CD
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Posts posted by CD
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^^Vekoma was involved with designing Test Track? I kind of thought Disney hired some company to design the system to fit Disney's specs, and Vekoma only produced the track.
Yup, there is another track system (underneath the main track that the cars are on) that provides the electricity to the vehicles. This was indeed made by Vekoma.
Disney and Vekoma have had a long lasting relationship so why find another company if you're happy already? Vekoma is cheap and (as Robb and Elissa mentioned) they allow Disney to have more control over the process than other companies are willing to give up. We may never see another Disney/Intamin coaster as Disney changed the blocking system on Clalifornia Screamin' after Intamin passed it over to them, breaking the contract. I'm sure Intamin is not too happy about that.
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Hmm, well I guess they are common. Though the Timberliner side guards look good aesthetically, instead of being just a large piece of rectangular fiberglass. The ones on the TG trains just seem so out of place to me. In fact, I would love the trains if it weren't for those giant fiberglass side guards!
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Cool! What's with the weird sheets of fiberglass next to the seats on the sides of the train?
I'm pretty sure that's so you don't get back to the station with a broken arm.
In other words.. a guard.
Ya, but what's the benefit of adding them on the trains? I can't think of any other coasters that have them. They may be necessary due to the proximity of the catwalks to the track during the overbanks? I just think they seem strange.
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Cool! What's with the weird sheets of fiberglass next to the seats on the sides of the train?
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^Is there any way you could spoiler proof some details by using quotes or something? I too am very interested! If you don't want to, I totally understand.
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^ She was actually really good and talkitive. I was about to take her picture, and she said "wait, I want to give you a different picture!" and she came right up to the camera like she did in the picture. She liked to cling to Jack though.
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Here are some pictures that you've already seen before! my camera takes horrible night pictures. I appologize in advance.
I love this facade, actually I love this whole scarezone. This is how a scarezone should be done!
Just in case you forgot where you were
Entrance to the Hollowed Past
And the biggest posse goes to Fear! "What!?!?!" No Madonna... I said Posse, POOOSSSEEEE.
He even looks great sans posse
creepin'
"I read on the inernet that they're gonna tear this ride down!" "No way where did you read that?" "Screamscape"
Jack and Chance!
I already warned you about the night pics!
Fear even looks cool at night, how do they do it!?!?!
This one was not camera shy
Universal knows that fire makes everything better, and there's a ton this year!
nomnomnom
these two were dancing fools!
This was not an easy pic to get, she was running all over the place! But I did it for you TPR, I did it for you...
pictures don't do this scarezone justice (well at least mine don't). It looks great, it's just not scary
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I went again last night and it seemed like the event took a step down. There really weren't very many scares... At first I just assumed that I had just gotten used to the layouts of the houses and the scare factor went away, but then I realized that none of the scareactors were really popping out.
-Legendary Truth was still awesome, and we noticed some effects that we didn't see last time. But the ending of this house is very anticlimactic and boring. PLEASE make the ending scary Universal! 3 out of 4 times we went through there was only one scareactor in the last 30 seconds; they didn't attempt to scare anyone and the glowing costume could be seen from a far distance.
-Hades got even better IMO. There are a ton of scares in this house and the minotaur effect gets me every time! I can't figure out how they do it. However, John is right about the sets. They are getting a little torn up especially the facade.
-Catacombs- still one of my favorites and I love the ending, but there seemed to be fewer scareactors in the house.
-Havoc- I actually really enjoyed this house a lot more than last time, and they increased the amount of scares!
-All the other houses got less scary, it was fairly disappointing. Psychoscarapy was just plain bad last night, there scareactors just did not seem motivated... Though the house was literally a walk-on for most of the night so you can't really blame them.
The scarezones were the same except for Saws and Steam - they must have turned off a few fog machines!
I saw one of the Brian Brushwood shows... and I agree with Adam, do not waste your time with these. I have never heard of him before HHN and I don't really understand what he is. If he's a magician, then why doesn't he do magic? Aside from that he's pretty annoying to listen to. Some of the audience started booing half way through
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^Yup, that's them. Thanks! That's really interesting!
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Thanks! Anybody have any idea what those coaster seats I mentioned are from? I just found it interesting.
