OCJ48

Wouldn't that be a bit painful to men? In any case, Universal's adding an Intamin Giga Coaster after Potter 2. It'll be called Harry Potter and the Intamin Giga Coaster. There will be an attached Harry Potter gift shop, of course, and the on-ride photos will have Daniel Radcliffe photoshopped into the row as though he is sitting next to you (they will cost $76.95 with 2-park ticket or $126.95 without).

To me, this signals that Legoland's attendance figures aren't quite what they were hoping for. We still don't have any data on it (LLF hasn't been operating for a full year yet), but I have to think that they would raise their prices along with everyone else if their management believed they could. It just makes good business sense.

15"? That's knee-length. It's unfortunate this would never work in the US. I'm picturing the women's rights groups now...

^Not bashing, merely joking at CP's expense.

But hey, look at the bright side, it's another world's first for Cedar Point: First Completely Nonthemed Wing Rider

So, if this isn't a cutback what do we call it? A super stengel? Stengels don't normally fully invert.

"Harmless Halloween event turns tragic after stampede, details at 11"

480 Guests/hour is pretty much identical to the new S:UF at SFDK. That's interesting.

I've always thought a launched wooden coaster would be intriguing. Not anything too crazy, but a nice 50-60mph LSM launch, perhaps. I'd imagine it wouldn't be too hard to do, you just need some train modifications and possibly steel crossbeams in the launch zone.

Could they do a different version of Transformers? I mean, they did different Mummies, right? Just change the ride scenes to tell a different story. I would think they might have to do that anyway, if they want to fit it into SS44. SS44 is only ~125'x135', while Spidey is ~205'x235' and Transformers at USH is ~175'x165'. At best, they're losing roughly 1/3 in each direction if they don't get rid of the Shrek meet and greet. That's a lot of square footage.

How much did Test Track cost? Anyone know?

^In the early days of Disney, the parks were pay-per-ride with a ticket system. A-Tickets got you access to the worst rides and E-Tickets got you access to the best. You would buy a book of them and use them as you went (One ticket per ride), with the option to buy more. An E-Ticket is a premium, signature ride in a park. This goes into more detail.

If that's true, then the whole WWoHP expansion at IOA cost about the same as RSR, including the ride and all the retheming, new shops, etc (Wikipedia claims $200M, other sources say that WWoHP, The Simpsons' Ride ($10M?), and HRRR ($50M?) together cost $275M-$310M, so $250M). I can't even imagine what Disney could do with a bunch of KUKA arms, but I have to believe it's better than this.

Hell, I'll sell anyone Greezed Lightnin' right now. Make me an offer! I got a pickup with an 8' bed! I reckon I can transport the whole thing in one trip if someone pays for the gas! Now we just need some hammers!

You don't need side wheels on a straight drop, there are no lateral (side to side) forces. Only once you're turning the train do you need them.

The way most people build coasters in RCT, everybody would have qualifications to design for- Vekoma Arrow Dynamics (before they went out of business) Custom - designing Zamperla Volares TOGO They could only design Arrow if they've done RCT and Laundry.

"This theme park project failed after the second interested party left the table due to poor local governmental choices and a general state of disrepair." Yeah, not really surprising at all. What WOULD be surprising is if Ed Hart or the Kochs decide to try their hand at a certain park in Myrtle Beach...

USF also sent around a passholder email. AP holders will get Despicable Me and Shrek ERT for an hour before park opening from Monday (6/18) 'till July 1. You have to sign up first though, at the provided URL.

I can't see it being an issue on that ride, and it hasn't even opened yet. Skyrush's forces seem to be what causes the stapling, and DOD won't have forces like that. Of course the ride op can always staple you in, but I say that's you're own fault! I imagine those noodles (why do I feel so dumb saying that) would make DOD even more thrilling in the end compared to the OTSRs on other drop towers. Fair point. My thought was the breaks after nearly 400' of falling would be enough to staple, but I suppose that would only be for a few seconds as you wait to land. The ride not yet being open would presumably be a benefit, assuming Intamin is going to add whatever changes they make on Skyrush into future rides with this lapbar design. You don't need to hurry to fix it overnight or close the ride to implement any changes that way. Thanks for the reply.

Is Intamin gonna make the same mods to LL:DOD's restraints?

It's sort of an apples and oranges comparison. Everything that differentiates them revolves around the fact that B&M prefers to use more proven technologies while Intamin tends to push the cutting edge. B&M makes more reliable rides by avoiding unproven technologies and pouring a massive amount of engineering into the minutiae when they are forced to try something new. Take, for example of this, B&M's system for raising the seats on flying coasters compared to Intamin's system for leveling the cars on the ZacSpin. I can almost guarantee that B&M's engineers spent much more time on their mechanism than Intamin's did on theirs, and you can see the results of that effort. The critical thing is, though, Intamin's engineers didn't focus on it as much because they were busy making the rest of the ZacSpin work. You can also see it in the forces you undergo on each manufacturer's coasters. Sure, there are forceful B&Ms, but you get the impression that they will never make a Skyrush, Maverick, or Bizarro SFNE (I left out El Toro because B&M doesn't make wooden coasters). Translated into cars, B&M is Porsche (slow, steady improvement in implementation of old tech in order to produce a reliable product that's still fun) while Intamin is Pagani (pushing the limits without concern for practicality). We all have our preferences, but they really are very different, and neither way is really inherently better.

What were they thinking with that single-sided station? Unless there are separate load and unload zones you have to have both sides. There is no possible way to make a single-sided station with a combined load and unload zone work as efficiently as a double-sided one or one with separate load and unload zones. Excellent TR, though!

^Thanks

I wonder, if CF puts windseekers in its smaller parks, will they buy smaller ones to cut costs? Like around 200 feet or so tall, rather than the 300' windseekers we've seen up to this point?

Wild Seagull has a certain ring...