Freestyle Music Park's Ride Liquidation - All Rides Must Go!

I recently wrote about the addition of two rides to Seabreeze Amusement Park, both of which were noted as coming from Freestyle Music Park.  In that story I wondered if the rest of the rides were for sale, and a reader wrote in and pointed out that they indeed are.

If you click through to ITAL International's website, you can see a bunch of rides from Freestyle Music Park listed for sale.  It appears as though all the big ones are listed, with only a few missing - including those that are going to Seabreeze.

That means that a B&M coaster (above) is up for grabs!  There's also the Premier designed 'roundabout' coaster that was known as Maximum RPM when it first opened, a Premier suspended coaster, Vekoma minetrain and Vekoma family coaster as well.

The list of attractions being liquidated also includes some kiddie rides, several Huss flat rides and the large water play structure.  The one attraction I do not see listed is the dark ride that the park had, known as Nights in White Satin originally, though it would only be the vehicles at this point I guess.

So where will these rides go?  That's the fun question.  Could be overseas - there's so many parks going up in Asia - but parks closer to home could also pick up some quality rides for potentially cheap.  And they're also offered as a package!  We'll certainly stay tuned on this one.

Freestyle Music Park to be Sold for $10 Million?

© Google

Here's a weird story.  A Christian focus non-profit named Abiding Village that runs an urban arts center is trying to raise $10 million in the next three weeks to purchase the land that sits under Freestyle Music Park, formerly Hard Rock Park.

Their plan seems to only include gaining the land, and if they can do it they will use it in three phases - all of which have nothing to do with a theme park.  I can't image that anyone would sell the park with the rides still on it - so that could also mean that we will finally see the rides sold and relocated.  Well, perhaps.  The B&M would probably move easily, and the mine train could head elsewhere too - but you have to wonder about other rides like the really unique Premier Rides coaster with the Ferris wheel lift.

It's been ages since we've heard anything about the status of the park, and while we (at least I) do not ever expect it to reopen I have to wonder why the rides are still there.  So while this current pipe dream may just be that, it may open the door to seeing a new life for some of the attractions.  At least I hope so, it's a shame to see them all sitting there rotting away!

Aerial Antics: Freestyle Music (Hard Rock) Park

Freestyle Music Park, née Hard Rock Park, lived a short life in South Carolina, only two seasons to be specific.  The first year it was branded and known as Hard Rock Park, and under new owners the second season it was Freestyle Music Park.  Without funds, the park has sat closed since 2009. 

Here she is, the entire property in one shot.  The park closed with the hopes of reopening one day, so none of the rides have been removed, and at least when these shots were taken the park looked to be in good condition.

When the park opened this area was known as the All Access Entry Plaza because it was, well, the park's entrance plaza.  A fitting name, but also pretty cool to see from the air.  At the end of the entrance street, lined with shops and food locations, was a huge guitar built into the ground that bordered up against the park's lake.

Moving around the park clockwise, the first section that guests would enter was originally known as Rock & Roll Heaven, which as you can see had a large expansion pad built into the area.  Sad that it never got put to use.  The area also had an amphitheater (there were several in varying sizes throughout the park) that featured a stunt show.

One of the park's star attractions was a large B&M sit down roller coaster originally known as Led Zeppelin, the ride.  I've mentioned before that I have always enjoyed the ride's paint scheme.  Having never ridden it, I can't comment on the ride experience, but it featured a fairly common collection of B&M elements.

Once visitors "crossed the pond" they entered the British themed section of the park aptly titled British Invasion.  With streets themed as roads in the city, guests encountered another of the park's roller coasters, the unique Maximum RPM.  The coaster utilized a Ferris wheel style lift that dropped the cars into a twisting course.

Lost in The 70's was themed to the trippy times of the decade, and also was home to a one of a kind dark ride: Nights in White Satin: The Trip.  The dark ride, with elements from Sally Corp., was based on the song of the same name by the Moody Blues and used some space from a former outlet mall for its path.  It garnered quite a following in the year it was open, since it was rethemed when the park reopened as Freestyle Music Park.

