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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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The Zippin Pippin is ready to rock North Carolina
Libertyland’s classic wooden coaster has found a new home
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© Libertyland
A classic to continue rockin': After months of waiting, it was finally announced that Libertyland's Zippin Pippin roller coaster would be saved.
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Libertyland amusement park in Memphis, Tennessee closed its doors for good on October 29, 2005. The beloved amusement park held an auction to sell off all of the park’s rides and attractions on June 21, 2006.
The park’s most famous roller coaster was the Zippin Pippin. The Zippin Pippin was Elvis Presley's favorite roller coaster, and was bought for $2,500. The question everyone has been asking is who bought the Zippin Pippin, and will it be relocated to another amusement park. Well those questions were answer when it was announced that Elvis’s favorite ride would have a new home in North Carolina.
A pair of collectors from Nashville bought the classic wooden roller coaster at the auction, and now they have sold it to Carolina Crossroads entertainment. The 83-year-old wooden coaster will be the centerpiece of the Carolina Crossroads amusement area, which includes a 1,500-seat music theater in a 1,000-acre park in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
It was also revealed the Dollywood, which is run by Dolly Parton, was interested in the Zippin Pippin, but decided not to buy the coaster when they found out they would have had to spend millions to rearrange some of the park’s layout to accommodate the 3,000-foot roller coaster.
Dolly Parton's brother, Randy Parton, plans to operate the Carolina Crossroads, which officials hope will be the first of a number of similar operations throughout the region. About one year ago, ground was broken on the 1,500-seat Randy Parton Theater, and it’s expected to be the cornerstone of the Carolina Crossroads Music and Entertainment District. The theater is scheduled to open in April.
The founder of a Save Libertyland association, Denise Parkinson, said on Friday that Memphis should make a counteroffer to try and save the Zippin Pippin.
She was quoted saying, “Memphis is losing an opportunity to create our own vintage rock and roll park."
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Five arrests made at Six Flags Great Adventure
Men forged re-entry hand stamps to enter park
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Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, NJ, USA 10/27/06 - By: Cory Gross -
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© Josh Davidson
Re-entry System: Five men abused the re-entry system by forging hand stamps to re-enter the park.
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Five arrests were made at Six Flags Great Adventure, in Jackson, NJ, for coming into the park without paying by forging hand stamps, which allow people to re-enter.
When Mark Shapiro and Dan Snyder took over Six Flags, one of the changes they made was to get rid of the re-entry system. However, this new policy was overruled due to complaints from the media.
The five men, Edward Williams, Richard Chin, Rashad Clark, Edward Doherty, and James Garcia, also had many drug charges and charged for possessing cocaine and other illegal drugs.
They used hand stamps, latex gloves, baby powder, and an ultraviolet light to forge re-entry stamps.
They were taken to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River. The men were aged from 18-25 and were had a $85,000- $125,000 bail.
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Great Adventure announces improvements for 2007
NJ park taking next season off from new thrill rides
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© Six Flags Great Adventure
Another set of family additions: These family additions to the park for 2007 reflect Daniel Snyder's ideas of turning Six Flags into a family friendly theme park chain.
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The Planning Board in Jackson, New Jersey has just approved a couple of changes for Six Flags Great Adventure. Planning Board engineer Douglas Klee, described some of the changes that will be made at the park for the 2007 season.
One change, he described, would be some modifications in a previously unused portion of the park where a pavilion for an educational facility will be created. He also mentioned that some modifications to the exit road toward the park along with automated toll plazas.
Richard Maloney, vice president, Birdsall Engineering, described another change involving the existing Looney Tunes Seaport section of the theme park.
"The Looney Tunes project consists of retheming the front portion of the Looney Tunes Seaport," he said. "The Looney Tunes Seaport is in the southwest portion of the park." He also described the project in more detail by saying that there will be two new kiddie rides and a small stadium for children's shows.
