WillMontu

Initially, I didn't have any plans to attend West Coast Bash, but then things changed when Erik mentioned that he was going, and that he would be splitting the hotels, car, etc. with a few other people, including Cameron, the other Eric Johnson, and Jow. In addition to hitting SFMM for WCB, we also hit Disneyland to get a few credits and such. For my WCB pictures, there are some in the main update and here All I can say is that I hope I have the money to do this again next year I took a huge number of pictures, and I tried to cut down the number to post here, but I still have over 200 for Disneyland alone, so like some of my other Photo TR's, it will be graphic intensive and it may take a while to post everything. When it spins fast enough, a strobe light brings the scene to life. A video will be posted shortly. It's getting late, and I will post more of this tomorrow This assembly spins around at a rapid pace I saw this exhibit at the London Science Museum two years ago We've got that at EPCOT too The Animation exhibit is a Pixar showcase Sorry, Soren, we didn't ride your ride. I've done the one at EPCOT several times anway I assume this is the same as the one in Florida, except that ours is contained within a big fake tree Must be a card carrying ACE member Some rides in A Bug's Land The bumper cars didn't look too exciting I haven't seen many theme parks that actually sell fruit (at theme park prices, of course) Jow lost a few hundred tortillas since the last visit Some of the equipment used to make the tortillas The Mission Tortilla Factory is known for one thing: Free food! Looks like DCA had a "Cedar Fair Moment" DCA is one of few parks that sell alcohol. The second rotation was a bit wilder. Good thing there are barf bags You get a view of some park landmarks from the top. The castle isn't one of them. Jeff could count this as a credit We only did two rotations, the first being relatively tame At this point, we overheard someone say "Don't Tase me, bro". I didn't think the UF police department had jurisdiction in California But thanks to John (who claims he left his camera at home), it took a while before we actually got to ride There are two types of cars, standard and swinging The Sun Wheel is based on the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island Random dummy Each seat is equipped with a "scream shield", which ruin the ride Maliboomer is a trio of S&S Space Shot towers with a difference The ride was accompanied by the sound of buzzing insects The swinger is inside a giant orange Due to low capacity, we did not do the Crane Ride The Golden Zephyr is a ride based on the Flying Machines at Blackpool Pleasure Beach I need a good caption for this RCT slide and the Dinorama dinosaur who is about to eat it Erik (with a K) enjoying Madness She looks like she's riding a Vekoma I got to ride in the "CHP" car The park's other credit is a generic mouse with some extra theming. Note to self: Go to Knoebel's Toy Story Mania still has some way to go Intamin rides tend to use magnets for everything, including transfers and brakes Supposedly Disney made modifications to the ride that voided the warranty with Intamin The trains look a lot like the Morgans used on the Santa Cruz and Belmont Park Giant Dipper woodies This was the main draw for the park This character had some interactivity The Monsters dark ride ACEr's paradise! This sign takes on a new meaning after a certain park in Canaba announced a new ride The cars are themed to taxi-cabs DCA also has a Monsters Inc. dark ride Hallway credit! The lobby is different compared to the Florida version, and doesn't have the hidden "Star of David" symbols in the ceiling Florida's queue is more elaborate Florida's is better This area of the park looks a lot like MGM in Florida We first hit DCA, and this will probably be our last chance to see it like this before they do the makeover. The Disneyland "Resort", though it's only a fraction of the size of WDW This was the view from our hotel room I believe Cameron worked on this pinball game Much of Disneyland and DCA are visible from the surrounding roads. In addition to Cameron's "Mario Kart" navigation system, we had this fancy 2-D navigation system. Our ride for the next few days Nearly there. Too bad we can't land at Disneyland (though I believe Disney World does have a small runway, though it's not in use) What's that white stuff? We don't get it in Florida The trashcans were unique. Each of them had a small compactor built into them. Hey, Cedar Fair??? The Escalator Ride at the Atlanta airport Yay for free WiFi at the airport. Looks like quite a few people are online at this hour After a night of playing with Erik's Wii, we were at the Jacksonville airport at 3 in the morning.

