Closed Park Commercials

Poor place, about to get slammed again it looks.



Hey, hey - new for 2009 at Carowinds!

Busch Gardens Europe's Howl-O-Scream 2008

Busch Gardens Europe has also launched the website for their annual Halloween scream-fest, Howl-O-Scream.

New this year is a haunted maze named MasqueRage which takes place in a ruined Italian castle where a not-so-fun masquerade ball took place that ended up in torture and murder. Fun!

Also new this year is the addition of Sweeney Todd to the very popular Wicked Woods haunted maze. I find this to be awesome because the movie was pretty fun, he makes a great evil character, and it fits with the mazes' old English horrors theme very well.

In total the park will have 5 haunted mazes and 4 scare zones along with plenty of live entertainment.

Diamondback Photos

© 2008 Donald Flint / KIExtreme.com

KIExtreme has some new Diamondback construction photos from Kings Island that were taken today.

They've added another lift support and have lots of track laying around for the splash area. Usually B&Ms are built station to brakes, but maybe because of a lot of the ride being in the center of the park they will finish the splash first?

Here's a link to KIExtreme's full gallery.

Busch Gardens Africa's Howl-O-Scream 2008

Busch Gardens does a pretty good job with their Howl-O-Scream event each year, and even goes as far as having a host icon like Universal does. This year's hosts are the Raven Twins, seen above. They're rather pretty...

Sorta. Lara and Lana Raven were born as conjoined twins, conjoined at the face. Eeeks. As they grew up they developed different personalities, and eventually fell in love with the same man. He rejected them, calling them freaks like the rest of the town did.

The Raven Twins then decided to forcefully separate themselves, leaving half of each of their faces totally mutilated. The scorned women then took it upon themselves to seek bloody revenge for their years of torment.

The Raven Twin website is live. It's worth checking out, and make sure to click the 'right' arrow on the main page and watch the video. It's awesome, and totally on par with Universal's ads.

Kings Dominion 2008 Haunt

Kings Dominion's webpage for their 2008 Halloween Haunt is now live, and they (like most of the Cedar Fair parks) are also expanding the event.

New this year is one scare zone, called The Harvest, and two haunted houses, Toxic Plague and Big Top Terror. They will also have two new live Halloween themed shows for guests.

Looks like another great Haunt!

Daily Spin 8.29.08

Hong Kong Disneyland is expected to reach it's first year attendance goal in it's 3rd year, according to news reports. Visitors are expected to total 5.6 million this year, up from 4.2 million during the park's second year of operations.

5.6 million guests was the expected amount for the park's debut year. An increase of 1.4 million people for any park anywhere ever is amazing, so it looks like this park has a brighter future than more may think.

Keeping up with the Halloween announcements, Cedar Point has announced a large expansion to their Halloweekends event for 2008. Guests will fine a new haunted house, two new scare zones (both of which seems like outdoor haunted houses, really), rearranged existing haunts, new live entertainment, and two new themed restaurant locations.

According to this blurb the decision on California's Great America's new wooden coaster for 2009 has been pushed back yet again, now to September 16th. It seems they are taking the course of having a sound level test done. So many parks have this problem - but the real question is, why build an office building next to an amusement park?

Worlds of Fun will be announcing their 2009 wooden coaster, Prowler, along with the new Haunts for 2008 (which we already sorta know about) in the park on September 1st. Anyone who's at the park that day can attend, which is really cool of the park. First Kings Island did it and now WoF, it would be awesome if more parks would start making announcements that are open to visitors that day!

Sea World Orlando has also announced their Halloween Spooktacular event to take place this October. A very family friendly event, there will be no scares found at this one. The Count from Sesame Street will host a special breakfast "boo-ffet", haha, that's a funny play on buffet, aimed at families and their little ones.


Here's a pretty cool interview with John Murdy, creative director of Universal Studio Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights. He gives away a ton of details that make it sound like having Freddie, Jason, and Leatherface back at Hollywood's event not so bad. (in comparison to the unique Orlando theme) Definitly worth checking out...

Universal's Bloody Mary Media

Hires image of Bloody Mary, Halloween Horror Nights 18's icon.

Look at how awesome that billboard is! That is so creepy. I love it!

And a video that Universal Media released about the new icon:

Reflections of Fear

Last night Universal had a pretty fun game going on which led up to the final reveal of the Halloween Horror Nights 18 website and full details.

The subtitle this year is "Reflections of Fear" and Bloody Mary is indeed our host - she will be bringing to life history's most terrifying urban legends. This will be accomplished through 8 all new haunted houses and 6 all need scare zones, which is a heck of a lot of scary attractions!

As for the updates that led to the website reveal, either I'm confused (probably) or things weren't explained as much as I'd like.

I didn't stay up for the whole process (started at like 8 and went past 11 pm) of updates but I can't seem to tell if anything at all happened to Boris when he went to see Dr. Mary. The story took a modern twist last night with events taking place in current day, with investigators going to Mary's former office on the anniversary of her death and a lot of paranormal stuff then taking place.

The 'journal' updates are still online, but like I said they don't seem to explain what happened between Boris and Mary, how either or both of them died, etc. Perhaps there were text messages or e-mails (Universal did both again this year) that explain this. I'll have to research...

HKDL's 2008 Haunted Halloween

Hong Kong Disneyland must have had some success with last year's Haunted Halloween event because the park is bringing it back again this year bigger and better than before.

The park is really stepping up and going for real scares during the season, like many parks do - just not any other Disney parks. This is popular (see all the Haunts in the U.S.) all over but never fit in with Disney's image as super family friendly. I love that Hong Kong Disneyland isn't afraid to make their guests... afraid.

