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Im very glad to see that the sanded pathways are continuing through the rest of the area. This view of Leviathan really makes me excited to ride.

I wouldn't say it's that controversial, to be honest. The removed effects were essentially 'icing'. If the ride opened day one without it, nobody would say boo. If you rode it without ever knowing the old effects, you probably don't take any notice. The lift hill, with it's anti rollback dogs (old boats) etc was a noisy bastard and you couldn't really hear anything, but the spark devices and the pepper's ghost gave you something to focus on while you were lifted up 'tin shed hill'. Without these to look at, you look elsewhere and start noticing the CCTV camera. the electrical runs. the maintenance accessways, etc. These missing items weren't much, but they were an example of putting something in, because you can that adds to the show and spectacle and distracts the rider from the obvious machinery they're sitting on top of. West is an example of an older time, when you didn't spin a wheel for the ride type, another for the theme, and call it a world class attraction - West had a lot of thought and detail put into it (that was subsequently bastardised trying to bandwagon onto the latest Will Smith hotness without really trying), and change to the ride or not, I miss it, because it was an example of what you can really accomplish, rather than slapping a logo on a plastic lunchbox and calling it a day.

Having worked on the ride in 2011 - 2013 and spending many shifts in the lift room at Turntable 1, I can assure you that sound effect has always been there and audible. The crane at the start of the ride was always moving (when it worked)

If this isn't the best idea for Seaworld's next coaster - I have no idea what is.

That's good that their continuing that sandy path feature into this area. I know it's simple, but it looks good, at least in my opinion. @Ash, Happy Birthday to your son. I hope the area does get a bit of shade.

Turns out the “new” audio on the WWF lift hill isn’t really new at all. It’s actually a restored effect that obviously hasn’t worked for a very long time. If you look at this old POV from 2003, the sound effect can clearly be heard playing at 2:02: Pretty impressive that MW went to the effort to install new speakers to bring this long lost effect back.

*gasp* are those going to be *gasp* fountains?

Someone else on the project team probably latched onto 'Emperor' as being a really *grand* name too, just to solidify the choice.

For the Dive Coaster I think it's meant to be like a deep diving penguin, and with Mako I believe it's the fastest shark in the world. But SW overall seem to have really dialled back their theming (Manta at SWSD was perhaps the last) Ice breaker for example I was hoping for more of a port theme with the train dodging icebergs. Pipeline looks good, I've never understood the hate for standups.... just so long as you dont get a nutshot from the bouncing harness. For the announcement trailer, why did they do really dramatic music and not fun Californian surf guitar?

One thing about the rides that they've been installing for the past few years is there's been no connection between the ride type and the theme. It's almost like they'd spin a big wheel with ride types on one side, and another wheel with random ocean themes on another. It's a *spin* Premier Launch Coaster themed to *spin* Ice breaking ships! It's a *spin* B&M Hyper, themed to *spin* a type of shark! It's a *spin* B&M Dive coaster themed to *spin* penguins! Its a *spin* Wooden coaster themed to *spin* Stingrays! In other words the ride selection and the theme seem totally arbitrary and interchangeable. This one it's like 'Yeah, stand up coaster, surfing, you surf standing up. The theme and the ride type actually make sense together! Wonderful' As for how it would go at SW here, I'd be interested to see how it rides. If you could get it to somehow squeeze in around and through storm and over JR, sort of taking up very little new space you could have a winner. It's probably enough of a 'statement' coaster to be a signature ride for the long term, but a part of me just isn't quite sure. Looks a decent little ride though

Just stumbled upon this YouTube channel called Greggy Gilgen, which is a gold mine for videos of the parks in the 90’s and early 2000’s! Some highlights include a POV of the Gremlins Ride complete with the entire blooper reel pre-show, a full ride through of the original Batman ride and a Wild West Falls POV that includes parts of its pre-show as well as the original “expanding barrel” finale! Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUMX5clFDUE8ynDOZ4MzO4Q/videos