Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Discuss theme parks, roller coasters, and donkeys!
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Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 467
P. 468: Loch Ness Monster Media Day Report- 11.7k replies
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World's Longest Coaster
who has the actual record- 14 replies
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Erik & Smisty & TPR do Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland 1 2 3 4
Part 28: Big Finnish- 90 replies
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Bert gets his Viking on with the TPR 2023 Scandi Tour (no Pillaging, but some Humping occured) 1 2 3 4 5
Day 22, now updated: Full morning at Särkänniemi- 113 replies
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The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 652
P. 651: Montezooma's Revenge project terminated?- 16.3k replies
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Photo TR: Adam's 2023 Las Vegas Adventure
P. 2: Liftoff, Neon Museum and Manhattan Express- 3 replies
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Photo TR: A day in the West-Flemish Amazon Jungle - Bellewaerde 28/4/2025
Tripreport with photos from Bellewaerde- 1 reply
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Coaster pants
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Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 624
P. 624: Super Nintendo World unveiled!- 15.6k replies
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p. 274: New Fire in the Hole announced for 2024!- 6.9k replies
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Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 148
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Walt Disney World Epcot Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 119
P. 119: Test Track closure announced, new concept art released!- 3k replies
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Disneyland Paris (DLP) Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 54
p. 54 - Walt Disney Studios Park to become Disney Adventure World!- 1.3k replies
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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread) 1 2 3 4 377
p. 375: Phoenix Rising family inverted coaster announced for 2024!- 9.4k replies
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SeaWorld San Diego (SWSD) Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 61
p. 61: Jewels of the Sea Jellyfish Experience coming in 2024!- 1.5k replies
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Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 201
p. 201 - Iron Menace announced for 2024!- 5k replies
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Six Flags [FUN] Corporate Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 96
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Are US Las Vegas and possibly Disney monorails in danger of disappearing in the next 10 years?
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Dollywood Discussion Thread 1 2 3 4 797
P. 796 - Ride closing 10/30 to remove launch and install chain lift!- 19.9k replies
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This past Thursday (May 9th), I made my first visit of the 2024 season to Canada's Wonderland! A lot of changes have been made during the off-season with a new security checkpoint entrance at the front gate, the demolition of buildings in International Festival (for the next addition), renovation and renaming of Backlot Café, a renovated Wonderland Store, new signage around the park, the removal of Xtreme Skyflyer (announced earlier this year), and, Viking's Rage refurbishment, the removal of the maximum height requirement for most rides in Planet Snoopy and Kidzville (yes, I have now been on all of the roller coasters at Canada's Wonderland!), and a few other things mentioned below! Check out the photos below! New security checkpoint at the front gate. This new layout with the path going under Leviathan has a much better flow than last year's setup! The new structures look great too! New signage at the front gate area has been installed. It looks very clean and easy to read. The Wonderland Store was renovated and expanded during the off-season. New directional signage has been put up around the park. The old Tiny Tom Donuts location in International Festival was demolished during the off-season. The Multi-faith Space building and surrounding structures in International Street had also been demolished this past off-season. Tiny Tom Donuts was relocated around Wonder Mountain where the Alpen Amusements claw machines were. During my visit, the donut making machines were being installed. I assume the new location will open soon. The Coca-Cola Refreshment station in Action Zone was removed and replaced with this structure. I have a feeling it will be a new Coca-Cola refill station, but we shall see! In the Grande World Exposition of 1890, Backlot Café has been transformed into the Grande World Eatery. The building has received a fresh new coat of paint and a major transformation going on inside. I look forward to seeing the final product when it reopens this season as it was quite dated last year. Here is the former location of Xtreme Skyflyer, which was removed earlier