LuminousAphid

This. . . This is when an element becomes an inversion. That's all. Well, that gif doesn't really clear things up much from where I'm looking at it. What if the car goes into the gray "inversion" territory but stops and rolls back before getting to the 180 mark? Is it still an inversion because it went into the shaded 90 degree section at the top? The way I interpret that picture, that's what the shading would seem to imply--that any element in which the train reaches a roll angle within that range qualifies as an inversion. I don't agree. On the other hand, the animation in the gif seems to imply that the train has to complete a full revolution through the inversion area, which I also don't agree with--the cannibal roll doesn't quite make a complete roll around, but I would still call that an inversion. So throwing that picture out and saying, "That is all" is a very lazy way to look at an interesting topic. edit; to illustrate my point, this little guy has an "inclined loop" that would probably just about be within that 135 degree shaded territory, but I do not call this an inversion:

Part 2 - Rides & Rides & Rides I was planning on doing some other things with my day, like checking out some exhibits or shows or something like that, but it turned into mostly going back and forth between the midway and the showplex area where they had the good water fountains. My plan to "gorge myself" went by the wayside when I saw the crowds of people at all the food places, some of which were longer than ride lines at that point. I did find the rooftop beer garden, which had a great view of the rides! Midway from the roof Orn'ry Orange heading up again There's that other silly coaster Extreme Scream - (not kidding) I got an $8 beer, which I figured was equal to or less than theme park prices except I actually got a decent beer, so I was happy. It was starting to get hot and I'm pretty sure that's where my head started to cook, but I didn't notice thanks to the sweet Elysian nectar I had imbibed. A.k.a. Elysian Immortal IPA. I had never tried it but found it quite refreshing, even though I don't usually like IPAs. The other choices were Bud/Light and Hefeweisen, so not a great selection. Later I found more places serving beer but I didn't bother Classic Coaster Park I then went back to the roller coaster, because hey, I had never tried this one buzzed yet. Yes I can get a buzz from 1 beer, and yes I know I am a teetotaler. Either it made the experience much more fun, or the coaster had "warmed up" a bit, but whatever happened it was super fun again so I went twice. Afterward "Classic Coaster Park" has some nice tables and a grassy area that's right next to the coaster, you can watch the trains go up the lift and over the camelbacks in front. They were advertising for paving stone dedications, that might be a cool thing to support the upkeep of this cool little coaster. They just finished a big rehab and hopefully they will keep up the maintenance! Some flowers The lines were starting to get longer The 2nd turnaround is right above the queue and has no outside rail, so it looks strange There's a great view from the station Trains load and unload on the same side at separate platforms This is the point when everything started to get a little too warm and a little too crowded, so I headed inside for a while to look around and see if there was anything I wanted to buy. What I found was almost exclusively junk, with some interesting and out-of-my-budget things thrown in here and there. I have always hated the commercial part of these things ever since my best friend's parents brought us here and made us spend half a day in there when we were younger, and now I know I still find it depressing to have people from every direction trying to pitch you things to get more of your money. Spring foliage everywhere I had no problem leaving the fair and getting a hand stamp so I could go back to my car, but the mistake I made was trying to drive somewhere outside the grounds to eat. I soon got stuck in an oozing mire of cars trying to either enter or exit the parking areas, and the police had helpfully blocked off any chance of turning around. I swore a bit while I got to the other end of the mess, then swore some more as I