A lot of folks thought that we'd never see another water coaster of the style built, but the park forged on and had Premier Rides create Slippery When Wet.  Using a vertical lift, the individual suspended cars traveled around the track in a series of gentle twists and turns past and through some misters, geysers and water curtains.

Here's a twofer!  The park's roller coaster collection also contained a kiddie ride, a standard Vekoma roller skater named Shake Rattle 'n' Roller Coaster.  That can be seen on the left of this image, on the right was a Vekoma mine train named Life in the Fast Lane, and themed to the song by the Eagles.

If you'd like to check out the aerials of the park, use Google's maps 45 degree feature via this link.

Troubled Parks: To Open Or Not?

Three park developments, all with a different set of woes - not the best odds in today's rocky financial environment.  Still, talks are suddenly spreading that Dubailand, the absolutely massive development planned for the Middle East, might give it another shot.

The development would have really been an entire city of sorts, filled with entertainment locations such as theme parks, along side housing and all the necessities in a very modern setting.

Originally a slew of parks were planned, though now Dubailand is looking to restart plans for only 4 of them.  Universal Studios actually went as far as building a gate to their property, but Six Flags and Legoland also announced projects.

Exactly which projects may get another chance at life will be announced later next year - leaving plenty of time for rumors to either intensify, or disappear all together.

Just when things were starting to look up - at least it seemed - the Kentucky Fair Board has announced that they are no longer negotiating a deal with Ed Hart and his company to reopen Kentucky Kingdom.

This story is about as twisted as the park's Twisted Twins coasters, but Ed Hart seemed quite intent on once again bringing the amusement park back to greatness.  Only saying that they could not agree on key terms of the deal with Hart, the Board is confident they can find another operator to get the park open.

You have to wonder - when, though?  Mr. Hart seemed to have a solid plan in place, and already has developing the park on his resume.  I can't tell at this point if the Board has another plan, or just wants to play hard ball.

Although most industry minds seem to agree that it is time to just let Freestyle Music Park go, articles about the park's potential 2012 reopening have come up once more.

Freestyle Music Park, which opened as Hard Rock Park, failed two consecutive Summers under both names, ending in bankruptcy both times.

This story, which is quite detailed, is wondering if a third time could be a charm for the theme park.  Drastic changes would be necessary to work in the given market, such as axing the pay-one-price in favor of a more evening oriented pas as you go setup.

Whether it opens or not, the park has some interesting rides that I do hope end up somewhere, someday.

Freestyle Music Park - A New Lease On Life?

Will the third time be the charm?  FPI US LLC, the company that foreclosed on Freestyle Music Park in 2009 has purchased the park once again at auction, and again plans to try to reopen it - possibly as soon as next year.

The park opened in 2008 as Hard Rock Park, and was renamed Freestyle Music Park the following season.  Attendance troubles plagued the park and it closed for good later in 2009.

FPI US LLC is looking for a partner to operate the park, or someone who would purchase it on their own.  No timetable has been set on a potential reopening, but it sounds like there are a lot of issues to resolve before that could happen.  We'll see.

Weekly Rewind 4.30.11

Michigan's Adventure is now ready to party!  The park's new water play structure, named Beach Party, looks pretty complete to my eye.  Colorful, too.

WindSeeker at Kings Island wasn't ready to open this weekend, and Cedar Point's is behind schedule as well.  Both are better than Knott's, which is just a foundation at this point!

Time - that's what developer Ed Hart has received in his quest to reopen Kentucky Kingdom.  His rights on the park have been extended while he tries to secure funding to renovate and reopen the theme park.

Whitewater West has opened their first Zoo attraction, an interactive AquaPlay structure at New Orleans' Audubon Zoo.  The structure features a 28 ft. tall white alligator, complete with tipping bucket inside its mouth!

