dementedguy

Note that these kinds of ferris wheels are not the kinds you would find in amusement parks. I think the more accurate name is 'Observation Wheel'. It's like those observation towers. For tourists to view the skyline from tall heights. I doubt you would get sweaty palms from this. It's not like you're on a rocking rickety-old gondola. Those pods are fully enclosed (and fully air-conditioned!) and just stay in place throughout the rotation. I'm afraid of heights but I rode London Eye without any problems. It was quite cool actually! And 20-30 minutes per lap is not long for these kinds of wheels since (for London Eye) they only go, well, one lap.

You sure that's the brake run? It looks like the launch zone to me. Aren't those things below the brake fins hydraulic pistons. I think those brake fins are the retractable anti-rollback ones you find on Intamin Rocket Coasters.

^ You can? Is it a new feature in an expansion pack or is it already available in some hidden part of the original?

Considering my experience with building stuff in RCT3, is that Sky Tower a ready-made building loaded into your scenario or you built it from scratch? If you built it from scratch, how long did it take you to finish the top part of the tower?!! Great job anyway!

It all depends on which state of the country you are going to. Since you are landing in Kuala Lumpur, I assume you are visiting parks there only. Probably the best park around that area would be Cosmo's World in Berjaya Times Square. That is where the coaster that you mentioned, Superosnic Odyssey, is located. If you are aiming to ride the coaster fast, go early at opening time and go straight for the station (This is because later, the lines can approach hour-long waits). Some of the rides there are fairly new and original (i.e. Space Attack, Spinning Orbit) Assuming that you can travel to the next state, Pahang. You can travel up Genting Highlands to Genting Theme Park. 5 coasters plus other thrill rides including the first flying coaster in Asia (strangely a 'smooth' Zamperla Volare), it's a pretty decent theme park. One of the must-rides would be an S&S Turbo Drop called 'Space Shot' (Strange huh) and the don't-rides would be Space Adventure (definitely NOT worth riding). Anyways, I hope this helps.

Yes, it's very true. On my way up, the screaming carload that is Tower of Terror shook the whole tower up and down. But the wikipedia article on Dreamworld that said ride ops control the Giant Drop so that Tower of Terror goes up and down the Dreamworld Tower before releasing the car needs to be verified. I haven't seen a reliable source that says this yet. Oh, wow, thunder001, you actually rode that insane machine 1000 times?!!

Hey! I was going to post a new topic based on this vid too! My favourite drop ride of all! I have to admit I felt exactly like the guy on the second rightmost seat. Absolutely terrifying. And yes, it IS 390 feet tall and the fall is just massively long and airtime-crammed! One thing I noticed about this vid might give some insight to the mechanisms of the Intamin drop tower. People have said the car stays up there for over a minute, and I felt so too when I rode it. Look closely at the grey tower when the car is climbing. Notice it's moving real fast right? Then, it crawls to a real slow pace. Very apparent it's going at a few inches per second from the ground. The little line on the tower in the vid (00:45) can be seen moving up. But wait, a few seconds before it drops, you can actually SEE the tower is still moving but at a real SLOW pace (watch the moving dots and scratches on the tower at 1:00 to 1:10). It's just so slow that riders do not notice it, on ride or on the ground. I am thinking that the catch-car ascends VERY slowly and hits a release mechanism to drop the real car. So, the drop is in fact NOT timed. Well, this is my theory. Any opinions?

If a harrowing experience is counted as 'messed up', there was one time I was on a certain looping coaster (I don't think I shall reveal the manufacturer's name) that had ratcheting OTSRs (The ones where the restraint makes a clickety-clack sound when lowered and are infamous for being either too tight or too loose). After lowering the restraint and clipping on the small seat belt from the bottom of the seat to the bottom of the OTSR, the ride ops checked our restraints whether they are firmly placed. (Of course with ratcheting OTSRs...'firmly placed' means it can still shake only about 1 cm up and down) The train was ready to be dispatched. And then faintly, I heard a hiss that came from somewhere underneath the train. I thought it was some mechanism that will drive the train out into the lift hill. The ride op was ready to push the button when a kid in the back car suddenly yelled "WAIT!!". Then the ride op calmly told us that she will checking our restraints again. A question mark popped into my head, and then I tugged at my OTSR and the whole restraint clicked back up. Oh my gosh...we were about to be dispatched through two inversions with unlocked restraints! And I mean, what's the point of the belt-thing on the restraint if it's not going to hold the whole thing down?!! But the matter was resolved quickly and (with locked OTSRs), we were dispatched for a decent ride on the coaster. Moral of the story: 1. When you feel something is wrong before the ride is dispatched, don't be afraid to scream it out. The ride ops will most probably help you. 2. Hydraulic restraints are always the best!

Whoa...that was a fast string of replies.... Back to the REAL topic. I have just checked and yes...the 169 ft hill refers to the first overbank turn and the 182-ft hill is the next hill. And ummm...CoasterFanatic....you can ride that coaster but get some paramedics with you. (Note that the track stops abruptly underground...) And Wes....what exactly are you trying to say?!!

