Cerberus

The original Space Mountain really was the greatest ride in the universe. I want it back! Now it's just average and predictable =( Or, failing that, I want a different Disney park to build one to the same blueprints so I can at least travel somewhere to try it again. Rock n Rollercoaster is probably the best ride for me there now, but since you gave the option it most certainly has to be SM for the win

Wow, you really struck it lucky that day! Excellent pictures. Definitely stuff that has never been seen before by an enthusiast... and, probably wont be again. The rack and pinion set looks so small in comparison to the rest of the super beefy train chassis. I wonder if they had to make it like that so as to get as much spin movement as possible from one stroke of the rack. It seems to turn a lot further than X does on that full-full Oh yeah, and the park really seem to know what they've let themselves in for. Looks like they've prepared and planned very carefully. Hopefully they wont get a ton of hassle from the ride to reward their efforts. Great report

That was one closed ride I was actually really bummed about missing. Despite it's lousy position in the park and terrible reputation, it still managed to look magnificent and make me wish for a ride. Hopefully something will be done with it. It's a portable coaster designed to travel, so it probably wont take too much planning to throw it on a truck and take elsewhere. I foresee it going to some obscure foreign park to rot out of reach of most enthusiasts =(

Quick, call the press! They will seek and publish the truth! "Yesterday a young, healthy man was left battling for his life only to loose it moment later after riding the Gwazi coaster at Busch Gardens water park. There are no details as of yet but if you ask us, we believe the problem was due to park management and the ride. A problem that could easily be solved with a lawsuit and removal of the attraction. Eye witness Kate Harret had this to say: "I was driving past the park on a nearby road with no intention of visiting when I heard the man die. That could have been me or one of my young children!" Gwazi is the world's longest wooden rollercoaster which races around a flimsy track at speeds of over 107.93mph through seven hair raising inversions whilst skimming past ancient Egyptian ruins. Just the other day a nearby park in England had a very similar accident where a mine train rollercoaster killed eight riders. We remind readers that roller coasters eat children"

I went with my whole family to Universal Studios and they loved the place. All except one thing, that is... Yes, they all agreed that "Back to the Future" was pretty crapular. It made my mum feel ill, my dad and myself couldn't take the ancient projection film seriously and my sister got her clothes trapped in the non-so-clever shutter type cabin door. Thank god there's even a chance of an update! How are the parks doing for space anyhow? Are they forced to re-use buildings now or do they actually have some room to build from scratch?

Bendy boats like the sort vekoma made once for a European park? Apparently they are very good. Visually and on-ride both. Plus the movement lends itself well to the idea of a living creature. Turtles flap their fins and stuff. Put the fins on separate sections like you've drawn there and they'll all move about independently. Clever Glad to have been of inspiration

*insert generalised comment about heart issues on rides and how this was an unfortunate accident despite not really knowing any of the details or really being that honestly interested* .... Hmmm... .... So is the ride closed now? I'm going there next week for holiday and it'd be just bloody typical if they've had to close it. The same closure for an accident type of thing happened to me last year with California Screamin'. Conspiracy!

Wow, uber bumped. Thanks for all the comments. For those who mentioned it, no I haven't taken it any further. I was planning to produce something involving a Vekoma ride and mailing it to them, since they seem to be a more approachable and enthusiast-enthusiastic company... but I haven't had the time to get around to it yet. P.S. - Since this thread, member Ghost has kindly pointed me in the direction of his photo hosting website, so folks can see some other random stuffs THERE

Yeah. And actually, I'd say a ride that has been cloned 40+ times is pretty dam awesome at doing what it does! Sales figures speak louder than enthusiast opinions As for pulling massive Gs, I'm not surprised at all. It has to complete three loops of the same size off one drop. It's hitting those first loops pretty hard if it wants to make through the rest!

Nice to see you posting here Marcus! I've always loved that photo of the Break Dance. It really does prove a perfect point. Along with that video you had of the guy falling over and GETTING BACK UP as opposed to crying dramatically and claiming damages I don't think there's a problem with that first pictured ride. Someone would have to cross ten feet of grass and then climb over a fence to be put in a danger spot, which would only be possible through intentional actions. If someone DOES and gets hit, then, well.. what can I say. I hope they hit every cross tie on the way back to the station.

Urgh, I hope this isn't an indication of the state of the amusement industry in general. Hard times for a single media company, or hard times for the whole tourist and leisure industry?

Awesome! And it looks a lot better than I imagined it was going to be. Nice colours. Not sure if that's some sort of theming being put around it or not, but it could be...

Morgan is the coaster division of Chance Rides, isn't it? The same company that is renowned for snapping parts on other rides, such as the infamous Chaos... Scary lucky that these accidents keep occuring on the very last parts of the coaster's journey. It would have been pretty final if the mechanics gave way at the highest/fastest points of the ride

Oh my god! For real?! Darn, I wish I'd heard about this when it was started. Or was it only open to Germans?

