Noxegon

Why wouldn’t there be? Every country has things to see. Here are the photos from my trip: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150275910020915.379351.672525914&type=1&l=57064d93cb The one thing I didn’t get to see was the Mass Games, which by all accounts is the most elaborate show in the world. I’d recommend watching a British documentary on the subject, which is very well made: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0456012/

There are actually four amusement parks in Pyongyang. Mangyongdae Funfair, Taesongsan Funfair, and Kaeson Youth Park all date from the eighties – though the latter was levelled and rebuilt with a collection of Zamperla rides around 2010. The flying coaster you saw is a Zamperla Volare – not a type that's generally known for its comfort, but the one in the DPRK is remarkably good; I enjoyed it. Rungna People's Pleasure Ground opened in 2012 – after my trip. It has a Reverchon mouse. If anyone wants to do the parks I'd recommend going through Koryo Tours; in 2011 they were able to set up a private trip for me and a friend that took in the (then) three parks and all the major tourist sites in a week.

Stand-up tilts are fine. It's the floorless ones that must die.

Ha, wasn't looking for sympathy, was merely trying to inject a little humour

Moving on, here's the next chapter: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2018/0111.htm

Try $2000+ for flights!

Humans do things that are useless and meaningless every hour of every day I respect the fact that many people think that counting coasters is dumb. It may actually surprise you to learn that I don't actually disagree with this; it is a stupid hobby, but the fact is that I've made the choice to do this which is my prerogative as an individual. There's a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon that is relevant here: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/04/27 I count lots of other things too – just because. I'm expecting to fly through my 250th different airport in 2018 – and whatever about coasters, I can definitely say that not all airports are equal! Thank you for that. Indeed not, and not always in the way you might imagine – I liked SpongeBob far better than Buzzsaw. And I liked having severe indigestion better than riding Mick Doohan's Motocoaster. People still have photo albums? Totally agree with this. Theme parks and coasters have led me to countries and cities that I'd never have been to under ordinary circumstances – by the end of this year I'll have visited seventy countries – and I have many great stories and memories. At least one of those memories involves a pathetic coaster; a fellow enthusiast broke his rib while riding a Wacky Worm in Cairo (he was looking over his shoulder as we hit the brakes, and the restraint clobbered him). As you can imagine he didn't get a massive amount of sympathy! Another great one was when a security guard ran up to us at Abu Dhabi Airport when we were getting out of a taxi to say that we must be at the wrong terminal. He couldn't believe that a group of western adults could possibly be flying to Bangladesh.

Apologies for double posting here – not sure what happened, but the text editor lost about half of the post I made earlier so I decided to nuke it and start afresh. It is a gloriously cromulent word. I'm very fond of it. I genuinely missed that – mea culpa. That being said, the omission doesn't take away from the fact that the ride manufacturer describes it as a Family Coaster suitable for adults and children. As a further data point, nine of the forty-three extant installations have the word family in their name. I've ridden thirty separate models around the world and there's never been a problem. Separately, I can't help but notice how you've chosen to reply to one portion of my post, ignoring the rest Totally agree with this. However, I think it's equally fair to say that SW didn't say "we're buying a family coaster that most of our park guests can ride, but lets limit it to children only so that @Skeeta doesn't feel strange". I know that you're far from the only person to feel that way, but I find that view desperately sad. Why rush to judgment about someone who's quietly enjoying themselves in an amusement park? If you'll forgive a slight digression, I've been involved with a youth group for almost three decades, first as a child participant and subsequently as an adult leader. In the last ten years we've had to deal with increasing bureaucracy relating to child protection that is having a very real impact on what we do. To give one example, in times past we would often travel in a fleet of private cars, but we're not allowed to do that any more as regulations prohibit children travelling in cars with unrelated adults – even though in our case we typically had two adults/three children in each car. Instead we have to hire a bus, and the cost of that has reduced the number of activities we run. Every adult has to get police clearance every few years, and our younger members do the moment they turn eighteen - which has led to some asinine situations where two friends aged 17 and 18 have had to be separated temporarily because the older one hasn't received their clearance yet. (The whole clearance thing gives a false sense of security IMHO, since all it really proves is that a would-be malefactor hasn't been caught yet). The reason I mention this story is that it has become increasingly apparent that many people out there are afraid of their own shadows, to the point that anyone with an unusual hobby is automatically treated with suspicion or considered a "weirdo" or worse. This doesn't make the world a better place. Just my €0.02.

