Author Topic: Amusement/Theme Park, County/State/Country Fair, and Overall Ride thread  (Read 17841 times)

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Offline Cable

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Re: Amusement/Theme Park, State/Country Fair, and Overall Ride thread
« Reply #35 on: March 07, 2016, 08:45:18 PM »

The general consensus is a 50/50 split. I checked several polls and reviews from the coaster sites and there is no winner between the two.

As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.


CP and MM were going at it for most coasters in one park- MM has pulled ahead probably for good. The issue with CP is they are a peninsula, and really have been out of room since after Mean Streak. Ever coaster since has either moved or replaced at least one ride. Now, they are gutting existing coasters- Disaster Transport, which despite it not being a fan favorite was unique due to being a bobsled, was removed for GateKeeper.

CP was indeed concerned with the "biggest _____ ride ever!" They actually still are. This has been going on since at least the 70's, but they really didn't quicken their pace until Magnum. Only two rides since Magnum in 89 were not the "biggest and best" of their category- Wicked Twister (02) and Maverick (07). Every  other coaster were record breaking in their categories. Well, they claim that for Millennium Force- I always felt that was bogus that it was bigger than Superman because it was a complete circuit.

My other issue with CP is theming. No park can be Disney & Universal at this point. But at least SF and others try. I went to SF:Ohio when it was open, and at least the rides there had unifying themes. CP's most recent best attempt was TTD. I was actually there when they decided to cut a big part of the theming. I was there for one 3 day chunk opening year. My bro and I went on it once, and the next day it was closed. The third day, with my friend who hadn't been on it, waited and were bummed with it being closed. They opened it, *after* they had removed the drag tires from the back due to one flying off the previous day. How the heck does that happen!?! Forget to tighten the nuts? Which was great, because they were able to add extra seats, and as a result impacted it cresting the hill IMO.

Cedar Fair has gutted many a rides from their Paramount park buyout- their response were the licenses had lapsed. Bullcrap. Overall, it is often split from what I have seen yeah on opinion. CP I'm sure has the natural setting going for it. And it's not like one ride is worlds better than its counterpart. From a distance, with only being to one of the places, I feel MM holds more weight at this point.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2016, 08:54:47 PM by CableX »
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Offline TheCountOfNYC

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Re: Amusement/Theme Park, State/Country Fair, and Overall Ride thread
« Reply #36 on: March 07, 2016, 09:07:51 PM »

The general consensus is a 50/50 split. I checked several polls and reviews from the coaster sites and there is no winner between the two.

As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.


CP and MM were going at it for most coasters in one park- MM has pulled ahead probably for good. The issue with CP is they are a peninsula, and really have been out of room since after Mean Streak. Ever coaster since has either moved or replaced at least one ride. Now, they are gutting existing coasters- Disaster Transport, which despite it not being a fan favorite was unique due to being a bobsled, was removed for GateKeeper.

CP was indeed concerned with the "biggest _____ ride ever!" They actually still are. This has been going on since at least the 70's, but they really didn't quicken their pace until Magnum. Only two rides since Magnum in 89 were not the "biggest and best" of their category- Wicked Twister (02) and Maverick (07). Every  other coaster were record breaking in their categories. Well, they claim that for Millennium Force- I always felt that was bogus that it was bigger than Superman because it was a complete circuit.

My other issue with CP is theming. No park can be Disney & Universal at this point. But at least SF and others try. I went to SF:Ohio when it was open, and at least the rides there had unifying themes. CP's most recent best attempt was TTD. I was actually there when they decided to cut a big part of the theming. I was there for one 3 day chunk opening year. My bro and I went on it once, and the next day it was closed. The third day, with my friend who hadn't been on it, waited and were bummed with it being closed. They opened it, *after* they had removed the drag tires from the back due to one flying off the previous day. How the heck does that happen!?! Forget to tighten the nuts? Which was great, because they were able to add extra seats, and as a result impacted it cresting the hill IMO.

Cedar Fair has gutted many a rides from their Paramount park buyout- their response were the licenses had lapsed. Bullcrap. Overall, it is often split from what I have seen yeah on opinion. CP I'm sure has the natural setting going for it. And it's not like one ride is worlds better than its counterpart. From a distance, with only being to one of the places, I feel MM holds more weight at this point.

Wicked Twister is actually the tallest and fastest impulse coaster so it falls into the record holder category as well.
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Offline Implode

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As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.

Well, you can't blame Cedar Point for not getting a coast like X. It was way ahead of its time and put A&D into the ground. Only in the past 8 years have other companies like Intamin and B&M have started experimenting with wingover coasters (which Cedar Point has added to its repertoire), and even now, the seats are still stationary.

