Rock City Pictures, Ruby Falls Pictures
May 13, 2008
As promised, here’s a double-shot of Special Features. Over 50 new photos from Rock City and Ruby Falls have been added in the Special Features area of the site.
You might wonder why I’d added these photos. As you may or may not know, I also like to add pictures of attractions that are along the path to or nearby the amusement parks you might be traveling to. We’re only human and we dig stopping by these places and we figure most of you might too.
The Ruby Falls pictures show just a little of the experience of discovering a waterfall 1100 feet below the surface. It’s a neat tour, but one that’s pretty tough to get pictures on.
The Rock City pictures cover all the major points of a visit to Rock City high atop Lookout Mountain. The views, the rock formations, the gardens - it’s all there in some capacity. Again, a neat experience and lots of photo ops.
We stopped by both places while in the Chattanooga area for Lake Winnie and Sir Goony’s. They’re just a few miles from the parks and it’s a nice way to break up your time.
Enjoy the photos. I’ll be back with the Lake Winnie photos before the end of the week.
New 3D Amusement Park Pictures
May 12, 2008I added a handful of new 3D photos, so now would be a good time to revisit that area of the site if you haven’t lately. Just one of those silly little things I do probably more for myself than anyone else. I do believe I might be the only site on the internet trying 3D stuff.
I’ll have everything else rolling is as the week progresses - special feature galleries from Rock City and Ruby Falls in Chattanooga and the Lake Winnie gallery.
We stopped by Kings Island this weekend and it was the first amusement park visit I’ve made in 7 years and not taken my camera with me - we just rode rides and hung out…what a novel idea!
We’re keeping our eye on the weather for Erie this weekend. Right now it doesn’t look good, but I’m being assured by various folks that the Erie weather is quite fickle this time of year and can change on a moment’s notice. We’ll see. I’d rather have good photos than the first photos. Just another reason to keep checking back this week, I suppose.
That’s all for now. I’ll have more photos up in a day or two.
Quick Little Status Update
May 5, 2008Just wanted to check in and let you all know that I haven’t forgotten about you, the site or how roller coasters still rule. I’ve had a crazy April and finally things are getting back to a little bit of normality, I’ve also been completely obsessed with Mario Kart Wii - so excuse my general laziness.
I did return to doing the CoasterBuzz Podcast last week after a six week hiatus (due to aforementioned craziness), so be sure to head over there and give it a listen.
I also scored a new camera and a couple a nice lenses since I last updated the site and I’ve been playing with that too. Can’t wait to finally get to a park this year and try the new equipment out.
Speaking of which, it should only be another week or two before we start heading out on 2008 park visits. I know plenty of you have already started your 2008 season and I’m pretty jealous - we’ve just been hung up on those pesky ‘real life’ issues. This is the latest we’ve gotten the season off to a start…well…ever!
I do have just one last batch of 2007 photos to get online - Lake Winnie, a couple of features and a handful of 3D pics. Those will be up sooner than later. I appreciate everyone being so patient with me this offseason, I’ve never been forced to spend so little time with the site as I was these past few months.
But things look to be right back on track. We’re considering a stop off for the opening weekend at Waldameer to check out the new Ravine Flyer coaster, but I’ll be honest in saying that a lot of that depends on weather. I was blue skies and sunshine and anything less might set us back. We’ll probably fight the crowds on Memorial Day weekend to see Robbie Knievel jump 24 Coke trucks at Kings Island. We’re also keeping an eye on Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach - that’s another trip we’re ready to take on a moment’s notice.
June sees us heading east. We’ll be stopping by Hersheypark to see if Fahrenheit can live up to the hype. We’ll be dropping in on Dorney Park to do a little Voodoo as well. Then it’s off to Jersey and Six Flags Great Adventure where we’re hoping to check out the new Batman coaster and finally get some decent pictures of Kingda Ka and El Toro. We’ll end the trip with a tour of as many of the piers and parks along the shore as we can possibly fit in. A nice mix of updates and new material for the site.