This year the scares are spreading to Adventureland with the addition of Demon Jungle and the Adventureland Haunted Trail. Demon Jungle is another haunted house style attraction, like last year's Main Street Haunted Hotel (which was amazingly done from photos and video). This also resolves what the mystery construction was for in Adventureland we mentioned a while back.


The Adventureland Haunted Trail is akin to an outdoor scare zone, that operates only at night and only on weekends.

The Main Street Haunted Hotel, Space Mountain "Ghost Galaxy" overlay, and the Glow in the Dark Parade are all back as well.

Here's the official website for the event.

Diamondback Progress

I just remembered that I haven't been checking out the Diamondback webcam lately, and it certainly looks like Kings Island has been hard at work building the ride.

They have the brake run, transfers, station turn, and station track in place, and the first set of lift supports in as well. Looks like that 230 ft. lift hill is next on their construction list. That will be awesome to watch going up.

Apparently a significant portion of the ride is expected to be up before the park closes for the year, so there should be some great construction photos this fall.

'Blue Sky' Disney Parks Update

If you are at all interested in the future of the Disney Theme Parks around the globe, then Blue Sky Disney's latest 'Blue Sky Buzz' report should make you squirm with excitement. Or drool at the possibilities. Or start saving for a future trip. Or something!

Regardless, part one of the massive article is up at this link on Blue Sky Disney. Check it out!

Boris!

Tomorrow our private investigator, Boris, has scheduled his meeting with the crazy psychiatrist killer Mary. This, of course, is taking place in the fantasy world that Universal has created for us Horror Nights fans. But I don't care, I'm totally hooked again this year!

This should be the final event to take place before the full details of the event will be revealed. (Bloody) Mary posted her final "case" today, which seems to belong to her. Or is it her and Boris? I don't know!

Here's the link again if you want to hear what she has to say, and watch tomorrow for the results of her visit from Boris.

Holiday World 2009: Pilgrims Plunge

Holiday World has announced their new ride for 2009, Pilgrims Plunge. This will be the world's tallest water ride when it opens, and is a super modern version of the classic Shoot-the-Chutes water ride.

The ride features a 165 ft. tall tower that contains the ride's lift mechanism, an open air elevator that brings boats to the top, some 135 ft. above the ground. From there it's downhill as the boats plunge 131 ft. at a 45 degree angle hitting 50 mph. The splash that the boats will create will be 90 ft wide and 45 ft. tall!

The ride can be accessed from both Splashin' Safari, the water park, or the amusement side of the property. And as far as record breaking goes, this ride will smash the previous record holder, Perilous Plunge (and its clone Hydro) which is 121 ft. tall with a 115 ft. drop!

The park also announced the HoliWatch, a free device that visitors can wear that will allow them to find others in their party, send messages, and obtain park information. Sounds great!

Holiday World has up a nice page with tons of info, photos, and videos of the new Pilgrims Plunge ride. Check that out here!

Halloween Horror Nights: Hollywood

Universal Studios Hollywood has updated their Horror Nights website for the 2008 event. Freddie will be back again this year as the 'host', but Jason and Leatherface with both have specific mazes at the event.

There will also be a maze based on the movie The Strangers, which came out in May of this year. I didn't see it, but the previews made it look rather creepy so it could make a great maze?

I'm really happy that the event is back in Hollywood now after its absence (was not held in the years 2001-2005) and I hope it continues to grow like Florida's has!

Star Trek Experience Reactions

The closing of the Star Trek Experience at the Vegas Hilton in a week or so has started to stir up many reactions all over the web.

Needless to say, the fans of the Experience are not happy. There's been some interesting online Vegas blog reactions, like this one and then also this one, which has some photos of the massive sales that are taking place in the gift shop.

This article also has some details about the attraction and it's closing that are interesting. The Ops manager for the attraction says that they've received 5,000 e-mails and a 6 ft. tall stack of petitions asking for the Experience not to close.

A spokesperson for the Hilton says that they do not have set plans for the space, that it could be another themed attraction (I doubt it), a theater, or even more gaming space. So really, they have no clue yet what they'll do with it.

The last public show will be on September 1st at 8:30 pm. Then they're having a VIP event to say goodbye, and a public ceremony at 10 pm.

Dorney Park 8.23.08 Update

I wish I had the energy to do these updates during the week when the crowds are less, but that whole "having a job" thing tends to get in the way! Regardless, today was another over, over, overflow day - the park was totally packed like super crazy.

If you really look at the above photo, doesn't it look like that stream of people are in one big line for something? Nope, just that crowded today. And the waterpark wasn't even closed yet when this was taken... scary. It was hard to walk on some midways.

Voodoo had an almost full queue at around 6 pm. That's when the waterpark closed, which means the rest of DP would be flooded with even more people in a bit of time! I find it hard to believe that DP isn't having a *very* strong season attendance wise... I can't think of a rainy Saturday recently at all.

YAY! This is one of the signs posted in the 'blue and white tent' outside the main gates that's the public picnic area. I'm happy that this will be not used in this fashion next year because it's dirty, messy, crowded, smelly, smoky, and gross. It's rumored to be the home of the Joe Cool Backyard Barbecue in 2009.

The ever wonderful Sign Shop updated the logos on the back of the park's Haunt Hearse. Me heart Sign Shop.

The park is really advertising The Haunt. Like last year, banners for the different attractions have gone up all over the park. Here's one for Club Blood - a haunted house that is rumored to have an age restriction due to 'mature' themes. How fun!

