Mr Stratosphere

Thanks for posting! Its a great video. I hope to ride it real soon!

Don't know if anyone posted this yet but I found a video of the Flying Turns first test run on YouTube John

Awesome pictures!! Thanks for posting, I really can't wait to get there this May! John

I found this 1980's commercial on YouTube for Cedar Point. Thunder Canyon http://youtube.com/watch?v=3r2_G61-wl4 Demon Drop John

Don't quote me on this, but from what I have heard I believe there were problems with the boarding and unloading the trains. This is from Wikipedia: "Some of the the drawbacks of these coasters included the need for large, uncomfortable over-the-shoulder restraints as well as poor wheel-to-track construction" John

Thanks for the post! Its extremely interesting to me! I love posts that are like this! John

On page 54 you posted pictures of MGM Grand Adventures park maps. Thanks! Those brought back some great memories. I found this commercial for the park when it went to seasonal operations. I was also going through some of my shoe boxes and found my on ride photo of Over the Edge and Lightning bolt. I'll post those soon. This is the 2000 promo for the park and the SkyScreamer. John

Great Report!! I love seeing whats up at the DLR. Has anyone heard anything about the new trains for the Matterhorn?? John

19/20!!

They really like the color white dont they??

While working at the Stratosphere: "I know my kid is under the height requirement, but can she sit on my lap on the Big Shot?" John

Have the other 2 trains for X2 arrived yet?? John

I wish the OTSRs would be taken out. I think the ride would be a lot better. But I think we will never see that! John

Heres a posting of the new commercial for the Manhatta er.. The Roller Coaster At New York New York http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEhk_jtEC50 John

I don't really believe that heating/cooling is a major problem. Just look at the Desperado at Primm, Nevada. Its station is housed inside but the entire ride takes place outdoors. The openings where the track leaves and enters the building stay open during operation. They have installed "wind curtains" which keep the heat out and the cool in. It is basically a strong down draft of air that is blown from above the opening. You find these in Vegas a lot at the casinos that keep their doors open all year round. I believe that a coaster going outside of an indoor park is an alright idea. I wish that the Adventuredome here would do it! John

I think this is great!! It reminds me as well. Think of the GP, people remember bad situations more than they remember the good ones. Just as the saying goes, "You are only as strong as your Weakest Link." All it takes is one person or situation to ruin a visit at the park. So I would believe that the park would want to minimize bad situations, no matter how big or small. Think of a person who is a first time visitor to the park and would have crappy things like this happen on their visit. Would they recommend the park to others? I wouldn't think so. I like to remember that the best type of advertisement is word of mouth. It's the best way to promote the park and increases the chances of repeat visitors. Anyways I cannot wait to head back to the park. It's exciting to see all the changes happening and everything looks great so far. There was only one person at the park that knew me by name. She was the sweetest lady at the gift shop near the carousel. Her name is Verna and always remembered me by name, so I always made it a point to go and visit her when I come to the park. She was the nicest person in any of the stores that I could remember. John

I too have never seen the sky like that. It looks really cool, but also really creepy!! John

I remember that as well lol. Let It Ride.. I believe the name was changed after they took the 2 cars off of the train. When the name was changed they also painted the trains yellow so it could be seen from the ground. Big Shot was also my first S&S Shot tower. I believe that the first generation shot towers are the best. (The ones that only have the cables on the top) John An Idea of the old paint scheme. This is what I found funny about this advertisement of the ride. First there are no OTSRs and second the train is traveling in the wrong direction lol. Credit: Joyrides.com This is shortly after the painting of the trains. Notice the OTSRs have no padding. Head banging was a huge problem then. Credit: rcdb.com You can see the cushions on the OTSRs which helped a bit. I remember working up there and standing on the ledge like that. I loved it! And the following were a couple of concept pictures of the "Arrow Fishhook."

Has anyone heard what will happen to the ride? I know it says they are demolishing it. Are they dismantling it or destroying it? John

No problem, they were already ready to put on. Those were the days. The first real Roller Coaster I worked on. It was really weird though, when the ride was dispatched the ride would cause the tower to "give" and it felt like you were on a cruise ship. John

No they don't have anything planned as far as I know. I remember they were looking into a SkyJump possibly being up there. But everything fell through. I would have loved to bungee form there! But I think liability would have been the enemy there. All that is left of the High Roller is a couple of supports. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvSPgBP0PzE More Flags...More Fun John

Yes me too! I miss that so much. I'm glad to hear that the Lightning Bolt is going to live again! Did you remember when Lightning Bolt was inside at the end was a "flyby" over the Las Vegas Strip?

I remember opening day. High Roller had 9 cars!! It was so slow, but sped up once they reduced the train to 7 cars. I also remember opening night, the first time I ever rode the Big Shot. It was also my first ride on an S&S Space shot. John

High Roller wasn't that bad. I liked riding in the back car, the whip around the two drops the ride had gave people butterflies in the stomach, but no airtime. I believe the engineers on High Roller didn't have that bad of a time because the ride was never over the side of the building. The track wrapped around the top of the outdoor observation deck. I know the more terrifying ones to work on would be X-Scream and Insanity where the engineers are over the side of the tower and the ride is all that separates them and an 800ft drop to the ground. John