http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/ Posts for rec.rollercoaster Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:53:39 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/ http://www.nnseek.com/img/64.png 64 64 NNSeek http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/tr_lotte_world_magic_island_7_20_08_110615862t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/tr_lotte_world_magic_island_7_20_08_110615862t.html
So, the rain had stopped, and I headed to the outside portion, which
is really pretty small. Obviously, the star of this area is Atlantis
Adventure. It looms to the right of the castle, another Disney rip-
off.

I try and get my ticket fixed, in preparation of getting a magic pass,
but that still doesn’t work, and no one could help me. Luckily, the
magic pass machines were covered anyway. They were also holding the
line outside the main queue, making it look longer than it was,
thereby keeping it a bit shorter. In line, the little girl in front of
me is talking like crazy, asking me where I’m from, etc. She was proud
of her English skills. She asks me how old I was. I say 39. Her soul
crushing response? “Wow, that’s really old, I’m only 13”. When I said
I was young at heart, she still said I was old. She talked to me the
whole line. Sometimes I didn’t know what she was saying. She said the
ride was scary. I said I like scary and gave the thumbs up. Hopefully
that wasn’t some sexual gesture like using the “come here” finger is.

I stuff my GPS and camera in a cargo pocket on my pants, and leave my
vid camera in the bin in the station. I’d never do that in the US.
They hassle me about my glasses, but let me go.

OK, I knew nothing about this ride really, except seeing some pics of
the outside. This ride is f&*#ing awesome!!! I think this is the best
launch and start on ANY coaster. It scared the bejeebies out of me.
Insane air, insane head and arm choppers, and great theming. The whole
ride is awesome, great hills and curves, although the water doesn’t
add much. I’m amazed there was no on-ride pics. This is definitely a
top tier coaster. A bit short on the number of thrills, but the ones
it has are flipping awesome. And I can’t believe all the stuff they
got in that building.

I then got in line for Ghost House. After seeing the clouds getting
worse, I left that line for another Atlantis ride. I didn’t want to
get rained out with only one ride. The wait was about 20 minutes.

After that I got what was thankfully a normal corn dog and then got in
line again for Ghost House. I had read this was a special effects show
as you sit at a table with things going on around you. Well, that’s
not it now. You go up to a theater to watch a 3-D movie. It was a bit
odd, since it was animated from a cats perspective and used a cats eye
lense, so that made it weird, plus it was a bit dark, and my second
row seat was a bit too close. It was very cool though. Everyone once
in a while, you’d see your reflection to remind you you’re a cat. You
enter a haunted house, go into a toy room full of total demented toys,
including a hilarious bit where a doll is caught on fire by a dragon
and tries to put the fire out but only get it’s melted face stretching
off on their hand. There were some cool effects, and a ghost dog
chasing you. Some spiders showed up, a snake, some skeletons, and a
surprise ending when you see your reflection one last time. Very well
done, and no dialog. After that, you go through a vertigo tunnel and a
few other haunted rooms and that’s it.

Next up was the Fantasy Dream only-in-asia dark ride. You basically
went through candyland and other really f-ed up scenes on a train.
Lots of animatrons, and very well done..

Comet Express was down for inspection which really sucked. Although it
sounds like this may not really be a coaster anyway. I went though
another Disney ripoff, which was a Snow White walkthrough in a castle
setting.

I decided I needed one more Atlantis ride, and got off right before
the rains really picked up, so that was good.

I went back inside to see a stage show going that had all sorts of
ripoffs. A Goofy ripoff, Droopy Dog, and some others. The inside
section crowd had REALLY increased. I walked around taking in the
weirdness and bought a few trinkets. The plush of Lotty and Lorry were
way too expensive, and didn’t look that great.

I checked out the mall for a while and saw Lotte Mart which was
basically a Korean Wal-mart. It was packed to the gills. I’d love to
have bought a few things, but didn’t want to carry it around. I saw a
Sizzler on the bottom floor. Not the greatest place, but as good as I
could find. The steak looked a bit odd, but tasted decent with the
pepper sauce. I almost ordered a plate that had a steak, lobster tail,
and some ribs. Then I noticed it was meant for two people. I could
have eaten it all, but felt I didn’t need to perpetuate the fat
American standard.

I was going to ride some more, but after 5 they have a late entry
price, the crowds got even bigger. I never did get on the log ride,
but had a really great day at Lotte World. They do a great job at
theming, do hold their own with Disney on what I’m sure is a much
lower budget. I’d love to see what Pharoah cost in comparison ot Indy.
Yeah, it looks cheaper, but it’s a hell of a ride still.

