The first waterslide of its kind in the world, Omaka Rocka opens this spring at Aquatica, SeaWorld’s waterpark, in Orlando. Riders will speed down flumes into massive funnels, sliding high up one side and then the other, rocking back and forth, feeling a sensation of near weightlessness.

Thanks to Free range communications for sending the images through.

Thanks for reading.

]]> http://www.ridemad.com/omaka-rocka-aquatica-orlando-construction-photos/feed 0 http://www.ridemad.com/mumbo-jumbo-behind-the-scenes http://www.ridemad.com/mumbo-jumbo-behind-the-scenes#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:49:18 +0000 Admin http://ridemad.com/?p=346 Mumbo Jumbo the UK’s newest record breaking roller coaster opened in Flamingo Land for the 2009 season.

The ride manufactured by S&S boasts the world steepest first drop at a angle of 112 degrees. The ride cost varies depending on who you speak to but the average price tag seems to be around 4 million pounds.

When the questioned about the strange name of the ride its a reference to other parks falsely boasting about their latest attractions been the worlds first etc… hmm wonder who they mean .

The photographs were taken at various times of the day as you may notice from the dull skies.

We visited Flamingo Land as part of an organised tour with Club Pleasure Beach and had an exclusive ride session as well as a look behind the scenes and a chat with the staff and ride operators.

Here’s the pictures from that tour.

Ride Signage.

A view from the side showing the rides record breaking 112 degree angle first drop.

Another couple of ride shots.

4 Seat trains are used on Mumbo Jumbo.

Another train shot showing the water dummies parked on the transfer track.

A closer look at the trains.

A look underneath.

In the center the braking components and either side the chain dog (grabs the chain on the lift) and anti rollback (this causes the click, click sound when going up a lift hill)

The lift hill.

Motor.

On ride photographs.

Mumbo Jumbo structure showing evacuation platform.

General Track photographs.

If you would like to use any photographs from this set please get in touch via the contact form or paul@ridemad.com, im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of all the photographs used. Please don’t just use them without asking.

Thanks to Club Pleasure Beach and the operations staff at Flamingoland for making this trip possible.

Thanks for reading.

Ride tickets are £6 for adults and kids over 1.4m in height. £5 for concessions and £36 for a private gondola and for the really extravagant £40 for the private VIP gondola. Each gondola seats 6 people apart from the VIP one which only seats 4.

The wheel is 60 metres high but because of its elevated position it stands 80 metres about ground level.

The Wheel takes 10 riggers a week to build and is transported from site to site on 11 trucks.

On the day we rode it the wind was very strong and the gondolas do rock about a fair bit especially a height. but saying that we really enjoyed it and the great views of the city and would definitely ride again on my next visit to Liverpool.

Follow the post below and take a look at the rest of the photographs and video to accompany this.

Geek Shot.

Here’s a video to accompany the photographs.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you have any comment please use the comments below alternatively drop me an email using the contact form.

Thanks for reading

]]> http://www.ridemad.com/big-wheel-at-liverpool-one-liverpool/feed 0 http://www.ridemad.com/manta-at-seaworld-orlando http://www.ridemad.com/manta-at-seaworld-orlando#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:05:51 +0000 Admin http://ridemad.com/?p=316

Opened in 2009 Manta is the third B&M coaster at Seaworld in Orlando. Manta is the second flying coaster I have ridden after Air at Alton Towers in the UK. I really enjoyed Manta and at the time of year we visited in September the ride had hardly any queues.

For anyone who hasn’t rode I would recommend the back seat, its very intense and enjoyable.

I don’t really have that much more to say about Manta other than if your in Florida and you get the change to ride it, enjoy it

Manta at Sea world Lift Hill.

Manta’s stats, courtesy of http://www.rcdb.com

Length : 3359ft

Height : 140ft

Drop : 113ft

Max speed : 56mph

Duration : 2:35

Thanks for reading

New for the 2009 season at Lightwater Valley is a rapid ride rented from Showman James Mellor. The ride will be at the park for the 2009 season after which point both parties will review it’s suitability for the park.

I visited the park in April on a warmish day and the ride has a constant queue with at least 15/20 minute wait times, I can imagine this will get alot bigger over the coming summer months when the temperatures rise in the UK.

