Check out Two of China's Latest New Wooden Coasters

The amazing amount of new wooden roller coasters opening in China has continued through this Summer, with several new rides opening in brand new theme parks.  This batch was also designed by The Gravity Group and built by Martin & Vleminckx.

This ride is named Jungle Trailablazer and will open soon at Fantawild Dreamland, a brand new theme park.  Unlike several other recent wooden rides these two companies have built, this one does not have an inversion that I can see.  It does however appear to have a reverse high-five element, which tracks passing each other (though the trains not at the same time) banked outward, instead of inward.  The train really rockets along the tracks on this one!

This is the Jungle Trailblazer II, recently built at Fantawild Cultural Heritage Park in Wuhu, China.  The full point of view video makes the layout clear, but the ride includes a large first drop and a corkscrew inversion.  Much like the Jungle Trailblazer above, this one also rips around the course at a high speed.

It certainly appears to be a new golden age of wooden coasters in China!  There are so many projects going on there right now it's quite hard to keep up - right now RCDB lists five Gravity Group/Martin & Vleminckx rides opening in China in 2015 alone. 

WhiteWater Celebrates Opening of China's Largest Water Park

© WhiteWater

WhiteWater has been the only supplier of water attractions at what will be China's largest water park, Yinji Kaifeng Water World in China.  The contract for the water rides is the largest in history for a water park supplier, and includes an enormous amount of attractions.  The park opened on July 1st and has already proven very popular.

“We are extremely proud to work with Yinji Dynasty to assist them in bringing a new level of waterpark sophistication to the industry. This park is going to raise the bar for Chinese tourism destinations all around the country,” comments Geoff Chutter, President & CEO, WhiteWater.

© WhiteWater

The new water park will also be home to two unique "fusion" rides.  One combines an AquaLoop and a Flatline loop (seen above) and another is the first combination of an AquaSphere and a Constructor.  The fusion rides have already proven to be headlining attractions on their own at parks around the globe.  The AquaLoop and Flatline loop above looks especially twisted and fun!

© WhiteWater

In total there are nine separate waterslide complexes which boast almost 50 different waterslides.  Some of the park's other attractions include:

• China's first Manta waterslide, featuring a giant wave wall
• A traditional Shoot the Chute ride
• Three different AquaPlay structures, one of which is seen above
• Two Wave Rider attractions and a FlowRider Double
• Three different wave pools

The property will also offer evening light and sound shows, offer a hot spring center and hotel accommodations.

New "Rockin Ray" Half Pipe Slide Opens at Myrtle Waves

© Myrtle Waves Water Park

2015 marks the 30th anniversary for Myrtle Waves Water Park, located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the park is celebrating with a brand new attraction.  Named The Rockin Ray, the giant half-pipe slide has been painted bright pink and stands nearly 40 feet tall.  Those two factors alone make the new attraction stand out, but the thrills it provides has visitors excited to be among the first to take a spin.

© Myrtle Waves Water Park

The Rockin Ray utilizes two person rafts that start the experience by dropping down a steep plunge and into the half-pipe.  The slippery walls of the slide allow rafts to shoot high up on the opposite wall, giving riders a feeling of negative gravity.  The rafts slide down and up each side of the wall until they are dropped into the splash down pool.

Myrtle Waves Water Park just held the grand opening of the slide, which is the first major slide addition to the property since 2008.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom to Silence Roar For Good

© Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

The end of the road for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's Roar has come, the theme park has announced.  The wooden roller coaster, which originally opened in 1999, will be open to park visitors for the last time on August 16th.

"We are a dynamic and evolving entertainment venue,” said Don McCoy, park president. "Although Roar continues to be a guest favorite, sometimes hard choices must be made to allow for future expansion.”

