Falcon's Fury Opening Date Confirmed

Busch Gardens Tampa has confirmed that the opening date for Falcon's Fury will be May 1st, 2014.  The world's tallest freestanding drop tower will take riders to the top of a 335 foot tall tower before plunging them down - face first - toward the ground at 60 miles per hour.

© Busch Gardens Tampa/Aerial Innovations

Falcon's Fury will open as the centerpiece to the all new Pantopia themed section of the park.  Filled with brightly colored buildings, the area will contain rides, new food options, shopping, and live entertainment in an enclosed theater.  There will be plenty to enjoy in Pantopia after you catch your breath from that face-first drop!

New Video Takes A Detailed Look at FireChaser Express

Dollywood has added a new video to the FireChaser Express website that chronicles the design and creation of the new family roller coaster.   For anyone looking forward to the ride, it is a must watch.

The video has some great new images of the coaster that I haven't seen before, such as the above concept art for the mid-ride pause before the backwards launch.  The fireworks storage shed is full of special effects and from the art looks pretty neat!

Here's another view from the rider's level.  The semi-enclosed structure shows definite signs of previous firework explosions, and one heck of a huge rocket over on the right.  The video explains more about the theming of this section and what will transpire while riders are there.

As for the design section of the video, there's a few treats in there as well.  This is a cool look at the ride's design with the park's landscape taken into account.  The park's hilly nature makes adding rides a challenge, but also makes them all the more unique.

If I understood correctly, this was a proposed layout for FireChaser Express early on in the design phase.  Parts of the layout seen here are very close to what is being built, while others are quite different.  The ride after the backwards launch seems very different if I am following the layout correctly.

The park did release an image similar to this one that shows off FireChaser Express' layout, but from a different angle.  This one really shows how well the park preserved the maintenance road that runs under the ride, which wasn't quite as visible from the other angle.

Hard to believe, but we're actually less than a month away from the ride's grand opening, March 22nd.  Can't wait to see the coaster in action!

The Climb to 400+ Feet Starts at Six Flags New England

© Six Flags New England

The massive base structure of the New England SkyScreamer at Six Flags New England is now in place, seen above in a recent photo from the theme park.  You can see the next segment patiently awaiting placement in the background - and for comparison purposes that first part is only about three stories!  That means there are more than thirty seven more stories to go - when complete it will take the record for tallest swing ride in the world.

SFNEOnline actually dropped by the park yesterday and got a tour of all the changes being made for the 2014 season.  Obviously, the New England SkyScreamer is a big part of those changes!  The update they have posted features some great shots from inside the snowy gates of the park, including the very pretty setting for the new ride (looks totally different from the shot above).  Check out their update at this link.

Disney Shows Off Seven Dwarfs Mine Train POV

Via the Disney Parks Blog, we've got our first full look at the point of view video of the Magic Kingdom's Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster.

Embedded above, the video compares the actual ride footage (shot at night, thus obscuring some details) to an early CGI animation that the Imagineers did.  The video shows off a bit of the swinging that the actual mine cars will do during the experience as well, though I would wager that those motions are better experienced as a rider.

This is also the first time I believe that we've gotten a solid look at the dark ride portion of the attraction, where the trains actually travel through the Dwarfs mine.  Granted the animations and props weren't fully in place when the footage was taken, but it's still a nice preview.

No word yet on when the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will officially open, but it appears not to be too far off.  The park has taken down some construction walls, offering new views of the mountain.  WDWMagic has two recent galleries of photos, one featuring the waterfall and main drop for the coaster, and another of additional landscaping of the mountain underway.

Various Park News Bits and Photos

I've been storing up a bunch of little park updates that I've noticed an wanted to share, so I'm condensing these into one post.  Here goes!

© Worlds of Fun

The transplanted WindSeeker from Knott's Berry Farm, now known as Steel Hawk, has started to go up at Worlds of Fun.  The park's General Manager shared this image with the caption that there are only seven more pieces to go!  While obvious from the base piece, Steek Hawk has been painted to look like the existing WindSeekers.  MidwestInfoGuide also posted some photos recently of the repainted pieces awaiting assembly.

