Sheepie

Psychologist:*Shows ink blot*Tell me about this picture.Dan:I see marshmallows, so many marshmallows.Psychologist:I see, how about this one?Dan:The triangle people are eating each other, why didn't I think of this?Psychologist:How about this one?Dan:AHHHH!!! The ravine! Don't make me go there!

Oh man I feel old when people say they've never seen Inferno like that. It looks so new and shiny in that photo. I've said this so many times. But Inferno was so epic with everything working; it got about halfway there at the beginning of last season but it hasn't been the same since 2005.List of things for me would be:Station: Lanterns fixed, including the spot lights underneath them. Dispatch theme returning consistently with the bass cannons turned on to a level that kicks butt.Tunnel:Lights to have original gel colours put over them; ie: red and not the orange combination they have now. Vapour back to its original format- there used to be pipes all the way through the tunnel and not just at the entrance. Along with this, there needs to be a cleaning/ maintenance schedule to prevent the pipes from clogging up and then the whole effect stops working.Geysers- worked fine for most of last year. They need to keep them working so I can get all excited every other train. :unsure:Waterfalls- they looked really cool. Bring them back. I loved the water filters disguised as crocodiles/ alligators, which I believe are still there.

Just want to add, slightly off topic, I know, but Cheetah Hunts restraints aren't the same as other Intamin ones. They are prototype restraints made from silicone, padding the neck area. This was mentioned on Busch Gardens Tampa's Facebook.Rita hurts in a couple of spots, nothing too offensive though.

I have a rant, and I don't know how to express it. So I found some song lyrics that do! Please be patient. :unsure:If you're thin: "poor little walking disease",If you're not, then they're all screaming obese.If you're straight: "why aren't you married yet?!"If you're gay: "why aren't you waving a flag?!"If it's wrong, you're knowing it,If it's right, you'll always miss.You can't win.The one who doesn't quite fit in,Under-dressed under your skin,Oh, a walking disaster!Every time you try to fly, You end up falling out of line.You can't win.And you try, you try so hard.But it's wearing on your heart.You can't win.

I don't think I've ever seen that pic before, Nice! . I miss the meet ups and you guys.

Hmm, it's a shame, as I absolutely love that Ten Bells Inn, Pub scene in Jack the Ripper, though I think everything before it is rather lame and showing its age. Hopefully it will remain.

Good Night was it Harry?

With anything like this, things change during the development process. Whether it's a theatre show (lighting, set, costumes, sound effects and even the script itself), or an attraction at a theme park (although I see theatre and theme parks as pretty much the same).Everyone wants the project to be successful both financially and for the audience, so there are so many people involved in the project, things are bound to change. Sometimes things turn out better than originally planned, sometimes not as good. If I remember, Saw's layout changed considerably after the initial plan- with another overbanked turn and block brakes, however, I believe the air time hill we have now is much better than what could have potentially killed the pacing of the ride.Even better if something can be done cheaper but still be as good as what was originally planned.

Here you go Peter. Here's that interview I think Bill is talking about. They speak of Rita and how they would never do a ride with no story again. Merlin Interview with Mark Fisher.

Yeah, I have a lot of love for Islands of Adventure; it is one of those parks that is all about being immersed and at the time everything was done with the creative stance being the focus. For a park that is meant to be all about the experience, the extreme and combining thrill rides that also immerse guests in a unique environment, I would have thought this would have been done years ago. We're talking a good 4 years here at least.And if I'm being totally honest, the coasters there offer no more "experience" or different environment than any Six Flags coaster. I'm also peeved that they ruined most of Duelling Dragons' queue in the transition to Dragon Challenge. You could have shot a movie in that queue before and was genuinely atmospheric. Now, not so much.

I don't get all the fuss about it not being in England. America has a huge fan-base out there. Most importantly, they have the space, funding, passion and lack of planning restrictions to do it justice. Anything on a large scale in England will keep getting scaled down due to funding and planning restrictions until we end up with a sub- standard attraction that nobody is happy with.

About flaming time.I feel it important to note that even the big parks in America have fans that have similar discussions to us about rides being re-painted, rehabs, effects broken.It seems that only the family owned theme parks that aren't owned by huge corporate monsters are able to maintain true showmanship with their attractions.

