This past weekend we got the opportunity to check out the Legacy of Arrow documentary prior to its wide release this Friday. Below Gregg and RD will share their thoughts on the documentary hopefully without giving too much away. And of course, once it's released on Friday we will be posting the links to the online streaming. 

The Legacy of Arrow begins long before most people's exposure with the company when they were a BIG part of Disneyland's opening and of course the creation of The Matterhorn in 1959. 

Gregg: 
I really enjoyed the opening part of the documentary and learning a bit about the company before it was "Arrow Development". 

There was much I didn't know about how the original factory was built and some of their early attractions in the bay area. 
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There was a lot of great rare footage from the early years of Arrow which was fantastic to see, much of which I hadn't seen before. 

My biggest issue was the Disney segment of the movie. While the Disney connection is/was important to the ultimate legacy of Arrow I do have to say that I felt a little too much time was spent on this aspect of the company. 

I think this is one part of Arrow that has been covered extensively in other things and I personally would have preferred to have it not take up so much of the film. 

That said, the way it was presented here was amazing and I think Disney fans will enjoy the stories. 
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But at the end of the day, this part of the film concentrated more on Disney than on Arrow. if this was a Disney documentary that would have been great. 

Other than coasters, Log Flumes are my favorite kind of ride, and I know I'm not alone. For me, the development of the Flume and Mine Train was my favorite part of the movie as it showed the true innovation and brilliance in what Arrow was doing. 

Of course this wasn't without a few hick-ups and bad protoypes. It's is still amazing that in the days before computers they were able to do some of the amazing things they did with just design, build and test. 
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I'm not sure if they knew it at the time, but they totally changed the Amusement Park industry with the rides of this era and I hope their legacy of building unique rides continues with other companies in the future. The film does a great job of highlighting this innovation in the 60's and 70's. 

The partnership with Vekoma was the part of Arrow I had very little previous knowledge about. I've always been more about going out and having fun, not caring who built what and in what year. 
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But seeing how they partnered with Vekoma which turned out to be a very bad thing in the end (for Arrow and for our necks) was enlightening and I have to say, kind of sad. . 

When Arrow built Magnum XL-200 there was no way of knowing that kind of signaled the beginning of the end. It was such a tremendous success and essentially started the coaster wars. It seems the only company that didn't benefit from this was Arrow itself. 
Still, it's so fun to look back on rides we can all remember seeing built by arrow and their ultimate competition Intamin and B&M. 

The filmmakers have managed to take us through the entire history of Arrow in just over an hour, and it seems like it just flew by. It was entertaining, enlightening, informative and most of all showed off some of the best things about this industry we all love. 
In 100 years people will still be looking back on the rides Arrow created (probably not riding them) and hopefully seeing the input of this company in their 1,000 foot tall 42 inversion coasters. 

RD:
Overall, this was a pretty good documentary - with some insane shots of defunct rides & some prototypes which never made it off the Mountain View grounds - and interviews with some of the people who were closest to the project itself.
The format works nicely - though it should have been broken down a bit more by era. Personally, this is where it falls apart - namely the time-jumping order of attractions mentioned (one that caused my hair to stand on end: Vortex opened before Dragging Iron...) as well as being focused perhaps in the wrong directions.

Some of Arrow's greatest legacy attractions were covered quite well - including Matterhorn, Loch Ness Monster, Big Bad Wolf, Runaway Mine Train & others - but again, I find some things could have used a better focus & attention.
​Let's take Matterhorn, for example: The concentration seemed to be more on Disney's influences, and less on Arrow's contributions - while at the same time not focusing on the RIGHT Disney influences and on how they mixed together with Arrow's innovations. Bob Gurr described the process perfectly in a presentation he gave to the Walt Disney Family Museum back in 2013, and I feel he should have been used quite a bit more in the descriptive process of Arrow's design & build of the first tubular steel coaster.

At the same time, some of Arrow's mistakes were focused on while others were completely forgotten - and the focus was shifted away from some, and towards others.
​Just about every coaster-fan knows about Kings Island's original BAT - and the notoriety it developed over the years for being a testy design that failed miserably.  And yes, we heard of the infamous Arrow Bobsled prototype - and its own failures to succeed.  The same can be said of a few of the prototype systems involved - including the Suspended Corkscrew - as well as some of the more daring log-flume elements. Very little mention of the Spillway element's history is missing - where only ONE remains in the USA - having been removed from most parks flumes which had them. 

