Wild Adventures Theme Park has announced a special bonus for ACE members that will take place each operating of the park's 2009 season.
Valid members of American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) have the opportunity to be on the first ride of the day on the Cheetah rollercoaster at Wild Adventures Theme and Water Park. This will only be available to ACE members daily during the regular park season.
That's very nice of the park!
I just noticed that Six Flags now has an entire section of their website devoted to the Six Flags Media Networks that they have been making millions off of.
The site touts Six Flags' ability to provide advertisers with a wide variety of ways to get their message across to visitors of the parks. Everything from print ads on maps, to commercials while people are in line, Six Flags is willing to sell it to you.
While I can't say I personally think that these mass advertising initiatives are adding anything to the Six Flags experience, I will say that it's quite smart of the company to be pushing it. In these times grabbing and extra $60 million or whatever the exact figure is per year isn't a bad thing!
"The 71 foot-long, 14,000 pound Rocket was removed from its perch atop Gregory and Paul’s boardwalk stand in anticipation of its move to Homeport in Staten Island, a City-owned facility operated by NYCEDC. The Rocket will become a permanent and iconic part of the 27 acre redeveloped amusement district in Coney Island. "
Carol Hill Albert and Jerry Albert, whose family owned Astroland, donated the famous Rocket to the city for use in the redevelopment.
"The Rocket was the first ride debuted at Astroland Park when it opened in 1962 and one of the first space voyage simulators created during the Space Race. Originally built as the "Star Flyer," it was renamed the Astroland Rocket in 1963 and continued to operate through the 1970’s. The ride had 26 seats and lifted on hydraulics to simulate launching into space. "
It's wonderful that the city is trying to preserve some history as part of their plans for Coney Island.
Is there some sort of rehab available for people who can't stop looking up things in Live Local? I need to sign up...
The Tokyo Disneyland Resort now has wonderful birds eye views up, and there's tons to see. Let's take a little tour, shall we?
Let's start outside the main gates and look at the new Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. The hotel opened in July of 2008 and looks beautiful. It's now the 4th Disneyland Hotel, obviously the first was in California, second Paris, and then Hong Kong.
One other stop (for Jeff) before the parks, the new Cirque Du Soleil theater featuring the resident show ZED. The theater looks somewhat like a tooth to me, but it's fairly awesome that they built a resident show at Tokyo Disneyland Resort.
Just inside the entrance to Tomorrowland you'll find the newest attraction at Tokyo Disneyland, Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek. The dark ride has a rather impressive building that looks just like the scream factory from the film. It opens this spring.
Like Disneyland in California, Tokyo Disneyland has a Toontown section of the park. Basically a mirror image copy of the section in California, the area in home to the Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin dark ride as well.
Here's the park Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain attractions. They are quite squished together! I still have a hard time placing the park's Haunted Mansion in the Fantasyland section of the park, but it is so I'll deal with it.
Let's head next door to DisneySea. The resort's 2nd gate opened in September of 2001 and has been wowing visitors since. I can only wish that I could say I've been one of those visitors. Above we see Mt. Prometheus and the Mysterious Island section of the park.
Here we have the beautiful Tower of Terror on the left in the American Waterfront section of the park. I believe that the large ship, the S.S. Columbia, will be the home of the park's upcoming version of Turtle Talk with Crush.
To wrap things up we have a view of the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull building and the Raging Spirits roller coaster in the Lost River Delta section.
After finding myself in a quandary and doing a bit of research, I think a better title for this week's SBS would have been "Name That Park". Why? Because back in 1998, this park apparently used three different names! Follow along and you'll see what I mean.
Our identity crisis begins with the brochure cover, which would have us believe that this park's proper title is "SeaWorld Adventure Park". (It just happens to be located in San Antonio.) This is partially accurate. In 1998, Busch Entertainment decided to add the tag line "Adventure Park" to the titles of all its SeaWorld properties. The logo which appears at the top of this brochure was also introduced as part of the change, and it's worth noting that this marked the fourth logo change in SeaWorld's history.
Now we come to the fine print, and lo and behold the park is suddenly called "SeaWorld of Texas"! How did that happen? This is where the details get a bit hairy. "SeaWorld of Texas" was actually this park's original name. At some point in time which defies all documentation but appears to have preceded the "Adventure Park" addition, the park's name was changed to "SeaWorld San Antonio". So... In 1998, was the park's full title actually "SeaWorld Adventure Park San Antonio"?? You be the judge. My head was starting to hurt, so I stopped thinking about it!
