Harry Potter + Islands of Adventure

This is what *I* am getting from the concept art that Universal Orlando released for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I am using best guess here, and it looks to me like they're really only going to gut the Oak Tree Tavern and a gift shop, and then retheme everything else like Flying Unicorn and Dragons and add their big ride in the reserved empty space.

This is the concept art I went off of. Just for reference.

I'm really glad that half of the island is going to be left alone! I really enjoy the themeing of the part that will remain specifically, so this all sits very well with me.

Universal Orlando's site for the expansion.

Big Drama at Bushkill Park, It's Not Opening

Agilitynut / Flickr CC 2006

It's sadly ironic that this past Monday I thought to myself, "Self, you should take the family to Bushkill Park once it's open to support the place," and then Tuesday the Morning Call published an article about how it probably won't open this year.

It sounds like there is a lot of bickering and fighting going on right now between the current owner, the man who currently leases the property from that owner, and the former owner / current partial owner.

Depending on who's side you want to take each party could have a list of things they've done wrong to doom the park. I think, 'who cares,' as what really killed the park is the flooding that keeps happening.

Flooding, of course, that seemed to keep on taking place now that there are tons of housing and other developments in the area causing their runoff to filter into the Bushkill Creek.

If you want to read the current park operator's side of things, check out their rant on bushkillpark.org.

It's all moot though, in my opinion, as it's just sad to see another old park slowing dying.

"Big Plans" for Wild Waves Theme Park

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article today about the newly christened Wild Waves Theme Park, in Federal Way, WA.

New owners, PARC Management, have 'big plans' for the property, and are starting by spending $1.6 million on the attraction this year. Upgrades include upgrading stores in the park to accept credit cards, improving their family slide (lift for tubes, perhaps?), an adding a Zamperla Kang-A-Bounce family ride.

You can read the article on the paper's website.

Morgan Manufacturing Amusement Ride Flyer

Morgan Manufacturing is probably best known for their steel hyper coaster rides. Up until 2001, when the company merged with Chance Rides, the company focused mainly on such coaster rides and carousels.

Now, as the combined Chance-Morgan, the company has a full offering of amusement attractions. They still offer the coasters, but now are fully able to offer rides like different sized carousels, ferris wheels, observation towers, antique cars, thrill rides like Revolution, Aviator, Wipeout, Alpine Bobs, train rides, and transport vehicles as well.

The below flyer is from when Morgan Manufacturing was still on its own. It's not dated, but since Mamba is on it it's post 1998.



That little Family Coaster looks fun, but I do not believe one was ever built. They still offer it, though, this is in the family coaster section of Chance Morgan's website:

Maybe a park will buy one! And maybe not. Who knows.

Just as an FYI, here are the coasters that are credited to Morgan Manufacturing:

• Wild Thing, Valleyfair!, 1996
• West Coaster, Santa Monica Pier, 1996
• Steel Force, Dorney Park, 1997
• Mamba, Worlds of Fun, 1998
• Steel Eel, SeaWorld Texas, 1999
• Steel Dragon, Nagashima Spa Land, 2000
• Phantom's Revenge, Kennywood, 2001
• Quicksilver Express, Gilroy Gardens, 2001
• Superman: Ultimate Escape, Six Flags Mexico, 2004

Coaster list via Roller Coaster Database, also visit Chance Morgan's website.

Sorry

I'm updating to the newer version of blogger and NewsPlusNotes is paying the price. While I try to figure out what I'm doing the blog will be a mess. Apologies.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Opens Deluge

Copyright the Courier Journal

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom has opened their new water coaster, Deluge, and the Courier Journal has a bunch of photos showing off the ride.

Now, in the picture above do not ask why the first rider is wearing a helmet, because I have no idea and that's weird.

Regardless, the ride looks like a lot of fun, and after spending a lot of time in a water park this weekend I can say that it'd be a fun addition at parks everywhere.

Check out the article and photos from the Courier Journal's website.

AquaRacer Review

It's fun!

I got to check it out today, and my group and the public in general seemed to really enjoy it. It's sorta odd how it's just in the middle of that walkway, but at least it divides the wave pool (which gets crazy) from the other slides and such.

Also, the game area I pointed out where Torpedo Tubes were is this "Swim Race" game. I didn't see what it costs, but it looks like you go out and swim in a large horse shoe shape in the former Torpedo pool and are timed. If you do it in a certain time you win a stuffed frog. I only saw two people try it and neither were even close to winning.

Other than that, the water park looked nice. A good start to the season, aside from the insane thunder storms that came though this evening.

Sierra Sidewinder & Geauga Lake Opened, Too

User Top Thrill Dragster went to Knott's Berry Farm today and found that Sierra Sidewinder was open!

They were nice enough to place a photo update of the opened ride on Themeparkreview, and a video of the ride on YouTube.

The ride looks as awesome as I expected. Keeps it's speed for the whole ride, actually looks pretty wild for a family coaster. Check it all out in Top Thrill's post.


Geauga Lake also opened today to what looks like a very, very small crowd. That poor park. User Loopy placed a trip report with photos over on PointBuzz. You can read it here.

Maverick and Firehawk are Open

Poor Cedar Point. They have to delay the opening of Maverick to replace that track and now, today, after quickly swapping out the track and getting it open - the weather looks like this.

Still, you can see a train on the bunny hill in the back right of the photo, so it must not be pouring that much.

On another note, and maybe better weather, Kings Island will open Firehawk today. I'm looking forward to all the pictures and reviews.

