KarlaKoaster

The noise complaints at Phantasialand have made so many of their rides so much better... Talocan, Colorado Adventure, Black Mamba and now this it seems are so much better through being buried or partly enclosed.

What is your source please? None of the pictures I have seen make it look anything like 45 degrees.

I guess to show how that colourscheme would work and how it compliments Apollo's Chariot.

There are sprung electrical pickups on the train chassis (which looks like a metal comb with blobs on the end), and in line with where each car stops there are some grooves which the comb thing goes through. So when the train comes in as it passes each of these pickups it makes a 'chh' noise, and when the train stops there is an electric and data connection between the station track and the train. You can see these on inverted coasters quite easily on the top right (at least on Mk1 inverted coaster trains) of each car. Also if you look at the lights in the hole in back of the seat in front of you, you can see the LED lights coming on/off as the car goes through each pickup as it enters the station. I love the noise Nemesis makes because each wheel goes clunk over the join in the transfer track, and then 'chh' over the electrical pickups meaning you get a 'clunk clunk chh, clunk clunk chh, clunk clunk chh..' noise as the train comes in. I know this is the nerdiest thing to say in the history of nerddom.

It's certainly the first half and half version, and the first XXL to have outward facing seats too I believe. I really like the idea.

I don't count my coasters, but if I did I would definitely count fair coasters as it would be a waste not to include rides like Eurostar, Olympia Looping etc etc. The only thing I would perhaps find hard is keeping track of smaller coasters that change owners, colours etc, but I don't ride those anyway as I'm not much of a credit whore.

I think it's a shame as the almost the whole area is like that. They're normally quite good at theming canvasses when they're likely to be in somebody's photo. But on the other hand it is good to see work being done. How long will it be like that? Maybe they're having the designs done and will replace the cream canvasses once they have been printed?

I'm glad you're safe and well. Theme park rides are really safe so it's such a shock when something like this happens, but I'm glad that the emergency workers did such a good job of looking after you guys.

My initial thought was that it is three across with the seats sort of in between the supports at the back rather than there being a support behind each seat.

I like the low construction fences so that people can properly see construction. It looks like lots of people are enjoying watching them put the ride together. The helix is a really nice shape too, hopefully the train keeps up a good speed going through it.

How weird! You're definitely right that the ones on the right are facing inwards. The ones on the left look like they're facing outwards. The only thing I can think is that they're not yet fixed on properly and are just on a rack or something ready to be installed? They do look like they are fixed on though. Maybe you will have the choice of either sitting inwards or outwards? I quite like that idea!

The ride is still under construction. I'm sure they will add the brickwork in soon

My first thought was possibly spray-on concrete to create rockwork. Phantasialand really know how to integrate their rides into the park to make them look like they've always been there, particularly Black Mamba and Chipas.

I personally find Easter one of the worst times to go. I think it's because it's the first proper half term of the year so everyone goes for their fix. I normally find just after Easter is the best time to go. Before Easter is also bit of a nightmare because you get all the school trips.

So, Beast has outward-facing seats! I didn't realise this. Picture from KMG.

^^ Oh no, it won't be open this weekend, there will be a lot of testing to do plus finishing touches I would imagine.

I guess it's bit of a chicken and egg situation where electric cars might not become mainstream until there are enough electric charge points to make them practical, but then until electric cars become popular there isn't really the demand to add charge points.

Coasters to me can be disappointing in many different ways. Sometimes overhyped by enthusiasts, sometimes by the parks, and sometimes by myself. I think out of the coasters below the only one I don't like is Rock'n'Roller Coaster. The others I like, but did disappoint me. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney Studios, Paris. I wish they had just copied the one from Florida. The outside looks horrible with a cheap billboard and ugly building, the theme inside is confusing and almost non existent, and the effects during the ride look like they have been borrowed from a nightclub. Oh and the music rarely works. Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I always get the idea that this is one of the better regarded B&M hyper coasters but for me I preferred Shambhala, Silver Star, Nitro etc. It was a great coaster but didn't meet expectations. Space Mountain at Walt Disney World. Maybe controversial? I just think it feels a bit outdated to me. It's quite a nice ride, but didn't feel like the E-Ticket I expected it to. Millennium Force at Cedar Point. This was disappointing on my first ride, but it's sort of grown on me and I've come to accept it for what it is. It is an odd one to me because I never expected airtime, but something just seemed to be 'missing'. But the more I ride it the less disappointing it becomes. Thirteen at Alton Towers. It's an OK family coaster but when it opened Merlin said it was so intense that you had to be over 18 years old to ride it as it was so scary and that they sold rubber underwear in case you soiled yourself. I know that parks exaggerate to make their rides sound better but why do it to the point people will come off disappointed? No wonder it was the lowest rated coaster in the park when they did their survey a few seasons ago.

Here is another photo of The Beast showing the backdrop, again courtesy of KMG Europe.

London's National Gallery has also banned selfie sticks: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31829535

I think a lot of parks are lazy in applying rules and their default response is "no". I think sometimes it's just down to parks not wanting to allow their staff any discretion so it's easier for them to say "no" to anything. I can't see any good reason not to allow Go Pros which are mounted on chest harnesses onto coasters so long as it doesn't interfere with restraints (only ride I can think would be an issue might be the Maurer X Coasters).

Here are some pictures of the new XXL, courtesy of KMG's Facebook page. Click the thumbnails for larger versions.

The sad thing is that Eurostar has left Germany to presumably rust away, that Olympia Looping is constantly rumoured to be on borrowed time and no big new coasters seem to be replacing them. I think Eurostar was our Concord moment and we'll never see anything like that again.

The other concept art shows it better, but it's a huge wheel like you would find on the top of a mining tower. This shows it more clearly:

I rode it in its second or third year. It was quite rough but really really intense. The turn out of the two corkscrews looked impossibly tight and was really forceful. The first drop, loop and turn were great too, and the ride finished with a really intense helix. The ride ran something like 5 trains so the brakes did slow the trains a lot but in between it was amazing. I did hear it got really rough, even after they did a lot of work to smooth it out. It was such a gigantic coaster. It was really intimidating and one of the few coasters to give me butterflies before I rode it. I don't think we'll ever see another ride quite like it