realized I had crossed under a freeway and could not take back roads, and had to go back the same way. I swore more and more until I was free of the madness on the other side, and finally found a jack in the box. I got myself a nice sourdough jack, and felt better right away. So next time I will know, saving $5 is not worth the stress of trying to deal with that. Ain't nobody got time ferdat. Luckily I found another good spot to park and was back inside soon. The lines for everything were getting ridiculous now; I thought about going on the Zipper but found out the line was literally what I would estimate to be a city block. There was no overflow queue for anything so the lines just stacked out into the midway, crisscrossing the whole area with random lines that went around corners and completely past other rides. It was crazy, but interesting how people just sort of figure it out and make a line on their own, even if it was right out in the middle of everything. Somehow it worked and no one was cutting or anything, it was pretty amazing to me. I couldn't get good pics but here is some people: Guest 1854: "It's too crowded here!" I wanted to try the Schwarzkopf, and was lucky when I found 3 people right next to the line attendant who let me ride with them. One guy was from England working at Intel in Portland, to me it's always interesting to see what other people you can meet who are all having fun together. One thing I noticed is that the crowd was very diverse, but everyone was there for one thing: to have a good time! The Wild Cat was actually a really nice little coaster, with great drops and some fun helixes near the end. The last one really had a tight bank, it felt like nearly 90 degrees but was probably closer to 45 The little 4 seater cars were fun You can barely see the "12th Man" car behind the red one, it's painted in Seahawks colors I took this one later in the evening Next time I needed a little break I popped outside to get some more pictures of the wooden coaster, which is very visible from the road That's the weird turnaround above the queue, you can see the rail on the inside on the turn Funtastic Shows is the company that always (as far as I know) operates the rides for the fair grounds, and I saw many of the same flats as I did in the summer. Some of the people were the same as well, and a couple of the people on the coaster actually recognized me from last year's fair, probably because I rode it so much that day This time I had to pay for each ride, so I think I only rode it 9 times The people are great though, aside from the one dude working the coaster who kept bitching out the ticket scanner guy for stupid reasons Tilt a puke This thing wasn't "back," it never moved because no one wants it I really like the art on the facade for Haunted Mansion Orange is the new "No" After hearing the thing purge and refill all day, I decided I could spend $10 and go on the Extreme Scream; after all the only other S&S tower I have been on probably cost twice that--Big Shot on top of the Stratosphere. The line was not too long but this tower only holds 12 people, so I got to watch about 8 other loads before I got in to ride. It was honestly an awesome experience, and definitely worth $10 to try it once, although I'm sure all you more experienced park addicts would probably laugh. Hey, I'm new to this so everything still has its novelty, and I loved it! later I had adrenaline in me Mfg. By S&S Power Inc, Logan Utah USA 1999, Max. Cap. 12 Passengers I really began to need a break as the sun started to set, as dehydration had started to take its toll. I filled up my jack in the box cup in a drinking fountain--my cheapass instincts had taken over again by now--and had a good hour break in Classic Coaster park, just watching both trains go up and back and forth. That reminds me, I forgot to mention they still weren't running all 3 trains, but with 2 running even a full line only took 1/2 hour or so. Until the final part, I will leave you with this thought: A lot of what we hear about in the news these days centers around how different people are from one another, but one thing I love about roller coasters is that they can temporarily erase those differences and let us all just have pure, unadulterated FUN!!