Alright, enough with the names. Let's focus on the meat of this brochure, shall we? SeaWorld San Antonio celebrated its tenth anniversary in 1998, and it did so in style. A host of new shows were introduced to complement the park's existing line-up.
Remember when Great White did NOT have a clone right down the road? Well take heart, SeaWorld San Antonio: Yours was first, and it still has a much more original name! Actually, Great White is a perfect example of why Busch Entertainment felt the need (however briefly) to introduce the "Adventure Parks" bit. After purchasing the SeaWorld parks, Anheuser-Busch put a great deal of money and effort into diversifying the parks' attractions and rebranding them as full-fledged theme parks as opposed to just marine life centers.
When Anheuser-Busch began to transform SeaWorld San Antonio into the vacation destination it is today, they didn't limit themselves to thrill rides. In fact, Lost Lagoon--which opened in 1993--preceded all of the park's roller coasters. After spending a day watching the animals and trainers play in the water, I guess many guests get a hankering to engage in some water play of their own!
Who needs a baby-sitter when a friendly killer whale is just dying to play with your children?? Okay, this one really IS friendly...I promise! Seriously though, what a great children's area. I totally want to play with Shamu!
"Adventure Park" or not, marine animals are still the bread and butter of SeaWorld San Antonio. It just wouldn't be SeaWorld without all the great animal attractions and shows!
And finally, we take a gander at the operating schedule for SeaWorld of Texas--er, SeaWorld San Antonio...Adventure Park? Oh never mind... What's in a name anyway? The point is, this park has something for everybody! If all goes well, I just may be paying them a visit this year myself.
There's only three more days to vote in January's NewsPlusNotes poll, which asks what is the biggest recent amusement park loss. Many have voted, make sure you get your opinion in, too.
And yes, it does stink to have so many to choose from...
© 2009 Donald Flint / KIExtreme
Our friends over at ValleyfairZone wanted us to let everyone know that they have launched an all new version of the web's only Valleyfair fansite.
To kick things off the site has also posted some winter photos of the park, including some bits of the park's new wave pool under construction.
Check it out!
No not possessed by something, that's it's new name. The park's official website has been updated to reflect this change.
Amusement Today has exclusively revealed that Knoebels Amusement Resort has indeed purchased the track and trains from The Golden Nugget, soon to be removed from Morey's Piers in Wildwood, NJ.
Great news! The ride couldn't be in more capable, caring hands. The article does say that resurrecting the ride is at the earliest a 2010 project, so who knows when it'll open. It's exciting either way!
KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – Workmen finished installing track on the new Diamondback roller coaster at Kings Island on Monday. Track piece number 129 was the final piece of track installed on the 5,282 foot-long $22 million steel coaster.
Diamondback stands 230 feet at its highest point with a first drop of 215 feet at a 74-degree angle. The ride features 10 vertical drops overall, including drops of 193, 131, 129, 110 and 106 feet; two helixes and a splashdown ending. Riders will travel at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour.
Designed by Bolliger and Mabillard of Monthey, Switzerland, Diamondback is the tallest, fastest and meanest roller coaster to ever strike Kings Island.
Diamondback opens to the public April 18.
© 2009 RollerCoasterPro
Let's start with Six Flags Magic Mountain, who is just flying along with the construction of Terminator Salvation. Tons of bents are already up, and the GCI Intern website has some very recent photos posted! Check them out here.
Wild Adventures has released details of some exciting promotions that recently took place at the theme park. Linda Jensen has recently been appointed to the position of Vice President of Marketing and Sales and Steve Cruz has been named Director of sales. Both have long histories of success in the industry and we congratulate them both!
TGESource has some video of the Magic Kingdom's newest parade, titled Celebrate A Dream Come True. Tied into Disney Park's latest marketing campaign asking guests what they will celebrate, the parade is very upbeat and features a lot of dance performances. Click here to see the video from TGESource.
Carowinds has published some photos of the new Vekoma trains that have been built for the Carolina Cobra. These new style trains feature modern restraints that hopefully will provide a more enjoyable ride for passengers. Here's the photos.
Don't forget that if you are able to go, Morey's Piers will have a ceremony for the Golden Nugget ride on January 31st at noon. Anyone is welcome according to the park and attendees will receive a special commemorative souvenir. It's so wonderful the park is doing this for the ride!
Legoland California has been granted preliminary approval to build a 250 room, Lego themed hotel outside the theme park's gates. The property already opened the Sea Life Park aquarium this past summer and is now seeking to keep guests on property even longer as a vacation destination. Always positive to hear a park expanding, even if just a hotel, in these times!
Thorpe Park Mania has some exclusive footage of Saw: The Ride at Thorpe Park testing. You can get to the video by following this link.