I decide to ride the subway back, and get out of the station in what
can only be described as the most water that can physically be falling
from the sky at any one time. There is a tunnel somewhere for part of
the journey, but I don’t know where to get into it. It didn’t really
matter, After 10 seconds you were totally soaked.

Well, no fun for a few days now. I’m REALLY hoping for a sunny weekend
next weekend and a good visit to Everland.

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]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:53:39 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/b_m_track_arrives_at_kings_island_110615094t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/b_m_track_arrives_at_kings_island_110615094t.html more work to the footers in the ravine and around the train tracks.

http://www.kiextreme.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=320

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]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:39:43 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/mt_olympus_theme_park_110539830t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/mt_olympus_theme_park_110539830t.html there are any discounts available for Mt Olympus? Thanks for any info.

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]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:31:06 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/tr_lotte_world_adventure_7_20_08_110469942t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/tr_lotte_world_adventure_7_20_08_110469942t.html
Part one

I'm in Korea for business for a few weeks, and obviously plan on
getting to some new parks. A photo version is on the infamous TPR.

Sit down and relax, this is going to be long.

This morning, the forecast was rain, all day. I had already decided to
skip Everland this weekend, so I thought, hey at least I can ride the
indoor rides at Lotte World, so I got up to find Starbucks closed.
NO!!! Luckily, the 7-11s sell about 325 different coffee beverages, so
I got a Starbucks there, and headed over to the crappy Lexington hotel
where I knew there would be cabs. Well, there were tons of busses,
plus a lot of traffic probably coming to the huge Christian church
across the street. I found a cab dropping off someone, and jumped in.
A coworker had written down directions for me to give the driver, but
the cabs do offer free translation services if you need it. He put it
in his GPS and went off. I also tracked him on my GPS to make sure we
were going the right way. His even beeped when he was speeding. It
sure didn't beep when he was weaving around everywhere.

We get there and I see a big Lotty sign. I get excited and tell him
that's where I want to go. He's confused, but finally figures it out
"animal". He asks me what kind it is and I say "Raccoon". Right on cue
he says, "ahhh, Laccoon". I pay the very reasonable $16 and get out at
the hotel. I ask a bellman how to get to the park. He points me to the
"New York City Subway". I was a bit confused, so I ended up going back
to teh front desk and they tell me to walk around the hotel, and I get
to the empty South entrance. I later learn all the main entrances are
from subway and underground mall.

I buy my ticket and am first in the gate. I head straight to Sinbad,
hoping to get a Magic Pass, I couldn't get it to work, and the girl
said the ride would open in 10 minutes. So, I bail and try to find
Pharoah's Fury. It's up on the 4th floor. I find the escalators and
get there easy enough. I again try the Magic Pass for a future reride,
and still no luck. I never did get one, the bar code on my ticket was
not as long as on everyone else's ticket (story of my life). Luckily,
the park was dead this morning.

I enter the looong queue that is loaded with museum stuff and then you
get into a burial chamber, enter an Iron Maiden, and finally get to
the load station. Lotte engineers spent a LOT of time at Disneyland
designing this. It's a complete ripoff of Indy, with many things
looking EXACTLY the same. The ride motion was great, the effects were
very good, although not Disney level. The room that I guess usually
has fire did not, and was dark instead until the bill ball comes out
and you take a big dive. The treasure room was pretty neat, as was the
spider room. I decide for a quick reride since it was still walkon.

I decided to hit the French Revolution coaster next, which had about a
10 minute wait. No lockers were needed, as they have bins for your
stuff and keep track of them if there are multiple trains going. This
coaster was decent and really reminded me of the one at Circus Circus
as far as going into rooms and some basic theming. It had some rough
transitions, but was unique enough.

I decided to go back to Sinbad next, since it seemed to be a major
ride. I got my son another Mario DS stylus goshapan, still not Boo,
and got on the ride. This ride was excellent! A good story, even with
no English, with good scenes, some drops, and obviously some more
Disney stealing.

