© 2008 IOACentral
© Orlando Sentinel / Stephen M Dowell 2008
Here is a video of Hong Kong Disneyland's It's a Small World ride, which just had it's official opening a day or so ago.
I can honestly say that after watching this I sorta disagree with the whole "don't change Disneyland's Small World" effort. Yes, you can spot some of the Disney characters if you try, but really - the general effect of the ride is the exact same.
So then it just comes down to resisting change, and well, like I said in an earlier post I personally think that Walt wouldn't want his park to be a museum.
Bummer: Voodoo at Dorney Park will not be opening until "late May." Just wanted to post as an FYI since the park opens so soon.
This week's topic asks a fairly simple question: does theming on a coaster matter to you?
Obviously there is a spectrum of sorts involved in what constitutes the theming on a ride. A ride with no theming would be something along the lines of Steel Force at Dorney Park. There's no attempt at all of a theme, it has a nicely done sign but that's about it.
© Trent McClaskey via R.C.D.B.
Six Flags Over Georgia just put out a press release stating that from right now until the end of the season they are cutting $10 off their general admission price, from $49.99 to $39.99. This marks the lowest price for general admission to the park since the year 2000.
I have a feeling this is going to be a trend we'll see more of this summer as the tourism industry scrambles to attract customers. Yeah yeah, these kinds of parks are more 'local' attractions than say Disney World, but they still can be costly if you have a big family.
It's a smart move for press and such at the very least, discount coupons are probably available to let guests in for that amount anyway, so they're probably not going to hurt their per caps that much in the end - but they sure look good doing it.
Check out these new photos of Firefall at California's Great America. They did a really nice job on the ride!
There's lots of fountains in front of and behind the ride car, it looks like those volcanoes will shoot fire, and it's said that the front pond is laced with gas lines for more fire effects.
I'm really happy Cedar Fair took the time to make this ride look as nice as they did ... and with the new theming in the Crypt at Kings Island - perhaps my doom'n'gloom on Cedar Fair never theming anything was wrong!? I hope so!
Screamscape has published some layout renderings of Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit at Universal Studios Florida.
The ride looks awesome! Here's the link to Screamscape's photos. From these images we can gather that Rockit will:
• be 167 ft. tall
• go 65 m.p.h.
• be 3,800 ft. long (that's a long ride!)
• have a "doubletake" - non-inverting loop
• have a high speed upward helix, twisting camel back, freefall drop, over banked turns, sideways drop in a chasm, a sideways loop, and high speed ground maneuvers
• have multiple block breaks allowing 4 trains on the track at a time
I'm waaay more excited for this ride now that these renderings and additional info have leaked out!
Norton Auctioneers has the color brochure up for the Geauga Lake auction that's taking place June 17th and 18th.
Curiously, the Big Dipper is no longer mentioned in the brochure at all as a ride that is being auctioned. A lot of other rides that were for sale are no longer listed either, like the Beaver Land family coaster, a monster ride, some children's rides, Pirate's flight, El Dorado, and more.
The carousel and ferris wheel were never listed as for sale, and still are not. (both rumored to go to World of Fun) Same for the Boomerang coaster, that was never listed either.
I still do not understand why Cedar Fair isn't keeping some stuff, like the SCS Interactive foam ball play area, I mean they added one to Worlds of Fun and Valleyfair! - why not use another you already own? Who knows...
Today we have a special treat – an interview with Chuck Hutchison, the Public Relations Manager for Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. Mr. Hutchison was kind enough to sit down and share with NewsPlusNotes plenty of information about the amusement park’s 2008 season. That said, let’s begin.
NewsPlusNotes: Let’s start with Voodoo. Did construction go as planned?
Chuck Hutchison: Construction went well, we worked with local companies as much as possible, and seemed to fly through the first phases.
When the first parts started arriving in September, our teams immediately started the shuffle of keeping the "paint shop" in good supply of work. As I talked about in the blog, they sand blasted each piece and sent it off to a secondary facility for non-destructive weld testing. That is an interesting process to watch. They essentially turn the piece into an electromagnet by running current through it, and then blow this magnetic dust over the welds looking for lines to form that would indicate a weakened or stressed weld.
After each piece passes its inspection it headed back to a huge paint chamber to receive primer, color, and top coat layers. The winter season was pretty nice to us, having caused only a week or so worth of cumulative delays. Steel went up in a matter of about two work weeks, and now I think we are all a bit amazed at how great the ride looks and what it does for Dorney's skyline.
© 2008 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, used with permission
Dorney Park's 2008 Billboard Ad
© 2008 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, used with permission
Possessions Gift Shop logo
© 2008 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, used with permission
© 2008 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, used with permission
© 2008 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, used with permission
© 2008 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, used with permission
The Niagara's Fury website has been updated with another teaser video for everyone to watch. They still give pretty much nothing away though, what the actual ride/attraction is shall remain a mystery for now.
