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The fluffy, fluffy chickens are called Silkies and they're awesome!! My old roommates had three of them. Nice pics.

There is an industry rule of thumb for this. You design a park with an anticipated number of first year guests in mind. Capacities and quantities of rides and other attractions in your proposed park dictate this (of course your population center must support it as well). Now multiply that number by 100 ... that's your ballpark for initial investment required, in USD. So if you wanted to open a park at the scale of Indiana Beach or Holiday World, from "nothing", you might expect to need to invest something like $75million or $100million, respectively. Of course, with those particular examples, they were not developed in that fashion. "Rome wasn't built in a day" kinda thing. They started very small and grew. In all actuality, different projects have different details, and rules of thumb are just rules of thumb. That said, it has been shown to be statistically accurate on the average. There is a lot of interesting info here. < Source in post body.

Better answers above▲ and below▼▼ ... my answer was somewhere between confusing and incorrect so I am removing it.

I lived less than three hours from this place for over a year - sadly before I was coaster or theme park enthusiast. Never knew about it. It is INCREDIBLY cool and now I need to get back there someday!! Here is a pic of the dude in his workshop. Photocredit is on the photo, found @ dailymail.co.uk with caption: "Dedicated: Bruno in his workshop. Over the past forty years he has built an amusement park by hand and in his own time". This is inspiring, I want to do this now!

I love the building and have no problem with it not matching the ride theme. It will make the ride even more surprising and delightful for GP that don't know exactly what they're getting into. I'm sure it will be a little crazy but I'll be there on Memorial Day and the Sunday night before.

^That's actually pretty cool, well spotted. ^^^Speaking of RMC, they certainly helped out SFGAm with their collection of unique combos: > RMC / B&M Wing > RMC / B&M Flying > RMC / B&M Hyper > RMC / Mack > RMC / PTC Jr > RMC & Intamin woodies Again leaving out Intamin inverted but that would be another.

Both appeal to me, but it's easier to find non-fiction content that I'm certain will hold my interest. Usually in a year I'll finish 25-35 nonfiction and 2-3 fiction.

Dorney is the only park with inverted coasters by three different manufacturers: Intamin (Possessed), Vekoma (Stinger), B&M (Talon). Notice I did not say "the only place you can ride...." because it seems like getting them all running at the same time is completely impossible.

^^ It's also the only park where you can ride five Intamins (assuming you rent someone's child, own your own, or are very short yourself): Maverick, Dragster, Wicked Twister, MilF, and Jr. Gemini or whatever they renamed it. Morgan and non-inverted B&M - unique to Dorney Morgan and Premier - unique to Kennywood I was so sure that KBF would be the only park with both a Vekoma Boomerang and a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop, but alas it is not; Walibi Belgium spoils the fun.

Himeji Central Park is the only place you can ride an inverted B&M and a Togo of any kind. More surprisingly, SFStl is the only SF park with three woodies.

My ride on Goliath Saturday was also very decent. Second row far left seat. I spent a lot of time watching the ride over BBQ and beers with GP friends, and it didn't have any extended downtime all day. Just a few quick delays. Also, not a bad pulled pork sandwich. Right before the turnstile on Bizarro there is a sign that describes physical requirements to ride: "(Riders)... must have at least two legs..." Crowds were lighter than expected, I think even locals are postponing visits until the WC opens. Bizarro wait was 10-25min all day. Saw three orange train test laps on WC. It's majestic.

Arrow suspended generates a few more since so rare. B&M wing and Arrow suspended is uniquely found at Cedar Point B&M flying and Arrow suspended is uniquely found at Magic Mountain I'll leave out... Intamin inverted and Arrow suspended is uniquely found at Cedar Point since "Intamin inverted" is a less distinct and more commonly duplicated ride type than the B&M designs.

^Haha, both trains' speakers were apparently working on the 15th. I was out of the country but my partners were there and are certain of it. At that rate, they may already both be down again.

