Howdy everybody! While lapping the second best invert at BGW with @Le Moose on opening night, we took note of the camera at the bottom of the first drop and how the bulb doesn't strobe like most other on-ride photos. That pretty quickly morphed into talking about how Alpengeist and Tempesto previously had photos available for guests to purchase of their ride. Obviously those elements have been disabled and photos are not being taken anymore. The final metamorphosis of this conversation between us became more of a desire to easily see what rides take photos (or videos, RIP Verbolten's on-ride video). After some searching we realized that there isn't a single source with this type of information available. There are random forums that answer this question for specific rides or parks, there are random posts on social media of people showing off their photos, and there are POVs that show trains or ride vehicles traversing a layout and a camera will randomly be to the side of the track for a split second. I did some googling and one of the few broader sources of media I could find about the topic is this. Personally, I think a continuously available and regularly updated forum is a great way to expand and store this kind of data.
My ask is for those who are interested in helping to please chime in with a ride at a park of their choosing, and whether or not it has an operating on-ride camera. For extra help please feel free to add some info about where the camera is on the ride's layout (POV video screenshots work well for this). If a ride no longer has a functioning camera, I'd like for that to be posted here as well. If we can make some rough guesses on when the camera became a lawn ornament that would be cool too. Conversely, rides like Nessie that probably didn't open with a camera but have one now are great to bring up. Please give a best guess as to when the camera probably first became available. Defunct rides might be tricky depending on the age of the ride. Basically, I wish for this to be the de facto source for this information. @Le Moose and I are going to be taking this information and creating a pretty basic spreadsheet on Google Sheets to keep things organized.
Just to get things started with BGW's currently operating rides:
Loch Ness Monster - after the second loop
Alpengeist - removed but before tunnel leading to the cobra roll
Apollo's Chariot - in the last valley before the final brakes
Griffon - in the valley of the first drop
Grover's Alpine Express - beginning of the helix after the first drop
Verbolten - before the final turn leading to the final brakes
Tempesto - removed but to the right of the launch track just outside the station
InvadR - in the valley of the first drop
Pantheon - in the valley after the top hat
DarKoaster - before the turn leading into the second launch of the first lap
Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge - bottom of the first drop
My ask is for those who are interested in helping to please chime in with a ride at a park of their choosing, and whether or not it has an operating on-ride camera. For extra help please feel free to add some info about where the camera is on the ride's layout (POV video screenshots work well for this). If a ride no longer has a functioning camera, I'd like for that to be posted here as well. If we can make some rough guesses on when the camera became a lawn ornament that would be cool too. Conversely, rides like Nessie that probably didn't open with a camera but have one now are great to bring up. Please give a best guess as to when the camera probably first became available. Defunct rides might be tricky depending on the age of the ride. Basically, I wish for this to be the de facto source for this information. @Le Moose and I are going to be taking this information and creating a pretty basic spreadsheet on Google Sheets to keep things organized.
Just to get things started with BGW's currently operating rides:
Loch Ness Monster - after the second loop
Alpengeist - removed but before tunnel leading to the cobra roll
Apollo's Chariot - in the last valley before the final brakes
Griffon - in the valley of the first drop
Grover's Alpine Express - beginning of the helix after the first drop
Verbolten - before the final turn leading to the final brakes
Tempesto - removed but to the right of the launch track just outside the station
InvadR - in the valley of the first drop
Pantheon - in the valley after the top hat
DarKoaster - before the turn leading into the second launch of the first lap
Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge - bottom of the first drop
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(first upon reaching 128 MPH during launch and second after camelback when braking)