this year. Judging by the signage, it looks this area could also be associated with the work happening around Wonder Mountain. The building next to Klockwerks, which has stood abandoned for the past decade, is now being used as a Coca-Cola refresh centre was the other location in International Festival was recently demolished. With the on-going construction in International Festival, the exit path for Thunder Run was rerouted with this nice boardwalk for this year. During the off-season Viking's Rage received a major overhaul consisting of a new electric drive system and a new coat of paint, closely resembling that of what it looked like when the park first opened! Hopefully it will be ready to reopen soon! The old diving structure at Arthur's Baye in Medieval Faire was recently removed. It is said to be replaced with a new one sometime this year. The lockers outside Wonder Mountain's Guardian have been removed. I later learned that the ride now has the moving bin system that Yukon Striker has! Here is a quick look inside the newly renovated and expanded Wonderland Store. The new layout flows a lot better! That is all the updates I have for now! -
Some Thoughts on the Loch Ness Monster: The Legend Lives On The Loch Ness Monster started thrilling riders the same year that I graduated from high school--1978. Although I think the word “icon” is overused to describe some theme-park attractions, I think it fits the Loch Ness Monster. It would be hard to imagine Busch Gardens without the sight of Nessie’s interlocking loops from Grimm’s Crossing or the bridge between Italy and Germany. Her nearest coaster neighbors, Alpengeist and Griffon, may be taller and faster, but the Loch Ness Monster really sets the scene. Plus, for many local residents (and their kids), it was their first “big coaster.” It made sense for Busch Gardens to restore and enhance this already classic ride. So, after replacing 900 feet of track (including the two loops) and adding to the theming in the ride’s queue, station, and helix cave (call it “Nessie’s Lair”), how did they do? I’d say quite well. The ride itself is still the Loch Ness Monster we remember, but it’s less clunky and janky than it had become during the last few years--about as smooth as a 1970s Arrow coaster can get. This retracking should ensure the coaster is around for a long time to come. The park has been building the ride’s backstory for a while, too. The Loch Ness Monster has been spotted for the first time in years, and there’s a contest and cash prize for the first person to provide any photographic evidence of its existence. They’ve been playing up this story on social media through a series of videos featuring “Duncan,” a Scotsman obsessed with spotting Nessie and winning the cash. The main queue is filled with artifacts, such as old photos and news stories, about Loch Ness. There’s a small radio room that offers a few hints at what you’ll encounter during the ride, and the station itself has been repainted and decorated to better resemble an old Scottish castle. There’s new train-dispatch music, and the safety spiel is now delivered in a Scottish brogue. As for the ride, you’ll encounter the first evidence of the monster’s existence as you round the turn to the lift hill. There’s a radio shack broadcasting a message about a “wee craft” they found washed up on the shore--a wrecked coaster car with what looks like a dragon’s tooth sticking out of it. Nessie’s Lair now boasts spooky lighting, roaring sound effects, and Nessie menacing you (via video) as you twist around the helix. She gets another shot at you right after the second loop before you return to the station. Busch Gardens managed to upgrade a classic ride while maintaining the experience of the original coaster when it opened back in 1978. Well done! Here's a look at the Loch Ness Monster's media day. Theme Park Review thanks Busch Gardens for inviting us to participate. Just hanging out with my new Scottish chum, Duncan, who assured me that he was going to win the big prize. Hmm--a harbinger of things to come, perhaps? How can Nessie hope to elude capture when they have all this high-tech gear? I've seen a craft like this before . . . but where? You might see a tooth like this again. Keep your eyes open. Here's your chance to win big money. But don't be taken in by clever fakes like this. I know that monster is around here somewhere. Maybe I'll have better luck from bridge between Italy and Germany. Wait a second! What's that? Aha! The big prize is mine, I tell you! Mine! How do you like that, Duncan? "Grr! Nessie eat you now!" Don't miss your chance to join the Loch Ness Expedition. Thanks for reading. -
None of this really matters, but if the discussion goes on for more than 30 seconds, one should probably mention the technically longest one AND the one as massive and fast as would be expected of a huge ride. If only one is stated, most say it is the latter, and I don't blame them. Weigand's datasheet states "Manual brake and centrifugal brake in vehicle" and maximum 40 km/h. While there are other ways to make a long coaster that never hits high speeds, the centrifugal brake surely makes that a lot easier. Of course there are practical limits, but having to regulate speed by the complex calculations and braking systems of most other kinds of coasters is not one of them. I'm still left wondering if the centrifugal brake is a mechanism, or just uses the centrifugal force during curves to regulate speed, which it certainly does. -
