kenshinmac

Wow... Is that like the shortest shoot the chutes ride ever? I don't remember it being that small somehow. I mean seriously if that is over like 35 feet tall I would be impressed. Oh and that Justice League pic reminds me how happy I am we got a new Chaos at Elitch Gardens this year after the sale... I always felt sorry for the characters standing there just looking desperate for someone to come over.

Not a chance... They would have to move the park to get rid of that... I can't help but be a little concerned about some of these moves because it seems that much of the money made from the sale of the other parks is being used for more expenditures. I guess I am just wondering when they are planning to decrease their debt.

I wouldn't be too concerned. Remember, we're talking about a place that based an "island" on such current culturally relevant figures as Popeye and Dudley Do-Right. And it's managed to survive. Agreed... I mean heck how much of Disney's properties are relevant now? I mean most of the properties that Disney has based many of their rides and attractions on over the past decade have had less life than Harry Potter already has. This is a great move for Universal (assuming they didn't pay too much) and will likely only do positive things for the park. Oh and those dismissing this as a youth fad... What other series has parents rushing in at midnight and purchasing a copy for every other member of their family just so they can read it uninterrupted? Besides that the franchise is practically a license to print money. I can't blame anyone for wanting in on the gravy train.

It has to be based on the ride manufacturers specs. They design restraints to hold a certain sized person comfortably and safely. It isn't always that someone smaller could come out of the restraints so much as they wouldn't be held securely by the restraints and could be injured because of it. I guess I look at it kinda similarly to AirBags in cars. There is just no way to make something affordable that can accommodate everyone. So they pick a range to aim for and they design around that. I have definitely seen plenty of rides where the height rules didn't seem to make sense. I think it typically comes down to some flat rides where the restraint is designed to hold riders in but won't stop them from escaping (I've seen this on many flat rides) and so riders need to be mature enough to stay still. On the contrary many of the larger rides have restraints that are designed to prevent escape so they don't have the same issue. Of course this is all kinda a guess so I'm happy for someone to present a contrary opinion.

I don't think there is any way you could do a zero g roll without fairly narrow trains. Personally I find they aren't near as enjoyable on the outside of the normal 4 wide B&M trains... I can't imagine how insane the forces would be on the outside of one of those trains. Definitely not zero g anymore.

Based on what I have read about the old location I think it was less than half the size of the current location. Now I can't say I really know if that included parking or not but whatever. I honestly really hope that the new ownership will put in a eurofighter or something similar that will fit the space and provide some great thrills.

OMG thats hot... After this no park has an excuse that they don't have room for a new wooden coaster. Honestly that thing is just incredibly tiny. It looks really really impressive too.

The Simpsons has run about 10 years too long. It needs to die and let US TV move on. Fox had a great thing with Futurama and let it die because they gave preference to Simpsons and other trash shows. Those of you over 20, when was the last time you saw a new Simpsons that didn't feel like a retread of an old story? I know it has been at least 5 years for me. That isn't to say the show doesn't have moments of humor but it really feels like the writers ran out of ideas long ago. Oh yeah and does anyone really think a Simpsons movie is a good idea? I mean the show isn't amusing for 30 minutes anymore. How will it be any good for 90+? Honestly the only Simpsons related thing I want right now is the absolutely awesome 90s arcade game by Konami to be released to home consoles somehow. One of my few fond memories of the Simpsons that hasn't been ruined by repeats.

"I can't's types's thes badlys wordeds posts anymores? Oh deres!!" - No spelling errors found in this... This seems kind of lackluster... Seems like anything it thinks is fine can be made plural by adding an 's' to the end. Ack... It flags "I'm" as incorrect. I can't say I see this improving things on the board. Now if any of those really aren't improper English I will be happy to have it pointed out to me.

Almost any paint or graphic editing software will have some resize function. MS Paint will do it but only as a percentage of the total size. Try downloading the GIMP at http://www.gimp.org/windows/ . It will have all the features you will likely ever need.