The final change will involve Great Adventure’s Wild Safari. Maloney also describes this project by saying, “What we are proposing is to make the area more interactive." He included that there will be an area for pony rides and an interactive animal area. There will be an educational area where visitors will be able to learn about the animals, and a location where guests will be able to leave their own pets while they visit the main theme park.
“The new area itself is going to be called 'Wild Safari Interactive Outpost,' " said Al Rubano, director of construction at Great Adventure. "It is not a petting zoo." He explained that animals will always be the featured attraction and they will be introduced to the guests by trainers.
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Silver Dollar City ready to go soaring in 2007
'Giant Swing,' an S&S Screamin’ Swing, set to debut
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© Silver Dollar City
The Giant Swing: Silver Dollar City's newest giant will send riders soaring at a top speed of 45 mph and will give a birds-eye view of the barn and beyond.
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Silver Dollar City has just announced that they are building a giant, which is set to make its debut to the public in the spring of 2007. This giant is the Giant Swing.
The Giant Swing, is a S&S Screamin’ Swing which will launch riders through barn doors to a maximum speed of 45 mph, and then will swing them 7.5 stories into the sky. The Giant Swing will have a capacity of 700 passengers per hour, and will use compressed air technology to thrust riders to top speed.
Since the S&S Screamin’ Swing has been a very popular attraction in the amusement park industry and many different variations have been built throughout the world, Silver Dollar City has decided to make their version stand out above all the rest. They are going to do this by building the ride itself inside a very well themed barn façade so the two pendulums swing over the barn creating a unique ride experience.
This isn’t the first time Silver Dollar City has worked with S&S Power. In 2005, Silver Dollar City hired S&S Power to turn the park’s BuzzSaw Falls water coaster into the PowderKeg launch roller coaster, which takes riders on a thrilling adventure through the wilderness. Now S&S Power is back at Silver Dollar City to create a new Midwestern giant, which just happens to be The Giant Swing.
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The Blackstone Group acquires Gardaland
Italy's largest theme park changes ownership
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© Gardaland
Sequoia Adventure: The Sequoia Adventure opened at Gardaland in 2005 and was the world's first S&S Screamin’ Squirrel style roller coaster.
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Italian newspapers have recently reported that the Blackstone Group has just purchased Italy’s largest theme park, Gardaland. The Blackstone Group is a private investment firm with offices located in large cities throughout the world.
The Blackstone Group made headlines last year when they purchased the Merlin Entertainment Group as well as the Legoland chain of theme parks in Europe and North America. The Blackstone Group also owns 50 percent of the Universal Orlando resort.
Gardaland is Italy’s largest theme park as well as Italy’s first theme park. Along with the amusement park, Gardaland also offers a hotel and resort to its visitors. The park’s most recent major attraction was the Sequoia Adventure roller coaster which opened in 2005 and was the world’s first S&S Screamin’ Squirrel style roller coaster.
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Six Flags saves cockroach promotion
PETA fails at canceling the promotion
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© Josh Davidson
Cockroach Eating: The cockroach eating contest, a promotion during Fright Fest, is saved at Six Flags Parks.
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As a promotion for the 2006 Fright Fest, a Halloween event that takes place in most Six Flags parks, guests are challenged with a cockroach eating contest: If a guests eats one live cockroach, they get a pass to skip the lines at certain rides and attractions.
PETA sent a letter to Six Flags asking to cancel this event because they feel it is cruel to cockroaches. Many people agree, and PETA got tons of emails and calls complaining about this promotion.
However, Six Flags has gained the power to continue this promotion due to popular demand.
Insects are a regular culinary delight in many cultures around the world. Entomophagy, which means the eating of insects, is practiced in parts Asia, Africa, Australia, Central and South America.
The Fright Fest at Six Flags parks occurs every Halloween and features children and adult activities including haunted trails, shows, costume parades, and much more. It is meant for kids and family.
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Holiday World sets season attendance record
Park exceeds one-million visitors for the first time
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© Holiday World
It's been a long time coming: After 60 years of hard work, Holiday World has finally reached the one-million visitor mark.
