BGA Pics Thanksgiving

Sorry about not posting this yesterday, but I came back from Busch Gardens. I posted all my pics on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000514490787#/album.php?aid=4453&id=100000514490787

And here are the pics:



















Welcome to Busch Gardens Africa, home to awesome exhibits, exemplary theming, and... THRILLING COASTERS!!!



















We first started our day on Montu. This is me and my brother, Charles, in front of it!



















Yes, I mean the coaster that is near the tram route.



















Montu is a B&M Inverted roller coaster like Dueling Dragons at IOA.



















Montu is fun, especially at night. The fact that you nearly touch the ground makes the ride scary! But that is part of the thrill! =)



















I found this pic with the train kinda cool.



















Ooooohhh... aaaaahhh... nice immelmann loop!
























This is a very cool pic here.



















OMG! A pharoah with two tiny heads! AHHHH!



















Next stop, SheiKra (a B&M Dive Machine). It is the best coaster in the park IMO. From the queue of SheiKra. Watch your step... it's a doozy!



















Rhino Rally was fun. Biff, the driver, cracked me up!



















Nice view.



















Ummm... we are the minions of the Great Grass Tiger!



















Make room for the Great Grass Tiger (just make sure he doesn't eat you =P)!
























Okay enough tigers! Sesame Street Safari of Fun time!



















I went up this treehouse to get a big view of the construction.



















I'm assuming that as of now, this part got the axe.



















In the main construction area, you can see a foundation for one of the buildings.



















Hmmm... rebar (possibly for more footers for the Air Grover roller coaster).



















Hey people! Your dragons are leaving for Sesame Street characters!



















Take one last look. Soon (by January 2010) this will all be gone...



















More rebar.



















Hmmm... what is this I see? A station building? I'm assuming it is for Air Grover.



















Another look at what may be the station for Air Grover.



















Sorry for the blur there.



















Another station pic.



















One last look at the Sesame Street main construction area.



















I'm assuming that part got the axe as well for the Sesame Street conversion.



















Now here is something for you coaster enthusiasts! Most may know this, but the support parallel to the lift track is actually for the lift chain. This is Gwazi's.



















Another look at the Gwazi lift chain support.



















The chain accelerates once the train arrives on the lift hill (what do you know, a train has gone on top). Tiger was closed BTW (retracking). =( Kumba was closed due to technical difficulties but reopened later that night.

Well, that does it for your BGA update. Hopefully you all have had a great Thanksgivng and have enjoyed my update. Next time, I will visit Brazil and after that... UNIVERSAL ORLANDO TO RIDE HOLLYWOOD RIP RIDE ROCKIT!!!!

I will give you my review soon and the list of rides I rode...

Oh... my... goodness...

Well, it is finally out... a commercial for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (by vetty at youtube). Wow, the background music is awesome and the island is cool.

Speaking of HP, here is an update from Orlando United:

http://www.orlandounited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9&page=140

Courtesy of BriMan:



















What is that beautiful looking castle?



















To think, this was just home to the Dueling Dragons entrance. In 2008-2009, there was dirt. In March, vertical construction on Hogsmeade began. Facades started going up summer. Now, it is almost done.



















On December 21, 2007, mom took pics of me and my relatives from Brazil on the Flying Unicorn. The background of a pic with me showed ground clearing (for Hogwarts), but I did not take note, because I did not know of the HP island until the next day, the same day I found out about the Simpsons Ride. I remember when I was with Sara on June 6, 2008, and I saw supports for Hogwarts (I should've taken a picture). I did not know what it was for, but I speculated that it will be for Harry Potter. And in the May 8, 2009 Band Trip, Hogwarts was now concrete, the Flying Unicorn closed, Dueling Dragons had a temporary entrance, and Hogsmeade was under construction. It is just amazing that it went from dirt to this big land. I can't wait to go there on my birthday to ride Rockit and to see HP for the last time under construction.



















I don't know what this for, but some speculate it is the greenhouse or the walkthrough around Hogwarts.

Anyway, I'm going to Busch Gardens in a few hours.

Thanks BriMan for the pics.

Intimidator 305 Topped Off!

"Do I dazzle you?" - Edward Cullen, Twilight

That's what I305 is saying, and it sure looks dazzling. The coaster was topped off 1:03 AM last night.

Credit goes to:

http://intimidator305.com/public/downloads/webcam.cfm

Whoa! How unexpected!

Guess I spoke too soon...




