The ride really keeps a very quick pace after completing the first drop. You can also see in the video the massive saw blades that await riders at the bottom of that drop! Looks like a fun ride, and the first, indoor, section continues to be a mystery for now.
© 2009 OrlandoRocks.com
Wildfire is a B&M that a lot of people have been on, being located at the popular Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, Missouri, but is not often talked about.
The ride is just over 3,000 ft. long and has a substantial 155 ft. first drop with five inversions after that.
I was playing around with Live Local once more, and tracked down some bird's eye views of PortAventura in Spain.
The park is home to some interesting coasters, and some very high level theming due to it's former relationship with Universal. The park opened in 1995 as a joint venture between Tussands Group, Busch Entertainment, and Universal. Universal soon bought most of the ownership of the property, added a waterpark and several hotels, and then eventually sold all their ownership of the property.
Above the wooden coasters Stampida, which were built by Custom Coasters in 1997 and features a near head on collision. Intertwined with Stampida is Tomahawk, a small family wooden coaster opened at the same time as well.
I love mine trains, that's no secret. Above we have Diablo, one of the later, (technically 2nd latest, Road Runner Express at Six Flags Fiesta Texas was the last one) mine trains designed by Arrow Dynamics. The ride has three lifts like a good mine train should, and features a wooden structure.
Cedar Fair just released a statement saying they will be paying the dividend as usual for the 4th quarter of 2008. But then they slapped this in there:
"In light of the weak economy and uncertain credit environment, we are considering alternatives to reduce the Company’s debt levels and better position the Company for future growth. One such alternative includes reconsidering the Company’s distribution policy based on its overall long-term capital structure objectives. We will complete this evaluation in the near future and will not make any decisions on the level of future distributions until that review is completed and reviewed by the board.”
What this means is you can bet on them cutting the distribution severely in order to manage their debt in order to survive. That Paramount purchase really did them in, though I doubt anyone in the company would admit it. Watch for the stock price to dip even further on this news.
© 2009 firehawkboy via KIExtreme
© 2009 ECZenith via TPR
It appears as though Diamondback at Kings Island is nearing completion according to a large new batch of photos posted on the official site for the ride.
Some of the photos, like above, were taken from the top of the lift hill and provide some excellent views of the ride!
It was bound to happen sooner or later. We've come to one of the brochures in my collection which is totally, completely and utterly devoid of any date information! I can tell you with certainty that it hails from the mid- to late '80s. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. If anybody can help me solve this mystery, I'm all ears!
The castle on the cover of this brochure says it all: Dutch Wonderland is a place for kids! But unlike many of the other children's parks which began popping up all over this country in the '50s and '60s, Dutch Wonderland has always put an emphasis on rides in addition to themed areas and entertainment.
Most of the rides featured in this photo collage can still be enjoyed at Dutch Wonderland today. A few of them--the antique cars, train, and riverboat--actually opened with the park back in 1963. The Great American High Diving Show as well as the Merry-Go-Round debuted at the park in 1982, so we can assume that the brochure isn't any older than that!
If you've ever traveled through Lancaster, Pennsylvania, odds are you've driven right past Dutch Wonderland. The park's unlikely location along one of the major roads makes it nearly impossible to miss. It also makes it super convenient to check out these other great attractions in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, all of which were apparently owned by or affiliated with Dutch Wonderland at the time. Many people don't realize it, but Lancaster County truly is a tourist destination in this state.
Possibly the only clue to this brochure's date is the sign advertising an appearance by "Suzanne Marie" in the upper left-hand photo. Unfortunately, that did not get me very far either! On a more humorous note, I wonder why they felt the need to include the phone number of the local state police barracks in this brochure?! Somehow I don't expect to see roving gangs of Amish hoodlums harrassing park guests!
And finally, we conclude with advertisements for the gift shop and a nearby restaurant. I suppose you could say that this was an all-inclusive brochure! Now if only we could nail down the year it was published...
Earlier this week, we brought you news of Wonderland Park's exciting new West End area, which will make its debut this year. The park was kind enough to send us some photos of the area under construction, just to whet our appetites!
This bird's eye view shot, which was presumably taken from atop one of the park's water slides, shows where the new area will be located with respect to the rest of the park. West End's three signature rides--Fiesta Swing, Drop of Fear, and Hornet--are obviously well on their way to completion. Not pictured is the Tiki Village, another "cool" new space which guests will be able to enjoy in 2009.