I did not climb anything or go anywhere wrong to get this photo, for the record. The entrance/exit to Club Blood is done, and you can see that the queue is ready as well. They've put up a nice blocker wall so the rest of this backstage area isn't visible.

More signs. The ScreamWorks one is the same as last year, but since Doctor of Doom is 'new' this year that one is different. How nasty looking is that clown? Again, I love it.

Two more new attractions at The Haunt for 2009. Terror Square sounds cool with the western theme - I really hope they have "sliders" like at Knott's, guys with metal knee pads on that literally slide at guests and shoot sparks on the way. It's great and hilarious to watch!

As far as CornStalkers... I didn't take a photo because it was backstage, but I saw a bunch of huge wooden crosses and cornstalks sitting around. This one should be awesome, too!

Headstone Hollow is the new and improved Fright Zone. If you read the description, you can see they are using the fact that it was the Fright Zone as backstory for the new attraction. Points for that, indeed.

They're already starting to work on Boo Hill. Does anyone else feel like Kill Hill was a last minute addition? I mean that in a good way, but we had never heard of it, and it doesn't even have a sign at the park. I still think it'll be neat either way.

And finally, just was thinking about how stuff will have to change next year when Laser is gone. For instance, these two will have to be at the very least renamed.

That's it for now. Next weekend marks the end of daily operation, and then the park has several weekends of park buyouts only. Then it's Haunt time!

Don't forget to get your last rides in!

HHN 18: Ready to be Revealed

It's looking like the full reveal of the Halloween Horror Nights 18 website will be soon, as our crazed doctor seems to have killed her last patient.

It also looks like we can solidly confirm that the host this year will be this doctor, Mary, who makes her patients say her name three times and loves mirrors.... yes that makes her Bloody Mary!

If you want to check out the last few updates before all is revealed, here's the website link.

I Hope They Feel Stupid

Cedar Fair is now admitting that the bids they received for most of the former Geauga Lake land were too low, and they won't be selling it any time soon. The 11 acre bit with the former hotel on it still has it's sale moving forward to some non-profit.

Could they have made any more poor decisions regarding this property? For real, it's time for Kinzel and his buddies to go. I'm so thankful that I ditched my 200+ units of Cedar Fair earlier this year.

I'm starting to worry about my home park, Dorney, because when this company fully tanks we'll all have to be concerned about what will happen to the individual properties at that point.

Oh, and Cedar Fair is also admitting that even they do not really know who bought the Big Dipper. But they had to approve the sale... OMG what is their problem!?

Sorry for being so negative but they're really pushing it these days with their incompetence.

Aerial Antics: UK Park + Ride Aerials

Friday is a good day for Live Local aerial obsessing. Today the site took me to jolly old England and I found some treasures, like:

Thorpe Park. Home of the 10 Inversion Colossus, B&M Inverted Nemesis Inferno, the Intamin launched Stealth, and a new for 2009 Gerstlauer Euro Fighter.

The Vampire, at Chessington World of Adventures. This Arrow Dynamics suspended coaster opened in 1990, and received some great new trains from Vekoma in 2002.

G-Force at Drayton Manor park. What a funky little ride! It opened in 2005 and was designed by Mauher Sohne. Oh, and it's not a launched ride, that weird loopish track on the right side is the lift!

Blackpool Pleasure Beach - with the Pepsi Max towering over everything. You also have to love how crammed in everything is at the park.

Star Trek The Experience Part 3

When we last left off we were checking out the 'museum' that's at the start of, and sorta the queue line for, Star Trek the Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

They have guns of various types, and models of ships...

I'm sorry that this is so blurry but I can't go back and take a better one... this just gives you and idea of the themed environment you are in while looking at these displays/waiting in line.

Lots of displays with lots of stuff that I don't know a thing about since I'm not a big fan of the series...

And then there's more stuff. They seriously have a lot of stuff to return to CBS when this closes.

And a pretty model, too!

Ok so at the end up the hallway in the photo a few above you split the line, left for Borg 4-D and right for Klingon Encounter. Since it was the original, we opted for the Klingon Encounter first.

They do not allow photos once you start the attraction, and are rather strict with the rule. (I saw them make a woman delete a photo from her camera, for real!) Needless to say I don't have photos from in there, but if you want to see what goes down, check out this video.

There are several scenes with actors before you ever get on board the simulator part of the Klingon Encounter. Our actors were very into their roles, which was nice to see, and there are a couple of rather well done special effects along the way.

The projector system for the video aspect of the simulator is really showing its age, along with the footage of Vegas they include in the movie. But overall it's very well done.







Bord Invasion 4-D opened in 2004, so it's actually relatively new. I've read that they had to remove 2 of the 4 "sets" (and simulators) from the Klingon Encounter to accommodate the large theater that Borg uses.

Basically, the same scenario plays out with Borg, only the scenes before the 4-D movie are much darker and more dramatic. There are Borg guys snatching actors left and right, lots of screaming, and destroyed hallways to pass through. Again, very well done. The actual movie is regular 4-D tricks, though this one does open up the ceiling as another screen.

After you exit either the simulator or theater for each attraction the group is ushered into a real elevator to head to the level that contains the exit hallway (very nicely themed, seen above) to the gift shop and Quark's restaurant.

^ The gift shop. There was lots of stuff on sale.

The little area outside of the restaurant and the gift shop.

Now I don't know if stuff like the Borg Queen above was always for sale, but the display rack they were trying to sell for $700 definitely looks like a "we're closing - take our junk!" type of sale. A lot of stuff was marked down really cheap, it's probably a good time for the fans to go shopping...