Roar was designed by Great Coasters International and features millennium flyer trains.  The 3,291 foot long ride features a 95 foot tall lift hill and a 85 foot first drop, sending trains along the course at speeds up to 55 miles per hour.  According to the park, the ride features "six reversals, 22 crossovers, 17 turns and 12 breathtaking drops" and was named "for the thunderous roar of a California sea lion."  Since opening nearly 11 million guests have taken a spin on Roar.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom will give a special fond farewell to Roar which will include a series of events for guests and Season Pass holders, the highlight of which will be a special last rider event coinciding with National Roller Coaster Day on August 16.

No word yet on what will replace the ride, though we have seen several Six Flags parks close wooden coasters mid-season in order to transform them into steel rides.  Stay tuned!

Shanghai Disney Resort Full Announcement + Ride and Attraction Details

Yesterday's post about Shanghai Disneyland ended with me hoping that additional details about the park would be released soon - and then a couple hours after I posted that Disney CEO Bob Iger did just that.  I'd like to pretend I was expecting the announcement, but it was just lucky timing.

In a grand media presentation in China, nearly every detail of the new Shanghai Disneyland was announced, with a plethora of new concept art and videos released for us to dig through.  Additionally, an expected grand opening of Spring 2016 was set.

We've been expecting a pretty unique Disney park for some time, and that's just what we're getting.  The park has six themed areas that start with Mickey Avenue, a bit like Main Street but with a unique take on the layout.  The large Garden of Imagination serves as a hub for the rest of the park, but also contains attractions of its own.  The remaining lands are Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Treasure Cove and Adventure Isle.  Treasure Cove is the first all pirate themed land in a Disney Park, and Adventure Isle is a modern interpretation of an Adventureland with a unique theme.

Some attractions opening at the park will be modern versions of existing rides, like a Peter Pan dark ride that uses what the park calls and "inverted-coaster ride system" to make riders swoop and dive during the ride.

Other attractions, like Roaring Rapids seen above, use a familiar ride system with a unique story and theme.  On Roaring Rapids riders will head up into a large mountain and encounter the Q’aráq, the giant reptile creature in this concept art.  Certainly looks like it could be pretty awesome ride!

The amount of concept art that was revealed in the announcement is so expansive that I won't try to tackle it here, especially since I'd like to give credit to sites that already dug through it all.  For more photos and descriptions than I thought possible, check out this post at Disney And More.  Attractions Magazine has a great video at the bottom of this post that shows the model of the resort in detail.  Finally, the official Shanghai Disneyland website is now live and while light on photos, there is much more information already on there in text form than in the press release.

New Views of Shanghai Disneyland Released Via Promo Video

A new preview video for the Shanghai Disneyland Resort has appeared on Youku, a Chinese version of YouTube, which contains a few new pieces of concept art for the park.  The views of the new art only appear for a second each at the end of the video, but with the small amount of official attraction descriptions given so far it is better than nothing.

Here is a look at what I am going to guess is a part of the Treasure Cove themed area, which is all about Pirates of the Caribbean.  Granted we've only seen a bit of what that major attraction will be like, so a lot still remains a mystery.  This looks like a general take of the themed land, not the ride itself - at least it would be pretty odd to have Chinese children in the ride like that.  The piece has a lot of mood though, appearing to reflect a highly themed area.

Also of note in the preview video is this look at a part of Tomorrowland which contains a Tron themed roller coaster.  The ride goes outside of its main building but is covered in this view by the undulating blue roof.  You can see some of the coaster's supports under the section toward the left.  The park's Tomorrowland looks to have a super clean, sleek feel to it.

One other view of the Tron roller coaster is this look at the station.  It offers just a bit of a throwback to Space Mountain's station, though glowing blue for the complete Tron look.  The ride's trains are expected to seat riders as if they are on one of the lightcycles featured in the film.  The coaster, along with indoor and outdoor sections, is also expected to be launched.

Hopefully sometime soon we get some more concrete details on Shanghai Disneyland's offerings, we're all interested in updated concept art and details!