Joe is joined by Brian to talk all about their Halloween Horror Nights experiences. Plus some Toothsome and Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon.
We’ve
been grappling with that question since 1989. That was the year that Magnum
XL-200 broke the hypercoaster 200-foot barrier. Up until then, when coasters
got taller, they also gained more loops. That was pretty much a given for
aspiring scream parks. Corkscrew changed the game when it debuted in 1975 at
Knott’s Berry Farm by adding inversions to a roller coaster, something that
hadn’t been seen since the circle-loops of the turn of the century. From 1975
to 1989, roller coasters getting “more extreme” meant they were taller or they
had more inversions. Usually both.
Every
other year, it seemed, some coaster somewhere in the country would either add
another 10 feet to the height record, or just one more inversion than the
previous record-holder. In fact, many of the new coaster designs took a back
seat to the thrill of going higher, faster, and upside-down more often.
Different
extreme designs like the stand-up coaster, the suspended coaster, the bobsled
coaster, and the heartline (Ultra-Twister) coaster were fun, but they often did
not make top headlines. The allure of the stand-up King Kobra at Kings Island
was soon forgotten when the park added the record-setting Vortex. The suspended
Iron Dragon quickly gave way to Magnum at Cedar Point.
Then
1989/1990 gave us the dual whammy of Magnum and Viper at Six Flags Magic
Mountain. Viper opened as the second-tallest in the world (after Magnum), but
pulled a ridiculous seven inversions
out of its hat. At this point, it seemed that a pendulum began to swing the
other way. Only once over the next decade would Magnum’s height record be
topped: by the Desperado at Buffalo Bill’s casino (of all places, I know. It’s
like Elton John performing live at the Katella Avenue Seven-Eleven). Though, it
should be noted that Magnum’s drop height record would also be broken by Steel
Phantom at Kennywood.
And
Viper had nary a challenger over the next decade to its inversions record,
being outpaced only by Dragon Kahn at Port Aventura in Spain.
Suddenly,
starting in 1990, amusement parks seem to want something different, not just the same old “add ten feet for the height
record and call it a day.” Throughout the 1990s, we certainly got our fair
share of hypers and many, many inversion, but the 1990s was also when we
started seeing a wooden coaster renaissance, and B&M’s stand-up, inverted,
and even floorless designs. We started seeing flying coasters in 2000. And
perhaps most important of all, we experienced the glory of Linear Induction
Motors.
Launched
coasters added an extra dimension to roller coasters. It was no longer even necessary to have a lift hill, yet still
be among the most exciting coasters on the planet! One could be launched into
giant inversions or straight up lift hills, with nary a chain in sight. And the
launches could happen at any time!
When
the launched coaster came to us in the form of Discovery Mountain/Space
Mountain in 1995, and then to the states as Flight of Fear in 1996, it was
dynamite for our imaginations. We knew roller coasters had pushed beyond their
pre-defined limits, almost like they suddenly gained super-powers. You could
launch tom 70 mph at any time! And this was something only 200-foot+ coasters
were allowed to do!
This
is where TLC’s Thrill Rides: Designing
Fear picks up. It’s another in a long line of ubiquitous 2000-era roller
coaster specials. But this is the only one, at least in my archive, that dives
right into the consequences of roller
coasters being too extreme. Yes, I have to admit, this show is very
uncomfortable.
I
do like that Designing Fear chooses
to bring up a topic that nobody likes to talk about. In a way, it’s like an
amusement park episode of 60 Minutes.
However, Joe and I feel the presentation style of the show could have been
handled better.
The
topics of the show itself run the gamut, from how a coaster is designed, to the
effects that g-forces have on the body, to the future of extreme rides. Even a
biodynamics engineer is interviewed at multiple points to offer her take on the
coaster’s effect on the spine and the brain. We talk to coaster fans, writers,
designers, military engineers, and maintenance engineers. It jumps topics
frequently, sometimes without any warning or buildup. But the worst is when the
show randomly introduces tales of death and horror at the amusement park faster
than a scare-actor at HHN. An interview with a coaster maintenance manager is
followed by an upturned rapids vehicle incident. It doesn’t hang together. I
think the big miscue in Designing Fear
is that they were really making two shows: a show about thrills and g-forces
and a show about maintenance and safety. One show plays on the excitement one
gets for the amusement park, the other is a warning to be careful when playing
at the park because disaster can happen at any time. The viewer gets
emotionally frazzled when both are packed together.