^ I still have the house, I've just been too busy to do much with it. I do have Sims for Jeff, Soren, Lou, and Jahan living in a house, and I've been working on building a few things, such as small theme park (the coaster doesn't work properly, but Sim Jeff can still count it as a credit)

They could make it better by letting us ride Goliath Jr/Percy without needing to borrow a kid AND having Deja Vu running, though we can't count on the latter.

I'm giving this Photo TR another chance. I'm going to start posting in smaller chunks to make the pages load a bit quicker The queue Disaster Transport

I agree on that the bathrooms do have room for improvement. Some of them do actually fit in with the theming of the area they are in and would be quite nice once the vandalism and such gets cleaned up. In addition, if they are cleaned regularly, they are more likely to stay clean. People tend to be more likely to trash a dirty bathroom A lot of places have systems where the restrooms are checked and cleaned on an hourly basis. If they do consolidate the many smaller restrooms into larger "super-loos", they would probably be easier to upkeep. On side note, I have uploaded a few pictures to Robb's FTP and may consider posting a Photo TR in a few days.

It really was a blast, especially all the ERT on everything, including Canyon Blaster! The Q/A sessions were also good, and we found out about some of the improvements being made to the park and others that were in store. The SkyTower Museum was also a nice suprise and could be really good when it is finished Deja Vu (and X2) was closed, but there was ERT on Bench - The Ride to make up for it! Thanks to Robb, Elissa, and everyone at SFMM for putting the event on.

My number has changed (I sent my Wii in for repair and they sent me a new Wii) 5836-0143-5961-2296 Anyone want to play Sonic and Mario Olympic Games?

Also, some of them are linked together. The UK and Spain/Europe trip reports are a good example. Look under Special Features on the front page for a good starting point. There's also the Photo TR archive forum, and there are some huge photo updates that haven't been posted on the main site, such as the Florida meets.

I think my old one needs to go. I haven't lost any tickets in two years now, and I'm ready for something different. Maybe something to do with my Photo TR's (I know I have at least three or four out there that I never finished) or photography, the Florida Gators, or something like that. My thoughts: Full Fledged Donkey Enthusiast Knows where his towel is On the other side of the camera

^ That would be a good reason by itself. You have to ride it at least once! It was ranked one of the worst woodies in the world for a reason. While I thought that CP was better than KI, the fact that you've never been to KI is a good reason to go. Beast is a fun and unique ride, FoF is pretty good, and Beastie/Fairly Odd Coaster is a classic.

I've got more pictures, though I still need to get those rolls of film developed As always, I have higher resolution versions of the panoramic shots available if anyone wants them. A 360 shot of the wavepools and the beach area. A general park shot, showing the two bowl slides and the slower of the lazy rivers Slides seen from the entrance to the parking lot The second play area is geared towards younger kids, and includes a selection of small slides This is one of the water play areas. This one is designed for older kids (and adults), and includes two "dump buckets" and lots of hoses and other ways to spray people. A view of Aquatica from the parking lot I have some panoramic shots too. Here's the Dolphin Plunge slide at Aquatica The entrance lighthouse at night Also heavy machinery. What are they doing operating at this time of day? We have a night shot...of DIRT!!11one! Also wood! Are they building a woodie? Another construction fence. What's behind this one? The on-ride camera makes for an interesting long exposure shot Kraken all lit up at night We didn't get wet on Atlantis...until we passed the water jets. After the Sky Tower, we headed over to Kraken for a few quick rides Yes, we are dorks! You can still see the old Sea World logo on top of the Shamu stadium Kraken sporting its new paint job Of course, there's other things to see, including Aquatica And there it is! What are they building? A coaster? A fence? Another penguin exhibit? A bench? Of course, there are better ways to see the construction, such as the Sky Tower, which turned out to be running that day Looking under one of them, we see...Another fence! OMG OMG! Except that we can't see through them And there are construction fences There's something going on Aquatica closed at 6, but SeaWorld was open until later, so we went over to check out a few things

