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There's another aspect of excitement in the world of thrill rides. There's the excitement of the latest announcements of upcoming rides from an industry as secretive as the military at times, and the excitement of all the latest happenings at parks around the world. Sometimes the news is good, sometimes the news is bad, but our aim is to bring you the fairest, timeliest, most accurate details on everything that concerns you. COASTER-net's team of journalists is hard at work around the clock to bring you the in-depth scoop!
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Six Flags Elitch Gardens, Denver, Colorado, USA 05/30/04 - By: Paul S. -
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Half Pipe, located at Six Flags Elitch Gardens, opened to park guests last Thursday. Half Pipe is America's first halfpipe type thrill ride where riders travel up and down a half pipe one hundered feet high, while freely spinning 360 degrees countless times. This is the second of its type in the world, with the other being Half Pipe located at Särkänniemi Amusement Park, Tampere, Hame Finland.
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 Superman: Ride of Steel has took to the skies once again this morning at Agawam, Massachusetts' Six Flags New England just under a month after a passenger flew off of the Intamin AG-designed mega-twister coaster.
In addition to the New England reopening, the similar Superman: Ride of Steel mega-coaster located at Six Flags Darien Lake in New York also resumed operation today after being shut down following the death.
On May 1st, Stanley Mordarsky died following a fall from his train on the Massachusetts ride just seconds before his ride would have ended in the brake run. Size was cited as a factor in the accident, as Mordarsky weighed 230 pounds.
While the rides were closed to the public, modifications to the restraint system were made to ensure that a similar accident cannot occur in the future, although operator error was ruled a primary cause in the Six Flags New England death.
The new safety in place consists of a secondary lower bar to hold passengers in at their shins; wider, brighter safety belts that now interlock with lap bars; and it will be required that lap bars reach a designated point on the seats for a guest to be allowed to ride.
Six Flags' third Superman: Ride of Steel coaster at Maryland's Six Flags America is slated to reopen on June 6th.
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GreenWood Forest Park, Gwynedd, Wales, UK 05/29/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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Billed as the world's first rider-powered eco-friendly coaster, the Green Dragon took its first run today at the United Kingdom's GreenWood Forest Park.
The concept of the Green Dragon's involves riders climbing up into a cabin and using their weight to pull a stretch of track that 20-rider train sits on up an incline, then they exit the cabin and ascend to the station for boarding. From there, it's all up to gravity to carry the train back down the 919-foot layout, reaching 25mph in the process, back to the bottom point of the course again.
WGH Transportation designed the Green Dragon to become the first modern coaster that will produce more energy than it consumes. The coaster cost £500,000, - just under $1 million in US dollars.
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Holiday World, Santa Claus, IN, USA 05/27/04 - By: Carl F -
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 Splashin' Safari, Holiday World's waterpark, will be close this Friday, the 28th of May due to flooding. The waterpark was also closed today and will not have a small part of it opening tomorrow, which was originally planned.
Holiday World itself will still be operating normally and park representatives said that all admissions on Friday, excluding season pass holders, will receive a free ticket to use any day when both parks will be open.
If you are planning a visit to Holiday World, you may want to visit their website first to see if Splashin' Safari will be open. The link is provided below.
Holiday World's Official Site
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Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, England, UK 05/27/04 - By: Carl F -
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 Arson has been ruled out as a cause for the recent fire at England's Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Although nothing definite has been released as the cause, a senior firefighter that is leading the investigation said that an electrical fault is probably to blame.
The fire destroyed part of the Grand National roller coaster and also the side of the steel outer covering of the Alice in Wonderland ride. The final results from the investigation should be released sometime later this week.
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After the death of a 7-year-old girl riding solo at Rye Playland now have needs to establish tougher standards for amusement park rides said advocates who hope the tragedy will spark some new rules.
They would like the federal government to take the lead in what manufacturers do for there rides and that is make rules for them and enforce them.
Heres is what a spokes person said for the government "We do talk to each other, we have safety seminars, we try to find out if there are better ways we can do things," she added. "Government intervention is one of the worst things that can happen because that causes a paper chase that takes time and energy away from actually trying to improve safety."