Also, I haven't been to MM personally, but SF in my experiences are no better than CP at theming. It's all cattle pens and concrete as far as the eye can see. Busch Gardens, Disney, and Universal are tiers ahead of those two.

Offline El Barto

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As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.

Well, you can't blame Cedar Point for not getting a coast like X. It was way ahead of its time and put A&D into the ground. Only in the past 8 years have other companies like Intamin and B&M have started experimenting with wingover coasters (which Cedar Point has added to its repertoire), and even now, the seats are still stationary.
But there's a theme here. SF-MM strives to be innovative. It's not just X, but floorless and flying coasters, as well. Now they've gone and converted an old wooden racing coaster to contain inversions where the cars pass each other. A few years ago they made a single element that's the world's tallest loop, but also a top hat on the return back. CP, from what I can tell, just keep trying to make tradidtional rides taller or faster.
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Offline Implode

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I won't argue with you there. You're absolutely right.

Offline TheCountOfNYC

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As for me personally, I get the impression that CP is more interested in breaking records than making kick ass coasters. That's why you get Top Thrill, which does one thing, and they lag behind everywhere else. They're just now opening a floorless coaster, 10 years after Scream. Seven years behind Tatsu for a flying coaster. Still no 4d coaster 14 years after X first opened. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to ride everything at Cedar Point, and I get that it's an awesome park. The important thing is that as long as MM and CP compete with each other everybody wins. MM just seems to be more style, and it's by no means a consensus better park.

 Well, you can't blame Cedar Point for not getting a coast like X. It was way ahead of its time and put A&D into the ground. Only in the past 8 years have other companies like Intamin and B&M have started experimenting with wingover coasters (which Cedar Point has added to its repertoire), and even now, the seats are still stationary.
But there's a theme here. SF-MM strives to be innovative. It's not just X, but floorless and flying coasters, as well. Now they've gone and converted an old wooden racing coaster to contain inversions where the cars pass each other. A few years ago they made a single element that's the world's tallest loop, but also a top hat on the return back. CP, from what I can tell, just keep trying to make tradidtional rides taller or faster.

You can look at it as a way of playing it safe to ensure a good ride. With prototypes come problems. Cedar Fair make sure a type of ride is successful before placing one in their park. X had so many problems when it opened and took almost 7 years before it was running properly. Cedar Fair has built innovative rides before. Xcelerator at Knotts Berry Farm for example was the first hydraulic launch coaster. Cedar Point was the first park to build a complete circuit roller coaster over 200 feet (Magnum XL-200), 300 feet (Millennium Force), and 400 feet (Top Thrill Dragster) which may not seem like a big deal now but it was when the rides first opened. I would much rather a park focus on making a quality ride from already known technology than take a big risk just for the sake of being innovative. Sometimes it works line with 4th dimension coasters but sometimes it ends in disaster like with standup coasters. Cedar Fair chooses to not risk disaster and instead build rides that are almost guaranteed to be successful should everything during the construction process go smoothly.
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Offline El Barto

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Well, that's certainly a way to look at it. The problem is that while playing it safe they've gotten left behind. Look at the wiki pages for each park and their respective histories since 2000. It doesn't seem that CP has started to get back into the game since Gatekeeper in 2013. MM as been successfully launching innovative rides the whole time. Meaning that a lot of what they have to offer just doesn't exit at CP yet.
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Offline El Barto

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And now onto a completely different aspect: safety. A few years ago when SFoT let that fat woman fall to her death on The Texas Giant, I started thinking about the process. I have a great deal of faith in the safety components of a modern coaster. They're designed to failsafe and if used properly they will. Even if they're not ideally maintained they'll still failsafe. The problem is the human element. While Six Flags has long been known as a cool place to work if you're a teenager, it's still a pretty shit job. It's really only something that teenagers would do. You don't see 30 year olds doing ride ops. Therein lies the problem. In the case of TTG, the problem was that the kid checking restraints A: didn't feel like he could tell the lady she was too fat to ride, and B: believed the mantra that 1 click equals safe. I don't think either of these are things that happen with an older person supervising. I'm 45, and I wouldn't want to tell somebody they were too fat to ride, but I would. I understand consequences. My 19 year old self wouldn't have thought twice about letting her aboard. Aside from a lack of assertiveness at that age (what if instead of an older Mexican woman it'd been a 35 year old dude with a beer gut?), I just wasn't particularly concerned about responsibility and the consequences thereof.

