NewsPlusNotes

Celebration City - Any Hope For Reopening?

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:54:00 +0000

No real news has come out about the future of the closed Celebration City amusement park, located in Branson, MO, since it shut its doors after the end of the 2008 season. When it closed, Herschend Family Entertainment said it was exploring new "development concepts" for the property, including an aquarium, shopping and restaurants, and more.

It's rumored that the trains from the Great Coasters International designed Ozark Wildcat are being moved to Wild Adventures for use on Cheetah, but this has not been confirmed. To my knowledge, GCI's Millennium Flyer trains have never operated on a coaster that wasn't designed by them. Wild Adventures did say that Cheetah will receive $1 million in renovations this off season, so perhaps a full retracking is in order? Could be exciting.

It's also looking pretty sure that Wild Adventures' new coaster for 2010 will be the Jack Rabbit from Celebration City, along with two other rides from the park.

Perhaps Herschend is just waiting on the economy to pick up to make a move on the site, but as of now things are rather quiet. You guys hear anything I missed?

Weekly Rewind 11.7.09

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Welcome to NewsPlusNotes' first Weekly Rewind - think of it as our Daily Spin's new little brother, who happens to appear only on Saturday or Sunday. During the week, we here at NPN have found that there's often stories that don't necessitate a full post, but we don't want to skip over them either. With that in mind the Weekly Rewind has been born. Enough chatter, on with the news bits!

Excited about Shanghai Disneyland? We are too. And so is everyone over at MiceChat, who just launched a new discussion board for the now 'greenlighted' Chinese theme park. Plenty of talk already going on!

The Lost Island water park, located in Iowa, continues work on their new Proslide Hydromagnetic Rocket water coaster. The Water Slide Services blog has been keeping the updates coming on the project. Check that out here.

The Big Dipper at the former Geauga Lake amusement park has been honored as an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark. The ride, which closed after the 2007 season, has been SBNO at the site of the park since. ACE awards rides of "historical significance" with the Landmark status.

Earnings news have come out for both Cedar Fair and Six Flags for the third quarter 2009, and neither had very good news to share. Cedar Fair is stopping their quarterly distribution, and Six Flags had to report lower revenues and attendance as well.

Construction of Holiday World's 2010 attraction, Wildebeest, will be the focus of an hour long episode of National Geographic's "World's Toughest Fixes" when it airs next June. The show will send it's host, Sean Riley, to document the construction of the massive water coaster during this winter. Sounds like a great watch!

What are Kieran Burke and Gary Story, formerly top executives at Six Flags during a not so pretty era of the parks, up to these days? Buying a water park, that's what! An investment group, led by the pair, have purchased Nashville Shores, a water park and entertainment center in Tennessee. They say there are no plans for a theme park at the property. Good.

Another coaster for Six Flags Magic Mountain? Yes. As expected, a family coaster will be added to the park next year, around the corner from this year's addition, Terminator Salvation. Get more details from the Funland Blog.

During Cedar Fair's 3rd quarter earnings conference call it was mentioned that three additional parks would receive a Starlight Experience type attraction like that which debuted at Cedar Point in 2009. What parks? A mystery for now...

This is a pretty cool read - the Disney and More blog published photos of the plans for a never built Michael Jackson theme park. Themed to Peter Pan's Neverland, full plans for the park were drawn up by Landmark Entertainment Group. Would have been pretty cool!

Every time Coasters and More publishes a new article on a ride I'm amazed by their stunning photography. Their latest effort, covering Der Fliegende Hollander at Efteling Park in the Netherlands, is no different. Check it out.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure's construction has kicked into high gear in the past couple months. Orlando United has done a great job of keeping up with photos of the developments. Recently, the Hogwarts Express arrived on site.

Cleaning Out Six Flags America's Backyard

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:50:00 +0000

ITAL has a new listing for a "trade in" Togo Ultra Twister coaster that's showing photos of the ride that was formerly Ultra Twister at Six Flags AstroWorld. The ride was moved to Six Flags America after that park closed, but has been sitting in weeds ever since. Looks like it's time to clean up and try to sell the ride?

I really don't understand the trade in listing, though, did Six Flags trade the ride for another one that ITAL had listed? Either way, looks like we'll never see the ride operate at a Six Flags park again.

New Poll

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:32:00 +0000

In case you hadn't noticed, a new poll is up on the left side over there. What Six Flags park do you want to see receive Chang from Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom? Make your voice heard!

"It's a World of Laughter..."