Well, years ago there were rumors that Seaworld and Disney had made offers to the owner to purchase the park but it was just not for sale. It would make so much sense and be probably very lucrative for a big chain to buy the park. It's in such a hot tourist spot and the land of the park is like 3 times larger than Canada's Wonderland. So much space for huge roller coasters! It would be a shame to see the place being demolished and have condos and houses built on it, because that is also a lucrative possibility. -
By prozach626 · Posted
Can't common sense play in as a factor, though? This is like the Facebook argument someone tried to start with me saying every single animal's life is just as valuable as a child's, because we're all in the mammal species so we're all equal. (I actually just deleted my Facebook app again because of it...) At a certain point you have to put aside the technicalities. -
By prozach626 · Posted
Quite the opposite for us in 2018. I'm looking forward to eventually being able to enjoy it. -
By prozach626 · Posted
The last three times I went to Cedar Point, I went in mid-June. Just shoot for whatever is available first from Sun-Friday and go from there. I don't think you're going to get nightmare scenario (pun intended) Halloween event FL situation where you will wait over an hour. Will you maybe wait 30+ minutes for some rides? Yeah. It's Cedar Point. But, with 3 days of FL, you can take your time and get everything in. The alternative is to go earlier in June when the park isn't open as late, and just make the most of it. I'd personally rather ride less and have 10-10 to come and go from Breakers as I pleased, and not get to ride as much. The combination of Breakers, Cedar Point, and FL is a well rounded experience regardless. If less rides and 'a little' more wait during the day means I get to view the park lit up, so be it. I always take my chances on that. My other advice is when (not if) you see Maverick's FL spilling out into the midway, just pass by and check it again later when you're in the area. That FL queue is either feast or famine. Good luck with your health problems. I hope they don't get in the way to the point where you can have an awesome time. I'm not a fan of long narcissistic TR's anymore, but I'd definitely like to see yours when it's all over. -
Well, as everyone who has read anything of mine should know by now, you can't go by me. I guess I just imagined that "turbo mode" meant that it would spin like crazy. But in fact I don't think I really spun at all. Instead, it just beat the crap out of me. Awful. I wish you and Playland something better! Perhaps a Mack Extreme Spinner. Or a Volare. Just kidding. I've never ridden a Volare. But that's part of it for me. If looks to have no redeeming qualities, I don't ride. Tornado fooled me. -
Thanks for joining us for lunch! And for being part of the Cult of the Lake Carousel.
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By CedarFlags · Posted
Maybe it's the 'tism speaking but... I think the people voting No are considering form more than function. The mechanics of being hoisted up a lift hill, then riding a rolling ride vehicle through a layout of track, converting potential energy into kinetic energy.... that's what a roller coaster is. That's what mountain coasters do, they just have different ride vehicles. -
By CedarFlags · Posted
I've been on several mountain coasters and, just like traditional coasters, they feature trim brakes to keep the ride vehicles traveling at the intended speed for the design in certain areas. Some sections of the layout are meant to be taken faster or slower. Also I have no clue where your "unlimited length" theory is coming from because brakes remove energy from the ride vehicle, they don't add energy. You can't have unlimited length on something that gets its energy from being pulled up a hill and coasting back down. -
By CedarFlags · Posted
Log ride is finally back open and Ghostrider is now closed for its pre-summer maintenance. -
By Hilltopper39 · Posted
Great report, this looks like my kind of trip to Vegas. I'm pretty excited for the Meowolf installation in Orlando if it ever actually gets built, and also interested to see how it does. I feel like Orlando can be a bit weird at times for attractions like that so I could see it being really successful or struggling a bit after the initial "newness" wears off. -
By abovethesink · Posted
We last went in 2022. SkyRush had an awful shake in the wing seat I rode in and was pretty smooth on an inside seat. I only had the two rides. Looking forward to getting back and trying it with the new restraints. They didn't completely ruin the ride for me, but they were very, very bad. Now I just need SFNE to replace the god awful bricks on Superman. -
By abovethesink · Posted
I know I am not saying anything original here, but it will always blow my mind that a park with this much land LITERALLY within the distance of human sight from a top ten most visited tourist attraction in the world has amounted to so little. Any park in this spot should be a slam dunk success on paper.
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