Saturday, May 29, 2004
Rumor Websites
I used to read rumor websites all the time. It was always exciting to "get inside information" about what might be coming soon. Most of it turned out to be false, but some things were close or dead on correct. Rumors are what got me interested in roller coasters and amusement parks in the first place. My cousin had worked at Disney World and also monitored what the Disney Company was doing. He gave me links to his favorite websites and after that I became enthralled with the industry. This was back when Jim Hill and Al Lutz were still with Mouse Planet and Thrill Ride was in its glory days.
Thrillride.com was the best place for rumors (and reviews, but that is not this story). Robert Coker, who ran the site alone, would collect "Wild Rumors and Random Notes" from people's submissions and post them in a weekly digest (along with his comments). Sure I read the other websites, but none were as good as Thrill Ride.
Then Rob lost focus and time. He closed Thrill Ride down and from its ashes came Thrill Network a good try at replacing Thrill Ride, but it could never equal the fun. I stayed at Thrill Network for a while, posting in the forums as Rider and taking part in Rollercoaster Tycoon and No Limits contests, but it got old and the same old posts day after day were no longer fun. They tried to do Wild Rumors like before but the people just were not there sending in crazy notes. Plus it was always the same things we saw posted in the message board, so nothing was new.
Thrill Ride reopened after Rob got bored of "retirement" (he did write a book: "Roller Coasters", check it out) but it wasn't the same. He didn't have the Wild Rumors back, so I never visited. Plus over the years Thrill Ride was gone I had lost my interest in rumors. People always claim that a ride operator told them something or other but the truth is that these ride ops have even less of an idea of what is next then we do.
So anyway, after over four years without "Wild Rumors and Random Notes", they are back. There may not be as many of them (when the website closed, a week's posting could be five pages long) but Rob still gives his opinion about each rumor and that is what I always loved.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Did I Call It, Or What?
Geauga Lake has decided to honor the DARE program's free admission tickets. No explanation was given and I doubt we will ever know. Just an act of PR to stop any bad press from building, I guess.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Strongbad's Theme Park
I'm not one to read Strongbad everyday but I do enjoy them when I do. Seems he is planning a theme park. After its over don't turn it off. Keep watching. Then when you think its over again, keep watching some more.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Geauga Lake Wont Honor All Free Passes
You can read in the April archives where I wrote about Geauga Lake finally accepting free passes Six Flags gave out in their read-to-succeed program. They only accepted them after receiving tons of complaints from school officials and parents. Now it seems there are other passes they wont accept.
The new owners elected not to participate in ticket giveaways involving DARE and a math-a-thon benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Robinson said. Individual tickets donated by Six Flags to various auctions and events also are not being accepted.
But the park is honoring some freebies.
Geauga Lake announced last month that it would take tickets earned by elementary school participants in a Six Flags reading program. The decision, which reversed the park's original stance, followed numerous complaints from parents and school officials.
The new owners also continued ticket promotions with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Swim for Diabetes.
Each situation was reviewed and measured up against Cedar Fair's donation policies, Robinson said. She said the park apologizes for any inconveniences.
We'll see if they can stand their ground on these passes. I bet people will take note of how the others finally got accepted after all the complaining and will start their own movement to get their free admissions.
Monday, May 24, 2004
Quick Rundown
A seven year old girl died Saturday while riding a Scrambler type ride. Apparently when she rode she kneeled on her seat and that stopped the restraints from holding her on the ride. It is a tragedy and another case of needless death because of human error.
Six Flags Darien Lake held a Grad Night event (where they are open all night for high school seniors). Cooperating with the Sheriff, they arrested 74 people for unlawful possession of alcohol or marijuana. One arrest was for selling alcohol to a minor. Last year the park did the same thing and had 65 arrests.
Finally, it seems as if Alton Towers park in England has started banning people over a certain weight from going on rides. Similar to what Cedar Point just did, except in this case it is not Intamin rides that are being restricted. The rides with the limit at Alton Towers are from a different designer who has had no problems with their rides before.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Ridiculus Cedar Point Safety Policy
You'll remember the news story about the man who fell out of a roller coaster a few weeks ago. It turned out it was mostly human error on the part of the ride operators when they didn't check the man's restraint.
Now Cedar Point is overreacting to the accident and has a new "safety" requirement for most of its major coasters. You are now required to have at least 1.5 inches of slack between the buckle and hand-loop of the seat belt. This means people who were once able to safely ride with little to no slack on the belt are being turned away. But not only are they being turned away... they are being humiliated. As you can see from that thread people have been turned away from Dragster to Blue Streak. One woman who is 5'10" and 150lbs was told she was too large to ride Blue Streak.
This does NOTHING to improve safety. An extra bit of slack on a seat belt is not going to secure you any more then no slack. In fact, with no slack there is no chance that it can become loose during the ride and let you fly up more.
It looks like Cedar Point has already received hundreds of complaints about it, so who knows where this is going to lead. ACE (the world's largest coaster club) is holding their annual event at Cedar Point this year. ACE's President made a statement that there were plenty of other things to do at Cedar Point and that they should just suck it up. I doubt Cedar Point will be able to ignore the Enthusiasts when they are all complaining at one place at one time.
