 Less than 72 hours after 10-year-old Caleb Schwab died while sliding on the tallest water slide in the world, Schlitterbahn reopened to the public. Roughly half of the water park remained closed and tickets were discounted to $28.99.
Verruckt will not open for the rest of the season, and it’s still unclear if the rides around Verruckt will also stay closed. 41 Action News producers went inside the park to show Schlitterbahn workers building a makeshift wooden fence alongside Verruckt. Those inside the park said they were surprised by how busy it was, but said that everyone being confined to only half the park likely played a role. FULL STORY
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 A young boy tumbled from a wooden roller coaster at a Pennsylvania theme park Thursday and was airlifted to a hospital with unknown injuries, a park spokesman said. The accident occurred on the Rollo Coaster ride at the Idlewild & Soak Zone in Ligonier, about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, spokesman Jeff Croushore said at an afternoon news conference.
"He was talking, he was alert with his family," Croushore said of the boy. He could not confirm the extent of the child's injuries or his age. The victim was not identified, although a local fire station dispatcher earlier told NBC News the child was about 3 years old. FULL STORY  Less than a year after its £18m restoration and grand re-opening, Margate’s Dreamland has gone into administration with debts of more than £14m. The theme park continues to trade and has now scrapped the entry fee, instead charging per ride in a last-ditch attempt to lure more visitors. But its future remains uncertain.
Dreamland’s desperate scrabble to stay afloat seems unlikely to succeed without a radical rethink. The park’s regeneration was well-intentioned with enormous effort put into restoring its original rides, in particular the famous Scenic Railway, the 1920s wooden rollercoaster, Dreamland’s main attraction. But at the opening gala in June 2015, the over-riding impression was of jumping onto a tired "vintage" bandwagon, amid a palpable air of last-minute panic. As it turned out, the Scenic Railway was not ready in time for the opening, much to the dismay of the organisers as well as the locals who had come out in their droves to witness the revival of this Margate landmark. It came as no surprise that Wayne Hemingway, who was hired to design the revamp, has since claimed that the entire project was underfunded from the start. FULL STORY  The 220-acre site of the derelict Six Flags amusement park in New Orleans East is worth $3.26 million and the scrap value of its dilapidated rides would be essentially negated by the cost of removing them, according to a private appraisal ordered by the city’s Industrial Development Board.
The details of the McEnery Co.'s 200-plus-page report, which pegs the value of the main park at $3 million and an adjacent, undeveloped 65-acre site at $260,000, were released by the board at its monthly meeting Tuesday. A decision on what to do next won’t be made until at least next month. The board did vote unanimously to have a title search, an environmental survey and a phase one environmental assessment done because any choice the board makes about the park’s future will need those tasks to be completed. FULL STORY  Anaheim, CA -
Over the weekend at Disney's California Adventure Park, across the street from Disneyland, their signature roller coaster, California Screamin', was briefly shut down after a woman's purse fell from the ride and onto the track, triggering the ride system to stop the coaster. A train of 15 riders was stopped mid-ride about 30 feet above ground for about 45 minutes. Local firefighters arrived quickly and the riders were transferred to the ground via bucket truck safely with no injuries. The ride re-opened later in the day. This is not the first time that California Screamin' has had issues involving loose articles. In fact, on two different occasions this summer, the ride has had to shut down for similar incidents where riders took out selfie sticks during the ride in an attempt to photograph and video the ride experience. Since then, selfie sticks have been banned from Disney parks. California Screamin' opened in 2001 with the park, features a 0-55MPH launch, is one of the longest steel coasters in the world at 6,072 feet, and features a vertical loop inversion. Like many other Disney rides, California Screamin' features drawstring pouches for loose articles such as hats, cell phones, and purses. FULL STORY  Vallejo, CA -
The ultimate interactive Virtual Reality (VR) coaster experience, featuring Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus, is coming to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom this fall as demonic creatures battle terrified riders in the all-new Rage of the Gargoyles debuting on Kong, the park’s floorless looping roller coaster, just in time for Fright Fest® starting September 24. “Six Flags is the leader in innovation and thrills, and we are excited to introduce the VR coaster experience to our guests at Discovery Kingdom,” said Don McCoy, park president. “In Rage of the Gargoyles, the experience is immersive and terrifying as riders shoot at the demons throughout the entire ride ‒ the perfect addition to our Fright Fest line-up.” Among the thrilling highlights: High-definition imagery and storytelling that sync with the track configuration creating a one-of-a-kind “real world” to “virtual world” thrill-ride; For the first time ever on a rollercoaster, riders can engage in interactive gaming throughout the entire ride experience by shooting at flying demons; and Unique sophisticated head-movement targeting instantly locks on a moving target without the need for a touchpad or buttons to fire. The realistic theme puts the rider in the action similar to a video game experience. Riders are pilots seated in the cockpit of an Apache-style helicopter, flying through a devastated cityscape of a dark and dreary future as part of a fleet of choppers ready to battle winged creatures to the end. Both the pilot and their realistic foes are virtually engaged in a battle all while racing over the 2,170 feet of twisting, turning, looping coaster track. FULL STORY  Sanduscky, OH