Things have been pretty quiet since Six Flags America announced their new Mardi Gras section last Summer, but a new video released by the park gives a small look at what's been going on.  The above shot is mixed in with plenty of other coaster footage - but at least we can know fur sure that the ride is one site!  Hopefully more updates will come from the park soon.  In the meantime, you can check out the new purple paint scheme for the Zydeco Zinger, courtesy of Baynum Painting.

© Universal Orlando

Hidden behind those giant London facades, it has been hard to see exactly what's going on with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida.  To fix that, Pixels At The Parks took to the skies for an awesome aerial update of the construction work.  The area is coming together nicely, with final details going up all over.  Be sure to check out all three sets photos, along with a video over at Pixels At The Parks.

© Sesame Place

Just outside of Philadelphia, Sesame Place is hard at work on Cookie's Monster Land.  Above is a shot of a giant cookie jar being constructed - when complete it will be a big part of the entrance to the new land.  The jar will hold Cookie's Sometimes Anytime Food Market, a new food location for the park with an extra fun name.

© Universal Studios Florida

Over on Twitter, user Hate To Fly has been sharing some fantastic old concept art and photos of attractions at the Universal Orlando parks, along with some bonus extras from other properties.  There's all sorts of goodies included, like the drawing of when Jurassic Park was planned for Universal Studios Florida, seen above.  Check out Hate To Fly's account to see all the images, and give them a follow while you're there.

© Six Flags Mexico

How about those curves?  Six Flags Mexico shared this image of Medusa Steel Coaster's conversion progress.  While the new track being set in the foreground looks pretty fun, I still can't get over how great that first drop looks!  The immediate barrel roll off the post-lift turn around and that plunging drop is going to be quite a sensation.

© Kentucky Kingdom

This cool blue track is for Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom - a wonderful color if you ask me!  The park is still hard at work on the foundations for the new Chance Morgan compact coaster, but supports and track have started to arrive on property.  The supports for the coaster are a mild shade of green, which will make a striking look for the new ride.

© Luna Park

Far away from Coney Island, Luna Park's new Thunderbolt roller coaster is being fabricated by Zamperla.  Above is the ride's vertical lift support tower post-fabrication, assembled for testing purposes.  You can see the track supports running down the main support column at the top, for either the vertical lift or vertical drop.  The park also shared a neat infographic about the lift and drop, with some very specific details of the structure.

New Gerstlauer Shuttle Coaster Opening at Adventure City

© Adventure City

A brand new shuttle coaster will open this season at Anaheim, California's Adventure City amusement park.  To be called Rewind Racers, the attraction will be built at a cost of over $2 million - the largest addition to the park in its history.

Rewind Racers will be built by Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, and themed by R&R Creative Amusement Designs.  The concept art above shows off the ride's design, which features both forward and backward sections.  The trains will head up the lift hill backwards, level out, then race down the drop and through several curved track sections.  After climbing up another hill the train drops and repeats the track length in reverse.

While it is hard to tell if it is an exact clone, Rewind Racers appears fairly similar to Gipfelsturmer, at Freizeitpark Ruhpolding in Germany.  The family ride will be unique to the United States, and hopefully a huge success for Adventure City.  It is wonderful to see more of these smaller, but unique, family rides being built in the U.S.

Premier Rides' Latest Coaster Standing Tall in Germany

© Holiday Park

Holiday Park, located in Germany, has finished vertical construction on their new Premier Rides designed coaster, Sky Scream.  Seen above in all its glory, the launched roller coaster is a clone of the popular Superman Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

Sky Scream will launch the trains out of the station both forward and backward until enough speed is gained to make it to the top of the 150 foot tower.

© Holiday Park

At the top the trains slow and then navigate a full heartline twist, 150 feet in the air, with no additional supports on that section of track to boot.  After the riders are back upright, they drop down and twist their way though a non-inverting loop before diving once more back toward the station.

The experience that Sky Scream will provide is quite different than most traditional coasters, it is certainly a ride that is all about the thrills of an intense coaster experience.