From: http://intimidator305.com/public/downloads/webcam.cfm

Guess the problems are worked out and they have begun topping off the lift for Intimidator 305. I did not expect it to happen at night (they usually work in the day) and instead expected tomorrow. But it is happening!

That pic looks climatic! It looks like a very climatic show (kinda like Fantasmic)!

Whoa! I can just stare at its progress all night, but I have school tomorrow so...

EDIT: As of 10:28 PM, the crown is getting lifted. Get back tomorrow!

False alarm again...

No topping off it seems for I305. From Coaster Crew Facebook:

"No topping off today. "

From Clint Novak:

"Problems with a crane"

Ah crap!

The Updates of the Intimidators #6

Intimidator:

Well, it seems that the everything listed is complete as of today for TIMMY 232:

1. The Station track (9/1/09)
2. Turn-around to the station (9/2/09)
3. Final Brakes (9/15/09 - 9/16/09)
4. 232 ft. lift hill (9/16/09 - 10/13/09)
5. 211 ft. drop (10/15/09 - 10/20/09)
6. 178 ft. camelback hill (10/20/09 - 10/28/09)
7. 151 ft. camelback hill (10/29/09 - 11/2/09)
8. 90 ft. camelback hill (10/30/09 - 11/17/09)
9. 105 ft. camelback hill (11/2/09 - 11/3/09)
10. 121 ft. hammerhead (11/4/09 - 11/16/09)

Also, concrete for the bottom of the tunnel in the queue under the final brakes have been poured, and a concrete structure appeared recently under the webcam (I don't know if it was there before or not).

Intimidator 305:

Sunday, the 305 ft. lift hill will be topped off for TIMMY 305! They added additional lift track today as you can see in the webcam.

Man, both coasters are progressing, but TIMMY 232 should add new track soon.

Intimidator 305 Madness

Courtesy of Panthers82 from the KDFansite: http://www.kdfansite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=714&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=2460

It is... INTIMIDATOR 305 MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

=O

That is the best pic yet! Ohhh... I feel like I'm gonna faint now...

Oh yeah, Timmy 305 is so getting topped off Sunday.

Intimidator 305 Surprise!

http://twitpic.com/q90m6

Hmmm... what is this I read? Hmmm... "Preparing for the topping off. Prob for Sunday."?

Umm... Da-Da-Da-Dummmmmmm! Da-Da-Da-Dummmmmmm!

Keep an eye on the I305 webcam on Sunday.

Here is a link, to some of my friends who may be reading my blog soon (as today, I got a Facebook account)...

http://intimidator305.com/

If you look at the top right (no, not the Kings Dominion logo, but to the left), you will find the webcam (yeah, the webcam at KD is kinda crappy compared to Carowinds').

KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED PEOPLE!

Hitler finds out about Chang's Removal/SFKK Timeline

That video cracked me up.

*Warning: this video will have swear words*

Now for some information to some "newbees" who do not know about Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom:

The First Years:

The park opened on May 23, 1987 leasing 10 acres (40,000 m²) at the Kentucky Exposition Center property. An extension of the State Fair, it closed before the end of the season. One of the original rides was a rollercoaster called Starchaser. The owners filed bankruptcy and auctioned off the rides.

It remained closed through 1989, when Ed Hart and a group of investors purchased Kentucky Kingdom, and it reopened for the 1990 season. Starchaser was sold, but still onsite at the amusement park, and Hart purchased the indoor rollercoaster. Additionally new rides were added like Tin Lizzies, The Enterprise, Whirling Dervish, and The Vampire which some are still in operation today. In 1992, the Kentucky Kingdom made a large expansion and opened the Hurricane Bay water park.

Six Flags:

At the end of 1997, Kentucky Kingdom was sold to Premier Parks for $64 million, and opened as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom later on June 21, 1998. In 1999, corporate Six Flags decided to retheme the expansion side of the park as "Gotham City," renaming and repainting several rides. Sometime in the same year, however, the idea was shelved and the rides retained their original names. In 2002 the ride Twisted Sisters was forced to be renamed to Twisted Twins upon a threat of a lawsuit from the band Twisted Sister. Before the opening of the 2007 season, Hurricane Bay was rebranded as Six Flags Splashwater Kingdom.

Kentucky Kingdom is one of the main tourism attractions for Louisville as in 1997 it totaled more visitors than Churchill Downs.

Trouble (this one will be a timeline):

June 21, 2007: A 13-year-old girl, by the name of Kaitlyn Lasitter, from Louisville, Kentucky had both feet severed above the ankle by a snapped cable, caused by an unidentified ride malfunction on the Superman: Tower of Power ride. In reaction to this accident, at least nine similar rides around the world were closed for inspection at Gröna Lund in Stockholm, Sweden, Kennywood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and at parks run by Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and PARC Management.