Well, that's my review of the Experience in a three part nutshell. It'll be missed, but honestly with the direction Vegas is heading... it doesn't fit in well anymore. Gone are the days of themes in the city... I mean even New York, New York is gutting their themed casino!

The attraction closes September 1st, so you only have a week and a half to get there and check it out!

Super Halloween Update

I know it's been almost overkill around here lately with the Halloween news, but not much else is going on this time of year. Plus, the Halloween season continues to grow as a very important part of the amusement industry's year... so I'm gonna keep covering it! That said...

Canobie Lake Park has announced that Spooky World will be joined with their amusement park and operate during the Halloween season.

This is the first time I've seen something like this happen, and it's pretty neat. Spooky World was a mini-haunted amusement part of sorts that operated in Foxboro, MA only during the Halloween season. Now this year they are moving and joining forces with Canobie for an even larger event. The park has details available on their website. Can't wait for reviews of this one!

Knott's Berry Farm has also launched their website for The Haunt 2008. The park will feature six new mazes for 2008: Club Blood, CornStalkers, Labyrinth, Quarantine, The Slaughterhouse, and Alien Annihilation.

Check out the event's website here. I used the photo above from the returning maze, The Doll Factory, cause I think it's one of the best themes for a haunted house... ever.

Last, but not least, Midwest Info Guide has an update of the Haunt prep going on at Worlds of Fun.

The park will have a new scare zone called Outlaw's Revenge, and a new haunted house named Master McCarthey's Doll Factory. Another doll themed house! I'm jealous!

Valleyfair! Update

© ValleyfairZone

ValleyfairZone has posted a little update of some new happenings at the park. They have started to advertise for their Haunt event, ValleyScare, there are markings and flags around for the rumored wave pool for 2009, and a few other updates.

Click here to check out the photos.

The Original Haunt

I may be following Universal's Halloween Horror Nights obsessively, but I haven't forgotten the original grand-daddy of Halloween events, Knott's Halloween Haunt.

They do not have the full website up yet for this year's event, but the above teaser has been posted. Nice updated logo I must say!

Busch Entertainment Poll

Steel Eel, Great White

Apollo's Chariot, Alpengeist

Kumba, Kraken

Sheikra, Montu, or Griffon? What's the best? Don't forget to vote in the side bar, poll's open till the end of the month!

Two Disney Rumor Items

I noticed a couple interesting Disney Park related rumors on the net recently, and wanted to point them out to you guys.

First, Disney And More has published a breakdown of what they say will be coming to the Disneyland Paris Resort in the coming years. Lots of interesting things to read about here, from hotel expansions to new rides like Indy and Little Mermaid. Check the article out for yourself.

Next is a rumor about a new mini-park attraction that could be Disney World's next big thing. A poster over on MiceChat took an online survey that detailed what "The Jungle Trek" would be like in Disney World. Read the details here, but it sounds like a highly detailed and themed interactive, personalized Jungle adventure - that would cost a lot.

It's being rumored as the 5th park for the resort, but really it sounds like a nice add-on for Animal Kingdom. It would cost a lot for each person, and have limited attendance, i.e. - it's Disney's answer to Discovery Cove.

As long as it doesn't cut into funding for new attractions at existing parks, or cannibalize the property in general, it sounds like a neat idea...

Six Flags Great America 2009?

© valkrider93 via SFGAm World

Six Flags Great America has put up some signs that tease the park's new attraction(s) for the 2009 season.

One is a huge sign that says "Come ashore with us in 2009!" and in the open area around it some nautical themed props are displayed. The other sign is in front of the closed Space Shuttle America simulator attraction.

Rumor has it that a Splash Battle style ride will be added next season, but that's just what's swirling around the net. The simulator addition could be as simple as a retheme - or detheme of the ride with a new film.

Click here to see the photos of the signs and props. What do you guys think?

Canada's Wonderland's Haunt

Canada's Wonderland's website for The Haunt is now live. This year they have three new haunted mazes and a new live show.

New mazes include Kingdom of Carnage, Mother Noose, and Red Beard's Rage. The live show, Dead Awakening, seems to be going into a lot of Cedar Fair parks this fall.

These new mazes brings Canada's Wonderland's total up to 10, which is very impressive considering how new the event still is.

Holiday World + Indiana Beach Photos

Sabrina, another valued reader of NPN, has sent notice that her travels have taken her to some new parks, so we have new photos to check out! This time she was able to check out Holiday World and Indiana Beach. All photos below are used with her permission.

What a beautiful photo! Seriously... how amazing does that first drop look. I have a friend who loves this ride, even though he can't walk for a bit after taking a spin (but that's not a bad thing...)

Holiday World just looks charming in every photo I ever see of it. Check out Sabrina's full gallery here.

Steel Hawg: Sabrina loved it! It's so insane looking...

I've heard so many mixed reviews of this park from this season regarding the new ownership I hope things straighten out going forward. Full gallery of Indiana Beach pics here.

Thanks Sabrina!

More Harry Potter Photos

© 2008 Orlando Sentinel

The Orlando Sentinel's Theme Park Rangers blog has published a set of very recent photos of construction of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Island of Adventure.

Click here to check them out.

I still can't get over how massive that show building is that they've built!

Worlds of Fun 2009: Prowler

© 2008 CoasterCommunity.com

Worlds of Fun showed off the logo for their new attraction for 2009, Prowler, at their coaster enthusiast event held yesterday.

They're not saying exactly what the ride is yet, but the official and full announcement will be September 1st, according to reports at Coaster Community.

