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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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Cedar Fair sale rumors settled at last
Possible Cedar Fair sell-out denied
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Cedar Fair Entertainment parks, North America 07/31/07 - By: Ryan Blevins -
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©Cedar Fair Entertainment
Company take over denied: Cedar Fair chairman comments on the rumors of selling the company. |
After rumors started floating around about the Cedar Fair corporation possibly selling its company, chairman and representative Dick Kinzel decided to settle all of the talk.
The rumor contended that Cedar Fair was considering selling their company to an organization called “Destiny Capital.”
Kinzel stated that the chain is not currently in discussion with any organizations including “Destiny Capital” about selling the company.
However, the press release does state that “the board continuously challenges management to find the best strategic alternatives available to increase value to our unit-holders, and I do receive inquiries from time to time about a particular park or group of parks, whether it is to sell or to even buy additional parks.”
Many rumors started up because of the recent concern about the private equity being able to raise money to complete deals.
The New York Post, on the other hand, has reported that Cedar Fair is talking to “Destiny Capital Solutions” about a takeover that would be valued over $4 billion.
Cedar Fair is currently the third-largest amusement park operator, and Destiny Capital is said to be planning to spend another $500-$800 million to upgrade parks and hotels if this deal becomes a reality.
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End in sight for identity crisis at Mall of America
New name announced for former Camp Snoopy park
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Mall of America, Bloomington, MN, USA 07/25/07 - By: Devin Olson -
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© Clint Novak
From 'Timberland Twister' to 'Runaway Reptar'?: The former Knott's Camp Snoopy, Camp Snoopy and Park at MOA will receive a new theme as Nickelodeon moves in next March. |
It was Camp Snoopy, then simply the Park at Mall of America.
Now, a year and a half after the United States' largest indoor theme park lost its rights to use the Peanuts name, help from some of TV's most prominent animated personalities will put some more theme back into the theme park experience.
The new name? Nickelodeon Universe.
Nickelodeon and the future Nickelodeon Universe are currently in the process of developing a logo for the seven-acre park at the heart of the US's largest shopping mall. The park and cable channel have also selected 32 8- to 12- year-olds to join in monthly design sessions for the reworked theme park.
If the name Nickelodeon Universe sounds familiar, perhaps it's due to the themed area of the same name at Ohio's Kings Island introduced during the ownership of Paramount Parks in 2006. That section contains rides with names such as Rugrats Runaway Reptar, SpongeBob's Bikini Bottom Bash and Wild Thornberries River Adventure.
Name History:
- 3/08 - Nickelodeon Universe
- 1/19/06 - The Park at MOA
- 1990s - Camp Snoopy
- 8/11/92 - Knott's Camp Snoopy
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The coasters at the Park at MOA currently carry the names Li'l Shaver, Pepsi Ripsaw and Timberland Twister.
Meanwhile, a fourth coaster taking a step away from the superficial family-friendly nature of the other three, was announced late last year and is still expected to debut next year. That yet-unnamed ride is a "Euro-Fighter" model from German manufacturer Gerstlauer expected to feature a vertical lift, 95-degree drop, and two inversions. Plankton's Plunge, perhaps? Only time will tell.
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Five injured at Gillian's Wonderland Pier
'Log Flume' malfunctions; three victims identified
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© Gillian's Wonderland Pier
An Unfortunate Event: At this point, no other information on how the accident happened or the conditions of the victims involved is currently available. |
Five people were taken to a hospital yesterday after suffering injuries while at the park yesterday on a ride at Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Three of those have been identified as Travis Lindenmoer, age 27, of Lehighton, Pennsylvania; Danielle Summreil, age 23, of Lehighton, Pennsylvania; and Kimberly Aceto, age 40, of Barrington, New Jersey.
The injuries occurred after the Log Flume ride malfunctioned at the seaside amusement park. The two others that were injured in the accident included a 9-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. However, their names were not released due to their status as minors, according to authorities.
Emergency respondents from the Ocean City fire and police departments arrived on the scene at Sixth Street and Boardwalk at about 1:00 p.m., and soon after the victims were taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
The state Department of Community Affairs, which oversees amusement parks in the state of New Jersey, will have to inspect the Log Flume so they can determine what caused the accident. Until that occurs, the Log Flume will have to remain closed.
