Six Flags New England Announces New Gotham City Themed Area + Renovated Coaster

© Six Flags New England

Just ahead of the start of their 2018 season, Six Flags New England has announced that they will be premiering a brand new themed section, Gotham City.  The new area will be home to many of DC Comics' super heroes and super villains, through both existing and new attractions.

Opening later this spring is Harley Quinn Spinsanity, a giant pendulum ride that will be the main new feature of Gotham City in 2018.  However today the park also announced the retheming of Mind Eraser into The Riddler Revenge.

© Six Flags New England

The Riddler Revenge will feature an all new paint scheme, shown in these photos supplied by the park.  With yellow supports and lime green track, the Vekoma SLC looks brand new once again.  It opened at the park as Mind Eraser in 1997, and now joins the area's other coasters, including The Joker 4D Free Fly Coaster and Batman The Dark Knight.

© Six Flags New England

The 2018 renovation will complete the ride's transformation, which recently included a new set of trains that make the experience much more comfortable for riders.

For some great aerial photos of the new Gotham City area from just a bit ago, check out this post over at SFNE Online.

Worlds of Fun Shares Timber Wolf + Nordic Chaser Updates

© Worlds of Fun

Worlds of Fun is making good on their announced changes to Timber Wolf, the theme park's 1989 Dinn Corporation wooden roller coaster.  The plan that was revealed included removing a slow upward helix in the middle of the ride, and replacing it with a higher-speed 70 degree banked turn.

The park has now shared some photos of that new turn, which has been constructed at the park.  The work is being done by Great Coasters International.

© Worlds of Fun

The new over-bank certainly gives the mid-section of Timber Wolf a new look!  This second photo really shows the height of the curve in comparison to the rest of the layout.  It will be interesting to see how much speed the trains keep as they navigate the new curve.  Worlds of Fun is still saying that the "reborn" Timber Wolf will open in late spring.

© Worlds of Fun

The park also shared our first look at Nordic Chaser, the park's new attraction for 2018.  We knew the attraction was some sort of circular flat ride, but from this photo we can tell a bit more.  Screamscape has confirmed that the attraction will be a Mack designed SeaStorm ride.  The attraction features cars that quickly move around an undulating track, and like most Mack rides it appears to have wonderful theming.

Looks like it will be a hit with families!  The Nordic Chaser is slated to open with the park for the season in April.

Exclusive Photos of the Deconstruction of Stinger at Dorney Park

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Just before the end of 2017 we learned that the Stinger roller coaster at Dorney Park would not be sticking around for the 2018 season - or for any future season for that matter.  This surprise news came with a bit of shock, but while sad to see a coaster go, there was a sense of understanding from both Dorney Park fans and general visitors.

Fast forward to now, and the time has come for the ride to hit the road.  Earlier this week crews began the process of deconstructing the ride, and we were able to get some photos of the progress today.

Up top is a photo of the ride's entrance marquee, now removed, and what is currently left of the ride.

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Moving a bit closer, you can get a sense for how the area - which was once home to Laser, a compact Schwarzkopf looper, is once again being opened up.  Crews are working fast, with probably about 50% of the ride's track and supports already removed this week.

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While pretty evident in the last photo, if we move in even closer we can answer that burning (pun intended) question of whether Stinger will be showing up at any other amusement park... and that's a big nope.

Fans did spot a posting for the ride that listed it for sale over the winter, but one could assume that no interested parties stepped up.  The crews are not carefully dismantling each piece of track and support, instead they are simply cutting through the structure in order to haul it away.

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This view looks back at where the ride's cobra roll once stood, now just little stumps of concrete with a bit of steel support poking out of them.  The first task is removing the physical track and supports, but afterward the footings - which extend down rather far into the ground - will be removed as well.  Just like the steel is recycled, so are the concrete footings.

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Here's a look at what is still standing, we have a bit of the bottom of the vertical loop and then the two lift towers.  The train has already been removed and was not on site, and the foundation for the station is already being broken up.  The lift towers will require a bit more planning and calculation in order to come down carefully.  The Vekoma Invertigo coasters are known for having a large top piece at the highest point, weighing a massive amount and used to support both side of the track and lift mechanisms.

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But for now crews are still working on getting the rest of Stinger's vertical loop removed.  Here you can see the scorch marks on the ends of the track pieces from where they've been cut off.  I know nothing of steel cutting, but I'm sure it takes a ridiculously high temperature to cut through the ride like that!

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There are a couple other places on the track still standing where some early cut marks are clear, I'm guessing these will be followed up next week with more to make this a break point for the track to come off.

© NewsPlusNotes

But when the track does come off, it's kept in a neat pile until it's shipped off site to be recycled.  These pieces were probably some of the last removed before the work week ended, and will head out of the park early next week when the work picks up again.  At this rate, it won't be long until Stinger totally disappears from the Dorney Park skyline.

© NewsPlusNotes

It is quite strange to be covering the deconstruction of Stinger.  I remember trying to get to the park before the sun set on Haunt Fridays during the end of 2011 to get photos to share with you all on the construction of the ride!  So this is really now full circle on the coaster, but the removal of the ride is definitely a step toward the future for the park in my mind.