I like the logo, even though it's a total throw back to the Steel Force-ish logos of yesteryear with a creature 'holding' the written text.

Worlds of Fun just posted another teaser video a half hour ago, here's that:

Michigan's Adventure: Connected?

© cprocks22 2008

It looks like Michigan's Adventure is finally building the path that will make the park a 'full circle!' In this trip report on TRP, by cprocks22, they have the above photo showing a new path going in that's heading around the back of Thunderhawk and then toward Wolverine Wildcat.

Now, Thunderhawk isn't in the above aerial, but it gives you an idea of what we're talking about here. The park has always been a big U shape, which means if you go on the rapids ride and then want to ride Timbers... you have to walk all the way around to get to it. This new path will run behind the wooden coaster in the center of the photo connecting the two halfs of the park.

And since they're staring it so early, perhaps that means something new will be along that midway in 2009?

Dark Knight to Six Flags Mexico

TGE Source is reporting that at the 2008 ACE Preservation Conference, held at Six Flags New England, the park's president confirmed that the Dark Knight (that was intended for New England) coaster is headed to Six Flags Mexico.

This apparently happened after Six Flags Magic Mountain said no thanks to the ride, which judging from general reviews might have been a good idea.

Head over to TGE Source for the full story and some photos from the event.

Dorney's Laser

I know it's not new news, but those detectives at the Morning Call have picked up the story that Dorney Park has sold the Laser roller coaster.

The paper contacted Usedrides.com but they could only say that another broker sold the ride and they do not know where it is headed.

Hopefully some sort of official word soon!

Prowler

Cedar Fair has trademarked the name Prowler for a new amusement ride. Which one? Well, you can decide that.

Carowind's Boomerang appears to be snake themed, so not that. That leaves World of Fun's wooden coaster, and California Great America's wooden coaster...

Star Trek The Experience Part 2

Here's the 2nd part of my photo review of Star Trek The Experience in Las Vegas. If you missed it, here's a link to part 1.

Okay, we've got our ticket, which is a rather pricey piece of paper. This is Vegas after all, right? We found discount coupons in the Vegas tourist magazines, but still paid over $30 a pop. You get entrance to the 'museum,' Klingon Encounter, and Borg Invasion 4-D for the entire day with your admission.

Here's the current brochure the attraction has. Figured I'd grab one since they'll go the way of the dodo soon enough.

The brochure does not smell of Cedar Fair at all, which is nice. I'm pretty sure Dick Kinzel's son was shipped off to be in charge of the attraction after Cedar Fair purchased Paramount Parks. I bet he hates living in Vegas...

The special event side of the facility seems rather popular. Lots of events and meetings are held here, as well as lots of weddings.

So here's the entrance to the attraction. Like I stressed last time, the attraction looks great, and the lighting especially is very well done.

Another view of the entrance. Once you pass through this general entrance you are in a multi level atrium of sorts that looks out into deep space. This is where you purchase your tickets and start the museum tour.

© Landmark Entertainment Group

Concept art pause! Here's the original art for the entrance area to the attraction. Compare to the photo above. Very nice, eh?

Here's the atrium. Quark's bar and the gift shop are located on a lower level, which the atrium is open down to. Above you hangs the Enterprise below a starry space. The ceiling (stars) are awesome, they are some great fiber optics that flicker beautifully.

Oooo Enterprise.

So the 'museum' I spoke of actually borders the outside of that big entrance atrium, and features a ton of information, props, models, and tons more from the Star Trek franchise. Above is a blurry (sorry) photo of a big timeline thing connecting all the characters.

As you move along there are lots of these big window displays with actual props from the show and movies. There's also scary masks! Apparently these have to go back to CBS when the attraction is taken apart as they were 'loaned' to the attraction.

Next time the rest of the photos - and I swear it won't be a month before I publish those!

Holiday World 2009

In wonderful Holiday World tradition, some serious teasing has been going on lately as to the park's 2009 additions.

The park really knows how to spike interest before an announcement, and this year is no different than the past. According to this article, the 2009 expansion will total $8.4 million, which is certainly a nice chunk of change.

The park also confirms in the article that next year will also see a new service added to the park, which will be free, and technology based.

The park we love to love also seems to be having another great season, having broken attendance records the past two weeks. Great news!

The announcement for the 2009 additions is August 26th. Stay tuned to the Holiblog for more hints...

Slithering Into Carowinds in '09...

The above teaser has appears on Carowinds' homepage. We know that the new for 2009 Boomerang coaster will be snake themed, but now they mention about how some are worshipped.

Well, there are a lot of cultures that practice snake worship, and these involve different kinds of snakes... but one that's often written about as being worshipped is the King Cobra... hmmm...

Gatorland is Splashin!

From my random file... did you know that Gatorland, in Florida, has a little water play area? That's a cute idea... what in Florida equals good. Just not something I expected to see at Gatorland. It's called Gator Gully Splash Park.

© DanWrightPhoto's via Flickr

The park also recently opened their new entrance plaza. The new, modern structure came about due to the fire the park had toward the end of 2006 which destroyed the original entrance and gift shop building.

© pageantcast via Flickr

Gatorland, seen below, is celebrating it's 60th anniversary this year. That makes it *much* older than all the other tourist traps in the greater Orlando area! Congrats to them. I'm pretty sure I was at Gatorland when I was about 6, but I don't remember it...

Daily Spin 8.10.08

This news article, out of the UK, says that Disney is going to go after the Busch Entertainment parks. It doesn't give a source, though, and there's no other news reports about this yet. So they either have a not so real story here, or an amazing inside source. Imagine the possibilities!

