Port Orleans Riverside Map and Review

My wife and I visited the Walt Disney World resort for a long weekend.  Although I’d been to the Magic Kingdom many times, this was only my second time staying overnight on Disney property. Disney ranks their hotel resorts by different categories from cheapest to most expensive: value, moderate, deluxe, deluxe villas. The first time we stayed at one of the All-Star hotels, a value resort not directly connected to anything. This time we opted for a moderate resort, Port Orleans Riverside, connected to Downtown Disney via a half hour boat ride down a winding river (relaxing but feels like it takes forever).

I thought the moderate hotel was a huge step up from the value resort. The interior of the room was wonderfully themed. The pool and lobby areas were also well done. I recommend staying in a Disney resort, especially if you have kids, for all the little things they do that you don’t expect that add up to make your stay more memorable, such as arranging the towels in the shapes of Mickey or other animals, giving you pins to wear that say “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary”, and so on.

The biggest complaint about staying on property is the buses. It’s really hit or miss - sometimes you get right on and go and other times you may wait up to a half an hour only to have to stand the entire trip next to some sweaty, over-weight tourist who keeps bumping into you. I guess it does beat having to drive a car around yourself though. Oh, and they should have more or larger hot tubs!

Next time I think I would much prefer to stay at the Yacht or Beach Club resort, not because it is a deluxe resort, but mostly because of its superb location: Epcot is walking distance, you can take a short boat ride to the Studios, a monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom, and you’ve got Boardwalk and Fantasia golf in walking distance for nighttime entertainment (meaning you only would have to take a bus to get to Animal Kingdom or Downtown Disney).

We also did the dining plan for the first time. Price wise it was probably a wash but it was really awesome not to have to take out my credit card once during the trip (everything was paid for before we left) we just used our hotel room keys to use the meal plan. You also get a refillable mug to get unlimited free drinks in the food court at the hotel.

Pictured below is the Port Orleans Riverside map.

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Holiday Gift Ideas for Theme Park Fans

The holiday season is officially here and it’s time to go shopping for your fellow theme park fan! Listed below are some ideas I came up of what to buy a theme park fan for Christmas. Some of these items I personally own and others are on my wishlist as well.

Amusement Park Books

Coasters 101: An Engineer’s Guide to Roller Coaster Design: Shameless self plug here. The most in-depth look at how modern roller coasters are designed from concept to creation, including some of the physics and engineering equations used.

Theme Park Design: Behind the Scene with An Engineer- Steve Alcorn’s book is a must read for anyone considering a career in the theme park industry.

What Would Walt Do? – The story of a construction worker during the creation of the Walt Disney World resort after the death of Walt Disney.

Disney World Saving Guide - An ex-Disney employee reveals tips on how to save money on your next vacation to Disney World.

Things To Do in Theme Park Queues – This entertaining book will make your visit to a busy theme park even more enjoyable.


Theme Park Games

Theme Park (Nintendo DS):  Control everything, from the speed of your rides to the amount of ice in your drinks
Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum: Let’s face it, it’s going to be awhile before RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 comes out (if ever) so this is the next best thing, especially with RCT3D being so disappointing. RCT3 Platinum combines the excitement and roller coaster, theme park fun of the Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 with included expansion packs Soaked! and Wild! Now enjoy more options than ever. Build your own water slide or create your own safari with real animals. Watch guest reactions to your ultimate theme park!

Theme Park Toys

K'NEX Thrill Rides - Hot Shot! Video Coaster: Featuring a coaster car with on-board digital video camera, builders can now see what it would be like to ride their own creations, can share their building achievements with family and friends, and can even edit their own personalized movies.

Turtle Amusement Park Ride Model by Coaster Dynamix: This model is hand-assembled in the USA using laser-cut birch plywood.

Other Suggestions
Give a season pass to your local amusement park, zoo, or aquarium.

Give Yourself a Raise: My free report on how to make a residual income from the internet in your spare time (second edition).

What gifts are you getting your fellow theme park fans for the holidays? Please let me know by commenting below!

