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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/08/17 in all areas
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Long time no see, guys. Hope everyone is well I too was on site at MW this morning for the placement of the final track piece, I did a live stream (or three) to my FB blog - it took about an hour or so due to wind delays. Anyway, I stuck around for a bit afterwards to grab some high quality piccies from a few other different perspectives and thought I would share them on here with you all, since today is certainly the day for it. Worker waiting patiently wayyyy up top of the lift hill staircase for the wind to die down, and the final track piece to be lifted up lol Now HERE'S a great way to get some decent view photos! Full view of the track from the rear of the carpark: GM Greg, Selena & the management team doing their live stream on site October is going to be quite the epic month! Can't wait18 points
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The first supports have also been installed and the rest are on the ground ready to be installed tomorrow. No sign of the Joker head, but it is expected to be open tomorrow. The lift hill motor is under the shelter, and should be installed tomorrow or Monday depending on progress. The exterior of the station is also nearly complete, and more theming going up.6 points
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...s-single-rail-wonder-woman-coaster/534583001/ Exclusive: Six Flags to debut single-rail Wonder Woman coaster Six Flags announced today that Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster will open next spring at its Fiesta Texas location in San Antonio. The park says the new attraction won't look or behave like any thrill machine that preceded it. That's because instead of riding a set of two rails like traditional coasters, its narrow trains would soar along one 15.5-inch-wide steel track. It will be the world's first single-rail coaster. "I expect it to be crazy smooth," says Larry Chickola, Six Flags VP and chief corporate engineer. "And crazy fun. There will be extremely quick twists and turns – quicker and smoother than regular coasters." Before settling on "single-rail" to describe the new genre of ride, the engineer referred to it as a "monorail" coaster. But Chickola said the designation might conjure thoughts of the slow and poky vehicles used to transport passengers at airports and elsewhere. Wonder Woman, he insists, will be the opposite of poky: a "high-thrill and edgy experience." Above all, however, he emphasizes that it should be velvety smooth. Why is Chickola forecasting a super-smooth ride? Traditional wooden coasters are known for knocking passengers around. Their rickety, rough-and-tumble ride experience is part of their charm. Steel-tracked coasters can mitigate some of the roughness, but even they have an inherent problem: Because they ride on two rails, the slightest misalignment between the left and right sides can result in moments of roughness. With Wonder Woman's single rail, nothing could get out of sync. The coaster will be "visually stunning," says Jeffrey Siebert, president of Six Flags Fiesta Texas. It will be set against the multi-hued quarry wall that surrounds the park. Visitors may be surprised when they first encounter the ride. "It's just going to look wrong, but in a nice way," Siebert adds. Instead of a wooden coaster's lattice-like timber structure, Wonder Woman will have steel supports. But its ultra-thin track won't require as many supports as a typical steel coaster. Chickola says it will look like a thin ribbon of track suspended in the sky. The eight passengers aboard the coaster's trains will have unique views as well. Each car will have a single seat. There won't be anybody sitting to the left or right. And when they look to either side, riders won't see any track either. The single rail, a scant few inches wider than a foot-long sub, will be underneath the train. If passengers lean over the cars, they'll see straight down to the ground. "You're going to feel like your gliding through the air," says Chickola. Wonder Woman will climb a 113-foot hill, drop about 100 feet straight down at 90-degrees, and hit a top speed of 52 mph. It will include overbanked turns and the free-floating sensation known as airtime. Among its three inversions will be a "180-degree stall," in which the train will roll halfway over and suspend riders for a few agonizing moments before it unrolls and returns them right-side-up. Siebert says that it is going to be "odd to go upside down on such a tiny track. It will feel like you're riding Wonder Woman's whip." The ride's queue will include a crashed airplane, Greco-Greek architecture, and other references to the comic book world of the female superhero, whose popularity surged after the huge success of the recent Wonder Woman movie. The stall inversion is a signature element of the coaster's designer and manufacturer, Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC). The innovative ride company has developed its own take on coaster