© Holiday Park

Holiday Park seems to have picked up on the fear aspect of Sky Scream, and appears to be theming the ride's plaza around some sort of monsters.  Perhaps vampires?  I'm not quite sure but if the actual plaza turns out like in the model above it's going to look pretty slick by my standards.  It's like a Halloween attraction year round with a coaster at the end... sorta.  If you check out the concept art and other photos posted by the park, you'll see what I mean.

Sky Scream will be Holiday Park's second large coaster, after having just retired a Vekoma corkscrew ride.  The park's other coaster is the highly regarded Expedition GeForce - the two will make quite a pair!

El Loco Now Open at The Adventuredome

© The Adventuredome

Las Vegas' newest roller coaster is now open to the public! As of last week El Loco at the Adventuredome has been thrilling riders with its wild inversions and twisted track.  The roller coaster is nestled under the giant pink dome and replaced the park's shoot-the-chutes ride.  El Loco is the park's second adult roller coaster, joining Canyon Blaster, an Arrow Dynamics designed looper that opened in 1993.

Adventuredome released some nice footage of El Loco in action:

El Loco is a creation of S&S Worldwide, which has opened several other El Loco coasters around the globe.  The unique location of the one at Adventuredome required some layout changes to make everything fit, adding to the unique quality of the coaster.

As for statistics, Adventuredome created this infographic about El Loco, and since infographics are fun, here it is!

© The Adventuredome

I love some of the elements listed here, such as "doughnut roll" - that's one I haven't heard of for a coaster before.  Now everyone has a reason to head back to Vegas - to try out El Loco! 

Cedar Point Announces More Changes for 2014

© Cedar Point

Cedar Point previously announced some drastic changes to the park's Gemini Midway, which will include two new rides: Pipe Scream and Lake Erie Eagles.  Those changes are sure to be a hit and rejuvenate that area of the park, but now they've announced even more additions for 2014.

Guests visiting this year will find a new Sling Shot style attraction aptly named SlingShot, which will launch riders into the air at 62 miles per hour.

© Bryan Edwards

Not only will the riders be traveling at an impressive speed, they'll also be launched up to a maximum height of 360 feet - that's seriously high in the air!  The SlingShot will be manufactured by Funtime and seat two riders at a time.  The attraction will require an extra fee to ride.

The red dot above is an estimate of where SlingShot will take up home, right near the station for the Gemini coaster.

Some food changes were also announced as well, including the addition of Chickie's and Pete's Sports Bar, which will take over the Game Day Grille.  The same addition opened at Dorney Park last year and found much success.  A full service Starbucks will replace Donut Time inside the park, and outside the main gates at Challenge Park both an Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon will offer quick snacks.

As part of the Gemini Midway project new food options will also premier, including a Coca Cola Freestyle station and Yogurt Plus.  Cedar Point is also working hard on a two year renovation of the Hotel Breakers, and while not announced yet a rumored expansion of Lighthouse Point into the former Camper Village.

Roar-O-Saurus Reaches for the Sky

© Story Land

The progress on the Gravity Group designed Roar-O-Saurus at New Hampshire's Story Land has continued at a quick pace, with the ride's tallest structure now reaching for the skies.  This shot was sent to NPN by the park and shows the ride's tall bents being placed as a snow storm set it - even that didn't slow down those workers!

© Story Land

This one was taken before the snow arrived - check out that beautiful blue sky behind Roar-O-Saurus.  You can see that the tall structure for lift hill/turn around/drop was a little less far along when compared to the more recent image at the top.

When Roar-o-Saurus is complete it will stretch 1,242 feet long, use a lift hill of 40 feet and have a first drop of 38.5 feet.  The ride will utilize one Timberliner train from Gravitykraft and is being designed as a family ride.  Great progress so far, we're looking forward to seeing more!

Goliath's Final Design Impresses at Six Flags Great America

© Six Flags Great America

Hmm... something is different here, I just can't put my finger on it.  Oh wait, I think it's the crazy all-steel support structure that will be used on Six Flags Great America's Goliath!

The park released a new batch of concept images and video today, reflecting the updated design of the lift, drop, and inverted zero g stall elements.  And when they did I think it is fair to say that the mouths of many coaster fans around the globe hung open in awe.