The Dania Beach Hurricane has closed, though the owner is not saying exactly why.  The wooden coaster at a Boomers opened back in 2000.

Freestyle Music Park is still closed.  That isn't much of a story at this point, but rumors keep popping up that different operators are looking at the property.  

The Zippin Pippin at Bay Beach Amusement Park is scheduled to open on May 21st.  The city had a contest for citizens to explain what the parks means to them, and the winners will be on the first train out.  Video of the coaster testing has also come online, too!

Funland Blog takes a peek at Legoland Malaysia, which is scheduled to open at the end of 2012.

Knoebels is letting fans know that the Black Diamond indoor coaster will not be ready until the middle of the summer!  I'm still anxiously awaiting this new ride!

Weekly Rewind 9.25.10

Apparently investing in Dick Clark can lead to quite a nice pay day.  Six Flags, who invested in Dick Clark Productions under the last set of leaders, just received a $41 million cash distribution from the company.  They can buy a lot of Euro-Fighters with that kinda cash! Just kidding.

 

As if Disney does not already have enough characters to turn into plush items, they've started to introduce Duffy the Disney Bear to American audiences.  The character is fantastically popular at the Tokyo parks, and the company is now bringing him to the U.S. parks.  He has his own meet and greet locations at Epcot and Disney California Adventure.  He is sorta cute, though.

While on the subject of Disney Parks, the company just announced a new "Let The Memories Begin" advertising campaign for next year.  The plan focuses on the ever growing use of social media as part of families trips to the parks.  Images of families taken at the parks will be projected on the Castle in Florida and the facade of Small World in California.  The plan has already met tons of criticism from fans who are not at all pleased to see photos plastered on park icons.

Mean Streak, at Cedar Point, started on fire this past week.  Before anyone makes any "burn it down" jokes, the fire was quickly put out and significant harm was not done.  The ride had some work being done on it and somehow the fire resulted form that, inspectors believe.

Keeping up with the construction of the Zippin Pippin at Bay Beach is easier with the addition of new construction photos posted on the park's Facebook.  Looks like a lot of the footers for the beginning of the ride are now in place.  This news article also covers the latest on the ride's development.

Cedar Point posted a pretty cool video of the park taken from a blimp ride.  It's always fun to see shots of some of our favorite parks from the air.  (cough, cough Aerial Antics)  You can watch the video on YouTube at this link.

A reminder that this weekend is the last time you'll be able to ride the Wild Mouse at Quassy Amusement Park.  Free rides are being given from noon to six as a way to celebrate the ride's time at the park.  With a new wooden coaster opening next season, the park will dismantle the older Wild Mouse.

The second clip for Busch Gardens Tampa's new 2011 coaster was revealed this past week, using the code word rush.  The 2nd clip appears to show the final return run to the station, but has me just as excited for the ride as the first one did. 

A bankruptcy court has given permission for the first of many creditors to take items back from Freestyle Music Park that are owed to them.  The company noted that the park is sitting idle with no insurance and could be potentially ruined by a hurricane or other event. 

Ride Entertainment Group has two goodies on their Facebook page relating to Six Flags Over Georgia's new Daredevil Dive coaster.  First, they've posted the layout of the ride, which looks pretty neat.  Second, they recently posted that the ride will have lap-bars instead of over-the-shoulder restraints, a first for a Euro-Fighter.

Weekly Rewind 8.28.10

Wow, the last Weekly Rewind of August already... why do the Summers always fly by so fast? It would be nice if we could just hit pause every once and again!

Since being announced, the details of Six Flags Dubailand have remained a mystery. The design group behind the park is currently showcasing a slew of concept art they've created for the property. You can view them all on the Goddard Group's Facebook page. The concepts look fantastic... now we just need to hope the place gets built.

It won't be long now... less and less of the Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Great Adventure is still standing. Head to Great Adventure History for this week's photos.