Second Edition of Coasters 101 Released

Pick your amusement park, anywhere on the planet, and where are the longest, most aggravating lines? The roller coasters! A blazing fast thrill ride that just keeps pushing the envelope - to the daredevil delight of thousands. But as loopy as the creativity gets or the steeper the drop, or the faster the turns and the louder the screams- one thing they aren't, overall, is unsafe.

Find out how roller coasters are designed with the highest of safety standards by reading Coasters 101: An Engineer’s Guide to Roller Coaster Design by Nick Weisenberger. Warning: Side effects of reading may cause dizziness, nausea, or the sudden urge to visit a theme park.

The newly revised Second Edition includes interesting added content like:

• Evolution of the roller coaster
• Detailed description on launch systems
• A people powered coaster
• How a 4th dimension coaster works
• the modern vertical loop
• and much more!

Click here to see all available formats where you can purchase the book.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3DS Drama

RollerCoaster Tycoon for the Nintendo 3D  was released yesterday... I think. Amazon.com currently lists it as “Out of Stock.” Not surprising, as the game has been hit by delay after delay, which according to one reviewer (who somehow actually got their hands on the game) “took the game from ‘unplayable and terrible’ to just ‘terrible’.” That’s very troubling and disappointing for all RCT fans to hear. It's been eight years since the last RollerCoaster Tycoon game, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, initially hit retailers. You would think in that time span the developers would have thought of some cool new features other than adding a new story mode.

In fact, RCT3D appears to be missing many features which were a staple of past games, like you can’t name your rides or adjust their color scheme, terrain can’t be modified (which means no tunnels!), no weather, no fireworks, no signs, and many missing ride types.I think one reviewer summed it up best: “RollerCoaster Tycoon 3D is a lazy, featureless shell of its predecessors”.

I have not played the game personally, but RCT3D sadly sounds like it does not deliver the goods. You’re better off pulling out your old copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. RCT fans will have to wait until the true RCT4 comes out on PC (if it ever does) to get their coaster building fix.

Have you played Roller Coaster Tycoon for 3Ds? What do you think? Share your review below!

Roller Coaster Design Project

Have you ever wanted to design your own roller coaster? Sure, many of us have. But I’m not talking about using a computer game like RollerCoaster Tycoon or NoLimits. I’m talking about using real roller coaster physics formulas and equations. I recently had the chance to interview a mechanical engineering college student and aspiring roller coaster engineer who has done just that! He has designed his very own GCI inspired wooden roller coaster using only a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and MatLAB. Read all about this roller coaster design spreadsheet on my Excel Spreadsheets Help blog.

Funny Fridays: Reasons for going to an amusement park

I'm starting a new Friday series where every week (or maybe every other week honestly) I plan on posting a funny graphic, image, or video. Today, we begin with this eCard from someecards.com.

Cedar Point 2013 GateKeeper Layout

The layout for Cedar Point's 2013 record breaking wing coaster has leaked online a day before the official announcement. GateKeeper will be large and in charge at the front of the park. This will be B&M's fifth wing coaster built in three years and will be the world's tallest, fastest, and longest. The official announcement is scheduled for 3:30pm EST tomorrow (Monday, August13). Pictured below is the Gatekeeper layout image released by the Sandusky Register and on Cedar Point's website.

Books in Theme Park Stores

This post is a continuationof the conversation I was having with a colleague about theme park books. Until this conversation happened, I had never really thought about trying to get a book stocked inside a theme park store before. Outside of Disney, there’s only one type of book I recall seeing in a theme park shop and they all belong to the same “Images of America” series (Holiday World and HersheyPark). Disney has a few smaller sized books such as the “Imagineering field guides” and “Fnd the Hidden Mickeys” that were intended to be taken into the theme park with you. In my experience and travels I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen anyone reading a book at a park before. If you’re looking for something for guests to do while in the queue you’d be much better off developing some sort of interactive iPhone or iPad application.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. The Columbus Zoo does have a few books in their gift shops but they’re mainly picture books. I would try to get something physical put together first before pitching the idea to a park. Based on the books I mentioned above, it seems most parks might be more willing to stock a book in their gift stores if the content were about their specific park or product (you think you’d find a book about HersheyPark inside Cedar Point? Yeah, right).