Moreover, the response of SFoT was to sue the manufacturer and to essentially blame everybody but its own practices. It reminds me of the Ford/Firestone thing. This doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. I've got to say, since that happened I've been a bit more wary about roller coasters. I think people allow the relative safety and some good ole fashioned idealism to outweigh their judgement sometimes. The dead woman did not want to ride in the first place, but when her kids egged her on, the ride operator convinced her that it was safe and she sadly didn't act on her concerns.

I just don't think this is a very sound system in place.
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Offline Accelerando

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Exactly why selfie sticks are banned from Disney parks. Too many people were pulling those damn things out on thrill rides, and not only harming themselves and others, but shutting down attractions. For instance, we had issues in Disney California Adventure where people were having selfie sticks out on California Screamin' (excellent coaster by the way) to get video or pictures of themselves reacting to when they get launched or when they go upside down. The sticks would slip out of their hand and find themselves on the track. There are sensors that will cascade the entire attraction, then the attraction Cast Members have to evacuate the attraction, maintenance and engineering Cast Members have to find the source of the problem, fix it (in this case, remove it) and then reboot the attractions systems, then attractions have to cycle the vehicles, do paper work, and etc before the attraction can be opened again. That takes hours, factors, and money to do so.

I have a lot of safety and dumb guest stories in my time working at Disney Parks. Makes me lose faith in humanity sometimes.

Offline El Barto

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That's the result of an automated process, though. What I'm wondering is how many dipshit 20 year old castmembers would have the cojones to shut a ride down like that because of something that "just didn't seem right."
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Offline Kotowboy

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Our local theme park got a bad rap recently because someone fell out of a rollercoaster - because they pretended their seat was fastened when it wasn't and at the top of the drop - she took her

restraints off and fell out.

:clap: you're a fucking idiot and you got what you deserve.

Offline El Barto

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If someone was able to "pretend" their restraint was secure and the ride launched anyway, the park deserves every bit of that bad rap.
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Offline TempusVox

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So Cable, if you like wooden coasters the best have you ridden The Beast at Kings Island. Used to be the world's tallest, fastest, and longest. It's still the world's longest. It's a little over a four minute ride.
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Offline Cable

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Last airhead death I heard was someone going into a restricted area of an inverted B&M. Was kicked in the head by a rider. *sigh*. So there is that.

I'm mixed about the weight thing, but if the ride cannot safely close, then of course don't ride. But Millennium Force gradually shortened the seatbelts due to Intamin's other issues/lawsuits. That is kind of crappy.

So Cable, if you like wooden coasters the best have you ridden The Beast at Kings Island. Used to be the world's tallest, fastest, and longest. It's still the world's longest. It's a little over a four minute ride.


Yup, I have ridden it a few times! I don't "get" the Beast honestly. It is an ambiance beauty, with the ride through wooded areas. But its hills are not steep, and was just made to go on for awhile IMO. That is evident to me by it's design. They had the space, so just left it go on and on. It also used multiple lift hills, but that can be accounted for with its length. My top two wooden rides I've been on that are still decent, Thunderhead (https://rcdb.com/2451.htm) and Shivering Timbers (https://rcdb.com/478.htm), are just much more thrilling and cool to me. Thunderhead actually is an incredibly brilliant design. Here it is bird's-eye;
 



But the Beast is awesome in that it is still the king of duration of ride. It also is very fast, especially considering the time period it was built. I should note that it probably couldn't have lasted duration wise if it had a bunch of hills and twists. And from what I remember, it did not need trim brakes. Then again, I haven't been on it since Cedar Fair could mess with it really.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2016, 03:37:27 PM by CableX »
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Offline Cable

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For instance, we had issues in Disney California Adventure where people were having selfie sticks out on California Screamin' (excellent coaster by the way)


+1! It gets overlooked a lot, even within Disney itself. With the state that Expedition Everest in is since basically opening (no active Yeti), I would easily take California Screamin' over it. Probably Rockin Roller Coaster too.
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Offline TheCountOfNYC

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Expedition Everest is the most overrated roller coaster on the planet. Everyone raves about it as being this masterpiece of a ride and I got off of it very underwhelmed. The theming is incredible and I'll gladly give it that but theming means nothing if there isn't a good ride to support it. Expedition Everest has terrible pacing, no real thrills, and is overly long for a ride that boring. I guess it's not fair for me to judge it since I had gone on rides like El Toro and Storm Runner before I ever went to Disney, but if the only thing that's interesting about a ride is its theming, then that's a huge problem. This is the problem with most rides in Disney. Everyone went crazy over Soarin' but that isn't even a ride. It's literally a movie theater with elevated seats. It's a Small World is the amusement park equivalent of torture. And Expedition Everest is the worst offender of the bunch. Rock N Roller Coaster is far better and truthfully so is Space Mountain. It's unfortunate too because Everest was one of the rides I was most looking forward to riding when I went to Disney and I was sorely disappointed by it.
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Offline Accelerando

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One of things about Disney rides is that storytelling is the backbone of every attraction. Story comes first before the thrills. From when you enter the queue till you get off the ride, there is a beginning, a middle, and end.....unless you went straight for the single rider lane lol. Everest is a prime example storytelling and detailing.