If you missed the first airing of Joel Manby, President and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment, on the hit show Undercover Boss then Sunday August 29th is your chance to see it. The episode featuring the leader of the famous chain of theme parks and other entertainment will air at 9 p.m. on CBS.

Universal Orlando has done their full reveal of this year's Halloween Horror Nights XX. The 20th anniversary of the event promises to be one of the best ever. The event will be hosted this year by Fear itself.. of course embodied in a scary physical form.

With only a couple days left in the month, now is the time to get in your last votes for the Conneaut Lake Park Blue Streak in this month's Pepsi Refresh Everything. I'm happy to report that the ride currently sits in the number one spot - but let's not count our chickens before they hatch. Vote here.

Cedar Fair doesn't seem too upset by Funtime's threats to sue them for adding the WindSeeker ride by Mondial. This article points out that Cedar Fair has a clause in their contract with all ride manufacturers that prevents them from being involved in patent disputes.

A local police officer will attempt to ride the Whizzer for 11 consecutive hours tomorrow at Six Flags Great America. The event is set to raise funds that will benefit Special Olympics Illinois. Young athletes will also demonstrate the skills including soccer and basketball as part of the event.

No good news for Ghost Town in The Sky and Freestyle Music Park. Both have had foreclosure suits filed against them. If things proceed without interruption, Ghost Town could be auctioned as early as October. Things are no better for Freestyle, as the park's board recently resigned and officials seem to have finally given up on finding a buyer.

For the third consecutive year the Budweiser Clydesdales will be at Cedar Point on August 29th. The eight horse team will take part in a parade along the Main Midway starting at 2 p.m., and will also be on display later in the day.

Deno's Wonder Wheel Park will celebrate the famous wheel's 90th Birthday on September 4th. The ride has had over 30 million riders since its debut in 1920 - and boasts a perfect safety record, according to the park. The event will feature live entertainment, clowns, face painters, stilt walkers, and more.

Here are some more details on Quassy Amusement Park's contest to have a local elementary or middle school class pick the name of their new wooden coaster. The park recently started assembling the wood structure for the ride on the ground, which means vertical work can't be far off.

Remember those coaster pieces that were spotted at Lagoon this past Spring? Perhaps we'll see them come to life next year. The park has had an somewhat decent year, and when asked about adding something new the park pointed out that they rarely do not add a new ride. After taking this year off, perhaps we'll see them build something big next year?

Weekly Rewind 8.14.10

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has named a new CEO and President, James Reid-Anderson. Mr. Reid-Anderson previously worked in the Healthcare industry, leading a company out of bankruptcy and into profitability. Al Weber, who was the interim CEO, will stay on as the company's COO. Sounds like they'll have a CEO who knows how to lead a company after Chapter 11, and a COO with deep amusement industry experience. Best of luck to them!

Kings Island is raising funds for the Susan G. Komen For The Cure breast cancer awareness efforts. The park is selling pink ducks that will float in the park's signature entrance fountains. On August 21st one duck will be selected from the fountain and the winner will receive a car! You can read more and purchase a duck (the park will deposit it into the fountain for you) on Kings Island's webpage.

Disney is making modifications to the previously announced Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Seems it might have skewed too heavily to the Princess side of things, and now that's being taken into consideration. No news on what exactly will change, but with construction already underway I'm sure we will find out soon enough.

Holiday World is having a great season, this article points out that they are about 10% ahead of last year's attendance figures. In these times that's a massive increase! The park's new water coaster, Wildebeest, as well as the improved economy has helped create the gains.

Carowinds is dropping daily photo hints for their 2011 announcement on their Facebook page. So far the four images, one of which is above, haven't made much sense - but it's fun to guess! The announcement should be in about two weeks from now.

It is not very long, but Dollywood has released a fun teaser video for their new Barnstormer ride. The park promises more details soon, but for now we'll just have to wait.