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For the first time in its 60 year history, Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari exceeded one-million visitors in a single season. The park ended up with a total of 1,005,000 visitors during the 2006 operating season, and that success was due in large part to the new Thanksgiving themed area and the new Voyage wooden roller coaster.
“It took us till the final day of the season, but we did it!” said park president Will Koch. Koch credits the 15-percent growth in attendance to the new Voyage wooden roller coaster along with the continued focus on the park’s cleanliness and friendliness.
Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari were recently rewarded for their efforts by winning four “Golden Ticket Awards” from Amusement Today magazine. These four awards included; the world’s #1 Friendliest amusement park award, the world’s #1 Cleanest amusement park award, the Best New Ride Award which was given to the Voyage, and finally the Best New Water Park Ride Award which was given to the new Bahari River at Splashin' Safari.
Attendance is expected to climb five percent next year because of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari’s latest expansion. The new 4.5 million dollar expansion will include the Turkey Whirl, a new themed tilt-a-whirl, and the Bakuli family water slide. This expansion will also create an additional 50 seasonal jobs in 2007.
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Liseberg reveals the Uppswinget for 2007
Swedish park to debut S&S Screamin’ Swing
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© Liseberg Park
The S&S Screamin' Swing: Since it was introduced in 2004, the S&S Screamin' Swing has been one of the most popular rides in the amusement park industry.
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Liseberg Park, Sweden’s largest theme park, will open a large version of the S&S Screamin’ Swing next spring. The new S&S Screamin’ Swing will be named the Uppswinget, (The Up Swing), and is set to debut on April 28, 2007.
This Screamin’ Swing will be very similar to the model that opened this year at Kennywood in Pennsylvania called the SwingShot. This new Swedish giant will hold 32 passengers per-ride, (16 on each arm), and will stand 30 meters tall. Compressed air technology will accelerate riders from 0 - 80 km/h and swing them 120 degrees into the air.
This is one of the more unique Screamin’ Swings because instead of being constructed on flat piece of land, the Uppswinget will be built on the side of hill, which will enhance the ride experience. The ride will also have a creative paint scheme that involves different shades of green in circles that rise up the two main supports of the swing.
This is just one of the many large investments that Liseberg has made the past couple years. The Balder, (an Intamin AG wooden roller coaster), opened in 2003 at Liseberg, and has been rated one of the world’s best wooden roller coasters since it opened. Also, Liseberg opened the Kanonen, (an Intamin AG Accelerator) in the spring of 2005. Now the Uppswinget, (a S&S Screamin’ Swing), will debut as Liseberg’s newest attraction next spring.
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Disney classic may get extreme makeover
Tom Sawyer Island might become Pirate Island
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Disneyland, Anaheim, CA, USA 10/06/06 - By: Paul S. -
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© Disney
Tom Sawyer Island: Disney's classic attraction maybe in store for a makeover. Although nothing is confirmed, sources tell us this is probably true.
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The Pirates of the Caribbean craze continues sweeping the Disney theme parks. Now, reports are stating that on of Disney’s classic attractions, Tom Sawyer Island, might be getting a Pirates makeover.
Tom Sawyer Island, which is over fifty years old, was one of the original Disney attractions that Walt Disney actually helped develop.
Since Tom Sawyer Island is a classic and has a lot of history, some people do not want to see it go and feel that it should be left they way it is. Additionally, some feel that since Disney already has a pirate attraction, creating another one will be overkill.
On the other hand, some people feel that over time the ride has been changed to be more family-friendly has already lost some of the charm it once had. Also, some people feel that Tom Sawyer is out of date for the world kids live in today.
We do have to remember though that right know nothing about Tom Sawyer Island has been officially confirmed yet, but the reports say that if Disney does redo Tom Sawyer Island, it will cost over 28 million dollars and should be reopened in time for the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. Chances are if the reports are true, the makeover will happen before the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean and we can expect to here something official from Disney with in the next few months.
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