What do you think? Have you ever seen anyone reading a book in a theme park? Are there any specific park stores which come to mind that stock a variety of books? I would love to hear your feedback!

RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Release Date Website

A new website has popped up called RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 release date. While there isn’t really a whole lot of new information, they do list out a timeline of known events and information about the upcoming roller coaster simulation game. They also promise to be the first website to post any updates on the RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 release date as soon as it becomes available, although I don’t expect to hear anything until after RCT3D hits the market.

What is RCT3D you ask? It’s the next installment of the Roller Coaster Tycoon series. However, this latest game is only available on the Nintendo 3DS handheld system. After being delayed several times, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3D is still set for a release date of August 28th (which you can pre-order here).

I also encourage you to sign up for the RCT newsletter to be the first to know about a new giveaway contest I will be hosting coming up soon with some prizes geared toward theme park nerds.

If you haven’t noticed, I added a link above to a new page on this blog called Ride Layouts. Here I plan on including links to all my posts where I’ve displayed ride layouts, blueprints, and diagrams, especially those classic Disney attractions.

Writing a Roller Coaster Book

A reader recently emailed me asking about how I went about researching and writing my book, Coasters 101:An Engineering Guide to Roller Coaster Design. I decided to share my response with the rest of you here.  

I was indirectly working in the industry during some of the initial writing process. I worked for an engineering services company that did a few small jobs for some amusement industry clients. In my spare time I also did some computer modeling work for one of my friends in the industry. I’m also a member of the ASTM F24 committee on amusement ride safety which sets safety standards and regulations for the industry.

The genesis of my book actually sounds pretty similar to the plan other bloggers have followed. I have been writing articles for this blog for a couple years. I started by revising those articles and then put them into a logical order.

Many ride design firms are small so you it's not a problem setting up a phone or email interview. I’ve visited and interviewed a few ride manufacturers myself (which you can find on on this site). In my experience, the easiest and most open design firm to interview is the Gravity Group, based in Cincinnati, Ohio (they primarily design wooden roller coasters). I haven’t had much luck with European manufacturers. I did do an interview with a representative from Stengel Engineering but from the time I initially contacted them to final publication of the article it was well over six months!

I’m a big fan of the amusement industry so writing a book on it was a very enjoyable experience for me and totally worth the time involved. Please feel free to comment below and ask more specific questions. I'd love to help any others interested in publishing their own book or starting their own website!

Disney Memories: Magic Kingdom Skyway

Today, we look back on another classic attraction of Disney World's Magic Kingdom which is no longer with us. The Skyway was removed from the Magic Kingdom in 1999 after a maintenance worker was killed from falling off a gondola while working on the ride. One unique aspect of this particular ride was the fact that it wasn’t laid out in a straight line like the majority of other similar sky ride type transportation rides. Magic Kingdom’s Skyway had more of a L-shape with a bend in the middle.

 

Overview and Layout

 

The Disney Skyway was an aerial tramway providing a scenic overview of the park and stretched from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland in the center of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Guests boarded at either end for a one-way trip to the opposite station, traveling in gondolas (cabins) suspended from a moving cable. Each cabin could accommodate up to four adult guests. For guests boarding at the Tension Station in Tomorrowland, the cabins traveled along the moving cable across the Grand Prix Raceway, came down at the Transfer Station and made a 116 degree left-hand turn, then climbed and crossed Fantasyland ending their journey at the Drive Station. The Skyway ride system consisted of 50 cabins, which traveled on 3600 feet of steel wire rope.

 

 

How it worked

 

Like all Disney theme park attractions, the ride was closely monitored and controlled by a Ride Control System (RCS). Emergency Stops were provided at each station, and the RCS could also stop the ride based on certain fault conditions. The Skyway actually was designed with an auxiliary backup diesel motor. This was only used to cycle out the ride if the main drive motor became inoperable. The motor powered a hydraulic pump which provided hydraulic pressure to one of two motors: one located at the gear box to be used if the main drive motor was inoperative, and a second one located upstairs at the bullwheel to be used if the gearbox was inoperative. The second motor turned a ring gear mounted on the bullwheel to drive the wheel directly when the gear box was disconnected from the torque tube connecting it to the bull wheel. The main motor drive shaft had a double action brake actuated by weights which clamped the shaft after the motor had stopped to dampen out reactive force from the stop and hold the shaft stationary. When the motor was started, a relay energized a coil which lifted the brake thus releasing it. Electrical power was supplied into the Skyway attraction from Reedy Creek Energy Services and the transformers were located inside the west end of the It's a Small World ride building.