The ride has took the place of the Pinfari Grizzly Bear coaster which stood at the park from 2004, this ride has since been sold. I certainly wont miss it.

This update contains approximately 25 photographs taking during April at the park.

Originally built by G.V. Llewellyn in 1911 the Southport lakeside miniature railway has been operating for nearly 100 years on the site alongside the marine lake in Southport. The first train ran on the 25th may 1911 when the railway was called Llewellyn’s miniature railway after the builder and creator, this was later renamed to the Southport lakeside miniature railway as it’s known today.

The original route was a straight line which was extended in 1938 to add a sharp turn under the pier into the second station on the line the Marine Parade Station. The original station at this end of the line was called Princess Park which was closed when the extension and Marine Parade stations were built.

The materials for the line were supplied by Bassett-lowke a toy company based in Northampton who was established in 1899, the bassett-lowke brand name was bought by the famous model company Corgi in 1996 and railway locomotive products were relaunched by Corgi in 1999 at which point Bassett-lowke would have been 100 years old.

I have lots of memories of this railway as a family we would visit Southport every summer and spend a few hours on Pleasureland and take a trip on the miniature railway.

Lets take a look at how the railway is looking today

The main station as viewed from Pleasureland. I can remember back to when you bought tickets for the railway from the turnstile on the right hand side, this has been closed for a number of years now and these days tickets for the railway are purchased on the train. The fare for 2009 is £1.50 one way and £2 return.

On the platform looking back at the entrance way above.

Today the signage around the area is looking a bit washed out.

The main platform. I haven’t seen the line on the left operate for some time, can anyone confirm if this is still used, it certainly doesn’t look overgrown.

Looking back to the entrance from the top of the platform.

One of the storage sheds on the left hand side.

The Southport Miniature railway also operate a second engine, which I can only assume runs when the Miniature railway is busy. The shots below were taken on a busy day for the railway the passenger carriages were extended to almost double the previous size.

Train in the second station

The Marine Parade Station.

Signals

A view from the roadside looking at the station.

Again another shot from the second station

A look down at the second station

This shot is taken from a footbridge over the track.

A shot taken from above showing the track going of toward the main station.

Bridge just before pulling into the Marine Parade station – which can be seen in the distance.

A longer range shot of the bridge above adorned with graffiti

A view from the train this time, going under the bridge shown in the above photographs.

I seem to have an obsession with this bridge.

At this point the train has cleared the bridge above and its in the distance of the shot below just around the corner.

Moving quickly toward the main station, this is a shot from the rear of the train.

\

Southport Marine left is on the right hand side of the shot below.

Coming into the main Pleasureland station.

A view from the Pleasureland station showing the trains maintenance areas on the left hand side.

One of the maintenance areas.

And the second.

I would recomend this railway to anyone who has some spare time while visting Southport as it really is a gem. If you would like to contribute to this article or have any amendments you feel are factually correct then please get in touch via the contact form I would love to hear from you. Im not a railway enthusiast so any additional information is more than welcome.

Thanks for reading

I was fortunate enough to ride Millennium force a number of times during a visit to Cedar Point in 2007, we counted about 6 or 7 rides during our visit. After those experiences Millennium force dropped straight in at the number one spot as my favourite coaster.

Millennium force is a favourite of many enthusiasts and since its opening in May 2000 it’s never dropped below the 2nd ranking for the golden ticket awards “top steel roller coaster”.

Millennium force cost Cedar Point 25m USD to build and was built by Intamin AG over the winter of 1999.

Looking up at the lift hill  from the side of the station. Photograph taken on the cedar point railroad.

Looking up from the queueline.

The final banked turn into the station, at this point the trains are still running very quickly.

After the first drop a banked turn

Same view from a different angle

And again, you can see the height more clearly here

A couple for the technical guys. Millennium Force doesnt use a conventional chain lift as other coasters because of the sheer weight of the chain, opting instead for a cable driven system, a catchcar descends down the lift and hitches on underneath the center of the train, this in turn pulls the trains up the 45 degree lift hill to 310ft at which point the catchcar goes over the edge of the hill and disengages the train to start its 93mph ascent to the bottom of the first drop which is 80 degrees and 300ft.

