Richard

I thought I'd add an update now that I'm over in San Francisco. We got here on Sunday (Sunday here) and got ourselves down to the Downtown LA Greyhound terminal. This is a very shady area of town. There were lots of pretty suspect people everywhere... thankfully we were only there for six hours. Did I mention it wasn't heated, and it was absolutely freezing? We caught a 9:30pm bus to San Francisco - on which we got our first sleep in about 48 hours - and arrived at around 5:00am. It was well and truly pitch black (and was until after 7:00am), so we decided to wait in the terminal until it got a bit lighter before heading off into town. Half an hour of that and we were hungry (hadn't eaten since about 6:00pm the night before) and freezing, so we figured it couldn't be too unsafe at 5:30 in the morning to be out on the streets. A McDonalds saved us, and we got a nice, edible breakfast. We then walked through the streets in search of our hotel. Walking down some very interesting shops - passing certain landmarks and whatnot everyone knows - we got to our hotel and got showered and did our teeth and whatnot (again, first time since we left). We stayed where we did (Holiday Inn, Fisherman's Wharf) because our cousins and their family and some friends of theirs happened to be holidaying over here (also from Brisbane), just finishing their two week trip of LA and San Fran. It wasn't as cheap as we'd have liked, but a nice place to kick off the trip, and becuase we've spent the time doing touristy things with our cousins, at least we haven't had to pay for as much of our own things. Yesterday we took a roadtrip down to Monterey Bay, on the way stopping in at the closed Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We got plenty of photos, which can be seen in the San Francisco section of the CoasterTrips.com gallery. We're out of here for another night on the Greyhound - amazingly the same route we came up here on straight back down (this time stopping at Hollywood for that part of our trip, not the interesting Downtown LA). Tomorrow we get off the bus, get into our hotel and head off for a day at Universal Studios. I'll be back in a few days to add what else has happened.

That's gotta be the most insane thing I've ever heard. Dreamworld has the rides, but that's about it. It has the slowest and most unintersting ride operators in Australia, awful food and in fact, really, though they've got a few big things, they're really not that great - and that's without comparing it to some of the stuff over here (which I've yet to experience ).

Yeah - I heard about this a few years ago on ThrillNetwork I think (they were trying to work out which yellow Arrow looper it was... in Sydney). I'd be interested in seeing the footage (then again, not interested enough to justify sitting through an episode, or part of an episode of Farscape ).

I posted this at Westcoaster, and figured that if I'm going to put it on a Californian site, it might as well go here. I know it's a relief that the park was closed at the time, but I'm starting to think that if the original electrical fault (what else really could it be?) happened much earlier, the ride might even have been in operation today. My guess is it started smouldering and whatnot half an hour or so before the damaging fires and whatnot really kicked off. They say it took them a few minutes to get out there once it was spotted. It would have been going for a while before anything was visible from the ground below or significant smoke became visible. It was presumably smoking off a fair bit before it caught on fire, and they'd have surely gotten reports from riders quickly that there's thick "natural" smoke up the top, and an e-stop and a lot of panicky calls later and they'd have people off the ride in minutes and a much smaller blaze to deal with. The only thing then is they'd have a publicity nightmare on their hands. Not to mention that if my expert opinion is slightly off, then instead of a few heroic guests who notified the operators and saved the day, we have a few chargrilled guests. At the end of the day the important thing is no one was hurt, and really the price tag they've put on the repairs about the park's profits for a single week.

Well, to put a positive spin on it all, I'm sure it really adds to the "mine on the verge of blowing up" theme they've got going for that last section.

Cheers Nightshifter for letting us know.

Yeah, I saw that article in the paper this morning. The picture in the paper is a bigger version, though black and white. As for the news flash. It's not entirely the truth, but it's satire. Maybe it's saying something more about AAF than is immediately obvious from the simple quote. If you don't like that, I don't see you as a big fan of ARN&R.

Just a quick note to everyone applicable. The calendars have been purchased, and anyone who has ordered one will receive one.

For lack of things to do, I've edited a short (2:30) video entitled Sea World Monorail: A Day in the Life. I've created two versions, they're both Quicktime .mov files (a superior format), so you'll need Quicktime installed. Rick click to download, or it will play in the browser. Large File - 6.8MB Small File - 1.5MB Please note: this video contains extensive on-ride footage. What we did was dangerous and wrong despite being well within the park's set rules.

