As I am in the process of packing up all of my things for my move to Texas I came across all of my old RCT stuff. I have everything from the orginal to RCT3. I never bothered to get any expansion packs aside from the first series. I remember how much I loved the game when I got it and how great RCT2 was.
Then RCT3 came out and it was a huge bust in my book. The graphics were too cartoony, the game took forever to load, and moving …

I read a comment on a forum this evening that got me thinking. The poster was commenting on the fact that Terminator’s on board audio computer (SOBAT for short, I believe) is exposed as the last car on the train, same as with X2. However with rides like California Screamin’ or Space Mountain the SOBAT is completely integrated into the train, and he was wondering why. One word: Money, moolah, the green stuff, etc.

GordonRides and DynamicDesigns have unveiled a new take on an old classic - The Whip. Now the closest I have come to riding one of these bad boys (the classics, I mean) is the kiddiewhip at Knott’s Berry Farm when I was seven years old. However, as most of our east coast members (Yeah, pretty much everyone but me) could tell you, these rides back a heck of a punch.
So why change something that has proven successful for over fifty years? (My grandparents talk about The Whip at Coney Island, …

A fairly new trend among amusement parks (theme parks, whatever) is tying in a new film with a new ride in order to better advertise the film and ride, such as we are seeing with Six Flags Magic Mountain’s new roller coaster Terminator: Salvation: The Ride. Stupid double colon titles…

Now to me, this seems like a VERY risky move for the park. You’re betting the marketability of a ride on a movie that may or not be a success (speaking of word of mouth only, you’re kidding yourself if you …

I was reading a photo trip report over on Theme Park Review today that featured the opening day of Knoebel’s out in Elysburg Pennsylvania. Here’s the link, so you can know what I am referring to.

In the comments in our latest Poll of the Week along with some postings in the Diamondback thread over at RCPro the term “gimmick” was mentioned a few times, and.. not necessarily in a good way. I thought that this was interesting, and also a little confusing to be perfectly honest. While I understand the desire of coaster enthusiasts to have a “complete ride” I don’t see what’s wrong with a park trying to offer something unique in order to differentiate their product from other parks, after all.. they’re in …

In first part of this series I asked you what factors someone should consider if you are getting married on a coaster. I got some interesting responses and already a few suggestions on which coaster I would go after if I did get married on a coaster. Sadly I am not, but here are the following areas I am going to consider when picking out there ride.

Capacity
Restraint style
Seating arrangement
Station design and size
Park location
Overall coaster design to account for roughness, height, and inversions

We are going to take a look at …

The time is 1987, the place is “Adventureland” (Played by Kennywood in West Mifflin,  Pennsylvania), the lead is Jesse Eisenberg. A college graduate that is forced to take up a summer job at the.. less than shining example of a good amusement park in order to pay for graduate school.

I love theme parks, and I would imagine that you do as well, given that you’re reading an Amusement Industry blog. But if there’s one thing I don’t love, far from love in fact, very close to hate about theme parks in general are the prices. That’s one of the reasons I don’t go to parks all that often any more. After paying sixty bucks to get inside a park, I don’t want to have to pay three dollars (more at Six Flags and Knott’s) for a soda I can …

Yesterday the Theme Park Insider tournament to find “The Best Ride in America” closed with Revenge of the Mummy (Universal Studios Orlando) taking down Millennium Force (Cedar Point) - much to the Cedar Point fan’s dismay (very.. vocal dismay). Despite some late round shenanigans that caused today’s poll to close early (Automated Bot’s were being sent to vote for Millennium Force) the tournament was largely a big success - especially for Theme Park Insider’s traffic! Holy toledo!
Now, because I can’t help but insert my own opinion on the winner.. I …