Cable assembly at the bottom of the lift hill.

One of the many tunnels, the trains moved at some speed through these. Top thrill dragster in the background.

A train almost at the top.

Ride station.

Red car, hydraulic lap bars and seatbelt.

Inside the station.

I swear this elbow wasnt in the picture when I took it.

Final blast of airtime coming into the station.

Did i mention the big queues at Cedar Point, this one was about 2 hours.

Related youtube video of Millennium force.

Showing the construction.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On Ride video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And finally some facts about Millennium Force.

• Length 6595 ft
• Height 310 ft
• Drop 300 ft
• Top Speed 93 mph
• Duration 2:20
• Max vertical angle 80 degrees

Millennium force operates with 3 trains and has a capacity of 1300 riders per hour – Thanks for http://www.rcdb.com for the stats.

If you would like to use any photographs in this set please contact me using the contact form dont just steal them, if you have any commercial enquires again just use the contact form.

Thanks for reading.

]]> http://www.ridemad.com/millennium-force-at-cedar-point/feed 0 http://www.ridemad.com/hydro-oakwood-theme-park http://www.ridemad.com/hydro-oakwood-theme-park#comments Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:42:39 +0000 Admin http://ridemad.com/?p=236 Hydro at Oakwood is a ride thats had its fair share of media coverage since opening for the 2002 season. It’s a ride built by Intamin and is over 100ft tall with a almost vertical drop into a pool of millions of gallons of water, so much so that the first drop can generate a wave nearly 50 ft in height.

Dare you stand on the bridge running over the track when the ride train, they don’t call it a soak zone for nothing. Hydro gets you that wet Oakwood even went to the length of building a changing room just for Hydro customers to get dried out and a change of clothes.

Ive not been fortunate enough to ride Hydro as the day we visited was one of the wettest days I have ever had at a theme park and I certainly wasn’t going to queue up to get even wetter, even my daughter a 12yr old thrill seeker didn’t want to ride.

I have included these photographs as Oakwood is one of the most un photographed parks in the country, I’m not doing any PR for them just basically showing readers that haven’t been to Oakwood what they are missing out on. I have previously wrote a trip report on Oakwood if anyone wants to read it. Oakwood Trip Report.

Hydro Photographs.

Splash down.

The Soak Zone

Ride station and queue area.

Changing Rooms

In this shot you can see the amount of water that get in these boats, look at it pouring out from the rear.

Crazy drop.

Hugely powerful water pumps.

This shot was taken from the soak zone, looking at the drop.

Thanks for reading, if you have any comments please us the comment form alternatively use the contact form and get in touch. For any media enquiries please get in touch via the contact form.

Thanks for reading.

Originally installed in 1933 the main station was demolished by fire in 1934 and rebuilt under the architectural supervision of Joseph Emberton who went on to redesign most of the pleasure beach during the 30′s.  The new station opened in 1935 and was later rebuilt to a victorian style in 1970.

Two of the diesel powered trains Mary Louise a 462 Pacific type express and Carol Jean a 464 Baltic type engines were built at Hudswell works in Leeds, The third train Princess Royal was later renamed Geoffrey Thompson OBE, the parks then owner of the park. Another train Barbie acts as a track maintainance vehicle and can be often seen parked up outside the workshops.

The Train has two stations the main station where the trains are kept with a maintenance facility and workshops and the second station Star Holt named after the public house on the south side of Pleasure Beach Blackpool. Star Holt isn’t used very much since the south park entrance closed but you can still instruct the driver to drop you off or board at this once popular stop.

If anyone knows anymore information about the Pleasure beach express please get in touch Id love to know some more about it, as you can tell my knowledge on the subject of trains is very limited.

Heres a collection of photographs ive taken over the last few years of visiting Pleasure Beach.

The stations.

Firstly the main station opposite Beaver Creek.

Bridge over the minature railway.

Victorian designed station, this photograph was taken from the rear of the train, im not sure on actually capacity but it must be getting on for 100 guests.

Footbridge, walk down the steps to enter the station

The same footbridge shot from the rear, showing the connection to the station.

View from inside the station, Space invader 2 roller coaster and Beaver Creek in the background.

