|
|
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!
|
 | |  |
Enhanced rides and new shows heading to BGW
Two new shows and improvements to 'DarKastle'
|
|
|
Busch Gardens Williamsburg / Williamsburg, VA 01/31/06 - By: Cole Werkheiser -
|
|
© Busch Gardens Williamsburg
|
Busch Gardens Williamsburg, the Anheuser-Busch theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia, announced their 2006 attractions today.
The Old European style theme park will receive a new Irish dance show to be dubbed, “Emerald Beat” which will replace “Irish Thunder”. Busch Gardens Williamsburg also announced a new cirque-style show to replace “Imaginique”. Park officials also told reporters to look for a family-friendly summer concert series, which will return to the park for the first time in a decade. Finally, the park will make improvements to the 2005 hit attraction, Curse of Darkastle: the ride.
Both the enhanced DarKastle and “Emerald Beat” will open on March 25, the parks opening day; whereas the other two attractions will launch on May 29 and June 16.
|
|
Six Flags departs from Oklahoma City
Chain selling Frontier City, shifting offices to NYC
|
|
|
Six Flags Inc. / Frontier City and White Water Bay, Oklahoma City, OK, USA 01/27/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
© Frontier City
|
Six Flags Inc. has announced two major changes today.
The first of those changes comes with the plan to sell its Frontier City park and the adjacent White Water Bay water park. The park is owned by Six Flags, only not "flagged." Located in Oklahoma City, Frontier City has recieved few major additions under the Six Flags ownership.
The park is the first to be sold under Snyder's ownership and would be one of many changes under his direction. The park would be sold to Staubach Co. and their ownership would start in 2007.
Another big move Snyder has made is the announcement of the closure of the company's Oklahoma City offices. The company's offices will move to New York City.
|
|
Busch Gardens Williamsburg plans new thrill
Park files height waiver application for new attraction
|
|
|
Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA, USA 01/26/06 - By: Devin Olson -
|
|
© Clint Novak
Visitors pass under an archway leading into one of two France sections. Busch Gardens' new attraction, if approved, will be situated in the France area.
|
Seeking to follow up the 1975 park's most expensive attraction ever with a new thrill ride, Busch Gardens Williamsburg has applied for a waiver to James City County restrictions that place a 60-foot height limit over the theme park's France area.
Last season, Busch Gardens debuted the Curse of DarKastle: the Ride dark attraction in the theme park's Germany area, and now it appears that the 2007 season could bring the next major ride investment to another part of the European landscape.
The park's vague description in the application described the planned addition as "Busch Gardens' latest expansion" and a thrill even for the "most challenging park guests." All hints point towards the park's largest attraction to the France section since Alpengeist was unveiled in 1997.
The Williamsburg park's last coaster installation took place in 1999 with the star attraction Apollo's Chariot. Meanwhile, sister Busch Gardens operation Busch Gardens Tampa has received two coasters the past two seasons including the largest ride in park history.
We will post more details as they are uncovered.
|
|
Pirates, new slides invade Busch Gardens Tampa
'Pirates!' 4-D movie, new slides announced for Tampa Bay complex
|
|
|
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay / Adventure Island, Tampa Bay, FL, USA 01/21/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
© Busch Gardens
|
Yesterday, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announced two new attractions for its theme park and its nearby water park Adventure Island.
First, Pirates! 4-D will be the second 4-D show at the Busch Gardens complex after the R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse attraction. Haunted Lighthouse was added back in 2003 and has been a hit with families. Pirates! will start showing inside the Timbuktu Theater on Februrary 18th.
Pirates! stars Leslie Nielsen (star of the upcoming Pink Panther remake) on a swashbuckling comedy adventure written by Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame). The film is a part of a project to add a library of films to Timbuktu Theater.
Meanwhile, Busch's water park Adventure Island announced its major new attraction. The attraction is so big, it replaces the current icon of the park, Tampa Typhoon, a set of speed slides. The slide's name? Riptide!
Riptide will be the first new attraction at the park since 2000's Wahoo Run! Riptide will be Florida's first mat slide and will be a 4 slide complex, as riders will speed down chute from 55 feet high. The attraction will open in March 2006.
|
|
Three new splashes heading to Fiesta Texas
Three new ProSlide waterslides to open in May
|
|
|
Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA 01/18/06 - By: Cole Werkheiser -
|
|
© Six Flags Fiesta Texas
|
Six Flags Fiesta Texas has announced that the park will add three new water attractions to its very popular water park for the 2006 park season. The multi-million-dollar expansion is expected to be completed in time for a May 6 debut, two months after the park launches the 2006 season.
All three of the new waterslides are from ProSlide Technologies. The Big Bender will rise 50 feet into the sky, taking riders through a series of dips, tunnels and twists passing through daylight and darkness.
The park will also construct a six-lane speed slide entitled Hill Country Racer which will send riders through a series of dips.
