pgathriller

Any park that serves free Mountain Dew already has a 95% approval rating from me, the other 5% of course are the coasters Mountain Dew > Coasters > Coke Products

^Lol guess I should have specified. Apparently the reason why Western Playland moved was because the city denied the expansion for a new wooden roller coaster. There were other reaons but that was one of the main. The owner still planned on building a new wooden coaster during the moving process so we'll see in time what happens

Wow this is the first trip report I have seen of my job and home park lol. I am supervisor of the arcade and ride sections at Oasis Lanes. And Im pretty sure is was probably the worst arcade you have ever been too lol. We are now under new management and with that said nothing is as it was months ago I'm sad to say . As for Western Playland they are planning on expanding. I have worked for the owner in the past and in a few years we should be expecting some new wood The Drop Tower is only 90 feet tall. The owner took the 90 foot version over the 120 foot version to keep it more family friendly. One major complaint I have about Western Playland is the lack of atmosphere. No music etc. It is one boring park IMO.

I searched for this and didn't find it but if this has been posted I apologize. I was browsing youtube for Huss Rides and I came across this- It's a Top Spin that did 107 flips. I am not very familiar with Top Spins because I have never been on one, but is 107 flips normal on a regular program? Like seriously that is insane!

That Zipper is the most well maintained Zpper I have ever seen which isn't saying much . And as for those stupid Tornadoe rides they can all burn After having to repair and operate one on a daily basis I have come to hate Wisom rides from a mechanical stanpoint Nice Pics! Wish your camera didn't break, I love photo TR's of ghetto fairs

How exactly do ARM Drop Towers work? From what I have seen is that the cables are located on the inside of the tower so if they were to snap they wouldn't be able to reach the riders because of the tower? And I also heard that the car that the people sit in are stopped by magnets? Is this true? If so wouldn't this be a safer alternative that can be implemented in these larger drop towers? http://www.armrides.com/Rides/Super_Shot/Portable/gallery.asp

Do you guys think 1.2 million dollars is a bit steep for a somewhat older coaster?

I was browsing the usedrides.com website, and came across an ad for Laser at Dorney Park. This is the description it gave- Description: 1979 Schwarzkopf LOOPING COASTER.THIS COASTER WAS BUILT TO BE PORTABLE. IT WILL LOAD ON 26 TRAILERS.This ride is 93 feet tall, 2,200 feet long, and has two vertical loops. This coaster first operated in 1979 as Cobra at Parque de la Ciudad (translates to "City Park") in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was moved and opened at Dorney Park in 1986 as Colossus. It was renamed Laser a few years later. ASKING PRICE IS $1,200,000.00 It also includes actual pictures of Laser. Is Laser really up for sale or is this a false ad? It is for sale under Tommy, the head of ride sales for Usedrides.com so it must be real. I haven't heard anything about Laser being sold until I came across this ad. I would give a direct link but it doesn't allow me. You can go to usedrides.com and its ad reference number is 34676. Or you can go from the home page, click on "search ads" under the for sale banner. Then click on "All Ads" and it will be listed on page 3. Why is it up for sale?

I don't see Wildcat going anywhere. It was just an accident. It probably will be removed in the future for something new but not now. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Does Cletus show up in any part of the ride? He's probably my favorite 2nd character from the Simpsons .

Very nice trip report. I am surprised how popular these rides are becoming. I will have a chance to finally ride one this summer at SFOT. I'm looking forward to it. I really like the big screen counting down until the ride opening. IDK why but I always thought countdowns for major ride openings were pretty cool. Not having really looked into the coaster, I was wondering if it has any special effects during the ride? * On another note, has Tony Hawk himself been to any of these coaster openings? It would be pretty cool to have Tony Hawk doing the ribbon cutting ceremony

^^ I guess having gone to the park 18 times and not having one bad day, it's hard to remember that even some parks have their off days. Dollywood is one of those parks that actually strive at customer service etc, but as you said they do have their off days, i've just never had one at one of my many visits.