The next chapter in the demise of Freestyle Music Park has started - foreclosure proceedings were recently filed against the park. As they proceed all assets the park has will be sold off in order to repay their debits. That B&M coaster should go like a hot cake - but I hope whoever buys it keeps the paint job! I love those colors.

Dreamworld, in Australia, has announced that the Tower of Terror - the sister ride to Superman at Six Flags Magic Mountain, will be running the trains backwards starting this September. Some people believe this change will be similar to what will be done with Superman at SFMM, but the park is not saying anything about that just yet.

Friday the 13th was celebrated by Halloween events everywhere as a way to help spread the word on their plans for this fall. Kings Dominion released a video showing a behind the scenes look at the preparations going on at the park for their Haunt event. All the Cedar Fair Haunts also had their websites launched this week, but there's too many to link here! Lots of new mazes and scare zones again this year!

Six Flags Great Adventure is still making quick work of removing the Great American Scream Machine from the park. At this point they are taking down the lift hill, with only the first drop and first loop still standing. Check out some recent photos here.

Weekly Rewind 7.4.10

Happy 4th of July to you all! Hopefully everyone got in their fill of amusement parks over this holiday weekend!

Busch Gardens Tampa is now offering a Play All Day and Dine For Free promotion where you can eat free all day at the park with the purchase of an admission ticket. The offer is good through September 6th at the theme park. That's quite a deal!

Legoland Florida is going to hold an open house for the public to come see the plans for the park this coming Thursday. Hopefully more details about the rides and attractions the park will offer will come from this. The park also announced the addition of three new Marketing staff members: "Director of Sales and Marketing Kim Isemann, Manager of Sales Todd Andrus and Public Relations Representative Jackie Wallace are bringing their expertise from Central Florida attraction destinations to promote the family theme park opening fall 2011."

Captain EO has made it's return to EPCOT at Walt Disney World in Florida. Fans have already celebrated the show's return in California and Paris, now the central Florida parks have MJ back as well. Here's a report with video from the media event for the reopening.

Cedar Fair has teamed up with Hipcricket to further launch their advertising strategies into the mobile market. Guests will be able to learn about in park specials, news, and other offers via their mobile devices. Cedar Fair is embracing technology!

Thorpe Park has submitted a planning application that shows what the park has planned for the next 6 years. Included in those plans are 5 "round rides" and two new roller coasters - one of which will be up to 40 meters tall, the other up to 50 meters. How that for a bright future!

Still no good new coming out of the closed Freestyle Music Park. A judge ruled against the park this week for unpaid bills, to the tune of $14 million. Park owners never even replied to the case, making the ruling quite easy. Owners say they're still looking for new investors to reopen the park with.

Fans of Facebook now have another way to spend some time - Six Flags Mascot Park. Six Flags theme parks has launched the new Facebook game which allows players to create a park mascot and then try to make them the "star of the show." If you want to play, start here.

The remains of Chicago's Kiddieland Amusement Park have met the wrecking ball. The park closed last fall, and will be replaced by a Costco. Thankfully as we well know, Six Flags Great America purchased the Little Dipper wooden coaster and now operates it at their park.

Spirit Mountain in Duluth, Minnesota, has opened the 3,200 ft. long Timber Twister Alpine Coaster. Riders control their own speed as they head down the mountain, topping out at 26 m.p.h. These rides are great fun, and it's wonderful to see a new one open.

The Indoor Waterpark Capital of the U.S.? That's what the Pennsylvania Poconos could be. With two facilities already open, three more in development, and one large outdoor park as well, things could get rather crowded. Still, many see the development as a good thing for the area. Check out the details here.

Weekly Rewind 6.12.10

What's sweeter than a Hershey's bar? Making it just as you like it, of course! Hershey's Chocolate World, located at the entrance to Hershey Park, has added a new attraction named Hershey's Create Your Own Candy Bar. The hands-on attraction lets guests select their favorite ingredients, see equipment in operation, and even design the wrapper!