Oh, and for this year, at least, the Stinger area will be a nice grassy area.  But what the future holds for the space we shall wait and see... remember Laser closed after 2008 and Stinger didn't open until 2012 - so it may be a bit on that front, or not.

But wait, there's more!  At least there will be, I also have another story coming in the near future showcasing all the other changes that Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom are featuring in 2018, including updates on Tidal Wave Cafe, some Thunderhawk news, dining changes and more!

SeaWorld Entertainment Considering a Sesame Place Theme Park Adjacent to Busch Gardens Williamsburg

It is no secret that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is looking for a place to open a second Sesame Place theme park, since it was formally announced nearly a year ago in May of 2017.  Things have been quiet since then as the company continues to sail through stormy seas, but now we have new information on where the second Sesame Place may be built.

CoasterRadio shared some images that were a part of a survey about the new park on Facebook, which is embedded above.  If you click through you can see some concept art for the park, along with exactly where it would be located.  More images of the entire survey pages can be viewed on ParkFans as well.  Note, however, that the survey makes it clear that they are feeling out guests to see if there is interest in the park and ticketing options, this is not an announcement that it will be built for sure.

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The new Sesame Place park would be located right next to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and share its main entry plaza.  It would take up one of the property's parking lots entirely, rerouting how their tram system currently works.

Interestingly, the new Sesame Place would carve off a part of Busch Gardens Williamsburg - the already Sesame themed Forest of Fun - and make it a part of the new park.  The new park would have three new themed areas as well, labeled in the survey as The Neighborhood, Central Park and Seaside.

The survey mentions six new rides being added, but concept art also shows several family-sized water slides and water park attractions, so I'm not clear if the six rides are just mechanical or if that includes the water attractions.  Either way, the new Sesame Place would certainly follow the lead of the Philadelphia location in mixing family water park with family ride park, along with live shows, a parade and the full sized Sesame Street proper.

Originally SeaWorld Entertainment said they planned to open the second Sesame Place park by "mid-2021," so if those plans haven't changed then we should see more development on this project soon!

New Photos Show Wild Elements of Six Flags Over Georgia's Twisted Cyclone

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Construction continues on Six Flags Over Georgia's new Twisted Cyclone coaster, and with much of the ride's track now installed we're getting a good look at the twisted elements that Rocky Mountain Construction has cooked up for it.

Above is the completed double barrel roll section, which takes place right after the coaster's first drop.  Trains will rise and roll over, then smoothly complete a highly banked 180 degree turn, then roll once more and dive toward the ground.

© Six Flags Over Georgia

Being the first major element after the first drop, these two barrel rolls should take place with the train moving at a great speed.  Twisted Cyclone's announced top speed will be 50 miles per hour.

© Six Flags Over Georgia

Traversing back to the other side of the ride the trains will move through a banked wave turn, and as seen above it is very banked.  The trains will roll to the right, nearly inverting, as the train moves across the lift hill.  Looks wild, no?

© Six Flags Over Georgia

Here is another angle of the same element, also showing that the coaster's first drop will plunge directly beneath it.  We've seen some crazy looking elements from Rocky Mountain Construction in the past, and this certainly fits that description!

No word yet on when Six Flags Over Georgia plans to open up the new ride, but there's not much track left to install now.  The rest of the ride contains a couple of over banked turns along with a heartline roll, and depending on when these photos were taken those elements could be nearly complete!

New Gerstlauer Coaster Going Vertical at Nickelodeon Universe at the American Dream

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The American Dream mega-mall and entertainment complex, located just outside Manhattan in New Jersey, is making significant progress on the new Nickelodeon Universe theme park.  For those who want to stay up to date with the action, Earthcam has a live view of the building progress that you can watch all day if you like.

Above is a shot from the camera, which includes a large panoramic view but also allows you to focus in on the theme park area.  The massive structure being created to house the indoor theme park is going up, and due to the size of the park's largest roller coaster that means it is also being built.  Can you spot it on the image above?

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If not, here is a zoomed in view.  The park's near-clone of Takabisha, a 141 foot tall Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter coaster is standing tall.  The ride is taller than the main roof of the park, so it needs to go up before the roof can be totally finished.  The lighting in this photo isn't that great - it's a gloomy day in the area - but you can see the main lift and drop support with track running up the vertical lift and over the crest of the hill.  Very hard to see, but the supports for the start of the drop, before it curves down to a 121.5 degree drop, are installed.  Just this afternoon the crews also installed green track at the base of the lift hill, which is easier to see here.

The ride will feature both the way-beyond vertical drop as well as a launched section mid-ride.  There will be many inversions during the ride, and this will be one of the largest Euro-Fighters around.  Another coaster, a large custom Gerstlauer spinning coaster, will weave its way through the Euro-Fighter as well.  I can't see any progress on that ride at this time.

The American Dream project has a long history and there have been many doubts that it would ever open - so actually seeing a coaster going up is some really great news!