Then I headed back to the other side, taking a quick journey into the
bug exhibit that had massive beetles, and then into Desparados. This
was an unusual ride. You go into a theater with about 25 horses facing
a screen. You get on one and hold on and shoot your gun at the screen
that has animated sceens in it. It's hosted by this weird stick figure
cowboy. There are lots of screts to shoot for. I got a TNT keg during
the learning stage and quickly jumped to first place. They showed the
top three after that sceen, and it was a bit surreal when I was the
only non Korean there and I was kicking a$$, and looked silly when I
raised my hands in triumph. There was a scene as you went through the
desert, and one in a soloon, and a few others. It was very cool, and
made it look like maybe Disney is copying Lotte with Toy Story a bit.
I was again shown as the winner at the end.

I then found the rapids ride. This is, as far as I know, the only
totally inside rapids ride in the world. It's themed to the jungle,
and was again damn good. An average length with some cool rooms, great
dark setting, and nothing to get you soaked. I had the boat to
myself.

I then went around the arcade area some looking at the weird games.
They had a variation on the cork guns, a strange one called "Catch the
Mouse" where you had to throw balls at mice moving around in a scene,
and a pool game where you had to get balls to stop in divits. They all
seemed quite hard. I found some squished penny machines that just
squished copper disks, so the result was a nice, very shiny
medallian.

I really felt a bit strange at this park. Kids would keep coming up to
me and going "hello" and waving their hands frantically as they seem
to do to Americans. Some seemed VERY interested in where I was from,
and wanted to use their English skills.

I then headed up to the ballon ride. THis was very unique and cool.
YOu get in and float up to the top of the mall for a slow tour. There
was even a rope to pull that looked and sounded like turning a burner
on in the balloon. I got some great pics, and saw that the log ride
was pretty basic, so I never did ride it since I couldn't get a pass
and it's line was fairly long.

The have Dippin Dots everywhere, and also the apperantly very popular
Peanut Butter Fried Squid.

It seemed to be fairly light outside, so I headed to Magic Island, the
outside section, that I'll cover after some photos.

-R

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]]> Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:49:16 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/info_book_on_rye_playland_published_may_08_110427958t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/info_book_on_rye_playland_published_may_08_110427958t.html LoHud.com (New York's Lower Hudson Valley)
http://www.lohud.com:80/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807200354

[BEGIN INSERT]

July 20, 2008

New book showcases park's rich history

Gerald McKinstry
The Journal News

RYE - When Kathryn Burke sifted through the Westchester County
Archives a few years ago, the Eastchester woman came across a
collection on Playland.

She was impressed, dug some more and learned a few things about the
popular amusement park.

"The photos just drew me in," the 52-year-old Catholic elementary
school teacher at Christ the King School in Yonkers said during a
recent visit to the park. "That's really what drew me in was the
images."

The people in those pictures - their faces and signature styles from
the 1920s, 30s and beyond were particularly interesting and brought
the place to life, she said.

The art-deco buildings, stucco towers and rides like the famed Dragon
Coaster, carousel, The Whip and Derby Racer (one of only two left in
the country) added to the nostalgia.

Those images and related stories have been compiled by Burke in a
recently published book, "Images of America Playland."

The book is part of the Arcadia Publishing series; it's the second for
Burke who previously published "Bridges of the Hudson River" with the
same publisher.

The park, which this year celebrated its 80th anniversary, is listed
on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.

Playland Amusement Park was set into motion in 1922 when the
then-Board of Supervisors created the Westchester County Park
Commission.

The county later acquired 214 acres on Long Island Sound for a beach,
bathhouse, boardwalk, shipping dock and other recreational uses in an
area near what was then known as Manursing Island.

The intent was to create one of the best amusement parks and beach
resorts in the world, Burke said, which was particularly unique
because it was, and remains, publicly owned.

The King of Siam even visited after a diplomatic trip to Washington
D.C., because Westchester's parks "were world renowned," Burke said.

"The people who set up the parks were visionary," Burke said. "They
really wanted Westchester to be a special place. The parks system was
supposed to rival Central Park."

In 1928, "record-breaking crowds arrived" - most by bus and car and
others by steamship, steam-powered ferries that brought folks to
Playland's dock from Connecticut, New Jersey, Long Island and New York
City.

Many visitors enjoyed places like The Beach Hill Inn and Gus's
luncheonette as well as the beach, which had a "Tan-O-Meter" to
encourage successful sunning.

Playland subsequently added an Olympic-size swimming pool and a
casino, which made it a year-round destination.

When the pool opened in 1929, it was run by Gertrude Ederle, an
Olympic gold-medal winner and the first woman to swim the English
Channel. She was assisted by Johnny Weissmuller, an Olympic freestyle
champion who went on to play "Tarzan" in films.

