Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon Opens at Universal Studios Florida

Now open at Universal Studios Florida is a brand new simulator-style attraction dubbed Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon.  The host of the "Tonight Show" is taking passengers on a crazy trip through New York City where he races them through the Big Apple, "completely immersing them in the world of America's favorite talk show – "The Tonight Show."  The experience is action-packed, taking riders through the busy streets, past many landmarks, and even up in the skies.

© Universal

The attraction has taken up the space formerly occupied by the Twister experience, and as depicted above resides in a recreation of the NBC Comcast building in Manhattan.  Guests are able to experience a "virtual queue" before the ride portion where they are able to freely roam and play games, take in entertainment, or even meet with Hashtag the Panda.  Color coded groups allow visitors to know when it is their turn to stop playing and take a ride through New York with Jimmy.

© Universal

Jimmy Fallon was on hand this past week for the ride to open, along with a "New York-style ticker tape parade in Universal Studios Florida that featured tons of confetti, a custom float and beloved Universal Orlando characters.  Joining Jimmy on the float were "Tonight Show" house band The Roots, announcer Steve Higgins, and an array of characters from the show, including Hashtag the Panda, the Ragtime Gals barbershop quartet, and even Stepdad Gary from the popular "Ew!" sketch."

For more on Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, check out Universal's website.

New Mardi Gras Celebration Now Underway at Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Six Flags Fiesta Texas, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has kicked off their first-ever Mardi Gras Festival & Parade, a new event for 2017.

The celebration is aimed at bringing more guests to the park during the early season, and what better to do that then a new parade, great culinary treats, and a party atmosphere?  The festival started at the theme park on March 24th and will take place each operating day until April 30th.

© Six Flags

The big draw for the Mardi Gras Festival is a parade featuring eight elaborate floats "handcrafted by world-renowned float designer, Kern Studios. The intricately designed 16-foot tall floats will feature a variety of themes including the Mardi Gras King and Queen, the seasonal festival, Dia de los Muertos, and other celebrations from around the world, like Rio’s Carnival."  Guests are able to line up and watch as the parade passes by, filled with equally colorful performers keeping the crowd pumped.

The new parade will also feature the King William Brass Band performing at two locations along the parade route.  Of course, each float will have plenty of green, gold and purple beads to distribute to the crowds.  Other features of the new parade include stilt walkers and street performers.

© Six Flags

Along with decorations throughout the park, the Mardi Gras Festival will also have authentic culinary treats for visitors to discover.  Items such as gumbo, king cakes, beignets and jambalaya are served, along with adult beverages like New Orleans Hurricanes and Southern Comfort Sweet Teas.  Retail souvenirs will also be available, like jester-style hats and large novelty beads.

The Mardi Gras Festival & Parade is a kick off to what will be an exciting 2017 season.  Later in the summer the all-new Thunder Rapids Water Coaster will open in Six Flags Fiesta Texas's water park section.

Impressive New Vekoma Coaster Going Up at Legendia

© Vekoma

2017 will be an interesting year for new coaster debuts at parks around the globe, and one that I couldn't help but notice recently is the Lech Coaster at Poland's Legendia theme park.  Designed by Vekoma, the ride features a multitude of inversions and extreme elements.

Pictured above is a view of the intense-looking first drop of the Lech Coaster, which turns 90 degrees as it plunges from a height of 131 feet.

© Vekoma

After the ride's first drop the trains will encounter a twisted layout that interacts with several planned themed elements.  In total there will be 2,979 feet of track, two corkscrews, a reverse sidewinder and several helices, according to the statistics posted to Roller Coaster Database.

© Vekoma

Vekoma also shared this photo of Lech's rolling stock - complete with a nicely themed front piece.  While the trains feature over-the-shoulder restrains they look to be the vest-kind that hopefully will provide a comfortable ride experience.  The trains will consist of six cars each with four seats for a total of twenty four riders.

