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^Spider has had exactly one full day of downtime between 2022 and 2023. While not the most efficient ride in the world, it regularly ranks dead last among the "major" rides in terms of ridership. If staffing gets tight, the least popular attractions are trimmed first, but in recent seasons this has been less of an issue. Mechanically, the parts that experience the most normal wear are not OEM and can be replaced fairly easily.
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Not super shocked seeing the Spider listed for sale. It seems there has been a lot of downtime in the past couple of seasons, and if I recall correctly it was down a large part of one of the past seasons because it was awaiting a new motor? There aren't many Spiders left out there and Eyerly is long gone so I would imagine parts are more scarce to come by. At least with Wipeout, Chance is still in business and likely still offers OEM parts for anything related specifically to the ride. Curious what will replace it though as it's a pretty small plot for most modern flat rides outside of "kiddie" territory. Gorman did mention that an addition for 2025 would be "something new and something big" so we'll see.
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By BobloLives · Posted
...but what about girth? Mountain coasters don't "count" to me because you as a rider are in partial control of your speed. -
By teacherkim · Posted
You didn't, no worries. And you made a valid point......................I just don't remember the others being such a big deal, anticipation wise. BUT as you point out there wasn't the daily social media/drone footage blitz going on AND to be fair some of those were at a time in my life when I wasn't focusing that much on theme parks. IOA for example, truly one of my favorite parks now, opened when I was about 30...........establishing a career and heavily involved in a completely different hobby that took a huge time and money commitment. About ten years later I had stopped such a huge commitment to the other thing and was introducing my son to theme parks and rediscovering in myself a long lost love for them. So all of that played a part in my probably not well thought out comment🤨 -
By Hilltopper39 · Posted
I still think there is a future for these interactive/immersive themed entertainment concepts sometime/somewhere in the future but first Star Cruiser closing and not this it doesn't really look good. Star Cruiser had the obvious issues with cost, this maybe some issues with location/concept, and both of them the timing of Covid I'm sure didn't help. Hopefully there's a future for the site as something as it did look like a pretty cool place. -
Title was about length, but height seems more of the cheating part to me.
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it was closed for maintenance during our time there. . . . so wasn't avail. regardless.
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It was on our 'possibilities' list! But we didn't quite make it over there. As I recall, there was some kind of 4D theater thing it was paired with, but that seemed weak. If it had been a proper flying theater, we probably would've done it.
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it's taking me just as long. . . LOL.. I'm still 3 parks behind you! that "Bear Castle" reminds me SO much of the Deer enclosure at Marineland, Niagara. but they STILL use that one - even if the Government took away all the bears from the enclosure they had, so you no longer can feed them ice cream cones. as to the Helsinki Wheel? Jon and I DID ride that one (tho, no, we didn't do the Sauna car. that was extra).
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We planned two days on our own in Helsinki, after the end of the TPR trip, in order to do Erik & Smisty things. And we did! Here are the less good ones. (I don't know, it just worked out that way.) 26: Cork Is Sorry Up bright and early, but it's hard to tell because our hotel is in Finland and that's where the sun lives. Gotta have some beans and a donut to get me going, though. Helsinki is nice, and I'm happy to spend time in pretty much any northern European city--or really almost anywhere that I've never been. But, having said that, it's no Stockholm. Ooh, a grocery store! Yes, we're easily amused. OR We're fun and you're the problem. Ever think of that?? This seems like an unhealthy selection of breakfast cereals even by American standards. And I eat beans and donuts for breakfast, Speaking of unhealthy and American: I'd been looking for this particular Ben & Jerry's flavor the entire trip, after having encountered it at Gröna Lund in 2019., and really enjoying it. (Apparently it's a UK "only" flavor.) Okay, now that you mention it, "baby back ribs" is a pretty weird name for a food already, but leaving the word 'back' out of it doesn't make it better. Helsinkians really provide for their seagulls. Helsinkites? Helsinks? (I would go with 'Hellions' if it were me.) Time to ferry about! No wait, ferries carry cars. Water taxi? We're gonna ride on a boat boat, is my point. "Switch costumes, you ignominious pretender!" If you understand this reference, congratulations! You are unique in all the world and also you're me and your brain is broken. We did not ride the SkyWheel Helsinki, so I cannot say whether or not licorice consumption is required onboard. But what I can tell you is that the single brown cabin is the world's only sauna on a Ferris wheel. Actually, I'm just assuming it's the world's only. Their website actually says, "world's first," which seems to imply that someone else has since built another one. However, I can find no evidence of this. Which forces me to consider the even more insane possibility that SkyWheel Helsinki was so sure someone else would immediately copy this idea that they just went with 'first' right out of the gate. And here we arrive at our destination: Korkeasaari Zoo, which is located on an island. Just to reiterate: this entire island is a zoo. Which is awesome. But, to be honest, it feel less like an island that they brought a bunch of zoo animals to, and more like an island that just kind of had some animals on it already, so they declared it a zoo. So, the location is cool, but is the zoo actually any good? Well, no. Did you not read the last caption? But perhaps I'm being too harsh. It