Original engine fitted to the Princess royal train.

This display shows the route of Pleasure Beach express as well as a number of photographs taken along the route.

This sign is above the display above.

2nd Station Star Halt.

Complete with adverts from the period.

Taken from inside the train showing the back wall of Star Halt.

All aboard the train ready to depart.

Lets take a trip on Pleasure Beach Express, any purists reading this the photographs may not be in complete order so please dont tell me their not 

On the way back into the station you go passed a small model village.

Another shot of the model village, Revolution (orange track) and Avalanche in the distance.

From inside one of the tunnels, this one is just before coming back onto the final straight back into the station.

Various wildlife along the route.

Jim’s quick sand named after former park manager Jim Rowlands.

Skull Island.

One of the many skulls hanging down.

Wildlife

Totem Pole

A number of whistle signs along the route.

Looking ahead to skull island and the hanging skulls.

To the right the big blue hotel, wooden coaster big dipper and the Pepsi Max Big One.

Another Tunnel.

Zebra’s scattered along the way

The skull again this time with clear water

Big Dipper again

More wildlife.

Engine number 4473 – Carol Jean

Minature signal box near the main station.

Pepsi Max big one, photo spot.

This sign is above the workshops.

Underneath the Pepsi Max Big one station.

A behind the scenes look at Pleasure Beach Express.

Thanks for Club Pleasure Beach and the management of Pleasure Beach Blackpool for arranging this tour.

Barbie

Carol Jean.

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or would like to use any photographs from this gallery please get in touch, don’t just steal the photographs im more than happy to share and i dont want to start pasting huge copyright notices across them as it spoils it for everyone then.

Thanks again for reading.

]]> http://www.ridemad.com/pleasure-beach-express-pleasure-beach-blackpool/feed 0 http://www.ridemad.com/nemesis-at-alton-towers-behind-the-scenes http://www.ridemad.com/nemesis-at-alton-towers-behind-the-scenes#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:35:22 +0000 Admin http://ridemad.com/?p=217

opened in 1994 Nemesis at a cost of ten million pounds quickly became a favourite coaster amongst enthusiasts and the public alike.

I dont count coasters or number of rides on a particular coaster but if i were to look back over the years to 1994 my count would be well into the hundreds if not more.

A trip to Alton towers just isnt the same without a ride on Nemesis for me and many other enthusiasts. I hope you enjoy the photographs.

Some ride stats.
Height 43ft
Drop 104ft
Length 2,349ft
Max speed 50mph
Inversions 4
Duration 1m 20secs.
Capacity 1,400 riders per hour.

We were fortunate enough to have a behind the scenes tour of the ride in July 2007, this was an organised tour arranged by the park and these are the pictures taken on that event.

Bottom of the Nemesis lift hill looking up.

Bottom of the Nemesis lift hill looking up.

Part way up the Nemesis lift hill.

A picture taken from part way up the Nemesis lift hill.

Looking back near the top of the lift hil..

Just about at the top of the lift hil.

View from the top of the Nemesis lift hill looking down. It was all too much for Andy.

Nemesis loop taken from the top of the lift hill.

Looking at the station from the rear of the ride entrance.

From in front of the control desk looking back.

Something for the wheel geeks.

Nemesis Control panel/ops seat.

Outside the rear of the entrance looking at the train storage/maintenance area.

Ready to go in the maintenance area.

Looking back at the final brakes, notice the track has moved.

Thanks for looking.

This is a set of photographs taken during July 2008 of the Back lot tour ride at Disneyland Paris.

The ride is similar to the one at Orlando but the tour doesnt start on foot, each tour is done on the trams which you stay on until you return back to the loading bay.

Each trip lasts about 15 minutes and you have plenty of time for taking pictures during this trip.

I actually preferred this ride to the one we had done previously in Orlando back in Febraury, apart from been allot newer than the Orlando Back lot tour the duration was just right and didnt involve the pre show antics which are featured in Florida.

The Backlot tour ride opened in Walt Disney Studios, Disneyland Paris in March 2002 when the studios part of Disneyland Paris area was opened.

One of the shuttles from Armegeddon, obviously the one that didnt get blown up on entering the asteroid.