Local Amusement Parks 2007 Part 2

Frontier City. I know that this park is a little more developed than some others on this list, but now that Six Flags ditched it it's returning to it's original local park roots.

Additionally, I think it's cool that the park's new owners are adding a dark ride to the park for 2007. Quick Draw is a 'shoot-em-up' style dark ride where guests aim for targets and collect points while on the ride.

The park has nice theming and some neat rides, and hopefully it will thrive under the new ownership. More info.


Idlewild and Soak Zone. I know that this is part of the Kennywood chain, but it still fits the local park bill perfectly.

This small Pennsylvania park caters to families, and their attraction for 2007 is no different. the Flying Aces is a spinning flat ride that has ten plane ride vehicles attached to it. Riders can control a wing on their ride vehicle to allow for extra height to be achieved.

This type of ride has already proved to be smash hit with ride enthusiasts, and I'm sure that Idlewild's guests will love it as well. More Info.

Knoebel's Amusement Resort. This gem of a park, located in Elysburg, PA, could almost be called the king of local parks. It's long tradition of operating in an almost opposite manor than that of the big regional parks has aided in the park receiving this title.

Started in late 2005, the Flying Turns wooden bobsled coaster should be opening this coming season. Anticipated by many, a ride of this kind has not been seen for decades.

Flying turns joins two other wooden coasters at the park, Twister and Phoenix, and along with many other rides this park has something for everyone. More info.


Kemah Boardwalk. Located in sunny Texas, this boardwalk park is part of a much larger entertainment and shopping district. They have a relatively small collection of rides, to which they are adding a Gravity Group wooden coaster for 2007.

The ride is squeezed into a small space, so it packs a lot of punch in a small area. Gravity Group has received rave reviews for their first two coasters, Hades and The Voyage.

It looks like after the 96 ft. lift hill the ride will be a mess of turns and tight corners. In other words, it looks like a lot of fun. More info.

Lagoon. Being located in Utah does not place this park in a metropolis, however, they park has seen it fit to add some interesting coasters and flat rides over the years.

New for 2007 is Wicked, a steel coaster with an evil side. It's twisted bright green track launches riders at 55 miles per hour up a tower to 110 feet in the air. Riders are then treated to an inclined twist inversion.

The ride looks pretty sweet. It's the first Zierer launch coaster in the United States. More info.

Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park. This Wisconsin made a big splash when it opened the Hades wooden coaster in 2005. After grabbing and existing water park and building an indoor ride park, the complex is one giant theme park.

Now in 2007 there's more being added. Apollo's Swing is an S&S swing attraction, and the Posideon's Rage wave pool is being added as well.

The wave pool is a bit insane though, as it's going to have up to 9 foot waves in it. That seems a bit much for a theme park, but we'll let the park work that out. More info.

That's it! Did I forget any?

Local Amusement Parks 2007 Part 1

Following suit with the water park write up, I figured I'd take a look at some of the smaller local amusement parks and what they are up to for this season. Here's a selection for your viewing pleasure:

Nut Tree Family Park. This small family park, located in Vacaville, CA, actually just opened toward the end of 2006.

The park is a modern reincarnation of the Nut Tree park that existed for decades until the '90s. It features several small family and children's rides, and the Harvest Express roller coaster, a family Miler Coaster ride.

While there are no big expansion plans for this year, the park is new and certainly fits the bill as a local amusement park. More info.

Lakeside Amusement Park. A traditional and historic park located in Denver, CO, Lakeside is a favorite of many park enthusiasts.

It's home to the Cyclone, a classic wooden coaster adored by many. Also located at the park, along with a fair share of other rides, is the Wild Chipmunk, a small steel coaster, which is one of the most hilarious names for a ride I've ever seen.

This year Lakeside plans to add Zoom!, a 140 foot tall drop tower from Larson, Int. The park is also adding a tea-cup flat ride, a favorite of many guests. More info.

Indiana Beach Amusement Resort. Located in Monticello, IN, this park is home to a large variety of rides, as well as 5 roller coasters.

For the summer of 2007 the park will be thrilling visitors with their new aquatic stunt show, Pirates Revolt: The Pillage of Paradise Island. It sounds like Disney isn't the only place to find pirate action this summer. More info.

Wild West World. Band new park! Located outside Wichita, Kansas, this park actually opened for the first time a couple weeks ago.

Themed to... you guessed it, the Wild West, the park features 25 rides, has an acrobat show, games, shops, and plenty of food choices.

The park must not be content with just opening, as they have already promised a drop tower thrill ride for 2008 and a "giant wooden coaster" for 2009. More info.

Canobie Lake Park. This traditional amusement park is located in Salem, NH. Home to classic attractions such as the Yankee Cannonball wooden coaster, the park has not forgotten to keep up with the times.

Recent additions include Divinchi's Dream, a Wave Swinger, Star Blaster, an S&S tower ride, Whipeout, and now, for 2007 - the Xtreme Frisbee.

The spinning ride looks like it'll be a lot of fun. More info.

Cliff's Amusement Park. This Albuquerque, New Mexico park made a major expansion in 2002 when they added the New Mexico Rattler wooden coaster.

After the ride put them on the map, so to say, the park has grown, and 2007 is no different.

This season brings 3 new rides to the park. One adult and two children's rides. The SideWinder is a spinning thrill ride for the adventurous, and the Doggie-Go-Round and Baja Buggy are for the little ones. More info.