But
even with its flaws, in the wake of the Ohio State Fair tragedy, I believe this
show is just as relevant as ever. Maintenance and safety continue to be main
topics of concern today, even with ever-advancing technology. And as we
continue to push the envelope in how extreme rides can be, we have to ask
ourselves, what is the line we’re not willing to cross? How extreme does a ride
have to be for us to hesitate and walk away? It’s an interesting topic of
discussion, and I think one that speaks to our base desires and psychology. How
extreme is too extreme for you? Answer the question honestly and you’ll find
out a lot about yourself.
Was
Euro Disney the most significant Disney Parks historical development post-1971?
It
very well could be. When looking at the history of Disney Attractions following
the creation of the Vacation Kingdom, could one find any other momentous
occasion that meant so much to the future of the theme park industry?
We
all know the story of what happened. An original budget of $1 billion quickly
ballooned into $4 billion. Disney had placed the resort right next to Paris,
which is practically ground zero for Europe’s entire transportation network,
and expected (or so some of their consultants said) to get as many as 30
million visitors by the time the second Disney MGM-Studios park would be built
next door.
The
exact reasons why the resort failed initially are far too complex for this
piece. But the resulting fallout would be almost the equivalent of an asteroid
impact within theme park circles.
Disney
had always been the bellwether for the theme park industry since Disneyland
opened in 1955. At its best, Disney has the financial and creative resources
necessary to move the ball downfield in the themed entertainment industry. It’s
no accident that the theme park industry seems to stagnate at the same time
that Disney’s fortitude diminishes.
Look
at the creative boom that happened within the parks industry during Disney’s
golden years of the 1960s and 1970s (with the opening of Walt Disney World in
Florida). To be fair, the Disneyland imitators of Freedomland and Pleasure
Island and Magic Mountain (the one in Colorado, NOT the one in California) all
went bust in the 1950s. But they all learned a very important lesson: don’t try
to be Disneyland. Only Disney can be Disneyland.
After
the failure of these initial parks came the big breakthrough: Angus Wynne’s Six
Flags concept. Here was a pleasant family park concept (or at least it was back
then) that did not provide themed areas per se, but did provide clean,
well-kept, wholesome entertainment for the whole family. And at a fraction of
the cost of a Disneyland presentation.
And
so the race was on. Practically every major amusement park concept we know of
today follows this model, and came to fruition in the 1960s and 1970s. The Six
Flags concept. The Marriott parks in Illinois and California. The Kings parks.
Carowinds. Busch Gardens. SeaWorld. Magic Mountain (the California one).
Astroworld. Marineland. Worlds of Fun. And the old parks all learned these
lessons and made themselves better. Cedar Point. Knotts. Kennywood. Hershey. Holiday
World. And all of this booming success was predicated on Disney’s popularity
and innovation. It’s true.
Let’s
even put aside the fact that Six Flags and their ilk were built trying to catch
the Disney conceptual wave that amusement parks could be fun, clean, friendly
places again. In the 1950s, Walt had a small company called Arrow Dynamics
manufacture and build the ride mechanisms for his attractions, from the
Fantasyland dark rides to the Mad Tea Party and many others. Arrow had become
quite adept at manufacturing these (very new) mechanical ride concepts, to the
point where they were the ones Walt called on when he wanted to create a new
kind of roller coaster to dive in and around his new Matterhorn mountain. And
so, Arrow created the first tubular steel roller coaster.
As
many of you know, the steel roller coaster is now the rock that amusement parks
build their churches on. One would be hard-pressed to find an amusement park of
any stripe without one today. And after Arrow success with the Matterhorn (and
later Space Mountain), they proliferated the steel coaster concept across the
amusement park landscape. First it was the form of the family-friendly mine
train coaster concept, which the Six Flags of the world were happy to utilize
in their family park concept. But later, Arrow would revolutionize the industry
again by creating the Corkscrew for Knotts Berry Farm, the first steel coaster
with inversions, in 1975 (the same year as Space Mountain opened). Amusement
parks again rode the dual waves of the steel coaster boom and the popularity of
the new Walt Disney World Resort.
A
similar boom happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While one could
certainly argue that the soon to be booming economy would have much to do with
the “coaster wars” and innovation wheelhouse that would commence, it’s also of
note that this came at a time when Disney began a second golden age of
innovation for its theme parks. As Disney began to build bigger and better
parks and attractions, other parks felt emboldened to loosen the purse strings
as well.
Look
at all of the 3-D movies that spread into the theme park world after the
success of Magic Journeys and Captain EO. Or the umpteen billion simulators after
Star Tours. Universal Studios and MGM Grand opened new studio-themed parks
after Disney opened theirs. The world of water parks was changed forever with
the opening of Typhoon Lagoon, as was the world of themed hotels after the Swan
& Dolphin and Grand Floridian made their debuts (it should be noted, 3 years
and 1 year, respectively, before The Mirage opened in Las Vegas and began that
revival). The expansions of Disneyland and Walt Disney World led to new
expansions at Club Med, Las Vegas, Branson Missouri, and Universal Orlando.