rails, which it calls "IBox" track. Instead of the tubular steel track that is used on traditional steel coasters, IBox track is flat on top and configured like the letter "I." The trains' side friction wheels, which help tether the cars to the rails, fit into the track's I-shaped channels. The unique track may account for the especially smooth rides that RMC coasters deliver. The New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas was the first coaster to feature IBox track. The park chain followed that with Iron Rattler at Fiesta Texas. Both of the rides were traditional wooden coasters that had not aged well and were notoriously rough. RMC left the wooden structures intact, but removed the original tracks and replaced them with IBox tracks. Known as hybrid wooden-steel coasters, the two repurposed Six Flags rides are now gloriously smooth. RMC's designers took the basic concepts of their IBox track and developed the single-rail system, which the ride company refers to as "raptor track." Using the next evolution of the breakthrough IBox track, Wonder Woman may whip its park mate, Iron Rattler, for slithery smoothness.3 points
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Up she goes Greg and a number of other team members are set up to the right of the MW entrance too3 points
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I'm glad they have announced that it will definitely operate at night during Fright Nights. That'll be a huge drawcard.2 points
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THE MICROPHONE HAS GROWN Things mentioned in the video: - The world's smallest microphone is no more - Timelapse!!!! - Yes the ride is safe - Greg still thinks this is taller than ToT but Sel seems to know the truth (but she thinks less airtime is good?) - Fright Nights info coming soon(TM) - Subtle "screw Dreamworld don't go there" at the end2 points
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I had to make it to Poland this year. The self-hype on Lech Coaster was too big for me to handle! A goon friend joined me (not without intense lobbying from my part ) on this adventure which would comprise +14 coasters... but no Intamin, Mack or B&M! Part 1: Energylandia After a short night of sleep and an early flight, I was quite tired when the cringy entrance theme of Energylandia greeted us. The entrance building is quite tall and mighty, but also lacks details and a less cubic shape. The architecture and appearance of the short "Main Street" really tells that the park has only opened/got massively refurbished a few years ago. In fact, Energylandia was inaugurated in 2014 and underwent massive expansions year after year. We decided to tick off the less glamorous creds first. Happy Loops was our first cred of the trip and it was slightly more eventful than its short and flat-ish layout suggests. Quite jerky and still dull though. Owocowy Ogrod is the local Wacky Worm. I can’t believe that having never ridden one in my previous 13 years as an enthusiast, but I got 4 in a single year. This one had the better theming of them all, which doesn’t say much anyway. Energus sits closeby as a stark contrast in term of kiddie coaster quality. The theming, although still needing improvement in some areas, is far superior and fitting for a theme park. We got a ride on the back row which provided a nice pull on the first drop. The rest of the layout felt decent but decidedly unmemorable. I'm sure the kids will love it nonetheless! By this point we had enough of the mundane credits and felt it was time to go for some real coaster thrill. Formula 1 it is then. Finally getting a sight of the new, sleek Vekoma inverting track is quite impressive! It’s quite hard to resist being excited seeing how fast and seamlessly the new trains negotiate the tight elements I have to say the operations are supremely efficient. What a pleasant surprise actually! I was not expecting such quick dispatches for a really young park. The ride station was run by 5 well-coordinated employees and trains rarely ever stacked, regularly leaving the station platform every 1 minute and a half. Perhaps even less! I got to ride F1 a total of 7 times on my first day (plus an additional 5 the next day), and I have to say Vekoma have really done well! The ride is not the most intense, but exciting with a fantastic pacing and sequence of elements. It provides my favourite moment of hangtime on a coaster yet with the remarkable Immelmann loop starting the layout. The rest of the ride is beautifully engineered and the airtime gets excellent towards the end of the day. F1 does feel a bit short, but to me, is like a prototype from Vekoma which displays what amazing products they can produce nowadays! The vest restraints were a little inconvenient at first, but I did not notice them at all for the rest of the trip. Our confidence in Vekoma boosted by this impressive experience, we proceeded to one of their older and most infamous designs: the SLC, Mayan Roller Coaster. However, the notable use of newer trains with vest restraints reportedly improved ride comfort - even though not all fans who