Finally, it has been said that maybe the new requirements came from Intamin (the ride's designer) and that Cedar Point was required to follow them under Ohio law. This shifts the blame of "stupid idea" to Intamin, but I still fault Cedar Point for handling it so badly.
Friday, May 21, 2004
In International News Today
Thorpe Park in England sets the World Record for most naked (yes... NAKED) people on a roller coaster.
Nearly 100 students have shed their inhibitions to set a new world record by riding a rollercoaster naked.
Braving chilly temperatures, students from 15 British universities stripped off to ride the 360 degree Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park in Surrey.
Although 81 students took part, the official record will be set at 28 as the ride can only take this number in one go.
The stunt was staged to coincide with the attraction's silver anniversary.
Thorpe Park offered a £1,000 prize for the best group picture on board the ride.
The money will go to the University of Kent's rag committee after student Adam Briffett was photographed holding a piece of paper reading: "I see dead people" in a reference to the film Scary Movie.
To applause from other volunteers, the first students set off along the 800-yard course, which includes 360-degree loops.
The oldest participants were Nigel, 47, and Judy Booker, 44, from Bath.
Judy said: "I have got two phobias - the fear of rollercoasters and taking my clothes off in public - so that gets two things in one go.
"They were all younger and thinner so I had to suck my stomach in."
Sally Taylor, 20, a criminology student from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, said her involvement would come as a surprise to her family.
"I've told my mum I'm coming here but I didn't tell her I would be naked," she said.
Staff at the park came up with the idea and Guinness World Record officials judged the event, which took place when the park was closed to spare the embarrassment of visitors.
Simon Gold, one of the judges, said: "They have raised some money for charity and they have set a Guinness world record - everyone's a winner."
The official title of the record was Most Naked People on a Rollercoaster.
Only in England... (because San Fran doesn't have any coasters). I really hope they had some kind of plastic covering for the seats.
Note: it is not the attraction's (Nemesis Inferno) silver anniversary. The attraction opened last year. Its the PARK's silver anniversary.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Tower of Terror: Going Down?
According to Al Lutz over at Mice Age, California Adventure's version of the Tower of Terror is not brining in the number of people that Disney thought it would.
Also in that update is news of how the 50th Anniversary announcement of things for the birthday park itself have not been welcomed by Cast Members. Plus other park updates.
Cedar Point
We arrived at 9:30am. They were letting everyone through the front gates but then stopping the masses by the Sky Ride entrance (which has been updated). They have a special (and clearly marked) "back route" for Joe Cool Club members and resort guests so they can get in the extra thirty minutes of ride time on Dragster or Millennium Force. I am in the Joe Cool Club and power walked over to Dragster. It was a walk on right into the station but then I waited about 15 minutes to get on the train (they sure take a long time to load and dispatch). A nice first ride for the season. The rest of the day Dragster averaged about 40 minute wait times, but the crowds are much less than in the summer.
I won't bore you with details, so here is a quick rundown: Every coaster ridden except Mantis (short line, but not short enough for me!), Wildcat (never got around to it), Jr. Gemini (kiddy coaster), Woodstock Express (ditto) and Mean Streak (closed because of rain most of the day). Speaking of rain, it started raining at 2:00pm and didn't stop until we left at about 7:00pm.
All the coasters were walk-ons for me (Raptor had over hour long lines posted--and I assume other coasters got worse later in the day--but they opened Raptor after the rain and I got a short line then) with Magnum having no one in line all day. Dragster offers Freeway passes this year and I got one but was rained out when my time came.
Gemini has been reduced to one line now. No longer can you choose between the front or back line. They have also added automatic gates and removed two trains (one from each side) which will increase lines at Cedar Point's most ridden (and highest capacity) attraction.
Finally, in case of rain one of the best places to wait it out is the Cedar Point museum in Frontier Town. It is the big white building with pillars that is part of the same complex as First Aid. It is worth your time to check out on a perfect day and great fun in foul weather.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Monday, May 17, 2004
Disney World Installs Car Bomb Barriers
It seems Disney has been taking the terror threats very seriously. After September 11th they started checking bags at the entrance to all their parks and have recently been considering using metal detectors. This is nothing new to the amusement park industry. Many parks (most of them in cities with high gang activity) had been using detectors and bag checks for years. I went to California in the summer of 2001 and Six Flags Magic Mountain had both.
Furthermore, while more parks added security measures after September 11th, some did nothing. Cedar Point, for instance, has no metal detectors and no bag checks. The risk of a terrorist ask at Cedar Point is much less than at a Disney park though.
So Disney has now installed steel barricades that are normally used at military bases and embassies in hostile countries to stop suicide bombers from getting close to their targets. Disney installed these at the service entrances to all four of their parks in Orlando. They shouldn't have any effect on the guests (unlike the bag checks and metal detectors) and they are being added to already established checkpoints.