Then
Euro Disney happened. And everything began to…slowly…stagnate again. Budgets
began to be cut, little by little, every subsequent year for Disney, until by
2001/2002 they would hit the literal bottom-basement of Disney’s California
Adventure, Dino-Rama, and Disney Studios Paris. And it seemed that, every year,
other parks also began to give up. It was like a themed entertainment ice age. After
a $1 billion-plus expansion at Universal Orlando (which should be pointed out
was approved in 1993), the jolly merry-go-round of Universal ownership decided
to hang it up for about a decade. Las Vegas slowly demolished its themed rides.
All the amusement parks seemed to ditch the simulators and dark rides and went
right back to steel coasters (though some very creative ones). Amusement park
owners seemed more interested on installing Fastpass systems and meal deals.
There’s
a controversial new theory (work with me here) in archeology that suggests that
a 1,200 year “instant ice age” in humanity’s past was caused by a comet impact.
Our climate history shows that, after thousands of years of gradual warming,
the earth was plunged very suddenly back into the teeth of the ice age
approximately 12,800 years ago. This began a period of intense cold called the
Younger Dryas that lasted for 1,200 years. This weather event literally
happened out of nowhere. New evidence suggests that a piece of an enormous
comet (or even several pieces) smashed into the earth and kicked up so much
dust and loess that the sun was blocked for years and caused a reverse
greenhouse effect, basically plunging humanity back into the ice age after it
had almost escaped. This comet is sometimes called the “Clovis Comet” because
it seems to have been the cause of the extinction of the proto-Native American
people called the Clovis culture.
Hot
take: Euro Disney is the Clovis Comet of the current ice age in the theme park
industry.
And
it always seemed like it. Even in this featured show, Inside Disneyland Paris, there seems to be an air of awakening from
a very long winter. Because realistically, Disneyland Paris was in a deep,
biting winter for years and years.
One
thing that always fascinated me about Inside
Disneyland Paris was that it was the first Disney-specific special to ever
air on a Discovery Channel, TLC, or Travel Channel-style show. This always made
me wonder. Though Disney attractions would be featured in specials like Funhouse, only through Buena Vista video
and the Disney Channel could one find Disney-specific documentaries, such as
with the Walt Disney World: Inside Out specials. Amusement parks like Cedar
Point and Magic Mountain were featured multiple times. Universal was featured
all the damn time (to our great consternation). But Disney never entered the
fray. Until this show.
We
were all giddy about this show, because it was the first Disney effort on the
Travel Channel. We awaited with great anticipation. And it makes total sense
now, looking back, that Disneyland Paris would be featured first. We can expect
that Disney didn’t allow Travel Channel to make these kinds of documentaries
for a variety of reasons, be it the hesitation of letting a third party into
Disney’s backstage areas or the idea that Disney “doesn’t need” someone else’s
help to advertise its own products. But Disneyland Paris needed all the help it
could get.
And
so we see Disney’s freshman effort at letting the Travel Channel world into the
backstage magic. And the final product is good, but not spectacular. We see a
lot of what we expect from park specials: the peak inside the food warehouse, the
construction of HISTA, the landscaping, etc. Some better highlights include the
challenge of swiveling Indy’s mine cars backward, the behind the scenes at
parade rehearsals, and the insiders look at the Space Mountain launch area.
Lowlights include every shot of Jay Rasulo.
My
personal favorite highlights are the extensive interviews with Tom K. Morris about the conception of
Fantasyland and the magnificent Sleeping Beauty Castle, as well as the sequence
at the end that reveals the behind the scenes of the Cheyenne’s wild west
dinner show (complete with real buffalo!)
So
enjoy Disney’s first Travel Channel effort. We promise there will be many, many
more to come ;)
Joe, Mike, Nick, and special guest Paulie join to discuss some HHN27 TM member impressions, the disgusting idea of a candy corn alcoholic drink, the Cleveland Indians, and Joe's car woes. Then the rest of the episode we deep dive into Paulie's trip to Orlando as he tackles Universal Orlando for the first time in 17 years, his daughter's first time to the Wizarding World, Toothsome, Volcano Bay (good and bad), and more! Then we close it out with his trip to Walt Disney World with his stay at the brand new Copper Creek, Pandora, BOATHOUSE, Trader Sam's, and adventures in car rental.
Can
you handle 200 Davids conquering Goliath? You’re about to find out!