The Halloween Horror Nights Orlando website has been updating a lot lately. Our crazy psychiatrist is now on her 5th victim, err, patient. She's continually more and more crazy and evil. I love it!

Speaking of Universal Orlando, IOACentral has another update of what's been happening lately at the resort's two theme parks. Islands of Adventure has seen new themed Harry Potter signs go up on construction walls, more demo of paths and landscaping, and Universal Studios has more work progressing for next year's Rockit coaster.

Mamba at Worlds of Fun recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The park had a special event to celebrate the ride's special birthday, and Midwest Info Guide was there to check out the party. I think it's great that a park went through the effort to celebrate a ride like this!

I think the rides that Pax makes look crazy and fun. Having never been on one, I'm not sure if they're a good ride, but they sure look wild. Even the little ones, like Wild Train at Erlebnispark
Strasswalchen in Austria. Random I know, but Coastersandmore did a feature on the ride so I was pondering it.

Current Geauga Lake Status

WKYC has published another flyover video of the former Geauga Lake amusement park. This lets us know the status of the deconstruction of the park. Here are some caps with some thoughts:

Big Dipper still standing until the drama concludes. The arm for El Dorado is still standing, not down at Kings Dominion yet. You can see the few pieces of Head Spin that are left, the rest is already arriving at Carowinds.

Big empty spot where the Villain stood. There's really nothing left of it, it's all been shipped away already.

Empty spot on the left was the Beaver Mine Train coaster or whatever it's name was. We still haven't heard what park this is going to? Empty spot on the right was the Top Spin that moved to Great America.

Footers from the former Dominator coaster at the top; the SkyCoaster that was purchased is still standing. Also the river rapids (which I think the hardware for sold) is still there, won't take much for a bulldozer to rip out that concrete...

Wolf Bobs is still standing, but it's been said that all the metal on the track has been ripped off for scrap. And for Ebay. Lame.

Head Spin's former footprint can be seen in the middle, and above that was the monorail station which came down weeks ago (maybe to help with the Head Spin removal).

The article also says that the 11 acre property that is the hotel is under contract with a non-profit - so nothing exciting there. The big 400 acre parcel is for housing, and the 100 or so acre section is for retail.

Hard Rock Park: Singing The Blues

Well, maybe not the blues but it does not look like the park had the first season they had hoped - or expected.

The park recently laid off 30 or so employees, full and part time, and during the summer has scaled back operating hours - and admission prices. Seems the park, like so many new ones, expected massive crowds that never realized.

The park had hoped for 3 million in attendance (which was not realistic, anyway) and is not saying exactly what they are pulling in, but it's certainly not that.

This could just be the learning curve for the park, though. They'll have to come back next year with a new and improved marketing plan, and a more realistic operating calendar and admission price.

I do hope they have some cash to use to but a new ride to help with marketing, specifically a water ride as the park lacks these and it's hot down there!

Diamondback coverage Post 2

I had the awesome privilege to attend the announcement of Kings Island's 2009 ride! We all knew that it was going to be big, a roller coaster, and red. As I pulled into the parking lot the staff was handing out fliers.



So, I got there just after the park opened and rode some rides. Lets just say that the day just dragged on forever! When was it going to be 2PM?! Well, at last it was time to retrieve the camera and get ready for the big announcement. I got to the stage at about 1:30 with a small crowd. You can't see it in this picture, but I was behind all of the news media. Here is what the stage looked like before the announcement.

I'll post an audio clip of the announcement its self. The following is the unveiled name and ride.

Then Don Helbig worked his magic on us and let the horse out of the barn!

After all that they ushered us over to an awesome model of Diamondback. The model is not entirely accurate due to space constraints, but none the less it doesn't disappoint!

To say the least, it was still really big!

Here are the guys from Coaster Dynamix! They did an awesome job with the model! If you get to visit Kings Island, you have to see it. I have been told it was moved near the front of the park. Also, if you are a fan of Coaster Dynamix stuff the model does have parts from the new model that should be out latter this year! Kings Island already has a hit with the model, now just to ride the real one!

Talking about riding Diamondback, Even is an employee at Kings Island and is selling the ride so well you would think he him self has ridden it! Great job Even!

This shot is just for fun. I met these two guys looking at the model with the pre-official logo for the new ride. They got the shirts from ThemeParkReview.com.

This is just a quick shot of the construction from above! The following are courtesy of Kings Island. They are renderings and fact sheets about Diamondback for your enjoyment!














To see all the cool videos, webcam, and updates from the park, go to KIDiamondback.com! I'll try to visit the Kings Island at least once more to see the progress of Diamondback! If not, I'll be there opening day with full coverage!

This is Andrew Riding of into the sun set for now!

Busch Gardens Europe 2009

Busch Gardens Europe has announced a new Sesame Street themed land as their new for 2009 addition to the theme park.

The area will feature 4 rides for families, as well as wet and dry play areas for the kiddies. But that's not all, there will also be a souvenir photo facility, character dining location, and themed retail stores.

The Globe Theater will also be playing a Sesame Street themed 4-D show next season, I believe the same that opened at Sea World San Diego this summer.

Here is a small roller coaster that will be in the area, looks to be called "Grover's Alpine Tours" from this art.

Looks like another of the rides will be an Elmo themed family bounce/drop ride from this art. You can also see the wet and dry play areas in this one.

Here is a small log flume that will be in the area, this art calls it "Bert and Ernie Look at a Loch." Didn't the Land of the Dragons children's area have a small log flume? Is this just being moved and rethemed?