already tried Mayan will agree. Our first lap on the front seats was actually really fun. It was still jerky and shaky at some times, but the vest restraints really mitigated the pain and allowed us to enjoy what is a fairly nice layout. The second lap, at the rear, that immediately followed (yes!) led me to the same conclusion. I even screamed in laughter surprised by how actually enjoyable this coaster design can be. The entrance of the double in-line twist provides a quite scary footchopper, and while not the most forceful ride, Mayan has a good pace. Curiously, my third ride, as well as my fourth on Day 2 on this coaster gave me a more ordinary SLC experience, with the usual jarring and discomfort. Inconsistent, but potentially good could well describe this recent SLC. After a late launch consisting some cheap but decent kebab food, we wanted to digest with something relatively tame. The nearby Family Boomerang, confusingly named Boomerang was a good fit. The theming is among the more detailed from the park, and apart from a jolt during the backward lift hill release, the experience from there was smooth and entertaining for what it is. There was decent moderate fun for the family as well as some fun floating moments. A second lap the day after was a little less convincing, the back row seating we picked providing no floater during the second spike. Viking, an SBF Spinner with OTSR (!!) had the longest queue of the day with a 50 minute wait. It was also by far the worst ride of the park. No redeeming quality and an awful lot of headbanging. We got a couple of rerides on F1 to quickly forget this awful taste of poor coaster manufacturing, and found the new-gen Vekoma even more enjoyable. The only issue (with the park has not much to do with) is the annoying habit of some Polish peeps to shamelessly line-jump without being punished. Two kiddie creds sat next to each other. Circus Coaster and Mars are both forgettable and feel out-of-place for an ambitious, well-presented park. The former didn't even added anything to my main Coaster Count as it is a e-powered!... I was quite eager to try Dragon which is an iteration of the latest and biggest version of the SFC model. I find it to be one of the most exciting forms of family coasters, with a nice drop, an adequate amount of intensity and nice overall flow. The theming is probably among the best in the park, a quite immersive experience which interacts with the coaster. Re-rides on the next day made me enjoy the coaster even more! I left Energylandia having spent two very cheerful days. Employees are very friendly and respectful despite the language barrier. I lost one bag in a hurry and was astonished to find it back at the park reception with everything in it. Such a relief since it contained my GoPro transfer cable! The park as a whole looks much nicer than I expected. It's clean, easy to navigate and the paths have nice textures and aren't too large to feel like peep highways. I thought Energylandia would be a mere collection of coasters, but I found instead a charming place despite the perfectible theming! Very efficient operations and a coaster line-up which is set to become one of the most exciting in Europe makes for a must-visit park in a few years, if not already Part 2 will focus on Legendia and the aforementioned/super-anticipated Lech Coaster!1 point
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22 right? 5 cars of 4 then 2 in the back? Pretty much the length of Superman but adding the back 2 seats onto it.1 point
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Perhaps, currently sleep deprived due to a two week old.1 point
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Are you talking about the point where they say there is lots happening at the Village Roadshow theme parks? At that point they were talking about all 3.1 point
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Amazing pictures @Theme Park Girl! Really good to see a lot more effort was put into this FB live stream. And amazing news about DC Rivals being open during Fright Nights!!1 point
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Village idiot would be a great name for those people who for some reason think everything Village do is amazing.1 point
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Theres gonna be so much air on the first hill when you compare to the size of the first drop.1 point
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We need a Themepark with HUGE rollercoasters, like MovieWorld is pretty decent But, imagine if we got Six Flags? We could get a RMC, B&M And all the other companies we have never got before! Id Rather Six Flags to Disney, because Disney is like a kids park, that's why we have SeaWorld for the little kids, Disney might use a lot of money but that Dosent mean there the best.1 point
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Looking at the gap waiting for the final piece to be put in reminds me of the Michaelangelo painting1 point
