like that dropped to possibly two. It originally appeared in the early millennium years under a different name with some different images. I called the number at one point a few years ago to get details about location and recall driving around that area trying to locate any signs of development (at any level), but saw nothing. A newer website still exists with more extensive and different renderings... but I've heard nothing about the project going forward. The more recent site contains '07 and '08 dates, yet no mention of any current plans. Here are a few images gathered from the site (which can be found by clicking HERE): Canton Wintersports Center - Aerial Rendering Canton Wintersports Center - Master Plan & Slope/Resort Layout Canton Wintersports Center - Slope Detail Rendering

Apple Turnover... took me so long before I was chicken-less to ride... my sibling, who worked for KD many years ago, didn't help by telling me about the constant deluge of hurl-cleaning-hosing the ride-ops had to be ready for daily. Yet the cabins were comfy (if not a little claustrophobic), the forces were significant... and the ride experience, like you mentioned, better than the Huss Enterprise (IMO). Time Shaft... oh man... that crazy sci-fi laser chandelier... the strobes... and blacklights... and spelunk-ish walk through the caves into the mountain! The cave used to have an outside portion somewhere along the walk... that went out onto a wooden suspension-looking bridge, held up by ropes (it looked like). That may have been the path people took for the emergency exit, though, I don't know. BUT in later years, from the Eiffel Tower, you could see the rope-wooden-bridge on that left-rear side of the mountain... but in the cave-walk... there were were two boarded-up, painted facades, in the thresholds of the two areas where I'm guessing you walked out onto the bridge. Had I ridden Time Shaft in the early years, I might be able to report more about whatever the bridge was. But... yeah... I was definitely too scared to ride TS during the first several years "the Lost World" existed. I wouldn't even go far into the cave/queue because I was concerned I'd have to commit to (or be trapped into) riding it if I stepped just far enough past some imagined point... aah the mind of youth! In fact... candid story time! The Lost World, as most of you enthusiasts probably know, was the name of the mountain expansion at KD. It held three rides before Volcano-tBC replaced them... The Haunted River (a "haunted" & partially enclosed flume), Time Shaft (an indoor/enclosed rotor), and The Land of Dooz (which shortly-after became "Smurf Mountain"). My first time on "Land of Dooz" ("Dooz" - short for Doswell (VA), and the name of the dwarf-ish creatures featured in the ride)... I got on the train after being convinced it was a tame ride, cause see... I was already passionate about rollercoasters (duh... from my time of birth, ... or before, haha)... but wouldn't step foot on them yet at that point (the bigger ones, that is). It was seriously an all day issue to talk myself into riding "Scooby Doo". Get the picture? So now my family's on "LoD" (dad & sibling loved coasters, mom not-at-all... which in hindsight should have been a big clue for what happened next). When we left the station there was a right turn followed by a LOOoong and slooow climb up a lift hill, into a cave at the summit. We start up that hill... and immediately... I LOSE my ever'lovin'-child-mind... blowing up into one of the biggest frenzy of tears-for-fears of those years... and flipping OUT on my family for tricking me into riding a coaster... (which, technically, LoD/SM was... more like a mine-train). The whole tortuous lift hill ride became my theater for a scene of family drama... the whole train was an audience... my sibling was hiding their face, dad trying to tell me it'll be OK while hiding a perturbed smile... mom doing something consoling... Then we round the top of the lift... the train eases and disappears into the cave... AANNNDD... ... the whole rest of the slow-A, crawling, ride was filled with animatronic scenes and seamless loops of "Dooz" jubilance... until we gracefully coast back into the station. *sigh* - trust lesson learned... drama session demonstrated as pointless... the trials of life turned triumph. Anyway, back on topic... The removal of Haunted River, Time Shaft, and LoD/SM was unpleasant, possibly surprising... and sometimes I want TS and Haunted River back (great drop... cool pitch-black early drop... and neat blacklit skeletal fish & sea-monster scene)... ... BUT... Volcano tBC was a really striking replacement after the Lost World was gutted... and that first launch is great fun... especially coaster-ing, front seat, with new initiates to the ride!

from a 2004 "hobby forum index" found HERE... ... subsequent responses in that topic mentioned a "1927" date and some sources that Steve may have used for the information. Would someone please post a link to, or short quote about, the Battersea incident? Thanks.

