Several Palace Entertainment Parks to Close For the Season after Labor Day

© Kennywood

A number of Palace Entertainment parks in the U.S. have announced that they have decided to end their 2020 seasons when Labor Day weekend is over.  The announcements mean that the park's seasons will be cut short, with no Fall or Christmas events planned for this year.

 

Kennywood sent out an update that shows that the park's last operating day in 2020 will be September 7th.  This means that there will be no Phantom Fright Nights or Holiday Lights this year, but they hope to bring those events back in 2021.  They also updated that next year will see the full completion of Steelers Country, including the interactive features and other elements.  The park has also decided to extend their 2020 season pass products to be valid in 2021.

Sandcastle water park, located not far from Kennywood, will also end their season on September 7th.

Idlewild and Soak Zone will also close up shop early this year, with their last day of operations also September 7th.  The park will extend their Summer Saver Season Passes to be valid through Labor Day, 2021.  Looking forward to next year, the park is planning "exciting new events, plus a variety of surprises" they plan to reveal during this extra-long off season.

© Lake Compounce

Lake Compounce will also close on September 7th, meaning that this year there will be no Haunted Graveyard and Holiday Lights events.  Both are planned to return next year.  2021 will see the opening of the delayed Venus Vortex water slide and the park's 175th birthday.  Wow that's a lot of years!  The park has also extended their season pass products to be valid for 2021.

Story Land, located in New Hampshire, will follow suit and close at the end of Labor Day weekend.  The park has extended their season passes for next year like the other parks, and anyone who purchased a day ticket for a date past Labor Day will get an automatic refund.

Last, but not least, Pennsylvania's Dutch Wonderland is also closing out their 2020 season on September 7th.  This means that both Happy Hauntings and Dutch Winter Wonderland will not take place in 2020.  Almost all of the park's season pass programs will be extended into 2021, when the park hopes to be able to offer a full season.

Palace Entertainment Parks Extend Season Passes to 2021 + Venus Vortex Delayed

© Palace Entertainment

Palace Entertainment, which owns and operates six amusement parks in North America and many water park and family entertainment centers, has provided some updates on their parks 2020 seasons.

While no opening days have been announced, the company has revealed that they are following the lead of Cedar Fair and extending all season passes for 2020 through the end of 2021.  This includes Dutch Wonderland, Idlewild, Kennywood, Lake Compounce and Storyland.  Castle Park, which is located in California, will extend their season passes for as long as the park remains closed.

The extension of season passes is sure to sit nicely with fans of these parks in these uncertain times, as they wait to see when the parks are able to open for 2020.

© Lake Compounce

Lake Compounce was scheduled to open a giant new water slide in 2020, named Venus Vortex.  The towering thrill slide would send family rafts around a course and then down a steep plunge into a giant half pipe that's themed as a large venus flytrap.

Due to construction delays experienced by the park during the pandemic, they have made the tough decision to delay the opening of Venus Vortex until the park's 2021 season.  While it's sad to see the ride have to be pushed back, it is sure to still be enjoyed by thousands of visitors come next year.

Scott And Carol Present - The Little Coaster that Roared into Story Land Pt2

This is the final part of our trip to Story Land in beautiful Glen New Hampshire. In case you missed it, here is Part One.

Eric Dziedzic, General Manager of Story Land, has an interesting tale about changing from an over ambitious dad into a cool dad, in just a few coaster rides. 

This is the first-time  on ride photo, with his son.  We think dad may have been a bit worried at this point, but...

after this ride, Ryan was ready to go again and again. He was the first boy to get on Roar-O-Saurus. It sure helps when you can make those pouty looks to your mom, who then tells the General Manager to take care of it.

Compared to the Midwest, the backdrop for Roar-O-Saurus is stunning. As you can tell from the rain coats, precipitation was on and off all day, which is why some of the videos were done under cover, in the conference room. 

Twisting past the  38.5 foot first drop, another group of riders is magically transformed into Roar-O-Saurus groupies. This happened all day long, with or without rain.

Lots of airtime throughout the ride, as these riders demonstrate. Even though this was only the second day the public was allowed on the ride, an amazing amount of brave riders passed on holding on. It was arms in the air all day long. 

The train disappears into the tunnel, with everything rumbling all around. The screams of joy from the riders are somewhat muffled, as the anticipation builds, then...

 the Triceratops head on the front of the train busts out of the tunnel with a full head of steam. 

The coaster twists and turns around itself, and squeezes an impressive amount of track into a small footprint. Here is spot you will want to smile for that on-ride photo, to capture forever a child's first big ride. 

The only straight track is around the station. The lift hill, the load/unload area, and the brake run before the station. Everything else changes at least one direction, and sometimes two simultaneously combining elevation and lateral direction changes.

