oriolat

Everest at WDW Muntanya Russa at Tibidabo GIB models Colorado Adventure at Phantasialand

By looking at the picture it seems that there is no space for the hydraulic winch to be placed, thus confirming an LSM launch? Nice perspective. Can't wait for this big boy to go up!

Out of the ones I have ridden, I'd say Expedition GeForce. Even though I have been on it plenty of times that first drop always gets me. There is something insane about droping 85º with that evil twist that makes it scary/awesome.

Even though they might sell it as a new gate, it really is a separate themed land. Besides the coaster, the rest of the structures should go up pretty quickly. And they have a bit more than a year to build Ferrari Land since it's been scheduled to open at the beginning of 2017

Maybe someone could back this up, but I guess that all models operating at corporate parks such as Six Flags will only run in automatic mode. As for the ride itself, I think it fits a nice gap between family rides and big roller coasters with inversions. I remember riding one at a travelling fair in Spain that had lapbars only with a huge amount of padding. It was scary but so much fun!

Dragon Khan is the only 3-train coaster by B&M to feature 7-car trains... The ride is already intense as it is... just imagine with the added weight of an 8th car.

This is what I've been saying!!! There (to my knowledge) have been no issues with the "Banshee" name at Kings Island. . . So I see no issues coming from the name Valravn at Cedar Point. That was YEARS ago.... Times have changed. And I bet it was a great way to create buzz in the media back in the day... I hope Cedar Point sticks to the Valravn name/theme. Otherwise it would be the park in the world with the most last-minute name changes...

Great pictures! I had the chance to visit Düsseldorf Rheinkirmes in July and it was mind-blowing. The amount of rides, the way they run everything and the overall feel of the fair is just amazing. Olympia Looping was also something like 7,50 € and I ended up spending 150 € in rides throughout the 2 days I spent at the fair. I think it was worth every cent because cycles were long and varied. Hopefully Olympia Looping will continue running the Germa fair circuit for many years to come.

I just came back from Andorra (tiny country between Spain and France) and I rode Tobotronc, Naturlandia's Alpine Coaster and also the world's longest of its kind with 17,433 feet of track. I had never been on one of those and it was so much fun. Some of the transitions were a bit funky but I loved how intense some bits were, pushing strong laterals at some turns. We were lucky because there were some showers throughout the day and we were some of the lucky riders that could get on Tobotronc that day. Plus, since it had been raining on and off the tracks were a bit wet making for a smooth and really fast ride. For anybody wondering what it looks like, here's a POV (unfortunately, it seems that TPR has not been there yet!):

So, any pictures of the foundations for the new stand-up for Dorney? I can't wait for the announcement!!

But I thought that this only applied to coasters with more than 2 trains. I would understand with Oblivion, Sequoia and Mammoth, but Magic Mountain and Blue Tornado both run max. 2 trains...

Hold on. I kind of missed the 2-station thing. I thought that Baron would run 3 trains just like the new Oblivion at Gardaland does. So, how is this going to go? Two trains will load at the same time and will go up the lift hill while the second train watches a preshow waiting for the previous train to clear the block ahead?

I loved the video shwoing Hollywood Tower getting stuck. I would have been pretty scared to have my restraints released at the top of the tower. On the other hand, I also watched the POV from Diabolik and something caught my attention; are there no loading gates? These boomerang models have little capacity and having no air gates doesn't help either...

^I have been watching Rougarou run and it looks like it hauls some serious ass. The only downside is that the crew seems to have some problems dispatching trains, since they are constantly double-stacking them. Hopefully they'll pick up some speed as they get used to the trains/crowds.

According to the park director, there will be two options; either a separate ticket just for FerrariLand (I guess for hardcore fans) or a park hopper so that you can get to FerrariLand from Mediterranea without having to leave PortAventura.

Why? Black Bucaneer was so much fun to ride and I thought that operators at Chessington were allowed to give manual cycles on that ride... I loved operating the pirate ship at my park on manual mode anyway!

I would say any travelling model in the Spanish fair circuit. Take for example this "Barca Vikinga": Not only does it hit 90º but on both ends it has cages for riders to stand in with no restraints at all.

I thought I was the only one...

More Sky Flys in the world is only a good thing. I got to ride Nigloland's last summer and I was greatly surprised at how fun and disorienting they are. The cycle ranges from really mild to nuts, so it makes a perfect family flat ride. And I must agree that this Leonardo Davinci theme is amazing. Not just the ride itself but also the surroundings.

So, it's not just me having a look at the cam to see the wonders of an efficient 3-train operation. I think that the PLC let's the train roll onto the lift hill when the previous train has cleared the turnaround.

I didn't know that Helix was being tweakened. What was wrong? Last year the track was flawless and I thought that the entire ride (minus the so-so operations) was top-notch!

I really like the look of this car, very sleek! By the way, was anybody expecting a transfer track for this model? After seeing how the Intamin version has all the trains cycling at any time, I thought that the S&S would be the same. I guess if there's a problem with one of the trains, they won't have to close the coaster until they fix the faulty train but just take it off the main track.

The PR guy said Furius Baco would still be under maintenance for some more weeks. Hopefully it won't take that long. He mentioned that new trains are not happening and that no matter how much extensive maintenance they do on Baco it will always be rough. I guess it all comes down to personal taste. As for Dragon Khan, today it has been raining a lot in the morning, so track was wet. I don't know if MCBR grab more in these conditions but the trims were noticeable... I remember when it used to fly through the brakes without even pinching once. Today the second loop felt kind of floaty and the interlocking corkscrews were not as whippy as they normally feel. Even with the slight trimming Dragon Khan still remains the best B&M in the park in my opinion...

Just got back from the park. Stampida was open and let me tell you that it was running butter-smooth on the portion that has been retracked (basically from the first drop until the double up). The once curvy-hills have been turned into elevated turns and the ride profile is a bit tamer, if you ask me. As for the rest of the layout, it's pretty much the same old Stampida that we are all used to. By the way, the blue track seemed smoother than the ride track. As far as Tomahawk goes, both Mini-llennium Flyers are already installed on the track. Today, engineers have been toying with the trains/test dummies but there has been no testing (that I am aware of). If tests go well, I'd say Tomahawk could be open at Easter. Fingers crossed to those who are visiting the park. On the other hand, Furius Baco was closed all day and it will remain closed for a few more weeks. As for Ferrari Land, today during an official event organised by the park to meet theme park enthusiasts, the PR director has confirmed that all details about Ferrari Land will be revealed on May 7th. So, stay tuned, folks.

After a short off-season, PortAventura is going to start their 20th season celebrating its anniversary with plenty of decorations around the park and new shows. What the park has been really secretive about is the recent trackwork spotted around Stampida. While most Spanish enthusiasts hoped (daydreamed?) for an extensive retrack of the dual-track wooden coaster, it turns out that the lucky coaster to get new trains is going to be Tomahawk. In fact, PortAventura has spent quite a bit of money on brand-new Mini-llennium Flyers from GCII (a bit like what happened to Coastersaurus at Legoland Florida). Here's a picture of the new trains: Hopefully, those awful turns will have been banked to avoid the unnecessary lateral bashing. I will keep you posted because next Saturday the park is holding an even for theme park enthusiasts/experts and they are going to unveil something "big" for Stampida as well, which is not going to open along with the rest of the coasters of the park this season. Who knows, maybe Stampida is also in for a GCII treatment? Something like a Real Major Conversion ( )? Source: CAPTE.org and VideoReviewParks