You can just barely see Hornet's green track and white supports peeking through the brush at the base of Drop of Fear. This formerly enclosed coaster, which operated at both Boblo Island (as Nightmare) and Six Flags AstroWorld (as Mayan Mindbender), will finally see the light of day at Wonderland! The family friendly coaster will be a great addition to the park's existing line-up.
The Hornet may be family friendly, but its next-door neighbor definitely caters to the daredevils! Standing 200 feet tall, Drop of Fear is destined to live up to its name and guaranteed to take thrill seeking to a whole new level at Wonderland.
The Fiesta Swing appears to be farthest from completion at this point. But this skeletonized Yo-Yo won't be bare for much longer--Opening day (April 4th) is right around the corner!
With the addition of West End, Wonderland's ride count will reach 28, and there is great diversity in that collection. The park also offers an 18-hole miniature golf course. In the midst of these hard economic times, it's reassuring to see a smaller park such as Wonderland making such an investment in its future. We look forward to watching the West End construction progress, and to a fantastic 2009 season! Many thanks to Matt from Wonderland for sharing these great photos!
Looks like Carowinds has made some serious progress with their new coaster, the Carolina Cobra. The painting looks done, and the ride's new color scheme is quite striking if I do say so.
The park is ever as far as having started landscaping the area and building the queue. I suppose really next they'll just have testing with the new trains to complete!
In response to my earlier post about Orochi at Expoland possibly being for sale, a NPN reader linked me to the ride's sale listing, seen here.
There's no price listed, which is always interesting to read, but now we know for sure that Expoland is ready to ship the ride off to a new home for some cash!
Parks, get out your checkbooks!
The L.A. Times recently ran an interesting story about how it's shaping up that the United States might miss having a pavilion at the 2010 World Expo (aka World's Fair) in Shanghai, China.
The U.S.'s participation in these Expos (we also sat out the 2000 Expo in Germany) works as a great way to reflect a positive image of the country's people around the globe. Considering China is now an economic powerhouse, this would be a bad Expo to miss.
The U.S. Pavilion must be funded by private funds, meaning corporate sponsorships. As of now, the planners are having a hard time coming up with companies who will give millions of dollars toward the project.
It's estimated that the U.S. Pavilion could need as much as $84 million to be completed. Already designed, "The U.S. building would be about 60 feet high, encompassing 60,000 square feet, with wings on each side, representing a bald eagle, and a roof garden in the center. Burbank-based BRC Imagination Arts, a specialist in museum and exhibit designs, was brought in to create a high-tech, interactive show centering on sports heroes."
Here's the Expo's mascot, Haibao. He's pretty cute looking. There's still time for sponsors to step up, so hopefully the U.S. can be represented at Expo 2010 afterall! It's a shame that America has started to effectively turn it's back on these types of world celebration events.
Wonderland Amusement Park, Amarillo Texas, is getting out word that the park's 2009 season looks to be one of the best ever.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves, Wonderland isn't a park that is talked about that often, but is a great independent park that has a rich history of thrilling Texans for decades. What do they offer? Well here's a great synopsis:
"Known as Texas’ Greatest Amusement Park, Wonderland features 28 rides and there’s something for everyone!
Our Kiddieland has a selection of fun for little ones including the popular Frog Hopper, and our Kiddie Boat Ride, which has been here since the park opened in 1951.
For the older kids, teens, and for those adults who are kids at heart, we offer some great thrills, like our 3 coasters, including the famous Texas Tornado, our double loop roller coaster. Another original we offer is our dark ride, The Fantastic Journey.
For those looking for a way to cool down, try one of our several water rides, including the Rattlesnake Rive Raft Ride, or take a trip down the Pipeline Plunge. And of course no park is complete without classics like the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Scrambler, or Himalaya."
As for the park's 2009 season, it looks to be one of the best ever with the addition of the West End section of the park:
"This season Wonderland will open our new WEST END! This area in Wonderland will feature 3 new rides, The Hornet, (formally the Mayan Mindbender at AstroWorld in Houston TX), our Fiesta Swing (the yoyo) and the Drop of Fear, a 200 ft. Tower drop. We will also have a new Tiki Village to lounge in and enjoy a cool area, to relax."
Sounds great! It's wonderful, too, that they're opening one of the rides from the defunct Six Flags Astroworld as well.
We look forward to more updated from the park in the future!
© 2009 WillMontu via TPR
Dubailand is having a hard time getting things off the ground for the 3 billion square feet of attractions and development planned for the Dubai mega project.
Originally to open in phases starting in 2007, the project has been pushed back to a phase 1 opening of 2010, and many don't believe there's any chance for that.
Most projects, including a slew of theme parks, have yet to even break ground. One park that seemed to be mostly a "go" was Universal Studios Dubai, but now even that's said to have been delayed over two years to 2012.