Gillian’s Wonderland Pier opened in 1965 and this isn’t the first time that an accident has occurred in its 47-year history. In 1999, the New Jersey state Department of Community Affairs was fined $25,000 after the Wonderland Pier’s new roller coaster malfunctioned, killing a pregnant 39-year old woman and her 8-year old daughter.
That accident was the result of a mechanical brake failure, and eventually led the state to amend the Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Act. This amendment more strictly enforce amusement park safety rules and ensured that ride manufacturers would be held accountable for flawed equipment.
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Holiday World hints at new attraction for 2008
Picture shows clearing taking place for expansion
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Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, Santa Claus, IN, USA 07/22/07 - By: Devin Olson -
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© Holiday World
Looking Ahead: This picture posted to the official Holiday World blog shows a plot of land just beyond the park's employee parking lot being cleared off for future expansion. |
One of the most rapidly-growing theme parks in the world is dropping hints on a new expansion for the 2008 season.
Santa Claus, Indiana's Holiday World and Splashin' Safari theme and water park complex posted a picture to its official blog yesterday showing a swath of freshly-upturned dirt beside its employee parking area.
The picture shows an assortment of seven earth-movers on site along with a pile of gravel in the process of being spread around the construction site.
"For all we know," spokeswoman Paula Werne teases in the Holiblog, "this might be the start of an exciting addition to the park for 2008."
However, eager enthusiasts only have a matter of days before more details are released. At the end of the blog post, Holiday World promises an announcement "next week."
The Holiday World and Splashin' Safari complex has introduced new rides, slides, or a combination of both every season since 2002. The last two seasons have seen additions to both the water and theme park, with the Bakuli water attraction added to Splashin' Safari and the Turkey Whirl flat ride introduced to the park's newest holiday-themed section - Thanksgiving - this year.
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$5 million battle about to begin at Dollywood
Interactive 'River Battle' water ride announced
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Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN, USA 07/20/07 - By: Devin Olson -
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© Dollywood
A Battle Begins: Dollywood's newest water ride, the interactive River Battle, is set to open next season. The ride is the latest in a series of annual park expansions. |
The battle to beat the summer heat is about to intensify at Tennesse's largest theme park, Dollywood, when the park unveils its fourth water ride next year.
The newest addition to Dollywood's wet-ride armory takes on the form of River Battle, a 500-foot-long river passing through a forest of theming. However, riders discover that this isn't any ordinary river from the moment they set foot on board their rafts.
As each group of eight riders board their rafts, the park will arm them with super-soaking water blasters and three types of targets to take aim at: other rafts, spectators along the riverbanks and over 100 targets equipped with special effects and other surprises.
Theming surrounding the ride's lagoon and meandering layout includes animatronics in the form of resident animals such as bears, beavers, otters and skunks.
Park co-owner and namesake Dolly Parton recalled the type of experience that inspired the attraction in a press release.
"When I was a kid, me and my brothers and sisters used to sneak away and start up a river battle of our own," she said, "but I never dreamed that kind of childhood fun would end up creating a great ride like my new River Battle."
Statistics:
- Length: 500'
- Seating: 2-abreast, 8-passenger
- Number of rafts: 9
- Riders per hour: 800
- Park section: Timber Canyon
- Cost: $5 million
- Debut: 2008
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River Battle will be located along an extended midway in the park's Timber Canyon section that originally opened in 2004 as Thunderhead Gap with the wooden coaster Thunderhead. In 2006, the section was expanded with the vertical spinning ride Timber Tower, and again this year with the steel coaster Mystery Mine.
"River Battle will add to the family attractions in the area and really provide a fun and interactive experience for everyone in a family (walking age and up) while cooling them off on a hot day or just providing them a fun target-shooting experience in the spring and fall," park spokesman Pete Owens told us.
Another improvement for the 2008 season will connect the currently dead-ending Timber Canyon with another dead-end themed area, Craftsman's Valley, which contains the park's looping coaster Tennessee Tornado. The improvement will displace around 8,500 truckloads of earth.