Haha... I don't know if it's poor nets etiquette to quote oneself, but I was quickly reminded of something... I was riding "Red Devil" (years before becoming "Cliffhanger") at Ghost Town in the Sky over and over one day. The ride ops at that time were interestingly costumed in jeans and cut-off "metal band" shirts. I mention that to give you an idea of the potentially unsurprising thing I saw happen later. The trains always seemed to have concrete & rebar weights loaded into various cars... to weigh the train down I was told. The weights could always be seen in the station somewhere. Right... so later in the day the crowds were pretty thin. I was sitting in the rear car, marathoning the "Devil". Several times we had to wait in the train for a few people to queue up and add weight (again, as I was told), although the concrete blocks filled several seats in the train already. This one time we came off the lift, rolled into the station, and remained for only a few seconds before the brakes were released. The only riders on the train that time were myself and a couple other kids.... and no one else was in the station. Suddenly, a ride op stepped from the platform onto the front row of the rolling train and kind of half stood/squatted as we rounded out the station, to the right, and into the drop... loop... figure-8 turns... brakes... lift. I was wide-eyed the whole freaking circuit... wondering what the hell the op was thinking (smoking)... hoping nothing bad would happen... ... and nothing happened to him at all. Back in the station I said something to them... something like an incredulous kid would say, "Maaan that was craazy, you coulda fallen out... weren't you scared you'd fall out?!!" (which at that time probably translated into: holy crap, that was awesome, you're my hero for the moment, will you let me try that?) See... he'd stepped onto the train after the lap-bar was already down in that row/seat... and only remained on the edge of the seat the rest of the ride... sitting on top of, and in front of the lap-bar that was closed behind him. This was important because, even as a kid, I was already well aware of the situation regarding the Lightning Loop incident with the OTSR closing before the woman sat down... registering as secured... allowing for the train's release with her sitting precariously on top of it... falling to her death seconds later. Anyway... the jeans-rocker-op was completely nonchalant about the whole thing spouting off something like, "Awww, naah, I've done that a lot. Forces on these rides would keep anybody in... lapbars aren't really needed either but are just there cause they gotta be." (Ah, and just to tie back in the whole "concrete & rebar weights", occasionally waiting for other riders to add weight-to-train detail from earlier... he said something about jumping on the train to add weight to it. Which was cool and all except b.s. because the three of us kids had just been on a circuit without him or anyone else weighing the train down.) So I spent the next umpteen number of rides analyzing his statement by loosely/limberly sitting in the middle of the seat, focusing attention on how glued and centered my butt remained in that position throughout the course. You know what, he was pretty right-on. I was pinned in a reasonably fixed location the whole time... under my lap-bar, with seatbelt fastened. I am now a pretty big nerd about personal safety (while not losing the "fun" element). Memories like that and other liability stuff I've observed or been privy to... are probably why. Oh... and for the record... I've definitely worn jeans and metal shirts... just not the cut-off variety... no hatin' here.

Although an accident was NOT the result in the following video... it could have turned out ugly. I saw the vid a few years ago and it has popped up on other sites since... and I was like "Whoah - no waaay" when I first saw it... but check it... A train is stuck at the top of a lift... maintenance/ops appear to be helping unload riders... the train begins moving forward while one person is getting up and about to disembark... restraints are still up... the train rolls over the top and cruises ahead... you can see people pulling OTSRs down as the train accelerates... rear OTSRs for empty seats are still up... here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MECcvwtocac