Various film items along the full stretch of the back lot tour, half of which I have no idea where they came from.

More props.

Items from 102 Dalmations.

Dinosaur.

Catastrophe Canyon.

Around the back of the above stunt, its suprising how big this set really is and the amount of water that’s required.

Some of the pumps for the above set.

I think these are from Pearl Harbour

Costume department, Below the clothes from Narnia.

Loads of cars from the movies. too many to mention.

This is a London Street from reign of fire.

Crushed Volvo.

More cars from 101 Dalmations.

Thanks for reading, if you would like to discuss this article further either leave a comment, contact me using the contact form or join in at the ridemad forums

Thanks for reading.

Built by Bolliger and Mabillard (B & M) Mantis is another unique ride experience at Cedar Point. Guests board stand up trains and fly down a 145-foot-tall first hill at a top speed of 60 mph.

This stand-up roller coaster turns riders upside down a total of four times, includes a 137-foot drop at a 52 degree angle.

Here’s some brief details about the ride.

In 2007 Cedar Point recorded 983,445 guests riding Mantis. I visited in June 2007 and rode this twice the first time after a considerable 1hr 30 minute queue in the scorching heat.

Technical details.

Capacity    Approximately 1,800 riders per hour
Features    119-foot-tall vertical loop, 103-foot-high dive loop, heavily banked 360-degree turn, 83-foot-tall inclined loop, 360-degree flat spin, figure-eight finale.
Ride Time    Approximately 2 minutes, 40 seconds
Speed    Approximately 60 mph
Cost    $12 million
Manufacturer    Bolliger & Mabillard (B & M), Monthey, Switzerland

Physical Dimensions

Angle of Descent    52 degrees
Lift Height    145 feet
Track Length    3,900 feet
Vertical Drop    137 feet
Vertical Loop Height    119

Vehicles
Eight rows of passengers standing four-across, Three 32-passenger trains
Vehicle Design    Single ergonomically adjustable pillars with shoulder harnesses
Number of Trains    3

Pictures

Thanks for reading

Want to discuss this further visit the forums or use the contact form at the top of the page.

One of the many highlights for me of a trip to somewhere like Disney is the dark rides.

With attractions like It’s a small world and Pirates topping the list. This first set of photographs covers most of the small world ride, however some photographs and sets are missing due to the fact the ride is very dark in places and ISO 1600 on my camera is the best I have for low light.

Its a short ride and to me one of the great disney classics.

Before getting to the attraction here’s some history gathered from Wiki.

It’s a small world History.

In 1956, Walt Disney attended a conference, along with many other notable celebrities of the time, at the invitation of President Eisenhower. The conference was about founding a national organization to help promote world peace through international civilian travel. (This dream became a reality in 1956, when Eisenhower founded the People to People Student Ambassador Program.) Inspired by the ideas from the meeting, Disney returned to California and set to work, creating the “It’s A Small World” ride at Disneyland.

Like several other Disneyland attractions, “It’s a Small World” originated with the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair (it was Pepsi’s pavilion.) After the fair closed, the ride was transferred to Disneyland along with three other attractions from the fair that year; Primeval World Diorama, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Carousel of Progress.

The attraction’s design was done by Mary Blair, who was also an art director on several Disney animated features (including Cinderella and Peter Pan). Like many Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions, scenes and characters were designed by Marc Davis, while his wife, Alice Davis, designed the costumes for the dolls. Blaine Gibson sculpted the animatronic figures, while Harriet Burns painted them. Many of the dolls were created by Joyce Carlson who is honored with a shop window along the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street U.S.A. The sign there reads: “Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World.” Rolly Crump designed the Tower of the Four Winds (a huge structure controlled by the four winds, which stood at the entrance to the attraction at the World’s Fair).

The name of the ride was originally “children of the world”. When Walt Disney demonstrated it to songwriters Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, the ride’s soundtrack featured numerous national anthems all playing at once. Disney said, “I need one song.” In response, the brothers wrote one of the best known Disney tunes of all time: It’s a Small World (After All). It is argued that the song may be the most performed and translated song on earth.