Martin's Fantasy Island. This New York amusement park was also put on the map when they built their wooden coaster, the Silver Comet.

The ride opened the door for further expansion of the park, and this brings us to 2007. The park is adding Full Tilt, a unique sounding flat ride.

The 60 foot tall ride rotates passengers up and around while tilting them forward up to 25 degrees. Sounds like fun if you ask me. More info.

Ghost Town in the Sky. After closing in 2002, this amusement park in North Carolina will reopen for the 2007 season.

They've cleaned up the park, renamed the roller coaster to Cliff hanger, made some changes, and things seem ready to go for their May 25th opening.

Hopefully all will go well and the park will stay open for the foreseeable future. More info.

Waldameer Amusement Park. In Erie, PA, you'll find this small park and it's various rides and attractions.

They recently added the Steel Dragon coaster, which is a fairly unique spinning coaster. They haven't stopped there, though, as they are now adding the X Scream freefall tower to the park.

Standing 140 feet tall, the ride thrills 12 passengers at a time. Freefalls are great attractions at parks, not only are they thrilling to ride but they provide something fun for non-riders to watch as well! More info.

Phew! There's even more to come in part 2!

Dorney Park Fun Facts #12

My parents used to go to dinner here, and I also ate there, though it wasn't under the same circumstances.

I loved how at the end of it's life it had become full of great Dorney Park memorabilia.

2008 Announcement Tracker

In order to keep track of everything that the parks are announcing for 2008, I've made this post.

To be used as a handy guide to what's new at North American Amusement and Theme parks in 2008, I will continually update this entry as new attractions are announced.


Dollywood

Name: River BattleOpening: March, 2008
Cost: $5 Million
Capacity: 9 Rafts, 800 pph
Length: 500 feet
Type: Manf. TBA
More Info: Official Release


Nickelodeon Universe

Name: Nick Universe
Opening: March, 2008
Cost: $30 Million
What: Re-theme of Camp Snoopy at Mall of America. Includes 4 new rides, 3 for families and a Spongebob themed Roller Coaster. Additionally themed elements will be added, food service revamped, new merchandise brought in, and a new ticket system added.
More Info: News Article

Hard Rock Park

Name: Hard Rock Park
Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Opening: Spring, 2008
Cost: Between $300-400 Million
Size: 140 Acres
Attractions: Over 40, 4 Coasters, Dark Ride, Lots of Entertainment, Shopping, Themed Restaurants, Flat and Family Rides, all contained in 6 themed sections.
More Info: Official Site, Great Updates, Concepts, Photos

Universal Studios Orlando and Hollywood

Name: TBA, Simpsons attraction
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Simpsons replacing Back to the Future attraction at both American Universal parks. Themed to a visit to Krustyland with the Simpsons family using motion simulators. Original creative and voice talents for the show will be used.
More Info: Official Release, Park Photos

California Adventure & Disney's Hollywood Studios

Name: Toy Story Mania
Opening: 2008
What: Interactive dark ride at both parks. Riders wear 3-D Glasses and are taken on a journey through classic midway games. Riders have a "toy cannon" which allows them to play these midway games, which are loaded with Pixar characters.
More Info: Press Release


Aquatica

Where: Next to Busch Gardens Africa, Tampa, FL
Opening: March, 2008
What: SeaWorld's take on a water park. Full 60 acre water park with 36 water slides, 6 rivers and lagoons, and 80,000 sq. ft. of beach. Features two wave pools that have 9 different wave programs available, two lazy rivers, a water fortress, and kiddie areas.
More Info: Official Site

The Columbus Zoo

Name: Zoombezi Bay water park
Opening: May 17th, 2008
Size: 22.7 acres
Cost: $38 Million for entire redevlopment
What: Rebirth of the former Wyandot Lake park. The Zoo kept the roller coaster and a water play structure, other attractions are new. Water slides include a mat racer, Tornado Slide, a Family raft ride, Bowl slides, Tube slides, free-fall slides, lazy and action rivers, a wave pool and more.
More Info: Article, Press Release, Concepts

Canada's Wonderland

Name: Behemoth
Opening: May, 2008
What: B&M Mega Coaster
Cost: $26 Million
Dynamics: 230 ft. tall, 5,318 ft long, 77 m.p.h.
Capacity: 3 trains, 32 riders each, 1,545 guests an hour
More Info: Official Site

Busch Gardens Africa
Name: Jungala
What: 4 acre land inside the theme park
Opening: Spring 2008
Features: New land contains several themed animal exhibits, new food options, as well as two new family/children's rides.
More Info: Press Release, Concept Art


Holiday World & Splashin Safari
Name: Kima Bay
Cost: $1.7 million
Opening: May, 2008
What: Whitewater West RainFortress in Splashin' Safari
Features: Monkey themed water play area, with 7 water slides attached, 100 water features, 125 spray jets, multi-level play area.
More info: Official Site


Six Flags Over Texas
Name: Tony Hawk's Big Spin
Cost: $6.5 million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Gerstlauer spinning roller coaster.
Dynamics: 53 ft. high, 1,351 ft. long, 31 mph
More Info: Official Site


Six Flags St. Louis
Name: Evel Knievel
Opening: Mid-Summer 2008
Cost: $7 million
What: Great Coasters International wooden roller coaster
Dynamics: 82 ft. tall, 2,700 ft. long, reaches 50 m.p.h.
More Info: Press Release


Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Name: Tony Hawk's Big Spin
Cost: $6.5 million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Gerstlauer spinning roller coaster.
Dynamics: 53 ft. high, 1,351 ft. long, 31 mph
More Info: Official Website


Six Flags Over Georgia
Name: Thomas Town
Cost: $2.5 million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Family area themed to Thomas the Tank Engine. Features full size Thomas train ride, a Sir Topham Hatt meet and greet, and a new souvenir store.
More Info: Press Release


Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom
Name: Wiggles World & Wild Wedgie
Cost: $3 Million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Wiggles World family area of park. Two children's rides, stage show, shopping and dining facilities - all themed to The Wiggles. Additionally, a new water slide will be added to the water park named the Wild Wedgie.
More Info: Official Press Release


Hershey Park
What: Fahrenheit
Cost: $12.1 Million
Opening: May, 2008
What: Intamin looping roller coaster
Dynamics: 121 ft. tall vertical lift, 6 inversions, 58 m.p.h., 2,700 feet long
More Info: Official Website


Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags New England
Six Flags Great America
Name: The Dark Knight Coaster
Cost: $7.5 Million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Indoor themed Mack Wild Mouse coaster with special effects and such.
More Info: Six Flags Official Site


Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Name: Goliath
Cost: $15 Million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Former Batman The Ride coaster from Six Flags New Orleans
Dynamics: 105 ft. tall, 50 m.p.h., 2,693 ft. long
More Info: Official Press Release


Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
Name: Voodoo
Cost: $8.5 Million
Opening: May, 2008
What: Former Steel Venom coaster from Geauga Lake, steel launched impulse coaster
Dynamics: 184 ft. tall, 704 ft. long, 70 m.p.h.
More Info: Official Mini-Site


Michigan's Adventure
Name: ThunderhawkCost: $10 Million
Opening: May, 2008
What: Relocated Vekoma SLC from Geauga Lake
Dynamics: 105 ft. tall, 50 m.p.h., 2,260 ft. long
More Info: Official Page

Waldameer
Name: Ravine Flyer II
Cost: $6 Million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: Gravity Group Wooden Roller Coaster
Dynamics: 119 ft. drop, 57 m.p.h, 2,900 ft. of track, 6 Tunnels
More Info: Official Page


Legoland California
Name: Land of Adventure and Sea Life Aquarium
Cost: $20 Million
Opening: March, 2008
What: New 1 acres themed area inside the theme park with an interactive dark ride, two family rides, and a play area; an entire new separate admission aquarium next to the park geared toward families and children.
More Info: News, Official Press Release


Six Flags Magic Mountain
Name: X2 and Thomas Town
Cost: $10+ Million
Opening: Spring, 2008
What: New trains, paint job, tunnels with light effects for X turning the ride into X2, a new Thomas Town ride and meet'n'greet area.
More Info: Official Press Page


California's Great America
Name: Firefall, Halloween Haunt
Opening: Spring 2008
What: Firefall - Huss Top Spin from former Geauga Lake, new park name, new Ice Skating show, extended operating hours, new Halloween Haunt event
More Info: Official Press Release


Knott's Berry Farm
Name: Pony Express
Cost: $10 Million
Opening: Memorial Day, 2008
What: Zamperla MotoCoaster roller coaster
Dynamics: 38 m.p.h. launch, 44 ft. high, 1,300 ft. long
More Info: Layout, Official Release, News Article


Carowinds
Name: Bondi Beach
Opening: May, 2008
What: 34,000 sq. ft. wave pool, the park's second, also adding new food stand, retail location, additional cabanas, expanding the water park to 20 acres.
More Info: Official Press Release

Local Waterparks 2007

There are so many nice little water parks in the country that rarely get any attention that I though I'd point out some of them that are expanding for the 2007 season. Here they are in no particular random alphabetical order:


Crystal Falls. The water side of Magic Springs amusement park is expanding for the upcoming season with the addition of the Crystal Lagoon area. The complex, pictured here, will have three speed slides and four tube slides, two of which have bowl features.

The colors are bright and vibrant, and look nice sitting over another addition to the water park, a water pool play area for the whole family. That rock wall looks like they'll have some nice waterfalls once things are up and running. More info.



Splashtown U.S.A. Also the water area of a ride park, Splashtown U.S.A. shares it's property with Funtown U.S.A. in Maine. The water park is adding two seven story slides from Proslide to their line-up for 2007.

The park is added one of the popular Tornado slides , along with a Mammoth slide. According to the park's website, the Tornado is 274 feet long and the Mammoth slide is 518 feet. I'm sure both slides will be immensely popular at the park. More info.



Waterville U.S.A. This small water park, with one nice wooden coaster, is adding several goodies for this season.

First, they are adding two drop slides named Screamin' Deamon and Triple Dog Dare. I can't tell for sure but it seems like they might be adding them to an existing tower.

They are also adding a FlowRider, which will allow guest to surf at the park. More info.




Rapids Water Park, in Palm Beach Florida was a property I did not know existed until today. However, this water park has added a bunch of slides and attractions for this coming season.

Pictured on the left is Riptide Raftin' and Pirate's Plunge, both of which are very twisted and look like a lot of fun. The big green one is a family slide, while the yellow ones are for the more adventurous thrill seeker.

The park is also adding Big Thunder, one of Proslide's popular Tornado rides. Sporting a bright yellow and blue checkerboard color scheme, the ride is being featured by the park as the can't-miss attraction of the summer. More info.

