kenshinmac

I think this is great news. I feel like they could make Elitch Gardens a better park and much more family friendly. Hopefully they might also bring us a signature attraction that the park is really lacking.

I distinctly remember the Skyhawk despite only going on it a few times before moving out of the bay area. I do remember it having an clear canopy on the ride vehicle as opposed to the pic that Robb posted. I also noted this difference commented on in other boards. Which ones were enclosed and which ones weren't?

There is a technique to riding that helps... You really don't want to push your shoulders into the pads at the top of the ride and try to keep your head still in the middle. If your neck is weaker or you want a less intense ride definitely ride in the middle of the car as the banking transitions are brutal on the outside. Oh and New York hope you enjoy the Flying Coaster... Hope it runs better for you than it did here 3 years ago. I wonder how much work they are doing to it because that looks far from the whole track so far. I also would be willing to bet that the moving floor won't be making a comeback so they will be rebuilding at least that part the station.

So people really consider it worse than the skyloop style ones? I am really curious though what it was like in 2006. I guess I just find it harder to understand how a brutal steel coaster can change. Could it be changes to the rolling stock as opposed to the track? Do you have any videos from that trip up?

I have to say that the Drayton ride was fine when I rode it this summer in the UK trip. I can't imagine what could have changed but they did have one or two rows roped off. Overall it was a fun ride but not something I would rush to re-ride. If they could take the tweaks made to the Drayton ride then I'm sure this could be quite a decent ride overall.

Wow... The TPR Logo T-Shirts are gone already?!

Wow... Just wow... I had a feeling that PARC had bitten off a bit much and certain things at Elitch Gardens this year just felt off. I wouldn't have thought that this would happen though. Well hopefully we will see some good changes from this move. I honestly feel mixed about the PARC era in Elitch Gardens but they did make things look a bit better in areas of the park that were definitely looking shabby. I continue to hope that we have something coming in the next few years because currently the park is in need of a new thrill ride. We really need a good coaster though so hopefully we will see something soon. So any idea what this means as far as the webpages and the like? Who owns the rights to those? What management groups are there out there now? I mean who would take on 18 properties some with some serious needs?

I'm still curious about how the high five will feel. It seems like a strange rotation without any g forces to keep you in your seat. I think I saw it will be running timberliners so it will come down to how those support the upper body especially how comfortable it will be. I'm looking forward to seeing the videos of Robb on rides as that was definitely a high point of last years coverage.

Maybe I am missing something simple but the images I have seen I can't see how it could move forwards and backwards. All that I have seen suggests that the movement of the ride car is controlled strictly by the distance from the second track. That and the way that it appears to control the movement of the ride car has me confused as to how it is possible for the ride to move forwards and back.

Can anyone help me understand the M&V company? I'm still confused about the whole M&V and Gravity Group relationship. I know that M&V built the last few Gravity Group coasters but do they design their own? EDIT: Ok I looked on RCDB and see that M&V is listed as constructing a number of other wooden coasters. So do they do design or are these just concepts they are proposing hoping they would get to build? EDIT2: Fixed Gravity Group name...

Can anyone give me some idea of how this could move the car both forwards and backwards? I just don't see how it is possible if it is just running on two tracks unless there is some degree of speed control on the two sets of bogies. This just seems to be really complicated and I just don't see how partnering with Setpoint who have built very few rides themselves will get this built.

Is it also possible that advancements in engineering lead to less actually structural components on wooden coasters in the 90s? I mean maybe the rides last better when they are "overbuilt". I am not really sure how to read that as I know of very few wooden coasters built in the decades from the late 60's to the 90's. Of course those few that I do know about seem to have suffered the same fate but over a longer period to those built in the 90s. Many of these rides do seem to be running PTC trains. Was CCI the only recent ride maker to source trains from elsewhere? I know those didn't go over well either but did the ride go downhill as far or did it just start as crap? Is it possible this is a consequence of both the predominant train builder for many many years and the push to build less expensive designs? Oh and if you made it this far gold star for reading all my rambling

The T Rex looks like the one from Water World in Denver... It actually says on the Sally website they did Journey to the Center of the Earth... So that would explain it This is actually really cool. Glad you shared the pics with us.

I wish I could be excited by Dive Machines but IMHO they really are a one trick pony. Don't get me wrong it is a nice trick. However maybe with the narrow train they can be a bit more aggressive with the layout. It could also be pretty nice with some theming.

Great trip report but did you have to include the topless guy? Yikes that was the worst part of that day... Plus all the stores started running out of drinks by the end of the day and any slushee type stand had long since melted. Oh and I did get a couple of Saw rides in after that Inferno ride but yeah kinda a bummer at that point. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of what you got up to in Europe.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about what you guys got up to. It was fun to see some more faces from the 09 tours but just a bummer that we only got the one day.

I have only been on the one at Bottons and that was several months ago so keep that in mind when reading this. Some of the turns seemed a bit rough especially while spinning since you could be facing in any number of directions. Other than that I really didn't like rocking up the lift hill... It wasn't a bad ride IMHO but it wasn't one I would rush back for.

Hey Divv for those of us an ocean away can you describe where in the park they put up the mazes? I am just curious because Thorpe doesn't seem like a park well setup for these kind of events. Also did they do the whole hands on shoulders thing for all of the mazes? Is this some british thing? Anyways looks like a ton of fun and I look forward to the Alton report.

I'm gonna defend this because I feel that the Volare concept is good. The problem with the Volare rides so far is that the track layout is really far too aggressive especially in the transitions into corners. With a more relaxed layout the ride could really shine IMHO. I really thought that the first dip out of the station on the Volare was a better sensation than that you get on the Vekoma and B&M flyers. If they could give riders more of that without the insane transitions which rattle your head it could be a fun ride. Of course all of this is assuming they don't make the same mistakes again... Well and that it is a custom design verses the standard layout.

Is that a 4 across x 3 row seat configuration? Do you think that Magic Mountain would go with the same cars? If so the ride would be losing 20% of the capacity right? How busy was the ride the last few years? I would assume it never really took a huge amount of people per hour.

I think I might have to agree with that... It isn't the most thrilling but it is completely unique. It definitely stands out in my mind.

Actually they did remove the Chaos. What you see now in the park is the second Chaos ride that Elitch Gardens has had which was added the first season the PARC group owned it. They actually used the cars from the old one for the last few years as part of the Fright Fest themeing. I also wholeheartedly agree that Elitch Gardens needs a signature ride. Right now it just feels like clone central and it really does the park a disservice. A number of coasters could really suit the park but honestly I think the best fit would be a good Eurofighter. That said I do have to wonder how well the park could keep one running as this year has had a lot of downtime on several of the rides.

Is it just me that gets scared when I see phrases like "outstanding track record of shareholder value creation" in press releases like this? It doesn't sound good for visitors IMHO.

Awesome trip report... I can't wait to get to Alton again in the UK trip Thirteen looks like fun if not scary and Rita is a ride I have been wanting to ride for a while now. Seriously though Sonic Spinball was pretty mediocre it seems to be one of those odd games everyone remembers as better than it was.. Plus the fact that it has been close to 17 years since it released makes it seem an odd choice to theme to.

I just hope we can have some degree of the fun that the UK 2006 trip had next year. It was that video that convinced me I had to go on a TPR trip.