The ride manufacturer calls it a 'Family Gravity Coaster" and their official page describes it as suitable for up to twelve adults and children. I think they ought to know. http://www.zamperla.com/products/family-gravity-coaster/ I put it to you that if someone else riding a roller coaster on their own makes you feel strange, then the problem is you, not them. That's certainly true, though I'd argue that paying guests of parks who want to enjoy attractions have every right to do so, assuming of course that they meet the height and weight restrictions put in place by the manufacturer. Please see my previous comment. I'm of the view that park guests should be allowed to ride whatever attractions they wish once they comply with the height/weight requirements. If a group of teenagers decides to ride a family coaster then they're fully within their rights to do so. It's not like this sort of thing happens constantly anyway. I don't agree with age limits on rides, as everyone (both young and old) is different. To use a specific example, in China you'll find coasters where you have to be under 55 to ride, which I find particularly comical. I know of one enthusiast (female!) who made herself look younger with hair dye to avoid that particular embuggerance Height and weight limits set by manufacturers are there for safety and have my full support. That includes both minimums and maximums. If a park has designated a ride for the use of children only then you won't find me arguing. However, if the ride can be ridden by adults when accompanying a child (which you do find in some US parks) then that IMHO constitutes blatant discrimination against a section of the park audience. It would be an interesting case to argue in front of an equality tribunal. That said, in this day and age, taking such a case would probably result in you being labelled as a child protection risk by the chattering classes – which I find very sad. As I said in my earlier post, everyone has different hobbies. Completely irrelevant to this debate IMHO.

What impact does someone riding a family coaster by themselves have on you? Absolutely none. You have absolutely no idea what a random person enjoys and doesn't enjoy. I think it's very sad that we live in a world where people are judged for having unusual hobbies. It's a very short leap from there to "man on his own in amusement park must be a pedophile", which is where the UK has gone. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828413/Theme-park-bans-single-adults-paedophile-fears-bird-enthusiast-grandfather-told-t-watch-falconry-display.html Just my €0.02.

Stage two: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2018/0110.htm

My trip reports do.

Her writing is better than mine, but it does take a while. I'm afraid she's not planning to do another Australian report for a while.

FYI, the PDF is a year old.

Those of you who've been here a while will remember I started a thread to thank various people from here for helping with our 2015 trip to Australia and share trip reports. Once again I'd like to thank @Gazza and @joz for their help and assistance in making our trip what it was. The highlight this year was definitely the Qantas museum in Longreach (those of you who haven't been there, do it when you can), though we really enjoyed our whole trip and hope to return in a few years time when (hopefully) you'll have a few more major coasters Without further ado – the first trip report from Luna Park Sydney and the Husky Carnival: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2018/0106.htm

Lakes Entrance is an evening event. Funfields doesn’t have a coaster (I’ve been there before anyway). I’m content with half a day at Dreamworld; Buzzsaw is the only new ride for me, and aside from the Giant Drop and Tower of Terror there’s precious little there considering that spin rides are really not my thing. As for a five hour drive, I’d just like to say that I’ve been to Merimbula twice

Eh have you seen the type of travel I do? In all seriousness, my plan is: - Fri: Arrive (late) - Sat: Luna Park Sydney, Husky Carnival - Sun: Relocate to Longreach - Mon: Qantas Museum, Outback Dinner & Live Show - Tue: Stockman Museum, relocate to Surfers - Wed: Warner Bros (all day) - Thu: Aussie World, Dreamworld - Fri: Sea World, Wet'n'Wild, relocate to Melbourne. - Sat: Adventure Park Geelong, (optional) Luna Park Melbourne, Lakes Entrance Carnival - Sun: Gumbuya World, evening flight to Singapore. This is actually quite relaxed by my standards...

Yes, we're travelling together for a week. I have to be in Singapore on business immediately afterwards, and Australia isn't all that much further! The plan is to visit all the coaster parks except Perth – as well as two fairs and the Qantas museum in Longreach.

Not a local, but I'm planning to be there in a few weeks and I'm dragging one of your Parkz admins there with me.

Ferrari World is less than an hour by road from Dubai Parks & Resorts, home to Motiongate/Bollywood/Legoland and from 2019, Six Flags. Thirty minutes more takes you to IMG Worlds of Adventure and (in theory) IMG Worlds of Legends, if that gets built. I'd argue that all are in the same basic catchment area as they're linked by a very good road.

Anyone know what the status is on the mouse replacement?

The shut down is limited to early model Fireball/Afterburner rides and the Move-It series, presumably as these use the same design.

The video isn't particularly clear, but – – Is it just me or is part of the floor up? – Regardless as to the cause of the car coming off the ride, I would like to understand why the restraints appear to have failed in a separate car. I find that more frightening than the primary failure, honestly. Hardware failure is bound to happen occasionally even with the best maintenance in the world, but the machine should be designed in such a way that the rest of the machine can be brought to a halt without additional failures.

Though nothing is set in stone yet we've got tentative plans to drop in in January. Will keep y'all posted.

So it's time to resurrect this thread again for the latest chapter – Warner Bros Movie World. As usual I expect this will be controversial, but hopefully you'll enjoy it http://pirouettes.org/?p=1978