In July we’ll be on the road again as we head south…to Myrtle Beach to be exact. I’m old-skool metal and there’s no way I’m missing the Hard Rock Park this year. Of course a drive that far leaves lots of opportunity to makes stops along the way and we’ll be making those stops. Carowinds, Ghost Town In The Sky, Camden Park and others are on the agenda.
Late Summer/Early Fall should find us making the usual stops at Holiday World and Cedar Point for the CoasterBuzz events.
Then in October we finally make the long awaited return to Disney World. We’ll be spending 8 days there finally updating our woefully outdated Walt Disney World photo galleries.
I’m sure there’ll be other stops to make inbetween, we’ll take them as they come. I’m hoping to be able to keep the updates much more timely this year because once winter hits the plan is a complete overhaul of the site - new design, new look, new site. I’m hoping to make it better for everyone visiting and easier for me to maintain behind the scenes. Coasterimage.com is way bigger than I ever imagined and I’m still a one-man operation. No staff, no contributors, no nothing except a guy with a love for the parks and a need to share it all visually with like-minded individuals.
I think that about covers it. I just wanted to let everyone know where things stand and where we’re headed in 2008. I do thank each and every one of you for supporting the site. It’s because you guys stop by and tell others about what I do here that I’m able to keep delivering the goods like nobody else - thousands of photos, the videos, the free DVDs…it’s all possible because you guys allow it to be.
As corny as it sounds, thank you all for letting me do this.
I’ll have the rest of those 2007 pics up soon and then we’ll get started on what looks to be a totally badass 2008. Have fun everyone and get out there and ride.
Sir Goonys Pictures
Apr 7, 2008
Just a small update this time. I have new Sir Goony’s pictures for you to check out. It’s a neat little entertainment center in Chattanooga - just a few miles from Lake Winnie. Speaking of Lake Winnie, that will be the next update, but it probably won’t happen until later this month. I’m going to be in and out of town taking care of things for the next couple of weeks. It kind of came as a surprise which is why I threw this small update together for y’all.
I also got the preliminary 2008 travel schedule online. It looks to be another great year of travel in 2008 with lots of new parks and coasters to visit. Good stuff.
That’s all I have for now, I got to head out of here in a little bit. Enjoy the new photos and check back in a week or two for Lake Winnie photos. After that a couple a little updates and then the 2008 season starts.
Three New Desktop Wallpapers
Mar 15, 2008
Wallpaper. Not the flowery patterned stuff in your Grandma’s bathroom. I’m talking the digital, for your computer, roller coaster variety. I got the hookup. Three new wallpapers for your grubby little hands (and desktops). And it gets better…
In my ongoing quest to deliver items of relevance to Coasterimage.com visitors, I noticed that more and more of you are stopping by with widescreen monitors. (yeah, I’m watching you)
So starting with these new wallpapers I now offer a third download resolution (1440 x 990) that should work quite nicely for you folks leading the widescreen revolution. So be sure to head on over and check out the new wallpaper - I happen to be quite fond of the Mamba image. It’s so colorful and shiny.
In other news it looks like some of our travel plans are coming together. I’ll be getting the travel info online in the schedule section a little later, but right now it looks like we’ll be getting to Indiana Beach to check out their new Steel Hawg coaster early in the season along with standard stops at Kings Island. We’ll also be heading east to sample Hersheypark’s new coaster, Farenheit. And maybe stopping by some old favorites - Knoebels, Dorney Park, Six Flags Great Adventure…things in that direction.
By mid-summer we should be heading south again to invade the brand new Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach with copious stops along the way. As fall rolls around there’s a good chance we’ll show up at the usual fall hangouts - Holiday World and Cedar Point.
But it doesn’t stop there in 2008…nuh uh. A week at Walt Disney World in October is practically etched in stone. That’s a much needed return visit - my Disney gallery is so outdated that it’s embarassing. It’ll be nice to update that one. Then there’s been some whispering about a Dollywood stop around Thanksgiving…but you didn’t hear it from me.
After that comes the complete overhaul/updating/cleaning of the website. But that’s a long way off - there’s a ton of parks, coasters and rides to hit in 2008. Play now…work later.