The last slide is dubbed the Whirlpool, and will swirl two riders around a 40-foot-diameter bowl before dropping them through a corkscrew chute. In addition, the park will unleash Splashwater Springs for the kids.
|
|
Paramount Canada's Wonderland set attendance record
PCW is now the number one attended seasonal theme park in North America
|
|
|
Paramount Canada's Wonderland, Ontario, Canada 01/18/06 - By: Cole Werkheiser -
|
|
© Paramount Parks
|
Paramount Canada’s Wonderland ended their 2005 season by setting another attendance record, this time making them the number-one-attended seasonal theme park in North America.
According to Amusement Business Magazine, Paramount Canada’s Wonderland is the 26th most attended park in the world. Most of the success comes from there recent addition of Italian Job: Stunt Track, based on the 2003 blockbuster hit by Paramount Pictures’, which takes riders to a thrilling 40 miles per hour three times. 
© Paramount Canada’s Wonderland
|
Paramount Canada’s Wonderland has now been open since 1981 which means the park will open for the 26th season on May 7, 2006.
PCW is set to unleash Mission Impossible Stunt Spectacular in May 2006 which will deliver a visual thriller for audiences. This action packed show will feature intense fire explosions, pyrotechnics, incredible sets, and acrobatic maneuvers.
|
|
Tornado touching down at Great America
Hurricane Harbor adding popular water slide to line up
|
|
|
Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, IL, USA 01/14/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
 Today, Six Flags Great America announced a new addition to their wildly popular Hurricane Harbor water park.Tornado, a ProSlide Tornado water slide, has been announced for the one year old water park.
Tornado takes riders at the top of the seventy five foot tall tower as they board cloverleaf tubes. Riders then circle around in a 132 foot long tunnel until going through a 60 foot tall funnel. In the funnel, riders zig zag until they enter a small tunnel into a pool. After plunging into the pool, riders can now brag they have been on 'The Ultimate Storm'!
Tornado should hopefully open up with Hurricane Harbor on May 27th, 2006.
|
|
'Stealth' prepares to take to the skies
UK's largest hydraulic-launch coaster announced
|
|
|
Thorpe Park, Chertsey, Surrey, England, UK 01/10/06 - By: Devin Olson -
|
|
© Thorpe Park
|
It's been no secret the past five months that the next major attraction at England's Thorpe Park will be an Intamin Rocket Coaster. Unless, of course, a theme park could manage to hide one of the country's tallest, fastest roller coasters.
After months of construction, Thorpe Park has finally confirmed the debut of its salient 205-foot, 80-m.p.h. launched steel coaster for 2006 although, even with a name like Stealth, visitors last season needed no confirmation that a dominating new attraction was on the way.
Topped off on Sep. 6, the white and blue tower of Stealth features a 90-degree twisting ascent and descent - both completely vertical in the fashion of Intamin's previous hydraulic-launch coasters. Those hydraulic-launch coasters include the latest two world's tallests, Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point and Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure, along with another UK ride, Alton Towers' Rita: Queen of Speed. Stealth will stand as the eighth Rocket Coaster to debut when it opens early this year, with another slated to take off in 2006.
The track's layout resembles a scaled-down version of Kingda Ka, with a simplistic out-and-back action sequence: a launch, single vertical tower, small airtime hill, and brakes. The 1,312-foot layout will feature 25 seconds of ride time from end of launch to brakes.
|
|
Snoopy runs away from Camp
Mall of America loses rights to 'Peanuts' characters
|
|
|
Mall of America, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, USA 01/09/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
© Clint Novak
|
After years of entertaining families at America's largest shopping mall, the Peanuts gang is leaving the mall's indoor theme park known as Camp Snoopy. With the mall fighting United Media for rights to continue using the Snoopy theme, the mall sadly failed to retain the rights to the characters. The agreement to use the characters ended last year, but United Media allowed them to use the characters until this point in time.
With the end of the Peanuts era, the park had to get a new name. The name? Yet to be announced, but mall officials are going to temporarily use the name "The Park at MOA." The mall is also negotiating with other companies for a new theme as well during the transformation.
Mall officials hoped to retain the rights since Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts, grew up in the area. For thirteen years, Snoopy and his pals graced the midways of America's largest indoor theme park, as well as the recent break-up of Cedar Fair management of the park.
The last day to enjoy the Peanuts inside the Mall of America is on Thursday, January 19th, 2006.
|
|
Winterfest will return to PKI
Paramount’s Kings Island’s Winterfest will return in 2006
|
|
|
Paramount's Kings Island, Kings Mills, OH, USA 01/09/06 - By: Matthew Rydzik -
|
|
© Paramount's Kings Island
|
The park in an announcement on Friday confirmed that Winterfest will be returning to the park for the 2006 season. Winterfest turns Paramount’s Kings Island into a giant winter themed park. The 2005 season was the first since 1992 that Winterfest had been held. The park discontinued the event after the 1992 season citing a longer operating schedule and the park would no longer had time to fully transform the park.