Fun Spot USA, located in Orlando, will open a new spinning Wild Mouse coaster this Christmas. The ride, formerly Galaxy Spin at Cypress Gardens, represents a $1.3 million expansion. The park is proud to be adding their first large coaster - and it's always nice to see a ride saved!

Freestyle Music Park received another nail in its coffin this week when a bankruptcy judged ruled against the park, allowing creditors one step closer to seizing assets for liquidation in order to repay debts. It's not happening just yet - but the path has been cleared. Big B&M for sale on the cheap! Read the details.

Wake Nation, located in Cincinnati, OH, will try to break the World Record for most distance traveled on a wake board in 24 hours on June 25th. A group of top pro wake board riders will gather at the cable wakeboarding pond for the attempt. Admission is free, and all proceeds go to charity. Read more on the official site.

Luna Park has opened their new Air Race flat ride - the first of it's kind in the world. It looks thrilling and intense to me:

There's another video, taken from further back, available here. I'm pretty sure I'd come off of it green - and not with envy.

Interested in seeing the unique architecture of the pavilions at the 2010 World Expo? Check out photos of the 25 best here. While the U.S.A. pavilion is included in the list, I have to say that it's one of the least unique ones there in appearance.

Universal Studios Hollywood has been releasing some videos showing King Kong's path of destruction as he makes his way to the park for the new King Kong 360 3D attraction. This time he's made Vegas into his own kind of playground, and Speed: The Ride is on the list of casualties. See the video.

While this article was not updated to show that the ride was approved, Busch Gardens Williamsburg has received permission to build a 260 ft. (or so) tower attraction next year. Rumors are swirling that the ride could be heavily themed - or a bare freefall tower. But that's what you get from rumors, right?

Guests on Shoot the Rapids?! No, just some lucky employees who got to take a test spin - which Coaster Image caught on tape. You can see the video here - it looks like a lot of fun.

Six Flags AstroWorld was bulldozed and the land beneath it sold to real estate developers planning to make a killing off it's development. Five years later it still sits empty. Now the plot has been sold once again, and the new owner has no plans of building anything for at least another 5 years! Shame!

Weekly Rewind 4.3.10

Busch Gardens Tampa recently opened their new children's area - Sesame Street Forest of Fun. The area is larger than the first version at the Williamsburg park, but both are equally great for families. BGTNation has a nice photo report of the new area.

Kings Island sent out this photo with the following caption: "Diamondback slithered out of the storage shed for a series of test runs Wednesday at Kings Island and didn’t see its shadow, which means spring is here! The 230-foot tall steel roller coaster opened to rave reviews last year, giving more than 1.8 million venomous rides. Kings Island opens for weekend operation April 17. Daily operation begins May 21.

Six Flags Over Georgia is hosting the Virtual Army Experience this weekend at the park. The high-tech, team-based mission challenges participants, 13-years and older, to employ teamwork, rules of engagement, leadership and state-of-the-art military technology to successfully complete their mission. Visitors also are invited to play the popular America’s Army PC game against real Soldiers. The experience, which will be included with park admission, will be open at Six Flags Over Georgia during park hours from April 2-4.

Universal Orlando has released another photo from inside the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. "An authentic replica from the Harry Potter films, guests will pass by Hagrid's hut on their way to the Flight of the Hippogriff family-friendly roller coaster." The detail, as expected, is amazing!

Things continue not to look good for Freestyle Music Park, formerly Hard Rock Park. They recently missed an important deadline for making a debt payment, and are now saying they have no plans to open in 2010. Read more here.

If you love looking at dirt being pushed around, then check out Six Flags New England's construction shots of Mr. Six's Splash Island! Just kidding - though they are just starting the building process so there's not yet much to see.

Wet 'n' Wild water park, located in Arizona, just opened to the public for the first time last summer. Not wanting to rest on their laurels, the park is already spending a bunch of cash to improve the park experience. How so? Try $400k for more parking and $300k worth of additional shade!

