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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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Big Bad Wolf: Ceasing the Terror
Arrow Suspended to retire after 25 years of thrills.
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Busch Gardens Europe, Williamsburg, Virginia 07/24/09 - By: Mike Strobel -
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© Busch Gardens
A beast, no more:The era of the Big Bad Wolf comes to an end upon the conclusion of the 2009 season. |
Little Red Riding Hood may find Busch Gardens Europe a more appealing destination after the 2009 operating season. The local beastly resident, known far and wide as the Big Bad Wolf, will take its last run through the woods on September 7th.
The ride, built in 1984, is one of the first successful suspended coasters built. Arrow learned their lessons after the dismal failure of Kings Island's Bat and came through with a safer and thrilling design for Busch Gardens, finishing what intitial contractor Schwartzkomf, began. Riders are hoisted up two 100 ft lifts through the twisting, turning, swinging course stretching 2,800 ft. as it flies through a makeshift village, dense woods, and a spactacular finale dropping aside the nearby river as it flies back to the station.
Park officials acknowledge the significance the Big Bad Wolf has played throughout its reign. While it may not be the biggest or fastest by any stretch of the imagination, its aggresive yet flowing layout is ideal for people beginning their trek into the world of roller coasters. The ride is also slated as one of the most popular in the park. More than 29 million guests have had the chance to join the Wolf on its regular prowl since 1984.
While coaster fans and regular Busch Gardens guests begin to mourn the passing of the legendary beast, Busch Gardens continues to look to the future. Not much has been divulged on what will replace the quarter century veteran, but something will fill in the void, soon enough. While many feel nothing would ever live up to the impact the Wolf provided upon its opening, Busch Gardens has shown that they're more than willing to put stellar attractions whenever they turn over soil.
RIP Big Bad Wolf (1984-2009)
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Fire Hits Alton Towers
Sky Ride Station Destroyed
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© Matt Vickers
Fire:Alton Tower's Sky Ride is struck by troubles again. |
The Cloud Cuckoo Land Sky Ride station caught fire around 10:30PM on July 22. No employees or park guests were in the station when the fire erupted, so there were no injuries caused by the fire. The station, which sits near Rita - Queen of Speed, was completely destroyed by the fire.
This is Sky Ride's second indecent within the last two years. In October or 2007, a separate station of Sky Ride located in the Forbidden Valley area caught fire. The 2007 fire destroyed the roof of that station building.
The park will remain open as usual, but some areas surrounding the destroyed station will be fenced off for investigation of the fire. However, Sky Ride will likely remain closed for the rest of the 2009 season. Alton Towers released the following statement immediately following the fire , "The station has been destroyed and the ride will therefore not reopen for the foreseeable future. There will be cosmetic alterations to the park tomorrow as certain areas will have to be fenced off during the fire service investigation into the cause of the fire."
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Fatal Accident at Walt Disney World
Two monorails colide resulting in one death and multiple injuries.
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© Disney
The not so happiest place on earth: Tragedy strikes at Walt Disney World. |
Early this morning at around 2 AM, a fatal crash occurred between monorail pink and monorails purple at the Ticket and Transportation Center. Due to the late hour, there were few people in the conveyances. Monorail pink was reversing into the station on the word of central control that it was clear and crashed into monorail purple which was still sitting inside. The driver of monorail purple was killed instantly and the few guests aboard were shaken up a bit.
Allegedly monorail pink was supposed to be taking the transfer track into the other side of the station but the track was never switched. All in all, it was a horrible sequence of misunderstandings and mis-communications. This marks the very first time in the long history of the Disney monorail fleet that there has been a fatality resulting from a monorail crash.
Although closed for the few days after the incident, Disney has re-opened the monorail, as it is an integral part of park transportation, with the assurance that the accident was entirely the cause of human error and that nothing is technically wrong with the system.
My prayers go out to the families involved in this horrible event, especially that of the deceased driver, 21 year old Austin Wuennenberg, and I encourage those of you who will to join me in that.
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Hong Kong Disneyland Gets $452 Million Expansion
The park will debut 3 new lands in 5 years.
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© Disney
Expansion time: The smallest Disney park gets some big time additions. |
When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in September of 2005, it was the smallest Disney park ever built. And as if skimping on attractions wasn't enough, Disney was so unsure of this venture that they only took 43% of the bill, leaving the rest to the Hong Kong government. But now Hong Kong is demanding help as the fledgling park has been faltering due to lack of, well, most everything, and Disney is stepping in in a major way.
The two parties have jointly announced that Disney will pour up to $452 million into the park over the next five years. This will cut Hong Kong's stake in the park from 57% down to 52%.
This is a huge investment for Disney in the future of this park. With the money, Hong Kong Disneyland will debut 3 new themed areas suring the course of the 5 year plan.
The first area will be a Toy Story Land similar to the one currently being built at Walt Disney Studios Paris. The land will feature three flat rides: an RC Racer half-pipe, a Green Army Men parachute drop, and a Slinky Dog music express style ride.
Next up will be a new land, totally unique to Hong Kong Disneyland, called Mystic Point. The main attraction there will be Mystic Manor, a state of the art dark ride that will feature a trackless ride system allowing riders to go wherever they wish. No word has been leaked as to how Disney plans to accomplish this.
Lastly there will be Grizzly Trail, a new take on the Frontier Land concept. The park highlight here will be Hong Kong Disneyland's second roller coaster, Grizzly Mountain Coaster. The ride's theme will be somewhat similar to Thunder Mountain but the ride system is rumored to be more akin to Expedition Everest and feature a reversed track section.
This is certainly the most ambitious expansion plan that Disney has ever implemented in an already existing park. Hopefully it will pay dividends in full when the Far East public get a chance to enjoy a full sized Disney park.
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