A prudish Playland until 1937 even banned "topless" bathing suits for
men. The parks commissioner at the time feared "that the nude male
torso might detract from the beauty of the landscape."

While it remains the most popular of the county parks, Playland has
not been without its challenges.

In recent years, turnout has been dipping under a million a year,
buildings need repair and there have been a series of fatal accidents.

County officials, however, maintain they are aggressively addressing
safety and looking to the future by investing in buildings and
infrastructure.

The Westchester County Board of Legislators in May approved borrowing
$8.8 million to renovate the historic, but deteriorating bathhouse
that is expected to be home of Westchester County's first children's
museum. Coincidently, that was done on the same day the book was
published, Burke said.

County Executive Andrew Spano, who was about 5 years old the first
time he went to Playland and enjoyed rides that are still there today,
wrote the book's foreword.

Spano called the park "a memory maker" and said it is unrivaled in its
historic and community significance.

Spano said the United States only government-owned amusement park was
"a prototype for others around the world."

"The vision of amusement and government doesn't go together," Spano
said. "If these guys didn't have that vision, Westchester would be a
different place today."

Spano hoped the book would bring back memories for those who have
enjoyed Playland and help others to "understand its history."

Burke echoed those sentiments.

"It keeps with that vision of being a very special place," Burke.
said. "The history is really something people need to understand."

Kathryn Burke will autograph copies of "Images of America Playland" at
6 p.m. Wednesday (23 July 2008) at the Playland Amusement Park in Rye.

The book costs $19.99 and is available at Barnes & Noble, Borders and
other local bookstores throughout Westchester County. It also is
available at Amazon.com.

[END INSERT]

*************************************************************************************
Dana Schwartz

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]]> Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:06:29 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/how_do_i_stop_the_robb_alvey_spam_110419766t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/how_do_i_stop_the_robb_alvey_spam_110419766t.html on from Robb's E-Mail address with nothing but SPAM SPAM and more
SPAM! I have blocked him, I have marked his mail as spam but it just
keeps coming in. I'm not quite sure what is going on but it's getting
out of control.

Any ideas on how to keep this guys harassing E-Mails out of my inbox?

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]]> Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:15:45 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/changes_to_the_ge_comet_110365494t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/changes_to_the_ge_comet_110365494t.html its move to GE. Does it still have the big brake handle at the station?
What about seat modifications? Is it tracked the same as it was at Crystal
Beach?

Brad D

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]]> Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:23:25 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/i_bought_six_at_55_110239798t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/i_bought_six_at_55_110239798t.html park business. This was too good a bargain to pass up.

- Sandy

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]]> Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:27:43 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/kennykon_traffic_update_110235190t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/kennykon_traffic_update_110235190t.html Kennywood. I have the details below but I'll translate because the exact
details are difficult even for locals to figure out.

Traffic coming from Pittsburgh to the exit for Kennywood (exit 7, Edgewood /
Swissvale) on I-376 aka "Parkway East" will be reduced to one lane at exit
7. This means that anyone going to Kennywood from Pittsburgh on Sunday
morning will not enter the one lane traffic but could face some backup from
the traffic merger at the exit. The good news is that on a Sunday morning
the delays *should* be minimal but there are no guarantees. If it was
Saturday afternoon you'd likely encounter a severe delay through the
Squirrel Hill tunnel and a few miles back towards Pittsburgh.

Many times the weekend work wraps up on Sunday afternoon but it could
continue until early Monday morning. Those heading towards the Turnpike or
Monroeville after the event may need to enter the one way traffic. This one
way traffic apparently will also have to make a short detour completely off
of I-376 at exit 9. It's hard to say what the delay may be at that time on a
Sunday night but just be aware of possible delays if you take I-376
Eastbound.

Kennywood is also reporting that there are not currently any lane closures
in effect on the Rankin Bridge which is used to get from I-376 exit 7 to
Kennywood.


http://www.penndot11.com/I376SectionA38/updates.asp

Outbound (eastbound) single and double lane closures (one lane open in the
work zone) from 9 p.m. on Friday night, July 18, continuously
around-the-clock through 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 20, 2008. Single lane
traffic will begin at the Edgewood Swissvale Interchange (Exit 7) continuing
to the closure point at the Churchill Interchange (Exit 10A). Outbound
traffic will be forced to exit at the Greensburg Pike interchange (Exit 9)
and will be directed to use Penn Avenue (Route 2110) for the short detour
back onto the Parkway East at the Monroeville interchange. Signs will be
posted and police will assist with traffic movements. Once traffic renters
the outbound Parkway East, all lanes will fully reopen. Concrete patching,
paving, bridge deck resurfacing and expansion dam replacement, drainage work
and other improvement activities will occur. The full closure is needed due
to limited space on a bridge deck that is being replaced on the structure
that carries the outbound Parkway East over Route 130 (Beulah Road) at the
Churchill interchange.

