Gutterflower

An update on the GCI. First from Weibo - http://www.weibo.com/u/2793107835 And then from the official GCI Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pg/GreatCoasters/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155173652044095

The Trans Studio Mini in Rungkut mentioned above opened this week. They are certainly small parks with very small coasters but they are all +1's I suppose http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1407264&page=82 Can also add the following 3 new developments to the list as well Transmart Pontianak Transmart Banjarmasin Transmart Tasikmalaya

There's a zierer ESC at jungleland but it's been SBNO for ages due to issues with the footers. https://rcdb.com/11231.htm The park should eventually open the ride though. You are right though there is a lack of big rides in Indonesia. One of the transmart parks mentioned in the up and coming list is quite a bit bigger than the others so perhaps they will get one there.

This is something that has only happened in the past few year or so but Indonesia is having quite an insane indoor coaster boom. One that Vekoma are massively benefiting off of. And one Zierer did well in too. I must admit I'm partly writing this so i can separate all the rides out in my head. Indonesia has always had a fair few indoor coasters but things are getting out of hand The culprit of this expansion is a brand called Transmart who are opening many many new shopping centers in Indonesia. They own the Trans Studio park in Bandung which built a Premier launched coaster in 2011 but have expanded massively since then. Their new parks use both the Kid City and Trans Studio Mini names kind of randomly. This arguably started with Trans Studio in 2009 with a Zierer Force Two - https://rcdb.com/8772.htm or a little later Kid City Tangerang which opened in 2014 with a Zierer Force One from Eifelpark in Germany https://rcdb.com/13795.htm However I'm picking up the story with the Vekoma boom in 2015. The first of these opened at Transmart Jakarta in 2015 under the park name Kid City and was relocated from South Africa from Chariots Entertainment Centre. This model is a short indoor coaster and was custom for Chariots Entertainment Centre. The new location for the ride includes a short outdoor section on the first major curve. It's worth remembering this layout for later but here is a POV of it at its new home. The second one opened at a second Transmart park in Jakarta in 2016 and also under the Kid City name. This time its a relocated standard roller skater (We actually don't know where from yet, but working on it) it includes a turn outside the building just on the first drop this time And then we have another relocated Vekoma roller skater at Transmart Balikpapan also from 2016. This time the park was under the Trans Studio Mini name. https://rcdb.com/13797.htm This year opening in 2017 we have a few more. Transmart in Tegal has another traditional roller skater opening. again we believe relocated but cant prove where yet. (no link to the RCDB as i just sent it in today) Now it starts to get odd. This again is a new for 2017 coaster. Another transmart park this time under the name Trans Studio Mini is opening in Rungkut. The weird thing is its a clone of the ride seen earlier at Transmart Jakarta that was moved from South Africa and built originally as a custom design there in the mid 2000s. So they bought a ride custom designed for elsewhere and then cloned it. Anyway its going up right now - https://rcdb.com/14758.htm This year we also have Transmart Mataram also building this same layout from South Africa. https://rcdb.com/14756.htm And again also for 2017 is Transmart Padang which once again uses this cloned 247m layout cloned from the South Africa ride. https://rcdb.com/14799.htm On top of that the following malls show similar coasters in their concept art. All Transmart parks. All are under construction now but don't have actual coasters on site. (Contact me if you'd like evidence though) Transmart Srondol Transmart Buah Transmart Kupang Transmart Yogyakata Transmart Grand Kawanua International City Transmart Pekanbaru Trans Studio Mall Samarinda I also have been told from contacts in the industry that this is considerably less than half the planned trans mart coasters opening in Indonesia in the next few years. I cannot verify how true this is at the moment but I have no reason to believe this is false. Of those the clones of that South African coaster will be abundant. I'll keep updating this thread as i find out more. but as you can imagine with all these clones its getting a little confusing. Either way Indonesia is quickly becoming a cred whore paradise

Following on from the post about the Wanda Chengdu concept art. What is believed to be the layout for the space themed Intamin Launched coaster has been found Concept art and theme Layout with small dark ride segment.

Ride is vertical now Thanks to Vekoma for these pics https://www.facebook.com/vekoma.rides.manufacturing/?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

/\ Beat me to it with that pic but here's the rest from that update Another batch of pics from the now complete ride http://www.weibo.com/zhengjiahang?refer_flag=1001030103_&is_hot=1#_rnd1487167405643

Another set of pics. This time showing the start of the ride and a small airtime hill we haven't seen yet. Think this last image is the last piece of track for the ride being placed too. http://cq.qq.com/a/20170215/030034.htm

Well that went up quickly Afraid its a standard new model 10 inversion Intamin Coaster. Nice addition for the park though. http://kanoner.com/2017/02/09/154048/

Two new pictures from Muzifulun showing off the new B&M wing coaster going up.

I wouldn't normally post news about an E-Stop but this was just too good not to. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2069065/angry-chinese-parents-halt-theme-parks-roller-coaster-ride-after For reference i Believe this to be the ride https://rcdb.com/14186.htm Kind of reminds me of the Chinese guy who opened the plane door for some fresh air... just because its China really https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/18/chinese-passenger-opens-plane-door-for-fresh-air

The locations are much further apart than the game made them seem. There were significantly fewer snipers and angry russian helicopters as well.