I remember some bad experiences. California's Great America- I was riding the Grizzly, and after 3 rides without getting off, they didn't allow me to ride the ride anymore. I was 12 at the time but I was like WTF. People would trickle into the station every now and then and the ride ops would allow me to stay on the train, but after three rides they said I wasn't allowed to ride anymore. I was one pissed off 12 year old haha. Six Flags Fiesta Texas- I waited 2 1/2 hours to ride their Vekoma Boomerang. I know i hate Vekomas, but I had not been on a Boomerang prior to this so I had to ride it just for the sake of riding a Boomerang, but it took 2 1/2 hours. Dispatch times were horrible.... on a Boomerang? I don't get it.

So from what I'm reading, a lot of people don't like SFA. I've never been there. Is it really that bad? And for the person complaining about Dollywood.... I'm sorry but I don't think it's possible to have a bad there

This is a general discussion on some parks, or park chains that just have overall poor park operations. It could be a single incident like Cedar Points poor opening day, or something more broad like (this parks name) has really crappy customer service and ride operations because ______. *Pretty much a thread to vent your angers from poor park operations.

I'm not surprised that the Bullet is already having track issues. It's such a compact coaster and the speed it has it's only common sense that it's going to tear itself up. I'm going this summer and I can't wait to ride the Bullet and I am also very much looking forward to riding Chaos. Although they are maintenance nightmares, they are one of my favorite flats

No Would you go sky diving?

Chaos is one of my favorie flats .

^ Glad I could help . IMO Himalaya type rides are one of the best rides ever made. I was told back when they opened the ride at Western Playland, they had a DJ every Friday and Saturday night that would mix music and get the riders all hyped up. IDK if other parks did this as well or not. Western Playland would also hang posters of the big bands of the time all over the ride. But as I said before the ride has fallen in dispair, and is nothing more than a Himalaya in a shed with a weak sound system, crappy light effects, and lame ride cycle.... Oh well

Ok this is the explanantion I got from the head of ride maintanence at Western Playland amusement park. They have an older version of Himalaya, which up to around 2000, ran their Himalaya forward and then backwards. I asked why they didn't run it backwards anymore and he said that the insurance rate goes up if they operate it backwards, and because it causes more maintanence problems. Ok, I am the head of ride operations at a amusement center and we have a Wisdom Mini Himalaya (Ladybugs), and we run it full speed forward and then backwards. Something that happened was that the guide rail that comes in contact with the 2 Drive tires turned into an oval shape instead of being circular. Because of this the ride would lose traction and we were no longer able to run it backwards. It was a $2,100 fix . I was under the impression that the tires were the cause of the strange shape of the guide rail, but Wisdom told us that running it backwards sometimes causes that problem, which doesn't make any sense at all to me because it's the same as running it forward. But as I have said before, Wisdom Rides are mechanical nightmares. They have decent ride concepts, but they have to many problems. We have a Cobra Coaster, Tornadoe, and Himalaya, and they all give us more problems than they are worth And as for the Himalaya at Western Playland, the backwards experience was quite exhilerating. As it would come to a stop to run backwards, a loud siren would sound and everyone would scream as the ride satrted in reverse. That have since let ride fall in dispair

I'm buying a PS3 in the near future and I am a huge racing game fan. I have been browsing the racing games for PS3 and they all seem awesome. So I'm asking for your advice on PS3 racing games. The 2 I seem to be stuck between is Gran Turismo 5 Prolouge, and Grid. Are these games any good? And other racing game suggestions would be appreciated. I also plan on buying the new Grand Theft Auto game because we all know that game owns . And I also need help decideing between Skate and Tony Hawks project 8. Any advice would be appreciated as for I would like to insight on the game before I dish 60 bucks for it. Thanks

I just ordered a new Zip Up Hoodie, bought a new long sleeve shirt and some DVD's

I'm gonna have to go with GCI. They made Thunderhead which is the #1 woodie ever made IMO. Thunderhead Owns!

^Oh yea I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of Timber Tower, or whatever it's called. Maybe even one of that Zamperla Disko ride they got. And of course it's only if you get a chance. I've seen pics of them before but I always like seeing new ones

I never said the ride would be fun. I just thought the concept was neat. I mean Topple Tower is a unique ride IMO but its such a boring ride. Although it is the same concept as bumper cars today, in the 60's it might have been amazing. I wouldn't know cuz I wasn't around in the 60's and I don't know what was amzing back then. I just think it's unique. I kind of have a fascination with old rides and how they work. You can thank the Chance Turbo for sparking my interest . And thanks for the video Robb. Now I see how the ride actually worked.