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:26:00 +0000

I know we're all sad that Halloween has come and gone, but now we have another big holiday to look forward to! While I do love the scary stuff, the bright lights, merry music, and warm spirits of the Holidays does give me something to get through these cold, windy days!

The Disney Parks Blog is helping out in that category today - they posted this wonderful commercial that highlights It's A Small World Holiday. If you're not too busy sipping your hot chocolate on this cold night (okay if you're in the Northeast, anyway), check it out!

A Blast From The Past - Magnum XL 200 Part Deux

carol@newsplusnotes.com (Scott and Carol) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:39:00 +0000

Editor's note: Last week we started telling the tale of the world's 1st 200 foot plus roller coaster, built where else but America's Roller Coast....Cedar Point. IN this weeks blast we continue the Magnum XL200 saga.

The pieces of track began to arrive at Sandusky by rail, and the towers were built by the same company building Bolliger and Mabillard track today. 157 individual columns support the coaster. Each column is made of two posts of steel pipe and they range from two to two-hundred feet tall. In total, 568 tons of steel columns and stabilizers support the tubular steel track. An Arrow representative is usually on hand for the first bid meeting with all the subcontractors,because most of them have never built a roller coaster before.

All Arrow contracts provide for field support service to supervise the erection of the first towers and the first section of track. Several towers need to be erected before the first track section is set. The Arrow helps to make sure the project starts correctly in the right spot to prevent problems as the process continues. If a footing or column error should occur, the Arrow field representative can usually make a correction by modifying the saddle connection between the column and track. Several track sections would normally be tack-welded together prior to installation because that made it easier to make adjustments.

Back in the dim ages before the Internet, there was only one way to get current information about roller coaster projects. No Coaster Con was a thriving event but that meant only one update all winter. One enterprising ACE member, Howard Gillooly, took matters into his own hands. Beginning in November 1988, he began a monthly pilgrimage to Sandusky to charter an airplane to take construction photos, some of which can be seen in the Summer 2009 issue of RollerCoaster magazine. The lift hill was the first to rise, soon followed by the over 150 foot tall airtime hill. The last section to be erected was the eighty- foot high turnaround out near the point where Sandcastle Suites was built years later.

The more it came together, the more speculation arose about the ride. Is a bigger roller coaster a better roller coaster? Kinzel said in an interview in RollerCoaster Vol X, Issue 4, “We’ve never dropped off from that height. What’s thrilling to me is about a coaster is coming off that first lift, when your heart goes right into your throat, and then the speed. This should be the ultimate coaster, for $8 million, it really should. There’s a lot bet on this.” Well time has proven that it was a wonderful bet that still seems to be paying off twenty years later.

May 5, 1989 was the big day. That was the unveiling of what would be Cedar Points centerpiece for many years. About 150 local ACE members gathered to help preview the new ride that Friday. Mr. Kinzel remembers, “When the first train pulled in, everyone was clapping and cheering. We hadn’t ever seen that before and it made us feel pretty good.” Now the only question left to answer the next day was how would the general public like the coaster?

May 6, 1989 had plenty of rain, but that couldn’t washout the crowds that wanted to ride the first roller coaster in the world over 200 feet high. Lots of people in ties watched as train after train returned to the station with the same reactions they saw the day before with the more experienced coaster aficionados. If it was an election, the result was a landslide. As the day wore on the line didn’t let up, with many returning for several rides.

As darkness grew nigh, the line swelled again with people wanting to try Magnum in the dark. It felt even faster the darker it grew. Many guests left Cedar Point later than they planned that day, because they couldn’t get enough of the new coaster. They hit the restroom and got back in line for one more ride. Finally the line was closed and they had to leave the park.

Well... this is where we'll stop this week, but check back next week for the final segment of the story

Fast Like A Racecar

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:46:00 +0000

Carowinds is seriously speeding along with the construction of Intimidator. The park just closed for the season this past weekend, and the majority of the ride is already standing. It looks like the park just started working on the turnaround, as seen in these photos on the official site. There's also some great almost (if not) daily updates on Carowinds Connection as well.

Just don't blink or the ride will be completed!

Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Busch Gardens, The Old Country 1990

sabrina@newsplusnotes.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:53:00 +0000

No, this is not one of the newly acquired brochures that I alluded to in my tweet earlier today. This brochure and I have known each other for all 19 years of its existence! It's like a dear old friend to me, and the value of friendship cannot be overestimated. On that warm and fuzzy note, let's turn back the clock and take a peek at the Busch Gardens Williamsburg of 1990.

