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Libertyland was a small amusement park located in Memphis, Tennessee that closed its doors for good after the 2005 season. It was in all ways unremarkable, except for the fact that its star attraction, the wood coaster Zippin Pippin, is alleged to be the favorite ride of Elvis Presley.
After standing but not operating for the last five years, the ride is in no shape to be relocated. But the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin has made a deal to give the ride a second life. Elvis fans everywhere were thrilled to hear that another part of his legacy lives on. Jim Schmitt, the mayor of Green Bay agreed to pay a mere $3500 to the rights to the design, name, and history associated with Zippin Pippin. Another $3 million will be spent constructing the 70' high, 2865' long out and back coaster at the the city's Bay Beach Amusement Park. Some people still hold to the fact that Elvis lives. While that may not be true, his favorite coaster will indeed live on. So for any hard core Elvis fans out there, start making plans to head to Green Bay in 2011.
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On Saturday, March 20th, 2010, the highly anticipated coaster Thirteen (Often spelled Th13teen) opened at Alton Towers amusement park. The park has kept the ride under extreme security through the ride's construction under the code name "Secret Weapon 6". When the perennial favorite Corkscrew was removed in 2007, people wondered what kind of ride would replace it. Now, after months track arriving, the park teasing, and lots of speculation about what secrets this ride holds that earned it the rumored title of being the World's First Psychoaster, it has finally been revealed.
The ride begins with a nerve-racking climb up the lift hill. After a brief moment at the top, the train plummets towards the earth, followed by a hard right turn leading you through a trip through the woods with twists, turns, and empty seat airtime to fulfill a thrill seeker's desires. However, when the train runs out of speed and pulls into a warehouse, where most rides would end, this ride is far from over. After passing some spooky scenery that caused this ride to be dubbed a "Psychoaster" (Which was, oddly enough, not operating during the grand opening), the ride has a world first. The train comes to a stop, and instead of slowly crawling foreword or having a ride operator say the ride is over, the train lurches downward a few feet, installing terror in the unlucky passengers. After a brief moment, the train is propelled downward in a world first, a free fall drop on a roller coaster. It doesn't end there, though, as then the train is launched backwards into some twists and turns, though this time inside dark tunnels. Afterwards, the ride enters some switch track and pull into the station for the next unlucky victims ride Thirteen. So if you are in the Alton area or are planning a large coaster riding trip and will end up in the UK, you should stop by and experience Thirteen.  Recently, Ferrari World has released an image of the roller coaster cars for Emotion Coaster, a Ferrari F340 Spider themed, twin tracked racing coaster.
The twin tracks of Emotion Cooaster will be fairly unbanked like a road would be. (You don’t find many roads banked at 45 degrees.) The result will be an awesome experience full of lateral G forces and fun Ferrari action. The tracks have a few strategically placed LSM boosters so that the two trains will constantly pass and overtake each other for a truly exciting racing experience. Ferrari World is scheduled to open sometime in late 2010. As with almost everything Dubai does, this park will be breaking some records. Ferrari World will be the largest indoor theme park in the world when it opens. It also will feature the fastest roller coaster in the world, F1. The park claims (about F1), “…the coaster is capable of 150 miles per hour, but may be operated at lower speeds.” This can be taken two ways: A. The coaster will be a record breaker or... B. The coaster will follow the same path as Ring Racer and not fulfill the claims that were originally made (and consequently let us down). Ferrari World will feature about 20 rides including the F1 coaster. Other attractions include: A flume ride through a massive Ferrari engine, a 203 foot tall drop tower ride in the center of the park, racing simulators, a 4D theater, a double tracked LSM launched racing coaster, several go cart tracks, and an aerial simulation ride similar to Walt Disney World’s Soarin’ where riders trail a Ferrari through Italy. Ferrari World will also house several places to shop and dine as well as driving schools for junior drivers and training for experts. Since 2008, Six Flags over Texas has kept its giant woodie, Texas Giant, closed due to supposed renovations to improve the ride. Most woodies designed by Dinn Corperation, including Mean Streak and Texas Giant, often recieve complaints on roughness. Six Flags decided to do something about it.
Throughout 2009, the park has kept a lid on the details on how Texas Giant was to be transformed. A few sections of track have been demolished to accomidate track changes, but even then, the park kept quiet. Now, the park has finally released details. Texas Giant shall recieve a massive $10 million overhaul. In terms of track work, the ride shall be using a new I-beam style of track work with a special backbone support to accomidate it. In mentioning the I-beam, it will be using steel for track, not wood, which will mean Texas Giant will be a steel coaster, not wood. Despite this, the park has boasted that it will break records intended for the 'wooden' category, including adding 12 ft to the lift hill, topping out at 153 ft, a 'record breaking' 79 degree drop, and 95 degree banking, supposively out banking the current record holder in the wooden category, Voyage at Holiday World. With the added height and steepness to the drop, the ride shall outpace its former top speed of 62 miles per hour. It is also infered that new trains will be made to make use of the new track With all this work taking place this year, it is assumed the ride will be open in time for the operating season in 2011. which happens to be Six Flags 50th anniversery. |
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