On January 22nd, 2008, Disneyland closed its version of the ride until November 29th for refurbishment. Rumors of removing the rainforest scene for a United States scene were squashed by a memo from Marty Sklar, but various Disney characters will seamlessly be added throughout the attraction, which has received mixed feedback.

Paris.

In Disneyland Resort Paris, the ride is different from, but similar to, the other versions of the ride. The backgrounds and music are all different and there is a new room: a North America room, with dolls representing Canada and the United States. This version also has a complete Middle Eastern section in which the song is sung in Arabic. In the finale scene, the song is sung in German and English as well as French.

The song, we all know the song

The well-known catchiness of the song is due not only to its constant repetition for the duration of the ride (which lasts about fifteen minutes, not including time in line), but Robert B. Sherman explains that the structure of the song may also play a role:

Like many songs, “It’s a Small World” has a verse and a chorus. One thing which makes this song particularly ‘catchy’ is that the verse and chorus work in counterpoint to each other. This means that you can play the same chords over and over again, but with different melodies. The repetitive, yet varied pattern tricks your mind into absorbing the work without it becoming tiresome to your ear.

Additionally, the World’s Fair version of the song is the one commonly heard on various Disney compilation albums. The song also inspired a Disney Read-Along.

The song was later given two covers for the dance video game Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix: a Eurobeat cover by ABeatC All Stars and a Happy Hardcore instrumental remix entitled “IT’S A SMALL WORLD (Ducking Hardcore MIX)” by TOMOSUKE and U1-ASAMI, which featured sampling of Donald Duck and was the hardest song in the game. In Ecuador, this song serves as a theme for the chain of toy stores called Mi Juguetería. The original 1964 version of the song can be heard as one enters the store.

The Ride.

Thanks for reading

Want to discuss this further visit the forums

The Blackpool Pleasure Beach Monorail is no different to this and the 10 minute journey around the park gives the visitor a great view of the world.

Pleasure Beach Blackpool bought the monorail in 1964 from the Lausanne expo in Switzerland and it was opened

in Pleasure Beach in 1966. Some great photographs showing the opening can be seen on the park in the north booking office. The monorail was extended after opening with a loop around the first floor of the Casino building.

These behind the scenes photographs were taken during an organised visit by Club Pleasure beach during May 2008.

Monorail storage areas.

Monorail maintenance vehicle, I would love to see this moving around the track.

The Transfer track.

The transfer track for the monorail is located just outside the maintenance/storage area.

The teeth turn below and another piece of track moves into position to allow the train the enter the storage/maintenance area.

Some general track photographs.

Track heading towards Valhalla.

The opposite way towards north car park.

Into the first of the covered areas.

Monorail in action.

Id like to thank Club Pleasure Beach for arranging this trip and the Pleasure Beach management for the tour.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used

Thanks for Reading.

Taken from the Universal Islands of adventure website Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw falls is one of the most eloborate over the top log flume rides I have ever had the pleasure of riding, Based in the toon lagoon area of the park you cant miss this ride and the buzz of the crowds as they line up on the bridge to take photographs.

It seems we are all fascinated about watching others get a complete soaking.

oh and you do get wet, if you think you have got away with it after the drop these guns on the far side of the flume ensure you arent left out.

Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw falls has operated at Universal Islands of Adventure since 1999. The final drop is 75ft and the ride can hold something like 400,000 gallons of water.

The ride duration is about 5 minutes and during this time you are immersed in the story and the themeing of the ride.

Heres the rest of the photographs taken as part of this trip.

Heres a youtube video showing the full ride.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

Top Thrill Dragster was introduced to Cedar Point in 2003. It was made by Intamin and has a height of 420ft, at one point it was the highest coaster in the world, only to be overtaken in 2005 by Kingda Ka at Six flags great adventure, New Jersey at 456ft.

The ride has a top speed of 120mph which is reached in a breathtaking 4 seconds.

For those that requested here’s some of my pictures taken during this trip. I hope you like them.

A couple of the ride entrance.

The Queue line, really feeling the heat about a 1 hour wait.

finally inside the entrance.

The Trains.

Waiting to Launch.

Seconds later.

End of the launch for the hydraulic geeks.

Some general shots of the ride.

Ride Structure.

Ride Exit.