July 3, 2007: The victim's family released a statement stating that her right foot had been successfully reattached.

July 13, 2007: The victim's family filed a lawsuit for unspecified damages against the park claiming that the park did not properly maintain the ride.

November 29, 2007: A judge in the Jefferson Circuit Court said that Six Flags could dismantle the ride beginning February 1, 2008.

December 1, 2007: The ride's cable was still in storage awaiting lab tests.

February 1, 2008: Superman: Tower of Power begins getting dismantled. As of March 2008, the tower was gone.

February 29, 2008: Twisted Twins, Mile High Falls, Zepellin, and Turbo Bungy are not listed in the park website, because the section with those rides (Northwest Territory) will not be open for the 2008 season.

May 7, 2008: SFKK slashed gate prices. A park spokesman said that Northwest Territory is done for, and will be turned into something. Nothing is announced about the fate of the area.

May 11, 2008: Rumors begin spreading around that SFKK will become a water park only place like Cedar Fair did with Geauga Lake the year before.

July 17, 2008: Rumors are that Northwest Territory will not reopen next year. It will either be fitted into something new, or the park, as a whole, will eventually close and become a water-park only place.

September 16, 2008: Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom sued Intamin AG (the manufacturer of Superman: Tower of Power) because of the Lasitter accident the year before.

April 25, 2009: The 2009 season begins and Northwest Territory was not open.

July 3, 2009: The trains for Twisted Twins were sent to Six Flags St. Louis, which is not a good sign of the coaster reopening.

July 5, 2009: Rumors are that the Screamin' Eagle wooden coaster will get a rehab in 2010 which might involve repainting the ride and putting the Twisted Twins trains on it.

July 9, 2009: Rumors are that Mile High Falls had a problem and may just be scrapped this winter.

July 11, 2009: The lift chain for Mile High Falls has been removed.

August 1, 2009: The drop cars from the former Superman: Tower of Power have been sent to Six Flags St. Louis.

September 2, 2009: Rumors begin to spice up that for the 50th anniversary of Six Flags, the rotation program will restart and that SFKK will retire their signature coaster, Chang (B&M Stand-Up), and relocate it to SFGAm.

Post not finished yet!

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit POV

wwwCOASTERFORCEcom has posted an awesome POV of the new Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida. All POVs I have seen (other than the animated one of course) just started halfway up the vertical lift hill. This one started at the beginning.

That POV is awesome.

Intimidator is Almost There

More pics: http://carowindsconnection.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2772&start=1890

User Wormy at Carowinds Connection took a picture showing Intimidator's 121 ft. hammerhead complete! It began November 4, 2009 and was complete today, November 16, 2009.

If you look at the webcam, they seemed to have topped off the 90 ft. return camelback hill!

Man, how they are moving fast! =)

Oh yeah, it will so be complete by the end of 2009!

Fear Factor Update

I got some good/bad news and some bad news.

Bad news: My letter did not go through. I'm not really allowed to send in letters to Universal displaying ideas. But hey, I understand.

Good/bad news: Here is a quote from myName3:

"I heard from a reliable source that the Fear Factor actors lost their positions. Before the company just relocated them to different locations. When they announced that it would go seasonal, the news reported that no one lost their jobs. If this is true then Universal is closing the show. The real question is will universal just have another empty spot (I am looking at you Herc and Zina and the toon theater!)

Since Universal didn’t have a very good summer because of the Rockit misfire the cheapest show would be the Wild West Show. Most of the scenery is already there."
My reaction:

While I do feel bad for the people who lost their jobs (dang this economy =( ), if this is true, I'm glad Fear Factor will be gone for good!

While it is a shame that they have some empty places like Hercules & Zena and the Toon Lagoon Theater (there might be something new there though), sue me but I'd rather they keep it empty then putting a Wild Wild Wild West show there (there is a reason why they closed it in the first place).

I'd rather see something NEW like... I don't know... something Broadway style, not like Creature From the Black Lagoon (even though I got to admit, it is an interesting idea).

Universal Future Discussion

Well, since I am kinda bored and I want to shed some life here, I thought I would discuss the Universal Futures that were established by "Through My Eyes" on July 2008.

Universal Future #1:

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is really progressing. Hogwarts looks nearly complete and Hogsmeade is looking good too. The Hogwarts Express has arrived last week and boy does it look good? :) And yes, Dueling Dragons is still open.