Don't misunderstand... We all understand how you feel but honestly you have a lot of great parks in the UK and many of them are within a reasonable drive. Where I am in the US we have two fairly small parks and then it is many hours of driving to get to anything else. Besides Forums aren't about winning or losing they are about debate... You gotta realize that most of us here are in the US and going to parks in the UK is a heck of a lot of fun for us. So we are gonna have a bit more rosy perception of them than maybe you will and similarly you will have a more rosy perception of US parks...

I think what this ultimately comes down to is it is a lot easier to be critical of the parks you are closer to. The things you are describing are the norm for almost all parks out there. Hell up until the last few years most Six Flags Parks and heck DisneyLand and DisneyWorld were needing serious attention in places. Wear and tear happens but when you are only going to be there once for a long time you are likely going to enjoy it for what is there.

Do you honestly really believe any of what you have posted. If anything the UK is spoiled for great small-medium sized parks. They may not have Disney or Busch caliber theming but how many Busch and Disney (maybe Universal) parks are there in the world? I will also point out that you are closer to a Disney park than many of us in the US. Beyond all of that what can I say... If you don't enjoy the parks around you find a way to save up to go elsewhere. If you can't do that then find some way to enjoy the parks around you... Remember the only way parks can afford to get better is if people spend money at them.

I thought it sounded like the coaster train's on board computers detected what it thought was a seat row coming out of the flying position. Because of that error it brought the train to a stop with whatever braking system it has on the train. I believe that the flying cars are the heaviest out there (other than B&Ms insanely wide divers) and they must contain extra systems for stopping the train if a car ever comes out of flying position. My guess is that it could also be something to do with the way that the prototype flyer cars work compared with the production ones. Well in any case it is unfortunate that it happened but honestly it just makes me hope that the brakes are well enough tuned that they won't stop the ride in the top of the loop... yikes...

Why are you guys attacking Vekoma? The ride did what it should... Sure sometimes things happen and I can't seem to remember a ride manufacturer with a clean record. It just so happens that Vekoma has more rides than many companies out there so things will happen. Honestly people may also find that this is an issue exclusively with the prototype as it has a different mechanism for raising and lowering the seats... So don't be so quick to attack Firehawk. Seriously I'm not a huge Vekoma fan but they make rides that work and appeal to many people. Honestly if they weren't around some parks may not be around...

Maybe we should have an unofficial TPR Broken Ass (get it donkey... ) award for truly awful rollercoasters? It would be kinda fun... Of course I doubt many parks would happily post plaques noting the occasion.

Robb those new pictures are hilarious... It figures that the one weekend I haven't checked things heavily would be something this big. Oh and I still can't really resolve my feelings about whether the Yeti Ball with Kidtums is cute or creepy... Congrats... BTW how long till the first TPR with all 3 of you?

Nice update... I'm just curious about whether there was any sign of how you will get to the station for Infusion...

Why would box style track be necessary with the seats at the sides? It should be fairly well balanced and the truss track should support most sideways movement fine. Heck the reason for the box track is when they have long sections of unsupported track. Perhaps it could be station track. I'm honestly not sure what to think it is. I mean if it is a Half-Pipe it would mean dropping the large car because that track on second look doesn't look wide enough to support the car for the half-pipe. I'm still interested in what this is because it isn't clear so far.

NM... The track is identical but it doesn't have the extra width of the typical halfpipe... Is this a new model? The track looks like it is somewhere between the halfpipe and the inverted shuttles. Another thought... Anyone know what kind of track the ball coasters use?

Ah how exciting... It is like waiting for the spring fashions to come out... Oh what will the well dressed TPR reader be wearing this coastering season... Even more important who will model the latest line...

Not to point out the obvious or anything but we are posting on an internet board... We all clearly have too much time on our hands. BTW that stuff is really impressive... I've never been able to convince myself to splurge on the Knex coasters and stuff. They look fun though.

Congrats... I'm amazed it has been that long... Heres to many more years of sanely moderated insanity.

I think it was in the SOAKED! expansion pack.

What... They actually tell people that sort of thing? Jeopardy is taped then I guess. I don't watch it so I wouldn't know. If they didn't actually use the question that would be a drag.