Thursday, September 30, 2010

Euro-Fighter Goodness



Slow news day... so let's take a look at a great example of why I'm happy that more Gerstlauer Euro-Fighters are set to arrive in America: Fluch von Novgorod at Hansa Park in Germany.

The ride features some extensive theming (though I admit I haven't a clue what's going on), a launch, plenty of twisted track, and part of the trip is in total darkness.  The single trains allow for some unique maneuvers that traditional, longer trains could not handle.

Granted the announced Euro-Fighters for the U.S. lack the immersive theming, but they still seem like rather fun rides.  Dollywood started things off right with Mystery Mine, hopefully we will see another ride of that magnitude sometime in the future.


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Very Special Delivery!



You very well may be wondering where your favorite weekly amusement park brochure column has gone.  Yes, Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight has temporarily gone on hiatus, but there's a very good reason for that.

You see, Sabrina recently became a new Mommy! Yes, she has welcomed a beautiful baby girl into her family.  Mother and daughter are doing great.  As for Husband, well, I can't speak for him.  Haha! Just kidding.

How about you guys share in my many congratulations to Sabrina, and leave a comment?  We will look forward to her return to NewsPlusNotes when her daughter is 18.  Just kidding.  Again.


Aerial Antics: The Elusive Virginia Parks


Since starting the Aerial Antics series I have patiently waited for great Bird's Eye aerials of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion.  Well, I guess I finally got the second best thing - Google updated their regular aerial shots with brand new images.

Now we can zoom in on Busch Gardens Williamsburg to see recent additions like Griffon.  I love how there is a train mid-splash, but if you look close something is a little off. There's another train just around the bend from the splash pool, ready to hit the brakes.  I smell some photoshopping.

Along with recent additions are recent casualties.  Here we see the footer remains of the Big Bad Wolf's big finale.  From the view (though not seen in this image) it looks as though the Bavarian village that the track snaked through also met its maker.  That would have been sweet to reuse for the 2012 ride.

And there's also views of the Sesame Street addition that went in a couple years back, tucked nicely in a corner of the park.  Here's a link to Google's images.

When we take a flight over Kings Dominion we can see the expansions that Cedar Fair has added to the park since taking over.

First, they expanded the water park, adding a new wave pool, family slide, and tornado ride.  Here we see only the back half of the water park, nestled snugly in the trees.  It's a nice water park!

Then the thrills came to the park, first in the form of Dominator, which was moved from Geauga Lake.  The ride is technically a "parking lot" coaster but Kings Dominion was smart and planted grass under the ride.

Finally, this past year the park went big - like 305 feet big - when they added Intimidator 305.  The Nascar themed Intamin Giga coaster takes up a lot of real estate.  If you zoom around and take notice of just how huge that first turn is - it looks like a whole wave pool or the park's giant amphitheater could fit in there!

Here's a link to the Kings Dominion photos.


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Quassy Names New Wooden Coaster


© The Gravity Group
Quassy Amusement Park has finally named their new for 2011, Gravity Group designed family wooden roller coaster:  The Wooden Warrior.  The park held a contest where local school classes were able to submit their best name for the ride, and then the winner of picked.

The winning name came from two different classrooms:  Mrs. Barbara Minutillo’s fourth grade, Middlebury Elementary School, Middlebury, Conn.; and Miss Lauren Zafrin’s fifth grade, R.M.T. Johnson Elementary School, Bethel, Conn.  In all over 90 different classes submitted possible names for the new coaster.

Both classes will be welcomed to the park in the Spring to take a spin on the Wooden Warrior when it's ready to open.  You can check out recent construction photos of the ride via the Gravity Group.


Maurer Launched X-Car Coaster Set For Germany's Bayern Park In 2011


I do not believe we've ever covered Germany's Bayern Park here on NPN - it is a small, mostly-family oriented park located outside Munich.  The park has given us a reason to be interested in them by announcing Freischutz, a new Maurer launched coaster going into the park in 2011.

The coaster's name is based on a German folk tale that involves "a marksman who, by a contract with the devil, has obtained a certain number of bullets destined to hit without fail whatever object he wishes. As the legend is usually told, six of the Freikugeln, or "free bullets," are subservient to the marksman's will, but the seventh is at the absolute disposal of the devil himself." (from wiki)  That's intense, no?  The coasters train is set to become one of the "magic bullets" in the tale.

The coaster will be the first launched ride in Bavaria, and will have the most inversions of any ride in Germany.  The ride will use the Maurer X-Car, which features unique lap bars that allow for an unrestricted ride even with several inversions present.  The coaster will sit on a hillside and stretch 1,575 feet.  Most of that will be covered quickly, as the ride uses an LMS launch to hit 50 mph out of the station.

Since the ride slops up a hillside, the tallest track is 79 feet from the ground, but 115 feet from the base of the ride at the bottom of hill.  The ride launches into a top hat, then into a vertical loop, followed by many twists that include a heartline roll and an inclined loop.

Another unique feature will be the fact that energy from the braking system will be collected and reused for the ride's launch.  Maurer says that "supercapacitors" will be used to do this, and in the end the ride will have almost loss-free energy storage.  How very green of them!