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Back in my school days, a group of students studying physics got to go to DW and where a specialised jacket, which recorded speeds and forces, while they went on the rides. And they used that data for analysis and study.1 point
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To be fair the sign out the front has said that since Boxing Day last year.1 point
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Reckon they got a deal from Bunnings when they buy bulk rakes for the fence toppers?1 point
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I think @Richard really nailed it, as did @AlexB in terms of land use currently. Particularly with Clark Kirby now at the helm, there's a big whiff of the John Menzies era of Village parks again, where long term vision, investment and focus on guest experience, and look, let's be honest here, doing the right thing has trumped maximising shareholder return at the detriment of what the brand stands for. And that's important, because with the right top level people having enough exerciseable power means money spent on things that may not realise a tangible or direct ROI are upheld. Think steam trains instead of diesel trains and you're in the right headspace. Sure, the diesel might be cheaper overall, but the steam trains create this intangible value to everyday guest experiences. The smell, the movement, the history, the immersion into a different world... these are all things that don't mean anything on a shareholder spreadsheet. However, something so intangible creates such a tremendously powerful impact on guest experience, and hey, let's not forget Dreamworld's brand was built on just this. Barbershop quarter didn't create a tangible ROI, but they were amazing. The horses clip-clopping through Main Street pulling a cart? The IMAX experience? The overload of shows & entertainment? All expensive, and all add up to being greater than the sum of the parts. To be frank, i'm not about picking Ardent or Ariadne or any other parent company, and for all the junk Ardent has copped, let's not forget that for the period the park was closed they supported the Dreamworld team very, very well, so for me, so long as who-ever it is treats one of the country's most iconic brands with the respect it deserves and ultimately, invest in enriching the brand as much as Village are with their brands, i'm happy. Buuuuuuuuut mayyyybe selling the land that's a link to the new Westfield shopping centre and the Coomera Train station isn't the wisest move. If I was as lucky as Clark Kirby and inherited a bunch of parks, except instead of Village it was Dreamworld, here's what i'd do: Get on the phone to Westfield. Start the conversation about a long term vision of developing a Universal city walk of sorts between Coomera Train Station, the new Westfield and the Big Brother house. Get onto the phone to who-ever has the Big Brother house land. Enroll them in the idea of the city walk. Get on the phone to Hilton, Sheraton etc. etc. about building a hotel in the citywalk. Get Dreamworld back to the 1980's vision John Longhurst had. Update, rennovate & innovate the theming from Mine Ride through to Rocky Hollow and Blue Lagoon. New rides, attractions, bars, food, retail. Develop a new entrance where Blue Lagoon is. Build a new steam train station there too for citywalk guests. Make the space amazing again. Build an RMC. Click "select all" on the Zamperla family rides page and just make it a good space full of kinetic energy. Quieten Tower of Terror. Make it work better. Remove most of the tunnel. Move Motocoaster anywhere else. Don't care. Needs to be moved. Develop ABC Kids World into something world class with the land that Motocoaster sat in. Tone down the fading pastels. Add more trees in, make it intimate. Add more food & bev. Make it a lovely area full of nice surprises. I'd go on but I think i've droned on about plans elsewhere. Point is, Dreamworld's a global brand, let's treat it as such.1 point
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That looks really fun. Movieworld can just build a clone of it and be sorted. Even the name can be the same, since it fits in to Movie DC Superhero World just fine!1 point
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This is exactly what Australia needs. A massive lift hill, long ride time, and just all out impressive. It would dominate the skyline. I also have no doubt it would draw the crowds in for a long time to come. Seriously hoping.1 point
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I would love to see something like this, which is a POV of one of the coasters Richard mentioned in his article.1 point
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That Greg is a legend! I love his joke about the microphone 😂😂0 points
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No shit Sherlock. I want to know how RMC have overcome the issue not Intamins or Schwarzkopfs.0 points
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So loving the look of this coaster from the Movie World entrance plaza... the pink and black are gorgeous behind the deep green foliage of those trees.0 points
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