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A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

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Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#21

Post by maverick2007 »

etrautmann wrote: post #17
maverick2007 wrote: post #13

Woah, surprised seeing bio on the front page of HN. I'm a massive theme park fan (which you can probably see from my comment history here) and I follow Orlando theme parks particularly closely. Bio is a huge asset to the community and their tweets are super widely spread on all of the forums that I visit. Like the article says, we don't know much about them except that they likely do use one of those tourist helicop-…

I didn’t realize that theme park fandom was a thing. I suppose it may be hard to articulate, but I’m curious if you can share what you find fascinating about them?

Like you said, it's difficult to articulate but let me try. Growing up in FL, my family would go a lot of parks even though I was deathly afraid of roller coasters and most rides to be honest (wish I could go back in time and tell myself that I'd regret not riding all these classic now removed Universal and Disney rides). In my early teen years that fear turned to obsession and I was devouring all the information about parks as I could get, especially fansites and Travel Channel specials since it was at the very early days of social media. I eventually got over the fear and the obsession has waxed and waned over the years but I still love the parks as much as ever.

For a while my fandom was driven by roller coasters and especially the forces and feelings you get on them (the acceleration of a launched coaster and airtime in particular) but as I've matured a little, I think I find the escapism of the themed entertainment more and more appealing. The world is a complex and sometimes awful place. But in these parks I can forget all that, I can relax and watch other people's happiness or take part in epic stories on rides. It's hard to describe but they just feel like home. I was at Universal in FL a couple of weeks ago and I think I rode like 5 rides all weekend even though I had skip the line passes? I just enjoy being there and taking in the themeing and atmosphere.

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#22

Post by mfwit »

etrautmann wrote: post #17
maverick2007 wrote: post #13

Woah, surprised seeing bio on the front page of HN. I'm a massive theme park fan (which you can probably see from my comment history here) and I follow Orlando theme parks particularly closely. Bio is a huge asset to the community and their tweets are super widely spread on all of the forums that I visit. Like the article says, we don't know much about them except that they likely do use one of those tourist helicop-…

I didn’t realize that theme park fandom was a thing. I suppose it may be hard to articulate, but I’m curious if you can share what you find fascinating about them?

I'm a big bioreconstruct fan as well. For me, theme parks are an amalgam of nearly every technical and creative discipline in the pursuit of telling some sort of story that you can walk through and explore yourself. Watching that all come together and seeing all the behind the scenes work is fascinating, particularly when we are almost always kept in the dark about details until opening.

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#23

Post by htag »

etrautmann wrote: post #17
maverick2007 wrote: post #13

Woah, surprised seeing bio on the front page of HN. I'm a massive theme park fan (which you can probably see from my comment history here) and I follow Orlando theme parks particularly closely. Bio is a huge asset to the community and their tweets are super widely spread on all of the forums that I visit. Like the article says, we don't know much about them except that they likely do use one of those tourist helicop-…

I didn’t realize that theme park fandom was a thing. I suppose it may be hard to articulate, but I’m curious if you can share what you find fascinating about them?

1. I like some of the IP, and being immersed in experiences is fun

2. They are one-of-a-kind. It's rare to see something made that isn't mass produced, and I have a similar appreciation for other things that don't come out of a factory.

3. There is interesting engineering involved.

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#24

Post by holler »

etrautmann wrote: post #17
maverick2007 wrote: post #13

Woah, surprised seeing bio on the front page of HN. I'm a massive theme park fan (which you can probably see from my comment history here) and I follow Orlando theme parks particularly closely. Bio is a huge asset to the community and their tweets are super widely spread on all of the forums that I visit. Like the article says, we don't know much about them except that they likely do use one of those tourist helicop-…

I didn’t realize that theme park fandom was a thing. I suppose it may be hard to articulate, but I’m curious if you can share what you find fascinating about them?

For me it probably started around middle school when I first discovered roller coasters, while simultaneously playing the game Theme Park[0], and later Roller Coaster Tycoon. One of my childhood best friends and I would get our parents to drive to Six Flags Magic Mountain as often as we could.

Many years later I still check in on https://screamscape.com from time to time to see what the latest coaster news is. It's always refreshing considering the daily struggle against doom scrolling and regular news one contends with.

I enjoy reading about what makers of coasters are up to, what they're engineering and how they're innovating.