Splash Mountain. Associated with the Jolly Roger parks in Ocean City, Maryland, this water park has been expanding recently.

In 2006 the park added the Super Racer, a 6 lane mat racing slide. Now, for 2007, the park is adding Eye of the Hurricane, which appears to be a bowl slide of some sort. Perhaps it's one of the larger ones, maybe even with theming of some sort. That's a total guess though.

With a ride park, mini-golf, and go-carts near the water park, Jolly Roger has created quite an amusement complex for themselves. More info.

Blue Bayou Water Park. Located alongside Dixie Landin' amusement park in Baton Rouge, LA, this water park seems to have a thing for record holding.

The park's addition for 2007 is Voodoo, the "World's Largest" Dark BehemothBowl. I kinda like the red in black they used in the image at left, I hope those are the real colors.

The park also offers up Azuka, and this one is the "World's Largest Tornado Slide." I'm very interested in seeing what makes Azuka the world's largest. More info.

Boulder Beach. As part of Silverwood Theme Park, Boulder Beach is a fairly new water park facility. Due to what I've read to be extreme popularity, the park has felt the need to expand again for the '07 season.

And they mean business. First up, and pictured on the right, is Avalanche Mountain. A huge family raft slide that is built into a hill and the natural terrain. Looks awesome.

They are also adding another wave pool to keep up with demand, and a 12,000 square foot children's play area. To top it all off is a Cabana area on the island situated between the two wave pools. More info.

NRH20. This Texas water park, located in North Richland

Hills, is a summertime family favorite.

The park features a full plate of water features, including the massive uphill water coaster, The Green Extreme. They boast that it's the world's largest. (has the quest for coaster records moved to water parks?)

New for 2007 is The Accelerator, a 4 lane mat racer slide. I'm sure the attraction will be a hit with this family oriented water park! More info.

That does it for now. I'm sure I'm missing some though. If I did please let me know so I can add them!

Toon Studios At Disney Studios Paris

© DLRP.FR

DLRP, a wonderful Disneyland Resort Paris fansite, has photos up of the recently soft-opened Toon Studios at Disney Studios Paris. The area contains two attractions, Crush's Coaster, and Cars Race Rally. The level of theming is appropriate, and the pictures are good so check it out!

It's all on DLRP's website.

Dorney Halloweekends 1998 Recap #3

Here is the final set of photos I have from Dorney's first Halloweekends, which took place in 1998.

These fountains are not even in the park anymore, let alone filled with bloody water and body parts! Ha.

Wasn't this prop from Journey to the Center of the Earth? Maybe I'm remembering that incorrectly.

Here's the original lost attraction grave yard. I thought this was a neat thing to do, they've done it at Cedar Point as well.

Other views of the same area.

I think that's all I have from the first year. I'm looking forward to this year's event, though I'm in no hurry to fly past the summer!

Geauga Lake Pre-Opening Photos

Geauga Lake Today had the chance to take a tour of Geauga Lake recently to check out all the changes that have been made for this season.

Among various changes, removals, upgrades, and other improvements, the Huss Topspin, Twister, has been given a vibrant new paint scheme. See before:

© GeaugaGuide

And then after:

© GeaugaLakeToday

Looks pretty awesome!

Be sure to check out the entire photo update at Geauga Lake Today.

Great Worlds of Fun Patriot Article

FunWorld Magazine published a really great article on Debbie Strom of Worlds of Fun back in 2005. The article is about Debbie's role as project manager for the Patriot inverted roller coaster.

The article contains some nice photos as well as some great tidbits about the ride. For instance, the contract for the ride was signed in September 2004 for the ride to open in 2006.

It's worth a read if you have the time. Here's the direct link.

Flying Dutchman @ Dorney Park + Wind Power

Angel's Nest

I knew that Dorney Park had a wind turbine back in the day, but I never knew that it powered, or was capable of powering, as much of the park as it did. In 1979 Mother Earth News wrote:

"THE WINDJAMMER 475—billed "the most powerful private wind turbine now operating in the United States"—is a prime attraction at the 150-acre Dorney Amusement Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This 101-foot-tall generator—with four 75-foot blades—has a maximum power output of 225,000 watts ... enough to handle an estimated 10-15% of the park's total electric needs! School groups visit the site for free lectures on alternative energy, and plans are underway to use the big turbine to power pumps ... which will supply the park's extra water needs during the summer months."

Did the turbine come down when the Flying Dutchman did in '88? Anyone know?

Valleyfair! 2007 Park Map

Valleyfair! has posted their 2007 Park Map on their website. And look, it's been Cedar Fair-ized! It looks good though. You can download it from their website.

Knott's Sierra Sidewinder

Snoopy sorta looks like he's feeling sick in this image, but it's a nice ad regardless. They've also put up a whole bunch of press releases for this season up on their site, and of course one of them is about Sierra Sidewinder. Check it out on Knott's site.

Adventureland 1997 Map

*** Warning ***

The above image is from an independent park that has not gone under without the aid of a large corporation. If you are excessively used to reading about and visiting chain parks the above image may make you feel nervous, frightened, and generally uncomfortable.

Just kiddin'. I have been surprised for years that the park hasn't been sold though. Looks like a fun little place!

Steel Venom Almost Totally Down

RollerCoasterFreak has a new update from the 13th of May showing that Steel Venom at Geauga Lake is almost totally down.

Only a little of the 'twist' spike and the station track remain in place.

I can almost hear thost trucks roaring east down the highway with the track pieces...