Outbound Posted Detour:

Take the outbound Parkway East to the Greensburg Pike interchange (Exit 9)

At end of exit ramp, make right onto Graham Boulevard

Make right onto Penn Avenue (Route 2110)

Continue on Penn Avenue back to the eastbound (outbound) Parkway East

* * *

From the Kennywood website:

Good News!! The Rankin Bridge Construction project previously described on
this page will NOT negatively impact Kennywood visitors by reducing traffic
on the bridge to one lane each direction until after Labor Day.

--Tim Melago

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]]> Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:51:47 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/mini_tr_martin_s_fantasy_island_7_13_110135350t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/rec.rollercoaster/mini_tr_martin_s_fantasy_island_7_13_110135350t.html cancer treatments, bouts of tiredness and such, my coastering as been
quite limited this summer. I came home from church Sunday exhausted
and laid down about 1 PM. When I woke up about 3:15 I felt pretty
good, so I suggested to my son Ben (13) that we hit MFI for the
afternoon. We were there for about four hours from 4 to 8, and we
rode Silver Comet 10 times.

The Comet was running pretty good, but was just a small tad sluggish
on the second half of the ride (in the twister section). However over-
all the ride was running pretty good. The air in the back seat was
actually amazing on most of the drops, standing us straight up. In
fact I remarked to Ben on one of out backseat rides that the first
couple drops were giving almost Phoenix-like air. The park attendance
was very light, probably due to the fact that Canal Fest and Taste of
Buffalo, two of WNYs premier summer festivals, were going on at the
same time, so the coaster was pretty much a walk-on or one train wait
for most rides.

One of the ride ops, a girl named Angel, was really very nice and
accommodating. At one point we were next in line for the front seat.
The second to last seat was empty on the ride before ours, and she
offered us the chance to ride in that seat, then walk up to the front
seat for out next ride. Also if there were open seats when your train
got back into the station, she'd let you take one of those seats
instead of walking around. Very nice of her. She also slapped hands
with riders as the train left the station each time if you were so
inclined to do so.

I didn't ride much else besides Silver Comet. I rode the Bumper Cars
(very slow and plodding with not much strength in the way of
collisions), the train ride, the spinning mouse, and the log flume.
On the mouse our car only spun I think three times, but we did get to
go backwards down the last set of bumps, which was fun.

I like MFI’s log flume. Even though the ride is short and slow with
small hills, the drops do get you nice and wet. We were both totally
soaked after two rides.

Ben rode a few other rides including the Patriot and the Nitro (three
times). On his last ride on Nitro I was sitting on a bench across
from the ride waiting for his ride to end, and all of a sudden I saw
something fly out of the ride just as it peaked at its’ highest
point. The thing hit the ground and flew apart. I walked over to it
and it was a cell phone. The back was broken off, the battery had
fallen out, part of the case was cracked, and the screen had a huge
crack in it. I gave the pieces of the phone to the ride op and when
the ride ended he asked if anyone was missing their cell phone. The
guy who it belonged to was shocked. He had never even felt fall fly
out of the pocket of his shorts. I talked to the guy when he got off
the ride and told him how it had hit the ground and exploded. We put
it back together as best we could, and the damn thing still worked!
He couldn’t close it because of the cracked case (its’ a flip phone),
and it looked like crap, but it still worked! The guy took it pretty
well and laughed about it.

Even though its’ for the kids, I still enjoy the shoot-outs in Western
Town. We caught three of them. Two were different, and the one that
was the same “story” had a change in the cast as one of the guys who
played an the lead outlaw in the first time we saw it played the hero
the second time. The same ”outlaw” took the fall off the roof in all
three shows. Ben, Mr. Cool Teenager, tolerated the shoot-outs for
dear old Dad’s sake. However he did grab a used shotgun casing from
one of the shows and insisted on keeping it as a souvenir. One thing
that was different from past seasons is that they no longer do the
routine after the show where they “deputize” the kids in the crowd
giving them deputy badges. I thought that was a shame because I
remember really being excited by this as a small child.

All-in-all we had a pretty good time.

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]]> Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:52:41 PDT