homestar92

Here's an article that I found after a quick Google search. http://www.amusementtoday.com/2014/07/21/walter-larson-larson-international-founder-passes-away-in-texas/

He could put a feather in his hat and call it macaroni, though. I think that would be appropriate. We all know how much Goble enjoys macaroni.

Also, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act probably won't be of much help considering that the owner of the domain is in Canada. EDIT: beaten by Terpy. Also, my phone now has Terpy in its autocorrect dictionary apparently.

Disney California Adventure (which you actually mentioned) California's Great America Alabama Adventure Six Flags New Orleans Six Flags St. Louis. Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Over Georgia Six Flags Mexico OK, admittedly, there's a pretty big and easy-to-spot pattern here (which brings up an issue I have with a particular chain, but that's for another thread) and a couple of parks that are not operating for various reasons. But the main point is that while having a location (ANY location) in the name of a park is going to bring with it certain ideas about what you might expect to find, I don't think that alone is enough to REALLY make a difference. I mean, by your very logic as a liberal Ohioan from Columbus, would not the two Six Flags parks in Texas offer similar vibes in a lot of ways? And yet, those two parks are two of the most prominent ones on that list that I threw together. Let me also add that as a conservative Ohioan from Butler County, the idea of "California Adventure" or "California's Great America" offers its own baggage that, to me, is very similar to what you would experience looking at a park with the name "Kentucky Kingdom" so I do see where you're coming from (only my preconceived notions have some capacity to be overcome due to the parks in question actually being good, but that's another story). I really don't buy into its name really being pertinent to be honest. And look at what we've seen from the park. Change their name to "Super Awesome Funland" and leave every other aspect the same and I honestly don't see things being any different. The park is shooting itself in the foot badly enough right now. I actually think there's little negative impact that the name even COULD bring in considering what we've seen, because reputation-wise, they're doing a poor job. And it's a real shame, because they actually have a wonderful little collection of rides, and there's no denying that I've had a lot of fun in that park this season. As the name goes, I actually like it. Since the park is funded in part by the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I think it's only fair to give them some representation in its name (though I can see where they may not really want THAT sort of representation...) And for those who don't want to read my 12:00 AM ramblings, here's the short version: I think the fact that Kentucky is in their name is BY FAR the least of this park's issues right now.

I hope it's not done, but keep this in mind, everyone. If SR&R's time has come, then it's come. No amount of petitions are going to bring it back. Kings Island isn't going to tear out a popular family ride on a whim, and if it is leaving us, it's with good reason. I have full confidence that Kings Island and Cedar Fair will take the best possible course of action for all parties affected. The only thing I think we can postulate for now is that even if it's not leaving us, the ride isn't going to be back up and running for a little while. If SR&R leaves us, then I am grateful to have had an opportunity to enjoy this classic ride with multi-generational appeal. If not, then I know which ride I'll be headed to as soon as it opens back up. Just sit back, grab a Snickers and wait it out. No sense working yourselves into a tizzy over something that is completely beyond your control and, in the grand scheme of life, not terribly important.

Wait, you mean to tell me that Big Thunder Mountain isn't wooden? (kidding, by the way)

Be it Mantis or something else, I just wonder if the King James coaster will have a splashdown into a giant pile of chalk dust...

Clearly former Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory is not "almost anyone"

My Mommie Dearest doesn't allow me to have wire coat hangers.

If the drop on an Arrow dive machine were anything like the first drop on Vortex while seated in 7-1, it would be magical.

This reminds me of the early days of YouTube...

It would still jostle you just as much no matter what sort of restraints it had. You just wouldn't notice it as much if it had Banshee-style restraints.

1080p video on YouTube (which is at about the lowest bitrate that would be acceptable for that resolution) is somewhere between 3-4 mbps. So if you go with a bitrate in that realm, for 14 cameras, you're looking at a total 42-48 mbps for the entire train. Dispatch to brake run is about 1 minute, 45 seconds. That means that if it is to be transmitted wirelessly, you have the amount of time that the train is sitting in the station in which to transfer somewhere around 550-650 megabytes of data. It's a total guess, but I'd venture that you have somewhere between 40 seconds to a minute in the station, and you have to be able to get the video transferred in the shortest amount of time possible. Unless my math is wrong, you would need speeds that are certainly possible over wireless, but I'm not so sure you could do it in a coaster station full of metal, concrete, people, cell phones, and all sorts of other things that would harm the strength of the signal. I can't realistically see this happening with 802.11 wireless technology under the circumstances they'd be working with, but maybe Kings Island has something else up their sleeves. Of course, it all depends on the medium. If they're selling DVDs, then all they really need is 480p, GREATLY simplifying things, as the necessary bitrates are MUCH lower. Not to mention, it works on SlingShot for one camera. So we know that HD on-ride video is possible for one camera. It's just a matter of making it work for 14 and in the amount of time that the coaster is in the station.