Riding Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage[1](probably best/craziest coaster I've ever been on) and Twisted Colossus[2](also great) got me to discover a tiny company called Rocky Mountain Construction[3] based in Northern Idaho, who've been innovating by taking existing wooden coasters and revamping them with steel track, among other things. There's a real culture of engineering and innovation that I think many of the HN crowd would appreciate. Also discovered a company called S&S in Utah innovating with a new axial rotating design[4]. Many other companies such as B&M and Intamin are constantly building cool stuff too.

0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_Park_(video_game)

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeKaiP7F48I

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL9L-U-AKFs

3: https://vimeo.com/259906484 https://www.rockymtnconstruction.com

4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3czHe2gZ-k0

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#25

Post by prawn »

maverick2007 wrote: post #21
etrautmann wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t realize that theme park fandom was a thing. I suppose it may be hard to articulate, but I’m curious if you can share what you find fascinating about them?

Like you said, it's difficult to articulate but let me try. Growing up in FL, my family would go a lot of parks even though I was deathly afraid of roller coasters and most rides to be honest (wish I could go back in time and tell myself that I'd regret not riding all these classic now removed Universal and Disney rides). In my early teen years that fear turned to obsession and I was devouring all the information abo…

Do you also like the themed hotel interiors in Vegas like Venetian, Paris, etc?

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#26

Post by maverick2007 »

holler wrote: post #24
etrautmann wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t realize that theme park fandom was a thing. I suppose it may be hard to articulate, but I’m curious if you can share what you find fascinating about them?

For me it probably started around middle school when I first discovered roller coasters, while simultaneously playing the game Theme Park[0], and later Roller Coaster Tycoon. One of my childhood best friends and I would get our parents to drive to Six Flags Magic Mountain as often as we could. Many years later I still check in on https://screamscape.com from time to time to see what the latest coaster news is. It's a…

Have you been up to California's Great America to ride Railblazer, another RMC? Seems like you're based in SoCal so it might be accessible to you at some point. Railblazer in the back row is, bar none, the most intense roller coaster I've ever been on.

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#27

Post by maverick2007 »

prawn wrote: post #25
maverick2007 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like you said, it's difficult to articulate but let me try. Growing up in FL, my family would go a lot of parks even though I was deathly afraid of roller coasters and most rides to be honest (wish I could go back in time and tell myself that I'd regret not riding all these classic now removed Universal and Disney rides). In my early teen years that fear turned to obsession and I was devouring all the information abo…

Do you also like the themed hotel interiors in Vegas like Venetian, Paris, etc?

I do! And themed dining like Rainforest Cafes and the like. My previous job was famous for their elaborately themed offices (I worked in the Alice in Wonderland building). Wasn't a fan of the job, loved the office themeing.

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#28

Post by holler »

maverick2007 wrote: post #26
holler wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it probably started around middle school when I first discovered roller coasters, while simultaneously playing the game Theme Park[0], and later Roller Coaster Tycoon. One of my childhood best friends and I would get our parents to drive to Six Flags Magic Mountain as often as we could. Many years later I still check in on https://screamscape.com from time to time to see what the latest coaster news is. It's a…

Have you been up to California's Great America to ride Railblazer, another RMC? Seems like you're based in SoCal so it might be accessible to you at some point. Railblazer in the back row is, bar none, the most intense roller coaster I've ever been on.

Just looked it up, awesome, didn't realize they had another single-rail coaster in CA. I've been to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, close to their HQ but they hadn't built Stunt Pilot yet. Wonder Woman is essentially a bigger version of those two, and by pure chance I happened to be in the very back like you. Wildest ride I've ever been on, must be similar experience.

Will be interesting to see if they come out with the rumored t-rex track at some point.

Re: A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

#30

Post by prawn »

maverick2007 wrote: post #27
prawn wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you also like the themed hotel interiors in Vegas like Venetian, Paris, etc?

I do! And themed dining like Rainforest Cafes and the like. My previous job was famous for their elaborately themed offices (I worked in the Alice in Wonderland building). Wasn't a fan of the job, loved the office themeing.

You might've liked the now-closed themed Hotel Valdivia in Santiago:

https://www.google.com/search?q=valdivia+hotel+santiago&sour...

My now-wife and I stayed there almost 20 years ago, in the disco room: spa and waterfall, shower in an orange glass hexagon, a toilet room surrounded by mirrors. It was quite the experience.

On theme parks, I wonder if there's ever been research into serious fans of them, and if they have formative history in common, like first visiting one at a key age, or similar. I can appreciate the experience, but I'm personally baffled by people who just keep returning to the exclusion of other opportunities around the country or world. Each to their own though!

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