Before we get to the new, let's acknowledge the old--the Old Country, that is. Before it was "Williamsburg", then "Europe", then "Williamsburg" again, this park was known as "Busch Gardens, The Old Country". But old or not, it was still welcoming new rides. Making its debut in 1990 was Questor, and something tells me we're going to learn more about it on the next panel.

Well what do you know--I'm psychic! Unfortunately, the one-line description provided in this copy is so whimsical, it hardly conveys what the ride actually was. Questor was a simulator ride that took its travelers on a journey aboard a "fantasy ship", during which they were invited to assist an elfish creature in finding a much sought after magic crystal. Although I never had the pleasure of experiencing this attraction for myself, it continues to have quite a large fan base, even today. It was replaced by a new simulator ride, King Arthur's Challenge, in 1996. (Today the site is occupied by an even more immersive 4-D simulator, Corkscrew Hill.)

In 1990, Busch Gardens consisted of four themed areas: England, France, Germany, and Italy. (Questor was actually located in a section of the England area which has since been transformed into Ireland.) Going back to our warm and fuzzy theme, there was a lot of both to be had in England between the Clydesdales, the Royal Preserve Petting Zoo, and the Loch Ness Monster. (What do you mean the Loch Ness Monster isn't warm and fuzzy? Show Nessie some love, people!)

By now you can see that the emphasis in this brochure is placed not on the rides, but on the entire Busch Gardens experience. And why not? If you've ever visited this park, you know that it's simply stunning. The antique cars and log flume are woven seamlessly into this spread featuring the France area. It almost makes you feel as though there should be a log flume around every corner in the actual country of France! (And if any country were to actually do that, it would immediately become my personal favorite tourist destination.)

Germany! Well apparently this country is extra exciting, because there's an exclamation point! Somehow, the marketing gurus who designed this brochure must have known that a half-German blogger chick who shares their excitement would be analyzing it 19 years later. That's really the only logical explanation. And you wonder where I get my sweet tooth--Check out that dessert tray! The best part is that you can enjoy those delicacies while listening to a Bavarian Oompah band and watching Schuhplatter dancers. [First sign that I'm only half German: Had to double-check the spelling of "Schuhplatter" about 15 times before getting it right.]

Before moving on to the next page, let's also observe a moment of silence for our long lost friend, the Big Bad Wolf. He was warm and fuzzy too, at least in my book, and I shall miss him.

Hmm...An exclamation point for Italy too, eh? No Italian blood runs through these veins, so I guess that effectively blows my original theory out of the water. (It also brings into question why England and France are not worthy of such celebratory punctuation, but that's another matter altogether.) Beautifully themed like the rest of the park, the Italy area of 1990 featured many of the same attractions found at Busch Gardens today--with a couple notable exceptions, of course! Even Roman Rapids is themed to an Italian canal. Simply gorgeous.

I never noticed this before, but the operating schedule which appears on the back of this brochure is actually a sticker. I guess that's one way to solve the problem of not having your hours finalized before the brochure goes to print! Even in 1990, this park had a pretty long season. It's a good thing too, because I'm sure most guests wanted to spend lots of time in Germany and Italy. Not to mention England! And France! (Don't mind me, I'm just compensating for the lack of exclamation points on previous pages.) With that, it's time for this dear old friend to retire to his storage chambers. I hope you enjoyed him!

Silver Dollar City 2010: RiverBlast

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:40:00 +0000

New for 2010 at Silver Dollar City: Tom & Huck's RiverBlast! Although we all saw this one coming for some time, the park has finally officially announced the ride to the public. Billed as "America's Biggest Water Battle," the new $7 million ride will open at the theme park March 18th, 2010.

Eight passengers on one of eight separate boats will each take their turn sailing down Tom and Huck's river - appropriately filled with 150 water gags and targets, along with plenty of themed scenery. Each rider will have their own water blaster while on the ride, and even people on the midway will be able to get in the splashing action.

The five minute ride is 567 ft. long and will be located near the park's Carousel Barn. For further details, check out the website that the park has launched for RiverBlast!

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Time Lapse Video

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk posted this cool time lapse video of the work they've been doing on their new for 2010 attraction, the new Haunted Castle. Pretty amazing to see how they tore out the building, dug a big hole, and then started the new attraction's foundation.

The new Haunted Castle will be a massive dark ride featuring state of the art effects and will be three times larger than the previous ride.