 

End of an Era

 

The station in Tomorrowland was destroyed in 2009. Even after the ride closed the Skyway station in Fantasyland stood for many years, but has recently been dismantled as part of the New Fantasyland expansion project (which saw the closure of Snow White's Scary Adventures).

 

Snow White's Adventure Layout

 Snow White's Scary Adventures Closing

Snow White's Scary Adventures was an attraction located in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. The ride was recently closed forever (May 2012) as part of the New Fantasyland expansion and renovation project. Let's take a look back at this classic dark ride as it lives on in our hearts and memories.

Snow White’s Adventure was based on the Walt Disney film classic of 1937. The attraction brought to life the well known fairy tale of Snow White and her adventures with her little friends, the Seven Dwarfs, and the wicked Queen. Guests were transported via a six-passenger vehicle - themed like a mine car - on a three-minute ride along a 617 foot track. During the ride guests passed through scenes depicting the Castle Courtyard, Queen’s Chamber, Dungeon,Threatening Forest, Frightening Forest, Friendly Forest, Dwarfs' Cottage, Chase Begins, Dwarfs' Mine, the Cliff, Loves First Kiss, and finally They Lived Happily Everafter with Snow White and the Prince. The scenes used effects such as animated props, animated figures, projectors and lighting to create the correct illusions.

How it worked - Disney Magic Unveiled

The Snow White’s Adventure ride consisted of 17 six-seat vehicles. The vehicle consisted of a fiberglass body attached to a chassis. The vehicle rode along a steel track which contained a bus bar. The vehicle was connected to the bus bar through contacts located on the front bogie assembly. These contacts collect the electrical power from the bus bar and transfer it to the motor located on the rear bogie assembly.The mine car themed vehicles were electrically operated and traveled along a guide rail with a bus bar. Safety lap bars automatically engaged as the vehicles left the Load Area. The bus bar was supplied by the attraction main electrical feed at 240 VAC. There were two isolated conductors of the bus bar which are parallel and horizontal to the exterior of the track surface. A third isolated conductor was mounted on the opposite of the track and acted as the ground for the system. The bus bar ran the entire length of the ride track.

Audio-Animatronics(AA) figures

The Snow White ride featured a few Audio-Animatronincs figures. The Animated Figures are mechanical actors (person or animal) designed to perform an action or actions in a show scene. A steel skeletal framework, jointed as required, makes up the figure. The figure is covered with a body form and costume for the character that it portrays. The activity of the figure is controlled by electrical signals. These signals are sent from the show control system (SCS). A combination of components are used to control the movement of the figure. These components include and are not limited to pneumatic valves, mechanical feedback actuators, solenoid valves and first stage valves. Each figure will contain a combination of these components. The actuators and electric motors are contained within the AA figure or the base frame under the figure.

Snow White Ride Blueprint and Overhead Layout

Embedded below is the best official looking layout I could find of the Snow White attraction on the internet.

YouTube Video of Snow White

Here's one of the best ride through videos of the ride I could find on YouTube.




I believe the Snow White ride at Disneyland is still operating. Will YOU miss the Walt Disney World ride?

Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier

Looking for things to do in Galveston, Texas?

 

Galveston Pleasure Pier is one of the few spots in the world that has this many rides over the water! Known as “Coney Island of the South”, the pier juts 1130 feet into the Gulf of Mexico and is 120 feet-wide. The Galveston amusement pier now boasts one roller coaster and 15 other thrilling rides. The original Pleasure Pier stood from 1943 until 1961 when it was destroyed by a hurricane. A soft opening event was held on May 25^th, 2012. The total cost of the project is estimated at sixty  million dollars but will bring new jobs back to the Galveston area.  Three million guests are expected to visit the pier in its first year of operation. The park is located at Galveston Pier 21. There will also be a retail center called Shops at Pleasure Pier on the north side of Seawall Boulevard and a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant will be built to go along with the rides and games.