The attraction is supposed to open in June, so I hope they kick this mysterious media campaign into high gear and start revealing stuff soon!
Knoebels has listed on their website that they're adding a Wipeout to the park this year in addition to Flying Turns. Well, that is if Flying Turns does open.
I'm glad that they are expanding their ride lineup again. Wipeouts are fun rides for a broader spectrum of the family, which means it's a perfect fit for Knoebels.
The real reason for me to go to Knoebels will always remain the Haunted Mansion, though.
Two news items from Ohio's Kings Island. First, Robbie Knievel is going to jump 24 Coke Zero trucks on May 24th at the park. His father did a historic jump of 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island back in 1975.
The event is free to visitors for the day, here's the park's press release.
Also, it turns out that Kings Island did not only change the name of Tomb Raider to The Crypt, but did some significant retheming inside the attraction, and also is now running the ride on a more intense program. Kings Island Central has published some photos from inside the queue, which now looks rather like a haunted house, sorta.
Check out those photos here at Kings Island Central. Hopefully some video will surface soon now that the park is open for the year!
© CWMania 2008
Two new park maps to stare at today, the first is Carowinds 2008 park map. Take note that it was not Cedar Fair-ized for this season. That means that only Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland received that treatment this year.
Those were the only two Paramount Parks without maps done by Citigraph, perhaps the other parks had a multi-year deal? We'll see in the future I guess.
The other item is Dorney Park's 2008 map. Not too much different here ... aside from Voodoo, of course. Unless I'm missing something?
Thanks very much to one of our readers, Dave, I can share with you a photo of Voodoo at Dorney Park at night. I'm so very glad that they went with flood lights for the towers, this type of lighting is always very impressive at night.
Looks good, huh?
Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland had its media day today! The shot above and below are from this set of videos from CTV News. The ride looks like it's trims and mid-course were on pretty light and the train was moving at a good clip in the latter half of the ride.
The shot below is from the National Post, I just really liked the image - it's refreshing to see shots of a coaster that has riders with arms up while riding.
© National Post 2008
© CoasterCrew 2008
Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed - doesn't sound like somewhere you'd want to visit, but I would! That's the newly announced name of the new haunted house at Valleyfair's Haunt at ValleyScare event.
The park held a contest and allowed fans to send in their suggested name for the new attraction, and Casey Nihart of CA submitted the winning name.
This will be ValleyScare's 7th haunt when it opens this fall. It sounds like it'll be gory, gross, and awesome!
This week's topic comes from A Walk In The Park Blog and is about Disney's Animal Kingdom's 10th anniversary. You can read their original post by clicking here.
This is another great topic for me, because I love Animal Kingdom. I'm fairly sure (sorta indecisive by nature) that it's my favorite Disney Park in Orlando. Like in the article at A Walk In The Park, I've had the chance to visit Animal Kingdom many times since it opened in 1998, and thus I've also watched the park grow and mature.
Even though the park was pretty bare when I first visited, in '99, I fell in love with the feeling, mood, and general theme of the park. To be honest, I'm not even a huge animal fan. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful to see creatures I'll probably never see elsewhere in my life, but I'm by no means a fanatic.
Like I said, the theme and mood of the park are what hooked me in. Like in the photo above, if one had no idea the park existed I highly doubt they'd ever guess that this photo was taken in a theme park - aside from the crowd and tourist looking outfits.
The park themes itself on reality, and does not apologize for it - which is what I love so much. Stuff looks dirty, gritty, real - and not in the Haunted Mansion way, there's no fantasy element in most of the theming. Even an attraction like Everest that does feature a massive fantasy creature presents itself as a reality, the queue is used, abused, sometimes messy, but overall real feeling.
Personally, that's what hooked my interest. Oddly enough, I'd almost prefer another continent themed area to Beastly Kingdom (or whatever version of it ends up going in) - so as not to break the 'real' theme the park has.
But don't get me wrong, I'll scream with glee past all Dragons, Unicorns, and Mythical Creatures that Disney may want to throw at me!
It looks like they are finishing up construction work on the new water park area at Carowinds that includes the park's new wave pool, Bondi Beach.
The park has posted some new photos on their website. The expanded area reminds me of the water park at Kings Dominion, how this section is out of the way from the rest of the water slides.
Carowinds is the only former Paramount Park that has not posted their 2008 map yet. I'm just wondering if they Cedar Fair-ized it or not. Anyone know?
According to this article from NOLA.com, there has been a new proposal submitted for the redevelopment of Six Flags New Orleans as another mega amusement park. Southern Star Amusement Group has submitted a plan to the city of New Orleans the proposes spending $70 million to reopen the park by next summer.
The group also submitted a letter from Six Flags saying they are in talks with them to purchase the land and the lease they had with the city to operate the park.
Southern Star wants to have a water park opened on the site by 2009, which will be expanded upon for several years after that. Plans also included doubling the number of rides at the facility, adding an RV park, creating 5 new themed areas in the amusement park, and eventually trying to expand the property into a full resort.
