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Theme Park Documentaries

Ack! I've been editing it for the last half an hour already! Bare with me! :p

Edit: Done.
 
Bump!

I've not watched any of these yet however Insight have produced a Science of Thrills series regarding coasters! They have aired on Sky but can be watched online also.

There seem to be 8 epsidoes and each one looks at a different theme, for example speed or inversions. And apparently they're not all that bad!

:)
Ooh good find mate! I look forward to watching these. :)
 
Are any of you familiar with the Extinct Attractions series on youtube? several documentaries about early Disney rides, featuring interviews with the guys that built them. They can be found here.

Or if you would prefer an in depth history of Universal Studios, try "Spazzmaster".
 
Just adding onto what Diogo said above, whilst they're not full documentaries, a guy over on YouTube has done some really fascinating videos on abandoned parks, rides, and concepts mainly focussing on the States (as well as some abroad too). If you're into abandoned things I really reckon you should check the channel out:

https://www.youtube.com/user/BrightSunGaming

There's also stuff about abandoned shopping malls and other resorts too that are definitely worth a look :)
 
Those documentaries are absolutely fantastic, so very interesting see the rides after all these years in their orginal forms. I was lucky enough to ride 3 of the 4 and can remember them quite well considering how long ago it was for some of them, espeically terror tomb which I really left an impression when I rode it in 1998 as that chessington trip is one of my earliest sets of memories. I remember being very scared at parts, especially any parts involving snakes as I was/ am scared of them. It was alot of fun with dark sinister themes. I remember with the finale being told by my mum look its not scary there skeletons in a band which I finding funny. (A similar thing happened on Phantom Manor a couple of years later with me being told not to be scared as all the skeletons are dancing which I then found hilarious, funny how a childs mind works with a simple distraction suddenly you've gone from being nervous/ scared to in fits of laughter.

Very interesting part at 26:00 of the terror tombs, I could always remember there being a part after the ride where I put my arm into a hole reaching for a treasure but you could'nt reach it or there was some kind of clever lighting affect. I am not your if it was someone I was with or part of the attraction but as I reached my arm into the hole there was a loud hiss noice like a snake, I remember being terrorfied and my arm soon shot back out of the hole and I ran to the exit!

I remember feeling like we were on an adventure as we entered the queueline having no idea we were even heading towards a ride. Along with those memories others from that orginal trip include being scared to death and not going on the Vampire (I dont think I was tall enough either but I might be wrong), watching it fly over our heads in transylvania, going on professor burp bubbleworks instead and really enjoying it and thinking professor burp was really nice for letting us look round, sitting in the front of Dragon Falls and getting sprayed by the elephant as I had not got wet much at all on the actual ride and loving elephants being really excited to see it, then to watch it dip its trunk in the water and spray me right in the face! Great Memories.
 
Ah yes, the old "try and grab the jewel" bit on the exit path. :D At the time we just assumed it was "a hologram". Knowing better now, I'm guessing it was some form of cunning mix of Pepper's Ghost and forced perspective to make it look closer than it was?
 
Didn't know where to post this but this seems like the best place:



Defunctland have done a brilliant little video on the Black Hole at Towers. Their mini documentaries really are worth checking out if you get the time; some brilliant stuff is talked about
 
Didn't know where to post this but this seems like the best place:



Defunctland have done a brilliant little video on the Black Hole at Towers. Their mini documentaries really are worth checking out if you get the time; some brilliant stuff is talked about

Yes! Defunctland has finally come to Europe!
 
ThemeParkDocumentary.PNG


Just thought I'd share this here. Pass the word around.
 
Just on the subject of theme park documentaries, there's a channel called Bright Sun Films on YouTube which does great videos of the stories behind abandoned/cancelled theme park projects amongst other things. Definitely worth a look at:

 
Dat Defunctland video is doing the rounds innit. I loved the Black Hole, a real gem. But this video missed the fun & appeal of the ride I think.

Kind of a shame that he inevitably holds an early UK park from 40 years ago to the online fan ideology of today, cue endless remarks about "Disney rip offs" from thousands of viewers who've never really heard of Alton Towers.

Dude can do whatever he likes, I think he produces YT videos well. But it's the fact that videos like this in general are always put on such a high pedestal by fans, that I don't get. It's obviously just an attempt to broaden his subscribers into the UK parks. Surely anyone can just use google, like he has?

I guess it's more about making binge-able content and not really about the getting under the skin of the subject.

I want to take the time to say how much I absolutely adore the classic Magic Factory.



It's a fantastically wry, whimsical and equally tragic snapshot into the UK theme park industry, the people that each play a part, bizarre day to day and the big developments.

Growing up with UK parks and having worked in parks in later years as a teenager, it somehow manages to explore that world really well. Not your average 'hey isn't this a weird niche LOL' talking head TV feature at all. It's a wonder it got made and I think everyone can take something away from it.

"Dawn was not asked back, she was told she had a timekeeping problem"
 
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I thought Black Hole was a random choice given that Corkscrew was certainly the more important to Towers' history as well as the UK as a whole...

I suppose though it is very much a case of spreading the net towards the UK viewership, as the video certainly didn't go to the depths as some of his previous ones...

Disney rip-offs are pretty much any park ever built after the original mind...
 
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