Sorry you didn't like Everest. I personally think it's one of the best coasters on WDW property! Love how you get stuck at the tracks that were broken off by the Yeti then you go backwards!

Offline bosk1

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I have a lot of safety and dumb guest stories in my time working at Disney Parks. Makes me lose faith in humanity sometimes.

I would love to hear any and all that you can share. 

Just got back from a week in Florida with my 10-year-old.  It was not to be an amusement park-centered trip, but we were in Florida, and I am a Disney fanatic, so we HAD TO do a day at Disney.  We also ended up doing a day at Sea World since it is literally about 2 minutes away from my mom's house in Orlando, and he really loves the animal shows and wanted to try some big coasters for the first time.  Some highlights/thoughts:

Disney:  My boy really loves animals.  And he has been to Disney Land a few times.  That made Disney's Animal Kingdom the logical choice.  I had never been to that park either.  It ended up being a GREAT choice.  I was initially a bit concerned about the limited number of rides.  However, the length of the safari ride combined with the detail involved in the animal filled zoo-like trail walks made up for it all.  And then there is Everest.  Oh, Everest!  LOVED it.  I am glad I had not read up on it, as the backwards part was a true surprise that I am glad I did not have spoiled in advance.  So good that we had to do a repeat and get on it again.  A real advantage of going when we went was that the crowds were not bad at all.  Despite not having a fast pass available on the second time through, we only stood in line maybe 20 minutes.  Can't beat that!  But what a ride.  Sorry, Count, but I cannot agree with your take.  It is definitely up near the top of my list for Disney rides. 

As a whole, the reason I love Disney is the storytelling and atmosphere of the Disney parks.  It is a total experience.  The vast majority of the "thrill" rides at Disney may not come close to the level of extreme that you get in some other parks, but Disney is about much more than the thrill, and that is what appeals to me.  That is why, given the choice, I would almost always choose a Disney park over any other amusement park out there. 

And back to my trip to Disney...  I mentioned earlier that I did not choose Magic Kingdom because we have Disneyland out here, and Magic Kingdom does not offer anything Disneyland does not offer.  That being said, the dilemma was that Animal Kingdom closed at 6:00 p.m.  So we got a park hopper ticket and left for Magic Kingdom a bit before Animal Kingdom closed.  The crowds were bigger, but still not unmanageable.  I have been to Magic Kingdom twice before, but it has been a long time.  Despite my familiarity, it was disorienting at times being in a park that is so similar to Disneyland, but not having quite the same layout and having some things that are just in entirely different locations.  :lol  Another thing I noticed that I had not noticed before is that the park is darker (i.e. not as well-lit) than Disneyland.  To me, part of the magic of Disney is the meticulous attention to detail in their parks.  At Disneyland, lighting plays a major role in this area and creates a special, magical atmosphere at night.  I found that a bit lacking at Magic Kingdom, and it honestly bummed me out a little bit.  ...but not much.  :biggrin:  Anyhow, we got to do some of our favorites to end the evening:  Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc.  And got to try out the new 7 Dwarves Mine coaster.  It was about what I had expected, given the things I had heard:  It was a very good ride, but not a great one.  Very enjoyable, but not one I would spend an hour or more waiting in line for if we were there during a crowded peak time.  We even got to catch a big chunk of the electric parade at closing time, which is something I have not done in YEARS. 

Overall, it was a great day.  If this sounds like a Disney PSA, that is only because I love Disney so much.  Heck, we even went to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) twice to pin trade and just soak in Disney ambience.  I like that Disney's resort in Florida has so much to offer.  But the flip-side/down-side to that is that each separate park individually has less to offer than the California Disney parks.  That is all well and good if you have time and money to do a multi-day Disney vacation.  But if you only have a day or two to see Disney parks, it can be a bit of a bummer that can leave you feeling a bit short-changed.  Or maybe I am just spoiled based on my experiences here in California, or possibly just have not discovered other fun, hidden things to do at the Disneyworld parks that add other fun layers to the experience.  But I found "bigger property/fewer attractions" to be a common thread in the other Orlando-based non-Disney parks we visited as well.  I also am not crazy about how the fast passes work in Disneyworld.  You can get much more out of the system in California.  But oh well.  Those are relatively minor gripes in an otherwise great experience.


