Legoland Florida Announces World of Chima Opening Date

Legoland Florida has announced that their new land, The World of Chima, will open to the public on July 3rd.  The expansion to the quickly growing Florida theme park is based on the new Lego brand Chima, and will be the first at any Legoland park to utilize the characters and setting of the brand.

The Lego Chima brand currently is already a major product line for the company, and has a new animated series set to debut on Cartoon Network beginning in July.  There's also several video games and apps in development.

© Legoland Florida

To celebrate the announcement of the area's opening date, an "army of animal tribes," which are the basis for the Chima storyline, invaded Central Florida today.  Dozens of three foot tall Chima animals could be found in both downtown Orlando and Tampa, each bearing a tag announcing the expansion's opening date.

© Legoland Florida

Leval the Lion, Eris the Eagle, and members of other animal tribes search for the missing Chi, a "powerful energy course needed to power Legoland Florida's newest attraction that was stolen by Cragger, the leader of the Crocodile tribe."  Fans of both the Chima series and Legoland Florida will soon be able to enter a contest at the park's Facebook that has a grand prize of the status of VIP at the land's opening ceremony on July 3rd.

© Legoland Florida

When the World of Chima opens at Legoland Florida the main attraction will be The Quest for CHI, an interactive "family-friendly" water ride.  As described by the park, "Guests will enter The World of Chima through a fantastical stone and moss covered entrance which leads to the Lion Temple at the base of the majestic 45-foot tall floating Mount Cavora. There, guests will explore a diverse landscape setting and join the Lion Tribe in an epic battle to recover the stolen CHI orbs. Guests will board a watercraft which will take them on an interactive experience using water cannons to help their hero, Laval the Lion Prince, defeat Cragger the Crocodile King as he attempts to steal the precious supply of CHI."

You can read more about what the World of Chima will have for visitors in this post on NPN, from when the announcement was made.  The art for the new area is impressive, and I can't wait to see how it turns out when it is finished!

Get Ready To Fly at Six Flags Over Georgia

Six Flags Over Georgia is just about ready to open SkyScreamer to the public - that will happen on May 24th - but has started to preview the new ride to a select few.

SkyScreamer stands an impressive 242 feet tall, which makes it taller than any other ride at Six Flags Over Georgia.  That's 40 feet taller than Goliath!

Riders sit in two person swing-style seats and are lifted high up into the air as the carriage rotates around.  When the maximum speed is reached that's a 98 foot circle with riders moving at up to 40 miles per hour.

© Six Flags Over Georgia

“SkyScreamer is unlike any other ride at Six Flags Over Georgia”, said park president Dale Kaetzel. “The sheer height alone will draw attention and the excitement of soaring over the entire park in open air swings will be a unique experience for thrill-seekers of all ages.”

SkyScreamer has also already had two preview days for season pass holders, and will hold those again on May 18th and 19th.

© Six Flags Over Georgia

The park also decided to end the debate over whether or not pigs will ever fly when they loaded SkyScreamer full of pigs - seen above - and they definitely flew!

This news story has a great video on the ride and some addition information and photos.  At the end of the video the park's President says they have a plan to "evolve and transform" the park in the coming years, so that sounds exciting!

RiverRush Opens at Dollywood's Splash Country

© Dollywood's Splash Country

There's yet another reason to scream in the Smokies, this time on the new RiverRush water coaster at Dollywood's Splash Country.  The new attraction has officially opened at the park and is already generating great reviews and much press.

Dolly herself was on hand to open the ride, which stretches almost 1,200 feet long and after the lift features a 25 foot plunge.  The rest of RiverRush includes plenty of twists and turns in total darkness, as well as several more climbs and drops.  The $6 million water coaster utilizes hydromagnetics to keep the rafts moving up the hills.

Splash Country will also introduce Time Saver, which allows guests to reserve a time for some of the water park's biggest riders, for an extra fee.

Does RiverRush sound like something you'd like to try out?  If you can't wait to see what it is like in person, check out this point of view video that the park released!

Scott And Carol Present - Gatekeeper at Cedar Point

Driving in before sunrise, Cedar Point is already generating excitement for the 2013 Opening Day. Snoopy shows you where to turn off Highway 6 onto the Richard  L  Kinzel Causeway to get to Cedar Point. 

This dramatic lighting will distract guests from the open view of the beach after dark. 

The first train of riders screams through the darkness, just as we approached the new gate.

The sign says it all, this is the reason we all got up so early. It was reported that over 1200 roller coaster enthusiasts and 400 media members were registered for the opening of Gatekeeper. Thankfully, the Cedar Point ride operators were up to the task, for the line moved continously all the while the ride was in operation.  

The double keyholes above the turnstiles are a first for any wingrider roller coaster. The track reaches from close to Blue Streak and almost to the beach.