Last October myself and 5 friends finally decided to go to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. a trip that had been on the cards for years. We wanted to get it done before the massive new sarcophagus slid into place in November It is one of the weirdest and creepiest places I have ever visited but if you are ever in Ukraine it is a place I highly recommend you don't miss. Along with the Museum to the disaster in Kiev. It is both fascinating, terrifying and heart wrenching in equal measures Here are some pictures from the trip. I shall start with the abandoned amusement park as well this is a Theme Park site. The entrance to the long abandoned city of Pripyat. Our first stop was the Pripyat Amusement Park. A park that never opened to the public before the disaster. Call Of Duty Modern Warfare fans should recognise this. Tick Tick Tick Bumper cars that never got to bump Close up of one of the cars There appear to have only been 4 rides on site at the time. I doubt it would be in any enthusiasts bucket lists if the accident didn't occur. A small swinging boat style ride Another rotating style swing ride and the ferris wheel. The rides are really starting to fall apart. Close up of the now iconic ferris wheel. You could if you really wanted walk right into the ferris wheel. I wouldn't though, it's pretty rusty. A friend of mine on the trip is doing an art project with this creepy rabbit mask. Which served to make the place that little stranger. Last shot of the Ferris Wheel before we moved on A shot of the truely enormous Duga Nuclear Missile Early Warning Array just outside Pripyat ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duga_radar ) marked on the maps of the time as a summer camp. The reactor that caused it all in its old Sarcophagus which has begun to fall apart close up of the reactor site. Myself and my 5 friends at the reactor. This is about as close as you can get to it. Which to be honest. With it being a melted down nuclear reactor. This is close enough. The new Sarcophagus which was slid over the reactor in November. That mask again. This time at the reactor site Back to the city of Pripyat itself and some urban exploring. Things start to get pretty creepy. That's not weird at all. view of the reactor from one of the tallest buildings in Pripyat Nature is slowly but surely taking back the city Abandoned lift shaft with the doors just open... nope... just nope. The abandoned sports complex and swimming pool is another one for COD fans. Part of the abandoned school complex. All in all it was one of the most interesting days on a holiday I have ever had and certainly one for the bucket list. I'm just glad we got to tick it off before the new Sarcophagus was put into place as the old reactor casing certainly had a more distinct and iconic look to it. Even with that now under cover the whole city of Pripyat is worth a look just for the strangeness of seeing a city as nature completely takes back control. We took a tour from the city of Kiev for around £60 ($75) which was for a full days tour, guide and travel. Tours are the only way you can get into the area but there are a number of options including a 2 day tour which includes a nights stay at one of the hotels which actually still operates in the exclusion zone (albeit at the edge) for workers still working around the site.

A couple of pics post accident showing the broken belt.

not been able to dig up much since the new year. But this pic from earlier this month shows the 2 inversions following the vertical loop.

If anywhere will build Elon Musks Pipe Dream (pun intended) Its here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/11/10/500mph-hyperloop-train-will-travel-from-dubai-to-abu-dhabi-in-12/

Why do you say that? I'm afraid I cant speak dutch. but the other video here shows the usual braking handle.

The SLC now called Queen Cobra is now open at Asia Park http://news.zing.vn/ra-mat-tau-luon-dang-treo-lon-nhat-viet-nam-tai-asia-park-post716272.html

Park opened on the 25th of January with a few test days before. Time Machine is back and now called Dragons Run

Too bad that art ain't real. It would be cool if something like that was dropped into DisneySea or Epcot. One of the RCD guys made this. This is believed to be the actual layout for this ride.

The Dive Machine looks to be full sized version and a clone of Griffon if you believe the construction walls at the park so perhaps not the teal track at the plant Ride is replacing the now closed Space 2000 Coaster https://rcdb.com/14310.htm

It is a shame you don't/can't do these anymore Robb. I once signed up for one in the USA and then got a job opportunity out in China I couldn't turn down which meant i had to bail. Something I've always felt sad about but something in the end I couldn't pass up. While that exact job never panned out, in the end I took another job which means i get to travel a lot each year and I've seen it all while travelling. Personally my preference is to stay in hostels because I often travel alone and I'm a social person who likes to meet people and I just don't get that in hotels. And i'd like to say you are not alone. While most of the people I've met while travelling are lovely genuine people, I've seen a lot of the entitled asshats who feel they can complain about everything that doesn't fit their exact standards. Now this annoys me alot. But what pisses me off so so much more is people who complain about cultural differences which cause them minor inconvenience, for example I saw an american woman shouting at hostel staff that the restaurant didn't serve hamburgers in Laos.... You're in Laos... If you cannot get a hamburger... perhaps try something different. Travelling to these places is a privilege not a right and people would do well to remember that. There will always be asshats out there who give the rest of us a bad name, And while I understand 100% why you don't do the trips anymore. For us (i like to think non asshats) its a crying shame that the few can ruin it for the masses. (Also what annoys me is people who take pictures with iPads while travelling but that's just me)

In my opinion if you must have VR then this sort of ride is what it should be for. A less thrilling ride which allows you to actually pay attention to the Visuals. Would I rather not have it at all? probably. but if you must then this is what VR should be used for in my opinion.

Although this doesn't answer how the public will feel when the park opens and people ride it. I keep an eye on a number of Chinese forums where this park is being chatted about. In admittedly mostly non enthusiast threads. the main thing i read is the complaint that none of the coasters here has an inversion. On the more coaster orientated places people are having very much the same discussion we are about that kink.

You can buy them in the west. But there may be issues! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23575249 Although not for the price they say... they are still expensive https://www.amazon.co.uk/95-8120-10-Japanese-Nagoya-Toilet-Remote-Control-x/dp/B00TYEY2Y8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484187669&sr=8-2&keywords=Japanese+Toilet I still want one so much