© Six Flags Great America

The lift hill does have a bit of an 'Intimidator 305 and Millennium Force had a baby' look to it, and overall it makes an already impressive ride look even more so.  It was smart to incorporate the support structure (looks like a bridge) for the Inverted Zero G Stall element into the lift as well - and look close at how the track is actually to the side of that bridge structure!

Here is a before and after look at Goliath's layout, with the changes to the structure detailed above.  Obviously the ride has a slimmer look, but it sure is a sleek one!  The ends of the ride, which contain a double layer turnaround on the right, and the dive loop on the left, look generally unchanged with only some small modifications noticeable.

© Six Flags Great America

I mean really, how impressive is this coaster's overall look?  Something about the wooden structure combined with that towering peak in the center is a bit of coaster magic - hats off to both Rocky Mountain and their design team on this one.

The new design images also were accompanied by new preview videos as well.  Above is the park's 'teaser' for Goliath, which now reflects the changes that have been made.  The park also released a point-of-view video as well, which can be viewed here.

As if all of this wasn't exciting enough, Six Flags Great America is also showing off the concept art for Goliath's station and entrance areas, available in this gallery.  So, who's ready to ride?

Aquatica Orlando Releases "Daring" Drop Slide Details

Aquatica Orlando's new attraction, Ihu's Breakaway Falls, will have a grand opening on May 9th, as announced by the park today.  Billed as the "tallest, steepest, and only multi-drop tower slide of its kind in the southern United States," Ihu's Breakaway Falls is sure to attract thrill seekers to the park for its debut.

Standing almost 80 feet tall (105 feet when counting the slide structure and cover), the attraction will consist of four separate high speed slides.  Three of the slides utilize a drop-away floor to start the action, while the other has a more traditional start.

The three riders in the drop-away boxes will be able to watch each other as they are randomly dropped - making the anticipation of the start a part of the fun.  “With four unique slide paths, Ihu’s Breakaway Falls brings a whole new level of thrill to Aquatica Orlando,” said Bryan Nadeau, Aquatica Orlando vice president. “Riders can step into three breakaway boxes or test their bravery on a fourth open slide for a different, but just as thrilling experience. No matter which slide you choose, once you get to the top, the only way down is down.”

To add even more excitement to the premier of the slide, Aquatica Orlando has released several fun facts on the attraction:

• Ihu’s Breakaway Falls features the tallest, steepest, longest and only multi-drop tower slides of their kind in the southern United States.
• At nearly 80 feet tall, Ihu’s Breakaway Falls has the tallest and steepest 360-degree spirals in the southern United States.
• Those who dare to brave Ihu’s Breakaway Falls will experience an almost vertical drop for nearly 40 feet, the steepest in the southern United States.
• Ihu’s Breakaway Falls is the longest water thrill slide of its kind featuring three “breakaway boxes” and four completely different slide paths. Once the floor disappears, riders will drop 20-24 feet per second.
• Ihu’s Breakaway Falls is the only high-speed water thrill slide in the world that propels guests through four, 360-degree spirals.

Until the ride opens on May 9th you can keep up to date via the park's official website.

Knoebels Reveals New 2015 Coaster - The Knoebels Impulse!

Knoebels doesn't do much by the book, something that seems to endear us to them even more, and today's surprise announcement of a new steel coaster for 2015 via social media was certainly a unique take on a big ride reveal!

At first myself (and I think some others) might have thought the Twitter and Facebook posts were in jest, but no, the Knoebels Impulse will open in 2015!

© Knoebels

The ride will be designed by Zierer and stand an impressive 98 feet tall.  Impulse will utilize a vertical chain lift to get the individual cars to the top, which is followed by a vertical first drop.  From there the riders head through two inversions via a cobra roll, and then a vertical loop follows.

The vertical loop exits into a high bank turnaround which feeds directly into an upward helix that surrounds the lift and drop structure.

© Knoebels

The exit of the helix twists upward and extends into the start of an large heartline type roll that feeds to the back end of the layout.  A final tight helix sends trains onto the final brake run, where riders can finally catch their breath.

Zierer also manufactured Wicked at Lagoon, though that ride also features a launch.  Still, you can see some similarities between the two rides.