Awesome to see cheap ($26) POP bands WITH wood coasters for certain remaining early season days ... May: 9-10, 16-17, 20-21, 26-28; June: 1-4. Park is open other days but the full POPs are either not offered or priced at the normal season $46. I see this... one thing lead to the next ...1/2h later I have a Lakemont/DelGrosso/Hershey/Knoebels trip planned for 5/24-26. Very excited for Knoebels and first ride on Impulse 26th!! Cautiously optimistic that crowds may be somewhat light on Tues.

Granted the speakers have been almost exclusively non-operational in recent years, but to be fair and up-to-date, they are working again this season (or ... they at least were in mid-April).

The real on-ride POV lap is about eight or nine seconds longer, from lift hill crest to brake run, than the rendered on-ride POV lap. Still looks great to me, and no idea on their plans for wheels. Cannot wait for opening day!

Turbulence started testing on Saturday. Not my video, just found it on youtube. Not too spinny in this run but I'm still very excited. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

A bankruptcy hearing that was scheduled for tomorrow to decide whether CLP gets closed and liquidated, or can remain open, has been postponed until next Tuesday - because the park filed records today indicating it has secured two $150k loans.

I stopped by Quassy on Saturday from 3:30 to close (6pm). It was a beautiful day and the parking lot was totally full up to the grass when I arrived. It was $40 carload day which is a great deal: parking plus all day ride bands for everyone in the car. Waited about 15min for an excellent lap on WW. It was running much faster than any of my previous visits, which were all chilly fall evenings last year. Even more confident now that this is the highest fun/lb. coaster in the world. Next headed over to Frantic and ended up waiting five cycles, about a half hour, thanks to some parent-sponsored line jumping by a whole flock of very small children-things. So yes, Frantic's cycle is about 25 rotations in a single direction. What's cool is that each program has sensitivity to initial randomness and is thus unique. Ride to ride, it takes slightly differing numbers of swings to first go a full 360, and the first full 360 can swing around at the top in any of a large range of speeds, and in either direction. IE, some rides gave intense hang time, some less so. What is additionally awesome is that the rotation of the seating gondola against the arm has high variability built in to break up repetitiveness. The result is that for entire 25-spin cycle you are continually experiencing new views and forces. It really didn't get boring at all. Definitely a good addition for the park, I think it will remain one of their most popular rides. That said, I was happy to spend the rest of the day marathoning walk-on rides on Warrior instead of risking another long wait for a Frantic reride. As always, Quassy provided a very fun few hours.

Glad to see it's a useful/enjoyable report. DirkFunk, > I didn't spend too much time in Georgetown, really. The "hawker center" (outdoor food cart market) on Gurney Street is a must see food wise. I took a cab here and then just walked around, looked at what people were eating, and when something looked really good asked them which cart it was from. Generally people were friendly and happy to help. Much of the rest of the Gurney area by the shore was developed, upscale, western - but I didn't explore this part at all. > "Komtar" looks to be another quite developed shopping destination, deeper withing Georgetown, but again did not stop here. Oh, one thing: between the hot climate and open sewers, much of the city has a pretty distateful odor, may have been part of the reason I sought out more rural attractions. > The RapidPenang bus system is decent (modern) and very cheap but can be a little confusing so worth a bit of research ahead of time. If you use it and get lost just look for a bus with "Jeti" on the scrolling route sign and head there, that is the big Georgetown terminal from where you can get info and a bus to anywhere. Cab rides are also pretty easy to find and never more than US$10 within the city. Once I figured that I out, I would just get off at a random stop, walk around a bit, and look for one of the more crowded "open kitchen" type eateries when hungry, without noting names, really. I didn't go to any kind of "nice" or tourist-rated restaurants in Georgetown. > The street vendor market at Jeti station is worth checking out for interesting cultural snacks if you're adventurous. Again everything is extremely cheap, buy all kinds of stuff and toss what's no good, (which will be plenty, haha). >There is a large Buddhist temple near Penang Hill, worth a quick visit if you're near that way. Both right on the bus route from Jeti. It goes through some very poor areas where you can get great street food for less than a dollar. Heavily spiced meats on skewers, etc. Again I just looked for people eating things that looked appetizing. This may have been a bit risky but haven't gotten sick so far. > Queensbay Mall is a large, somewhat upscale western style mall about 10km south of Georgetown and very near where I first stayed on the island. There was a good selection of nice sit down restaurants in the mall, the best of which IMO a Chinese hand-pulled noodle house called i-Dragon. > If you have some sort of a guide for your visit it will definitely be helpful. One of the managers at the site I was working was very helpful in highlighting some of the best food options near the industrial zone, south of the city. It's more difficult figuring out what's best to order, often depending on what the best catch of the day is, than where to go. ThemeParkJunkies - I'm am certain your enthusiasm with bring to parks all over the world, eventually! bert - the manufacturing sector here alone is pretty cool to see and be a part of! Definitely push for a trip to both places. SharkTums - gladly! Happy to have something of interest to share.