Nice family addition, though, I'm sure it'll be mega popular.

Six Flags Fright Logo Fest

Hmm, I wonder who's sponsoring Six Flags' Fright Fest activities this year? I seriously think that it won't be long until we see new rides announces as 'Coke's Goliath' or 'Pampers' Camp Looney Tunes.' I'm all for the company making money off these deals... but a line has to be drawn.

Another line that has been crossed, IMO, is this. It was temporary, and already gone, but wow - that's a bit much.

There's no big website for Fright Fest at the parks yet, but some have more info up than others. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has more info than most, with photos and a cool 360 degree view of a scary area. They also list only 2 haunted houses and they are extra charge. Bummer!

Diamondback coverage Post 1

Sorry for the delay every one! I had some things come up that, unfortunately, had to take priority. Now on to the first in two posts of coverage. Following is a quick video sharing some details about Diamondback.

I should have the second post up with in the next day with pictures, audio, and some other things. from the media day!

This is Andrew signing off till then!

Monsters In Boxes: Carowinds Edition

Apparently Cedar Fair corporate marketing decided to run similar campaigns for all new coasters going in a parks for 2009... because now we have another 'box with a creature in it' that has shown up at Carowinds.

This time it looks like there is a reptile in the box, and it has some definite Asian text on it. I'm going to sit out this round of 'guess the animal' - any angry reptile will do.

Just in case you missed this, this will be the former Head Spin coaster from Geauga Lake, a Vekoma Boomerang.

KI 2009 ... It's Diamondback!

The ride is now official, Diamondback will strike at Kings Island in 2009.

The $22 million ride will be 5,282 ft. long, 230 ft. tall, and have a first drop of 215 ft, and a 2nd drop of 193 ft. The first drop will be at a 74 degree angle and get the train going at 80 mph.

There will be a splashdown area as expected, but not expected (by me) is that the lift hill supports will be bright yellow. Oh Cedar Fair... The trains will have the new Behemoth style seating, and the art has a big snake head on the front of the trains.

More coverage to come later!

New Worlds Of Fun Teaser

Worlds of Fun has posted a new blog entry and the above video in their series of teasers for their new 2009 roller coaster.

Looks like they have a very dangerous African animal in that box. I can't wait to find out what's inside!

Earnings Time

Six Flags has announced their results for the first half of the year, and the results are sorta blah, in my opinion at least. They finally had a significant positive net income, however, that's because of a big exchange of debt notes the company did that resulted in a huge credit. Really, their net income was around a million dollars.

They're certainly on the road to recovery, but things are by no means sunny yet. Props to them for starting their massive corporate sponsorship program: they now estimate revenues of $56 million from these in 2008 - that's like having an extra small-ish park in the mix!

You can read all their details here, and a transcript of their conference call here, which has much more interesting information in it.


Cedar Fair also announced their 3 and 6 month results today, and although their stock price jumped up almost $3 today, I'm not as impressed as the general investment community.

The company's results are skewed by an extra week of operating results because of some calendar differences in their fiscal year. Basically, these results are padded by an extra week and so comparisons are rather hard to make. And this totally takes away results from the 3rd quarter - so that'll make those results even more interesting.

Here's their release.

I don't have a link to a transcript of their conference call, but I did listen to it:

• They have 82 acres of land next to Canada's Wonderland on the market with the same company that's sold Geauga Lake's land. Cedar Fair has received several offers on the land, including cash purchases and offers for partnership developments. (maybe like a hotel, indoor water park, or something?) Whatever they get for the land they plan to use it to pay down debit, and they said that comps for land in that area of Canada go $600k to a million an acre.
• I found it very interesting that they cover exactly what loan covenants they have that would restrict them from paying dividends. This has never been covered before... and you can't help but wonder if this was their way of being able to say "We warned you!" when they stop paying them down the road.
• For the record, the company would not be able to buy the Busch parks... but would love a management contract if someone wanted them. PLEASE GOD NO.
• The talks with the parties who put in bids on the Geauga land are ongoing, they did say that at least on bid was for one outright purchase of land, and the other was a joint venture. What kind of joint venture!? I think Cedar Fair had plans for a huge indoor water park years ago but got scared off by Castaway Bay's not amazing success ... wonder if it's one of those... I really don't know. Maybe even a joint ownership of the hotel that's already there.

Blackstone After Busch Parks?

News has begun to spread that the Blackstone Group, a U.S. private equity firm (who owns part of Universal and tons of other companies) might be interested in picking up the Busch Entertainment parks if they can.

Blackstone also owns Merlin Entertainments Group, the European based company that owns many amusement + theme parks and entertainment centers, along with a wide selection of aquariums and the like.

All speculation at this point, but they would make an interesting owner. Their U.K. division runs Merlin and Blackstone has Universal on American soil... so they'd have to choose who to "team" the Busch Entertainment Parks with.

Wouldn't it be weird if Universal Orlando, IOA, Sea World, Busch Gardens, were all under the same company?

Cedar Fair Admission Hikes

Well it that time of year again, Cedar Fair has once again jacked up admission prices at many of their parks for the busy month of August.

Just scanning some brochures I have and now listed prices on websites I see:

Kings Dominion: Regular is now $54.95 up from $51.95
GLWWK: Regular is $25.99 up from $23.95
Dorney: Regular is $39.99 up from $38.99
Valleyfair: Regular is $37.99 up from $36.95

Most of the starlight (evening) tickets as well as Junior/Sr. tickets went up as well.