Other projects, such as the Snowdome, an massive indoor ski slope, have been shelved for the time being.
It looks like if many of these projects ever do some to light, it will be a long time before that happens.
Here's a good article on the subject.
The Hershey Story: The Museum On Chocolate Avenue opened its doors for the first time recently in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The $23.5 million museum chronicles the life and early years of Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey company.
While the Museum has no direct connection to Hershey Park, visitors to the area now have one more attraction to check out.
The museum features "historic candy-making artifacts, personal items belonging to Hershey, interactive displays, films, working chocolate-making equipment, hands-on candy-making classes, taste-testing of six warm, chocolatey liquids made solely from beans and light dining at the Cafe Zooka — named for the penny-candy Zooka Sticks made by Hershey in his Lancaster plant."
You can read more about the new Hershey Museum in this article.
You can also visit the official site of the Museum by clicking here.
© Rob Nugen via RCDB
Citing current economic conditions and struggling attendance, the owners of the small park, located in Vacaville, CA, have decided to call it quits.
The park opened at the end of 2006 and had some family rides, a small family roller coaster, and a selection of children's rides. The park sits as part of a larger Nut Tree development that includes lots of shopping and restaurants, which will continue to operate.
^ Here's an aerial of the park when it was open. Not to much there, but it's never nice to hear of another park closing.
It was evident that it would be a big day for the park. If only people had come out like this every weekend, this story would not have happened.
A Cypress Gardens traditional bell was on hand to greet the guests. Sure beats a cartoon character, not that there is anything wrong with that!
With the removal of Swamp Thing, the sign won't look the same this spring.
The full train traversing the manicured grounds show just how busy the day was; there were lines for every attraction.
The non-skirted belle of Cypress Gardens has to be the Starliner. A sad day for us, this is the second park in which we have ridden this coaster on its final day of public operation.
The owners of Cypress Gardens were very cognizant of their prize piece of Florida amusement park history. Hopefully this John Allen classic will find yet another home in the near future.
Getting their last rides on the Starliner was the highest priority for most of the park patrons.
Scream, cheers and tears were the order of the day in Winterhaven. In honor of the occasion, the operators gave double rides and rotated so they all could say the ran the Starliner on it last day.
Swamp Thing had its legions of followers, with some too short to ride pouting about their misfortune. No shot at maybe next year for them.
The Okeechobee Rampage ran continuously throughout the day, but not with full trains.
Fiesta Express chugged right along, no matter how big its riders were. Their were so many adults riding it proved to be the little coaster that could, all day long.
The spinning Galaxy Spin (Crazy Mouse) ran smoothly after a rocky start up period.
The Triple Hurricane had greased tracks for its final day. Much better airtime than the last time we rode it during its inaugural year in 2004.
The classic water ski show played to full lawns. These performers are so good they have taken their show overseas during the off-season.
New tricks are featured compared to when the park had its first ski shows.
But the loudest cheers occurred when the classics from the past were performed one last time.
For the last afternoon performance, the famed pyramid prompted a standing ovation.
Now Cypress Gardens has gone quiet, except for the equipment used for removing the rides.
This Snowy Egret braves an alligator attack. The signs warn people not to approach the water!
Another icon of Cypress Gardens, the beautiful topiaries, will greet guests this spring when the park reopens.
The last piece of the galvanized steel support frame for the water thrill ride, the Wahee Cyclone, was secured into place this afternoon at Wild Adventures Theme Park’s Splash Island Water Park. The entire structure stands 48-feet high and is a massive 45-feet wide. Over 1,500 pieces comprise the steel structure that will support the fiberglass slide, scheduled for installation next week.
Over on the official Worlds of Fun blog Brandon posted an updated version of the park's map for the 2009 season without any labels. This is our first look at the map with Prowler on it and it looks wonderful!
Sigh, I wish I was anxiously awaiting the opening of a wooden coaster like this at my local park!
Anybody besides me experiencing déjà vu? Well the good news is that you're not crazy! This week I bring you geographic diversity at the expense of originality, although it does make for an interesting case study. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, take a moment to revisit my post on Six Flags Darien Lake's 2002 brochure. I'll wait for you...
Everybody back? Good! Let us proceed.
One might speculate that we'll never see another Elitch Gardens brochure featuring the Flying Coaster, as it did not operate in 2008 and posted signs indicate that it is slated to take off to a new location [pun intended]. However, there's always the unlikely chance that it is simply moving across the park! This particular model of flying coaster is not exactly touted for its ride experience. In 2003, however, it was only a year old and still a novelty for many park guests.
