The next generation version of Disneyland's Rocket to the Moon and Mission to Mars is Epcot's Mission Space, a centrifuge ride which simulates the Gs of space flight.

But Houston, we have a problem -- it might make you sick. There are multiple warnings throughout the queue, which tell riders to keep their heads pointed forward. Does anyone listen? Nope. Result: protein spill.

Moreover, the people who built it weren't allowed to test it for safety. According to the Atlanta Constitution Journal:

"...Mission: SPACE also is at the center of a multimillion dollar lawsuit by its outside builders, who say they weren't paid the full amount of their contract and weren't allowed to perform safety tests. A Disney official says the company has the highest safety standards and Mission: SPACE meets all of the company's safety requirements."

But not the state's safety standards. For amusement parks the size of Walt Disney World, Florida has no safety standards. Disney's "highest standards," consist of being self-regulated, and annually mailing an affidavit to the Department of Agriculture (huh?) stating that their rides have been inspected. By somebody.

Mission Space is in sporadic soft opening premieres; official opening day is sometime in October.

The best case scenario for losing a leg on a roller coaster.

David Blaine rides the world's tallest ferris wheel the hard way.

More here.

(He had his foot strapped down. Cheater.)

"We declare society an amusement park and one to be dead reckoned with."
-- Gary Panter, The ROZZ-TOX Manifesto, 1980

Osamu Ishikawa, deputy head of Nasu Safari Park some 150 kilometres north of Tokyo, claims "the chances are high that the zenkey is sterile." But you can still go see the world's only living zenkey.

The claim to the world's smallest theme park has shrunk to a new low.

Jacko Goes Willy Wonka, Invites Outsiders To Tour Neverland.

Journal of Ride Theory / Bucketheadland Crossover? SWEET!

The Pleasure Railroad.

Shades of Jurassic Park: Disney's first walk-around, interactive animatronic character, Lucky the Dinosaur is now strolling around Disney's California Adventure, but will probably move to Disney's Animal Kingdom in the coming weeks. It kinda walks on two legs, just as the rumors promised, but actually pulls a cart for additional balance (and to hide the computers). Videos can be found on the link above. More video here and here.

More of the inexplicable fame of Maynard: his own desktop. Yeesh.

That's supposed to look like Walt? I've seen better heads on boils!

Everybody loves a parade!

"The Southern Decadence celebration; that circus gone amok of a wildly aberrant, unusual, motley, slightly crazy bunch of avant garde attitudes in drag; that congerie of costumed marchers who take to the streets of the French Quarter in a route only the Grand Marshal knows on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend [late August/early September] that usually turns out to be one of the hottest of the year in this Bombay of the New World-New Orleans. They arrive like Asian termites hungering for pine logs in French Quarter architecture. But these strange creatures arrive mostly to imbibe of the grape; mostly to be outrageous and have fun doing it."

This year a Christian organization is going to march through the Decadence area in protest of consenting adults enjoying themselves and each other. The celebration organizers have come up with a counter measure... "Think about it: thousands of us on the balconies of Good Friends, the Bourbon Pub, Oz and Lafitte's welcoming the marchers with glitter bombs (not that kind), napkin salutes, cans of Silly String, confetti and streamers. Outdoor speakers blasting (God help me) 'I Will Survive'. A flashmob with a purpose, culture jamming at its most celebratory, a way of taking the high route (literally and figuratively) against those who want to silence us. We'll be doing what New Orleans does best - meeting adversity with celebration - while keeping everyone safe, happy, and feeling good about why we're all there."

Hats off to Daze Reader for the above ride theory news.

A fan's attempt to make a computer-animated ride-thru of the Walt Disney World attraction, If You Had Wings. Not nearly as good or obsessive as Adventure Thru Inner Space CGI Ride-Thru Project (which I've mentioned here before), but still gets an E for effort.