WillMontu
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About WillMontu
- Birthday June 26
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When brakes bite hard
WillMontu replied to Samuel's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
A few that come to mind are GASM at SFOG, (plus you can feel the upstop wheels spinning for a few seconds after stopping) some Schwarzkopfs (e.g. Scorpion as it returns to the station) and Anaconda at Walygator -
Some time last year CoasterDynamix announced a Kickstarter campaign for a Lego compatible coaster modelling system. I ordered a few sets during the original campaign and it looks like they will have the kits assembled and are in the process of shipping them The link to the campaign is at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nanocoasters/the-cyclone-lego-compatible-roller-coaster-constru/, though the campaign has long since closed. Back in the day, I once tried making small amusement parks and even coasters out of Lego using the 9V train system, though I only had enough track to do a simple circuit and since the method of propulsion was the train motor, it was technically a powered coaster and climbing steep hills probably wasn't good for the motor. Plus there is the whole "lack of upstop wheels" problem. I'm curious if anyone else backed the campaign and/or tried building coasters out of Lego.
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Favorite and least favorite amusement park
WillMontu replied to storms555's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Favorite: Probably EPCOT, Europa Park. Honorable mentions include Knoebel's, Indiana Beach (circa 2007) Least Favorite: SFA - Went there once and have no desire to go there again. Queued for Joker's Jinx and it broke down when I was at the front of the line. Went to Superman and queued there for an hour or so. Line didn't move, and during that one hour, we watch two, maybe three, trains dispatch on Batwing. Finally successfully got to ride Wild One, so at least I got the only credit at that park that mattered. Went to get my pass processed (though I was never coming back to SFA, it was cheapest to get them there and use them at SFGAdv and SFOG) and that took forever as well. -
Here is one that was really annoying me last year. I went to Busch Gardens Tampa's Howl-O-Scream event, and in one of the mazes, the person behind me was physically pushing me throughout the entire maze. No "excuse me, can I pass?", just pushing. I can understand being scared, but isn't that the point of the mazes? I was trying to enjoy the maze, but by the end I was getting aggravated.
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I will admit that back in the day, I might have been a little "annoying" at times. I probably had a bit of TPR fanboy in me, and there were times I tried to be funny but it was just annoying. I also thought that I was a good photographer (though I was not) and wanted attention by posting large numbers of photos and trip reports. I also tried to shoot a lot of video in attempts of "emulating" what Robb did (though I did a lousy job at that too, not to mention my cameras always broke on park trips - now I just leave it to the professional). Eventually I caught wind that people were complaining about what I was doing and I was getting frustrated with being ignored and my posts getting edited or deleted, On realizing this, I simply left. I did not try to create drama over it or go onto (*shudder*) RRC , Facebook, or other forums to rant and complain about it. It's Robb's site, his rules, his policies, and everyone agrees to the TOS when the sign up. Maybe this wasn't the place to me. Haters are going to hate, but I was not going to be one of them. If anything, I was fending off a few of them on sites like Wikipedia I still have fond memories of the early TPR trips I participated in, such as TPR breaking the kiddie coaster at Coney Beach (itself a "bonus" park), Timber Falls sacrificing their log flume so that we could get ERT on Avalanche, and the "surprise" ERT on Big Thunder Mountain at DLP. All these were things that were not "paid for", and if I recall correctly, the person who missed the bus on that 2007 trip actually preached about not missing the bus before the trip even started. Now that I'm a bit older (and hopefully a bit more mature socially), I've started trying to re-integrate into the TPR community. Personally, I am very sensitive to criticism (it's part of who I am along with some autism/aspie traits), and it makes me appreciate the guts required to run a site like this (in addition to having a personal life and a family) - if I was flooded with hate mail/tweets/etc. on a regular basis, I would probably go insane
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What Was The Last Coaster You Rode?
WillMontu replied to SharkTums's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
It's been well over six months since I last went on a coaster (partly because I'm so busy and no longer have a car), but at least the last coaster I rode was a good one I paid homage to the Schwarzkopf gods and got my Olympia Looping credit! Although a difficult credit to get (especially for those of us in the USA), it was quite a solid ride -
Oldest Coaster You've Ridden
WillMontu replied to MSLSM's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I think my oldest was Wild One at SFA back in 2008. That park was such a dump and it was the only ride we were able to get on because of the poor operations. At least I have no need to go back. -
Your First B&M Coaster?
WillMontu replied to TheCoasterKid211's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
For me it would be Kumba, circa 1997. I enjoyed some of the more thrilling rides, but I was not quire ready for anything with inversions. I go to ride Python (and you would think being an old Arrow it would turn me off, but not so). Went on Kumba, loved it (and got the on-ride photo), and then rode Montu. In 1999, I rode Oblivion (and of course Nemesis) at Alton Towers (dive machine), 2000 was Kraken (floorless), 2006 was Georgia Scorcher, Goliath, and Superman at SFOG (stand-up, hyper, and flying), 2012 was Wild Eagle at Dollywood, and 2015 was Fury at Carowinds I'm in the back, second from the left. -
3/10 Has a few typos and gray font blends in against grey background
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Photo TR: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
WillMontu replied to cairon's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I did the studio tour a few years ago - it's a bit of a way outside of London. Unlike Florida, which is designed to "immerse" guests into the films, the studio tour is intended to show how the movies were made - props and costumes were prominently displayed. It is also (at the time) one of two places in the world that sells Butterbeer (the other being Florida) - a question that I answered correctly when they asked. One curiosity I noticed was the Knight Bus - when the expansion opened up in Florida, I had thought they moved the Knight Bus prop over here, but as it turns out, they built two props, both slightly different. The building style is similar, however here they are just facades, while in Florida they are designed as working buildings to handle weather and foot traffic. The highlight of the tour is of course the Hogwarts model at the end. With a lot of movies done in CGI, many effects in Harry Potter were done the old fashioned way Knight Bus in London Knight Bus in Florida. Note how the windows are different Knight Bus in London interior Knight Bus in Florida. Note a few other differences (aside from the condition of the beds). There are ads above the windows, the railing in the ceiling is a different, and the chandelier doesn't hang quite as low. Dumbledore's office in London Dumbledore's office in Florida -
Negative Gs on public transport/cars
WillMontu replied to spinning man's topic in Random, Random, Random
There are two sections of road that I know about locally that give some air. There's an intersection in the northern part of Gainesville (I believe it was 6th St and 39th Ave) that provided a small pop when taken at speed, and outside of town on the way to Williston there is a railway crossing that also gives a nice pop of airtime. -
GAME: What's worse than...
WillMontu replied to MayTheGForceBeWithYou's topic in Random, Random, Random
Leaving the Roomba running with said cat around What's worse than screaming girls (or guys if they can get a high enough octave) on the lift? -
Carowinds Discussion Thread
WillMontu replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
I was returning to the US on a transatlantic flight yesterday and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Carowinds when we came in to land at Charlotte. Turns out that the approach and being in a port side window seat favoured this - the flight landed on runway 36R and I was able to get these shots on final.