This is 15 minute old news, so this is the first place you'll hear it. This is the release - I've shortened it where necessary, because I'm writing this by hand from the release I received just now. It's just good to know that everyone is safe, and that the damage isn't significant enough to cause extended downtime. Might I suggest that when the ride comes back up, the effects, particularly on the main lift perhaps won't be as specatcular as they normally are. I hope that this doesn't cause any alterations to the ride's effects, or Bermuda Triangle's for that matter.

Yes, but how many of those accidents are caused by loose objects. Only a fraction would be the correct answer. Furthermore, of those loose objects, how many of them were in the riders hands at the time. I'd say a nearly negligible number. It's being caused by the supposed secured things like mobile phones in pockets, keys, as you said prosthetic limbs and whatnot. Holding a camera in your hands as steadily and tightly as possible (so as to get the smoothest possible video) with a wrist or neckstrap is a completely different scenario from loose objects in pockets which fly out during the ride. Tell me honestly (assuming you are/were a ride operator), of the incidents you've dealt with regarding ejected loose objects, exactly how many of them were cameras that were in the hands of the rider at the time? I'm guessing a tiny number, if any at all. As much as an "almost on a daily basis" sort of answer would help your argument, I'd like a truthful answer. Now, tell me how my camera, securely in my hands, with a wriststrap is not safe, but the backpack sitting on the floor at my feet (in no way secured) that the park forces me to take onboard, is safe?

I don't think the "againsts" have it. You're saying that it's dangerous. I'm saying if the parks allow it, then I allow it. The parks don't want to get into trouble at any cost, so presumably they've done risk assessments and whatnot, and the results of them at some parks were such that risks associated with objects on rides are perhaps outweighed by the risks of theft or they've come to the conclusion that there is no significant danger to other riders or nearby guests.

Dialup access is significantly better in America, and it doesn't hurt that our USA ISP is essentially the same company that house our servers, so we're essentially connecting straight into their network, so there's less hops to get from us to the server. The fact that we'll be uploading simply whole folders of photographs (which are automatically resized to thumbnails, indexed etc.), rather than one by one or any other way, means also that we'll be able to just leave the laptop chugging along. Another thing is some hotels offer free DSL access (with dataport or wireless network access), which makes it slightly less painless.

As you all presumably know, I'm leaving shortly for a five week coaster journey across America. Featuring everything from California and Florida, and everything in between, there's a lot to see. I wanted to do something that would allow people to keep up to date on our travels, and see what we can see. Because we're taking a laptop with us (we have a business to run!), I decided that it'd be good fun, and certainly something that's never been done before, to create a site that is essentially a travel blog. After a long time in development, CoasterTrips.com is nearly open. There'll be updates every few days, complete with trip reports, PLENTY of photographs and videos every now and again. It'll come live some time this evening (it's getting there, but still a little buggy and whatnot), as we just perfect some of the coding and design, but it's a very sleek design, and I wish I could take credit for it. I'll still be here in some fairly small form for the next five weeks, but the bulk of my very limited time on the internet will be spent there, so check it out every now and again if you're after some groovy updates.

Well, it's here. http://oldsite.totalthrills.com/swgallery.php As always, thoughts, comments etc. are appreciated. Don't forget the calendars! Orders are needed by tomorrow!

Yep, I'm lying. You've caught me out here. I get satisfaction out of making up things to make me sound better than I am. For the record, that camera has never gone onto any ride/coaster and it never will. It's an overkill for anything but documentary work or short films, which is what it why it was purchased (it may puzzle some to know I have a life outside of theme parks ), and also because enough G's or a bump in the wrong was and it's out of action for four weeks and there's a hefty repair bill to face. Now, I'm not making this out to be all directed at me. Until just now, the issue of sneaking cameras on was barely touched on. Let's keep an eye on the language, thanks. Censorship blows, but just because something's not replaced by asterisks, doesn't make it acceptable.

What about the guy who does as I did? What he does is entirely up to him, and he is responsible for what he does, not me. Because I visit a few more parks each year than the average guest, or because I happen to have an annual pass to this particular park, does this somehow make me a role model or something? I'll be a role model by following the rules. If it says no loose objects on the ride, then I'll follow it. If it says all items must be taken with riders, and may not be left in the station (as is the case on all but one ride at Movie World), that's what I'll do. Okay, to take my footage of Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, at the time I had ridden it over 30 times. Wild West Falls, it would have been much the same. For some photos I took on Sea World's Corkscrew a few years ago, I had ridden it at least 100 times. See where I'm going. As unpredictable as these rides are, I'm more than confident in my ability to "ride" them and to know what's coming up. I'd never take a camera on my first ride because I actually want to experience it. Once again, I am not breaking park policies. If the parks - the ones who are ultimately responsible - allow it, who are you to say that I shouldn't? In case you're interested, there's over 400 photographs on this website. I can find two photographs that are "on-ride". One of them may have broken that particular ride's policy.