Check out this image that Luna Park posted that shows off how the park will look. Very nice! A wide variety of rides look to be offered - water rides, a coaster, flat rides, tall ones - rides of all shapes and sizes!

Here's an interesting piece on Cedar Point's mega legion of fans that have appeared via Facebook and Twitter. The park has done a great job to build up a massive online presence. Their recent April Fool's joke that their blog was finished practically had some folks ready to cry!

If the photos that Universal Orlando has been releasing hasn't cut it for your Wizarding needs, then check out this video from the Ellen Show. It's by far the most we've seen inside the new area, and they even got to ride Flight of the Hippogriff!

Check out La Ronde's new video that teases at... well something. You'll have to watch to understand, but I'm sure it has something to do with the theme of that "almost brand new" SLC coaster they are building who's name and theme has yet to be revealed.

Weekly Rewind 2.6.10

Resorts World Sentosa has posted a great new photo album on Facebook which showcases the brand new Universal Studios Singapore theme park. An official opening date has yet to be announced, but the park certainly looks ready to go!

While you're on Facebook, you might want to check out Six Flags Great America's page as well. They've posted a batch of fun winter photos, including some shots of the Little Dipper trains which are now on site.

As it struggles to negotiate funding streams from new investors, Freestyle Music Park has announced that it will close its business offices and lay off its current staff until a deal has been reached. While General Manager Steve Baker remains confident that this will happen soon, I think we can all predict the outcome if it doesn't.

Like sister park Carowinds, Kings Dominion has announced that it will be auctioning off the first rides on its towering Intimidator 305 coaster, which is scheduled to open on April 2. You can place your bid online through March 25. Proceeds will benefit the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Greater Virginia, Challenge Discovery Projects Inc. (Richmond), and the USO of Hampton Roads.

Speaking of Carowinds, the Intimidator of the Carolinas successfully completed its first test run this week. Watch it for yourself in the video embedded above! (Warning: May cause drooling.)

Cedar Point's Shoot the Rapids isn't quite ready for a test run yet, but construction has officially gone vertical. You can check out the progress in the park's latest construction photo album.

The trains which will run on the world's first "psychoaster" have been revealed on the official TH13TEEN blog. If you're psycho enough to subject yourself to "psychometric testing", an "interrogation interview", "rollercoaster endurance", and "midnight bootcamp", you could be one of the first people to sit in them. Visit the TH13TEEN web site for more information on how to apply.

The closure of Kentucky Kingdom is sure to drive would-be visitors to other parks in the region, including Holiday World and Beech Bend. Perhaps in an effort to better compete with its northern neighbor, Beech Bend has begun advertising that it, too, will offer free unlimited soft drinks starting this year.

Just when you thought you had ridden a roller coaster in every possible position, Vekoma is asking you to kneel. Well, sort of anyway. Among other innovations, their newest concept in coaster design is a family flyer called the "Dragon Fly", which you ride in a kneeling position. (The phrase "have mercy" comes to mind.)

Following on the heels of a successful campaign to retain their Cobra roller coaster, Paulton's Park is now seeking permission to retain their Disk'O, The Edge, as well. The park's troubles began back in August, when it was discovered that both rides had been built without the required planning permission.

Back in December, Enchanted Forest's Facebook page revealed that a "top secret" project was taking place in Western Town. This week, they hinted that the project involves the resurrection of a former park attraction. The only thing that's clear at this point is that it isn't a ride!

If you're a frequent visitor to Kings Island and don't feel like paying an additional 3% admission tax and 5% parking tax, the park encourages you to voice your opinion at the Mason City Council meeting on Monday, February 8. In case you need an additional incentive, Kings Island will be sponsoring a Tax Vote Tailgate Party, complete with complimentary food and soft drinks, in the park's International Restaurant prior to the meeting. Who said politics can't be fun?