The ride sounds like a great addition to the park - this is the type of attraction that so very many American parks would benefit greatly from.  I hope they take notice!


Monday, September 27, 2010

Frightening Fun: Halloween 2010 Events - 3




Greeting guests at Six Flags Great America's Fright Fest is an entry pool dyed blood red.  Talk about setting the mood!  This year marks the 20th season of screams for Fright Fest, and the park is giving guests reason to celebrate.

Creating Fright Fest is intense: "The transformation to turn the theme park into a"scream park" is underway with over 2,000 corn stalks, 7 tons of pumpkins, 300 bales of hay, 200 pounds of blood-red dye, 200 monsters, dozens of corpses and skeletons, and hundreds of rubber snakes, bats, rats, skulls and body parts.  Fright Fest staples, "Tiny" the famous 200 lb spider makes his return to the side of the America Eagle coaster as the 500 lb inflatable gorilla begins his climb up SkyTrek Tower."

2010 marks the debut of the Saw Live haunted maze.  Guests will come face to face with some of jigsaw's most horrible deeds.  Fright Fest starts October 2nd and runs weekends throughout the month. 


Wild Adventures Theme Park becomes even more wild during the Fall when Phobia takes over.  New this year is Phobia: One Path - Endless Fears, the only Halloween experience of its kind set in a real blackwater swamp.

Living in that swamp is the Fearmaker, who doesn't sound like an especially nice guy.  Guests will have to wander through a single pathway and face their most horrible fears along the way.

During the day Kid-O-Ween takes place, featuring Monty's Magical Pumpkin Forest where kids can pick their very own magical pumpkin.  There's also a Monster Mash Dance Party, hay bale maze, and a craft station for the tots.


Universal Studios Orlando kicks things up a notch each year when they present Halloween Horror Nights to the masses.  This year the event is celebrating it's 20th anniversary, quite an accomplishment in the Halloween realm.

Naturally, a 20th anniversary calls for a big celebration - and that's just what guests will find this year.  The even is hosted by Fear itself, manifested into a physical form and causing all kinds of a ruckus.  There are 8 new haunted houses, 6 new scare zones, and 2 new live entertainment productions.  Things never get stale at Halloween Horror Nights!

The event is so popular that most nights sell out, especially on the weekends.  Horror Nights runs through October 31st this year.


If you happen to find yourself in the Nation's capital this Fall and need to get to a scary attraction right away then Six Flags America has what you need! (ok so that's a stretch, but still)  Fright Fest returns to the park this year filled with both scary and family friendly Halloween fun.

If you're really brave then take a trip on the Circus of Lost Souls, where the park's railroad takes you on a trip into the woods where the only way back is a path riddled with ghouls.  Also make sure you are prepared to cross the park's famous Bridge of Terror.  Located in a tree covered, quiet area the bridge is absolutely packed with monsters during the event.

Before all that starts, however, families can partake in a Not-So-Scary Hayride, see a magician perform, and, of course, go trick-or-treating.  Fright Fest starts on October 2nd and takes place weekends through the end of the month.



"Where fear meets fun!"  That's the slogan for this year's ScreeemFest at Canobie Lake Park.  Granted, the park does have such fun as Pumpkin Palace - where kids can take in a spooky story or two - but there's also plenty to fear while at ScreeemFest.

Take for instance the Dead Shed, which promises that "if you leave, it will be screaming!"  You see long ago a group of miners set up camp where the park is now located, and they had their own butcher shop.  Long since redeveloped, the butcher shop still stands and it seems the souls of those animals (and people?!) taken there are back with a vengeance.

Other haunted attractions include The Village and Merriment Incorporated, both of which sound rather freaky and unsettling.  The thrill rides that Canobie Lake Park offers also stay open when ScreemFest is going on, giving visitors yet another way to lose their voice.  The event runs weekend nights for all of October.


After and exciting season that saw the reopening of the venerable Blue Streak wooden coaster, Conneaut Lake Park will get into the haunted swing of things with Ghost Lake.

Nevermind that the classic Conneaut Lake Hotel is known as one of the most haunted places anywhere - there's plenty of other scares to be found at Ghost Lake.  In fact, the event has eight different levels, all of which have different themes.  The entire experience takes over a half hour to complete - but that's only if you make it!

As a bonus the Blue Streak - temporarily known as the Ghoster Coaster - will operating during Ghost Lake.  And if you want to stop by just for a spin on the Streak, that's fine too - the park will offer tickets for just the coaster.


CarnEvil, The Harvest, Slaughter House, Central Stalking, Blue Ridge Bloodbath, Toxic Plague.  What do these all have in common?  Well, there's all attractions at Kings Dominion's Halloween Haunt that are sure to keep you up at night well after you've made it back home.  And that's just a handful, there's plenty more haunts to be had!

The event is expanding again this year with the addition of several new indoor haunted houses, and a new scare zone as well.  Among them is the Doll Factory, where you have to pass by plenty of creepy looking dolls... but are they alive?