So when I found out in late March that I'd be spending a couple weeks working in Penang, Malaysia, one of my first research stops was of course the venerable RCDB where I found, naturally, NADA nearby. Fortunately my boss kindly offered to give me a whole week of free time to spend as I wished, so that I could make my way to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for some thrills. Long story short - my work did not exactly go as planned and that entire extra week was used up wrapping up issues on the job site. There was, however, one amusement park on Penang Island, which I was able to visit. Called Escape Adventure, it offers two zipline courses, climbing attractions, ropes courses, rope swings, a jump tower with two platforms, a dry tube slide (racing style), a Skycoaster clone, and quite a bit more. The journey there entailed a wild, winding bus ride along the Pacific Ocean, taking numerous switchbacks at highly inappropriate speeds while being continuously overtaken on every side by a sea of moped riders traveling at even more highly inappropriate speeds. Additionally, you could travel up "Penang Hill" to some great views on a terrifyingly overcrowded funicular. And the food - my goodness - people travel here just for the food, and with good reason! Onto some pics. View from the hotel - which was extravagantly luxurious, and cheap! The derelict mansions (bottom left) offered some tempting urban exploration material, had I not been concerned about rotting in a Malaysian jail for about 77years. . LMAO! This is a joke, or.... ? :/ . Big freakin' prawn thingies in egg. Yummm. . This is the kitchen and outdoor seating where the prawns were served. Very "authentic" . Entire families with small children on mopeds - common. As I was taking this, one passed the other direction with four people on it. . I'm a big vintage VW fan; these appeared to be extremely rare pre-1953 Beetles, but upon stopping for closer inspection were "just" moderately rare, mid-1950's Beetles modified to look older. . The Hill with funicular track in background. . Maybe they got the idea from Six Flags! They were similarly inaccurate here, thankfully in the riders' favor (we boarded in about 5 min). . Some models showing funicular cars of yesteryear. . Got a spot with a view - a difficult thing to manage as Malaysians don't really follow any, um, rules for queueing. . The view was admittedly gorgeous, even on a hazy day. Which I think they all are, there. Down in the city it was an uncomfortable ~95F whereas up on the top of the hill it was at least half a degree cooler! . Proof! . This is Laksa Noodle (I think...) from a booth at the world-renowned Gurney Street hawker center. Yummm. . I did not try these squid or octopus thingies, but they looked cool! . Next day: En route to Escape Adventure. This boat was a steakhouse. . Stopped at the tropical spice gardens which were lovely and fragrant and offered tours from highly informed guides. . Hard Rock Penang was also on the drive there, on the shore. . Pacific ... and moped! . Windy roads... and moped! . We're here!! You can tell, because there's a giant banana hanging overhead. . You may not bring any factories or video game controllers into the park. . Big groups accounted for just about every other visitor the park in the morning. . Well I certainly WILL have a nice play, thank you. . High tech! . Consider me warned. . Rehab all around. . There must be some international law that all parks of all types must have basically the same style map. . Lots of ropes courses with all kinds of elements. This was too much exertion so I stayed away. . Walking the zipline course through the woods. Each course had four or five jumps in between leisurely strolls through the woods. It was very neat. . Here is one of the jumps where you can see the Consumer Club closely following the rules. They were all scared to jump so this took forever. . Onto the jump tower! . The two platforms were at heights of 12m and 20m - 40' and 65' respectively. . Pictures were no issue. . You're harnessed in and jump off here, freefall for just a few feet, then drag kicks in on the line and it lowers you gently to the ground. . More of the park from the tower. . This is the Skycoaster clone, except you hold a bar above your head instead of laying in a sling. They wouldn't let me ride alone because it throws it off balance, and I couldn't find any other single riders to go with me. So, first rejection. I even asked four separate groups of three who all looked to be headed in it's direction, but no dice. . These nuts are, um... smaller than I would expect. I'm sure they're just some super strong alloy. Riiiight. . Jumping! I like jumping! . .... rejected :/ . They have an odd sense of humor here. . Well that's responsible. . This was a great rope swing ride where on your first swing-back you invariably slammed against that unpadded support timber. . Sod roofs are interesting, eco-friendly, and attractive. . Tons of tropical foliage. . Walkway to the dry tube slide. . Every carry those big waterpark rafts up the stairs for the Tornado? Yeah, this was about 1356777x as bad as that. Mainly because I chose the tube whose pull-string had broken in half. . Weird branches growing from treetop to ground, .... or from ground to treetop? . Why thank you! . This was actually a pretty awesome ride, you SPUN around like crazy! See where it really dips down for a "first drop"? You really got moving! . Banana's still hanging there above the gift shop. They did not have an Escape shotglass to add to my collection so I picked up a tee. Lines were short so I ordered a hotdog, chicken burger, and began waiting.... and waiting... *yawn*....... Wait, are they actually going to be rounding up a chicken for my burger? Ewww! Certainly they did not! This was worse than the pre-reformed chicken nuggets from Mickey-D's. There were shows, which I did not watch. Sweaty and exhausted. What's this Ocean Family Theme park? I never did find out... The remains of a Korean BBQ meal to finish off the day. Much better than the park food.