Knoebels has said on their social media that both the bumper boats and boat tag will be retired to make room for Impulse.  Above is that area of the park highlighted in yellow - if you're familiar with the park the parking area would be to the right, and you can see the Ferris wheel at the bottom of the image.  Cars entering on Knoebels Parkway will have quite a view of the coaster in 2015!

The park has said that this is the first big project of the 4th generation of Knoebels, and what a way to make an entrance!  This news story spoke with the park about the ride, and what went into selecting the addition.  Looking forward to this one!

Hong Kong Disneyland Announces Record Results and New Hotel!

© Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland is definitely riding a high right now, having just announced their 4th consecutive year of record revenue, park attendance, guest spending and hotel occupancy.  So in short, 2013 was another really spectacular year for the resort.

Attendance reached 7.4 million visitors during the year, besting all previous years.  When the park first opened (almost ten years ago) it saw attendance of around 5 million, give or take depending on the year.  A recent multi-year expansion that saw the addition of three entirely new mini-lands introduced unique themes and attractions that greatly helped the park's growth and got the attention of many Disney fans.

© Hong Kong Disneyland

Now a brand new hotel has been announced for the resort, consisting of 750 rooms and set to open in 2017, should proper approvals be granted.  According to the park's press release, the new hotel will be themed "to the spirit of exploration and celebrates exotic locations from around the world."  The two pieces of concept art shared with the announcement make the exotic theme of the resort crystal clear.  Hotel occupancy at the resort's current two properties was at 94% in 2013, and this new addition will increase the overall number of rooms available at Hong Kong Disneyland to 1,750.

© Hong Kong Disneyland

The new hotel will be located next to Disney's Hollywood Hotel, and if you click the image for the larger version you can take a good look at the layout of the property.  And why not take a look at a bit of the theme park's schematics while you are there?

Another part of this announcement was that a new nighttime show will be opened at the theme park in 2014, named "Disney Paint the Night."  No details on the production were given, so it is hard to tell the exact nature of the show.  2015 will bring the park's 10th anniversary celebration to life, and 2016 shall see the opening of a new area themed to Iron Man, including a blockbuster new ride.  Sounds like we could see more announcements of record breaking performance in the future.

Falcon's Fury Webisode 2 Released by Busch Gardens Tampa

Interested in a look behind the scenes at the 335 foot tall Falcon's Fury?  I sure am - and the second webisode released by Busch Gardens Tampa even goes as far as taking us inside the ride's tower for a view that most will never see.

Hosted by the park's Director of Design and Engineering, Jeff Hornick, we also get an up close look at the Falcon's Fury ride vehicles - they're an especially important part of the face-down free fall.  They make sure to point out that no official opening date for Falcon's Fury has been released - yet - but that the official day to mark the calendar will be released soon!

A Goliath Photo Update from Six Flags Great America

© Six Flags Great America

How are things progressing on Six Flags Great America's triple world record breaking wooden roller coaster?  Nicely, thanks for asking!  Okay well maybe you didn't ask but who could not be interested in a project of this size?  Despite the winter cold (and snow) the park has been making much progress on Goliath, including laying down new segments of running track and hoisting plenty of supports into place.

The park has released a new set of photos, like these shown here, that fill us in on just where the massive coaster's construction has taken it.  Above is a nice shot of the Negative G Float that connects the two ends of the ride.

© Six Flags Great America

This looks like a pretty fun hill, rather large already - and check out the banking that the track is starting up top!  Remember, this is only the lower level of the massive turnaround structure, the park hasn't even installed the upper level yet!

I can't wait for Goliath's lift - and especially first drop - to be worked on.  That's going to really be an exciting part of the construction.

Kingda Ka's New Look for Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom

© Six Flags Great Adventure

The support tower for Kinga Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure is looking a little beefier these days, and that's all in preparation for the world's tallest free fall, Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, to be added to the structure.  The park released the above photo of the work site, and you can see the large supports that have been added to the tower on the left side of the image.

In the foreground are the actual pieces of Zumanjaro, orange colored and ready to be set in place on the tower.

© Six Flags Great Adventure

When complete Zumanjaro will lift riders, eight per car, up to 415 feet above the ground and then drop them at an amazing 90 miles per hour.  Since Zumanjaro is being added to the existing structure of Kingda Ka, that also means that the coaster will rocket up and over Zumanjaro riders, creating an exciting interaction between the two rides.