Yes, I'm being very picky - but anybody who reads anything I write knows that. Details are important when you are talking about a major history piece. And here is where I go bezerk.  The focus of the documentary such as this is that it should be on Arrow - but not to put them on a pedestal as the greatest company in the history of ever.

So what is the ultimate legacy of arrow? Let us know in the comments below once you've seen the movie. We'd love to know your thoughts. 

We want to thank the filmmakers for allowing us to review the film prior to it's big release tomorrow. If you are even remotely a fan of theme parks or coasters you will absolutely enjoy this. Those involved should be very proud of what they have created and we can't wait to see what they come up with next.

​Our suggestion, use a YouTube app on one of your gaming systems/AppleTV as it looks really great on the TV, no issues with resolution, etc. ​

Through the magic of the Internet, we are also at @sixflagsDK today. Anyone up for some #Joker pics? ​

Lots of work going on at the park before the Spring Break/Summer season begins. 

The Flippy Dippy doo-dad thing is looking awesome. 

Maybe they'll sell Roar wood? 

Does anyone else think that Joker's drop looks like a mini Expedition GeForce? Looks amazing! ​

Superman packs a serious punch

Pacific Rim signage in the queue, but nothing on the building yet. Great to see an old area get some new life! ​

Remember these? The old DinoSphere seats have been brought back to life for Pacific Rim. ​

Thanks again to Andrew for the great SFDK update. It's so awesome to see RMC making it's way into an all new market and we can't wait for this one to open!! 

Written by Gregg Condon

Your weekly reminder to be sure to get your tickets for Mountain Madness 2.0 being held June 5 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. We'll have ERT on The New Revolution, Tours, Lunch and MUCH more. Click here to get your tickets. 

The biggest change this week is to the loop where they decided to go with all white instead of the blue and white we saw during our tour this past Monday. Below you can see a picture from Monday and below that from Saturday. 

They were most definitely still painting today. The loop definitely needed another coat of white as some of the blue was still peeking through. 

They are also setting up the lighting rig on the loop, and it's going to look AWESOME!!! Will be interesting to see if they go with all white or LED's that can change colors. Imagine having different colors for Fright Fest/Holiday In The Park/4th of July/etc. 

All of the supports in the plaza are now finished. 

Future "The New Revolution" sign? 

The station building looks to be done with painting. 

Lots of landscaping going on where the new ADA entrance will be. Looks like all that's left is the fencing. 

The queue and station is going with a very subtle "Red, White and Blue". Very nice. 

They were building the new Ride Control Booth today. 

Overview of the station

LOTS of landscaping going on around the exit of the ride. It's going to be a good spot to see the ride from. 

The lift hill has been painted!! 

The ride looks absolutely beautiful. 

A look down at the station from Rapids Camp

They were working on the area just before the ramp drop to the loop. 

Let's take a look around at what else is changing. It's still Suzette's Bakery. Didn't notice too many changes inside. 

Uh, aren't these 2015 bottles? And this wasn't the only one of these signs in the park. 

Flags has been completely gutted and is getting a much needed remodeling. 

Still the Cyber Cafe. 

The Grand Carousel is still under refurbishment. It's pretty extensive. 

It's still called the Orient Express here. Be sure to check out our "Helpful Honda Express" POV below. 

And lastly, Panda Express is still undergoing it's change to Chop Six. 

That's going to wrap it up for this update. We hope you enjoyed. 

We won't have an update next week as we have a family event next weekend. 

​Thanks again for all of the support. It's much appreciated. 

As we promised we have some new AMAZING pictures from Matt from Wizarding World Hollywood. We mean ... AMAZING. 

If you missed our update from last weekends first Technical Rehearsals be sure to check them out here. We also posted a whole bunch of pictures of the Food of Wizarding World that the park sent us yesterday here. But the main attraction is the pictures below. Enjoy!! We'll let these speak for themselves. 

Time to disembark from the Hogwarts Express and be sure to enjoy your visit. 

Let's take a look around Hogsmeade Village shall we? 

Send a letter by Owl 

Definitely want to spend more time looking at all the details on our next visit. 

Yes, we'll take them all please. Thanks. 

Be sure to visit the Public Conveniences in Hogsmeade. You may just hear a friend roaming about. 

Quidditch anybody? 

A little black and white action ... 

Hagrids hut

Nerd Shot! 

Some great detail shots of Hogwarts. 