Sea World:  I had actually never been to either Sea World park before.  But we do have Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, formerly known as Marine World, which I have been to many, many times since I was a kid.  Once again, I felt SW has less attractions spread over a larger property than its California counterparts.  But nice park.  My son LOVED getting to ride his first big coasters.  Kraken was pretty typical.  Really nice coaster with a smooth ride and great drops.  Not too short either.  But I really liked Manta.  I am not familiar with all the modern coaster lingo, but this was a bit of a different experience from what I am used to.  I have been on suspended coasters before, so that was not new to me (although I have to say, I think I tend to like the suspended coasters the most).  What was unique was that after you get fastened in, each row hydraulically tilts forward so that you are suspected belly down, basically in position like if you were flying like Superman.  That was REALLY cool.  And there is part where the G-forces completely reverse as you go into a loop that sucks the air from your lungs more than any drop I have ever experienced.  Great coaster.  Nice park.  Would do again.
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Offline Cable

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One of things about Disney rides is that storytelling is the backbone of every attraction. Story comes first before the thrills. From when you enter the queue till you get off the ride, there is a beginning, a middle, and end.....unless you went straight for the single rider lane lol. Everest is a prime example storytelling and detailing.

Sorry you didn't like Everest. I personally think it's one of the best coasters on WDW property! Love how you get stuck at the tracks that were broken off by the Yeti then you go backwards!


Good, I don't have to reply fully as I planned. Thanks Accel! ;D

I understand CountyOfNYC. Outside of Mission:Space, Disney cannot compete at all with thrills and what not. I felt the same way in my teen and a chunk of my 20's years. I was like this is great and all, but where are the 6 inversions and 200+ feet rides?

But Disney doesn't want these. Speaking of Disney World (WDW), as Disneyland Resort (DLR) exceeded this I think, and I cannot speak for Eastern Disney's. But at WDW, presently NO structure is over 200feet tall. Why? Florida law/ordinances say any structure 200ft and over require a light for planes. At WDW, they feel this will impair their "show." So basically on purpose, WDW will never have a huge tall ride.

Take this illustration further. Radiator Springs Racers at DLR, which is the spiritual successor to Test Track. I haven't been on RSR, but I'm guessing from what I have seen and heard, it doesn't go faster than TT's 65mph. But how much did Disney spend on RSR? $200 million. By comparison, Cedar Fair spent $25 million each I think on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster.

In addition, Mission:Space which is the closet thing Disney has to a full white knuckle thrill ride. $100 million was spent on that. It is four centrifuges, which out in the open wouldn't be anywhere near that cost. My point here is that it is themed so well, and so much thought was put into making guests/customers not feel sick; everyone sits close to their own screen, and cool air is pumped in the capsules to help with motion sickness. i am VERY prone to motion sickness, especially on traditional motion simulators. I asked my brother when getting off the ride; "when did the ride spin?" To me, it was done THAT well.

What I think Bosk, me and Accel are basically saying is that if you go into a Disney park expecting Six Flags MM or crazy fair rides, you will be let down. Disney is all about the "show," which boils down to spending insane amounts of money on theming, not 95mph and 10 inversions. Disney rather have a ride that the majority of a family can go on I think, and not just thrill seekers. It's why, on top of the 200 ft thing, that Tower Of Terror doesn't do drops outside of 130 or 140 feet. It's tall, but not too tall.
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Offline Accelerando

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Disney:  My boy really loves animals.  And he has been to Disney Land a few times.  That made Disney's Animal Kingdom the logical choice.  I had never been to that park either.  It ended up being a GREAT choice.. 

Glad you enjoyed yourselves! I figured Animal Kingdom would be awesome for you and your boy to visit  :)


I have been to Magic Kingdom twice before, but it has been a long time.  Despite my familiarity, it was disorienting at times being in a park that is so similar to Disneyland, but not having quite the same layout and having some things that are just in entirely different locations.  :lol  Another thing I noticed that I had not noticed before is that the park is darker (i.e. not as well-lit) than Disneyland.  To me, part of the magic of Disney is the meticulous attention to detail in their parks.  At Disneyland, lighting plays a major role in this area and creates a special, magical atmosphere at night.  I found that a bit lacking at Magic Kingdom, and it honestly bummed me out a little bit.

