GL's Wildwater Kingdom New For 2009

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a .... a sun deck!!!

Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom has announced their new attraction for the 2009 season: Waterfront Plaza. Described as a "lakeside patio with more than 100 lounge chairs, a dining area with umbrella tables and three shade structures."

While the website doesn't say this, we know the park removed the former Water Ski stadium that was centrally located in the water park, but unused, so this will be taking that place.

The park will also add the Island Oasis Party Cabana - a private party deck that accommodates 25-30 people and is perfect for family gatherings, birthday parties and company outings. It has a beautiful lake view, a dining area, private bar and flat-screen televisions.

But now the real question: was there enough aluminum in the Ski Stadium seats to take to the recycler's to pay for all this? ;)

Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Six Flags Magic Mountain 2008

Opening day is fast approaching for all the seasonal parks across the States, and two of those parks are set to debut "new old" roller coasters which have been transformed into total multisensory experiences. I'm referring, of course, to Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure and Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. But let's not forget about the facelift project that started it all: The transformation of Six Flags Magic Mountain's X into X2, which occurred just one short year ago.

"New"? Kinda. New trains, new colors, and new effects maybe, but the ride itself has remained unchanged. Nevertheless, this makeover made sense. Given the shoddy reputation for downtime and repairs that the original X had earned during its brief life, Six Flags was wise to replace what was perhaps the most troublesome component--the trains--and re-market this engineering marvel as the first "5th dimensional" roller coaster. After all the money they had dumped--er, invested--in it, you have to give them credit for making one final attempt to breathe new life into this coaster.

As for this year's round of Six Flags coaster transformations, one can only surmise that the company is doing what it can to give the thrill-loving public something new in spite of a bad economy and the company's financial woes. I get that, and I give them credit for trying. At least the Medusa transformation makes sense, as this coaster's previous so-called theming was confusing at best and could even be likened to an identity crisis. I mean, "Medusa Mining Company"? HUH? Superman, on the other hand... Sorry Six Flags, but color me baffled! Why fix something that was never broken? Surely there were other coasters more worthy of a makeover than this one.

But I digress. And when I say I digress, wow I really digressed! I must be subconsciously overcompensating for the lack of pages in this brochure. Back on topic we go.

X(2) was more fortunate than its brethren Psyclone and Flashback, which bit the figurative and literal dust in 2006 and 2007, respectively. While I never enjoy seeing a coaster (or any other type of ride, for that matter) meet its demise, the good news is that Six Flags seems to be heading in the right direction at Magic Mountain: Quality over quantity. That being said, with the addition of Terminator Salvation in 2009 and another rumored coaster project in the works for 2010, they just may be able to strike the right balance and achieve both!

The truly "new" addition to Magic Mountain in 2008 was Thomas Town, a family friendly children's area featuring--who else?--Thomas The Tank Engine. This was another positive move by Six Flags, as Magic Mountain has long been viewed as an unbalanced park in the thrills-versus-family department. (Not very Griswold-esque, if you will.) It would be nice to see this park add even more family attractions and some good flat rides over the next few years.

I guess there's hardly a need to include an operating schedule in the brochure when you're open year-round. I will, however, take issue with their "Minutes North of Hollywood" claim. In what universe?! Technically speaking, I guess it is a true statement. It simply would be truer if they added the word "Many" at the beginning.


Geez, I feel like I'm cheating you out of content when the brochures are this short! But as they say, "it is what it is". I can only hope that my colorful commentary has helped to fill the inevitable void in your lives...

Disney's New Fan Community

Truthfully, I didn't follow the viral campaign that Disney did for their new D23 'Official Community for Disney Fans" - but I know a lot of the Disney sites were abuzz on the teasers and countdowns that the Mouse did for the new club.

Now that they have officially announced the community we can see what a charter membership gets you. Looks like you get a subscription to the Disney Twenty-Three magazine, published quarterly, membership card and gift, access to purchase limited edition merchandise, and lower admission rates to the first official Disney fan convention, the D23 Expo.

The going rate for all this is once cent short of seventy bucks a year. You can read plenty more and join through this link.

Web 2.0 + Theme Parks

Paula Werne, of Holiday World fame, recently linked to this article on the park's Holiblog. It's about how more theme parks are starting to use all the new 'web 2.0' sites and features to reach out to potential customers.

Well, being a web 2.0 site I have to say that the article is pretty interesting. They speak of parks like Sea World San Antonio, which currently uses Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and more to connect with fans and other interested parties of the park.

More and more official park blogs, especially, are popping up constantly these days. Kings Island started one, Schlitterbahn has a very active one, and there's more on the horizon.

I say keep these type of developments coming!

Snake Bite!

A train on the new Diamondback roller coaster at Kings Island slithers its way through a 287-degree helix during test runs Tuesday. Diamondback will be the tallest and fastest roller coaster at the Mason, Ohio amusement park. The $22 million ride stands 230 feet at its highest point with a first drop of 215 feet at a 74-degree angle. Diamondback has 10 vertical drops, two helixes and a splashdown ending. Riders will snake their way around 5,282 feet of track at speeds up to 80 miles per hour. Diamondback will make its long-awaited public debut April 18, when the park opens for preview weekends for the 2009 season.

Schlitterbahn KC Attraction Announcement

Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, currently under construction in Kansas City, has announced the attraction line up for the new water park, which is slated to open this summer.

The park will open with a wide variety of attractions for the whole family, and the park will feature the Transportainment system so that riders can move to different attractions without leaving their rafts.

For more detailed information on each attraction you can check out the park's official webpage. The rides include a selection of tube slides, a master blaster, a lazy and torrent river, children's area, and plenty more.