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced record results for the second quarter ended June 26, 2016, discussed attendance and guest spending trends through July and declared a quarterly cash distribution. Highlights Cedar Fair reported record net revenues of $446 million for the six months ended June 26, 2016. This $22 million increase over the same period last year reflects the Company's continued success in all areas of its business, including attendance, guest spending and out-of-park revenues. Cedar Fair is on track for a seventh consecutive year of record results. Net revenues through this past Sunday, July 31, 2016, increased 2%, on a 1% increase in attendance, a 1% increase in average in-park guest per capita spending and a 4% increase in out-of-park revenues compared with the same period last year. The Company declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.825 per Limited Partner (LP) unit payable September 15, 2016, consistent with its annualized rate of $3.30 per LP unit. This distribution represents an attractive 5.6% yield. Cedar Fair remains confident in its long-term business strategy and its ability to reach its long-term Adjusted EBITDA goal of $500 million earlier than its original target of 2018. Commenting on the Company's strong second quarter and results through July 31, 2016, Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair's president and chief executive officer, said, "Our record performance in the second quarter and through the first seven months of the year reinforces our confidence in our ability to deliver a seventh consecutive year of record results in 2016 and to continue this record-setting trend into future years. Our commitment to the quality of the guest experience and our investments in transformative capital projects are expanding our audience, enhancing repeatability and improving value perceptions, resulting in growth across all aspects of our business. FULL STORY  Santa Claus, IN -
A well-known rite of summer for many Hoosiers turns 70 years old Wednesday. Now in its fourth generation of Koch family ownership, Holiday World and Splashin' Safari was originally established in Spencer County as Santa Claus Land, as founder Louis Koch's way of saving children from the disappointment of not finding Santa Claus in the small town with the same name. It has grown to employ 2,000 seasonal and 100 full-time employees. Director of Marketing Paula Werne says the attraction still thrives because the Koch family and employees pay attention to things big parks don't. "There's things like being so clean that you're just as clean a park at the end of the day as you are at the beginning of the day and is absolutely not easy to do," Werne said. The park has steadily stepped up its focus on major thrill rides throughout the years, moves which Werne says have helped bring Holiday World and Splashin' Safari to the "forefront of the industry." The most recent addition to its lineup is the $22 million Thunderbird, which opened last year and is considered the only "launched wing" roller coaster in the country.  Hershey, PA As announcement season continues, Hersheypark in Hershey, PA has announced their new attraction coming for 2017. Theme park attendees will get to experience three towers and choose the one that interests them the most. The attraction is called TripleTower. The towers will be built by S&S and come with a wide variety of ride cycles and intensity levels. The first will be the Kisses tower that will be good for all ages and be a less intense drop tower. Kisses tower will have a height of 80 feet and hold 12 passengers. The ride cycle will feature two instances of positive and negative G-Forces The second tower will be called the Reese's Tower and it has a height of 131 feet. This is your standard drop tower and also features two instances of positive and negative forces. The third tower is called the Hershey Tower and will feature a combo Space Shot and a Turbo Drop. The tower will top out at 189 feet and carry 20 passengers. The park anticipates the three towers will be ready for the 2017 operating season.
 Shakopee, MN
For 2017, Valleyfair will say goodbye to a classic flat ride that has been at the park for 38 years. On August 21st, the park will remove their Enterprise to make way for next year’s new ride! Valleyfair’s Enterprise is the latest example of the classic flat ride to be removed from a park. Although it’s sad to see another Enterprise go, it is exciting to hear that something new will be replacing it next year! At this time, it is unknown what will replace Valleyfair’s Enterprise, but there are a few things we can expect based on recent trends across the Cedar Fair chain and what the park has said. In the tweet they sent out announcing the closure of the ride, they used the phrase “as we prepare for new heights in 2017.” Since it is unlikely we will see a roller coaster taking its place in the park, it is likely that a new flat ride will replace it. Of the flat rides Cedar Fair has added to their parks recently, the Gerstlauer Sky Roller, Mondial Revolution, and the Windseeker are the ones that seem to fit the description of “new heights.” However, I am not sure if the park will want to build a Windseeker after the issues other Cedar Fair parks have had with their Windseeker models in the past. There is a good chance it will be one of these flat rides, or the park may build something different. FULL STORY |
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