Universal Future #2:

Already well known, UF2 has been brought back, because Jimmy Neutron may close in spring 2010. I am thinking of a plan to keep the ride alive. I am thinking of making shirts showing a picture of Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast and putting "Save it!" under the picture. I may post some concept art of the shirt soon.

Universal Future #3:

I was thinking of eliminating this since Rockit is open, but I decided to see how it is doing. Just being Curious George here! :P

Universal Future #4:

I discovered that Japan did not hear of the Simpsons, but I will not let this go as in Screamscape...

2011/2012 - Back To The Future Replacement - Rumor - (8/23/09) This rumor may be a bit ahead of it’s time, but one source suggests that Universal Japan is ready to retire their version of Back To The Future as well by 2011/2012. As The Simpon’s are not really hugely well known characters in Japan as they are in America, porting in a clone of the same Simpsons ride is not an option. However the rumor we’ve heard is a bit of a stunner, as our source claims that they may be looking an at option to license Batman from WB to create new simulator ride themed to The Dark Knight. DeLorean… meet The Tumbler. Now of course the really odd question is... can Spiderman and Batman co-exist in the same park, being from two different comic book companies? Maybe not in the USA, but I do think it would work in Japan where they are both viewed as just American Superhero comics. Plus we know that at one point in time Universal was attempting to build a Batman themed attraction for Islands of Adventure when the park was first just a concept.

So BTTF may still close, but it WILL NOT be replaced by the Simpsons Ride. I wish the Japanese knew the Simpsons :( (but Dark Knight would still be cool). They could always cut the dome of BTTF in half for that Dark Knight ride (as I stated in an early post) keeping Back to the Future on the other side. Japan's BTTF is the only one left and once we lose it... BTTF: The Ride will be gone... forever.

Universal Future #5:

Fear Factor recently was rumored to close for good. I really hope this is true. As I mentioned a plethora of times already, I hate that show. I sent a letter the other day to convince Universal to tear out that piece of barf and replace it with Mamma Mia.

Chang Update #6

Screamscape:

"2011 - Chang / B&M Stand-Up Coaster - Rumor - (11/5/09) A Screamscape source reports seeing a few pieces of Chang’s yellow track as well as one of the trains in an area behind the employee parking lot."

So guess that pretty much confirms that Chang is going to Six Flags Great America. They better use the floorless idea and put the old stand-up trains on Iron Wolf! >:(

Chang Update #5

http://sfkkonline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4222#post4222

Scroll down and you can see that the lift hill has been taken down with only the station track remaining for Chang.

It is still unknown where Chang will be.

Jimmy Neutron Update #2

I was investigating the rumored Neutron closure in 2010 and people's opinions on the ride. In this forum at Orlando United, "Favorite/Least Favorite USF Attractions", 42 people dislike a ride. 7 people dislike Shrek 4D (I like Shrek.), 11 people dislike Twister (for some stupid Youtube reasons like "Oh, Twister sucks because it replaced Ghostbusters," or "Oh, Simpsons suck because it replaced Back to the Future." Sometimes, people are kinda dumb.), 8 people dislike Jimmy Neutron, 3 people dislike Back to the Future (because they complained it was rough leading to its closure), 1 person dislikes Revenge of the Mummy (probably scared of coasters XD), 1 person dislikes Jaws, 2 people dislike Disaster, 3 people dislike Animal Actors, 4 people dislike Fear Factor (now this one, I agree *Mamma Mia please*), 1 person dislikes Kid Zone (again, because of a Youtube thing), and 1 person dislikes E.T. Adventure (shame on him XD).

19% of the people hate Neutron. Here is an example of one of the comments:

Cusiisabeast (April 21, 2009):

Favorites: ROTM, MIB, TSR
Least Favorites:
Fear Factor Live-The WROST Theme Park attraction in history
Twister- I like it, and want it gone at the same time
Jimmy Neutron- Do they even show JN anymore?
Animal Actors- What a borefest....zzzzzzzzzz

Um... bolded statement. Do you have to look at Sunday at 7:30 am to find out?! Oh, you want a "yes" or "no" statement?! All right!

YES, IT IS STILL SHOWING (JUST NOT NEW EPISODES ANYMORE SINCE 2006) AT EXACTLY 7:30 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!

I saw it this morning (Who Framed Jimmy Neutron?/Flippy) at 7:30 am! People, do you even bother to look at the TV?! Sorry about the screaming, but that was kinda dumb. =\

I still have high hopes that Universal renews the contract and eliminates this stress within me...