Cedar Fair's Weekend

They had a pretty busy weekend, far as I can tell. Dorney had a nice crowd again, Cedar Point opened to a packed park, and Valleyfair! had a successful debut of their new wooden coaster, Renegade.

Thrillrider15 over at ThemeParkReview had posted a nice photo trip report with tons of detailed Renegade shots. As seen in the shot above, taken by Thrillrider15, the ride was open and by the reports showing up online it seems to be a hit. Follow the link above to check it all out.

Cedar Point opened to a packed park this weekend as well. Walt Schmidt and Pointbuzz have a great selection of photos up of Maverick and the park, as seen above. Here is a link to their photo selection.

Dorney Halloweekends 1998 Recap #2

Here's some more pictures from Dorney Park's 1st Halloweekends event, held back in 1998.

Oh my ... how gory! This scene lasted a couple years and you certainly won't find gore like this in the park anymore. The event is tamer now, well, it was always pretty tame but the gore is certainly gone.

Crash! This one was around a few years as well. It's funny.

Some props of zombies comin' to get ya. They're quality - those things are like two hundred each or something crazy like that. I used to look at Halloween prop websites all the time.

Awesome use of items already in the park, eh? Also take note of the Midway in the background of the picture ... where's all the buildings and stuff? Talon? Bueller?

And here we have the monster in the lake bed that had the swan boats in it for a year. Now I know where the slide pieces are from! (see post on old Wildwater Kingdom photo)

That's it for now, one more post of pictures should wrap things up next time.

Led Zeppelin Track Arrives at Hard Rock Park

And it's bright white! Beautiful, wonderful, glowing white! I know I said it before but I think B&M track looks snazzy white.

Discover Myrtle Beach has some more photos.

Cool YouTube Dorney History Video

I just stumbled upon a video on YouTube that is pretty darn awesome. It's a video on the history of Dorney Park. It's absolutely loaded with pictures of the old Dorney.

YouTube user kabulaishappy made the video for strictly personal use. The creator used the media from the Images of America, Dorney Park book, what looks like some personal ride footage, and does their own narrating. The video was made as a tribute to the late Bob Ott.

I highly suggest checking it out. Here is the direct link to the video on YouTube.

Dorney Park Fun Facts #11

Just two images this time from Dorney's 2007 Park Guide.

Here's the part of the map that's updated for 2007. Here you can see the Capital BlueCross Aqua Racer, but remember, the colors that it is drawn in are not accurate. Notice the 'G' for games that is located where the Torpedo Tubes were. I'm interested in seeing what games they've placed there.

And here are the shows for the 2007 season. I don't keep up with Dorney's shows that much, but I do know that the Boogie Down Band has been gone for some years after being a staple at the park.

I wanted to add both of these as Dorney has not yet updated their website with show info or the new park map. Tisk tisk!

Intamin Screws Cedar Point Again

This is sad. Wicked Twister worked, mostly, but needed support modifications. Top Thrill Dragster just really didn't work. And now this!

Intamin (IntaRide, whatever) really needs to stop receiving contracts from Cedar Fair. That's my opinion, anyway.

The Coasters of Cedar Fair

Not roller coasters, the restaurants! Don't ask me why I found all these, but I did, so let's take a look. This is the kind of super nerdy stuff I love. Here they are in order of being built.

Valleyfair! - 1997:

© Larry Pieniazek

First up, we have Coasters at Valleyfair! The original was built in 1997 as the start of a mini-section of buildings that are similarly themed. There's a theatre, Coasters, a pizza place, and an arcade. Notice the sign on the marquee, it changes later on.

Dorney Park - 1998:

© Dorney Park

Then, in '98, Dorney started to build their upper midway section of the park. This Coasters was different, as it was attached to a Fudge and Candy shop. It's basically the same, though. Again, note the marquee (specifically the downward facing arrow).

Worlds of Fun - 1999:

© WorldsofFun.Org

Now that Coasters was a proven success, they branched out. Worlds of Fun added their in '99, oddly enough to the Africa section of the park. Here's where you can see that the marquee has changed. Gone is the long downward arrow, in it's place many smaller ones. Also the Coasters logo now sits on a big chevron type thing.

Cedar Point - 1999:

© Walt Schmidt/Pointbuzz

Naturally, Cedar Point added one as well in 1999. They removed a restaurant and placed this one in its former spot. This one is much more visible from all sides, though, as it's seated in the middle of a large intersection in the park.

Knott's Berry Farm - 1999:

© Lance Hart/Screamscape

Cedar Fair made a lot of changes at Knott's Berry Farm when they purchased the park in '97. They added a Coasters restaurant in 1999. I love the use of the palm trees! They frame the place fantastically. Awesome paint job on that car as well.

Michigan's Adventure - 2006:

© Jon Roost/Mirollercoast

Cedar Fair Planning & Design must have dusted off the blueprints for the restaurant and went to work in 2006 with Michigan's Adventure added their Coasters. Theirs sits inside the entrance to the park much like Dorney's does. This one is also situated with midway on all sides of the establishment.

Canada's Wonderland - 2007:

© shesaidboom

New for 2007 at Canada's Wonderland is a Coasters restaurant. The park was in need of a food overhaul, and a Coasters fit the bill. I don't see any major design changes, but they do have some nice antique cars outside as well.

That's all of them! Are there more in the future? I'm not sure. But if I were a betting man (and I am), I'd look to former Paramount properties for possible new locations. Hope you enjoyed.

