Cerberus

In all fairness, I think Australia is the most deserving. They have grown to have a large population now, and the tourist industry is massive (Everyone says they want to go to Australia!), so more parks, more coasters and all that. Of course, the selfish side of me just wants stuff right down the road from my house. But that's the cop out answer

During a visit to Thorpe Park, I found the operator's panel key for Colossus. It was just laying there, all alone and discarded in it's socket, so they clearly didn't want it anymore! I waited for the operator to leave the console for completely unrelated reasons and then climbed through the window to get them. What a marvellous souvenir! Just laying around! What are the chances?! Later in the day I noticed that Colossus wasn't running. I bet it was that lazy maintenance team again.....

I don't think this'll come as any surprise to anyone who watched Robb's video. It looked like they were in the process if dismantling the place back THEN! I say they should all just run away and leave it. Then it'll become a ghost park and be more celebrated in its death than it was during its life.

I'm raising my hand as another one of the people who found it nasty. The peaks of the hills over the first half were probably the worst. It always felt like it jumped an inch and thudded against the guide wheels. I rode at the front. The "Lets try to be clever with the design" restraints don't help either....

^ Bummer! How did it end up going to dam slow anyway? That u-turn at the far end of the ride is almost completely on its side. Surely a corner banked to that degree was intended to be taken at a pretty quick speed? Anyway, HAR HAR KumbaK, first effort didn't really put in the effort did it...

Neat. Looks like they did quite well to keep the pacing and excitement going until the end. some of the transitions look a tad harsh though (obviously due to the miserable size restraints of a tiny coaster), which I hope doesn't make it uncomfortable. Portable, is it? Would be good on the fair circuit. Especially the smaller fair circuit like England

Sounds like Intamin is basically making the entire thing. They designed and built towers before, such as the Eiffel Tower replicas at some of the Paramount (paramount?) parks and their brochure shows many building style observation towers. They are definitely the ones responsible for almost every one of those rides too (the exception being the see-saw, which I assume will be the same as the Strato tower ride. Although Intamin could have developed their own). Hmmm, interesting. Certainly an awesome project I hope pulls through! Parachute drop! Never thought we'd see the return of those...

Whoa, neat! You're lucky to have to room and terrain to build something like that!. Looks good so far. I'd imagine it'll actually pick up some decent speed there. Hmm, I know it'd take a lot more effort, but for a smoother ride it might be worth cutting those rails into shorter sections. That'd also allow you to perform more accurate manoeuvres. Cool stuff Also, WTF is up with the second photo?! A set of STOCKS?! What the hell do you DO in those woods?!

I personally love Slammer. The ride experience it gives is pretty dam wild, and for a so-called "flat" ride, it sure does travel huge distances! However, just looking at it and the way it was designed creeps me out. Things like all the exposed cables, the flimsy belt drive system hanging off the side of the tower and the numerous pneamatic indicators of which no effort at all has been made to hide. Not to mention that the restraints have about two inches of give just from feeling loose, even when they are locked. It feel like a big Knex model- in that the main skeletal structure to make it operate is there, but the body and skin of the actual ride was never put on... Its really great n' all, but I think I'd feel much happier riding it if Huss had built it!

^ That's weird. I loved the old ones.. Hmmm, you ARE older than me, so I assume bigger than me also. Maybe that's why the newer ones fit you bitter. Different body size. Either way, I'm jealous that it was changed for the BETTER in your case Oh, the topic is Stealth? Well, yeah, its really really cool. The airtime on that bunnyhop hill is immense. It hasn't quite got the edge that Xcellerator has though. I'm hoping this is down to age and wearing-in factors, but it's more than likely because of the lapbar... =(

Are they trying to make some sort of racist statement with those dummies? White supremacy?! Also, Colossus used to have dark, chestnut brown restraints. They were smaller and used to pin you by the shoulders as opposed to the thighs. They were changed because it was discovered people could stick their legs outside the train and get them trapped against the lifthill evac' stairs or the brake run gangway. The new restraints holding you by the legs obviously don't allow that.

The concept of a "roller coaster" is so broad now with so many different variations on the market, that I can't see how they wouldn't be able to install one of the permutations and disguise it to the point of unrecognising with lavish decor, theming and storylines. Coasters don't have to be drops, twists and loops- They can just be a way to move a collection of people faster than any other type of ride. The actual trackwork nowadays is slowly starting to fall back from its role as key design system anyway. The trackwork can be pretty dull and merely serve as a circuit which the more elaborate train simply uses to move between show scenes. Things like the Disk-O coaster, the Cantilever coaster, Robo-random-arm-whatever-it-is coaster. With a track gauge wide enough and a lot of careful planning, I reckon you could probably fit a truck-sized coaster vehicle on a track. Imagine sitting in a small theatre, then having the WHOLE ROOM back away from the stage and rolling around. There’s plenty they could do with a coaster without sticking to the tradition stereotypes regarding that type of attraction and making it fit their style.