And finally one of my favourite shots took about 8:30pm as the sun was going down.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used.

Thanks for Reading.

The Incredible Hulk was a coaster I was really looking forward to riding in Florida, located on the Marvel Super hero island themed area in Islands of adventure the hulk dominates the skyline, it can also be seen from most other areas of this superbly themed theme park.

Built by B&M in 1999 and with a top speed of 67mph the Hulk is still entertaining thousands of visitors daily.

Huge Cobra roll.

On our visit in February 2008 the park was quite busy so we decided to buy fast pass for all the big attraction to save queuing for most of the day. Our party was 2 adults and 2 children with only 1 adult and 1 child wanting to ride the coasters. The queue lines were showing upwards of 40 minutes for most rides so although costing another 140 dollars the fast pass worked out for us and it saved the good old arguements between the kids about how many rides each of them had.

Like everything at Universal the hulk is brilliantly themed some of it over water and in the evenings Universal take advantage of this and light up the coaster.

For anyone who hasn’t ridden the Hulk its a launched coaster so you don’t have any of the click, click when going up the first hill. The hulk is propelled by tyres up to its max height of 110ft the launch is in a tunnel so you have the feeling of not knowing what is coming next and before you realize it your at the top of the launch hill and daylight is coming fast. One of the great elements of the hulk is at the top of the launch rather unlike a traditional coaster of going down the hulk flips you 360 degrees so your right into the action which continues over the full 3700ft of track.

My daughter who is 11 complained about the ride quality of the hulk and she suffered some quite bad ear bashing to both sides of her head, it was completely opposite for me but i am taller and her ears were right in between the restraints. Its worth bearing this in mind if you havent ridden it before It could put some children off, my daughter is a hardened rider and although she didnt want to ride the hulk again it didnt put her off wanting to try the other coasters.

Heres the pictures.

from a distance.

Bottom of the launch hill.

Another shot of the cobra roll.

And some general shots and a video.

Video i found on youtube. Theres loads of on ride videos but this seem to have the best quality.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

The ride was redesigned during this time and following a soft opening in September 1993 it offically reopened in 1994. The ride was opened by two of the films stars Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) and Brody’s wife (Lorraine Gray)

Out of all the rides and attraction at Universal Studios Jaws is one of those rides I had most looked forward to visiting. Im a huge fan of the Jaws films especially the first one and can still recall with anorak accuracy some of the most famous lines from the film. 

As you have probably guessed Jaws is a boat ride around the make believe Island called Amity, home to Chief Brody.

The theming as you would expect from Universal is fantastic. I’ll start this look at the attraction from the outside, queue line and then a trip on one of the Amity Boats.

One of the most popular images from the film, the bill board advertising the 4th July annual regatta.

The Queueline.

Lots of props.

The island and theming.

One of the many tour boats.

The ride itself goes completely around the Island and back into the loading bay. Along the route you come across various fishy/sharky scares along the way and its almost a guarantee that you will get splashed if you sit on either side of the boat. Although for me the left side was the worst.

I must say the boat drivers/guide on this ride are absolute nuts and no matter how many times they have done this attraction and the script they dont fail to get a feeling of suspence over the visitors, if someone tongue in cheek.  

Previous tour boat or shark attack.

Our first encounter with Jaws.

Were gonna need a bigger boat.

To avoid further attacks we take shelter in a salvage shed.

Flames/gas and electrical cables, never a good combination.

  

Here’s Jaws for a bit more action and the final attack on the boat.

Poor Jaws. but he doesn’t give in.

The trip back into the station.

My opinion on this.

Well for what its worth it is showing it’s age but I still feel its a great attraction that the whole family can enjoy. Initially my children were a bit bothered in case it came near the boat.. but if you have kids and they are slightly nervous just sit them in the middle of the boat.

I sat on the left hand side facing the driver and you seem to get more visibility of Jaws and more action on this side.

I purposely missed out some bits of the ride and the running commentary by the guides, I dont want to spoil this for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to ride this.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

This article isnt going to be a ride spoiler as such, more an in depth looking behind the scenes of one of the parks most spectacular dark rides.

Hex is a Vekoma Haunted Swing ride, it has operated at the park since 2000. Its located in the towers and well you cant really miss a big great tower.

