Aeiral Antics: PortAventura

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.

Here's the very impressive looking Dragon Khan. The B&M monster sit-down coaster features over 4,000 ft of track an a 160+ ft first drop.

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.

There's lots more to see, but I'll let you see the sights on your own. Use this link to get to the images, and then move to the right a bit to start with the park.

Cedar Fair's Inevitable Decision

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.

What's This For?

© 2009 firehawkboy via KIExtreme

Looks like there's some new B&M track - painted a vibrant yellow - laying outside the fabrication plant (that NewsPlusNotes gave you an exclusive tour of) in Ohio.

What's this for? Well for now it's a mystery! A project in North America, or for somewhere else in the world - we're not sure at this point!

Check out this thread on KIExtreme for more.

Paradise Pier = Construction Pier

© 2009 ECZenith via TPR

The next phase of heavy work has started in the Paradise Pier section of Disney's California Adventure, turning the area into quite the construction zone as the $1.1 Billion makeover of the theme park rages on.

On the Theme Park Reivew boards user ECZenith has posted some wonderful photos of the work currently going on. The iconic Mickey Mouse head on the California Screamin' roller coaster has started to come down, the Sun Wheel is heavy into its conversion into Mickey's Fun Wheel, and the lagoon is drained and torn apart for the World of Color Show to be installed.

Check out all the photos and updates!

Diamondback Nearing Completion

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!

Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Dutch Wonderland 198?

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...