Just look at the reverse POVs from several media outlets that were taken on Media Day. Those were taken with a GoPro (or similar small, ultra-portable camera). The permanent ones in place now are much larger and probably take even better video. But this still leaves me with one question. How do they get the footage reliably from point A (the camera) to point B (the computer that stores the captured videos) without dropouts or lower quality? On media day, they were able to remove the small cameras from the enclosures that they were in and swap in another to film the next rider while someone extracted the video from the previous camera on a laptop. The transfers were all done via SneakerNet (as techies like to call it) and so there were no complex file transfer mechanisms to work out. Wireless networking technology is good, but good enough to send (presumably) HD video from 14 cameras to some computer in the 30 seconds that a train sits in the station? I just don't see that being the case. Perhaps there is some sort of contact in the station that aligns with another contact on the train, allowing for a high-speed transfer over a hard line. I am legitimately more interested in the technology behind the product than I am in the product itself...

Ah. Yes. Now that you put it that way, I can definitely see where that could be an issue. I think it just goes to show how... not worthwhile (for lack of a better word) such a conversion would be. Mantis has a layout that is very intense for a standup coaster. Assuming (for the sake of argument) that everything could work out from a physiological, financial, legal, and any other relevant standpoint and this project were given the green light, how exciting and intense would it really be as a floorless? I haven't ridden a floorless personally, but it seems to me like Mantis has a layout that is very tame in comparison to a lot of them, judging by photos, videos, etc. that I've seen. Perhaps I'm wrong, though. It would bring a floorless coaster back into Ohio, but at the same time, we'd lose our last standup.

Or you could just start referring to the heartline as a corkscrew and call it a day.

Well, to be fair, there are currently two coasters named "The Racer". One is in West Mifflin, PA and opened in 1927. Then a few (by which I mean almost 50...) years later, they built the other currently operating Racer at Kings Island. That MUST be what he meant, right?

^ That's all well and good, but it probably won't happen. There are typically long periods of time between new coasters at Kennywood.

Placing floorless trains on Mantis wouldn't exactly be a simple thing, seeing as Cedar Point is in Ohio. Then again, if B&M were to officially say that it is OK, I think a lot of the complexities of that would go away.

As an added fun fact, the coaster from Final Destination 3 was a Vekoma.

The band organ sounds fantastic. I've heard recordings, but the real thing is just so much better. You can hear it with your own ears and see it with your own eyes. It still needs a bit of cosmetic work to be fully back to its original glory, but hey, baby steps. I'll take this as a massive win for now. But I do hope it gets the cosmetic TLC it deserves as well. I think for celebration, it's time to dust off this old girl! Admit it, you're jealous. Coincidentally, if anyone knows where I might find the other LP they made of our beautiful Wurlitzer 157, I'd love to own that one too.

^ Perhaps a go on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Rockin' Roller Coaster, or the newer iterations of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad would change your mind?

I hope that if B&M builds their own launched coaster, its launch isn't as tiresome as the one on Hulk.

Here's how I handle the locker situation. I bring into the park only two things: my wallet and my phone. These go into the zipper pocket in my cargo shorts (or cargo pants if it's chilly). I also have small travel sized tubes for sunblock, which go in the velcro pocket on the other side (so that if there is a spill, it only gets on my pants and not my wallet or phone). I can see no reason why much else would be needed. I drink free water in the park so I don't have to carry my souvenir cup. Food must either be purchased inside the park or consumed outside of the park, so that isn't a concern either. I'm also an early-twenties, recent college grad who typically goes solo to Kings Island and doesn't have a family to worry about. For a family with small children, I can see the need to have a whole bunch of stuff. But honestly, if you are there in a group comprised entirely of responsible adults, I see no reason that anyone should need more things than can fit in a pocket.