|
|
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!
|
 | |  |
|
|
|
|
 Knoebels Amusement Park and Resort unveils two new rides this season, one of which is already running.
The Flying Tigers, which is modeled from World War II planes, is a family ride that opened when the park did for the season. The other ride, called Fandango, is a pendulum thrill ride.
Meanwhile, the Fandango pulls three g's and swings 120 degrees in each direction. It is scheduled to open this weekend.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Six Flags Marine World opens a new two acre exhibit called Ocean Discovery. Ocean Discovery is a new interactive exhibit where visitors can feed and be up close with animals like the bottlenose dolphin, stingray, and penguin. Ocean Discovery opens on April 29 with three separate areas: Dolphin Encounter, Stingray Bay, and Penguin Passage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Geauga Lake, which started out as Giles Picnic Pond in the early 1800s, will celebrate its 118th anniversary when the gates open on May 7th.
It all started when a settler by the name of Joel S. Giles bought some land in what is now Geauga County. His land became a popular meeting place for picnics.
In the early 1900s the area was renamed to Geauga Lake when a man named Bill Kuhlman bought the land and built the current amusement park.
|
|
|
|
|
|
On May 11th, 56 year-old Charles Stan Martin, who is an amusement park manager for Rockin’ Raceway, will be tried for second degree murder and reckless homicide of a 51 year old Nashville woman.
In March of 2004 June Carol Alexander fell from the Hawk, a ride at the park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Alexander’s safety strap came undone while the ride was in motion. She died due to injuries at a local medical center.
In April of 2004, the Hawk was dismantled and according to the park’s attorney, it won’t be reassembled.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minnesota has the Mall of America, and in 2008, the City of Arabia in Dubai will soon be the home to the Mall of Arabia as well as commercial and residential projects.
What does this have to do with amusement park news? Well like Mall of America has Camp Snoopy, Mall of Arabia will have Restless Planet. Restless planet will be a theme park with a dinosaur theme with three rides and 100 lifelike, actual size dinosaurs.
The park and mall are scheduled to open in the spring of 2008.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 On May 23rd, 1981, Canada’s Wonderland opened its gates for the first time. On May 1st, 2005 the park which has been owned by Paramount Parks since 1993, will celebrate its 25th opening day. Since opening in 1981, the park has added many new attractions.
The park now has over 200 attractions, 65 rides, as well as a water park called Splash Works. This year the park will debut its 14th coaster- The Italian Job: Stunt Track. The park is located near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Dorney Park will be the home of Pennslyvania’s first floorless coaster. Hydra: the Revenge, cost $13 million to build and construct.
The ride's total track length is 3,198 feet with its train of eight rows and four seats to a row.
Hydra: the Revenge has everything from twists and rolls to drops and spirals. The ride is scheduled to open on May 7th.
To see a picture of Hydra: the Revenge click here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Disney has created another first in the world. This time it is the Disneyland Resort line that will shuttle almost 10,000 passengers to and from the new Hong Kong Disneyland every hour. It is the first train route created just for a theme park. The train line is 3.5 kilometers long.
The train will have a uniqueness only a Disney product would have right down to the Mickey Mouse shaped window The trip will take 3 and a half minutes. The building of the Disneyland Resort line cost about 257 million US dollars and is scheduled to be up and running on September 12th.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Disney World would be interested in hosting a future NFL Draft. This would be perfect for Disney since ESPN airs the annual draft.
Like Disney World, ESPN is owned by Disney. The NFL which currently holds the draft in New York City, thought about doing the draft in Philadelphia this year.
The league has shown interest in holding next years draft in Philly or possibly Chicago. Another option would be the team with the first pick would be the host city. If this were the case, Disney World would not be an option since Orlando is not the home of an NFL team.
The draft is held every year, sometime in April.
|
|
|
|
|
Great Escape, Lake George, NY, USA 04/27/05 - By: Carl F -
|
|
 Today, Great Escape, a Six Flags-owned park, unveiled a brand new hotel called Great Escape Lodge with an indoor water park. A trend in the amusement industry with the Great Wolf Lodge chain and Cedar Point's recently opened Castaway Bay resort.
The new hotel will feature over 200 family suites, the Adirondack Coach House restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and room service, Ballroom seating for 300 people, meeting rooms, snack bars, fitness centers, two gift shops, arcade, lounge, and with a convienent location across from the park and near ski areas.
The water park will feature a themed multi-level play structure, Flow-rider body boarding and stand-up surfing experience, themed adventure river with 160 interactive elements with two body slides, Activity lagoon with basketball court, shallow pool for little kids, warm spas, family raft slide, and tube water slides.
With many features, the indoor waterpark is for hotel guests only. The hotel will open for the winter 2005/06 season. Prices for stays have yet to be announced.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 A 26-year-old elephant's unborn calf died when she went into labor Sunday at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.
When the calf is released from its mother-which could take up to a year- a necropsy will be performed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 When Kennywood opens for the season on May 7, the park will start selling ride-all-day admission tickets. This marks a significant change in the park's admission policies as Kennywood as always been a pay-per-ride ticket park, since it opened in 1898.
Prices for single-day admission will now be as follows:
$28.95 for normal admission.
$14.95 if you are 55 years of age or older.
$18 if you are under 46 inches.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Viacom is now planning on splitting itself into two different companies pending the outcome of a board vote next month. If the plan is passed, the new companies would go into effect in early 2006.