Various Universal Singapore Updates

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:13:00 +0000

The Sentosa Theme Park blog just posted a video of the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster taken close up from inside the under construction Universal Studios Singapore. Along with the awesome shots of the ride's track, they also have close up views of the trains for the inverted side of the ride. They look somewhat comfortable, certainly more so then their older Vekoma brethren.

The park has also been posting some cool images on their Facebook account recently, like

This nice shot of some designers standing inside the course of the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure just under the signature entrance arch that leads guests into dino territory.

And this shot of the famous Universal Globe being constructed at the main entrance of the theme park.

The official blog of Resort World Sentosa also recently took readers on a tour of the Lost World section of the theme park. Filled with goodies like this photo:

Of the final drop and splash area of the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure. (for the record, I'm somewhat obsessed with this ride because I always thought the previous JP rides should have been a river rapids, and Sinapore finally granted my wish!) Looks like they're using two drops inside that Hydroelectric Plant to help with capacity!

More photos of the rides and attractions of the Lost World can be seen on their blog.

Things sure are shaping up nicely!

Aerial Antics: Drayton Manor Theme Park

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:40:00 +0000

Did you know that Drayton Manor, Staffordshire, England, celebrated it's 60th anniversary in 2009? Me neither! But to help celebrate, let's take a look at the park in this week's Aerial Antics.

The theme park, set amid some rather pretty green rolling fields, has quite an interesting selection of rides and attractions. Above we find Stormforce 10, added in 1999, a splash boat ride themed to the "drama of a lifeboat rescue in storm tossed seas." Quite a theme, right? It has a backwards drop, too.

G Force is hard to describe. It looks like a dysfunctional twisted mess of steel, but in our world I suppose that's a good thing. The Maurer Sohne coaster takes rides up the lift 180 degrees and then sends them off through the ride's course.

If you used to watch "World's Greatest Roller Coaster Thrills" on VHS all the time like I did, then you'll remember the above ride as the 7-Up Shockwave. Now just Shockwave, this Intamin stand-up ride was quite the big deal when it first opened and really helped Drayton Manor make a name for itself.

This section of Drayton Manor is no longer as it appears in this image. That's because it's transformed into Thomas Land! Now it looks something more like this:

And while I commend Six Flags for heading back to themed environments with their Thomas Town additions, they really can't hold a candle to Drayton Manor's similar area! Seriously, google it. I dare you.

And we'll end with a 2-Fer. Thought I wasn't going to use it this week, didn't ya? The park is home to a powered Zamperla ride, the Buffalo Mountain Coaster. Here you can see how it takes riders out for a spin over the lake that the park hugs.

That goodness of a freefall tower is Apocalypse, which lets riders choose the seating style of their ride. Yes, you can go on an average sit down car, or a stand up one, or really take it up a notch with a floorless stand up car. I'll take a ride on all three!

If you want to see the aerials for yourself, here's a link.

They're Such Teases...

sabrina@newsplusnotes.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:43:00 +0000

Summer is over. Halloween is over. 'Tis the season for boredom, my friends! (Well, from an industry standpoint, anyway.) Fortunately, there are some in our midst who are determined to keep us bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as we approach the long, bleak off-season. And you know I'm in need of such entertainment when I'm resorting to the use of phrases like "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed".

First, we have Beech Bend. The park's most recent newsletter promises some new family fun for 2010, as they will be adding a new "Quad Runner" ride for the kids and replacing their existing mini teacup ride with a larger, family-size version from Zamperla. But that's not what caught my interest. This is: "We are in the final stages of another major project announcement---we'll share that with you very soon. We're soooo excited! Please stay tuned for that announcement. You can also follow us on our Facebook Fan Page."

I visited this magical Facebook fan page today, and sure enough, there is yet another mention of a coming announcement, complete with smiley face! (If it comes with a smiley face, it's gotta be good.) While I have no idea what Beech Bend has in store for us, there is mention of a "2010 expansion" on the park's web site, so it sounds like it could be big. Oh, the suspense!

Next up are the gentlemen from The Gravity Group, for whom you all expressed your undying love in last month's NPN poll. Their latest blog entry focuses on a seemingly trivial thing: an advertisement they will be running in the IAAPA show issue of Amusement Today. But wait! This is no ordinary ad, at least according to them. They have posted the first half, but claim that the second half will be "something very revealing". A suggestion of something Timberliner-related seems to have been ruled out (unless they're just being tricky), so what oh what could it be?? (A little Splinter action, perhaps? Hmm...)

