ZeroGravity55

New Hard Hat Chronicles video from Facebook. This one is about the woodies: The Voyage has received a new sprocket and is getting new track work done. The Legend is getting over 1000 feet of track work in honor of it's 15th year ( has it really been 15 years? I remember getting measured by my dad to see if I would be tall enough to ride it when it was announced) The Raven is also receiving extensive track work in honor of it's 20th season. Edit: If you pay attention in the video, you can see that the second overbank (or elevated spiral) on Thunderbird is probably now completed (assuming this was filmed sometime last week). I knew I was seeing track through the trees.

So I was reading Screamscape and Lance said that he was hearing something about a possible wooden shuttle roller coaster being designed by The Gravity Group for ZDT Amusement Park in Seguin, Texas. I then stumbled across a link on Screamscape about the press events for Tuesday at IAAPA. There is an announcement scheduled at the Gravity Group booth with ZDT Amusement Park. http://www.iaapa.org/expos/iaapa-attractions-expo/press-office/schedule-of-press-events/press-events-tuesday Looks like a new GG woodie for the states, which is good for those guys, but I would expect this ride to be around the same size of the Quassy, Grona Lund, and Story Land woodies, but who knows, they might surprise us.

I honestly think all the track will be in place before the end of the year, weather permitting of course.

Pretty sure they added more track to the elevated spiral today. It's just hard to tell with the overcast skies and the trees. New photos from Thunderbird's micro-site:

Wood: The Voyage: I've yet to ride anything else that can match it in terms of how aggressive the ride is. That's when it's running smooth, of course. I'm also going to to say The Legend because of the laterals, but being more specific, it's really this turn that does it for me. Steel: Maverick Top Thrill Dragster

The coaster that turned me into a enthusiast:

Holiday World is going to unveil and show off one of Thunderbird's cars at the B&M booth (I'm assuming) at IAAPA. From HW's Facebook:

New wood already going up on The Voyage, they're certainly not wasting anytime getting off-season maintenance underway.

^^ Ehh I'll be technical when I get more than 4 hours of sleep. From HW's Twitter:

^ I have too, but it's just a camera. I don't think it really matters where they put it. Looking at the ThunderbirdCam, I can't tell if they've started putting track in for the next overbank, or if that is one of the booms I'm seeing. It's kinda hidden behind the trees and both the boom and track are orange. I might just be seeing stuff.

I'm glad to see TGG has finally landed a full-sized coaster project outside of China.

^ What's in the animation videos. Fog, thunder, lightning, and then the train is launched.

New Hard Hat Chronicles video from Facebook (it's not on Youtube yet): Here's some screen shots with a different perspective than other photos we've seen so far:

^ I do as well. This really isn't a construction photo, since it's already built, but I love this shot of the Immelmann. From HW's Facebook:

When visiting HW&SS(my home park): Backpack Phone Wallet Keys Change of clothes (I usually arrive at the park with my swim trunks already on) Towel Sunscreen Sunglasses Once I arrive at the park, the first thing I do is purchase a locker in the waterpark and put everything in it and return whenever I need money, check my phone, ext. I don't like to carrying anything with me while I'm riding rides. At other parks: Keys Wallet Phone Sunglasses My keys are usually connected to my belt loop, and phone and wallet are usually secured where they won't be able to fall out. I don't like to carry stuff with me, but usually the price of lockers is enough to make me deal with it. I have a student loan I have to pay off, so I try and save money where I can.

Some new photos from Thunderbird's micro-site:

I love Cedar Point, and the experience I had there was absolutely incredible. I will go back at some point, but with that being said, I would choose Walt Disney World. I'm more of a "theme park" enthusiast than a coaster enthusiast, so I'll take WDW any day of the week.

^ What he said, thanks for all you guys have been doing! I was looking at some of the other wing riders awhile back and noticed that some of the trains had a really nice light package on them. Paula, do you know if Thunderbird's trains will have one as well?

^^ He's right. Just using this as an example, but the number of infrastructure improvements made by HW in the past two seasons should have probably been a sign that a new coaster was coming. They expanded their waterpark entrance, built a huge new first aid building, upgraded their locker systems, added a new restaurant, built a new retail shop, added more bathrooms, and have been making parking lot improvements. All of this came before announcing a brand new roller coaster for next season. All of these improvements are going to allow them to be able to have an increased guest count and allows them to continue and offer a great guest experience. Guest experience is the key word here. You can add all the high thrill attractions you want, but if all the things around that attraction bring the guest experience down, nobody will come back to ride that attraction. Remember it's just one ride. While I'm not familiar with VF, if all of these improvements need to be made to the park, they must be made before or when the coaster is built.

My only suggestion is to do something about the queues of both Batman and Boss, they're both ridiculous.

^ Yes it has! Lots of progress today. The overbanked horseshoe looks a tad bit more banked than I originally thought and the turn looks a lot tighter as well.

Well good, I'm glad you can. Just so you know, I've never said Thunderbird was going to be a great ride, and I've never even said that HW is the best park. Yes, I am totally fanboying out right now, but honestly, I'm more excited about where the park is going in terms of the future then the ride itself. Up until last year, HW's theming was average at best, so when I see them working with a company that has worked with Dollywood and Seaworld parks of the world, or borrow ideas from Europa Park, I get a little excited. Nice! It's also good to see the buildings coming along nicely. I wonder when the station is going to go vertical?

It's free, unlimited, and I happen to like the kool-aid HW serves, so yes, I drink a lot of it.

WC looks great! I have to say though, only a SF park would use #thrillitup..

^^^ Who isn't amazing at HW? I've always loved your guys sense of humor. If you guys can't have fun, who can? I believe Will Koch said something like that? Anyways, happy to hear you guys are well on schedule to have plenty of time to test Thunderbird! I read the latest Holiblog explaining how the park borrowed an idea from Europa Park on building the massive structures for their pumpkin displays. I'm really impressed with all the little details that are being put into everything the park is doing. As I've said before, HW is reaching a whole new level of awesome.