Busch Gardens Williamsburg 2012 Layout

It's so hard to keep a good secret these days!  The layout for Busch Gardens Williamsburg's 2012 roller coaster has appeared online via a planning commission meeting video.

As expected, the ride very closely follows the layout of the ride it is replacing (just a few years later), the Big Bad Wolf.  Just how close?  Well you can decide for yourself:

I've added some nice dots that make the layout of the Big Bad Wolf a little more clear (on the right), and the layout of the new ride (on the left) as well.  Neither image is high quality, but I think you can get the drift.

The new ride looks like it will follow the Wolf's drop down to the Rhine River exactly.  Actually, from that drop back to the station the path will be the same on both rides.  I started at the end of the ride, but from the beginning the new ride will not have much track before entering the "event building," and what happens in there remains a mystery. 

We do know that the building will be around 95 feet tall, which is also the tallest part of the coaster.  The building will be located in the area that housed the village that the first half of the Wolf flew through.

2012 is most definitely shaping up to be a great year for new coasters!

Dorney Park 2011 Opening: Other Changes

Even with an entire new land for families, there were still plenty of other changes to see at Dorney Park. Here's some notable ones.

Invertigo track is still sitting in the parking lot, so the park certainly isn't trying to hide it.  In fact, cars are forced to drive next to it when heading to the parking booths!  According to the news, the park wants to announce the 2012 ride in July.

This photo was in with the Planet Snoopy coverage, but it's worth pointing out again.  Now the park's only children's coaster (whereas last year they had 3), Woodstock Express now has a bright blue and yellow paint scheme.  Since the Berenstain Bear tree house was torn down, the ride also had its own souvenir photo stand built.

With the opening of Planet Snoopy, the former Tot Spot at the lower end of the park has been removed.  Above is a view of one part of that area, which used to have three rides.  The large umbrella is where one of them was.

This is the same section from the other side.  The basketball game was moved from just down the midway where it used to sit near Laser's entrance.  In the middle is a ladder climb game, which was housed in this structure:

Still a work in progress, this pavilion was one totally open, and has been enclosed and painted.  A sign shows that it will be named The Vault, and will be a laser maze.  I'm pretty sure it will be very similar to this type of maze when it opens.

2012 coverage time.  The area where Laser once stood is now the far end of the park, for this year at least.

There is a sign, though!  Bigger thrills are coming in 2012.

No detective work necessary to see into the area - from the bridge across the creek you can get a clean view.  The kiddie rides have been removed, but not much else is up at this point.

There are a couple of survey markers in the area, but that's about it.  I wouldn't be surprised to see work take place during the Summer season here.

If you're not from the greater Philly area then Chickie's & Pete's won't mean much to you.  If you've heard of them then you already know about their Crab Fries.  They've taken over what was a Samuel Adams patio last year, and prior to that an unused space for numerous seasons.

Last year Talon's supports were painted, and I hoped the track would get some love this year - no luck with that.  Steel Force did get a new coat of paint, though, and she's looking good again in her 15th season!

Finally, the Good Time Theatre will be showing Snoopy's Big Bow Wow this year, the first new ice show at the park since the theatre opened in 2009.  Both Knott's and Cedar Point have had this show in the past.

April 2011 NewsPlusNotes Poll Results

In April we asked our readers which was their favorite 7 inversion coaster in the U.S.  When the voting was over, the Incredible Hulk at Islands of Adventure came out on top, with 19% of the vote.

Second place went to the equally twisted Hydra at Dorney Park, and Busch Gardens Tampa's inverted ride, Montu, was in third.  I have a feeling Hydra's high place was skewed by our loyal Dorney fan readers!

Not really a surprising fact, but out of the 9 coasters listed, 8 were designed by B&M.  The only one that wasn't, Magic Mountain's Viper, came in last!  A sign of the times, I suppose.

Watch for May's poll soon.

Picturing Snoopy

If you're interested in photos of Dorney Park's new Planet Snoopy, there's 50+ on NPN's Facebook!

NPN Hits A Million And We're Giving Stuff Away!

It's late November 2006, and I'm messing around on the interwebs and decide to start an amusement industry blog.  Boom!  NewsPlusNotes was just born.

Now fast forward well over four years later, and the little blog-that-could is about to hit one million unique visitors.

Don't get me wrong - I'm well aware that many, many other sites have hit that number before, and probably way quicker than NPN did.  And they've probably been racking up the additional millions like crazy.  But they're not NPN, we are - and I'm proud of us!

NewsPlusNotes has published over 3,000 posts, and currently has 9 different staff writers.  But why do we crank out all those posts?  Readers, of course.  And as a thank you to the people who got us to a million we're giving away some stuff!

Giving away stuff is fun.  Our involvement in the amusement industry has allowed us to amass a large amount of industry stuff... but not just regular stuff, this is stuff that amusement park fans love!

I've love to give our exact one millionth unique visitor (note I'm not speaking of millionth page load, that'd have been long ago) some huge prize, complete with streamers and balloons.  Sadly I won't know who that is, so instead we're just gonna give away stuff to a bunch of readers!

Each week in the month of May, 2011 we'll run some sort of contest or simple quiz, and those that enter with a correct answer will be eligible to win a prize.  I'll randomly pick winners from the correct answers for each prize, and send out the stuff! (winners may not select their prize) Each person can only win once during the month.

The first week will run May 1st through 7th, and will be a most simple quiz in order to get things started.  Three prizes will go out this week:

1 - Six Flags Great America 45th Anniversary souvenir park map, BGW Big Bad Wolf post card, some random brochures and park maps!
2 - Carowinds' Intimidator press CD in case and Custom Coasters 1997 newsletter.
3 - Great Coasters International canvas tote bag with Gravity Group Hades post card.

Entries will be accepted until midnight on May 7th, winners announced May 9th.  This process will repeat for May 8th-14th, 15th-21st, and 22nd-31st.  If you enter this week and do not win, feel free to enter the following week!

Now for the first week's question.  What was the topic of NewsPlusNotes' first ever post?

To enter, answer this question in an e-mail, along with your name and a preferred e-mail address where you can be reached should you happen to be one of our lucky winners. (Names and e-mail addresses will not be used for any purpose other than this contest.) Only one entry per week will be accepted per person. If you submit multiple entries within one prize period, only the first entry we receive will be evaluated.

A sincere thank you to all of our readers for sticking with us!

Rejected Amusements: VertiGo and Extreme Trampoline at Cedar Point

In August 2001, Cedar Point opened Vertigo, an S&S Power attraction. Three towers standing 265 feet tall, with a central gondola connected to the towers by cables that riders are strapped into, then ejected above the height of the structure itself. VertiGo was located in Cedar Point's Challenge Park, and riders would pay $10 each per ride.

Once the park closed, Cedar Point's maintenance team removed the center car and cables that supported the towers. Due to the Point's location on Lake Erie, and Ohio's harsh winter, the towers collapsed during it's annual refurbishment in the off-season.

Similar attractions also existed at Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Knott's Berry Farm.

Installed for the 2004 season, the Extreme Trampoline in Cedar Point's Challenge Park. Guests in harnesses bounced up to 20 feet in the air. Guests between 40 and 200 pounds could buy a block of time for $6.

The attraction was constructed next to Challenge Racing and Ripcord, where VertiGo once stood. In later years, the fee would jump to $7, and the name would change to "X-Treme Trampoline."

Due to the cost of upkeep and low capacity, the ride was slated to be removed. For 2008, the attraction was replaced by Skyscraper, itself moved from Dorney Park and Valleyfair.