I remember my very first visit to Disneyland in 2012, and being more familiar with Walt Disney World, I too had the same disorienting feeling walking around Disneyland. It's true! It's so similar, but it's the slightest differences that make you go "Wait a minute!"  :lol

I actually think both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom were meant to have dim lighting at night time in general, but I actually feel like Disneyland is more dimmer in terms of lighting than Magic Kingdom, mainly DL's Mainstreet, New Orleans Square, Adventureland, and Frontierland. It was one of the first things I noticed when I made the move to California and decided to work in production for Disneyland while doing my freelance thing in LA. 

I like that Disney's resort in Florida has so much to offer.  But the flip-side/down-side to that is that each separate park individually has less to offer than the California Disney parks.  That is all well and good if you have time and money to do a multi-day Disney vacation.  But if you only have a day or two to see Disney parks, it can be a bit of a bummer that can leave you feeling a bit short-changed.  Or maybe I am just spoiled based on my experiences here in California, or possibly just have not discovered other fun, hidden things to do at the Disneyworld parks that add other fun layers to the experience. 

Yes, Disneyland park itself has more attractions than the Magic Kingdom, albeit being the smallest park. Part of that reason is that when Walt starting designing his Florida project, he wanted it to have the same feel as his California but make it bigger so that more guests around the world can come and enjoy it. He also realized he shot himself in the foot not buying more land for Disneyland, and unfortunately could not expand that park because the city of Anaheim was building neighborhoods, restaurants, and hotels around. Disney World has become the mainstay vacation destination for the company. Disneyland's business approach is to the 64% local Annual Passholders that make up the resorts yearly gate. Walt Disney World gets roughly 16% APs and the rest are vacationers every where around the world. Huge difference in stats in the parks when it comes to the annual pass holder/vacationing guests, but now having lived in Southern California for nearly three years now, it all makes sense....THERES NOTHING TO DO IN ORANGE COUNTY  :lol

Hopefully when you come back to Orlando (I use to live in Hunters Creek, which is near Sea World), you'll be able to have more a Disney World experience, especially since more attractions are about to be built all around the resort. Disney's Hollywood Studios will be getting Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land that should be nearly built in 2018. Animal Kingdom is about to become a nighttime park now. They are nearly done with Pandora (the Avatar-land), and next month will premiere "Rivers of Light", which will be a night time show by the big lake next to Everest, and it'll be similar to "World of Color" and "Fantasmic!" Here's a latest video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L51_VUrNRIo


What I think Bosk, me and Accel are basically saying is that if you go into a Disney park expecting Six Flags MM or crazy fair rides, you will be let down. Disney is all about the "show," which boils down to spending insane amounts of money on theming, not 95mph and 10 inversions. Disney rather have a ride that the majority of a family can go on I think, and not just thrill seekers. It's why, on top of the 200 ft thing, that Tower Of Terror doesn't do drops outside of 130 or 140 feet. It's tall, but not too tall.

Correct. It all goes back to Walt's vision of building a place that everyone can go and feel like a kid, whether you are 20, 30, 50 years old.

“To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”



 

Offline TempusVox

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Last airhead death I heard was someone going into a restricted area of an inverted B&M. Was kicked in the head by a rider. *sigh*. So there is that.

I'm mixed about the weight thing, but if the ride cannot safely close, then of course don't ride. But Millennium Force gradually shortened the seatbelts due to Intamin's other issues/lawsuits. That is kind of crappy.

So Cable, if you like wooden coasters the best have you ridden The Beast at Kings Island. Used to be the world's tallest, fastest, and longest. It's still the world's longest. It's a little over a four minute ride.

A few changes were made to the ride over the years. It used to have three tunnels, but one was eliminated and the other two combined into one. The tunnels were great in that they altered your perceptions so much due to the high rate of speed. There also used to be a few additional whip hills, but they were altered as well because a few people were injured early on. Still, that super loud, machine-gun like clack-clack-clack of the wooden rails, the speed, and the duration make it a great wooden coaster ride. 


Yup, I have ridden it a few times! I don't "get" the Beast honestly. It is an ambiance beauty, with the ride through wooded areas. But its hills are not steep, and was just made to go on for awhile IMO. That is evident to me by it's design. They had the space, so just left it go on and on. It also used multiple lift hills, but that can be accounted for with its length. My top two wooden rides I've been on that are still decent, Thunderhead (https://rcdb.com/2451.htm) and Shivering Timbers (https://rcdb.com/478.htm), are just much more thrilling and cool to me. Thunderhead actually is an incredibly brilliant design. Here it is bird's-eye;
 



But the Beast is awesome in that it is still the king of duration of ride. It also is very fast, especially considering the time period it was built. I should note that it probably couldn't have lasted duration wise if it had a bunch of hills and twists. And from what I remember, it did not need trim brakes. Then again, I haven't been on it since Cedar Fair could mess with it really.
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Offline Accelerando

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So can we talk about the beast that is Shanghai Disneyland Park? It opens in 25 days, and the park  is being called that most technically advanced theme park in the world. And based on the videos i've seen of Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure and TRON Lightcycle Coaster, I wouldn't put that label past it. They've been doing soft openings, and already had a million guests visit. I have friend there right as part of the park's opening task force, and they keep making me peanut butter and jealous.