Now I don't mean to suggest that these two "tease campaigns" are related in any way. (Although it would be pretty sweet if they were!) I am merely appreciating the anticipation factor that Beech Bend and The Gravity Group have injected into an otherwise lackluster month of industry news. I can't wait until both mysteries are revealed!

Diamondback's Freshman Year Complete

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:29:00 +0000

One of 2009's most exciting new rides, Diamondback at Kings Island, has successfully completed it's first season of operation giving 1.85 million rides. It's debut at the park makes it the second most ridden new attraction ever, behind Vortex which gave 2.18 million rides its first year.

The park also released the fun fact that Mr. Gary Colman rode the coaster the most times this year, totaling 1,579 trips on the B&M ride. That's one rider who probably can't wait for the park to reopen in April, 2010!

Wild Adventures Marks 2 Years With HFE

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:16:00 +0000

Wild Adventures Theme Park, located in Valdosta, GA, celebrated their second anniversary under the ownership of Herschend Family Entertainment this fall. The park has flourished under their new ownership, having had some $6 million invested in the property in that time.

But the excitement of new ownership will not lag in the coming years. Park Vice President and General Manager, Bob Montgomery (whom NPN had an exclusive interview with this past Spring) says next year "guests will see the park begin to transform as we add four hundred trees, more landscaping, and additional walkways, for more shade, beauty and better park flow. Our wooden roller coaster, the Cheetah, will undergo a million dollar renovation for a better ride experience.”

The $3 million renovation to Splash Island Water Park, the biggest under HFE ownership, included the addition of a water thrill ride, the Wahee Cyclone.

The park also recently began to finalize a master plan that will add more attractions to the park as well as other improvements in the coming years. Among those planned are changes to the park's themed areas and a concert lawn for guests to enjoy.

2010 will also see the addition of three new rides, one of which is a family roller coaster. The park will also host 20 concerts and 4 summer shows for guests as well.

I for one was very pleased when Herschend Family Entertainment purchased the park from its previous owners, and am happy to see the park doing so well!

Texas Giant Heads to Rehab

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:43:00 +0000

Yesterday marked the final operating day for Six Flags Over Texas' world famous Texas Giant wooden roller coaster - at least in its current form.

The ride will be transformed, to the tune of $10 million, during the next year, and will open in Spring 2011. The park promises the ride will be like brand new, with new trains, track, theming, and more. This article actually makes it sound like large sections of the ride will be removed and rebuilt completely - which brings up the question of whether the layout will remain intact or not.

Take that for what it's worth, however, as the article also does say the ride has a 280 ft. first drop. Regardless, I am interested in how the park is saying the new Giant will have elements never before used on a wooden coaster when it reopens. I'm anxious to see if that's real or just really good marketing by the park.

The Texas Giant has already given 23 million rides since it fist opened in 1990, and Six Flags Over Texas plans to have the new version ready for when they open in 2011.

October Poll Results

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:06:00 +0000

"What's the best Gravity Group wooden roller coaster?" - That's what we asked our readers in October's NewsPlusNotes poll. And you guys answered, and let's just say that you made yourself clear.

The Voyage, at Holiday World, came in a clear number 1 with a striking 63% of the votes. The 1.2 mile long ride opened at the park in 2006 and has remained one of the top voted wooden rides in the world.

Our second place finisher was the Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer park, with 23% of the vote. As you readers know, I got to experience this coaster this past summer for the first time. While I sadly have not been on the Voyage, I can only assume after riding Ravine Flyer II that it would blow my mind.

Finishing up the poll was Hades at Mt. Olympus theme park with 8%, and both the Boardwalk Bullet at Kemah Boardwalk and the brand new Fireball at Happy Valley with 3%.

Stay tuned for November's poll!

Shanghai Disney Announced Soon?

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:02:00 +0000

The long rumored Disney park for Shanghai may be announced in the coming weeks, perhaps to coincide with President Obama's visit to China. Announcement rumors have swirled lately that an agreement has been reached between Disney and the Chinese Government, and now many foreign papers have picked up the story that the project may be officially announced soon.

It's no secret that Disney has wanted a park in China for some time, and the planned location outside bustling Shanghai would tap into another new market for the company. I can only hope they finally get to build that Pirate land they designed for Hong Kong!

Happy Halloween!

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Happy Halloween to all the ghouls, ghosts, and goblins out there! The day well all hold so dear to us has arrived! Make sure to eat a ton of candy, scare your friends, and then hit your local Haunt!