Six Flags Media Site

I didn't know that Six Flags theme parks has a corporate media web site. It's sixflagsinc.com, and it's got lots of stuff on it.

There's lots of images of roller coasters, rides, water slides, general park photos, and more. That's where I found this nice photo of the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.

It's worth a browse if you have some free time. Some links are bad, but hey, this is Six Flags after all. Ha.

Universal Dubai Official Website

Just noticed that Universal City Dubai has an official website. Click here to check it out.

It's low on the detail side of things, but they list Mummy, King Kong, Jurassic Park, Fast and Furious, Woody Woodpecker, and Jungle Cruise (what!?) as attractions.

They also list Beetlejuice, Waterworld, Seasme Street 4D (from Universal Studios Japan), Blues Brothers, and Sinbad as shows.

Obviously some of those are found in Universal theme parks in Orlando and California, but some of them are not. It's definitely a mix of attractions from all the Universal theme parks, from Florida, Japan, and California.

Hopefully they will update their site as things progress.

Richard Kinzel Interview

The Plain Dealer has a very nice interview with Cedar Fair Entertainment Company CEO, Richard Kinzel. You can read the whole interview through this link.

There were a lot of little gems in the article. I'm going to comment on some of them now.

• Mr. Kinzel tried to purchase Kings Island 10 years ago, but tax problems made the transaction fall though. There were 80 parties looking to buy the Paramount Parks when they went for sale in 2006. Cedar Fair just so happened to be the high bidders.

• "As far as Cedar Fair goes, we have no intention of going over 430 feet."

• Cedar Point hit an attendance high of 3.6 million in 1996, this past season was 3.1 million.

• Great Adventure ordered Kingda Ka while Top Thrill Dragster was under construction. Kinzel notes that they probably would never have gone through with it if they knew how it would operate.

• They planned a $100 million indoor water park for Geauga Lake. Had it ready to take to the board for approval, but Kalahari opened and they pulled out on the plans. Kinzel just called it a "$100 million water park at Geauga Lake," but it's in the section talking about the indoor water parks so I feel it's safe to assume their plan was for an indoor one. Plus, a $100 million outdoor water park would be INSANE.

• The focus for Geauga Lake will be on the water park side. Kinzel says the park would need to draw 1.2 million visitors to support the size and cost of the facility. The interviewer asks if Cedar Fair is in it for the long haul with Geauga and Kinzel sorta just says they are constantly evaluating how the property is doing. Interesting.

• The chain's most important parks are turning out to be Cedar Point, Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island and Kings Dominion, and Canada's Wonderland has much potential.

All very interesting stuff!

Canada's Wonderland is Open

Canada's Wonderland is also now open for the season. The above photo, of the new Coasters restaurant, was taken by user shesaidboom and featured in a nice photo trip report on ThemeParkReview.

Overall, it looks like Canada's Wonderland is the former Paramount park that still has the most Paramount stuff around - even employee uniforms! The theme park did make some changes though.

Check out all the photos from shesaidboom's report.

Dorney Park 2007 Opening Day Report

Today was a beautiful day for Dorney Park to open. I have seen some miserable weather days take place on opening day, but this was one perfect. The park had a nice crowd, too! This report will focus mostly on changes at the park, not just a tour of my day at the park.

First, the new logo can be seen around the park. Oddly though, in some places the Dorney logo sans Snoopy appears with the Cedar Fair general logo. This was on a stand near the park entrance.

Like I said, beautiful day. Talon was running nice as well.

A poster for Aqua Racer. Notice that Capital Blue Cross is now above the slide's name in the logo. Also of note: the park map shows the slides alternating in yellow and blue, but it's not like that. Like I pointed out in an earlier update, the two outside lanes on each side are dark blue, the two inside lanes are teal.

Twenty five cents no more. Now it's $2.83, the .25 promotion must have been just last year only.

The promotion must have worked last season, as the 'year' tee-shirts are back.

A new retail operation for this season. I never saw this coming, but I think it's a good idea. Kids love this stuff and the profit must be significant. I hope it clicks for them.

Camp Snoopy finally got new banners. They're even Dorney Park specific!

One of the new smoking areas. The umbrella can be found at all of them. A nice touch, it actually makes these areas stand out more. One thing I did notice was a security guard walk past some guests smoking on the midway, and say nothing. Not sure how much they are enforcing the policy, or perhaps it was just that guard.

No longer cotton candy at all, now face painting. Not open today though.

A new park map station. I like the advertisement on there too. Some may not like it but it makes sense.

I like this banner alot. They are along the pathway that is inside Thunderhawk leading to and from Steel Force's plaza. The logo for the ride looks slightly updated.

I don't know if these were there last year or not. They are ride safety info signs, mini versions, that are found at ride exits. Not sure I'm on the same page as to why they are necessary, but oh well.

They ARE celebrating Steel Force's 10th anniversary! It wasn't just me! Maybe I'll pretend they did it because of my historical SF construction series. Right.

A slightly different banner celebrating Steel Force's 10th anniversary.

2008.

Hard to see as it fluttered in the wind, but the new flags have the Dorney logo with the Cedar Fair logo as well.

3-Point Challenge, as popular as ever, is now $10 a pop! Or at least I think I remember it as $5 last year. I could be wrong though. I still love watching people try this. The big prize has also become a Wii this year, but you need to get 15 points, or make ALL the shots, so I doubt many of those will be given away. And don't worry about the price, they take credit cards now!

