LuminousAphid

Thanks, that looks like it. The reason it looked unsafe to me was that the cables in that crappy video looked very flexible, but they look semi-rigid up close. I was thinking the wind could send the thing into the side supports, but I guess it must not be an issue. Technical Park seems to know what they are doing. edit; I love the description on their page: "The swing arch of ± 85° is the dynamic effect of the fulcrum rotation and engage the free looping of the gondola."

Holy crap look at this thing, it's like a Scat on steroids I would love to try it, but it was probably way too intense when it swings you out

It says this was at our State Fair, I don't go there so I didn't get to see it in person- what is this? It looks like the swing is suspended by cables, which are attached to some offset crosspiece that rotates, making the thing swing. This seems very unsafe to me for several reasons, but what is it? Who would make such a thing? It looks pretty boring to boot, which is the real violation

Bumping this with some more crazy Euro rides- 'The King' technical park loop fighter- sort of gaudy but I like it I guess I have a soft spot for 'over-the-top flashy' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEDrh1IV_bI Lasers! Silverwood's Spin Cycle seems to have a nice lighting package as well And one for just "look at how fast this thing goes"- for 7 minutes

Yes, I remember reading about several accidents that happened to people who got roped into taking down rides. One, predictably, involved drug use. Not to give a bad ride to all companies, but there are definitely some sketchy ones. I always check now who operates the rides.

Anyone been to the park yet this year? I'm getting excited for my trip there in August (I don't get away much, so it's like going to WDW for me!) and I'm wondering how things are going this year. I would imagine with it being quiet, things are going well- it's always things going wrong that generate the most discussion! I think I posted this earlier in the thread, but I will be there sometime between the August 10th-14th, so if anyone else from the forum is there we should meet up! I might also come back for Scarywood this year, and ride my first roller coaster backward (fingers crossed they do it again) edit: also, can anyone update on how Aftershock has been running? Do they have most of the kinks worked out by now, or should I expect it to still be closed >50% of the time?

That's awesome, thanks for your answer! I figured someone on here would have some idea, and I could have looked it up, but I always like hearing real-world examples. I bet the single-ride contracting is why they have some of the more kickass carnival rides in Europe vs the sort of "white trash" (but, nice white trash) ones you find at the fairs around here. The fairs I usually go to are just smaller though, so that may not be the case in the rest of the US. I don't think we have very many events around here which draw 500k, but I will have to look it up... maybe the PNE up north, but I don't think WA, OR, or ID have that type of huge event to draw the big operators.

Hey Robb, just saw that this guy has reposted at least one of your videos without credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBwSa-1YBf8 Probably because the original has almost 6 million views haha

WTF? http://rcdb.com/4218.htm#p=23525 There are 3 of a kind, but that makes it even more "wtf" How did they sell 3 of these?

Sure, there are ways to try to stress it to the general public, but as long as people feel the need to share every mildly interesting thing they do onto multiple social media platforms, people are going to be filming with their phones. Holding your phone up in front of your face like a jerkoff has just become a completely normal thing for most people (I still haven't bought into the "smartphone" trap, so I have an outsider's perspective, and believe me, it looks weird), so why not on a coaster? What, my phone could become a deadly projectile? BUT I NEED TO UPLOAD THIS TO FACEBOOK!!?! How will anyone know I'm a super cool dude if I don't record video and share it over the internet? Plus, there's no sense in added signage, these people's eyes are probably deadlocked onto their phones through the entire queue anyway!

I don't think a major player in the industry will fade away just because they have competition, especially if they are selling a lot overseas as someone above mentioned. Also, people and parks can't seem to get enough of woodies these days, and RMC can only build so fast, so I don't see business just drying up completely for GCI. They might not be the most popular right now, but they make solid, fun rides that bring bodies to parks, so they will be fine for at least a few years.

That's what I was afraid of If I do end up giving it a try, I will try to get some off-ride shots and make sure I report back on how much it tries to hurt me! I survived 2 rides on the 31-year-old arrow looper at my home park earlier this year , so this can't be much worse. It's always funny to me when I see "inclined loop" as an element. It's so close to an inversion, yet so far!

So, I was just writing about an interesting carnie ride in another thread, and got to wondering- how do travelling carnival ride companies get paid? I don't mean "how are they able to make a profit," because they obviously do; I'm wondering about how the payment for services actually works. Does the event pay a flat rate for the ride co. to come out, and the ticket proceeds go back to the event's bottom line? Does the ride co just come out and take all the ticket proceeds themselves? Maybe the operator gets paid to come out and gets some of the proceeds from the tickets, and the event just benefits from the extra crowd draw? Does this work differently depending on what country/part of the world? Basically, I want to know how the money I spend on tickets gets back to the ride operator co. Another thing I am wondering, what percentage of their gross income is spent on transport costs? I just realized this is probably one of the most boring topics I have created, but I don't care- I want to know!