© Legendia

I'm not 100% sure that Lech Coaster's theming will be completed right away, but the park has posted these images of what they have planned.  I love how this building is incorporated into one of the corkscrews, with riders passing through it while upside down.

© Legendia

This larger aerial view not only shows all the theming elements that are planned, but also the coaster's full layout.  Vekoma has long been known for their production model roller coasters, so it's great to see a unique new design going up.  The ride looks well paced and has a nice element mix that has a little bit of something for everyone!

For more photos of the ride and its construction, stay up to date with Vekoma and Legendia's Facebook pages.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Gives a Look at the Making of InvadR

It won't be long until we are all able to take our first spin on Busch Gardens Williamsburg's first-ever wooden roller coaster, InvadR, with the coaster opening this coming weekend.  Leading up to that exciting day, the theme park has released a really neat 'making of' video about the design and construction of the ride.

The addition of InvadR is sure to liven up the usually quiet New France section of the park.  The coaster now weaves its way both under and over the park's log flume, and has a couple passes over the park's train track as well.

The video shows all the effort that went into creating the ride, and the intricate backstory and theming that has been applied to both the ride and its surroundings.  We got some more details on that as well in Scott and Carol's recent story on the attraction.  Plus the video provides some awesome aerial footage of the ride that we haven't seen yet.

Hopefully all that are planning on visiting Busch Gardens Williamsburg this coming weekend to try out InvadR have a great time, it looks like a wonderful attraction.

Additional Entertainment Options Announced for American Dream

© The American Dream

The American Dream, located just outside Manhattan in New Jersey, will not only be a giant shopping facility when it opens, but also an entertainment destination.  We have already heard of the developer's plans for a Nickelodeon themed indoor amusement park, as well as a DreamWorks themed indoor water park, observation wheel and an indoor ski slope, but now even more options are being revealed.

Blooloop has published an interesting interview with developer Triple Five's President about their ambitious plans for The American Dream, including more on entertainment options.  These include:

• A large performing arts center and theater, with developers partnering with Cirque Du Soleil on a show.

• Merlin Entertains will open both a LEGO Discovery Center and a Sea Life Aquarium inside the facility.

• The first instillation in the U.S. of KidZania, a popular international brand where kids can train and work in well known businesses set inside a themed mini-park, learning as they go.

• SMAAASH, a "gaming and entertainment center that connects sports, virtual reality and dining into a highly interactive and innovative social experience."

• Other sports activities such a climbing walls, trampoline parks, mini-golf, ropes courses and ice skating.

© American Dream

Triple Five hopes to have the American Dream open by the end of 2018.  Park fans, myself included, are still anxious to hear more about just what will be added to the theme park.  Hopefully more will be released as the grand opening approaches.

Playland Aiming for May Opening of New Gale Force Roller Coaster

© Playland's Castaway Cove

According to a recent news article, Playland's Castaway Cove is planning on being able to open their new roller coaster, Gale Force, this May.  The compact design coaster, created by S&S Worldwide, was originally to set to open a year ago, in May of 2016.    Several delays made the ride sit idle as the summer passed by and the news story gives light on just what happened.

It turns out that one piece of the ride's track didn't set exactly as designed, one where the coaster enters the station, which was making for a safe, but bumpy ride.  S&S Worldwide decided that the segment of track needed to be re-manufactured, so the ride's opening was put off until this year.

Gale Force features a triple-launch, forward and backward, to get the individual, 12-seater cars moving at more than 60 miles per hour, but that one bumpy track connection would have been passed 3 times each cycle, and at high speeds.

The new track is now installed and the ride has been modestly tested in recent weeks.  With more testing set for the coming weeks, Playland's Castaway Cove will then be able to apply for a state inspection and sign-off and open the coaster.

In addition to the three LSM launches, Gale Force will also feature a maximum height of 125 feet and a beyond vertical plunge mid-ride.