Breaking news just in today that Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure is blue.

“Uh, thats not breaking news, we saw blue on Medusa back before the park closed.”

Well yeah, you’re right about that, but I really mean it, IT’S COMPLETELY BLUE!

“Oh shit!”

As we all saw early this month, Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure began its transformation into a yet unknown theme complete with wild effects, music, and whatever else. The first images to come out were blue painted track pieces which led me (and not others for some inane reason) to beleive that Medusa was to be themed as Shockwave, the park’s old blue stand-up coaster. Well, my notion of a Shockwave theme is starting to be realized…just wait for the white supports!

Main Article: Brochure: Islander Raceway & Amusement Park

Islander was a small dive of an amusement park just outside of Wildwood, NJ. You might remember this place when it was open in the mid to late 90s as you passed it on your way into Wildwood. You also might remember it from passing it recently in its abandoned state and wondering what the heck was once there! This week on the Crapstravaganza is a brochure from Islander Raceway & Amusement Park; I’ll also recount my memories of the park in all its awful glory!

New Age Retro Looper

Holy crap, this off season isn’t even a month old and I’m already in ‘theme park withdrawl.’ There’s not a coaster or flatride in site for quite some time unless I spring for an impromptu visit to Florida or So Cal. Then again I could always just do it the virtual way…wait that sounded kind of weird. Uh, I could always ride coasters the virtual way! And no, I’m not talking by way of YouTube videos but by building them myself using No Limits! I think many a computer savvy coaster fan knows about No Limits but for the non-nerds reading, No Limits is a coaster simulator where you can build coasters using a CAD-like layout. You can add supports, 3D objects, whatever you want and the result is strikingly realistic…or un-realistic! The simulator is tough as hell to work with in the begining and the first lot of coasters anyone makes with it will typically be twisted pieces of garbage; you kind of have to get a feel for it.

Right now I’m working on a No Limits coaster named “New Age Retro Looper.” The coaster is based off the notion that if Arrow Dynamics never went out of business then what would their megaloopers look like today? So far I’ve completed the track layout, smoothed it out, and started adding supports. The supports, as you can see, are pretty complex and,aside from the very low supports, are completely handbuilt. Yep…I figure I’ll go insane by the thrid inversion!

Once the coaster is all done I’ll provide a download for the people who have No Limits and a video for those who don’t.