Their biggest concern (I assume) is a bomber getting access to the Utilidor tunnels running underneath the Magic Kingdom. Constructed with the rest of the park in the 70s, I doubt they could take much of a blast. A collapse of the tunnels would bring a lot of the park crashing down.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
New Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Video
The official website has posted a new video from E3, which is currently going on now in Los Angeles. Just click the link on the top of that page.
The video shows off the night mode feature (and it looks like all the coaster trains have headlights), new flat rides, new theme items and much more.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Cedar Point Is Open
My home park finally opened this past weekend. No major changes. Just a new donut shop and an expanded Lighthouse Point resort. You can see photos of opening day over at Virtual Midway.
Also check out Cedar Points new web cam which sits on Dragster and points to the parking lot. The webpage will show an archived photo at night, but you can see a live photo 24 hours by directly linking the image.
Sorry about no updates over the weekend. I've been busy with a lot of work.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Superman Accident: Human Error?
I almost said it in my last post on this topic, but I held off. I almost said that only Six Flags has had problems with the Intamin hypercoaster restraints. Cedar Fair (and other parks world-wide) have never had any accidents related to restraints failing. I almost said that, but I didn't.
Now a witness says that ride operators failed to secure the man's restraint all the way and see tried to hold onto him during the ride.
Another coaster accident as a result of human error. It is very rare you see mechanical failure being the reason for an accident. Which is why I almost said something last time. I just didn't think we should rule out the most common reason yet. And I was right.
Disneyland Anniversary Plans Announced
Yesterday at Disneyland the Disney Company announced plans for a world-wide celebration for Disneyland's 50th birthday. Each park will do something and it seems that Disney World will be getting the best gifts.
Walt Disney World
The "Moteurs Action Stunt Show Spectacular" from Disney Studios Paris will come to MGM Studios. It has been under construction for a while and was announced a while ago.
Epcot will get a clone of "Soarin Over California" (it will just be called "Soarin" there). It is going into the Land pavilion where Food Rocks used to be. Again, construction has been underway for a while and you can see the giant show build from just about anywhere in the park.
In late 2005 / early 2006, Animal Kingdom will welcome the newest mountain to Disney World. "Expedition Everest" will be the tallest coaster/mountain in the park at 199ft. (the same height as Tower of Terror). Construction is progressing on this new attraction as well. The animatronic dinosaur "Lucy" will also be walking around the park.
"Cinderellabration", a show from Tokyo Disneyland will open at the Magic Kingdom. Although nothing has been said about this show, I am betting it will take the place of the 20,000 Leagues lagoon.
Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty Castle will be made over with some unspecified new decorations.
The Main Street Opera House will have the "Disneyland--The First 50 Years" exhibit. It will feature artwork and models from of Walt Disney Imagineering.
A new daytime parade and nighttime fireworks show.
The Buzz Lightyear dark ride will come to Tomorrowland and Space mountain will reopen will a new track (but not a new layout).
At California Adventure there will be entertainment offerings (live music, dancing, etc.).
Tokyo Disneyland
A new thrill ride will open at DisneySeas and they have other plans to honor the original Disneyland.
Dsneyland Paris
A clone of Disney World's fireworks show.
Everything is pretty much what people expected. Everything except "Cinderellabration". As I said, I expect it to go where 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea used to be, which is frankly quite disappointing. The area where the ride used to be is HUGE. They could easily fit another land in there if they wanted.
So perhaps the new show wont go there. Maybe it will be for in front of the castle. Or maybe they will just use part of the area. Who knows?
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Coaster Restraints Questioned
After an accident last Saturday where a man fell out of the Superman: Ride of Steel coaster and died, the restraint system used on that type of coaster is being investigated and Massachusetts has stopped the operation of all rides in the state that use that system. Other parks across the country may halt their rides to do safety checks.
Intamin of Switzerland designed the coaster and that style of harness is used on similar coasters across the world including the other two Superman rides at Six Flags parks and Millennium Force at Cedar Point. This isn't the first time an Intamin restraint has failed and lead to someone's injury or death. You can get information about them at the WFSB link above.
More recent creations of Intamin (like Top Thrill Dragster) have a slightly redesigned restraint that is more comfortable and secure (we assume). You can see the how the bar is bent on the new style as compared to the old style and how the soft part is slightly different. It wouldn't be too far fetched to believe that Six Flags may ask for new style restraints on their Intamin rides. However, a world-wide recall of all the coaster trains would be surprising.
We won't know anything until the state makes its report.
Sunday, May 02, 2004
Geauga Lake Is Open
Nothing really exciting, but I will share what I have heard. Some pictures here.
Steel Venom was closed. They took down the big Superman logo, but there is still equipment all over the ride and it may not be open for a while.
Some animals are still over on the animal side of the park (but you can't see them). That whole section looks like it hasn't been open for years. Work is progressing on the water ski stadium. Mission: Burmuda Triangle is open but Pirates 4D wasn't (it is listed on new map though).
The old Loony Toons Playground is getting a complete makeover. All the characters have been removed and they are still working on making it better.
Finally, the staff is so much better than in years past.
