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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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Thorpe Park, Chertsey, Surrey, England, UK 11/28/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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 A concept that originally took off in 2002 will be arriving at Thorpe Park in 2006 in the form of a short and fast steel mega-coaster.
Plans have surfaced online for the seventh Rocket Coaster from Intamin AG to be built at the English theme park: a 205-foot tall version of the Intamin AG pneumatic-launch coaster with two hills and a racing theme. The yet-unnamed coaster will become the second of its kind in the United Kingdom, as sister park Alton Towers will unveil the Rocket Coaster Rita next season.
The new thrill ride will replace the junior-sized Flying Fish Mack powered coaster, along with nearby attractions to fit the long, narrow layout. Flying Fish closed permanently on October 31st after 21 years in operation. The plot of land that the new ride will sit on will afford views of a nearby lake, with several minor stretches of track situated over water.
The 2006 coaster will have similar statistics to the prototype Rocket Coaster, Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm, and a layout most resembling that of Six Flags Great Adventure's record-breaking Kingda Ka which will open next spring with a launch, Top Hat element, and speed hill into the brakes. But coaster enthusiasts will also notice a theme similar to that of another Rocket Coaster: Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. Thorpe Park's ride will bear a similar racing theme, with touches such as a grandstand used for a portion of the queue line.
Manufacturer Intamin AG worked with Thorpe Park in 2002 when creating Colossus, the theme park's first major coaster and world's first ride with 10 inversions. Last year, the park introduced the Nemesis Inferno inverted coaster.
Click here to be taken to detailed concept art of the planned steel coaster.
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Gold Reef City, Johannesburg, South Africa 11/27/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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 South Africa's only theme park, Gold Reef City, is holding a contest online to name this year's new coaster.
The contest is in its final hours, as it will close on November 28. Visit the official Gold Reef City site to submit your own name. Winners will recieve prizes including three free tickets to the park.
Gold Reef City's currently-unnamed ride will become the park's fifth coaster when it opens next month. The non-looping family-geared twister will take riders over 2,303 feet of green and yellow track and to a maximum height of 79 feet, with top speeds reaching 42 miles per hour.
Past coasters at the theme park are 2001's Tower of Terror vertical-plunge coaster, the 1999 Giovanola inverted looper Anaconda, Schwarzkopf shuttle-looping Golden Loop, and the Runaway Train kiddie coaster.
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Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, Winter Haven, FL, USA 11/26/04 - By: Carl F -
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 Cypress Gardens began its soft openings today before the park has its grand reopening on December 9th. The Florida park is owned by Kent Buescher, which also owns Valdosta, Georgia's Wild Adventures theme park. Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden park with ski and ice shows with the renowned Southern Belle's. The park closed in April 2003 due to low attendance, but one year later Buescher bought the park in a bid to save it.
The park opens with four new coasters: the Triple Hurricane wooden coaster, named after the three hurricanes that caused damage to the park. Storm Surge, a Vekoma Junior coaster, Swamp Thing, a Vekoma Family Suspended which was originally going to be named NaviGATOR after the UF mascot and lastly for the little thrillseekers, a Zamperla Fiesta Express model simply named Fiesta Express.
Buescher also stated that the park may get a big expansion for next summer, which is set to include a new waterpark and a possible fifth coaster.
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Knoebels' Grove, Elysburg, PA, USA 11/23/04 - By: Carl F -
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 Today, Knoebels' unveiled 2 new flat rides for the traditional park. The first is a Zamperla Discovery model named Sidewinder. The attraction is aimed at thrillseekers and will open for the 2005 season.
The second flat ride is aimed at kids and families as one of Zamperla's Flying Tiger's models as Flying Tigers 8. As Kozmo the Squirrel said," I think these would make great additions to Knoebels!" Both attractions are slated to open next season.
You can see pictures of the attractions at the official Knoebels site.
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Stratosphere Tower, Las Vegas, NV, USA 11/18/04 - By: Josh Thompson -
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 Vegas's most recognizable attraction released the details for it's newest thrill ride today. Insanity: The Ride will join X-Scream, Big Shot, and High Roller on top of the tower's structure.
Rendering of the new ride were released during the summer and the manufacturer was announced. The ride comes from Interactive Rides of Logan, Utah, who were responsible for the Stratosphere's 2003 attraction, X-Scream. This ride will be the second highest ride from the ground, only being below the Stratosphere's Big Shot.
Insanity: The Ride is a new Inverted Centifuge ride that rotates at 40-mph and rotates over the edge of the tower dangling riders 900-feet above the ground below. Interactive Ride's escape proof harness secures riders as they are subjects to 3g's.
A helicopter is scheduled to lift the ride to the top of the tower in January. Soon after construction should be finished and the ride will open to the public soon after that.
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Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL, USA 11/16/04 - By: Carl F -
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Today, Walt Disney World has opened up a new attraction, Stitch's Great Escape, in the Magic Kingdom park. The attraction replaced Alien Encounter, which was a favorite in the Tomorrowland section of Magic Kingdom. Stitch's Great Escape is a prequel to the 2002 Disney movie Lilo & Stitch. Guests are hired to keep an eye on Stitch (aka Experiment 626) as they have to tolerate Stitch's wild behavior such as chili dog burps.
Meanwhile, Disney took advantage of the grand opening of the new attraction with announcing a new water-coaster for Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon water park. The new attraction will be called Crush 'n' Gusher, which will be a Master Blaster slide such as the one featured at Schlitterbahn in Houston, Texas.
You can read more on Stitch and see a video here.
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With only owning its new park, Geauga Lake, for less than a year, Cedar Fair has already made plans add a water park, Wildwater Kingdom, for the 2005 season and then add onto the water park in “Phase Two” of the plan. They are also planning other updates within the park.
The first phase of Wildwater Kingdom will be 20 acres of water and fun which will include an interactive water fortress, children’s activity pool, teen activity pool, lazy river, ProSlide Tornado, and the relocation of the Hurricane Mountain waterslide complex.
The second phase, phase two, will include a wave pool, an adult pool with a whirlpool spa. At the edge of the adult pool, Geauga Lake will include waterfalls and a swim-up bar where guests ages 21 and older can purchase an alcoholic beverage.
The other updates around the park will be a transformation of former Mission: Bermuda Triangle simulator into Dino Island II: Escape from Dino Island. This ride will be enhanced by water drops, lightning effects, and other surprising additions. Next year they will be adding their own live show with the Snoopy characters.
If you would like to see what other small projects are happening at the park or to see the progress of these projects visit the Geauga Lake website.
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Silver Dollar City, Branson, MO, USA 11/07/04 - By: Devin Olson -
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 What do you get when you take a former Premier Rides watercoaster, combine it with an S&S Power launched family coaster, and mix it with the theming of Silver Dollar City? You get Powder Keg, just confirmed by the park to be opening next spring.
The Branson, Missouri theme park has taken a rare approach to a new ride in combining elements of the former Buzzsaw Falls, which closed in 2003, with new track from S&S Power and a pneumatic launch of 53 miles per hour in three seconds along with the current lift hill. In all, the new ride experience will twist through 3,506 feet of steel track.
Three 16-passenger trains will replace Buzzsaw's ten-rider single cars. Along with twister elements including an overbanked turn, Powder Keg promises a 110-foot drop, three large airtime hills, and a final rabbit hop into the brakes. G-forces will top out at just below four.
Buzzsaw Falls opened in 1999, and the park began demolition work last year, but retained certain elements of the ride, piecing it together with the new track from S&S Power. Construction is well underway at Silver Dollar City, as the new structure is erected in preparation for the 2005 debut.
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