That's all I noticed today. I'm sure I'll pick up on more stuff as I visit again. Overall it seemed like it was a pretty great start to the 2007 season.

Cedar Point 2007 Entrance Sign

Here's a wonderful photo of Cedar Point's entrance sign for the 2007 season, appropriately themed to Maverick.

I know I haven't covered Maverick well, at all, but there are many other sites out there that are doing it much better than I ever could so I let this one alone. That doesn't mean I don't think it looks like an awesome ride though!

Anyway, here's the photo:
Pretty cool, eh? The photo was generously contributed by a reader. A huge thank you to R.P. for the photo!

Dorney Park Opens Tomorrow

I'll be there, of course, and plan on having a photo update on NewsPlusNotes sometime tomorrow evening.

If you're going I hope you have a good time!

Heard On... Cedar Fair 1st Qtr '07 Call

Got a chance to listed to the Cedar Fair 1st quarter conference call just now. To keep it simple, I'll just list the things I heard that were interesting.

• The company has seen between $25-30 million in cost savings since June through the paramount purchase.
• They now do all online ticket sales in-house, on a system they obtained that Paramount already had in place.
• Season Pass sales are down at the former Paramount Parks so far this year. This is probably because Cedar Fair upped their prices and removed most of the amenities that Paramount gave out.
• 2007 outlook of total revenues of $950 million to $1 billion.
• 1st quarter revenues for 2007 on a same park (i.e. no paramount parks) basis were up 7%.
• Current debt is $1.88 billion. (and I'm scared by my credit card bill)
• One caller made a somewhat snide comment about needing a casino at Cedar Point to draw visitors, and Dick quickly replied "We tried that."
• Dividend increases for next few years will be a penny or two at most.
• In 4 or 5 years they might be in a position to once again look for another acquisition. So no rumors of Cedar Fair buying anything till then.

That's it!

Six Flags AstroWorld 2000 Brochure

Six Flags Astroworld, sadly now a field, was a bustling amusement park in the year 2000. To honor this bulldozed park, here is a copy its year 2000 brochure.

I never visited the park. Their Dungeon Drop Intamin freefall looked like it had some interesting theming.

Their Looney Tunes Town also looked like it had some nice theming, and was fairly original for the older Six Flags parks.

Dorney Halloweekends 1998 Recap #1

The Halloweekends event at Dorney Park will take place this fall for it's 10th season. Yes, it was way back in 1998 that Halloweekends took place for the first time at Dorney.

I was way excited for a Halloween event to take place at Dorney again. I'd been told stories of hayrides that were scary as heck back in the 70's at the park, but as far as my memory goes I never knew the park to celebrate the holiday.

Thankfully, the American marketing machine had been in high gear through the 90s and Halloween had been growing in popularity. Hence, Cedar Fair gave it a shot at a couple of their parks in 1997, must have liked what they saw, and brought the event to Dorney in '98.

Here's the brochure for the event for '98. There was no special Halloweekends park map guide for the first seasons.

I like that they had to draw something for the cover since they had no photos to use!

The event started small, really only one haunted house, Dr. Frightner's Horror Theatre, and the scary train ride and a bunch of decorations and some fog.

I have a bunch of other photos from Dorney's '98 Halloweekends, but here's a preview. The rest will come in other updates. Stay tuned!

Steel Venom Comin' Down

Just a heads up - Steel Venom at Geauga Lake has had it's first piece of track removed. You can see pictures at the site that broke the news; Geauga Lake Today. I'm sure it won't be all that long until Steel Venom is totally gone from the park. It doesn't have that many track pieces, after all.

One step closer to track arriving in Pennsylvania...

Kennywood Ent. Co. Buys Story Land

But what will they do with it?

Continue very small developments like Hershey is doing with Dutch Wonderland, or try to move at a bit of a faster pace and make bigger changes?

I have no idea.

More Universal Dubai Images

Okay the top photo is from Bloomberg News, and the bottom I found on the always fantastic Disney and More blog. (If you haven't been, again, I'd check it out)

The top photo gives a clear view of the Kong coaster, the model is sorta a mess but you can see that it has inversions, perhaps this is like Hulk 2.0 just themed to Kong.

Now that a better image of the whole park is available - yikes. This screams of Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney Studios Paris, and California Adventure. What does that mean? It means that it looks like there is a dearth of attractions planned for opening.

I can really only see 6 or 7 major attractions. The Kong coaster, another coaster (for which the model is so poor I won't even guess at what it is), the Jurassic Park ride, a stadium for Sinbad, and a few big buildings for things like Mummy and other Universal rides. Two of the buildings I would think are for children's / mild attractions, as there is a big play structure in front of them with slides and such. Universal Orlando has this kind of stuff.

Perhaps there will be more in the buildings that I can't see or whatever, but it looks like this is yet another theme park built on the cheap.

Thoughts?

New Universal Park in Dubai

Yesterday Universal Parks & Resorts announced their plans to build a 150 acre theme park named Universal City Dubai in Dubailand.

The park will have 4 lands (three announced are themed to Hollywood, Metropolis, and Adventure) and have some similar rides to other Universal Parks.

The Sun Sentinel, speaking with the Chairman of the Parks & Resorts division, reports that the park will have Revenge of the Mummy, Jurassic Park River Adventure, the Sinbad Stunt Show, and new rides such as a coaster themed to King Kong and an Aladdin ride.

Sounds cool. As seen in the pictures a large model was unveiled, hopefully some better shots of it will turn up soon.