^ I apologize for drifting off-topic but it actually IS possible for a coaster to have a first drop smaller than its second drop without losing its momentum. It helps to not get confused between HILL and DROP. A coaster can have a lift hill drop to ground level but the second hill can have a drop underground or down a ravine. To help illustrate this, I shall give you my shabby MS Paint diagram. In the diagram, the coaster will go down the lift hill drop to ground level, crest the second hill (with possibly some spectacular airtime) and zoom back down the second drop underground. Instead of losing momentum, it in fact makes it go faster. I hope you are able to understand my explanation. As you can see...the second hill DROP is larger than the lift hill DROP.

All of my life, I have NEVER seen a ride presentation on this scale before. (I don't understand Spanish...so I don't know what in world the guy was talking about). Hurakan Condor looks absolutely amazing. I have never been to Spain but even if I go to Port Aventura, I am going to have second thoughts about riding it.....

^ I think S&S Space Shots don't really count because of the start launch. Turbo Drops in the other hand should count as a drop ride because other than a few differences, they are quite like other drop rides. One difference between S&S ones and other drop rides (i.e. Intamin) is that Turbo Drops allegedly launch you down. That's right. Instant SUPER negative Gs. Your body gets shoved up into your OTSRs in a snap. And it barely registers before you're halfway down. The other difference would be that Turbo Drops don't brake your drop but bounce you back halfway up the tower with a torrent of air. That is followed by a few more air bounces that gradually go smaller before you land at the launching pad. Most of you should know this if you have ridden S&S Turbo Drops. And nope, I have never ridden an S&S in Marineland, let alone even heard of the park.

Giant Drop....Dreamworld, Australia....ditto.... Thinking about the longest-one-minute-of-your-life wait at the top and the absolutely INSANE airtime the drop delivers makes me shiver right now. And as Machtin said earlier, the fact that the Intamin Reverse Freefall coaster, Tower of Terror, shares the Dreamworld Tower with Giant Drop, it makes it even scarier! (Think about it...you're climbing the tower almost painfully and you hear a rumbling crescendo as a screaming carload of lunatics race up the tower next to you. And you can FEEL the vibrations!!!) And I don't know much about other Intamin drop rides but may I ask, do other Intamin drop towers ascend at a relatively medium speed but at a few metres from the top it just CRAAAAAAAAWWWWLLLLLSSS at about one inch per second? Because Giant Drop does that and it really freaks me out to think that you cannot feel whether you have reached the top or not. Also, for those of you gawking at Blue Fall's top trim brakes, apparently at one stage, one side of the Giant Drop had this feature but I think it was removed (Anyone who goes to Dreamworld regularly can clear me for this?) I've been to MGM at Disney World when I was very very young and I chickened out at Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Now, I wished I could have experienced it looking at all the great reviews.

Experiencing fear before riding coasters and thrill rides are extremely normal. Everybody has it so you should not feel ashamed if you get scared or anxious (Proof: Read all the other previous posts!) I was in Australia once and had the chance to ride an Intamin drop ride called The Giant Drop, which is said to be the tallest non-coaster ride in the world. At 390 feet that thing is MONSTROUS. At the queue line I was shivering to death in nervousness and my limbs felt really, really numb. Then sitting on the gondola as it started to ascend really clamped my stomach and I pretty much screamed the whole way up. But when the thing did its 5-second drop and hit the brakes, everything about fear just vanished and one big "WHOA!" and a huge smile came up. I totally did not regret riding it! Well, even if you feel fear...it doesn't mean that there's no way to help it. Here are some tips: 1. If you're queuing with your friends or family for a thrilling ride, just tell one of them, "Are you scared? I'm scared! Shoot, I'm getting really scared!" Psychology experts say that admitting fear helps get rid of it. Also, you are most likely to get the same result from whoever you tell! 2. I don't know about you, but for me, when I'm queuing for an extreme ride, I won't bother looking at it. Watching a Gyro Swing whiz by the base of the arc at full speed while you are queuing is not going to help you at all. 3. Don't force yourself. You don't have to go on an extreme ride if you are being forced or you have a lot of second thoughts. Riding something you do not want to will not make it enjoyable. Remember that you are going to a theme park to just have fun. But if you really want to because a lot have been saying it's fun, extreme, thrilling etc., then just say to yourself: Yes I am going to ride this thing and have fun. I will not regret it and after that, I'm going to brag to all my friends that I rode _______. Then, go for it!!! If you really want to ride Apollo's Chariot, go for it! It has got to be worth the try! It's a B&M right? It has to be totally enjoyable. (Personally, I have never ridden a B&M but I really want to!)

Whoa...there's a lot of good photochops out there. Here's one I made. (Parodies Tower of Terror and Giant Drop from Dreamworld) I actually concentrated more on editing the logos than the rides themselves. Originally, I wanted to make the tower look like a cross but I do not have the photoshop skills to do that. It's certainly not the best out there. But hey, it's my first try! ETHEREAL TOWER!!! (Original photo is from rcdb.com - Tower of Terror (Dreamworld) - Picture No. 4 if you're interested.)