I'm curious about these seats as well. I saw them while in line for Havoc during the passholder event. I'll try and take a picture next time I go and see if anyone can figure it out.
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I'm having a hard time trying to figure out why the play pass would be appealing to anyone? Do you have to buy 4 or more season passes to get the $59 price as well as the free parking? That's pretty lame if you do...
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Great pics Erik! I spotted you about ten people in front of us in line for Catacombs when it was still light out. I figured it was a little too large of a distance for me to introduce myself lol. I had almost the same experience with Legendary Truth. I first went through around 6:30 and thought it was AWESOME, plenty of great scares and innovative effects. The second time I went through - around 11:15 - barely any scares... The one fault with this house is how time-dependent the effects are since most of them only occur when there's "lightning." You're either going to have a thrilling experience or you'll be left wondering what all the rave is about. Still, this house was superb!
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I just got back from HHN and boy am I impressed! There weren’t very many crowds tonight and I went to the Passholder Early Admittance. I got all but 2 houses (Orfanage and Zombiegeddon) completed twice, watched Bill And Ted’s, and rode a few rides. Overall a GREAT night! I don't think I'm going to post any pictures since the few I took tonight are very similar to the ones already posted in this thread. Instead I'll give a little review of what I saw tonight (minor spoilers):
1. Scarezones are top notch this year:
Esqueleto Muerte- Very neat to look at but not scary by any means.
Fear Revealed- This year’s icon is basically just out for pictures, but he's got a pretty cool setup. One thing I found interesting that I hadn't seen mentioned before is how consitent the theme is throughout the event. Every lamp in the park is orange to represent the lantern and almost every major building in the park has the lantern image projected onto it. Fear's voice can also be heard no matter where you are in the park through the background music speakers. So, while Fear isn't too much of a visible presence he is definitely all over the park. I honestly thought this was a GREAT way to introduce the character since he is supposed to be running the whole event. Good Job on the creativity Universal!
Saws 'N Steam- In all honesty I was expecting a little more from this scarezone. It is in such a great location but it just wasn't scary when I went through it (I'll definitely give it another chance on my next visit). There was only 2 chainsaw scareactors in the entire area and they were at the two entrances. Overall, it looks great and it's deceiving with all the fog.
Zombie Gras- Again, not too scary, but more scares were found here than any of the preceeding scarezones during my visit. The festival theme holds this one back a little, but the Scareactors did great and pulled out a great experience!
The Coven- This one had some good scares. The theming and the storyline are great, and the scaractors really got into it!
HHN: 20 Years of Fear- This was an AMAZING scarezone. The theming was excellent, the props were cool to look at, the scareactors were - of course - perfect, and it is the largest scarezone. There as so many scareactors and so many details it's unreal, I LOVED this scarezone.
2. Bill And Ted: I thought the show was great and pretty funny throughout, don't want to reveal anything here.
3. Houses (Ranked from worst to best, but there really wasn’t a bad house this year they were all amazing!):
The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes- This house just did not deliver on the scares for me. It looks great but I’m not too afraid of children, especially ones that just go for the “creepy” look instead of jumping out. I’ll have to give this one another try but the line was the longest of the night. 7/10
Havoc: Dogs of War- There were some good scares here but unfortunately this house didn’t move crowds through quickly enough for them to be effective. Hopefully Universal figures out a way to help the flow because this house has a lot of potential! 7.5/10
Psychoscarepy: Echoes of Shadybrook- Great scares here but for some reason I didn’t feel too immersed in this house either time I went through. 7.5/10
Zombiegeddon- This was a surprisingly good house. I wasn’t expecting too much from this house but they set the story up very well and, for being the “humor” house of the year it’s pretty scary. There’s a lot of smells here and the scareactors were excellent. 8/10
Hades: The Gates of Ruin- This house was superb! The costumes were amazing, the sets were amazing, the scareactors were amazing (I think Medusa and the Minotaur steal the show). This was tied for scariest house with Catacombs and Legendary Truth IMO. 9/10
The last three houses were all tied for first in my book (I’m sure my opinion will change as I visit HHN more). Unbelievably amazing in every way!