 

Above is a short interview with Rob Decker, the leader of the team that transformed the entrance to Cedar Point. Anyone who wanders through the gate will know just what is in store past the turnstiles. You all did a great job!

Signs like this directed us through the park, and they look so much better in daylight. 

This inversion prior to the first drop, 170 feet in the air, is the tallest inversion in the world. The train quickly accelerates to the maximum speed of 67 mph.

This shot of the train featuring one of the many floating moments during the ride shows how the riders are suspended in the air beside the track and also the face of the Gatekeeper. His eyes glow red after dark, with additional accent LEDs on the side of the cars. 

 Passing through the second, the train articulates to a great degree since the end of the train is still inverted on the other side. And you didn't ask, but the reason the towers are slit through the middle is to keep the bolts exposed for inspection purposes. Otherwise someone would have to climb ladders inside the towers to inspect the bolts for tightness. There are over 10 thousand bolts that have to be monitored on Gatekeeper.

The return behind the keyholes features a barrel roll with a great headchopper. Since we never watch POV prior to riding a coaster, this was a nice surprise to us on our first ride.

Another question you didn't ask; How long is the wire from the controller motor to the control panel? The answer is 983 feat, provided by the guys from Firelands Electric. They also said that a tremendous amount of the cabling was done underground, because the park want keep a clean appearance on the ride. Interesting facts  to know, if you like that stuff. 

Here the riders are above and beyond the picnic area to the left of the gate. 

Sometimes the track is high in the sky, 

and other times riders dive close to the ground which heightens the sensation of speed.

This photo shows how the on-ride video was mounted in the front seat for the video of us that you can watch below. We rode it in the front and back, but for our tastes, the best seats are on the lake side as you load in the station. You miss the lake view, but the flip into the first drop is exhilarating. You need to go ride this one, only at Cedar Point.
 

 Many thanks to Brian, Rob, John, and Annie, plus everyone else at Cedar Point for their help in bringing you this report. Special thanks also to the crew from Firelands Electric, because they must have seemed like dumb questions to you who know better but I was curious. Now, everyone else go get in line, because this is an experience not to be missed!



From The Vault: Six Flags Over Georgia 1999 Brochure

This week's From The Vault will take a look at another Six Flags park, though this one was not in a super expansion mode like we've seen in the past few weeks.  That doesn't mean that Six Flags Over Georgia took 1999 off, no not at all!

The park invited guests to "put your feet to the fire" with their new for 1999 attraction, the Georgia Scorcher.

The park added a mid-sized B&M Stand-Up roller coaster, which actually still stands (ha! pun intended) as the last custom stand up ride the company created.  Two have been moved since 1999, but they were already in operation when the Scorcher opened.  The coaster a 107 foot tall lift, two inversions, 3,000 feet of track and a prime location for visitors entering the park.

As a theme park they obviously have a big thrill rides!  Sadly Viper is not at the park anymore, it is currently rusting away over in Kentucky with little chance of operating again.  But thankfully the park is still running Mind Bender, a fantastic Schwarzkopf design.  You can't forget the Georgia Cyclone, Batman the Ride, Scream Machine, and Ninja, either!

The center of this brochure very much acts like the middle of the road, showing off a bit of everything Six Flags Over Georgia offers.  And some Looney Tunes characters, as well!  Another since retired attraction can be seen here too - the parachute drop isn't around anymore.

It's pretty essential and very standard to devote a page of a brochure to the park's offerings for children.  Here's that page... and you've got some kiddie rides, a ball pit, lovable characters and their home in Bugs Bunny World.

The park's dining, shopping, and live entertainment also got some of the spread.  A little something for everyone always helps, right?  This brochure is a pretty great example of a 'standard' brochure of years gone by.  You open with what's new, show off the big rides, show that there's other rides, too, then focus on the kids and shows and boom, you've got yourself a brochure!  Well done.

Alton Towers Confirms The Smiler's World Breaking Record

© Alton Towers

Lots of Smiler news recently!  Alton Towers has confirmed that the new coaster will take the world record for having the most inversions - 14 in total!  That's the number that most speculation had landed on, but it's great to have the park confirm.  They've actually already made it official with Guinness Records and the Smiler now holds the inversion record title.

As part of the announcement of the inversion count the park has also revealed an opening date - May 23rd!

And this cool video was released.  Alton Towers had a bit of an in-the-dark photo session for the ride, showing off it's crazy twisted track and enormous Marmaliser machine - sure to make riders happy at any cost!  One of those photos can be seen at the top of this story, but be sure to click over to this news story to check out even more.

The Smiler has been testing frequently in order to get ready for the public, but a special few have already been on the coaster.  This video has appeared which shows a local weather correspondent taking what is billed as the first ride - though my gut tells me that distinction might have actually gone to park officials and the designers of the coaster.  You'll notice the video does not show the post-station, pre-lift section which takes place in the dark and features an inversion.