I enjoyed everything about Silverwood with the exception of their log flume. The station was themed nicely, but the ride was bumpy, boring and the only drop is only about 25 feet max... I think I would call it bad if someone asked

Photo TR - Part 1 - Journey to the south & Welcome to the fair I have been feeling just "off" since the morning after I raved about how fun this was going to be, sick stomach and trouble sleeping well, so I was starting to wonder if I cursed myself by getting myself psyched up on my last post. Either way I forced myself out of bed this morning, ate and showered, then took off to go to the fair. There was of course traffic on the way through Seattle; lucky for me spring is wonderful here, particularly this year when we have had perfect conditions for everything to just start growing like mad, while the rest of the country is getting god knows what. I try to keep this a secret and perpetuate the rumor that Seattle is super depressing and rainy, but this area is the best. Why? Looks gray but mainly due to car windows Mythical Pizzamobile spotted! When I got there I again found parking within 2 blocks of the "Red" entrance which is where all the rides are, but unfortunately that means everything else I might want to see is further away. I passed a house with an extremely nice yard, it was the best themeing I saw all day! Better themeing than the actual fair The "Puyallup Spring Fair" only runs 1 weekend each year, typically in mid April, and is the only time of the year other than the Washington State Fair in September when guests are able to ride their Classic Coaster, Schwarzkopf Wildcat, and Extreme Scream- I think it's an S&S Combo Tower judging by the "Combo Ride" plaque on one of the truss beams. I guess this will be the bigger, older brother to the Double Shot that's supposedly going in up the road at Wild Waves this year I got inside and went to get $50 worth of tickets, which almost lasted me all day. There was also a better deal for 250 tickets not listed online if your family wanted to get more rides in. Tickets: to trick you out of your $$ I watched the Round Up while waiting for tickets I quickly headed over to Classic Coaster for 2 rides without much of a line; I was a bit disappointed in those first rides, so I guess my memory had hyped it up over the months. It didn't help that the back seat lap bar was ziptied closed and they weren't using it on either train, because that's the best seat! I think having a little less weight made it a little more tame. WA's best coaster There were a few other rides of interest along the way down the midway, and I snapped some pics as I tried to decide what I wanted to do next Haunted Mansion for Nrthwnd My first Schwarzkopf that I know of, a Wildcat Rainier Rush, the Top Fun Typhoon that I will never ride again. There's a joke behind this coaster... The punchline is that everyone pays to get beat about the head and neck for 30 seconds, and it has a longer line than Classic Coaster And I tried some things that were disappointing Mobile farm sounds sweet, lets check this out Well... not as cool as I was expecting I also ran into some things that were funny I found God... And then I found lunch! This place looks snazzy indeed It looks promising! This fish and chips looked very good, but sadly it was not very hot (barely warm) by the time I got it, but I didn't want to complain- looked like it was cooked through at some point, so I wasn't worried. I just ate the fish quick while some warmth was left, and with their home made tartar and fry sauce it was pretty tasty. The fries were nice and hot! Full of fried fish I was With the lunch break I will also take my break and end part 1, but stay tuned for more photos and fun from the fair. Don't forget Sunday is the last day, so if I've inspired you, today is your only chance! I will leave you with a preview of the next part, with video I made for a certain user up north of me. It's pretty bad, both the video and the ride, but enjoy buddy! Not quite a Disney Haunted Mansion

This is one of the strangest "rides" I have heard of, and it looks like there are some pretty awesomely themed ones around

Yeah, I think I will head up sometime before the PNE to familiarize myself with the area, and figure out what to do for parking and everything. I think I remember you use transit, which is smart, but I might ask you later for some tips on driving/parking in the area I bought my discount ticket for the spring fair today, and it comes with the 6 for $17 "coupon," which I might use if I feel like some spin'n'pukes. Since I don't get to go to theme parks this time of year at all, I'm putting aside $100 to spend at the fair, and since they have free parking (and I found free street parking 4-5 blocks away during the summer, closer to the rides!), that should get me a decent amount of rides and food. I'm going to gorge myself this time. Last year I was just so into rides I basically rode all day, with breaks to go look at flowers and found one of my other hobbies, carnivorous plants. Here is the one I found at the fair- pretty impressive cluster of sundews I think I will enter one of these into the fair this summer- my seed-grown Drosera capensis I think this time I will take plenty of breaks and eat lots of food while looking at exhibits, and get the full fair experience. Hope they are running more than 1 train on the coaster; last summer when I was there on a Sunday for some reason they were running ~30 minute lines with one train? Saturday should be packed so I am expecting lines but I want to see them run all 3 trains The ride ops were just the right amount of carny-weird for a fairground coaster, and the lady who was assigning people seats eventually just knew me when I came back and always put me in the back car Also, true single-position "lap" bars riding about 8" above your legs make for some great out-of-control sensations Safety measures were non-existent compared to today's rides I'm getting myself excited and I need to go to bed to work at 6:00 tomorrow, but stay tuned for a trip report with plenty of photos!

I will, thanks! I know you love your fairs, wish you could make it. I want to really try getting up to the PNE this year, I got my EDL so I can actually come to Canada now! For Saturday I'm gonna buy the pre-order tickets which apparently come with some sort of "ride coupon" $17 for 6 rides, doesn't count the Coaster or drop tower but still a better deal than using tickets if I end up wanting to ride anything else. I will most likely just get 120 tickets and ride the coaster 10 times $5 is still quite a price to pay for a ride on a coaster, but worth it! Remodel finished last year!