It depends on your camera. Mine has a manual mode (usually indicated by an 'M') and I love it. You can have the coaster car blur, or you can have the coaster car in focus and the background blur. For best results, make sure the flash is off too, especially at night. This is the opposite effect. If you follow the train with the camera while taking the picture, the background has a slight blur. Some patience, a tripod (or a good solid surface), and a long exposure can lead to shots like this. If you increase the shutter time, decrease the aperture size and ISO if you camera allows you to do so

More pictures are on Page 2. Video coming soon In case you haven't heard already, SeaWorld Orlando has been building a new waterpark next to the property. There were stories about the park having dual toilet bowl slides and a ride that went through an dolphin tank. Today, I got a chance to check the place out during the passholder preview day. The park itself is pretty good. It has the type of theming that one would expect from a Busch park and has a southern Pacific type theme. The logo of the park includes a Kiwi, the national symbol of New Zealand. There was a bit of confusion though. The voiceover for all the ride warnings, park announcements, and such has more of an Aussie accent (I know what a Kiwi accent sounds like), but begins by saying "Kia ora", which is actually the greeting of the Maori people of New Zealand. One feature I noticed about the park was the changing rooms. They were brand new, but they offered "private" areas for showers and changing. I think they should put something on the floors though, as it would be very easy to slip. I have a lot of stuff to post for this trip. In addition to the regular digital pictures I took in the park, I shot a few panoramic shots, and also had a waterproof camera and will post those when I develop the film. A video is also in the works. More stuff will be on the way. This seems to be a common feature of Busch parks. We didn't see any beer though. In case you wanted to know what the passes looked like. They also give these out as locker deposit refunds. Instead of cash, they give out gift vouchers that can be redeemed at Aquatica or SeaWorld gift shops. It also has a few slides The second play area is more suited for younger children and is a bit "quieter" I'm sure this will be much more crowded during the peak of summer. This slide tower, Whanau Way, has two mirrored pairs of slides The other wave pool is right next to it, and had smaller waves. The park can probably adjust the times and wave sizes to cater to different groups This one had decent sized waves There are two wave pools. This is one of them Aquatica also has these beach cabanas that are available for rental. I've been told that they cost $150/day to rent Sounds a bit more Aussie than Kiwi ...filled with dolphins But then it plunges into a pool The Dolphin Plunge slide looks simple enough HooRoo Run is the faster of the two, and is like a fast, but not as intense, version of Hubba Tub at Wet'n'Wild This slide tower is at the back of the park, and contains Walhalla Wave and HooRoo Run. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy the play structure Taumata River is the eight-line racing slides. Riders face head first on mats. Of course, the real name would be Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotameteaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenakitanatahu River, but that wouldn't fit on the sign This play area is one of those large play areas with lots of fountains, hoses, and water jets. There are also two large water buckets This section is fun. The current flows around the corner very quickly Another view of the rapids It almost looks like a submarine is surfacing in the river The second river, known is Roa's Rapids is much faster, and is shown in the foreground. One of the play areas is in the background. Erik Johnson, and Eric Johnson, took some pictures too and may post them within the next few days. This is the second "lazy river" though there's nothing lazy about it. Both the toilet bowl slides empty out into the lazy river, so one can re-use the same tube. Another view of the same lazy river, this one from a different location The lazy river is well themed, and this is one of the aquarium viewing areas In the foreground is the entrance to one of the Lazy Rivers. The lazy river is unique in that it has two aquarium areas. In the background is Tassie's Twisters, a pair of toilet bowl slides. The park map, showing the layout and location in relation to SeaWorld But first we need to get a locker, and Erik needs to get the key out They have burgers, hotdogs, and a few other items It's an all-you-can-eat buffet format, though ACErs will be disappointed in the lack of gravy. Banana Beach Cookout is one of the park's food establishments. The all-day deal is ideal for coaster enthusiasts. The back of the park has a beach type area with sand, volleyball, and two wavepools Some of the random theming The "Kiwi Traders" store. I was disappointed because they didn't have Weet-Bix, hokey-pokey, Buzzy Bees, or even Chocolate Fish. What were they thinking? I'm not sure if this will be a regular "exhibit" at the park, though most of use wanted to head to the rides The turnstiles are similar to the systems at other Busch parks A closer view of the entrance Everyone gets a free T-shirt on entry Getting in took a while, as they had bag check Unusual roots for the tree. I think they may be fake As said above, this is a "sneak peek", and I believe the park will open to the public in March This is the line to get into the park The Dolphin Plunge slides tower over the main entrance Unlike Adventure Island, Aquatica charges for parking. Since everyone had annual passes, it didn't matter anyway. This was just the line to get in. A lot of people were there for the opening See what I mean by the Kiwi? On the way to the park. Kraken is visible, as well as Good Journey.

