I’m sure that you’ve noticed that I haven’t been posted on the blog in quite some time. Tonight, you can finally see what I’ve been up
to. My new theme park community magazine, Theme Park Geekly, is now live! It sounds weird to call it mine. While I created it, organized it, and edited the articles it has been my biggest joint project ever. The site is truly a community project.
First, I want to thank Lance from Screamscape for taking time out his insanely busy schedule to give us all a look behind the scenes of his hugely popular site. He answers questions like: the most surprising news that he’s broken, how he deals with the influx of rumors and leads he gets, what he does outside of theme parks and what his ideal theme park would look like.
Read the full cover story: What It’s Like to Be Lance: The Man Behind Screamscape
I also want to thank the contributors to the site’s premiere issue.
Theme Park Experts Talk Halloween Haunts
Thanks to Katie and Rick from ThrillNetwork. TN’s Rick asked DAFE founder Rick Davis for his 5 favorite Halloween Haunts – A Halloween Haunt Interview with Rick Davis from the Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts
Rick from Theme Park Adventure gives us the most important elements of a good Halloween Haunt. – 3 Things a Good Halloween Haunt Must Have
The Premiere Issue’s Other Articles
Joey from Theme Park Thoughts addressed a mystery that’s been causing me to scratch my head for years. – 3 Reasons Why the United Kingdom Hasn’t Built a Wooden Coaster in Years
Nick from Coaster101 wrote an article that details how dueling roller coasters work and shares his take on the recent news that Universal’s Dragon Challenge will never duel again - Taking the Duel Out of the Dragons
Kurt from The Coaster Guy gave us a fun trip report from his experience taking his family on the Discover Coaster to Coaster Six Flags Tour – Trip Report from a Dream Vacation: Six Flags Roller Coaster Tour
In addition to the articles mentioned above, I interviewed John Hunt, creator of some pretty amazing roller coaster models. I also wrote about Why I Think a Theme Park Reality Show Would Be Great. And lastly, a long time reader of the blog, helped compile the debut of the site’s Geek Speak feature. Each issue will contain a Geek Speak post that aggregates reactions to news stories from across the Web. The first edition covers reactions to Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s announcment of Verbolten.
What’s Your Take?
Check out Theme Park Geekly and let me know what you think. Leave a comment here and chime in on the articles on Geekly too.
October 27, 2011 at 03:55
I'm loving Theme Park Geekley at the moment, I haven't commented on anything yet, but It's looking to be another great site.
October 27, 2011 at 05:53
I know you don't remember me. I hung out with you on media day when Carowind unleashed the Carolina Cobra. I did an interview with Dana for college. Now, I live in Orlando Florida and I work for Universal Studios. I've been living here about four month and working for USF for 3. Whenever you come down look me up. I'll never forget that you let me hang with you and I had a great time and now I would like to return the favor. Hope your family is doing well and rock on! Oh, by the way, I work on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. Peace,
Zachary Freeman
October 27, 2011 at 19:52
Of course I remember you. It was fun hanging out with you during the media day. I think we pretty much had a Nighthawk train to ourselves due to the rain. Nice to hear from you. Stop by more often.
How's HRRR these days? I haven't ridden it, but I hear that the roughness really varies from car to car.
October 27, 2011 at 11:38
Wow, didn't notice that Universal made the stoppage of running Dueling Dragons in-synch permanent. Although I agree that the second two near-misses were more for show, the first near-miss was particularly enjoyable from the rider's perspective, especially from the Fire POV.
The two riding separately make the ride kind of souless now. Besides the near-misses, one of the other signature aspects that will be missed is the side-by-side simultaneous lift hill. I always enjoyed observing the other train next to me and screwing with them (showing complete disinterest or screaming at them like I'm about to die). The "dueling" of Dueling Dragons will be missed!
October 27, 2011 at 12:28
It is cool to see you working with other coaster enthusiasts and coaster website owners. I love screamscape, it is a very good site for updates. Theme park geekly is going to be a great way to deal with the off season, and a great website!
October 27, 2011 at 14:30
The site looks great! It's even better than I expected. The interviews on the site is what really put it over the edge. Great job CC!
October 27, 2011 at 17:28
I was only on Dragons once last year but wanted more rides. Speaking of Haunted Houses, I'm on the cover of the local newspaper variety section. I'm in a clown mask wearing a black costume wielding a knife! I will be a Psychopathic clown with a chainsaw tomorrow night! I just hope my laugh will recover for Saturday.
October 27, 2011 at 19:50
That's awesome. Congrats. Quite the way to make an appearance in the paper.
October 27, 2011 at 19:58
Thanks for the support as always guys. It's nice to have something that was months in the making be so well received. I'm aiming for 9 new articles every two weeks on Geekly. And just for the theme park 'off-season'. It really depends on how much content I'm getting, but it'll be a fun project no matter what. Next issue 11/7!
And, I'll be getting back to blog shortly. Next up, reviews of Dare Devil Dive, Mindbender, and the other SFOG coasters that had the most votes.
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October 29, 2011 at 09:15
Just read the Screamscape interview. The new site looks great!
October 29, 2011 at 18:11
Thanks! I had fun building it.
October 30, 2011 at 13:40
Not had a chance to read much but I went straight to the article on why there is a lack of woodies in the UK, as this is a subject ive been banging on about since first posting on thecoastercritic. Good article and interesting points even if it did disappoint me about the prospect of getting a new woodie over here, if we cant have a woodie then hopefully thorpe will get us an intamin mega lite (I can dream)
I plan to browse the rest of the site over the coming days, will all your postings be on the new site from now on rather than here?
November 2, 2011 at 01:20
Thanks for checking out Geekly jjhobo. I plan to continue posting here on the blog and hopefully only contributing an article or two every two weeks or so on Geekly. I've just been busy getting it up and now keeping it going. Hopefully as I start to get more content from other writers I can manage that site, but still write more for this one. Also, Geekly's 10 issues or so will only run through the Winter. So come March/April, it'll hibernate until Fall 2012 and I'll be back on this site, Hype, Syndicate, & maybe one more full time.
January 5, 2012 at 13:27
hello; just wanted to congratulate you on the new site. be sure and send me all the link details so I can add the site to my personal favorites. and no one does something like this without loving it. keep having fun, Max