These are some seriously ambitious plans, but if they can go through that'd be great! Another attempt at a theme park on the site would be better than it sitting and rotting like it is now.
Darien Lake Theme Park has renamed their new coaster for 2008, MotoCoaster. The park has teamed up with Orange County Choppers and will now call the ride the Orange County Choppers MotoCoaster.
The ride will be featured on the TLC show "American Chopper" and the park is having a special motorcycle designed for the ride which will premier at its grand opening on May 16th. The stars of the show will also make several live appearances at the park over the summer months.
While the name lacks in the creativity department, that's a pretty cool match up. And I must admit, I've totally watched the show before. Good news, Darien Lake!
Sesame Place's new carousel will be called Sunny Day Carousel and feature 36 horses that will look like Sesame Place style characters, as well as two Snuffleupagus styled chariot benches, according to this article from PhillyBurbs.com.
The ride replaces the huge Big Bird head that used to be the entrance to a sky path that connected two ends of the park, which was closed years ago. The park, and the new ride, open for the 2008 season on May 3rd.
I know this park is small, but it's quite popular in the area - I hope Busch Entertainment continues to expand it in coming years.
NewsPlusNotes has gone green in honor of Earth Day 2008. Why would an amusement industry news + notes blog go green? I'm glad you asked!
There's plenty that both the amusement industry and its patrons can do to help our earth. Here's some amusement park related ideas to try during your visits this year:
• Visiting a park you are familiar with? Take a pass on that park map pamphlet your next trip - they just lay around later anyway, right? The U.S. alone cuts down millions of trees each year just for paper - why add to that?
• Skip that bottle of water or soda! Many parks will provide free H2O if you ask in a paper cup, which won't lay in a landfill for all of eternity.
• Are you going to buy a t-shirt or a teddy bear when you leave? Say no thanks to that plastic bag the cashier will whip out, instead carry your items and save the bag: they take over 100 years to break down!
• Carpool on your way! If you're going with friends, don't take two or more cars, meet up before hand and go in a few vehicles as possible. Not only will you help the earth, you'll also save on parking fees!
• Want to remember your trip with photos? If using a disposable camera ... make sure you have it developed at a retailer that promises to recycle your camera. Sadly, a surprisingly large percent of disposable cameras end up at the dump. Better yet, go digital and share your photos online, save the developing fee and use no paper!
Those are just some things we all can do; but we won't forget about the amusement park operators - they can play a role too. Actually, some have already taken the initiative toward more environmentally friendly practices.
Disney started a while ago, and has even purposely modified some attractions to make them more 'green.' And we can't forget Animal Kingdom, which has been very enviro-friendly since the start. Speaking of, happy 10th anniversary to one of my favorite parks, Animal Kingdom!
Universal Theme Parks have made big steps, too, they have their current "Green Is Universal" program running, and the parks are specifically participating as well, they're making much progress with bio-fuels in park vehicles - Universal Studios Hollywood is even having their Eco-Fair again this year with plenty of green ideas to be shared.
If they big guys can do it, other parks can, too! Especially corporate ones with the financial backing.
Happy Earth Day!
© Cedar Point 2008
© Meyerhaus 2008
© 2008 Busch Entertainment
© 2008 Busch Entertainment
I was looking at KICentral's photos of the construction area at Kings Island and then the graphic from First Drop magazine and decided to make a map to understand the whole thing better. Here's what I came up with quick:
It really does match up perfectly, I think. Those little footers that are totally like the ones for other B&M rides for station/transfer areas are right where they should be according to the First Drop image.
Also, that huge footer is located near where the higher portion of the ride's lift would be, which would explain why it's such a big footer.
The only part I'm not sure I agree with, and drew differently, is the track return into the helix. The First Drop image has the track crossing over in front of the entrance area to The Crypt - which would be odd and extremely ugly. So I have the return run come up on the other side of the Crypt's building, which makes a lot more sense to me. But I'm probably wrong, and they'll run the track right over the Crypt's entrance.
This construction schedule is even earlier than Hydra's was at Dorney Park - which should mean watching vertical construction all summer long while at the park.
Considering the park is already open for the 2008 season this is, well, rather late. But still let's take a look at it. That's a perfect example of a Cedar Fair brochure cover - half water park and half big ride. And of course 2 Great Parks For the Price of 1!
2nd Wave Pool is new for this year, another recent Cedar Fair trend that is a fantastic idea. Crowded wave pools are gross, not fun, and dangerous. (imo) This brochure also uses correct names for rides, like Nighthawk and Flight Deck.
Props for showcasing the Nickelodeon characters, please pay the licensing fee to expand the characters to the legacy parks, okay Cedar Fair?
And Scarowinds is equally important with so much attendance coming in during the fall for parks. Overall: not a bad brochure!