A guest survey revealed that park patrons rated the 2005 Winterfest as one of the best Paramount’s Kings Island has ever held, however, they said the $24.99 admission fee was too expensive.
|
|
Florida guests paying more at the gates
Universal, Disney, Sea World, Busch Gardens raised prices this week
|
|
|
Islands of Adventure, Sea World, Universal Studios, Orlando / Busch Gardens Tampa, Tampa Bay / Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, FL 01/08/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
© Homer
|
A trend in Florida recently, parks have boosted up admission prices, yet again. The first parks to do this? Busch Gardens Tampa and Sea World Orlando last month. Sea World boosted their prices to $61.95 for one day admission. Childrens prices boosted to $47.95. Busch Gardens Tampa boosted one day admission to $57.95 and childrens to $47.95. Sea World's sister park, Discovery Cove, done this too. Prices to enter the low-capacity, exclusive getaway now costs $279 to get in. Meanwhile, Florida residents can buy a season pass for the parks for ten dollars more or come back any day of the year the ticket was bought on.
Then on January 4th, 2006, Walt Disney World boosted their entry prices. Normal tourists have to now spend $63 dollars for one day admission. Florida residents can enter the parks for $56.70. Childrens prices have boosted to $52.
A few days afterwards, Universal Orlando did a "Monkey see, Monkey do" and raised their ticket prices. Heck, exactly the same as Disney World's! Normal admission is now $63, children get in for $52. However, the prices haven't boosted for online tickets. A one day ticket for the "Two Park" combo is now $73 for adults and $63 for children. Two day Two Park admission is now at $107.95 for adults and $97.95 for children. Prices for Florida residents will also go up, but a bonus pass, which allows admission to both parks for five days, remains at $99.95.
This is a sign of good business and a sign that Florida's economy has now recovered from the tourism depression following 9/11. The only Florida park yet to boost prices is Cypress Gardens.
|
|
Greezed Lightnin' on fire
Astroworld coaster up for auction suffers small fire
|
|
|
Six Flags Astroworld, Houston, TX, USA 01/04/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
© Six Flags
|
Just when you thought Astroworld hasn't had enough headlines lately. This morning, a small fire occured at the control room for the up-for-auction coaster, Greezed Lightnin'. The control room went up in flames and was damaged. The ride, park officals say the ride suffered no damage at all.
The fire was said to have been caused by a smoldering piece of metal that fell on a pile of dry leaves. This occured while the control room building was being dismantled with hot torches. Nobody was hurt during the incident.
Greezed Lightnin' is a coaster that has been put up for auction for this weekends auction. Built in 1978 and designed by Anton Schwarzkopf. Greezed Lightnin' is a Schwarzkopf shuttle-looping ride that launches riders sixty miles per hour through a single vertical loop, forwards and back. Before the park closed for good on October 30th, 2005, Greezed Lightnin' celebrated its one-millionth launch after nearly thirty years of operation.
|
|
Astroworld rides and items to be auctioned
Auction for items, including rides, to start Friday
|
|
|
Six Flags Astroworld, Houston, TX, USA 01/04/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
© Six Flags
|
The recently closed Six Flags Astroworld park in Houston, Texas is going to start auctioning off items from the park this Friday and run for three days. While items and props such as ride signs or lamp posts would be up for sale, more importantly, the fate of the rides.
Three roller coasters and a few flat rides are up for auction. The first, Greezed' Lightnin', a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop coaster built in 1978, launching riders sixty miles per hour through a single vertical loop, forwards and back. The second coaster up for auction is Viper, a Schwarzkopf Looping Star coaster that started life at Six Flags St. Louis as Jet Scream. The ride takes riders through a twisted steel course with a single vertical loop. The third coaster up for auction, XLR-8, is one of the first Arrow Dynamics Suspended coasters made and opened in 1984. Other rides up for auction include the 1912 Dentzel Carousel, Steam Trians, and the Looping Starship flat ride.
Most of the Astroworld coasters have found new homes at other Six Flags parks, but two remain in limbo. Ultra Twister and Batman: The Escape, rumors say that Ultra Twister would go to Six Flags America and that Batman: The Escape would be scrapped. Their fates are unknown.
Sorry kiddies, you have to be 18 to participate. Six Flags Astroworld closed on October 30th, 2005 after thirty-seven years of fun.
|
|
Blackpool Pleasure Beach retires 'Funshine'
Seventy-year-old icon of park replaced with new logo
|
|
|
Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, England 01/04/06 - By: Carl F -
|
|
Blackpool Pleasure Beach (or Pleasure Beach Blackpool) announced a new logo for the park to take over the longtime "Funshine" logo of the park (see right)  . The Funshine has been a park icon for seventy years.
Former park manager Geoffrey Thompson wanted a brand new logo for the park that was sleeker and sophisticated than the old logo. Geoffrey died in 2004, and the duty has been done by his children, Amanda and Nick Thompson, the current managers.  They created a special typeface for this logo called 'GT,' named after their father.
The new logo would soon be plastered all over everything in the park, from train fronts to staff uniforms.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