^ Visa makes a much larger version of Quassy's ride. There's only one installation, at Silverwood. It's not quite as tall as Huss' Giant Frisbee, but close. I'm going to stop by this weekend to checkout the new ride and get a few laps in on WW. Good to see 50c Friday's are back starting May 22, I'll be hitting up a couple of those too.

That's averaging 400-500 miles of daily driving while visiting parks enroute. I wouldn't enjoy such an aggressive pace, but if you can manage it, well done! Bring lots of water on the long driving segments. Very easy to underestimate that need in the drier, hotter regions.

Quassy's ship is a Zamperla, and it's a decent ride from the back seats, though I don't have much to compare to. The remarkable part though, is that I distinctly recall a seat in the back row, right side, that the restraint didn't cover. As in, you could slide your little heiny right on over and be sitting in a position with absolutely no restraint in front of you. Which would be tremendously thrilling, seeing as you get a decent pop of air at the end of each swing. Now this sounds totally nuts, and I wasn't even going to mention it here, assuming I'm totally not remembering it right, but then I found this... http://www.adips.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/046-Zamperla-Galleon-Seating-1.pdf so I may be on to somenthing here...

^ It seems there was another 1909 dips-style coaster that lasted, in original form, into the 70's called Figure Eight Raceway, in England. And the demo of Clementon's 1919 Jack Rabbit - instead of restoration or auction - in 2007 was a nearly criminal act IMO. Thanks to an ex-Six Flags exec, if I'm recalling correctly. It'd been SBNO for five years but still looked very respectable. Scroll to the bottom. This was 2006. Makes my *&%$ blood boil. http://www.casabrian.com/parks/clementon2006.html