Classic Coaster, previously known as Coaster Thrill Ride Hey, I just heard on the radio that the spring fair is here already, and I miraculously have Saturday off! I loved The Fair last year, they had a pretty solid ride selection and their wood coaster is the coaster equivalent of a sleeper- looks mellow and innocent, but turns out to be a pretty badass little ride! It's got some pretty great airtime and really fun laterals in a couple of spots, and it can run 3 TRAINS! Not bad at all for a little 60ft guy, and much more thrilling than the 20' taller Timberhawk, the only other wood coaster currently operating in WA. Looks like they should have their Schwarzkopf Wild Cat and they also have Rainier Rush and plenty of other rides to get sick on. The downside if they don't seem to have an unlimited bracelet, but look on the bright side; waiting in lines will make your tickets last that much longer I will be going if the weather cooperates (and if so it will probably be packed) and posting a TR- who wants to come with me!? I randomly got this Saturday off, and I usually work weekends, so this must be a sign from the coaster gods! http://www.thefair.com/fun/details/midway-rides_1

In other local amusement news, I stopped by Family Fun Center in Tukwila a couple of times recently with the nice weather and was going to try their Screamin Swing, but it was down both times- they told me it was "under maintenance" but I get the feeling it's going to go bye-bye before I ever get a chance to ride it

Great! I have never been on one of those, but they look awesome. Is the one at the Puyallup Fair the same model? I refused to pay $10 on top of the $50 ride wristband, but man that was a fun day even without it!! Yeah it's mostly a kiddie park, but I really liked Timberhawk in the dark this Christmas, the Timber Axe has some good forces and is pretty fun if you're already there, their paratrooper is fantastic after seeing how long it takes the fixed (non tilt) models to load, but my guilty pleasure is the Kang-A-Bounce- Oh, the weird looks from parents I have had! I haven't tried a SkyCoaster since I was probably 7 or 8 years old at the Yakima Fair (thank god we survived), but I might do theirs this year if I can get 2 other people to go with me. Does a heavier load swing any longer on one of those? By the way, agreed on Wild Thing. I rode it ~5 times last year, which was 10 times too many (they let you go around the circuit twice!) Does anyone remember the flat they had about 20 years ago which had spinning "hamster wheels" attached radially, the riders could rock them back and forth or even invert/do spins, and it had a brake for stopping the car in a certain position? I have never ridden a rock-o-plane but it seemed sort of like one of those except rotating horizontally. I will see if I can find anything on it, I remember seeing a video of one somewhere... edit; should have just looked up "hamster wheel ride" before posting! Does Knoebels still have this? P.S The Ring of Fire is an "inverted coaster" on their website

There isn't any info on their website yet, but tonight I caught this facebook post: Looks like an S&S something (crossing my fingers it's not a knockoff), but the enterprise looks slightly weird to me--the arms are different, the HUSS models I have seen are trussed until almost the end, their picture has the arms "filled" or connected for almost half their length: They also announced a few days ago that they are going back to the old setup of being 2 separate parks- Wild Waves for the water park portion, and Enchanted Village for the rides. I don't think they have announced the single-day pricing or how that will work with the 2 parks, but their website says the season pass covers both. I'm guessing that the single-day price will be more than last year if you want to do both parks, but at least it gives people the option if they want to only do rides, or only do slides. This is great for me, because unless it's something unique or very fun, I am NOT getting in the water with the people this park attracts. Anyone seen that South park episode? Anyway, I wanted to make sure anyone in this area was aware of the changes; I'm looking forward to it, and the fact that they added 2 rides and stopped concentrating on the slides for at least a year is great. They've added slides at least 2 of the last 4 years, and their ride selection is pretty horrible. I have never been on an Enterprise (single rider policy) and the only S&S I've ridden was on top of the Stratosphere, so it will be cool to (re)experience these. edit; Actually they do have some info on their website, $17 for all-day rides only. I'm sure that will go up during peak season, but that's pretty sweet! http://www.enchantedvillage.com/

Thread Necromancy! I have been having weird dreams lately, where I am in a park near the entrance and trying to get to a specific attraction, but as I try to get there I keep getting distracted by new rides I have never seen before. The longer I dream the less sense things make, to the point where the park starts to look completely different to its real-life version. For example, I dreamt that Silverwood suddenly had a set of Premier launched shuttles like Batman & Robin: The Chiller, even though I have never seen or been on that ride