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Playland Amusement Park, New York, USA 05/23/04 - By: Paul S. -
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Late Saturday night, Stephanie Dieudonne, fell off of Playland Amusement Park’s The Mind Scrambler, a spider-shaped ride such as Monster at Valleyfair! Amusement Park. Friends of the girl stated that Stephanie had been on The Mind Scrambler several times before times earlier that day.
Shown by a preliminary investigation, it was not the ride operator’s fault. Park director Joe Montalto said that Stephanie had gotten brave enough to kneel on the ride. He says that warnings are placed on the seats sides for on-coming riders.
The Mind Scrambler closed after the incident, though, Playland Amusement Park stayed open.
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Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, England, UK 05/22/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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Just before 9:20 PM on Thursday, a fire began sweeping through Blackpool Pleasure Beach, causing damage to three attractions.
It is suspected that the fire began somewhere around the station for the Grand National, and then spread. The fire was reported by security on patrol in the park, and ten crews of firefighters were called to the scene.
Grand National, a classic 1930s racing wooden coaster, was damaged along with the neighboring Alice in Wonderland and Trauma Towers attractions, however, no injuries were reported following the blaze.
The damage has been assesed and will be repaired while Blackpool Pleasure Beach operates as scheduled once again.
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Alton Towers, Alton, Staffordshire, England, UK 05/15/04 - By: Coaster Force -
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 Ralph Armond, divisional director of the award winning Alton Towers amusement park, is resigning from the park after nine years of making excellent contributions.
According to the Tussauds Group, which owns Alton Towers, a restructuring of the company was a factor which eventually resulted in Armond's resignation. Part of this restructuring was a separation of management from the two hotels.
Under Armond, Alton Towers has gone through many changes, including the opening of two new hotels and a conference centre.
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Fun Spot Action Park now has acquired control of Skycoaster attraction, which is in Kissimmee, Florida, next to the Old Town park.
John Arie, Fun Spot's owner, said, "We plan to develop the attraction into eight acres of thrills, rides, fun, and more." Fun Spot plans to make this a "destination location".
Several ideas include go-kart tracks, batting cages, and electronic bowling. Arie hopes that this is the first step to bringing fun and more people, calling this a "great marriage of fun and thrills".
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Dorney Park, Allentown, PA, USA 05/09/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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 Dorney Park revealed the name yesterday of the 2005 steel coaster being installed at the Pennsylvania amusement park to replace the wooden coaster Hercules.
Hydra: the Revenge was confirmed as the name of the ride when the park opened for the season yesterday, and the logo for Hydra has been released, as seen at left. The theme behind the name is a continuation of the Hercules theme, as Hydra was an eight-headed serpentine monster that Hercules slayed.
Details currently known on the steel ride is that it will be a custom-designed floorless coaster from Bolliger and Mabillard that will be completed at a cost of $13 million. The multi-inversion layout of the coaster will total 3,200 feet of track containing several subterranean dives, with a ride lasting three minutes.
Hydra: the Revenge will open in the Spring of 2005.
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Six Flags New England, Agawam, MA, USA 05/07/04 - By: Carl F -
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 Following last week's accident on Six Flags New England's Superman: Ride of Steel, a couple reports have been released today.
The first report says Stanley Mordarsky was thrown from the ride because of his restraint not being properly secured by the ride operator. However, the report also assigns blame in this accident to Mr. Mordarsky for not informing the operators of his medical condition (cerebal palsy) which is required by state law and to Intamin AG, which built the roller coaster. Mordarsky had also been denied the right to ride the coaster earlier.
Stanley's brother Daniel said that is was obvious that he had a medical condition considering he rode up to the coaster on a scooter, entered through a handicapped entrance, and even had help from the attendants to get into the car. The 20-year-old operator failed to pull the restraint down to a proper level, reportedly because of Mordarsky's large girth. The operator's name was not released, but they did test negative for intoxicants after the accident.