The control room for Hex is around the back of the towers. Here’s a couple of shots of the main ride operators console.

In the shot below you can see a screen just where the operators elbow is. This controls the full attraction from start to finish the music/effects everything. Its all perfectly timed for the audience. Just behind the green wall is the final queue line to get into the ride chamber itself.

And a close up of the panel (for the guy in Canada who said it wasnt made by Vekoma.!

The rotating room.

*SPOILER*

As you have probably guessed the attraction sits inside a huge drum similar to a washing machine with a center pivot for the seats. the room rotates in huge pit and its quite difficult to get a decent picture, but heres my effort anyway.

This is a picture taken from the side of the attraction looking up, the big white steel bar is the pivot point for the seats.

This is taken from the first operators console looking back at the queue line.

A couple of similar views at different angles.

Turning around now looking at the operators console.

Ever wondered what those numbers are whilst your queuing for Hex. Basically it tells the operator how many people have passed through the entry turnstile. Hex has a capacity of 78 people every few minutes, once they hit 78 the pre show starts.

Once through the turn style this is where you wait for the rest of the customers.

Once enough people are in the queue the doors in front are open and you enter the video room.

Inside the video room.

Im not going to spoil this for anyone, if you want to see the show theres a copy on youtube.

After the show which lasts a few minutes the doors open and your led into the next room.

Again I wont spoil this for anyone who hasn’t been through Hex, so heres a few photographs.

The lighting rig in the center of the room, this is dropped to the floor during winter for maintenance.

The theming in Hex is fantastic.

After a short time you are lead through to the ride.

Seats.

And finally the fallen branch. – Don’t know what this means then take a trip through Hex next time your at Alton Towers.

Thats the end of the tour, thanks to Alton towers and Club pleasure beach for arranging this tour, we also viewed a few more attractions at Alton towers this day, to see a complete list of behind the scenes tours on ridemad click Behind the scenes

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

When queuing the kids all have their photographs taken and then they are lead out to a holding pen, once the pen is full the kids are walked through to the driving school where they get to pick their own single seat electric car. After a quick briefing by the staff the attraction is started on a 5 minute or so timer, after this period the cars just stop wherever they are and the kids get off and make way for the next bunch. In total they have about 20 cars operating at a time. Each car doesn’t go any faster than walking speed.

The attraction is very elaborately themed with bright colours and animals as you would expect, all the road markings in the driving school are marked out identically as we see on UK roads with roundabouts, give way junctions and stop signs. Of course try telling a child to stop and wait for people to go past is a bit of a joke as they take no notice and it’s quite common for the odd head on or side shunt from another child. Some kids are quite happy to go round roundabouts the wrong way, up kerbs, crash into traffic lights and even run over some of the Alton Towers staff who are trying to control the chaos.

They also have traffic lights again most kids ignore these as the excitement of controlling their own cars gets the better of them. At the far side of the attraction opposite where you enter they have a tunnel (car wash) that the kids drive through and a bubble machine which throws thousands of soap suds into the air.

This is a great attraction for younger children it’s also great for the adults to watch on at the chaos they are causing. Alton Towers has a few staff who work in the attraction that act as roadside assistance, clear traffic jams and generally help the kids along. There is also a bridge over the track that parent/guardians can look down on the kids or take photographs/video of them as they go around, of course stand on the bridge get your camera ready and the kids generally go the other way as they are concentrating that much.

This attraction is a great addition to the parks line up of attractions for younger children. Children have to be between 1.0m and 1.4m to drive the cars.

The cars are parked inside at night and are charged up ready for the next day, 12v chargers are plugged into all cars overnight.

Next time your at Alton towers with the kids its worth stopping for 10 minutes.

Heres a few pictures of the attraction taking during September 2007.

Zebra crossing with a Zebra.

The elaborate theming.

A couple of views from the top of the Bridge.

Looking down to the car wash.

The Car Wash.

The Car wash foam.

The Advanced Driving Area, this is a bit more challenging for the kids, although not many use it.

You have every reason to hide.

My Daughter, her mum taught her to drive

General Views.

Behind the scenes in the workshop/charging area.

Cars plugged in for the evening.

Underside of a car.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.