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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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Oaks Amusement Park, Portland, OR, USA 07/31/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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Oaks Amusement Park is being sued by the father of a 14-year-old girl he claims was injured on the Looping Thunder steel coaster.
Brian James has filed a lawsuit of $180,000 against Oaks after he says that his daughter Kathryn was injured as a result of staff negligence. On June 19th, the lawsuit says, Kathryn was riding the coaster when she complained that her restraint was too loose, only to be laughed at by a ride operator. Afterwards, she spent 90 minutes in the park's infirmary with muscular and head injuries.
Looping Thunder is a Pinfari single-loop twister model with a height of thirty-six feet. It has been in operation since 1996.
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Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN, USA 07/27/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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For the second year in a row, Dollywood will be giving attention to its 2001 waterpark Dollywood's Splash Country with the addition of a $2 million project aimed at guests of all ages.
The Bear Mountain Fire Tower will open next spring as an interactive water play area that will be topped off by a 1,000-gallon bucket of water that will periodically spill onto the multi-level complex below. Bear Mountain Fire Tower will be part of a five-acre expansion for the waterpark.
This year marked the debut of a new slide named Big Bear Plunge, along with the park's Thunderhead wooden terrain twister from Great Coasters International.
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Paramount Canada's Wonderland, Vaughan, ON, Canada 07/22/04 - By: Paul S. -
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The Bat, a Vekoma Boomerang model, malfunctioned during the coaster's lift, although media had reported that the incident occured during an inversion. For almost forty-five minutes, twenty riders were stuck six stories up in the air. Stranded riders were reassured by two park attendants over the ride's public address system.
Paramount Canada’s Wonderland spokesperson, Kris Williams, said the malfunction occurred after the “lift stop”, a mechanism created to stop the train immediately if any kind of error was detected by the computer system. The error has not yet been identified and is being investigated at this time.
Stranded riders were asked for contact information so they could receive a free pass to the park. One rider says he won’t be using it after this incident.
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Six Flags over Texas, Arlington, TX, USA 07/21/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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Following recent flooding at Six Flags over Texas, the park has announced that ShockWave will be closed for several months due to storm damage.
When torrential rain storms hit the Arlington area on June 29th, soil was dislodged around the coaster's footers and will need to be shored up before the structure will be fit for normal operation again.
Repairs, however, will not begin until after Six Flags over Texas' last day of daily operation on August 22nd, so that crews can perform their repair work during the days that the park is closed.
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Lake County Fair, Painesville, OH, USA 07/14/04 - By: Joe Mueller -
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Yesterday an amusement ride owner was sentenced to pay $13, 000 and six months of jail time after an 8 year old boy was shocked and killed by a Bumper Car ride.
The owner has worked amusement carnivals since he was 13 years old. He said "I am very, very sorry. This has turned my life upside down." His ride had 22 safety code violations and apparently used tin foil to cover the wires.
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Lake Compounce, Bristol, CT, USA 07/13/04 - By: Joe Mueller -
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 Lake Compounce plans to expand waterpark to twice its current size.
The park's proposal was accepted by the city council to move the road 200- 300ft east. This would make this park 20% to 30% larger.
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Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH, USA 07/13/04 - By: Paul S. -
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 Cedar Point’s newest roller coaster, Top Thrill Dragster, had an accident yesterday when the metal shavings from the launch cable were heading towards ride passengers during the launch, which can reach speeds of 120 mph. It was also reported that some riders were burned by an oily substance when the accident took place.
Two of the riders were treated at Cedar Point’s first aid station while the other two riders were taken to a Sandusky hospital. One of the riders had a shard of metal go right into his chest. His condition has not yet been released to the public. This will be the second time Top Thrill Dragster has been closed this month. A Cedar Point spokesman says Top Thrill Dragster will be closed indefinitely.
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Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA, USA 07/10/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland has been shut down following its third accident in just under a year.
The accident occured on Thursday evening when two trains collided, and an investigation is ongoing. Three riders, a 10-year-old boy and his 42 and 44-year old parents, were hospitalized with minor neck and back injuries.
This latest collision is the second to occur since one rider was killed and others injured last September 5th when the lead locomotive on the mine train-themed attraction's train and struck the front row. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was closed for half a year following the fatal accident, and reopened only for trains to make contact during a test run.
Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has been operating as one of the park's most popular attractions for the past 25 years, reaching speeds of up to 28 miles per hour during its 2,671-foot themed track layout.
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 Six of Cedar Point's 16 roller coasters are celebrating monumental anniversaries this year. They are, Blue Streak (40 years); Cedar Creek Mine Ride (35 years); Jr. Gemini (25 years); Magnum XL-200 (15 years); Raptor (10 years); and Woodstock Express (5 years).
Cedar Point will be honoring each of the six classic roller coasters during "Roller Coaster Anniversary Week." which is July 13 - July 16. "Roller Coaster Anniversary Week" will honor a different coaster each day with a short ceremony held at the queue entrance of the featured coaster at 10 a.m. Then after the little ceremony they will have the first 1,000 rides will get a special limited-edition commemorative anniversary pin.
'Roller Coaster Anniversary Week is going to be just a good time with remembering memories you had with that coaster before.
The The schedule for the rollercoasters each day will be: Monday, Raptor; Tuesday, Cedar Creek Mine Ride (10 a.m.) and Jr. Gemini (10:30 a.m.); Wednesday, Blue Streak; Thursday, Woodstock Express; and Friday, Magnum XL-200.
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Proposed Theme Park, Waterford, CT, USA 07/08/04 - By: Carl F -
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Not only does Connecticut have a proposed theme park and entertainment complex valued at around $900 million in the works, but now that same developer also has a planned movie studio campus.
The planned Utopia Studios would be built on the land that used to be the New London-Waterford Airport. According to a report, the developer has already secured a controlling interest to be the future owner of the land.
Waterford is already home to Sonalyst Studios, at which parts of the movie Amistad were filmed.
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Miracle Strip Amusement Park, Panama City Beach, FL, USA 07/08/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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Florida's historical Miracle Strip will be closing for the last time with this Labor Day weekend, but while the park as a whole will fade into history, hope still lives for two of the small amusement park's classic attractions: the Carousel and wooden coaster Starliner. Developers plan on erecting condos on the site that the park now sits, along with shopping and dining venues.
Despite the plans for redevelopment, Amusement Today is reporting that developers of the project may be considering integrating the two rides into the new development. According to the Miracle Strip manager, he has made progress in convincing project developers to save the Starliner and Carousel. If kept, the Starliner would operate as part of the shopping district, while the carousel could be relocated into the lobby of the condos.
Starliner was a Philadelphia Toboggan Company and John Allen project that opened with the park in 1963, along with the classic Chance Carousel, with a traditional out and back layout and 2,640 feet of track. The 20-acre park was sold earlier this year and will operate for the last time on September 5th.
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