In addition to the obvious benefits, 2003 season passholders were offered free tickets (first-come-first-served, of course) to fifteen different concerts at Denver's Universal Lending Pavilion. Bonus!! This sure sounds like a fantastic perk, but I guess it depends on who the performers were. (Did any of you have the opportunity to attend one of these concerts on Six Flags' dime? I'm curious!)
Here comes that déjà vu all over again. Oh wait: The Tweety image has been flipped, so it's all good!! To Elitch Gardens' credit, I must say that a little more work was put into this brochure when compared to the aforementioned Darien Lake brochure. But the parks share a common history (Premier --> Six Flags --> PARC Management), and it is more obvious in some areas than in others.
Despite its similarities with other Six Flags brochures of this era, don't let this Elitch Gardens brochure fool you into thinking that the park itself is a clone! Elitch Gardens has much to offer, and I look forward to seeing how the PARC team maximizes that potential.
Rumors were strong that Knoebels was removing the park's classic High Speed Thrill Coaster, but without confirmation I didn't want to face facts.
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company has announced some limited 4th quarter 2008 and full year results though a press release.
The company says that total 2008 attendance at all 18 of its properties was 22.7 million, up 3% from 2007.
The company also said that 4th quarter attendance was up 8% due to the Halloween events and a favorable calendar (basically an extra weekend because of when Halloween fell). In park percaps were down 1%.
These are positive news items, but why put out a press release with no hard numbers only some attendance figures? We'll get the full numbers in a month or so.
Tokyo Dome City, located in the obvious Tokyo, Japan, has a wide variety of activities to offer you and your family if you are in the city and looking for fun. Catch a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome, do some shopping, enjoy a meal, or go on amusement rides, it's all there for you!
But we love rides, right? Well Tokyo Dome City has some large ones, like Thunder Dolphin:
Which runs the perimeter and on top of the LaQua section of the property. The Intamin Mega Coaster was opened in 2003, and features a 262 ft. lift and 3,500 ft. of track. It goes though a hubless Ferris Wheel at one point as well.
Around the block in another section of the property can be found the first Intamin Impulse Coaster, but this one lacks a twisted side. Both towers are straight up and down. How would you like to live in one of those apartment buildings right across the street?
California's Great America has announced that the park will feature the All Wheels Extreme sport show for the 2009 season.
Presented in the park's Redwood Amphitheater, the 25 minute show will feature "a talented cast of daredevils, including BMX riders, skateboarders, rollerbladers, gymnasts and more."
The show premiered at Cedar Point in 2008 and now is being spread to other Cedar Fair properties.
The park also announced another live entertainment show featuring improv comedy and magic, and an expanded Haunt event this fall. Halloween Haunt was also new to the park in 2008 and must have been a hit seeing as they are already expanding!
© Paul Holzschuher / KIExtreme
Amusement industry headlines have been absolutely littered with all the bad news coming out of Myrtle Beach over the past couple years. The classic Myrtle Beach Pavilion had no sooner met its untimely demise than the news began to break about the fate of its flashier upstart cousin, Hard Rock Park. But while the industry at large was busy focusing on these stories of gloom and doom, a silent success story was being written by nearby Family Kingdom Amusement Park.
© Family Kingdom
Six Flags Great America has been updating some construction photos for the theme park's newest attraction, the now under construction Buccaneer Battle.
The Mack "Interactive Free Flow Boat Ride" is set to open at the park in the Spring and will take passengers on a Pirate themed adventure as their boat moves along the course. The riders will be equipped with water guns and there will be plenty of interaction with people not on the ride as well.
I look forward with a cautious eye for the amount and level of theming that is used on this one!
The ride opened as the biggest expansion to Warner Brother Movie World in 1998, and was at that time named Wild Wild West to fit with the movie that had opened around then. Licensing issues later caused the ride to be renamed Wild West Falls.
I've always loved log flumes, and with so many older ones being removed it's cool to see one that went in somewhat recently (relatively, anyway).
Great Adventure History recently published their new feature article on Freefall, which operated at the Six Flags theme park from 1983 to 2006.
It's loaded with fantastic historical photos and details, and pretty much offers everything one could ever want to know about the attraction.
Personally, I remember riding Great Adventure's Freefall when I was a kid and having it scare the you know what out of me! Just the noises it made were scary enough, not even considering the drop!
Check out Great Adventure History's article.
Drayton Manor Park, United Kingdom, will add a 4-D theater for the 2009 season. Designed by Simworx, "the theatre will screen the award-winning feature film Curse of Skull Rock, a family adventure that tells the story of Captain Scabb’s quest to find lost treasure."