Sunset over Hogwarts

The light is shining down on Wizarding World

Goodnight from Hogsmeade. Please respect the Spell Limits. 

Thanks again to Matt for these AMAZING pictures. We hope you enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed putting them together for you. 

We'll be back at the park this weekend to try some more of the yummy food and of course more Butterbeer so be sure to follow along. We'll also have a general park update early next week. 

Also, keep in mind, Wizarding World is still in "Technical Rehearsals" which means it may not open every day depending on what other things may be going on inside. It also won't always open with the park, so it's best to plan your day around waiting a bit. We always do our best to update when it opens each day on our social media channels. So be sure you are following us. 

It seems that the amusement park industry has finally caught on to the fact that they have a vast amount of existing rides that the public still loves, that if they breathe new life into the public will embrace. 

Think back just a few years. If a new ride was going to be built, more times than not, an existing ride would be replaced. The list is pretty much endless. ​

The list goes on. But a few recent announcements from a few different chains have us thinking (hoping) that the new trend of making things new is something we'll be seeing more of. 

​Of course, the biggest trend in recent years has been converting older wooden coasters into "hybrid" coasters to give them new (amazing) lives. This started with New Texas Giant and is continuing in 2016 with The Joker at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Storm Chaser at Kentucky Kingdom. 

But even more than that, 2016 is seeing two amazing classic coasters in Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farm and Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain undergoing EXTENSIVE rehabs with new track (Ghostrider), new paint (Revolution), and new trains for both. And the audience in Southern California is eating it up. 

Now, this could just in reaction to Wizarding World opening in 2016 and the parks knowing that no amount of investment is going to keep up with that, but we like to think that it goes beyond that. And in the case of Knott's, this is certainly par for the course for the past few years.

And we hope even more of the recent trends we're seeing are going to continue. 

We hope beyond hope that Ghostrider is successful for Knott's  this summer and beyond, and that in the years to come it remains in great shape and turns out to be a great investment for the park and chain. Because there are a LOT of coasters out there that could use a similar overhaul. 

A few of the potentially great woodies we'd love to see re-done. Some of them could benefit from getting an RMC Overhaul (Wildcat and Grizzly) but some just need to receive a great overhaul similar to Ghostrider. 

(hover over pics to see comments - click for larger versions)

Just last week it was announced that the SLC at Morey's Piers (considered one of the worst SLC's) is getting all new track and new trains while using the existing supports.

​Now at first glance this seems to be akin to putting lipstick on a pig, but when you start to think of the technological advances made since that SLC was built 21 years ago it's not hard to think that maybe, just maybe they can keep the same layout of the SLC and make it an actual good ride. 

The layouts of these rides aren't terrible, it's the execution. And if this ride does become successful and the park can extend the life of this ride, bring in new riders and guests to the park and prove that it's something that can be done ... imagine the possibilities of simply replacing all of the track on an older ride with track designed and manufactured using today's technology. 

Universal Studios Orlando is already doing this on The Hulk, a ride that probably didn't need it, but again, extending the life of this ride BEFORE there is a problem is something that many parks should take under advisement (ahem, Disneyland's Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain). 

A few of the potentially great steel coasters we'd love to see re-done: 

No conversation about re-doing an old ride should not include The Matterhorn. Even if none of the other rides we mention below get re-done, if this one does, it's all worth it. 

Of course, this is all speculation and a BIG IF depending on how the SLC at Morey's piers turns out.

​But obviously Universal Orlando thought it was beneficial to them, so we don't need to just look at Vekoma's or Arrow's, any coaster has potential to be "saved". 

And if coasters weren't enough, Cedar Fair just made a HUGE investment to bring some classic flat rides from Europe into it's parks here in North America. For the cost of maybe 2 or 3 modern thrill rides they've been able to bring in multiple rides for multiple parks that are going to really round-out their collection of flat rides. 

So what do you think? Do you like this trend of old becoming new again? Do you like to see the classics stick around, or are you all for "new is better"? 

What classic rides do you want to see stay or go? Let us know in the comments below. 

Coming 2017 - Ocean Explorer will combine multiple aquariums, exciting rides and digital technologies to engage park guests in an experience centered on exploration and adventure inspiring them to protect the wonders of our oceans

The heart and destination of Ocean Explorer will be a series of undersea research bases housing specially-designed aquariums and interactive activities displaying unique as well as elusive ocean animals.