 

The main attraction is the brand new, 100 foot tall steel roller coaster dubbed “Iron Shark.” It’s a Gerstlauer Eurofighter style ride compacted into a tiny footprint.  The Pleasure Pier's Iron Shark roller coaster will attack when least expected with its 100‐foot vertical lift and beyond‐vertical drop. Tracking at 52 miles per hour, the vehicles will glide the 1,246‐foot coaster track.  Check out the video embedded below to see the ride in action:

The pier will feature a number of traditional rides, including a 36-foot double-decker carousel and a 100-foot tall Ferris Wheel. Another highlight of the Galveston boardwalk is the Texas Star Flyer, a 230 foot tall swing ride which swing your dangling feet out over the ocean. Please note, this ride is not yet open as it is still under construction. Rides closed are the Galaxy Wheel, Texas Star Flyer and Revolution.

The Pleasure Pier Galveston theme park is wholly owned by Landry's, Inc.

Additional tags:

pleasure pier galveston

galveston fishing piers

galveston things to do

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paradise pier Galveston

paradise pier galveston tx

Hershey Chocolate Factory Tour Review

The Wonderful World of Chocolate and the Sweetest Place on Earth

After riding Skyrush at HersheyPark and visiting ZooAmerica, the other highlight of our visit to Hershey world was creating our very own candy bars at Hershey’s Chocolate World. There are several different attractions inside Chocolate World and the first one we did was the Hershey make your own candy bar experience. 

When you purchase your ticket they enter your name into the computer. At each station you scan your ticket and it displays your name so you know where your candy bar is at all times. We donned the white hair nets and aprons we were given and proceeded inside to the candy bar design studio. Using touch screens, I selected my base to be white chocolate and added butterscotch and milk chocolate chips and opted for no sprinkles. Scan our tickets at the start of the assembly line and pull the lever to begin. A suction cup contraption picks up the chocolate base you picked out and sets it gently onto the assembly line conveyor belt. The bar slowly moves down the line stopping at each respective station to receive its proper fillings. A layer of chocolate is applied on top (the same for everybody regardless your base flavor) and your fledgling bar is whisked away into the inferno of the oven. While it cools you get to design your packaging.

Next up, we did the free Hershey chocolate tour. Please note, this ride is a replacement for the original Hershey factory tour, as the original Hershey chocolate factory tour was so popular, and drawing so many guests it was impossible to please them all without disrupting operations of the chocolate factory. So an omni-mover type ride systems was created to move thousands of people a day through the sets of animatronics and video screens, a sort of virtual Hershey plant tour explaining how chocolate is made. Fun fact: Milton Hershey chose the location in Pennsylvania due to the abundance of nearby cows for his milk chocolate (I guess it’s cheaper to transport cocoa versus milk). At the end of the ride you are given a free chocolate bar before being dumped out in a giant Hersheys store.

I can’t wait to visit Hershey park Hershey park again! Pictured below is the 2012 Chocolate World map of attractions. Click here for the Chocolate World hours of operation.

Knoebels Flying Turns Update and Trip Report

On Sunday, May 27^th 2012 I visited Knoebels amusement park in Elysburg, PA. Knoebels grove is an old fashioned amusement park with a very relaxed atmosphere and some of the most classic rides around. This was the second stop on out tour of Pennsylvania after riding Skyrush at HersheyPark. Some of Knoebels rides and park favorites include the carousel where you can collect rings (one of only a few left in the country). 

 

Knoebels Haunted House is also a must ride on your visit. The Haunted House is consistently ranked as one of the best of its type in the world. As with all the Knoebels attractions, it’s a classic, old school ride full of great gags that made me jump despite riding it before. Warning: it is a very loud ride.

