A Closer Look at Wonderland's West End

Earlier this week, we brought you news of Wonderland Park's exciting new West End area, which will make its debut this year. The park was kind enough to send us some photos of the area under construction, just to whet our appetites!

This bird's eye view shot, which was presumably taken from atop one of the park's water slides, shows where the new area will be located with respect to the rest of the park. West End's three signature rides--Fiesta Swing, Drop of Fear, and Hornet--are obviously well on their way to completion. Not pictured is the Tiki Village, another "cool" new space which guests will be able to enjoy in 2009.

You can just barely see Hornet's green track and white supports peeking through the brush at the base of Drop of Fear. This formerly enclosed coaster, which operated at both Boblo Island (as Nightmare) and Six Flags AstroWorld (as Mayan Mindbender), will finally see the light of day at Wonderland! The family friendly coaster will be a great addition to the park's existing line-up.

The Hornet may be family friendly, but its next-door neighbor definitely caters to the daredevils! Standing 200 feet tall, Drop of Fear is destined to live up to its name and guaranteed to take thrill seeking to a whole new level at Wonderland.

The Fiesta Swing appears to be farthest from completion at this point. But this skeletonized Yo-Yo won't be bare for much longer--Opening day (April 4th) is right around the corner!

With the addition of West End, Wonderland's ride count will reach 28, and there is great diversity in that collection. The park also offers an 18-hole miniature golf course. In the midst of these hard economic times, it's reassuring to see a smaller park such as Wonderland making such an investment in its future. We look forward to watching the West End construction progress, and to a fantastic 2009 season! Many thanks to Matt from Wonderland for sharing these great photos!

A Coral Carolina Cobra

Looks like Carowinds has made some serious progress with their new coaster, the Carolina Cobra. The painting looks done, and the ride's new color scheme is quite striking if I do say so.

The park is ever as far as having started landscaping the area and building the queue. I suppose really next they'll just have testing with the new trains to complete!

For Sale: A 'Worn In' Raptor Clone

In response to my earlier post about Orochi at Expoland possibly being for sale, a NPN reader linked me to the ride's sale listing, seen here.

There's no price listed, which is always interesting to read, but now we know for sure that Expoland is ready to ship the ride off to a new home for some cash!

Parks, get out your checkbooks!

U.S. Missing the 2010 World Expo?

The L.A. Times recently ran an interesting story about how it's shaping up that the United States might miss having a pavilion at the 2010 World Expo (aka World's Fair) in Shanghai, China.

The U.S.'s participation in these Expos (we also sat out the 2000 Expo in Germany) works as a great way to reflect a positive image of the country's people around the globe. Considering China is now an economic powerhouse, this would be a bad Expo to miss.

The U.S. Pavilion must be funded by private funds, meaning corporate sponsorships. As of now, the planners are having a hard time coming up with companies who will give millions of dollars toward the project.

It's estimated that the U.S. Pavilion could need as much as $84 million to be completed. Already designed, "The U.S. building would be about 60 feet high, encompassing 60,000 square feet, with wings on each side, representing a bald eagle, and a roof garden in the center. Burbank-based BRC Imagination Arts, a specialist in museum and exhibit designs, was brought in to create a high-tech, interactive show centering on sports heroes."

Here's the Expo's mascot, Haibao. He's pretty cute looking. There's still time for sponsors to step up, so hopefully the U.S. can be represented at Expo 2010 afterall! It's a shame that America has started to effectively turn it's back on these types of world celebration events.

What's New At Wonderland?

Wonderland Amusement Park, Amarillo Texas, is getting out word that the park's 2009 season looks to be one of the best ever.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves, Wonderland isn't a park that is talked about that often, but is a great independent park that has a rich history of thrilling Texans for decades. What do they offer? Well here's a great synopsis:

"Known as Texas’ Greatest Amusement Park, Wonderland features 28 rides and there’s something for everyone!

Our Kiddieland has a selection of fun for little ones including the popular Frog Hopper, and our Kiddie Boat Ride, which has been here since the park opened in 1951.

For the older kids, teens, and for those adults who are kids at heart, we offer some great thrills, like our 3 coasters, including the famous Texas Tornado, our double loop roller coaster. Another original we offer is our dark ride, The Fantastic Journey.

For those looking for a way to cool down, try one of our several water rides, including the Rattlesnake Rive Raft Ride, or take a trip down the Pipeline Plunge. And of course no park is complete without classics like the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Scrambler, or Himalaya."

As for the park's 2009 season, it looks to be one of the best ever with the addition of the West End section of the park:

"This season Wonderland will open our new WEST END! This area in Wonderland will feature 3 new rides, The Hornet, (formally the Mayan Mindbender at AstroWorld in Houston TX), our Fiesta Swing (the yoyo) and the Drop of Fear, a 200 ft. Tower drop. We will also have a new Tiki Village to lounge in and enjoy a cool area, to relax."

Sounds great! It's wonderful, too, that they're opening one of the rides from the defunct Six Flags Astroworld as well.

We look forward to more updated from the park in the future!

Universal Orlando's Skyline: Wow

© 2009 WillMontu via TPR

Okay, please ignore the "Praise J..." in the sky because that's just weird (and NPN does not do religious endorsements...), but look at how Rockit is currently towering over Universal Studios Florida!

And that taller part is only the first block brake section, so we've yet to see how the actual vertical lift and drop changes things.

Check out more photos in this Theme Park Review thread from user WillMontu.