Not only will the film be in 3-D, but the theater will feature plenty of physical effects to keep patrons guessing what may come next.
Drayton Manor is coming off of the massive success they had with their 2008 attraction, Thomas Land. Think the Thomas Town's that Six Flags has added to some U.S. parks times ten in terms of rides and theming.
Alton Towers has started the process of filing for approval for their planned 2010 new roller coaster. In order to do so, they unfortunately (for them, at least) have to show off a lot of their plans during this process. Here is a link to a bunch of those plans that have been submitted.
Now, there is a lot of mumbo jumbo in there so I snapped some images and highlights:
^ This little snip is featured because it shows that the ride will be 20 meters from ground level high, and operate using hydraulics.
^ This one features some interesting items, like the fact that the facade will feature octopus tentacles, and the entrance will have bones and a skull. These give hints toward the theming of the ride...
Speaking of the entrance, here's the entrance to the ride's queue. Again, more hints at the ride's theming...
Here is the ride's layout from the air. Nothing to fancy, but you can see that a lot of the track is buried in the trees, and the station is a rather large structure. The two 'switch' areas are still present, used to reverse direction of the train.
As for the ride itself, here is a sight-line drawing that shows the ride's layout from a 3-D perspective.
^ A rather detailed drawing of the station structure.
Speaking of the station structure, here are some drawings of the building. These again give away a lot of little hints as to the ride's possible themes. I'll let you draw your own conclusions, though.
Still no word on who's manufacturing the ride, but it looks like quite an attraction is being proposed for the park either way!
Quassy Amusement Park, located in Connecticut, is going to propose building a small family wooden roller coaster from The Gravity Group to their local government planning officials in February, reports Amusement Today.
The 1,200 ft. wooden ride would be 35 ft tall and go 35 mph. How wonderful that a small park like this wants to contract the Gravity Group to build an exciting family ride.
The Amusement Today blurb isn't totally clear on whether this is a 2009 project or not. Stay tuned!
© Coaster Community
Walt Disney World in Florida has announced that the Magic Kingdom's classic Space Mountain attraction will close for refurbishment for most of 2009.
The ride will close April 19th, which will keep it open for the ever crowded Easter/Spring break period.
The large rehab is said to include removing and replacing all track for the ride (although the layout will remain the same), updating the queue, and replacing the roof of the attraction.
The ride should be opened again by the end of 2009.
Ho, ho, ho! Yes, of COURSE I realize that Christmas has come and gone. But I'm not about to let that stop me from sharing what the jolly old man in the red suit deposited in my stocking this year!
Swinging high above the Gothenburg sky was Uppswinget, Liseberg's new attraction for 2007. Judging from the brochure cover, this S&S Screamin' Swing delivers quite a lofty ride experience.
Mercifully, this version of the brochure speaks my language! As much as I'd love to claim that I can speak beautiful, fluent Swedish, something tells me that reading Ikea catalogs doesn't count. [Updating Sabrina's to-do list for 2009: Learn to speak REAL Swedish. Check!]
Do you think you can dance? Put yourself to the test by visiting Liseberg and attending a jive or salsa lesson at their Polketten venue! Personally I'm torn between that and hanging out with the Liseberg Rabbits at Lilla Scenen. It's so refreshing to find a park whose mascots are truly unique.
Liseberg's pricing model includes both a gate admission and individual ride tickets. For those of you in the States who are eager to do the math, one U.S. dollar is equal to approximately 7.87 Swedish krona by the current conversion rate. So if you decide to jet over to Sweden and visit Liseberg today, you had better pad your checkbook first because each ride on Balder or Kanonen will cost you approximately $7.60!!
Okay, maybe our readers from Europe can help me out here. Was the word "pentathlon" simply lost in translation, or should I arrive at Liseberg expecting to compete against other guests in five sporting events? Either way, count me in!
One thing is for certain: Nobody is going to walk away from Liseberg hungry. Looks like nobody is going to walk away thirsty either, as you can find your favorite brew around nearly every corner of the park. The park also sports a nice selection of charming shops.
Liseberg is the largest amusement park in Scandinavia and is frequently hailed as the top overall attraction in that area. Its coaster count may not be in the double digits, but this park goes for quality over quantity. [Read: BALDER. Need I say more?] It also features some unique and increasingly rare attractions, including the House of Mirrors.
This detailed operating schedule lists all of Liseberg's happy opening days for the 2007 season. A schedule listing its sad opening days is available in the Bizarro Liseberg 2007 brochure, but I have yet to procure a copy of that one. Perhaps Bad Santa will hook me up next year.