If you remember, this started a few years back as parking price bumps around the start of August, and has now spread to mid-season gate admission increases at many CF parks.

Just an FYI if you'll be at the gates this month!

Dorney Park 8.2.08 Update

I am a Dorney Park update animal. No really, I read that Haunt promotional stuff had gone out this past week so I figured I'd stop by and grab some shots.

This thing is done. It's not as nice as I'd hoped, looking that is. They have like used car lot style flags up and everything. Blah...

A $5 special! Hope those people don't know that it's that amount in the beginning of the season!

On man, really? Dorney Park bags are gone now too! I have to thank this random man for standing so still and holding that bag perfectly so I could snap this shot.

Okay Haunt stuff now. Here's the hearse that's sitting just inside the entrance gates. The paint job is awesome this year! The back has logos for some of the Haunt attractions, but not Magical House on Kill Hill or Headstone Hollow.

Here's the nice set up they did to attract employees for the Haunt. And yes, that skeleton is saying "Get paid to make people scream!" I could make a lot of non-PG jokes about that one...

Here's a sign they have up a few places for the Haunt. It's a really big picture so you can read it, be warned.

It says there will be three new outdoor mazes - so I guess that's CornStalkers, Terror Square, and Headstone Hollow. It also says one new indoor maze - guess that's Club Blood. I'm thinking that making Boo Hill a scary house at night was a recent decision?

The family friendly aspect of the Halloween Events is now known as Boo! Blast. This title comes from another Cedar Fair park ... I'm not feeling like looking it up but maybe Worlds of Fun? The sign does say that there will be a new Pirate map thing that will result in a Halloween costume. Not sure how that'll work but cool!

Dollywood 2009

© 2008 Coasterfreaky

According to a newsletter sent out by Dollywood, the park's main new attraction for 2009 will be Adventure Mountain.

"At the mountain’s base or high atop the summit of this new multi-level attraction, thrills are sure to peak as guests encounter a waterfall gorge, rugged rope trails, discovery cave—even fire mountain— along the various paths that meander throughout this two-acre area. Daring zip lines even awaits those brave enough to travel through the treetops! Guests can challenge
themselves in individual competitions or the entire family can compete in the contest to see who can tackle Dollywood’s new Adventure Mountain."

User Coasterfreaky on the TRP boards took many photos of the attraction from the newsletter, you can see those in this thread.

It looks like a much bigger and more elaborate version of Sky Hike, which was added to Stone Mountain park this year.

I love how creative Herschend is with their new attractions!

Coming Soon...

Thanks to TTDFreak, a valued longtime reader of NPN, it looks like we're going to have coverage of Kings Island's big 2009 announcement on the 6th!

I can't wait!

Aftershock's Opening Day

© Coaster101.com 2008

Coaster101 has photos from Aftershock at Silverwood Theme Park's opening day, which took place recently.

The ride is so impressive looking at the park. Well, it was impressive looking at Six Flags Great America, but this totally dominates over Silverwood's skyline.

Here's the photo coverage.

Kings Dominion '09 Photos

© 2008 KDFansite.com

If you wanted any more proof of the news posted earlier about Kings Dominion's new rides for 2009 from Geauga Lake, KDFansite now has the photos to back it up.

This gallery shows photos of the cars from the Americana Ferris Wheel as well as parts of the El Dorado magic carpet style ride backstage at Kings Dominion.

No sign of the Black Squid ride yet, but it's been said that it is on property already...

July Poll Results

For July I asked you guys what the best U.S. B&M Floorless roller coaster was. We has 324 votes, and Dominator, now at Kings Dominion, was the clear winner.

© 2008 CoasterCrew

Kings Dominion's new-but-used for 2008 coaster led the pack with votes and ended up with over one third of the total votes.

2nd place went to Sea World Orlando's Kraken, which mustered up 18% of the votes. I haven't been on Dominator, but I have been on Kraken, so if Dominator really is better than it it must be great, cause I certainly enjoyed Kraken.

Third was Hydra at Dorney Park, which had 15% of the votes. I'm thinking that this blog's DP oriented nature skewed this one... as sorry to say - Hydra ain't that great.

Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure came in 4th, and was the only other coaster to really get a decent amount of votes.

Superman at Fiesta Texas, Scream at Magic Mountain, Medusa at Discovery Kingdom, and Batman at New England round out Six Flags' collection of floorless rides in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th places in the poll.

New poll to come soon!

Dorney Park's Haunt Website

Dorney Park's website for this year's Halloween Haunt event has gone live, and there are a few surprises.

First, Fright Zone has been renamed to Headstone Hollow, which is great because I always thought that Fright Zone was lacking in creativity.

Doctor of Doom has been rethemed to killer Clowns, which is also awesome, as every Haunt should have some sort of scary clowns.

The big surprise is a new Haunt that has not been mentioned before, The Magical House on Kill Hill. Looks like after the kiddies are done in their fun house (Boo Hill) the monsters will take over. Awesome idea again!

One show has been announced as well, General Jack's Sideshow Bizarro, which appears to be some sort of twisted carnival sideshow. If done well this could be pretty cool.

I can't wait, is it fall yet?

New Harry Potter Artwork + Destruction

© Universal Orlando 2008

Universal Orlando has released a new piece of concept art for a new restaurant in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The location is to be called Three Broomsticks, and looks to be a counter service style eatery.


I guess we can assume that this is somewhat of a replacement for the Enchanted Oak Tree Tavern restaurant, which, by the way, is totally torn down now. (see photos in this TRP thread) I hope that Universal releases more and more art as the construction continues on this new section of Islands of Adventure.