Catacombs: Black Death Rising- This is another “scariest house.” This house is amazing. The environment is very immersive and the end was so well done and scary that you saw many guests running out of this house. If you have the chance to read the signs in the queue about the Black Plague it will help you understand the costumes in the house. 10/10
Horror Nights: The Hollow’d Past- I loved the layout of this house. It really feels like a warehouse in the beginning and the end. Most of the major characters will be found here, there is almost too much to look at, and the scares are great. 10/10
Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate- This may very well end up being my favorite house from HHN XX. It is so well done that your jaw will be on the floor as you exit. While I think the other houses are better to experience at a quicker pace, this house is much more fun to creep through very slowly to see all of the amazing effects. This is the final “scariest house,” and the scares are done amazingly. 10/10
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The event starts tomorrow! And Universal is so close to revealing Fear:
http://halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/news_index.html?__source=EDW413456&ptyid=1703902
I am unbelievably excited!
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Now I love myself a good ride on HPaTFJ, but if it was anything like the ride you described... Well Universal would have to pry me out of the vehicle as I demanded to re-ride. I've never seen an episode of Jersey Shore, but I feel like the Snooki's Vag comment was pretty accurate. Out of curiousity, how did HRRRRRR change your life?
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^^Why have I not been informed of this AP event? Are there any special requirements or do you just have to be a passholder?
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Even the Forest of Fun is getting ready. I think Count von Count is joining the "Dine with Elmo and Friends" crew for HOS, too.
oh, you mean:
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^I have no idea about the music tracks on HRRR; however, I truned on news 13 earlier this afternoon and they were talking about the coaster.
ORLANDO --Universal Orlando's Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster has a mechanical issue that's spinning the heads of technicians.
A Universal Studios' Florida spokesman said the closure is due to maintenance, but News 13 has uncovered a memo from the manufacturer of the roller coaster asking parks across the world who have similar models to close them.
The letter from the German manufacturer Maurer Sohne advised all theme parks with a ride - like Universal's roller coaster to shut down the coaster immediately.
The problem is a coupling bar. It's the part of the ride that connects the two cars together. The manufacturer believes there are several places where the coupling bar may crack.
The memo goes on to say a re-design of the coupling bar will take two to three months and the ride should be shut down. The company says the ride should remain closed and stay that way IF parks like Universal should discover cracks.
The memo from Maurer Sohne came out on Sept. 2.
Yet, Rip Ride Rockit closed this past Wednesday.
A spokesman at Universal said all rides are inspected daily.
In a written statement he said, "We are obsessive about safety. Anything in a manufacturer's advisory would have been dealt with weeks ago."
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is temporarily closed for unrelated maintenance."
News 13 called Universal to ask specifically about the results of their testing following the advised service inspection.
So far, calls have not been returned.
article available here:
It looks like Universal is going to try and open the ride sooner than later and it may only be down for a small refurb (Maybe relevant to HHN?):
A spokesman at Universal said all rides are inspected daily.In a written statement he said, "We are obsessive about safety. Anything in a manufacturer's advisory would have been dealt with weeks ago."
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Unless the new ride has wing walker seats, I don't see how/why you would compare this ride to Baco. Do you know something we don't Robb?
Robb is saying it looks more like Furius Baco in terms of the layout. This ride's layout appears to be wide spread - like baco - and not tight and compact - like Maverick. His comment had nothing to do with the type of train that will be on the attraction.
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Everything about this is awesome so far:
1. The Jimmy Buffett reference in your title
2. The In N Out shirt you were wearing in bed
3. Everything related to Harry Potter (Including your wife dressed as Hermoine)
4. EPCOT pictures
5. Your ability to subtly reference Dolly Parton in a PTR of Universal Orlando
However... You should have an obligatory photo of Test Track since that is my work location
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Great PTR so far! As for Earl of Sandwhich, I HIGHLY recommend it. The protions are small but the sandwhiches are too good for words to describe. There's one in DTD you should check out next time you're there.
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That looks so unnatural, yet so completely awesome!
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Something cool I noticed about the newest teaser video is that at around 1:18 the sign he's standing next to changes. When the video isn't glitching the sign says "no need to rush" and when it starts to glitch the sign reads "rush." These videos are awesome! Busch Gardens marketing team is doing an extraordinary job with advertising this new attraction.
Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
The new queue opened on Friday. However, there are many interactive elements still missing that will be added over course of the next month.