On-ride photos that "vanished"

I have to agree with SOB. That camera is in a horrible spot. Why not in the top of the loop? Then everyone would be smiling that they got off that horrible wooden track.

I-Fan I've got a feeling that Roar is gonna be the next to lose it's on ride cam...it wasclosed for most of the 03 season.

JJ's cam if I'm not mistaken was just before the turn leading into the corkscrew...too bad they removed it because with the increasing popularity of the ride one would figure that more guests would come off the ride wishing to buy their on ride photo.

Now the photo booth has been turned into a souvenir stand/locker area...at least it's still standing unlike Batwing's booth which is totally gone.

I know B:TR at SFGADV had a on-ride photo. Does anybody remember where it was on on the ride?

Every single one of SFMM has stopped working since last year. I cant remember the date, but the first one to go was B:TR. Then came all the other rides. Scream, Goliath, Riddlers, Goliath Jr, X, Viper, Dive Devil, and we all know Supermans has been down for...PHEW! that booth is storage now for replacement wheels, but anyway, we dont have photos anymore because the company that did the photo thing went outa business or something like that. So they wrapped up their stuff and took their employees and waved good bye. I dont know about the other rides, but eventhough they left, the bastards left the flash on, right before the back flip. We were tired of it. Why have the flash if theres no pic right? So one night on track walk to pick up loose articles...im not gonna say, but the flash dont work no more, lol. But at the camera booth and the tvs are still there, so are the really cool flat panel computer screens(oh yea!!) and a bunch of special paper...its all covered by these plastic thingies. But, i think they noticed about the flash because all the other rides flashs still worked, except Xs...but anyway, thats the story. But still not pictures. Before they left, the pratically gave away photos. It was like a buy 2 get one free thing. and instead of 9 bucks a picture, they had it at 4.99...it was crazy, but nothing helped. HA!

Getting into this topic very late, so I apologize if this has already been said, but...

"Viper went way to fast for the technology at that time, and almost every picture was blurred."

Probably a good thing, considering the blur was hiding the look of pain on the rider's face.

I own maybe a half dozen on-ride photos. Most don't turn out all that well. The last I purchased was w/ my Dad on Kraken in Nov 2000, the others are from the early 90's, also while on trips with Dad. Now, I don't bother even looking at the picture most of the time.

mOOSH

I know that Batman&Robin: The Chiller doesn't have an On ride photo anymore. I don't know why but I didnt see one in 2003 when I went there and remeber seeing one in back in 2001.

Starchaser, does SFDL's Viper only have onride photos during peak days then? I haven't seen anyone at that booth in years. But then again I don't go on weekends or concert days either.

Jeebus this is an old topic.

Oscar for best On-Ride Photo Placement goes to TTD... not only does is it taken when the train's at 120mph and still is somehow clear, but it's taken twice, once at each base of the tophat. My only beef is I wish the main focus was on the pic after launch, rather than the one before the brakes. Anywho,

-BB

SFA has lost on-ride photos on Batwing and Jokers Jinx as well. Superman is the only one with on-ride photos now i think.

SCoaster I already pointed that out in my post above.

Roar still has it's photo cam & booth,it just wasn't opearting during the latter half of the 03 season,maybe it will be open this year but man those things are expensive!

It used to cost around 5 bucks or so for a regular photo...now it's upwards of nearly 10 bucks to get a puny little keychain photo.

I was at SFDL during the week and also on the day of the huge "Off the Mic tour" and both days Viper's onride photo stand was open.

My best photo story... this happened a couple years ago on Riddler's Revenge. I had lost enough weight that I could actually get on the damn thing. The look of pure joy on my face at being able to ride a B&M for the first time in four years... I had to buy it. Too bad my wallet was clear on the other side of the park in a locker... but in a rare moment of SF kindness, they held a copy for me.

-Escher

Hurler at PKD last year didn't have its on-ride. The booth was still there I believe, but the cameras weren't. Not really surprised though, because I don't think I've ever seen anyone buy a picture off of that ride.

LOL I've got a Hurler pic from 1995.

Last season I noticed that V:TBC's on ride photo's were gone as well...it looks like Ricochet & HS:XLC are the only coasters left at PKD with on ride cams because if I'm not mistaken both Anaconda & FOF recently lost their on ride cams as well.

When did you visit PKD last year? When I went in mid-July all of those coasters you mentioned above had operating on-ride's. Maybe I'm wrong though.

I went on july 19th & none of the coasters I went on that day aside from Ricochet & maybe HS:XLC (don't remember for sure) had on ride cams.

The park was so crowded that day that I was hardly able to get on any coasters aside from Grizzly,V:TBC,Rebel yell,Ricochet & HS:XLC & V:TBC definitely had it's ride cam removed.

Well while were on the topic of coaster photos. I think lochness monster has the best photo spot its been there since 1990 im not sure but there quality is good and its the best spot for a photo right after the second loop.

I don't get why some of these coasters maintain photo booths anyway? Hypersonic, I can see cause it's a one-of-a-kind top-end experience. Richochet too beacuse there's a good potential for "look at what Jimmy did this year Grandma", but Hurler? FOF? Just of the PKD ones that were mentioned. Maybe when they were first built, but even then, if a ride's not the top of the line, I wouldn't think a photo booth is that cost effective?

That being said, I don't get why Kennywood installed one on Log Jammer, or why Cedar Point still maintains them on anything but Millennium and Dragster ...

Besides having them on their new "big" rides, it makes sense to have them on their intro or family rides. When I went to SFMM, we only bought a photo from one of the water rides. There were some members of the group that didn't like rollercoasters and this was one of the only rides that everyone went on together.

Honestly, I think the park will keep taking on-rides for any ride that can turn a decent profit by having one....if they're wasting money having an employee sit idly by a deserted on-ride photo booth, chances are pretty good that booth will not be operating the next year...

What WE (enthusiasts) think is a *unique experience* ride, may not be the ride that sells the photos. Those that sell, stay, those that don't, close. If a mouse coaster sells the most on-rides in a park FULL of unique rides, it's a no-brainer that the mouse will keep its photo booth...