© Six Flags Great Adventure

There will be three tracks on Zumanjaro, shown here in some concept art from Six Flags Great Adventure.  The park is planning an opening date of Spring, 2014, for Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom.

Aerial Update of Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

Check out this fantastic aerial update of the ongoing construction at Miracle Strip @ Pier Park.  So much progress has been made so quickly, and the place is really starting to look like an amusement park!

The aerial perspective really lets us understand the difference between the North and South sides of the park, with a large wooded wetlands area between them.  Many of the park's rides are already in place, with construction of the rest zooming along.  The video's labels help point out the location of the attractions, and even the future location of the Starliner wooden roller coaster.

If you happened to miss our interview with the park about their plans for this year, make sure to check it out via this link!

From The Vault: Dorney Park's 2003 Water Park Expansion

It seems fitting that since Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom are adding a large, six slide tower for 2014 we take a look back to 2003 when the park saw a similar expansion.  That year ten slides were added on two separate towers.  Also similar to the changes planned for 2014, 2003 also saw heavy renovations throughout Wildwater Kingdom, everything from the wave pool to walkways were upgraded.

This news release contains a wealth of information on the new slide towers that went up in 2003.  One tower had slides depart from two different levels, Patriot's Plunge from 51 feet and Wildwater Rapids from 40 feet.  The former has patriotic red, white, and blue slides that utilize inner-tubes for the way down, while the later was a set of four zippy body slides.  

Jumpin' Jack Splash was the second slide tower that went up, starting at 30 feet above the ground.  These slides are 'beginner' slides, meant for smaller kids and low on the intensity scale.  They're actually receiving some modifications this winter to change their ending from a splash pool into run-out sections.

I've always been fond of the concept art the park released for the larger of the two slide towers.  It's stylized in a way that was different from what Cedar Fair was releasing at the time.  It's also a plus how they added Talon standing proudly behind the slide structures!

Busch Gardens Tampa Shares the Falcon's Fury Love

Here is what I get for falling behind on my e-mail - a Valentine's greeting that I'm posting two days late!  Busch Gardens Tampa sent out this cute infographic on how Falcon's Fury is similar to falling in love, and although late I thought it would be fun to share:

The image of the tower is pretty neat looking, aside from the actual photos of the ride vehicles this is the first time I've seen a detailed mock up of them.  It really gives an idea of how unique the ride vehicles will look just hanging there as the drop starts!

I also noticed the tower itself looks different, with a paint job that blends from red-orange into the blue - not exactly how the finished product turned out.  Perhaps this was a concept image used in planning?

Either way, happy belated Valentine's Day!

Edit:

We heard from the park regarding the paint job for Falcon's Fury.  Instead of the above image just being a concept like I proposed, it is actually how the finished product will look!  According to the park "the painting will be completed within the next few weeks and very closely resemble the image that we shared, including the swirly, ombre-like color treatment."  Thanks for the update and the ride is going to look fantastic when complete!

The Beach Plans Expansion for 2014 Summer Season

Ohio's The Beach water park, located just around the corner from Kings Island, will reopen in 2014 with new improvements and additions that will make a day at the park even more inviting.  The Beach reopened in 2013 after sitting closed the prior year, and spent $5 million to do so.

© The Beach Waterpark

Above is one of last year's additions, a brand new kiddie play area (complete with tipping bucket, of course) named Big Creek Beach.  Much of the park was also painted and heavily renovated to be like brand new, breathing life back into the property.

The park has now announced more fun for 2014, including a two person zip line that will take riders on a 600 foot journey directly over the park's wave pool.  Without many details available on the slide, the Beach will also build a four lane mat racing slide.  The mat racing slide will stretch 400 feet long and be a part of the $1.5 million expansion. (side note - this is the third mat racing slide announcement this week!)

The Beach also wants to move into more winter operations, planning a large snow tubing hill that will operate starting in November.  Too bad they missed out on this terribly snowy winter!

The Beach is owned by Adventure Holdings, LLC, which operates many family entertainment centers in the U.S.