Katun in the back row has the most amazing first drop of any inverted coaster I've ever ridden! But appart from that.. yeah, BaMs are pretty samey. "All together now! Sing the BaM song! Loop, dive loop, zero g rool, cobra roll, brakes..."

I really, really hope this one isn't so troubled as the first version. I loved the concept and loved the ride, but they are so rare most people have to go WELL out of their way to see one. If all goes well on this new one, I can see more parks taking the plunge and installing them. At least, I hope. I'm not convinced it won't suffer the same hassles though =(

Haha, these threads keep popping up on various forums and I still laugh each and every time. Sure, some of the things they say may be blindingly obvious and silly to you, but that's hardly a reason to mock them. Oh man, one day I'm going to start a webcomic dedicated to the joys of coaster enthusiasm (Or lack thereof) Like this

Its gotta be Vekoma's "Tilt Coaster" I mean, I've never been on it to say for sure, but the number of times I've seen people on forums (Deep enthusiasts who claim to be fearless) saying they refuse to go on it when they would happily ride anything else in the world...

Wait... So, you think the possibility of a MONSTER sized Intamin next generation woodie at Alton is boring? Also, the idea of Thorpe park constantly adding new exciting rides and coasters year after year doesn't seem like an interesting future? Yet, Chessington is adding a hotel and sorting out its dilapidated animal enclosures is amazing news? Fair enough. Your opinion I suppose. Personally, I'm FAR more excited about Thorpe and Alton. Chessington have already decided they don't want my "teenager" custom, money or attention, so I'm not going to give it to them. Oh how amusing it is to watch their attendance and profit levels descend as they remove feature after feature from the park and ruin what's left...

These are the first signs or a very serious mental illness! I strongly suggest you go to your local doctor as soon as possible and explain the symptoms to him in explicit detail. Leave out no information. he needs to know exactly what company made the rides you have this emotional connection with, and which seat you were riding in. Go. Now! Before you are rendered incapable of ever riding coasters again! Yes, I get that too sometimes. Although usually it's just me trying to imagine it

Whilst that blog thing was certainly an interesting read, and it raised some key issues (Namely those flat-pack Mickey hands all over Epcot and MGM), I can't help but to think the majority of it is impractical and old fashioned. The modern audience and next generations are going to be different from those that preceded them. They are going to have new tastes, new styles, new desires. What was entertaining for their grandparents is not going to receive the same reaction from them. Using the upcoming Nemo submarine as an example- Yes, The Jules Verne version was classic and grand. I'm a huge Jules Verne fan and would have loved that 2000 leagues, but I'm also in the small minority. Kids of this generation do not know Jules Verne, they know Pixar. I'm sorry to all those people who are hanging on to each word of that guy, dreaming of the "golden years", but I'm afraid that mere nostalgia is not a valid reason to neglect modernisation and ignore the NEW audience.

Woo, photos of the day starting to surface. Good ones, too. Cool I dunno if it was just because I was fearing the worst on the journey there, but I never thought the cold or the queues were that bad. The operations were excellent. Anyway, it was all really fun! Joey broke the first rule of coaster enthusiasm-ing. He lost his camera over the side of the Big One! Where was health + safety?! It almost hit three nuns, six orphan children, a Nobel peace prize winner and the Queen! Such irresponsibility. We need more seatbelts and catchment nets... I've got TONS of funny footage, so I'll put a video together soon.

Holy crap! I keep seeing these in "The Gadget Shop" and the enthusiast in me has just been clawing at my heart, trying to make me buy it. But as is usually the case in rip-off Britain, it's insanely expensive. Amazing work. I can't believe that all works!

I don't think there's much of a question to be asked here, really. If someone's health or life is put at risk by doing something that can be avoided as simply as not joining a queue, YOU DON'T DO IT!

I hope it's alright to stretch the topic a little, since I have a question.. They removed the first corkscrew, right? But does anyone know why? I mean, looking at those photos it seems like the least offensive element in the whole circuit! Surely if pain was the issue, the dreaded "cutback" would have been swiped away before a simple corkscrew? Especially since the added speed from NOT having that first corkscrew would mean the train would navigate the cutback even faster?! I don't understand

I'm more curious about Space Mountain myself. The whole thing must look like a Daytona racing circuit 0 shape because of all the right hand turns and straights, yet the building is circular.. If I could get hold of some dimensions, POV videos and various references, I could probably draw the plans from them. But then, if you had all that information already, you probably wouldn't need the plans

I take back all the praise I ever gave to the concept of "original" themes. The jungle theme I like, The ride I like, The interaction I like.. But the TV SHOW connections... argh! Also, this is certainly a coaster by definition. It features all the attributes associated with a coaster. Just because the version before it was a flat ride, doesn’t mean the upgrade is still a flat. Look at the Robocoaster and Robocoaster on a track rides- I bet people will regard the latter as a coaster, even though the initial concept was a flat ride. HOWEVER, it is a powered coaster. So I doubt many credit counters will accept it anyway…