 Although no mechanical defects were found, the T-bar restraints will remain banned in the state of Massachusetts. This Superman coaster will be the only one in the state affected by this. To follow the new law, the restraints will receive shorter seatbelts, the lapbar itself will be modified to fit more securely against the riders, and possibly the seat bottoms will be extended to make the new restraints even more effective.
You can read more by using the links below to the two reports talked about in this post.
Restraint Modifications
Accident Report
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Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA 05/06/04 - By: Carl F -
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It has been reported that Walt Disney World's Mission: Space ride has sent six riders to the hospital since its opening. Those six riders have complained of chest pains and/or nausea, which would be why the park has added barf bags to the ride. Being more specific, the state records show that three of the riders were sent to the hospital with chest pain, two of the riders with nausea, and the last said they didn't feel well.
 All six of the people who have been hospitalized are over the age of 55 and 4 of them had pre-existing medical conditions. A Disney spokeswoman said that Mission: Space is a very intense ride and that it is clearly not for everyone. Before boarding the ride, there are 13 signs that advise the guests of the high G-forces that will be experienced on the ride. They also advise for people with high blood pressure, heart conditions, motion sickness, or other medical problems to avoid this ride.
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Six Flags New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA 05/06/04 - By: Carl F -
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 Three years ahead of schedule, Six Flags has completely paid of the standing loan for Six Flags New Orleans. During the Jazzland bankruptcy, the interest of the loan was subordinated to SouthTrust Bank, in the amount of $13 million. By paying of the loan in full so early, the city is secured of no loss from the Jazzland bankruptcy.
This definitely marks a turn in Six Flags concentration to its North American parks after selling almost all of its other parks earlier this year.
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Six Flags America, Largo, MD, USA 05/06/04 - By: Carl F -
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  Following the recent death on Six Flags New England's Superman: Ride of Steel, Six Flags America has closed its Superman: Ride of Steel as well. A spokeswoman for Six Flags said that it is their policy to close rides located in other parks that are clones or similar to the coaster that the death/accident occured on. This will last at least until the investigation finds the cause of the accident.
Intamin is the manufacturer of both of these Superman: Ride of Steel coasters.
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Massachusetts, USA 05/03/04 - By: Paul S. -
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Last Saturday, a man fell from to his death off of Superman: Ride of Steel, and now, Massachusetts state officials are stopping a handful of rides featuring the use of the "T Lap Bar Restraint".
The state is calling for testing, technical evaluation, and maybe even a redesign of the restraint. By the end of the week, the department hopes to issue the report on last Saturday's accident.
The memo sent out was not intended to scare any park-goers, and is not saying that these rides featuring the "T Lap Bar Restraints" are unsafe.
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Six Flags New England, Agawam, MA, USA 05/01/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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At 3:45 today, a guest to Six Flags New England died after falling from the park's mega-coaster Superman: Ride of Steel.
Today's tragic incident occured as the train was making its way back to the station just before the end of the two and a half minute ride as the train was entering a banked curve. The man, 55-year old Stanley Movarsky, was riding in the last car of the train.
 After flying from the train around 3:00, Movarsky was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from injuries sustained. Superman is closed while an investigation takes place.
In 1999, a rider on a similar mega-coaster, Intamin AG's Superman: Ride of Steel at New York's Six Flags Darien Lake, fell from the ride's train but survived the fall.
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PALican Palace, Arizona, USA 05/01/04 - By: Paul S. -
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Based on a friendly pelican, aptly named PALican, an Arizona man, Mike Aloisi, hopes to build a kids' theme park.
According to Aloisi's vision of the kids' park, PALican Palace would feature a train, some carnival-type rides, a roller coaster, games such as water games and miniature golf. The park will have an indoor dolphin show, and maybe even a movie theatre plus hotel.
Mike Aloisi is looking into placing the kids’ park where an Arizona Cardinal’s Stadium was proposed years ago.
If the park were to open in 2007, which is what Aloisi would like, the park would be open 300 days a year and closed for maintenance for two months. Aloisi said he would cap attendance for shorter lines.
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