Gazza

Obviously you didn't have a young'un to steal to go on Pteranodon Flyers

A webcam can be an efficient way of doing things, if you place it in a spot with a nice view you can get a good outlook over the ride and collect a nice bunch of photos automatically instead of having to have someone go out there and take photos. Not exactly a new thing though, CP has been doing it for years.

I probably would buy one, if it were reasonably priced, maybe no more than the price of a reguar DVD feature film. Hopefully it would come with a large stock footage section because then you get a nice video of the actual ride along with a fixed shot of you screaming your lungs out.

Well, Superman will be the second tallest Accelerator coaster with inversions, and even then it only trailing by 11% in terms of height behind StR. I think that Accelerator coasters with inversions are really quite different to the hypercoaster style Accelerators and are looking to offer different things so they cant really be compared properly. With the hyper coaster style rides, the adrenaline is delivered in a quick burst while the ones with inversions look to deliver it out in a less intense but longer dose. But comparing to other loopers, 40m sounds fairly average.

I reckon this could be broken off into its own thread. Political correctness has been invented by buerecrats and not by minoriy groups. For example, many non christian religious leaders have made it quite clear that they dont care if we have christmas cellebrations, yet councils, schools ect keep canceling it at their own will, not because any religious group has told them to, so its really the people who cancel its fault, not other religions. If political correctness keeps going the way it is, its just going to reach a boiling point where everone just vents how they feel and does what they want in an exposion of "political incorrectness".

Im taking a neutral stance here, but what other natural wonders worldwide are people restricted from visiting excluding those with environmental reasons (eg visting it would cause erosion, degredation ect) Also, what is the big attraction of climbing it? I think a good compromise would be to have a helicopter/balloon flight over the rock, nobody can own air, but it would still offer similar views without touching the rock.

A ride being big doesnt make it good, im hoping for a ride with an interesting layout like storm runner.

Yeah, sounds cool i reckon, they could also put it in the queue on TVs , so people waiting could watch the riders faces. Definitley a step up from your standard on ride photo.

RCDB appear to have added a couple of things ,according to them the ride will feature a top had that reaches a height of 40m, (equal to cyclone and 6.3 taller that LW) and the ride will open in October. Not sure of their sources, but if its true then this sounds pretty good and It would make it the second tallest Accelerator with inversions. Another thing to add, the Top hat would probably need to be a Kanonen style top hat where the twist is incorporated with the arch because Storm runner was pretty much at the limit of being able to have the twist and arch seperate whist keeping lateral Gs in check. Link: http://www.rcdb.com/m/id2999.htm

Taken from http://americacoasters.com/CoasterInfo/typ...soflaunches.php Linear Induction Motor (LIM) Launch - Launch mechanism introduced by Disney. Premier Rides was the first to introduce the LIM launched roller coaster. LIMs are electric motors which create linear (straight line) motion. Conductive aluminum fins are located on each side of the train and stator (electrical) coils are located in a series of anchored motor housings which extend out from beneath the loading platform along the track to more than 200-feet, ending at the base of the first hill/element. An electrical current pulses through the stator coils, which in turn creates an electro-magnetic force that pulls at flat metal bars, accelerating the train out of the station. As the train accelerates, each fin passes between a pair of stator coils which are powered consecutively in a time sequence, pulling the train forward till it reaches its maximum speed. Example: Flight of Fear, Paramount's Kings Island Linear Synchronous Motors (LSM) Launch - Launch mechanism first used by Intamin AG. A series of extremely powerful rare earth magnets are mounted on the car. Linear motors, which are placed on the track, are activated by electricity. The motors then create magnetic fields which pull the car forward by attraction. Magnetic fields also repel the magnets which are mounted on the vehicle, increasing speed. Example: Superman: The Escape, Six Flags Magic Mountain

Actually Alex, Dysons are more Popular than Hoovers, especially in the UK. Just thought i might say that, but Alex, good points anyway.

because some manufacturers prefer different ways, vekomas and arrows have their wheels on the insides, B&M intamin and zamperla have them on the outside, it makes no difference because both ways have the potential to be smooth.

But TOT and GD were built for a fraction of the cost of disney rides, so they couldnt pay for major themeing. I bet if DW said, hey, im feeling crazy, lets spend $50 million on themeing GD, that the park would get into contact with some people, film and TV for example and create something really good. Disney employs imagineers because they have the money, and other parks dont because they dont have the money. If a park had the same financial resources as disney, im pretty sure they would be able to assemble their own team of dreamers. Rich had hit the nail on the head, there are other people with vision, but disney are the only ones to foster it propely. I get a fair few cool ideas in my head, they would cost loads, but it proves that you dont have to work at disney to have ideas.

http://www.nolimitsfairground.com/ Looks like a cool idea, i hope you can put them in with your NL coasters. Huss, I think I have found your perfect game.

They use Parabolic curves, and a 3D design system so they can ride the ride to see if there are any bumps or oddly shaped curves, so their g forces are perfect with almost no erratic fluctuations. Their trains also have suspension, which makes a difference, and each set of wheel assembiles is complety independently swiveling. Also, i think the wheels on B&M trains are affixed tighter to the track to eliminate hunting, but the trade off with that is that their track panitwork gets worn off quicker.

....That isnt operating meaning its even more depressing for those who miss WL because they can see it but not ride it. Some heratiage orders are stupid anyway, like you hear stories about those fibro boxes that cant be demolished in Spotswood or whatever because they once housed migrants that came to melbourne and have some sort of stupid sentmental value, so now were stuck with ugly small houses that no body wants to live in and cant be renovated to a livable size. Its only worth preserving if its useable or actually nice.

I think that the point about creating another site to replace it is a good one , but the point about jobs isn't.

IMO its money, i bet plenty of parks have great ideas, but they can never try them because of financial limitations, so they go unseen. If some other company set up in a financially viable area and had huge disney size budgets, then they could try some really major stuff, and would be able to foster their own group of imagineers to rival disney. But i dont see that happening anytime soonn.

It is entirely possible to beat disney quality, the only thing stopping people is money, end of story.

I thought you said themeing wasnt neccesarry.

Rich is pretty much right. Roughness can be caused by something called "hunting" where the wheel assemblies dont completley line up with the track, so one of the wheels wil be momentairly be out of contact with the track, and if this keeps happening the tiny movments and vibrations translate into roughness. there is no danger to anyone because the other wheels remove the possibility of derailment.

What sort of layout does the raft slide have?

Yeah, i agree, it could very well be saved, but you seem to be working by the assumption that it will actually be operated. If it is operated, will it be financially feasible? If it isnt the operator cant sell it because its under a heratiage order so the land cant be used for other uses/not feasible to operate so they will be left in debt and with a very expenisve white elephant. With these risks involved, who would buy it in the first place?

The reason why disney can do it is because of their large visitation rates and because of the larger financial backing that they will risk, Australian parks can be nice, but i dont think the whole park could be as good as disney, maybe an indivdual ride. Also, with the current lot of parks we have, i dont think they would have the drive to, if they can still make lots of money by operating a park marred by many issues, then why bother improving. I would love to see a disney type park here, but i dont know if it will happen.

Hmm, parents will be amazed when they see their kids on it. Has it got something to do with kids eating their vegies?