Here you can see the articulation of the train as it is twisted in two different directions on this section of the ride. It demonstrates a major advantage of the Timberliner trains, allowing tight curves and action-packed layouts that don't require large areas of land and height to deliver big-time thrills.

Dad appears a little braver but it is hard to determine whether he expects to catch either of his children, or if he is reliving the memory of his first big coaster ride without holding on. The train passes under the tunnel as it returns to the station.

Here Chad Miller, one of the designers from The Gravity Group, talks about Roar-O-Saurus. If every park had a roller coaster like this one, many new wooden coaster fans would be created every day, and parks would keep bringing us great rides like Roar-O-Saurus.

Thanks again to Eric, Jack, the maintenance department, and Chad for their time during our visit to Story Land. 

Scott And Carol Present - The Little Coaster that Roared into Story Land!

 

 

 

Story Land is a park unfamiliar to most coaster enthusiasts. While it has had the Polar coaster for years, the addition of Roar-O-Saurus has made the park a mandatory stop for everyone who enjoys wooden roller coasters.

 



 

With the official title of Assistant General Manager, Jack has the unofficial title of park historian. As keeper of the traditions for Storyland, he is the go to person for great park stories.

 

 

These genuine German dolls provided the inspiration for Story Land. Currently in the conference room, the park is looking at options to put them on display for everyone to enjoy.

 

 

If you follow the Roar-O-Saurus signs you will soon come across this gem of a family wooden coaster.  The height of 40 feet really stands out in Story Land.

 

This rather large dinosaur, just outside the entrance to Roar-O-Saurus, is animated and actually moves the branches of the tree as it "feeds.

 

One of the many unique elements of Roar-O-Saurus is this high speed turn inside the lift hills support structure with a prehistoric onlooker who seems frozen in time.

 

 

The beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds provide a wonderful back drop as the six car Timberliner train descends the 38.5 foot 1st drop.

 

This close-up of the 1st drop shows the wide variety of coaster riders, with their  respective array of varying expressions, enjoying the ride.

 

Here a young rider flys through the bowels of Roar-O-Saurus. She appears to be either having a good time or trying to eat a bug?

 

The second half of the coaster's double-down has these young ladies holding on tight.

 

The fun has just begun, stay turn for part two, where we venture to the more hidden aspects of Roar-O-Saurus. A big thank you to Jack for being on guide on the adventure, including the great construction photos he provide that helped us get through the winter! 

Scott And Carol Present - Update on Roar-O-Saurus at Story Land

                                                                 

 

 

Story Land, located in Glen New Hampshire has put itself on the map with it's 2014 addition, Roar-O-Saurus! This compact Gravity Group designed one of a kind wooden roller coaster, announced at IAAPA, has a lift height of 40 feet (providing a spectacular view of the surrounding area), sends riders soaring down a first drop of 38.5 feet, features 1,242 feet of track length, and provides riders 12 unique airtime moments.

  

Here is a great "riders" view of  Roar-O-Saurus' 40 foot lift hill. On this day the steel topper track was being installed.





Here's a rather snowy view of the Roar-O-Saurus station, Story Land's Assistant General Manger, Jack Mahany reports, "progress is a little slow as the tedious work has begun, absolutely no idea when it will run. Snow has begun to melt...what a winter"   For those who have been to Story Land, as the park's website says, "Fortunately, Glen is small enough that you can’t help but find us!"

Our thanks to Jack for the up-date and photos.

Roar-O-Saurus Reaches for the Sky

© Story Land

The progress on the Gravity Group designed Roar-O-Saurus at New Hampshire's Story Land has continued at a quick pace, with the ride's tallest structure now reaching for the skies.  This shot was sent to NPN by the park and shows the ride's tall bents being placed as a snow storm set it - even that didn't slow down those workers!

© Story Land

This one was taken before the snow arrived - check out that beautiful blue sky behind Roar-O-Saurus.  You can see that the tall structure for lift hill/turn around/drop was a little less far along when compared to the more recent image at the top.

When Roar-o-Saurus is complete it will stretch 1,242 feet long, use a lift hill of 40 feet and have a first drop of 38.5 feet.  The ride will utilize one Timberliner train from Gravitykraft and is being designed as a family ride.  Great progress so far, we're looking forward to seeing more!

Story Land's Roar-O-Saurus Growing... Fast!

© Story Land

Polar Vortex... big whoop!  That must be what crews at Story Land in New Hampshire were thinking as they continued to work on Roar-O-Saurus despite frigid, single digit temperatures.  And the ride's looking great so far!

© Story Land

The tight curves that have been designed into Roar-O-Saurus' layout are already evident, as you can gather from these photos.  The ride is going up on what looks like pretty flat land, but that's not stopping the coaster from having plenty of elevation changes along the track.