Alot of the old rides seem to be interaction based. Its a shame that's a lost concept nowadays. Also, let me guess. Nobody ever fell off or got seriously hurt on this ride, but Health and Safety would still never allow it ever again anyway?

Waaaaaaaaaaait a second. What's up with that SLC? Those trains are dumpy! Perhaps it got too rough and they decided to knock off a few rows to ease the extreme manoeuvres of the front and rear seats? Cool trip report. Photos from angles I haven't seen before are always good. I guess this is the park with that Vekoma rapids ride?

Oh my god! Yes, you're right! A smaller lift shaft in front of the main one to shuffle load position elevators about. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Curse you for not somehow doing the impossible and giving me the idea BEFORE I started! Thanks for all the comments anyway. Unfortunately we already established in the previous thread that Disney would basically cover their eyes with their hands and mail the whole package back to me as if it were some form of paperback medusa. So now I guess it's just about finding a smaller company... Someone asked what I'm doing at the moment. I'm currently in college just scraping my way through a Graphic Design course (There are no words to describe how much of a let-down this was. Motivation - 0), so I should probably get that out of the way before I job hunt. By the way, I only realised at the last minuit that the whole "witch hunt" colonial times ear didn't really occur in Europe. Bah.

After seeing how well my old “Pride Mountain” project was received, I said I would return in the future with another to share with you all. Hopefully everyone will be alright with me doing so. These little projects are the only way I’m ever going to have a chance to hit that “New Topic!” button, since I’m always so late on news and revelations and such Usual warnings before I start rambling. This post will be image heavy (16 images, I think) and long. I can’t promise it’ll be exciting or worthwhile for everyone, but I tried my best! Okay, if you know anything about Disney and their goings-on, you’ll probably know about Disneyland Resort Paris’, much-anticipated “Tower of Terror” installation. If not, there’s a good thread which mentions it HERE to catch up. As usual for such an awesome attraction, the project has had fans in a buzz. I think in general we’re all looking forward to having the popular classic closer to home. However… upon reading all the threads regarding it on various forums, a lot of people seem to be feeling a little let down in regards to the originality of the final product. See, whilst Tokyo Disney Resort got a stunning and uniquely custom Tower of Terror, Paris is simply getting a clone of the Disneyland California version. I kinda feel the same way too. When the project was initially announced, I thought it would be cool if Disney were going to make the “Hotel” look more European to fit the different audience. Well, since financial troubles beyond anyone’s control restricted the imaginers from going wild with the project, I figure there would be no problem if I explored the possibilities myself. So I wanted to address a few key things. Especially those that have been moaned about many a time on forums. After poking around for a few hours I managed to break it down to a small wish list. -Unique for Paris -No hallway between loading and unloading -A unique storyline -More re-ride factor through difference Hopefully I managed to cover these points successfully. Feel free to tell me if I missed the mark. Feedback is good for future projects! Here we go.. The general idea is that hundreds of years ago when folks were scared of witches, demons and other unholy forces, villagers rounder up all the accused and entombed them in an underground burial site for safety. More recently a wealthy hotel manager decided to construct his latest and greatest resort right on top of the long-forgotten, ancient graveyard. On the night of the grand opening, the burial chamber roof gives way under the weight of the hotel’s foundations and the innards of the building collapse into it. The ghosts and spirits of the witches are freed again and continue to haunt what was left of the structure. In true Tower Of Terror style, the experience starts as you approach the building. Right away you should be able to tell the difference between this ride and the similar attractions elsewhere. Instead simply missing the external elevator shaft like the other Towers this one is in a terrible state, sporting a huge split down the centre and an unnerving lean to one half of the structure. The path picks around various piles of debris and leads up the front stairs onto the veranda. This is where the queue should typically start… unless the ride team are naff or something. Either way, you enter through the front doors and step immediately into the lobby. As you’d expect from a half-collapsed building, the room doesn’t exactly look in the best condition, although you can vaguely establish that the Hotel was fairy upper class and grand in its time. The roped queue line wanders past a lounge scene not dissimilar to the existing ToT rides and then past the front of a dummy elevator door. If your timing is good here, you might just catch a glimpse of the ride elevator fall past, or hear the faint screams of riders on it. The lack of a pre-show means that various clips of information about the plot need to be given on randomly placed TVs (Old style monotone, of course) as you proceed throughout the room. The queue continues past a reception desk and out a door to the left of the building. This area is the patio and outside dining area of the hotel, almost directly beneath the collapsed side tower. Scattered tables and chairs give some impression of the mad dash that must have occurred when hotel guests fled to escape the falling brickwork. You proceed around a water feature and head indoors again through a second door. This room appears to be a boarding area for the elevators, but since those are