The two new companies would be called "Growth CO." and "Value Co." The Growth Co. would consist of MTV, BET, and Paramount Pictures. The Value Co. would contain CBS, UPN, tv stations, radio, outdoor, Showtime and Simon and Schuster
|
|
|
|
|
Cedar Fair, L.P., Sandusky, OH, USA 04/25/05 - By: Alan Johnsrud -
|
|
 Cedar Fair’s Bruce Jackson has announced that he has made plans for retirement in the coming months. For the last sixteen years Jackson has served as the Partnership’s Chief Financial Officer for Cedar Fair. The company owns and operates seven amusement parks and five water parks.
There is not a date set for the retirement date, and he has agreed to stay on through a transition period while they find his successor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 “The Happiest Homecoming on Earth.” That is the name Disney is calling its new celebration ceremonies in honor of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary. The celebration will contain a new parade, fireworks, and attractions.
The new celebration will begin on 05-05-05, (may 5th 2005), to go along with the 50th anniversary theme. The Celebration will go on for 18 months. You can see the celebration at Disneyland, Disneyworld, Disneyland Paris and the new park in Hong Kong when it opens in September. For more information about the celebration, go to www.disneyland.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
When Disney opened Disneyland Paris, the company was criticized for not considering some cultural aspects in which the French are known for. To keep this from happening with Hong Kong Disneyland, the company sought advice from a feng shui master. The master recommended the entrance to the park be different from its original plan. Disney is taking this advice and shifting the angle of the front gate by 12 degrees. According to the feng shui master this will ensure maximum prosperity of the park as well as make sure the chi, or positive energy of the park does not flow into the China Sea.
Other aspects that support the belief of feng shui are cash registers in corners or close to walls as well as no fourth floors on the elevators at the parks hotel. Why no fourth floors you may ask? Well to the Chinese the number 4 is like the number 13 is to Americans- it is bad luck.
|
|
|
|
|
Stratosphere Tower, Las Vegas, NV, USA 04/20/05 - By: Carl F -
|
|
 Insanity: the Ride, Stratosphere Tower's newest extreme thrill ride, malfunctioned earlier this morning, leaving riders stranded more than 900 feet in the air facing toward the ground and 60 feet away from the tower. The breakdown proved a freaky experience as riders got more than they bargained for. Two young girls, aged 11 and 19, were stranded for more than an hour on the ride.
The cause of the accident is unknown, but the girls were safely back on the ground at 1 a.m. local time and given blankets and hot chocolate.
Insanity opened in Februrary as the Stratosphere's new ride. The Stratosphere is located in Las Vegas and houses other rides such as Big Shot and X-Scream. Insanity was made by Interactive Rides, the same company behind X-Scream.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 The much-anticipated new world's tallest and fastest coaster, Kingda Ka, will not open as originally scheduled. Six Flags Great Adventure’s 128 mph and 456 foot coaster was originally scheduled to open April 28th. The new opening date for Kingda Ka has not been scheduled yet.
The delay has nothing to do with safety problems.
“Six Flags cycles ride for 100 hours to ensure that everything from the computer programming to employee training is thoroughly tested before a ride opening,” says park spokesman, Kristin Siebeneicher.
On eBay.com for the past couple of weeks, people have been bidding to get to ride Kingda Ka first. All together, the bidders raised nearly $16,000 just for that first ride. All of the money raised went to Children’s Miracle Network. Unfortunately, the bidders are going to have to wait until a couple of weeks. Great news for season pass holders though! Season pass holders get to ride Kingda Ka before the general public does.
|
|
|
|
|
|
From Charles Dickens book Dombey and Son:
"'Walter,' she said, looking full upon him with her affectionate eyes, 'like you, I hope for better things. I will pray for them, and believe that they will arrive.'" Well, better things are on the way. People of Great Britain and other places near London have been waiting for a new theme park, and now it will finally come.
Dickensworld, as the future park will be named, will be located near Kent, Great Britain, close to the location where Charles Dickens grew up. Dickensworld will recreate the era when young kids worked in sweatshops, Britain ruled all, and when Dickens wrote his classic works. The theme park will be based on the life of Charles Dickens. It will have a little more intense rides than gentle rides. Dickensworld will be an inside park with great expectations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
All of the talk of where to put a new theme park may finally come to an answer. Somewhere in Omaha, Nebraska, developer Steve Minard and his investors are planning to build a new theme park dubbed Wild Escape. The developers still have to get the bill passed from the legislature to build this $200 million project.
“Even if the LB500 bill does not pass, the Wild Escape theme park portion of the resort will be built in five years of the most,” Minard said.
The bill, LB500, is determining if they should allow tourism between Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. If the bill fails to pass, the cost of the construction would be left to Minard and his investors to pay off.
Minard says that the park will open 18 months after constructions starts. The fee will be about $30 and the park is expected to draw about one and a half to three million people for its first two seasons. The park will be about 200 acres.
|
|
|
|
|
Visionland, Bessemer, AL, USA 04/04/05 - By: Carl F -
|
|
 Today, Visionland, a small park in Bessemer, Alabama, announced more rides for 2005. Adding on to the park's new coaster Zoomerang, the park announced a new log flume. The new log flume is built on the site of the old log flume, which was deemed unusable when it reopened in 2003.
The new flume will be over 1,180 feet long. The drops being 26 feet long each. The park has no name for it, but is planning to hold another naming contest for the ride, like Zoomerang. The park is also adding new food carts, shops, and games as well under its third season of management under ProParks Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