Pssst... Would YOU like to own a copy of this brochure? Well today is your lucky day, because three are available from this lovely seller on eBay!
Kings Island has updated their official construction photos of the park's new hyper coaster for 2009, Diamondback.
As you can see from the above photo, the park kept working during the holiday season and now has completed the ride's hammerhead turn and also started to set supports for the helix before the splashdown.
Check out the gallery.
And this is Abismo at Parques De Atracciones in Spain. It's a Maurer Sohne extended SkyLoop roller coaster, and I think it looks like fun! I can't comment on the restraints as I haven't been on it, and those would be important as you hang upside down that high off the ground!
It opened in 2006 and is the only Maurer Sohne extended SkyLoop coaster that's been built thus far. It's closest American relative is X Coaster at Magic Springs, which has the first section of the above ride only.
It's still a pretty short ride, even considering it's an 'extended' version of the base model. Unique it is, though, and I can only imagine what an even bigger one than this would be like!
Here's the latest from our friends at the Coney Island Development Corporation:
Wild Adventures Theme Park has released the full details of their 2009 expansion program. The Georgia Theme Park will focus attention on updating their Splash Island Water Park.
According to the park, “We are totally renovating and improving what has been one of the finest and most popular waterparks in the entire region, with new theming, new facilities, additional seating and shade structures and a new water ride adventure guests won’t believe.”
Artistic sketch of the new market-style restaurant
General Manager Bob Montgomery stands in front of several pieces for the new water thrill ride, the Wahee Cyclone
© IOACentral 2009
The ride continues to impress me more and more with each new batch of photos that pops up. Europa Park is certainly placing a great deal of effort into the theming of the ride as well.
EPFans has published some wonderful photos that appear to be official from Europa Park. You can see the full gallery of Blue Fire through this link. There's some really wonderful vantage points in there, including some from the ride's mid-course breaks.
The ride certainly has some big and fast elements to it, but it also has close to the ground (and now encased in rock walls like above) turns as well. It's the best of both worlds!
Our winner by a decent margin was The Joker's Jinx at Six Flags America in Maryland. The ride was added to the park in 1999 during Six Flags' coaster frenzy phase. It originally opened with over-the-shoulder restraints but the trains received better lap bar restraints for the 2002 season.
Since then, though, the ride has received little attention and does indeed seem ripe for a makeover. The slight decorations the ride has in the queue and station even lends itself toward a new theme! Plus, Six Flags America hasn't seen a new, or revamped, coaster since Batwing in 2001.
In 2nd place we had Mr. Freeze at Six Flags St. Louis. This one might not really be in the running as much as we'd like though, as it seems it's receiving a new paint job this off-season but without a new theme and flame throwers!
4th place was Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America. The ride's massive height and length does lend it toward a prominent place at the park, but I can't say I think we'll see this one rethemed any time soon.
Just for good measure let's take a spin on our winner, Joker's Jinx. What could you imagine for the ride if it was redone?
Filing for Chapter 7 is not a good thing, especially if anyone ever hoped of going to a reopened Hard Rock Park.
Unable to find a buyer for the entire property, lawyers for Hard Rock Park have asked to change the property's status to Chapter 7. At this point, a trustee of the court will take over and start to liquidate any and all assets the park has in order to pay debts.
This, however, could be good news for Cedar Fair and Six Flags, as all of the park's rides and attractions will now be sold at probably fire-sale prices. What park wouldn't want Led Zeppelin? I love Mine Trains, and with how cheap someone could pick up the Eagles' ride and add some real theming? Lots of possibilities here.
It's sad news that this is probably the final nail in Hard Rock Park's coffin, but who didn't really see this coming after no one bid on it at such a cheap price?
It's been a while since we've seen the status of the now closed Geauga Lake Amusement Park, but thanks to two of our readers, Kyle and Josh, we have some great new pics just taken recently. Be warned, though, they are pretty depressing!
A great thanks goes out to these guys for sending in their work to NewsPlusNotes! All photos are copyright Kyle and Josh and used on NPN with permission. Instead of me blabbering on about the photos, what follows is a short report of their trip in their own words:
Walking across the field where X-Flight once stood its hard to miss the Big Dipper and Skyscraper, the only thing left of the 119 year-old skyline. It’s good to see the hills of the John Miller classic peeking over the foreground, but as each day passes the chances of riding the coaster again aren't favorable.
Welcome to 2009! I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve! Now all the enthusiasts can officially start to wonder "what new at ____ next year?" and mean 2010!
Everyone at NewsPlusNotes wishes you a happy, healthy, and FUN 2009!