Full
disclosure: I grew up close to Cedar Point. It’s where my family and I liked to
spend Memorial Day weekend since I can remember. We’d load up for 2 days/1
night at the Hotel Breakers (which, for the first 15 or so years of my life,
was a complete piece of crap hotel. Thanks Dick Kinzel) and spend 2 VERY
uncrowded days at the park (HERE’S A SECRET: Cedar Point is DEAD on
Sunday/Monday Memorial weekend). Many, if not most, of my fondest amusement
park memories come from the Queen of American Watering Places. And, since I
grew up with Cedar Point, Six Flags Magic Mountain was evil.
It
was. I (along with Joe and most likely anyone else in our tight age bracket and
who didn’t live close to a SF park) first learned about Six Flags Magic
Mountain (and SF in general) through an annual “Math and Science Day” math
contest in the early 1990s. Every year during elementary/middle school, our
classes would go into the library to watch the VHS introduction to the math
contest, which took place from Six Flags Magic Mountain and featured the
overly-hyped Michael Keaton Batman and Looney Tunes characters as they…talked
about maths. And we’d all want to do better at math so we could win a trip to “Math
and Science Day” at SFMM. And of course, though they were supposed to be
talking about math, we got a glimpse of all the rides, coasters, and character
encounters at SFMM. And we all thought, “cool, Six Flags is like Cedar Point
but with Looney Tunes and Batman.”
Well
played, Six Flags marketing team. Well played. But as we got older, we learned
of the coaster war between CP and SFMM. And, since CP was in our backyard, we
had nothing but disdain for SFMM. And in fact, we refused to visit Six Flags
whenever we traveled to a nearby city just out of sheer spite. Six Flags was to
Cedar Point as Universal was to Disney in the mid-1990s: an alien parasite that
must be shunned and destroyed.
My
first visit to a Six Flags came in 1999, when Geauga Lake became Six Flags
Ohio. At that point I was old enough not to have a weird grudge against Six
Flags any more (okay, I still did a little), but the fact that Geauga Lake
would be getting a B&M Floorless, a CCI Woodie, and an Impulse (as well as
a Vekoma Flyer the next year) I was absolutely over the moon. So I got a season
pass RIGHT AWAY.
That
leads us to just recently. I finally was able to visit Magic Mountain a few
years ago, and the first time I went was with Joe (I think, I might have gone
once before that). And it is legitimately an excellent thrill park. Though, the
fact that the middle of the park is a literal mountain makes walking around annoying.
But riding Superman, X2, Tatsu, Terminator (at the time), Riddler’s Revenge,
etc. for the first time was going into a candy store. And I was impressed they
still kept the pleasant central plaza area with the fountains, as well as all
the green on the mountain. Those are memories I’m certain an uncountable number
of SoCal residents have from their childhoods, just as Joe and I have memories
of Cedar Point.
In
2000/2001, the Discovery Channel was on an absolute tear with theme park
documentaries. I don’t know if there was an executive there who was obsessed
with roller coasters, or if they got huge ratings on the initial shows they
released in the late-1990s, but they seemed to be making them every five
minutes. This particular show focused on Six Flags Magic Mountain, and was to
my knowledge the first of a series they hoped to call “Scream Parks.”
One
would assume, for example, that calling the actual show “Scream Parks” would
begin a continuing series. You would expect, too, that most likely Cedar Point
would be next. But instead, the next year Cedar Point would get its own show,
called “World’s Largest Amusement Park.” And to my knowledge, the Scream Parks
series would never really get off the ground.
Which
is a shame, because Discovery Channel seemed to have a good thing going here. The
show is framed with the periodic storyline of “building a new coaster,” as the
construction of Goliath in 1999/2000 is explored in full detail during some
transition points of the show, from the conceptual stage, to design, to the
construction of the load area, to the testing, and finally to 200 DAVIDS RIDING
GOLIATH DURING THE OPENING CEREMONY. Which, let’s be real, is brilliant
marketing. Well played again, Six Flags marketing team.
I
think this kind of series could have really took off. Think of the potential of
doing a show on each of the major “Scream Parks” around the world. They could
have followed the construction of Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure, or
Hypersonic XLC at King’s Dominion, or Lightning Racer at Hersheypark, or Powder
Keg at Silver Dollar City, or Voyage at Holiday World, or Manta, or any one of
100 Supermans. The possibilities are endless.
And,
as I said in last
week's Busch Gardens article, even though these amusement park shows seem
to take us through the same behind the scenes activities (“look how big our
central kitchen/gift shop/maintenance sheds are!”), since these areas are
different at every park, it always seems new. So, tethered to the storyline of
Goliath rising, we get some behind the scenes roller coaster maintenance
footage (safety inspections on Viper, sensor maintenance on Riddler, , as well
as some great footage of the tool crib, the landscaping with the Facilities
Manager, the vehicle maintenance on the Batman stunt show, the communications
center, Bugs Bunny World, and the restaurant kitchens.