I mean, just take a look at this TRON ride. I mean, at some point, they gotta bring this bad boy to EPCOT or Disneyland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdBjrURwg-Q


Offline sylvan

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DUDE, WTF! That was awesome! Put that shit in Epcot asap. Replace Ellen's energy whatever with that and I'll be there opening day. Do you sit on it like a cycle, and the seat back folds down to hold you in?

Offline splent

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That is awesome, and I would expect something like that in EPCOT. Or perhaps puttting it in Hollywood Studios and instead of making it Tron oriented make it Star Wars oriented because they are putting in an entire Star Wars themed area of the park.
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Offline Accelerando

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They haven't announced ALL of the attractions going into the Star Wars land, so it's possible we could be getting a similar coaster. Disney likes to retheme ride systems (Disneyland's Indiana Jones - Animal Kingdom's Dinosaur, EPCOT's Test Track - Disney California Adventure's Radiator Springs Racers)

Offline Cable

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That ride looks fantastic Accelerando! It totally gives me Tron: Legacy vibes as I'm sure they were going for. Looks like quite a thrill too. The only thing I heard about Shanghai Mouse was bad news, but I was it was delayed for good measure!
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Offline Cable

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This will be an enthusiast style write up, so I will be using some bs jargon. I won't be using my actual photos as they are Facebook, and I keep my online stuff separate pretty much.

Ok, so partly what I started this thread on; The Voyage at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.


Incredible!



So as a baseline, the Golden Ticket awards are given yearly to basically all the parks but Disney and Universal. They are in there, but they seem to focus on everything else, which I get. https://goldenticketawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AT-GoldenTix-2015-LoRes.pdf So what I'm drawing attention to here is Holiday World (HW) has the #4 (The Voyage), #12 (The Raven), and #25 (The Legend) Wooden coasters of 2015. To kind of put that in perspective, Cedar Point (CP) has four of the top 25 steels. Not even SF:Magic Mountain can claim three in the top 25. What is even more amazing; HW has five coasters, one of which is a kiddy one! So they nailed it on all of their wood rides.

Further, both the Voyage and the Raven have been rated #1 by the same awards more than once in their lifetime's. And sure, the point can be made that wood coasters may be easier to win awards or something, as it is more niche. But to me there is just the same amount of ratio of crap for wood as there are steel.

The Voyage is easily the best wooden ride I have ever been on (I haven't been on the top 3 yet). I would argue El Toro is not a true to heritage wooden ride based on its description. Any who, I would go so far as eventually saying The Voyage is my favorite coaster ever. This ride does everything perfectly. It is over 2:30 minutes long. It has the most negative Gs ("airtime"), something like 24 seconds, of any coaster in the world. It is second longest amount of track only to the Beast. It is high for a wood ride, and fast. It has 90 degree banked turns. It has tunnels.







All that said, this ride is unpredictable. And I don't mean the apparent belief that wood rides are never the same twice due to natural movement in the rails and the frame. After the first two hills that not only look like the Magnum XL-200, but feel like it; you hit the first tunnel, and the ride shifts tone. If you are not in the front, good luck finding out where the ride goes. Watch a POV of it, or better yet, a non-front row ride of it. And even then, it is insane. The lateral G's are intense, but just the twists and dips are hard to predict. It also had lush wooded scenery, so much so that only the first hill and the ending curves can really be seen from the walkways. The ride is just awesome. The only knock is they trim brake the second half of the ride, which is probably why I feel it is no longer rated #1. It is easy to accept, because it is still nuts after the brakes. I cannot even find good enough pictures to show what the ride is like.







The Legend was my next favorite, and I feel it should be higher. Similar to the Voyage in that it is unpredictable, but lacks the full punch of the Voyage. However, it has the most insane lateral Gs i have ever experienced on a ride. I literally had to drop one of my hands to hold on so I didn't mash into my brother any further. It was only apparently a double helix done in a different way and time of the ride, but felt like it was more than two revolutions.







The Raven was more of a classic styled wooden coaster. Not too long, but had nice elements (a 180 turn by a lake,) and there were no trim brakes. So the ride felt like it became more off the rails as it went on.







