Weekly Rewind 2.13.10

Anyone interested in a Geauga Lake Memorabilia Show and Employee Reunion should check out the Roller Hutt Skate & Fun Center at 10268 Hewins Rd, SR 88, Garrettsville, OH on March 6th at 7 p.m. The first ever gathering of its type will take place to celebrate the park and allow old friends to see one another again. Admission is $5 to help cover the expense of the event, but is free for exhibitors and volunteers.

It may not have a name yet, but La Ronde has put up a webcam where you can watch the construction of their new SLC coaster. Right now it looks like a good amount of the footers for the ride are in place, and track has started to go up as well!

Hooray for new blogs! Six Flags has joined our little 'club' and launched their own official blog on the corporate level. They promise all sorts of goodies going forward, and I for one can't wait to see what they come up with!

Nickelodeon Universe is building something new, but with no official announcement to go off of we can't be sure exactly what. Rumors point to the debut of the Unicoaster from Chance Rides on that nice new ride foundation they've poured. Photos of the work can be seen here.

Lots going on with Cedar Fair this week - they've set a date for the vote on the Apollo merger, March 16th, and will hold a special unit holder's meeting that day in Sandusky, OH. The possible sale seems pretty dead in the water at this point, though, as plenty of major investors are publicly against it. The company also released full 2009 earnings this week, which as expected, weren't so great.

The plan to 'move' the Zippin Pippin from Memphis to Wisconsin is will quite alive and well, but the ride no longer is. Due to a partial collapse, the rest of the ride has been torn down. No bother to Green Bay, though, as they understood that most of the ride wasn't salvageable anyway, and they really want to buy the rights to the name and design of the ride. Can you imagine how fun it would be to have the Gravity Group rebuild the ride?

With Harry Potter opening next door, Walt Disney World isn't resting on it's laurels this summer. They've announced Summer Nightastic! - an ongoing event that is punctuated by the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade and a brand new fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom. The Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios will also have new effects and new drop sequence. See all the details here.

The post closing announcement fallout at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom continues. A recent article says that 4 operators are already lining up to take over the lease and operate the park this summer. And the fight over who owns the rides on the land has already started. Drama!

Walt Disney Studios Paris has gone vertical with some of the rides and attractions in their new Toy Story Playland area. The parachute tower is now up and is... well, it makes quite an impact on the park's skyline. Full update on the work can be seen here.

A follow up on the Kings Island tax issue - the plan to add a ticket and parking tax was voted down this past Monday. Looks like that Tailgate party really helped drum up some support for the park!

It may not be a big new ride, but hey, the park is known for it's shows. Six Flags Fiesta Texas announced that 2010 will bring three new ones to the park, and return several favorites from last year. More details from the park here.

No idea how I missed seeing these when they were published, but a couple posters on Orlando United took a helicopter tour over Islands of Adventure to get some amazing shots of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter under construction. If you are interested in this project these are a must see.

Finally, as most of you know - the weather this week was snowy and awful. But it makes for pretty park photos! Sabrina posted a list of parks that are showing off their snowy midways... and seeing if you guys know of anymore! View the list / add to it on the NPN Facebook page!