^ I've had the Van in mind for a while, I just haven't gotten round to making a ride themed after it yet.

I'm looking forward to visiting the Mountain next month. Any idea if they have plans to get the monorail going again?

It's good to see some life left in your Photo TR. I'm looking forward to the rest, if you ever get around to posting it. Did you ever get your camera working again after that fall? I'm assuming that dropping it probably killed the warranty

So if I haven't received an e-mail by now, should I start being concerned, or are you guys just busy at the moment?

Some of the changes to SSE were good, but some need more work. When I rode it back in December, they had temporarily re-opened it, but they didn't have the face detection working, but it looks like they have put it to use. Some of the new scenes were impressive, and the familiar creaks and groans of the ride vehicles are still present. Also, you mentioned that the "mini spaceship earth ball" was missing. Are you referring to the ball you see when the vehicles rotate? That was still there when I rode during the preview. Did they take it out? At least the little model beside the "boob statue" is still intact!

That wasn't the only book he wrote. He also wrote "Roller Coaster Lover's Companion". Unfortunately he passed away several years ago.

Ways to save money: If you're planning to visit a lot of parks, do a TPR trip (though Jow said that already) Don't eat at parks (probably won't work if you're an ACE member, but I can spend an entire day at a park while eating only breakfast and hitting drinking fountains on a regular basis) Don't buy souvenirs. I just take lots of pictures and occasionally video. If you want to buy on-ride photos and you're with other people who want them too, buy one and send them copies.

Well I've got the first one uploaded and submitted, and survived enough WMM crashes to get the second one completed, now I just need to get it submitted.

I think we should give Cedar Fair a hand and help them name their other rides Viking Fury -> Swinging ship Congo Falls -> Boat Ride Adventure Express -> Adventure Scooby-Doo™ and the Haunted Castle -> Shooting ride Delirium -> Swing Flight of Fear -> Launching Coaster Vortex -> Six Loop Coaster

^ Thank you! My PC is still down and I hope to get a new motherboard and a USB adapter for the hard drive in within the next day or so, in which case I can get my files back on time. Turns out that WMM runs way too choppy on my laptop

This diagram might help 480i is what most TV stations and cable companies broadcast. It's what you get from your rabbit ears, cable box, satellite receiver etc. At the moment, it is broadcast with both analog and digital signals. The digital switch means that the picture will broadcast as a bunch of 1's and 0's instead of amplitude/waves. 720i/p and 1080i/p are considered "high definition" A progressive scan image (720p, 1080p) is usually better than an interlaced image because it refreshes the entire image twice as fast. With an interlaced signal, you get one half the image 60 times a second, meaning that the image updates 30 times a second. With progressive scan, the entire image updates 60 times a second.

More screens. I have relocated the Fuji Queue and Jet Coaster rides to a new Japan themed section with rides in the snow. In addition, all the coasters are white. The new Vekoma Stingray flying coaster during initial testing The JJLOC section received two new rides, a powered coaster, called "Happy Dragen", and a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop The Fuji Queue coaster in its new home Overview of the park The new Japan themed section I upgraded Derek's Beer Barrel Roll to have bigger vertical loops