© Story Land

Roar-O-Saurus is being built on an existing island at the park, the bridge to access the ride can be seen above.  It is a bit hard to tell at this point but I think that the main section seen here features the ride's tunnel which takes place midway through the ride.  If this much has gone up in terrible weather, I can only imagine how fast things will proceed when it is finally above freezing!

Story Land's Roar-o-Saurus Goes Vertical!

© Story Land

It may not be much, but it officially makes Story Land's new wooden roller coaster, Roar-o-Saurus, vertical.  The first bents were just put into place, marking the next phase of construction for the family-sized thriller.  Roar-o-Saurus has been designed for Story Land by the Gravity Group, and if we based our expectations off of their first family sized coaster, Quassy's Wooden Warrior, then we have a lot to look forward to with this new ride!

The ride was officially unveiled at this past November's IAAPA Trade Show, where both the Gravity Group and Story Land officials were on hand to share the good news.  When complete, Roar-o-Saurus will have 1,242 feet of track, a lift hill of 40 feet and a first drop of 38.5 feet.  The ride will utilize one Timberliner train from Gravitykraft.

As a refresher here is the on-ride video simulation of the coaster that was released with the announcement.  Happy riding!

Scott And Carol Present - The Gravity Group And Storyland Unveil Roar-O-Saurus

Today the Gravity Group and Storyland unveiled the train for Roar-O-Saurus, their new wooden coaster for 2014.

Storyland will be 60 years old in 2014 and this is the largest expansion in the parks history. Here is lead car of the six car Timberliner train, the Timberliner train is a great platform for custom theming, like a dinosaur.

Taking 12 passengers at a time up forty feet in the air, riders will experience a beautiful view of the White Mountains before dropping to nearly ground level as they travel the 1,242 feet of track. With a height requirement of only 42”, this will be a ride that all family members should enjoy.

Congratulations to both The Gravity Group and Storyland for this exciting project. It's going to be a great year for park enthusiasts. With all these exciting projects, it is time to start saving up money for all those summer trips to take in all the amusement parks have to offer in 2014.

Click here for a point of view ride on Roar-O-Saurus, and here for a fly-around view of the new attraction!

Splash Battle: Pharaoh's Reign

The gem of New Hampshire - Story Land theme park - recently opened Pharaoh's Reign last week, a highly-interactive water attraction where riders are encouraged to splash other boats as well as shoreline park guests. This 300-foot-long excursion was designed and built by the Preston and Barbieri Group of Italy, a company also known for its huge assortment of flat rides.

This highly themed new water ride joins the park's two other elaborate water attractions: the Bamboo Chutes flume and Dr. Geyser's Remarkable Raft Ride. Having visited the park many years ago, I was so impressed with its cleanliness and commitment to detail. Kudos to new owner Palace Entertainment for preserving and building upon the park's wonderful heritage.

Check out more photos on the park's Facebook page.

Weekly Rewind 12.11.10

After adding a wave pool and lazy river in the summer of 2010, Nashville Shores water park will build a 4 story water play house next year named Kowabunga Beach.  The park is run by former Six Flags executives Kieran Burke and Gary Story.

RCPro's daily Cheetah Hunt updates have had me feeling like I'm there watching the ride go up myself.  The latest update shows all the supports up for the first tower, and the track leading up to it in place as well.

If you find yourself thirsty while at Legoland Florida next year, you can count on not having to look far for a Pepsi product.  The park announced the soda maker as the first partner of the park. “When the doors open, Legoland Florida guests will be able to enjoy the Park experience with a cold Pepsi beverage in hand.”

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk plans to celebrate their Looff Carousel's 100th birthday next season.  The classic ride still features rings that riders grab on each rotation, something not found on many carousels today.  The park will also place the kid's freefall ride with a new one from Moser rides.

Disney Park announced this week that Mickey's Toontown Fair at the Magic Kingdom will close forever on February 11th in order for more Fantasyland construction to take place.  They also revealed that the California letters at the entrance to Disney California Adventure could come down as soon as January 4th, when work on Buena Vista Street kicks up a notch.

No idea if the reporting is accurate, but this article says that based on drawings, it looks like much of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's 2012 coaster will be indoors.  The park did a balloon height test this past week as part of the approvals needed for the coaster.

Story Land, located in New Hampshire, will build a new water attraction next year called Splash Battle Egypt.  The ride will have a 300 ft. long course on a 6,100 sq. ft. area, and use 103,000 gallons of water.  Early construction photos are available here.

Six Flags Great Adventure has started to share a number of construction photos of the Green Lantern on their website.  Now we just need a proper preview video and we'll be all set!

This is from a few weeks ago, but here's a nice off-season update of the early work going on for Hersheypark's big 2012 project.  Lots of markers already in the ground.  I cannot wait to see what kind of 'sweet idea' Hershey has come up with for their next coaster!