does have this leopard. And a statue of a goat. Note the building in the background. Which is a restaurant named--and I swear I'm not making this up--Restaurant Pukki. Which did not make us vomit, I am happy to say. Probably the most interesting animals at Korkeasaari, Amur tigers. Other things of note: Korkeasaari is the largest zoo in Finland, was established in 1899, and is open year round. These are also animals of some kind. Karhulinna means "bear castle." Yep, that's a bear. The old, no longer in use, bear castle. You know, from back when people thought that bears would be more comfortable in a castle than surrounded by trees and stuff. And that they might like being stared at by a mural of a tiger all day. Look, I'm pro-zoo, but just tear this thing down and never speak of it again, you know? "I bless the herpetariums of Afriii-cAsia!" Pop quiz: Is this snake from Africa or Asia? If it helps, I 100% do not remember because I didn't take a photo of the sign and it's been like 10 months since then and this is easily the longest trip report I've ever done and I'm starting to have regrets. I guess there's more to a zoo than just animals. There's also wooden planks. They're not exactly the word leader in gift shops, either. Wait, you can walk on and off this island? Why did we take a boat?? At this point, I can't really even get off on a naked statue unless there's a seagull on its head. We wanted to visit Stockmann for a few reasons. For one, it was recommended to us by one of Smisty's co-workers who used to live in Helsinki. Two, it's the largest department store in the Nordic countries, and we like going to stores and malls and things when we're visiting new places. And three, it was a possible place I might find a little something I was hoping to track down while in Helsinki. That third thing didn't really work out. As while I was able to confirm that it existed (in an employees-only area), I was not able to actually see or experience it. I know, I know, I'm being terribly mysterious. But I won't make you wait long. Just until the next update. Oh, wait...that could actually be awhile at the rate I'm going. You'll probably have forgotten all about it by then. Big store. Lots of different stuff. I don't know. Things adults like. We found our favorite section, toys! This game sucks. Okay, I feel better now. Ultimately, it is just a really big department (and grocery) store. But we enjoyed checking it out. Back out on the street, we get one of those classic European "this would be a national landmark in the US, but here it's a transit center" buildings. The Three Smiths Statue is the metaphorical center point of Helsinki. I think you're supposed to see this one before the parody of it at Linnanmäki (Three Smiths on a Break). Just one more day to go! Will I get it done before the end of April?? I mean, I have to get it done before the end of May. I can't take a whole year to finish this thing. Actually, maybe I'll just quit now. That would be funny. The end.
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This place started as an interesting concept that had the unfortunate timing of Covid destroying its potential for a growing audience. Shame to see it go but I'm curious about the future plans for the site. It could make for a nice little outdoor FEC if given the right team.
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Did they hire Richard Branson to design the interior? These looks like a ripoff of Virgin Las Vegas, just at a healthier price point.
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^ They could restore it to the original version, for one. I know they're not but hopefully they'll at least bring back the crash test scene. Coming around the corner, seeing the dummy car crash into the wall, then lining up in front of your own target while they announced the final test was a crash test was great. The wall opening up to reveal the outdoor portion right before you hit was fantastic. The current version was such a letdown for me when I rode last year. Still a fun ride but nowhere near as great as the original.
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Man I forgot all about this park. Only visited once, but it was a pretty cool experience, although it didn't start out that way. When I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Riley, KS in the mid 90s, a few buddies and myself decided to drive to KC and hit Worlds of Fun one Saturday on pretty much a spur of the moment deal. We make the two hour drive only to find as we approached the park on 435 a huge banner on display welcoming visitors to McDonnell Douglas Family Day. Much to our dismay, it also pointed out that the park was closed to the general public as a result. My buddies prepared to accept defeat and begin the return trip back to Ft. Riley, but I had an idea. Being a military air traffic controller, I had my FAA card on me and I figured with that and a little creative banter I might just be able to bluff our way in. We parked, I went up to the customer service building and innocently stated that as an FAA consultant, I was invited but did not receive any tickets and assumed they were to be picked up at the park. The attendant asked for ID, I turned over my driver's license and FAA card, and after conferring with what I assume was a supervisor, 3 tickets were printed and we were on our way inside. Not only did we not have to pay entry, but there were no crowds to speak of at all. On the Timberwolf we ran right up to the train, and upon reentry to the station, the attendant would ask if we wanted to go again. After three such rotations, my body couldn't hack it anymore and I had to get off. A catered lunch was also provided in the pavilion area, again at no cost. The only negative aspect of the whole shebang was getting stuck on one the rides with a couple of arrogant and smart mouthed kids whose daddies were high level McDonnell Douglas executives and wanted everyone to know it. But hey, all in all, a helluva day!
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By Hilltopper39 · Posted
I'll be honest I love Test Track but I'm not really that interested in this renovation. I mean other than some kind of significant change to the layout/ride experience I just don't really know what they can do to this attraction for a third time to make it any better than it already is.
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