Drop me off a cliff. I guarantee you that the strap still ain't coming off my wrist. If I'm at Wonderland, or any park with a no-camera policy, then I'm not going to take one on. If it's a ride where they allow cameras, or you have to take all belongings with you, I'll choose (considering I've taken on-ride footage on only three or four rides ever, it doesn't happen too often).

I'll agree with the guests who didn't like it because of the lack of a storyline. Sure, you might be able to "ooh and ahh" everyone with a few flips and explosions, but is it going to be that good if it's just a bunch of incoherent scenes one after another. At least theme it to the Matrix if you're just going to have fights and explosions for the sake of it (referring to in particular Revolutions, where it seemed to just be a whole lot of "I'm bored, let's fight to techno music").

Given that the discussion was really drifting a long long way from what the topic was about, yet it was still good reading, I've created a new topic here for the whole on-ride video thing. Feel free to comment on Flea's fine Wonderland video here, but leave the debate for over there.

I'm not sure where the talk of sneaking cameras onto rides came from. It's largely irrelevant as no cameras have been snuck on for any of the videos in question as far as I know. I'll follow the park's rules (written, spoken, implied or otherwise). Nothing more and nothing less. If no one's getting in trouble, and no one's in danger, how can you say I'm anything less than a law-abiding guest. Hey, if I'm riding something and manage to drop a $1,000 piece of equipment ($6,000+ if you're talking about my video camera) despite having a wrist strap around my wrist and whatnot, then I not only deserve to loose my equipment but also I should be sued out of everything I own to pay for the poor bloke's medical treatment and locked in jail. That's how confident I am in my own ability to hold onto something. And this is on a ride that freely allows cameras etc. - strictly speaking, in putting a dent in some poor fella's face and loosing an expensive camera, I'm not breaking any rules.

I'm in the process of finalising the new Sea World gallery. I've got 75 photographs in total in the new one, with 30 of Corkscrew and 12 of my favourite photos of all time of Polar Bear Shores. A few of these photos make an appearance in the Total Thrills Calendar. We need more sales, ASAP! Deadline is Wednesday the 3rd - four days from now. If I can't sell the minimum of 15 calendars, I'll have to cancel the order and refund the money to those who have purchased them, which I don't want to have to do! Support Total Thrills, as well as those who have purchased them by just spending $25 (which isn't too bad for a calendar) on this sweet calendar featuring 13 of Australia's best rides and attractions. Order Now!

Just one thing. It's lions, not tigers that they're getting. And presumably they're only "on loan" only while they're cubs. It's much easier (and cheaper...) to cater for a few cubs than. Good to see they've followed suit and given the two matching names (i.e. Dreamworld's Kaasha and Kato; Sea World's Lia and Lutik) with Masai and Mara. More than likely, the reason they've gone with the Goldrush setting is to drive people into the theme park, not the wildlife park. Movie World's street parade comprises of several bends, with only one (long) straight. In fact it's the next best thing to a chicane around Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster. So long as there's room for people to stand mindlessly and watch, they'll have no problems with whatever terrain they come up with, even with floats and whatnot.

Reminder to everyone: Payment is needed for calendars by Wednesday, and at this stage we're still no less than six short of the minimum. If we don't reach that minimum, no calendars will be printed and all orders will be refunded. You're not just disappointing myself - you're also letting down those who have ordered calendars. I'd appreciate it if you got orders in as soon as possible. If you need to borrow your parents' credit card or whatever, then do it over the weekend and leave yourself plenty of time. Aim to have orders in by Sunday night, leaving the next three days as backup. Let's get purchasing! Remember they are completely limited. After the third, you will never be able to get your hands on one again.

The precise answer to that is nothing - I'm so clogged up with other stuff to do that I've virtually done nothing I've wanted to. I still owe a Sea World gallery and a longer video and I think it's safe to say that probably neither of these will happen within the next week, let alone any novelty things like extreme on-ride footage. Onto an entirely non-related issue. Reminder to everyone: Payment is needed for calendars by Wednesday, and at this stage we're still no less than six short of the minimum. If we don't reach that minimum, no calendars will be printed and all orders will be refunded. You're not just disappointing myself - you're also letting down those who have ordered calendars. I'd appreciate it if you got orders in as soon as possible. If you need to borrow your parents' credit card or whatever, then do it over the weekend and leave yourself plenty of time. Aim to have orders in by Sunday night, leaving the next three days as backup.