The newest coaster is a launched B&M wing coaster. I still am unsure about how cool Wing rides are, but this had a launched start, so that is nice. It's a similar start to The Hulk at Universal Florida. Concept art for the photo, but is telling of the ride. Plus it has the Voyage represented well in it. It had an inline roll at the end that I have never experienced on a ride- quite cool on a wing coaster.







I would be cheating the park to not mention the water park. I haven't been to Schlitterbahn, but for the ones still open I have been to are CP's, Kings Island, Michigan's Adventure, and both WDW's water parks. HW's water park, if we remove WDW's theming as a factor, mops the floor with it. It has not one but two water coasters of The Wildebeest (red and yellow) and Mammoth (red, yellow, blue in photo), and for the uphill bursts they use water jets vs. a conveyer belt that was on Crushing' Gusher at Typoon Lagoon. So those jets make a world of difference, because it was smooth and produced many moments of airtime. After thinking the Wildebeest was amazing and full of airtime, I didn't think The Mammoth could top it. Not only is Mammoth longer, but it is better still. It is a giant shared raft, and therefore like those downhill giant raft rides, the raft twists in different orientations. So I got nailed with being backwards down almost all the drops- quite a thrill hanging onto raft handles and not knowing when the drops are occurring!







But they also have two funnel rides, more than two tube slide structures, this surfing type halfpipe that was closed, but it is similar to the Proslide funnel, and the usual water park fair of wave pools, lazy river and a kiddy area. The park was excellent.

So if you like these type of rides, and/or are not far from Indiana, I *highly* recommend this park. On a non-busy day, you can nail out all the major attractions in both parks without any issue in one day.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2016, 07:14:36 PM by CableX »
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Offline Cable

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Re: Amusement/Theme Park, County/State/Country Fair, and Overall Ride thread
« Reply #62 on: September 16, 2017, 10:55:02 AM »
A bump on this. Did anyone go anywhere, and/or enjoy some local flavor rides this season so to speak?

Or go to that other place in this thread?  :D
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=40546.msg2309019#msg2309019
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Offline ReaperKK

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Re: Amusement/Theme Park, County/State/Country Fair, and Overall Ride thread
« Reply #63 on: September 16, 2017, 12:55:28 PM »
I didn't go anywhere this year, I still want to go to Carrowinds since it's 15 minutes from my house and I've never been, some of the coasters look great.

My gf tells me it's nothing compared to Busch Gardens back home (tampa park) which is where I'd go ~5 times a year.

Offline TheCountOfNYC

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Re: Amusement/Theme Park, County/State/Country Fair, and Overall Ride thread
« Reply #64 on: September 16, 2017, 03:58:49 PM »
I didn't go anywhere this year, I still want to go to Carrowinds since it's 15 minutes from my house and I've never been, some of the coasters look great.

My gf tells me it's nothing compared to Busch Gardens back home (tampa park) which is where I'd go ~5 times a year.

Carowinds has Fury 325 (at 325 ft tall it's one of the tallest roller coasters in the world), Intimidator (a 232 ft tall beast of a ride), and Afterburn (a fairly intense and extremely fun inverted coaster). For those three rides alone, Carowinds is worth the price of admission.
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Offline dparrott

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Re: Amusement/Theme Park, County/State/Country Fair, and Overall Ride thread
« Reply #65 on: September 16, 2017, 08:52:17 PM »
I've only really experienced ones in So Cal, but I love Space Mountain at Disneyland.  I love the whole outer space theme and the fact it's all indoor.  It's like its own world.

Also the Cars ride at California Adventure is good.
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Offline Phoenix87x

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Went to the water park today. For the first time ever, I got to go on one of those water slides where you step in the chamber and stand on a clear platform, then it counts down from 3 and then just strait drops down in free fall and then funnels into a regular water slide with a crap load of speed. I loved it.




Offline ReaperKK

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I haven't been to a water park in a long time. Some of my best memories as a kid was going to adventure island in tampa.

Offline Chino

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The Flight of Passage ride at the Pandora portion of Animal Kingdom is without question the most awesome ride I've ever been on. Seriously, Avatar subject matter aside, that ride is absolutely mind numbing. The ride is in 3D, so the video below is a little weird, but you can still get a really good gist of it.

Keep in mind, that while on the ride, you'd be subject to temperature swings, scents, water effects, and the shaking and breathing of the ikran between your legs. The entire ride pitches and shifts, violently at times, in sync with the ride. It's stunning.


Ride starts 0:15 in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SiLDQKvcIk







Offline ReaperKK

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That’s awesome. Looks like a much more intense version of soar’n