Datameister's second TR (5-10-08)

[Datameister]

such as.....? or is it a secret? haha

Well, I do have a bit of a secret project going on right now, but none of the photos will be relevant to that. Actually, I haven't worked on that since before the trip on Saturday. Been too busy with the photos and, just today, adding some stuff to the interior of IASW. But as far as the photos go, I'll probably work on the POTC show building and Indiana Jones stuff a lot sooner than, say, the backstage areas of Fantasyland, but you never know.

[vic_ster1047]

I was there that weekend too. And damn that Space Mountain!! We must have tried to go on it 4 times to find that it was down =[ Another 101 was Screamin'. We went to get in line with our fastpasses and as soon as we were behind the gate they made everyone exit. The worst part was we used our fastpass for nothing! That weekend we went on a lot of rides, but had to have cm's call to see if the attractions were up.

[Armadillo4]

Datameister, thanks for posting this wonderful trip report here! I love looking at your atypical photos. Like you said, you're probably not going to see a lot of these shots ever. LOL! I noticed on your Flickr set that you use a Canon XT. And three lenses? What lenses do you bring when you come down to the park and what kind of bag was it that kept everything dry? Thanks again for taking the time to post this report!

[SeaWolf38]

can't wait Data!

[Datameister]

You're absolutely welcome, Armadillo4, and thank you! I do indeed use the Digital Rebel XT, a lovely SLR, especially considering the price. My three lenses are the EF 24mm f/2.8, EF 50mm f/1.8 II, and the EF 100mm f/2.8 USM. I brought all three, though I sadly only used the 24mm the whole day. It's not necessarily the best, but switching lenses can be a hassle when I've got other people I'm holding up, and the 24mm captures the most visual information by nature, so it's the best for reference shots in the park. Someday, once I've gotten to the point where I don't need any reference shots, I should spend all day just using the 50mm or 100mm. They're so lovely for artistic shots. As to the camera bag, all I know is it's a Quantaray that I bought up in San Jose a year or two ago. It's not huge, but it's got reconfigurable Velcro compartments inside that work nicely for keeping the lenses and camera stable. Normally, I protect my camera bag on Splash Mountain with a sweatshirt or something, but I didn't have one handy. The outside of the bag was pretty dang wet--even the bottom--after the second drop, not to mention the big drop, so I was terrified that some moisture would have reached the contents, but the inside was 100% dry. Even the smaller compartments on the top and sides, which have much thinner walls, were safe. I'm still amazed.

[hockeyguy3]

Great TR Data. Hopefully this helps your model.

[hauntedmotion]

Please Data, tell me you'll do 3D ride-throughs when you're done, right?

[Datameister]

I certainly would like to. The render times will be ridiculous, but maybe I'll have some way to shorten them somehow by then, or maybe I'll simply have a vacation or some other sort of time period when I don't mind tying up my computer.

[Mac Daddy]

Thanks for the great TR DM, and for these great shots. I'm also enjoying your ongoing CG models as well. Bummer that we have to wait until the Fall for your next TR.


On a slightly related note regarding the multiple 101s, my kids and I were there on Mothers day, and ... surprise, surprise...Both Space Mountain and Screamin were down again for an extended period of time. And we BARELY made it on Indy as it almost shut down before we got on.

Why do I bring this up? Yesterday we were at Magic Mountain, and my 9 year old son says "I like Magic Mountain better because the rides don't keep breaking."



I was about to correct him and tell him about theming, gang problems, upkeep, etc, etc when I realized that we had not come across a ride failure during the entire day.

Hmmmm....

[Datameister]

Haha, nice. Oh well. I suppose a clockwork toy is a lot easier to maintain than a high-end laptop.

[mycroft16]

Originally Posted by Datameister

Haha, nice. Oh well. I suppose a clockwork toy is a lot easier to maintain than a high-end laptop.

Especially a high-end laptop that gets 16 million users a year

[Coast21]

Thanks for the awesome TR, I'm all for "Behind the Scenes" pictures. Keep them coming

Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

Why do I bring this up? Yesterday we were at Magic Mountain, and my 9 year old son says "I like Magic Mountain better because the rides don't keep breaking."



I was about to correct him and tell him about theming, gang problems, upkeep, etc, etc when I realized that we had not come across a ride failure during the entire day.

Hmmmm....

WUAAHH??? Six Flag's was running at 100%? Wow, that's a keeper. Must be cause of their new (we gotta be Disney) goal they're shooting for.

Last time I went (about year ago) X wasn't working, Colossus was running only one train on one track, Deja Vu was closed, Goliath broke a chain in the middle of the day, Batman was down for half of the day, Riddlers Revenge closed for 4 hours and then Superman was braking down every now and then using only one track the entire day.

Here's hoping my next trip to Magic is as good as yours Mac Daddy.

[pianoman13]

I finally saw this TR, all I can say is AWESOME!!

[Alex E]

Originally Posted by Coast21

Must be cause of their new (we gotta be Disney) goal they're shooting for.

About that...

I went on a Vekoma mad house at SF New England last year that opened 9 years ago... It was supposed to be about Houdini making the room haunted or something. There was a black and white preshow spiel a-la TOT but really dumb that made no sense, then their special effects after the speil were chains moving, and bubbles in water. Dummmb. The ride was really cool, but the story was really stupid.


And guess what? The employee leading guests into the preshow room even said:

"Get in the dead center of the room please, the dead center!"


They also had a small Warner Brothers style toontown clone, and it wasn't very good either, and I spotted some other things here and there that were along those copycat lines.

While Universal Studios is pretty good with that kind of thing, Six Flags shouldn't really bother with that stuff.

Heh, I'm going to SF Great adventure this June on our class trip. I'm gonna not bother with their "themed" rides this time. I'll admit it, I've been spoiled by DL, but still..

[MickeysImagination]

Hi Data,
Nice TR. I was thinking about your photo of the blocked tunnel along the DLRR. Is this tunnel in the NW corner of the park? This may be the tunnel that use to lead to the original roundhouse.

-Justin