Actually I was thinking back, and I do have a favorite flat. The Gravitron which used to show up at the Central Washington State Fair was an interesting ride. It was hot (Central WA is in the desert), loud (cheap speakers blaring hair metal full blast, inside and out) and smelly (lots of sweat and vomit) just like any Gravitron. It tended to draw large lines since there wasn't a huge choice of other rides, and because it was pretty flashy for the 1990's. It might have actually been a "Starship 2000," but I don't know. What stood out to me, was that for at least 1 year, the inside had been decorated "island of the dolls" style--doll heads hanging from the ceiling EVERYWHERE around the ride op booth, some on pretty long strings. And they were creepy doll heads; some had been turned into bleeding, snarling monsters using felt markers. When the thing started to spin up, the heads would sway back and forth and then begin to rise up until nearly horizontal, stretching out menacingly toward all the riders. It was sort of creepy for a <10yr old kid, but it definitely made that Gravitron more interesting than your standard fare. These days it would invite massive lawsuits so no one would allow it.

Well, I don't really know about my favorite flat ride, but this has just become my favorite video of a flat ride

Hey everybody, I was just looking at the Puyallup Fair (our state fair here in WA) for later this summer, and realized they now have one of these: http://rcdb.com/6478.htm Has anyone here ever ridden one? How about other coasters by Top Fun? Any good at all? It looks like it could be a fun little coaster, but it will probably cost $5+ on top of admission to the fair, so I'm not sure it would be worth it. I wouldn't even bother going to the fair except they also have the wooden coaster and monster mouse, which I don't think I have ridden. The last time I was there, the fair attracted some of the worst people.

I just found POV of the swing you mentioned... I was trying to find who actually manufactured it? In this article it says the park's owner "designed" it, but I have a feeling that by "design," they mean he said, "HEY lets put a giant swing on the edge of this cliff because ADVENTURE PARK!!" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2368272/Is-worlds-scariest-swing-New-Giant-Canyon-ride-installed-edge-1-300ft-cliff.html pre-emptive edit: before I posted I looked at more video and found out it is an S&S, but I'll still post because the claim that the park owner designed it is funny to me

Wow wow wow, thanks for posting BDG! I love how the "cannonball" is the ride car I was just thinking, and I don't know if this counts as a lighting "package," but the first time I saw a video of this year's Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, I thought it couldn't possibly be real... I want to see this in person someday I was going to go see my home park's holiday light display last year, but after seeing this I didn't really want to anymore

So I was just looking through some flat ride videos from Europe, and realized that they have some eye-popping fair rides unlike anything I have ever seen... for example, this breakdance in Germany has an absolutely awesome lighting program IMO What's your favorite lighting package on any ride? How much better is the ride with lights vs. during the day?

Sorry I misunderstood, I thought you were referring to the "huge geographic area" you mentioned the sentence before I would love to see Silverwood grow to become like one of the big independent parks such as Morey's or Lagoon, but I just don't see it happening in this location. I think they will need an outside investor if they ever want to become a destination park, but this would change the park completely; maybe the owners want to stay small-ish, and retain that more friendly vibe, and that's fine too. I just want them to build more roller coasters so that I can ride them!

"Love to EriKa" Very weird... Timberhawk was the last I rode here at Wild Waves on Sat, it was also the first thing I went on. It's much more intense than it looks on tape, and after not riding any coaster for probably 5 years (just got "into" coasters recently) it was quite a rush.

Can we get a thread for Wild Waves in Federal Way, WA? It's not huge but it's been around for ages and it's the only thing we have within 5 hours drive, so it's my 'home' park even though I don't go often. They have been expanding a bit on the water park side the last few years, and they probably had a record season last year with the good summer we had. Also there has been a huge population influx of people from all over the world to the Seattle area, so I'm sure this little park will only get more popular. edit: Also, on the rides page for WW in the park index, there are some rides which have been removed- here's an article that explains why 1 in particular is gone: "I kind of thought I was going to die" http://www.komonews.com/news/local/123712014.html

Well, I rode... ... *realizes everyone else is riding way more awesome stuff* ... ...I rode our local park's woodie Timberhawk

Were you wearing a green fleece and jeans? I thought about saying something to the other lone guy I saw on the coasters. You might be in this video, actually: The back is WAY better than the front for comfort, plus the little airtime on the drop, but it doesn't make up for the savage headwhipping I was subjected to in any seat. Timberhawk, on the other hand... tons of fun!

Actually, there are a lot of things to do in the area, and I think this is one of the factors holding Silverwood back from being more popular and drawing bigger crowds. The number and variety of outdoor activities around the area probably keeps a lot of their potential guests busy enough that they don't feel the need to spend money going to a theme park. I know for myself--until I recently got into coasters--Silverwood was not even on my radar because there are so many other things to do during the summer. Also, those activities don't require a 7 hour drive to the middle of nowhere (we have effectively unlimited hiking/backpacking/mountaineering opportunities within 3 hours of Seattle), so it's not surprising that it's not a real "destination" park for the region. Plus, most of the yuppies around the Seattle area are just too cool to go to a theme park, they'd rather go to a gallery opening or something equally boring. Keeps the crowds down, but I think it also keeps the park from investing in a new premier coaster.