What I don't understand- starts at 750 feet, but the ascent is only 415? Does the train reach terminal velocity or something, or did they plan to put brakes in? Seems like it would fly off the top with that much speed

The problem is, as several other members have posted before me, this will slow down ops for EVERYONE. Even if you choose not to wear the headset it will still take your train, and consequently the whole line, much more time to dispatch if half the riders are trying to fit a stupid goggles onto their face. People have a hard enough time with a damn seat belt on roller coasters; what I don't understand is how people like you don't see this capacity nightmare coming.

That ride could have resulted in much awesomeness if they'd themed it right...

I agree with OP, not only is that tilt-a-whirl bad, but they ALL have this look that just sort of.... pisses me off. The big bubbles look goofy and don't really serve a purpose except to limit your vision (or limit others' vision inward ) One of the lamest looking flats I have seen in person are Cliff Hangers. They're just silly. Pretty much the worst for me, though is the Wisdom Tornado- the most uninspired ride design in the whole world Photo cred: flatrides.com http://www.flatrides.com/rides/tornado.html All I can say is it definitely was not there this year, but I wish it had been- I have never even heard of it but looks fun I see Coaster Thrill Ride! Oh yes it can.... I looked up temporary options for my employer recently, and to buy 6 stanchions + 5 lengths of velvet rope was going to cost nearly $1,500.00- I'm sure after installation costs a queue fence costs much more than you'd think

Just to follow up, I tried the FlowRider (it's a small one of their "wave in a box" models, much smaller than the ones on the cruise ships) and it was AWESOME!! If anyone is on a cruise--or anywhere else for that matter--and has a chance to try it DO IT!!! I was really not skilled despite snowboard experience, and was only able to barely stand and slightly turn by the end, but body boarding was really fun. It helped that there were only ~5 people riding, so we all got plenty of turns; probably not at all what it's like on the cruises, but I think it's usually free on the ships? I had to pay $15

HAHA thank you, that is actually very pertinent advice

Since Flowriders seem to be all over cruise ships, and that's where I first remember seeing one, I will ask this question here; Do you have any good advice for a first-time rider? I am currently quite good at all-mountain snowboarding and have wakeboarded a bit in the past, but I'm guessing this is a lot different from either of those in that it looks inherently unstable with the boards they use (especially when standing). I'm going to try it out tonight at a local aquatic center, so anyone have good tips for a first-timer?

Wow that looks pretty fun, I'm sure it will be a good family addition and could spread out the lines in BB a bit. Looks like it should be pretty high capacity too! My submission: Riptide Racers. Alliteration! I submitted this name 8 days before they posted anything about the contest publicly on facebook, but I somehow didn't win... feels bad man [attachment=0]Untitled.jpg[/attachment] You probably weren't the first/only one. I remember for Aftershock they had at least 10 people who submitted that name. Also I don't live ther so it would be sort of a waste anyway, but I have been looking for an excuse to move to Coeur d'Alene I love that area

Never seen one of these before, but I like it

Oh man, I haven't been on one but after seeing this video: This would be pretty sweet to have: Technical Park Flying Fury For Sale

I don't think this has been posted here... I just realized that the first loop on Olympia Looping might be unique as far as Schwarzkopf coasters are concerned- most of their loops are their standard boxy-support type but this one just has round steel pipe supports with standard-looking track, and that twist along the exit. Are there any other Schwarzkopf loops which are "nonstandard"?

Wow that looks pretty fun, I'm sure it will be a good family addition and could spread out the lines in BB a bit. Looks like it should be pretty high capacity too! My submission: Riptide Racers. Alliteration! I submitted this name 8 days before they posted anything about the contest publicly on facebook, but I somehow didn't win... feels bad man

Funny, I was just about to revive this thread yesterday but thought, "It's pretty old..." Anyway, I like coasters and rides that have a gradient to their color scheme, like this one I just found yesterday: I have a soft spot for Timber Terror's trains too- again, the gradient appeals to my aesthetics (Not my pictures except the last one, credit goes to the respective owners specified in the watermarks)