Daily Spin 5.12.09

© 2009 Idlewild and SoakZone

Workers at Idlewild have been busy constructing the park's newest play structure, Safari Hut, which will make its debut in Jumpin' Jungle in 2009. Some great construction shots have been posted to Idlewild's blog. Makes me want to be a kid all over again!

In other Pennsylvania news, Waldameer's Mega Disk'O shall remain nameless no longer! Contestant Jacob Radziszewski's suggestion of "Mega Vortex" emerged victorious over the 1200+ entries that were submitted. And speaking of figures, the Mega Vortex first ride auction and opening weekend festivities raised over $3000 for the John Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation. What a great result!

The St. Petersburg Times has published a nice interview with Brian Morrow, director of design and engineering at SeaWorld Adventure Parks in Orlando and overseer of all construction efforts for Manta. The interview touches on Morrow's personal history within the industry as well as many of the thematic elements which were incorporated into Manta's elaborate sting ray habitat.

© 2009 Mainelycoasters.com

Mainelycoasters.com dropped in for opening day at Funtown Splashtown USA this past weekend and captured some great shots of the park's new Wild Mouse coaster under construction. The coaster has gone vertical so I'm sure it won't be long now! The Wild Mouse will replace the park's Galaxi coaster, which is being retired after a respectable 30-year run at Funtown. If you'd like to watch the construction progress, keep an eye on the photo album that has been posted to the park's Facebook profile. It's going up fast, so don't blink because you might miss it!

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has announced that it will be opening a brand new attraction called The Vault Laser Maze on May 25. This attraction, which will be located near the Haunted Castle, appears to be identical to the one installed at Belmont Park in San Diego earlier this year. It is a timed course where the goal is to navigate your way through a maze of laser beams as quickly as possible--without being hit, of course! Has anyone experienced one of these yet? They sound like a heck of a lot of fun!