Kentucky Kingdom Could Reopen Next Year

This story is starting to have more twists and turns in it than some of Kentucky Kingdom's coasters do!  The Mayor is now backing a plan to get Kentucky Kingdom reopened next year, which involves the city issuing $17.5 million in bonds to aid the closed amusement park.

The new deal also includes developer Ed Hart putting up $7 million of his own funds to get the park open.  A combination of public and private money would be used in the future to build new rides and attractions, but it sounds like next year the park would reopen pretty much as it was when it closed.

The city Council will still have to vote to approve the plan, but it sounds like it already has support among those members.  We will have to stay tuned as this one is still developing!

Kings Island Webcam Update

I happened upon Kings Island's webcams this morning, and saw this pretty neat looking view.  Almost eerie how WindSeeker is poking above the clouds that were rolling over the park!

The park has redone several of their webcams, and is now offering 4 different views of the park.  Check them out!

A Blast From The Past - Wildfire at Silver Dollar City

The first of the two B & M coasters to open in 2001, Wildfire opened to the public on April 4th at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. The coaster was designed by Bolliger and Mabillard, and themed and constructed by Silver Dollar City’s corporate development & maintenance, and construction teams, at a cost of $14,000,000.


Wildfire is located West of the Lumbercamp in the western section of the park and is the tallest and fastest ride at Silver Dollar City.

Wildfire theming is based on the story of an old Ozark inventor, Dr. Horatio Harris, who way back in the 1880s had an obsession to create a powered flying contraption to fly across the Ozark Mountains. The fuel the good Doctor developed for his flying machine was called Wildfire!

The queue is a walk through Dr Harris' laboratory with his designs covering the walls and a bubbling mixture of the fuel dangerously close to the invention warehouse

Featuring five inversions: an Immelmann loop, a loop, a cobra roll,a corkscrew and a 15 story vertical drop with the train traveling at speeds up to 66 miles per hour the ride offers high speed thrills!

The eight car trains feature four across seating that reclines slightly more than other B & M sit-down trains. They were newly designed to take on Wildfire's huge inversions and drops, while giving riders a surprise feeling different than any other roller coaster up to that time.

Once the train leaves the station, it takes a 180 degree right turn and climbs up the chain lift hill to 120 feet. At the top, the train turns 90 degrees to the left before negotiating the first drop of 155 feet. This is followed by the series of loops. Then the train heads up the banked curve into a corkscrew and a 230 degree turn into the final brake run.

Wildfire was built into the mountainside and it's surrounded by woods. Riders soar over the Ozarks with a great view of Table Rock Lake (just before that 15 story drop,) The 3,073 foot long, 2 minute, 16 second ride is spread out over 3 acres of land.

Wildfire was and still is a great addition for Silver Dollar City. It's a great ride with a great location. It's fast, it's smooth, it's re-ridable it's lots of fun and it's one of our favorite Beemers!

What A View!

Check out the gorgeous view from the top of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's new Mach Tower freefall attraction.  What is already known as one of the most beautiful parks in the world looks even better from up there!

In this photo the tower is standing just shy of its total height of 240 feet.  Also take notice of the footers from the Big Bad Wolf that you can see remaining.

Meet The American Dream

New Jersey's mostly built, but also mostly stagnant mega-mall project - formerly called Xanadu - will be opened as The American Dream at Meadowlands in 2013, according to developers.  The mall is located just across from Manhattan on what has been described as the most valuable real estate in New Jersey, and adjacent to the Meadowlands Stadium.

But this isn't a retail blog, is it?  The reason we care about the American Dream (I'm still working on loving that name) is that Canadian developers Triple Five are behind the project now.  You might have hear of two of their projects, the Mall of America and West Edmonton Mall - both of which contain amusement parks, and West Edmonton has a water park, too.

Naturally, they've added a park to plans for American Dream:

Now that's just concept art, but it looks nice with the NYC skyline behind it, right?  It also looks a lot like Nick Universe at MoA, but that's concept art for you.  The mall will contain plenty of other entertainment like the already built indoor ski slope, an indoor water park, movie theatre, ice rink, huge Ferris wheel and more.

Here's the catch, though.  The mall is scheduled to open in 2013, but the indoor amusement park and water park would open in 2014.  One article I read said that the mall doesn't even own the land for the parks just yet.  So I have to wonder if they could get axed if things don't take off as planned.  Regardless, it's a project to keep an eye on.

SFGA Celebrates 30 Years of the American Eagle!

After 30 years and over 45 million rides, the American Eagle at Six Flags Great America is being honored for its years of service. Rather than giving the coaster a small gold lapel pin that says "30 Years," the park is dedicating its opening weekend to the landmark roller coaster.

According to the park's press release, the American Eagle is still the world's tallest, fastest, and longest racing wooden coaster. With a 147-foot drop, the ride maintains speeds of up to 66 mph along its 4,650 feet of track. To commemorate the ride's birth in 1981, the park is offering discounted online tickets for opening weekend (May 7th and 8th), priced at $19.81. Get it?

For 2011, Six Flags will also be heralding in a large expansion to its Hurricane Harbor waterpark, including a giant lagoon, a double Surf Rider, and 5 thrilling new slides. Read here for more details about the new expansion. The park has provided some wonderful construction shots of the American Eagle, and it almost feels like we're looking at a New-For-2011 attraction!