damaged beyond any useable condition on this floor, you need to take the stairs. At the top of the stairs a ride host will pause you briefly and then direct you to one of three batching areas along a corridor. The right hand end of this hall appears to have buckled and collapsed, leaving a cobweb of cracks along the rest to suggest it will soon follow. The elevator doors are still in a fairly usable condition here though. A short while later and your elevator door slides open, inviting you inside. Straight inside that is- none of that hallway thing here! Unlike previous ToTs, the elevators on this version are supposed to be the passenger lift and so are decorated lavishly like the rest of the building. You take a seat on wooden benches and fasten yourself in place with a basic seatbelt. The ride host recites the usual and then steps away to allow the doors to shut on you. The lights buzz and flicker out, leaving you in darkness. Instead of rising to a show floor like the other towers, this one descends slowly into the basement, below ground level. The doors slide open and reveal a sort of ballroom/dining hall expanse. Waltzing and socialising (in a very “Haunted mansion” kind of way) in this room are dozens of ghost hotel guests, re-enacting the day of the disaster. An eerie voice recites tale… “The year is 1929. What had been wasteland for centuries has been developed into the world-class hotel you see before you. The ribbon-cutting ceremony had attracted some of Europe’s most affluent and elegant. A ballroom occasion was held to celebrate the opening of the hotel and to wish it many prosperous years… It didn’t even last one night….” Without closing the doors the elevator creeps down even lower, leaving the party behind. You pass beneath the floor of the ballroom and what appears to be the foundation layer of the building and finally level out in front of a crumbling hole. Through the opening you can just about make out the interior of a burial chamber, complete with coffins, tombstones and various rotting artefacts. The ghost host voice continues… “But this land was already inhabited, and its restless residents have been disturbed. A hastily constructed burial chamber entombing evil for generations was finally broken open by the construction of the building atop it, allowing it’s sinister prisoners to once again wreak havoc and evil about the land…” The lighting sharpens slightly and the gravestones wobble noticeably. Rafters supporting the room creak with stress and buckle perilously close to breaking point. The elevator suddenly rises back up to the ballroom level, just in time to witness the whole room split open and crumple into the basement. The ride falls in sync with the rooms simulated collapse, dropping just enough to give riders their first taste of freefall and to land the elevator back into the tomb scene with a newly formed hole in the ceiling. Spirits are seen rising from their graves and escaping through the opening, the elevator shudders slightly and pulls up quickly to escape to the top of the building. The rest should be fairly obvious. Drop sequences try their best to replicate the callapse of the hotel by plunging you repeatedly down the elevator shaft. One thing to note about the drop section is that each shaft offers slightly different visuals depending on where it is located on the building (In more than just the obvious way..). Shaft one is actually in what’s supposed to be the main hotel elevator shaft and Therefore gives an almost completely unobstructed view outside through a glazed strip on the tower. Shaft two follows almost exactly along the huge crack in the building, giving a somewhat shielded view through broken windows and masonry. Shaft three is more enclosed and tops out in a completely concealed “manager’s suite”, offering the tradition ToT dark ride feeling. Hopefully small changes like that could go some way to helping re-ride excitement. And of course, night riding means some cool lighting effects can be used. Since there's no signage on this tower, the focus is a deep and eerie red glow from within the destroyed building. A final message from the ghost host is played as the elevator slowly levels out on the exit floor… “Next time you check into a hotel you may wish to investigate who exactly it hosts, or you could end up sharing a very permanent room with a selection of very sinister guests” You actually leave the elevator underground on a completely separate level between the lobby and the show scenes. This eliminates the need for that dreaded “hallway of un-themeness” that the other non-Florida towers have. This does unfortunately mean that the lift then has to raise empty to the loading floor after, and that only one elevator may occupy a single shaft, but I don’t think that would hinder capacity as badly as it may sound. You leave the building via a staircase that takes you up to ground level where no doubt the park’s financial managers would have insisted on placing a gift shop and on-ride photo sales point Aaaaand, that’s about it. Here’s a few extra images of the attraction that should hopefully make my waffle more interesting and conceivable. No audio this time though, because I refuse to record myself attempting a ghostly voice... The plans for the main three public floors... A picture of the hotel BEFORE it fell apart And the same picture again before I got all "arty-farty" and raped it with multiple Photoshop effects- because I know SOMEONE would have moaned about that... So, that's my lot. Hope some of you guys enjoy it or get inspired to be creative or something Is anyone else here kinda bummed about the whole cloned ride thing? I'm not trying to make a statement that I hate Disney for their efforts by doing this. Not at all- I'm over the moon at the mere concept of getting that awesome attraction in a park near me! I'm just upset that the financial difficulties of the park meant that the imagineers weren't given the freedom to create something unique. I would imagine they feel the same way =( Thanks for reading Tim