Haven't been around much these past few days and only found out about it yesterday, but here's what I wrote on TTF:I'm still in such a confused state at what they were thinking when they decided to add Truckers, Jumbos and Toadies to the Fastrack system.These are low throughput rides, particularly Truckers, which struggles to get 200 people an hour as its actual hourly capacity. Not only that, the amount of times this ride needs to be reset (and this sometimes can take time, as a Team Leader has to come and do it, and the pressure on them during busy days is already immense), children and adults get out of the cars and run havoc in the ride area... basically, what I'm saying, the ride shouldn't be there in the first place, let alone have Fastrack added to it.It's going to be an operational nightmare, not helped by the amount of Fastrack that the sales team sell.In a park where the vast majority of rides struggle to break the 1000 pph throughput, I can't help but find this an absolute facepalm of a decision from every possible angle you look at it.Of course, apart from financially, but I think that the amount of complaints and unhappy guests this will create will have a far more detrimental effect than anyone at the park currently realize. I feel like it's two steps forward, and then one step back. If it wasn't for all of the other positive improvements across the park, and some still to be put in place, then I would not have any reason to visit the park this season.

I'm afraid I can't help you there... though this topic has reminded me about some recent improvements to the Spirit of London ride!Whether they're totally new effects, or just ones that have been re-instated, they made a huge improvement to the ride experience and this is now my second favourite dark ride in the UK (I class Hex as a dark ride ).Basically right at the beginning, there were strobe lights, acting as a "gateway", taking you back in time, this was coupled with a wind effect and was a neat way to start the ride. The next noticeably improved effect was the "Black Death" scene. Where bodies are lying on the cart there is a smell of rotting flesh/ general rankness. Also there were other subtle improvements around the ride such as smoke. Overall the ride seemed very looked after and well maintained, even if the animatronics are seriously outdated.

Urm, Wow! ^ I'd actually have to think twice about going on that. How freaky.Travelling over to Orlando now, with Cheetah Hunt news. Over the last couple of days Busch Gardens have been holding "hard-hat tours" in which fansites and members of the press are invited down and given an update of the progress. Much like Sea World did for Manta during its construction.Here are what some of the members from Orlando United learned during their tour: Theming will be incredible. We learned that there will be a section called the "Crossroads" where Morocco, Egypt and Edge of Africa meet. Villagers of the Crossroads celebrate the spirit of the Cheetah. Cheetah Hunt's queue will connect this village to the nature of the actual roller coaster attraction through an integrated back story.Cheetah figures at the front will resemble driftwood carvings.Inside the station, there will be a giant 15 foot high Cheetah Rock that will resemble a cheetah. Villager's celebrate this iconic rock because when found - it resembled the shape of a cheetah. Through chiseling and carving they've managed to carve the head of the cheetah into the top of the rock - the bottom remaining in its natural state.Mack Rides is installing their air gate systems on Cheetah Hunt.First launch will now be 38 mph instead of 30.The Second launch will remain at 60 mph - accelerating in under 2 seconds flat.Third launch will now be 50 mph instead of 40.The Canyon Section will include a run-in with a waterfall. Riders will be skimming above 18 inches of water in a serpentine-like fashion. The river will be designed to run at a fast current in the opposite direction of travel to further give the illusion of speed.The use of trenches in the design of the roller coaster is primarily to inhibit certain aspects of the attraction to pedestrians. Cheetah Hunt was specifically designed to interact with non-riders - and the trenches enable the trains to disappear from sight; thus intensifying the experience for spectators.Parabola hill is 60ft. tall.Cheetah Hunt will do a pull through with the front car and ride clearances.Trains arrive next week.Track completion expected by end of next week. 13 pieces remaining to be installed. Installation from this point forward will start on the Windcatcher Tower and finish at the crown of the "skyride hill".May 27th opening date.The current entrance path will be divided into 4 paths: the Skyride entrance, the Skyride exit, the Cheetah Hunt entrance, and the Cheetah Hunt quick queue.As you come down the stairs, you'll be able to see the monitors of your ride experience. You can purchase either a photo or video of your ride.The gift shop will also have accessories, and cheetah-themed gifts.

I must admit, I've rarely come off of Loggers without being pretty darn soaked.

Who? Wow we're a sexy group aren't we?

I find it interesting that on the website it says "here are some of our top fast track rides". I would hate for them to add it to even more rides. Especially when a lot of their rides don't have the hourly throughputs to be able to cope with it.In fact, I'd suggest that Fury would just about cope with its queues even without the addition of fast track. This just proves to me, that the park need to consider adding a couple of more high- throughput rides. Anything below 1000 an hour for one of your headlining attractions is unacceptable in my view!

Don't lie Peter! You'd love a picture of your mug on here...

Who is these sexy Mofos?

Aww, That IS cute! I love pictures like this that show the construction process. I think I can make out a Merlin Studios logo on the back of that jacket there. Hopefully the station will be nicely themed.