The million dollar question all theme park fans are dying to know the answer to is what’s the status on Knoebels Flying Turns? Construction started in 2006 and the ride has never opened to the general public (anyone know if park officials have ever taken a quick ride down the chute?). It appears they are waiting on a new car chassis to arrive to continue testing. The brake run and transfer track has actually been completely removed. Lift hill number has been modified too. I hope the Flying Turns Knoebels opens in my life time.

 I also had a chance to ride Knoebels Black Diamond, a new/old ride relocated from New Jersey (then called the Golden Nugget I believe) and given an updated control system. Black Diamond is technically a roller coaster as it relies solely on gravity after being pulled to the top of the third floor by multiple chain lifts. I have to admit I was very surprised at the number and quality of the show scenes inside the building. Bravo Knoebels – a job well done!

Pictured below is the 2012 Knoebels park map.

Cedar Point 2013 Coaster

The Sandusky Register is reporting that Cedar Point will remove the Space Spiral observation ride and the Disaster Transport indoor roller coaster in order to make room for a B&M wing rider roller coaster to open in 2013. According to the newspaper, a memo dated February 15, 2012 from Cedar Fair CEO Matt Ouimet sent to Cedar Fair's board of directors claims the new 2013 roller coaster will be the tallest, fastest, and longest wing coaster in the world when it opens next year. Details at this point are thin but we do know the lift hill will rise 170 feet in the air and the ride will most likely be an out and back style design (think Wild Eagle as opposed to X-Flight). The front entrance to the park and parking lot will also be upgraded.

Cedar Point has not made an official announcement about the new ride but did confirm they will be investing $25 million into the park next year. Cedar Point's 2013 ride will keep their roller coaster count at 16 (was 17 then will drop to 15 after removing Wildcat and Disaster Transport and will return to 16 after new ride is built). After going years without removing a major coaster, Matt Ouimet has already signed the death warrants for two roller coasters not even a full year into his new job.

While this is great news for Cedar Point fanboys and roller coaster enthusiasts, families who like to visit the park and ride together have to be groaning. The park is once again removing family friendly attractions and not replacing them with something suitable. Though the Disaster Transport buiding has been an eyesore for years, the Space Spiral is an iconic structure at Cedar Point. While this makes me sad, I can't wait to see the Cedar Point 2013 roller coaster blueprints and layout.

Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed and follow us on Twitter for the latest updates on Cedar Point's 2013 coaster.

And in other exciting Ohio news, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are building a huge expansion for the 2014 season. Safari Africa will include giraffe feeding, camel rides, and a new zipline experience. Read more about Columbus Zoo 2014 Safari Africa at Zoo Tails blog.

Skyrush Review: Intamin gets it right

I want to preface this by saying I only rode once in a middle seat in the back row and didn’t have to wait in a long, hot line. Skyrush is one of the 12 roller coasters at Hershey park. Where is Hershey park? Hershey park location (HersheyPark) is in Hershey, Pennsylvania, not far from Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania. Skyrush is easily the best roller coasters in Hershey park, if not the best in America.     

No, it’s not a perfect ride. The Stengel dive is actually quite boring, it’s short for a 200 foot coaster, and lacks a climatic ending (at least from the back seat it felt like it just ran out of gas after the last airtime hill). That being said, the airtime is very intense and the first drop is one of the best anywhere (due to it's three parts: flung over the top, 85 degree, curved bottom).

One of the reasons I liked the ride so much was because Intamin finally fixed their horrible restraint design. They actually modeled something after the kings of comfort, B&M. Now we get the best of both worlds – B&M comfort with Intamin airtime. Gotta love it!

I can't comment on the operations since I only rode it once during the sneak preview Friday night but watching the ride from a distance on Saturday I could tell dispatches were horribly slow. Many of the Hershey park coasters are operationally slow (I’m looking at you Fahrenheit).

How do I rank Skyrush against other roller coasters? Well, it’s really hard for me to say. For example, I hold Apollo’s Chariot very highly in my mind but I rode it over ten years ago. Thus, I have a hard time ranking coasters. Compared to Wild Eagle at Dollywood, which I rode earlier, Skyrush easily takes best new ride of 2012. While Wild Eagle is fun and unique Skyrush is extreme and intense. If you like airtime you have to get on this ride (before the public complains it's too intense and they add more trims to slow it down).