"There is an excellent mix of thrill rides with Thunderhead and Mystery Mine in Timber Canyon and on the other side of the connector the Tennessee Tornado," Owens said.
River Battle will join the park's 1998 shoot-the-chutes ride Daredevil Falls, the 1987 toboggan slide Mountain Slidewinder and 1986 whitewater rapids attraction known as Smoky Mountain River Rampage.
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'Starliner' officially calls Cypress Gardens home
Florida's original wooden roller coaster reopens
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© Cypress Gardens Adventure Park
Starliner Shines Brightly: Designed by John Allen, the Starliner roller coaster is also known as Florida's Original Scream Machine considering it was built in 1963. |
Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, which has been troubled with financial problems over the past year, looks like they have finally found the answer that will put the park back on the map. The answer is one of Florida's oldest, yet most-loved roller coasters, the Starliner.
After months of anticipation, the Starliner wooden roller coaster finally reopened at Cypress Gardens on Friday, July 13. The Starliner's reopening appears to have been a success as it has been the park's most popular attraction over the weekend, producing long lines filled with park guests waiting to ride a roller coaster that has been thrilling riders since the year 1963.
Nicknamed, Florida’s Original Scream Machine, the Starliner wooden roller coaster has a lot of history be hide it. The Starliner originally opened in the year 1963 as the Miracle Strip Amusement Park's signature attraction in Panama City Beach, Florida. The park closed in 2004 and it looked like the Starliner had reached the end of the line, but the Adventure Parks Group, owners of Wild Adventure Theme Park and Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, bought the Starliner for just $100,000.
It was decided that the Starliner would be rebuilt at Cypress Gardens and become the park's signature roller coaster as it was at the Miracle Strip Amusement Park. It cost the park more than $4 million to reassemble the Starliner wooden roller coaster, which is now one of only four wooden roller coasters still operating in the state of Florida.
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Wild West World to close after 2months
Park files for bankruptcy in first season
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Wild West World, Park City, KS 07/10/07 - By: Zach Wik -
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After almost two years of planning and construction, Wild West World in Park City, Kansas filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The blamed reason for the park's closing was bad weather that has cursed the area since the day the park opened. The park has only been operating since May 5th and everything has just gone downhill from there.
Not many people were able to get to the park as there was major flooding all over the state and even into the bordering states. The park wasn't earning much money because of the lack of attendance forced them to file for bankruptcy.
As of now, the park is looking for someone to buy the park and be able to run it. The park said that they want to find someone with deeper pockets so that they would be able to keep the park open longer and possibly expand in the future.
Some of the major attractions that they featured were a spinning wild mouse, a log flume, and many flat rides. Some of the future plans for the park were to add some major new rides like a 200 foot drop tower and a wooden roller coaster. As of now, no timeline is set when the park will reopen or even if it will reopen at all. The owners of Wild West World also own other local attractions such as the Prairie Rose Chuck Wagon.
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New cable series to debut with look at coaster mechanics
BGA, Valleyfair featured on Discovery Channel's 'Build It Bigger'
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© Discovery Communications
Build It Bigger: Danny Forster, host of Discovery Channel's new show, will tackle some of the newest wooden and steel coasters in the debut episode Wednesday. |
If you're looking for your fix of thrill rides on your TV screen, Discovery Channel believes they have a solution for you.
A new series from the cable channel dubbed Build It Bigger premieres July 11 at 10 p.m. EST / PST with a reward for roller-coaster lovers in search of behind-the-scenes action relating to their favorite topic.
The show's goal is to take viewers on a tour of the world's ultimate construction projects each episode, and host Danny Forster will explore the first of those at amusement parks ranging from Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa Bay, Florida to Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minnesota during Wednesday's episode.
Forster, an acrophobic, will not only examine the construction of a modern wooden coaster structure at the site of Valleyfair's 2007 addition Renegade, but also take on the heights of Busch Gardens' rides. Rather than experiencing the vertical-diving SheiKra and inverted Montu for enjoyment, the host will focus on the coasters' mechanical aspect, touring backstage areas for a look at what maintains a ride's safety.
For more information on Build It Bigger, visit the official Discovery Channel page.
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