But
my favorite part starts at 35:38, when we see the FrightFest segment, and the behind-the-scenes
of how they do the monster make-up and some scary effects. As a HHN fan, this
made me happy.
“Scream
Parks are all about thrills. If you don’t have major roller coasters, you’re
never going to be a Scream Park.” –Six Flags PR Guy
Oh,
and one last thing. Since apparently I fell asleep or something while recording
this, there’s an old-school Apple iMac “Think Different” commercial starting at
29:32. You’re welcome, internet.
On this episode Joe, Lane, and Mike talk more Halloween Horror Nights 27 reactions, Dueling Dragons/Dragons Challenge closing, T2:3D October 8th closure announcement, T2 replacement ideas, Shrek 4D rumors, and lots and lots of James Bond talk.
Terminator 2 3D will be closing October 8th to be replaced by an 'all new live action experience based on a high energy Universal franchise.'
It's not Sing or The Walking Dead, so just stop that for now.
T2:3D has been earmarked for replacement over the past 7 years. Several projects have been considered including The Walking Dead haunt found at USH and an original plan of an Avatar attraction before Disney told Cameron they'd give him a Potter-like land (not just one attraction).
We believe the replacement attraction will be another live action show (duh) similar to T2:3D using modern projection systems, new effects, and bigger stunts. Universal and WB are bidding to distribute the next few James Bond movies and an attraction in a theme park could be part of that proposal. Additionally Universal has it's own James Bond-like franchise, Jason Bourne, that could fill in if the right negotiations fall through.
This
gem comes from the BGT era when Gwazi was “new,” which gives you an idea of
what to expect.
Last
week was our introduction to these early 2000s Travel Channel specials, but to
be fair, our entry last week was the behind the scenes look at a hotel complex.
Now we get a full peek into the world of theme parks. And, dare I say, it will
be far from the last.
I
feel like you could fill 30-40 hours of documentary TV time on theme parks. It
seems like there is always some additional quirk to talk about. I have a few
theme park-specific documentaries coming down the pipe for all of you (you’re
welcome!) and I can’t help thinking that I could watch these shows for days. No
matter which roller coaster is being talked about (whether it’s
behind-the-scenes at the Gwazi tower position, as we see here, or the generator
at the Incredible Hulk Coaster, or the machine shop, or the train barn) I
always feel like I’m learning something new, even though I’ve seen about six
different park maintenance crews talk about what it takes to perform
preventative maintenance on wooden coasters every day (hint: they have to WALK
THE TRACK EVERY MORNING…you’ll get used to hearing this in a few weeks). But
regardless of the repeating information, it always
seems new because they’re talking about different rides. It’s a weird thing
to get excited about. But that’s why I love watching these videos so much.
What
I love about watching Busch Gardens Tamps
Revealed is the fact that BGT really is a hybrid park. When you think about
it, this is far more rare than what we might think. How many other parks have
duel purpose to BGT’s extent, which is practically as much of a zoo as it is a
theme park? After all, there’s BGT, SeaWorld, DAK…but who else could truly be
considered a hybrid park? There are legions and legions of thrill parks,
amusement parks, theme parks, zoos, aquariums. But how many of them have a true
50/50 split, or close to it?
Because
of this split, the documentary itself showcases both the animal encounters
(safaris, bird shows, etc.) and the ride mechanics (including the rare-for-TV
look at the operator control panels on multiple attractions). A nice bonus, we
also get to see the behind the scenes at the food service locations, the
traveling calypso band preparation, and the weather detection system for the
park (awesomely stationed at the skyway buildings).
The
cherry on top is the “exclusive” preview of the “all-new” Rhino Rally, which
basically acts as a six minute-long infomercial. I have to say though, looking
at the CGI mock-ups of the eventual ride made me think that Rhino Rally really
wasn’t a bad idea (though the theme was questionable and the concept could have
placed more emphasis on the animals). I unfortunately was never able to ride
Rhino Rally, since the only time I visited since the ride opened it was broken down.
But, it was quite interesting to see how excited
the BGT executives were about that ride.
This
is part of the reason why I love Travel Channel specials so much. They combine
real backstage operations with what is essentially a vacation planning video.
And I love both. Enjoy your trip through the Tampa wilderness, and we’ll have
another theme park special rarin’ to go for your enjoyment next week!