I badly want to go to that park. It seems like they've purposefully gone out of their way to install rides that are really special. Whether that's intentional at all I've no idea, but I don't see why a park without much local competition on its own level would invest in something so out of the ordinary? The helix in my view is what makes this ride. I'm not so much interested in the inversions on coasters, but the way that they are linked. And this one seems to do it well The trains look weird though. Too small for the track. Probably because I'm so used to BaM phatboy trains on that sort of track though

Oh my god... that doesn't look real. It looks for too insane to be real. Its so LONG. Voyage indeed. And it never gives up. I was slightly concerned that the brakes it hits somewhere around mid way was going to mean the rest of the course would be a slow and pointless extension, but that is really not the case. Just faster and faster and more wild. Amazing

Whoa! Fun miniature coasters! Its the tiny size of them that I love. To think that they are just coiled wire on a CD case (is that about right?) sized piece of board is mind blowing Have you looked at further presentation methods? For instance, you can buy empty snow globes and stick a custom model in one of those. Or you could find a toy/model car display box and house them in that. That'd obviously help protect them too... and raise the price if you intended to sell! I know you hate making them, but I think I like the water slides best. They look nifty

I've been on both the motion base rides (I'm assuming there's just two. Darkcastle and Spiderman, right?) Spiderman was better, yes, because it included real scenery to a degree. However, I still think the reliance on projected visuals was far too heavy. In my opinion it just looks false. Pretty- But incredibly false. I just can't convince myself that I'm looking at anything other than a screen. Darkcastle pretty much relied entirely on screens, and that was an even worse offender of that issue. Having sets with real depth and real moving parts is a much better way to make it believable. You could have the vehicle race past a stone pillar and people would actually lean away from it for fear of it hitting them. The comment bringing natural wonders into this is pretty stupid. My opinion on projected action figures means I have no respect for historical landmarks? ...oh-kaaay Hmmm, this discussion should probably have its own topic ------------ Anyway, the above idea of the Flying coaster sounds good. I don't see why Disney couldn't expand into top range thrill ones one day- even if just at a specific park with the right target audience. Might be a bit much to want it without theming though. They like to offer something different, and quite a few parks have got generally themed flyers already. ...Of course, first they'll have to stop rebranding rides and settle down in their design offices again. Which was the initial point raised in this thread

^ You can most certainly bend wood! Skateboards use bent wood, furniture uses bent wood, wagon wheels use bent wood... tee-hee, bent wood... Ahem, Well, you BEND wood typically by getting it wet, then forcing it into the curve you want it to make and letting it dry. It takes a long time, but that's the manual way, I'd bet that coaster companies and other high production industries have developed a quicker method. That real coaster cart looks awesome! Wow, seriously... Lets face it, most enthusiasts who say "Im'a build a coaster!" usually give up and get nowhere after the MSpaint doodle, but you've ACTUALLY made one. Full size! AND you want to build more! Wow

BAH! to the motion base and 3D! Bah I say! There's nothing clever about moving a simulator around a building whilst it shows you scenery ON A SCREEN! It might as well stay in the same place like Star Tours. Nope, EMV is a much fuller experience. It forces the designers to include REAL scenery. And no level of fancy camera work and projectors will ever be able to fool your eyes enough to beat real objects.... But enough about next gen' simulators, the topic is Disney re-do rides. I'm kinda split on how I feel about this. I mean, I HATE what they've done to DLRP's Space Mountain... Yet I'm really glad they decided to make better use of the visionalamarium, neck ache, theatre-of-eye-strain by putting in Buzz Lightyear. So.. sometimes it is necessary to update. Otherwise they are left with the costs of an old, outdone attraction that would rarely make a difference to someone's day if it were there or not. HOWEVER, it does annoy me that they seem to be prioritising re-makes over the installation of new attractions. When they delay being genuinely creative and innovative because they want to pad out a few more easy years with a retheme- THEN it bothers me. If they are worried about the costs of the design stage, tell them I'll do it all for £50!!!

I can possibly make out... - "Ring Of Fire" type ride - Boat stunt show with a jump through a ring. Woo - Gyro drop, or a REALLY extended Topple Tower - Some sort of flume - An space observatory?! - A water tower like many movie parks - A strange triangular observation tower/wheel - Sit-down looping coaster with three consecutive vertical loops - Some sort of Family coaster? Perhaps powered judging by the strange elevations in strange orders - Random King Kong on a building overlooking a pirate ship Therefore, I conclude that this map means nothing and is merely a sketched "This space could possibly look like..." presentation maps and that none of the included attractions have actually been considered. The artist was probably just told to draw a generalised park map for some sort of presentation with a few generalised ideas. So.. Israel has a good tourist industry, right? I've personally never considered it for a holiday, but eh, I don't know what the rest of the world is thinking!