Ferrari World Update

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:33:00 +0000

Developer Aldar has released the above image of the completed outside structure of the Ferrari World Theme Park in Abu Dhabi. If you look carefully, you can see the two roller coasters the massive indoor theme park will have peeking out of the left side (which is still billed as the world's fastest, at over 200 kph), and in the lower right as well.

The structure is amazingly large and will contain a full scale theme park underneath it's structure, protecting guests from the heat outside. The park is scheduled to open in 2010.

For more details, see NewsPlusNotes' previous coverage.

Daily [Halloween] Spin 10.30.09

sabrina@newsplusnotes.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000

It is with a heavy heart that I bring you the very last Halloween Spin of 2009. Where has the season gone?! And more importantly, how have I gotten through it without using the expression "boo-ya" in one single post? (Oh wait...) It seems like just yesterday that I cracked open the inaugural bag of candy corn pumpkins. Now all I have to show for myself is a wad of empty bags and a pile of Hershey Kiss wrappers. (But hopefully not a few extra pounds.) These treats, like the season itself, have been positively delicious and I'm counting on my fond memories of them to sustain me through the cold, coasterless winter months. Let's not jump the gun, though. We still have a few days of devilish fun left to enjoy!

Are you ready to get Bitten? Look no further than the Wisconsin Dells. This year marks the debut of Mt. Olympus's Haunted Night at the Theme Park, and they are not messing around. The headliner of this event is "Bitten", a haunted house billed as one of Wisconsin's largest. You will also find a hay bale maze, an assortment of "hidden spooks", and the largest mummified horse in the world. (I assume this means that they've "mummified" the signature Trojan horse that's featured on one of their go-kart tracks--how cool!) But here's where Mt. Olympus really breaks the mold: Whereas most parks forbid guests to wear costumes to their Halloween events, this park encourages it. In fact, if you show up in full costume, they will actually give you $5 of "Spooky Bucks" to spend in the park!

If the name of your park actually has the word "Ghost" in it, you darn well better do something special for Halloween. Ghost Town in the Sky has obliged by bringing us the House of Terror. Featuring over 15 spine-tingling rooms, a cemetery, and two mazes, this sounds like one heck of a horrifying experience. And it better be for the price tag: $20 for adults and $10 for children, or $10 for all ages if purchased with park admission. Yikes! Would it sweeten the deal if I told you that Cliff Hanger is now open? (Again?) 'Cause it is, and that's no trick!

Turns out sea creatures celebrate Halloween, too. Who knew? I'll tell you who: SeaWorld Orlando. Their Halloween Spooktacular features fun-filled activities for the entire family. Just follow the Underwater FantaSea path to the various treasure stations, where you will find everything from face painting to a special "Countdown to Halloween" performance put on by your favorite Sesame Street characters. Did I mention that you can also collect goodies at each of those stations? Bonus! But the most intriguing part of this event (to me, anyway) has got to be the "interactive ice DJ" who can be found in the Frozen Fun Zone. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds pretty "cool".

If you find yourself in the general vicinity of Oklahoma City on this most glorious last weekend of the Halloween season, you can lasso yourself some seasonal fun at Frontier City. This park's rendition of Fright Fest appears to be notably tame compared to that which can be found at some of its sister parks. It's heavy on shows and children's activities, with many of the latter taking place in BooVille. (Does everyone stand in a circle around a giant pumpkin, clasping hands and singing, "Welcome Halloween, Halloween Day"?) But fear not (or, fear--as you choose), my fellow terror junkies. You can get yours in the inferno-themed House of Screams.

This concludes our nickel tour of a thoroughly random selection of the various Halloween events taking place across the country in 2009. With any luck, you've made it to at least one of them. If not, the clock is ticking so get out there and scare up some fun! I fully intend to do the same. Happy Halloween!

A Blast From The Past - Magnum XL200 At Cedar Point

carol@newsplusnotes.com (Scott and Carol) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:07:00 +0000

For the next few weeks we will be posting parts of a very special Blast From The Past featuring Cedar Point's Magnum XL200 which celebrated it's 20th season this year.

When Richard “Dick” Kinzel was President of Cedar Point, he seemed to be always thinking ahead. “We had a great run with Gemini, our last big project,” he says, “We needed something to carry us forward because it had been ten years since Cedar Point had a major addition.” Even when he was in Florida with his wife in March of 1988, the next big thing was never far from his thoughts. “I saw a report on CNN Saturday morning about the opening of a new coaster in Japan called Bandit. We were in the middle of the inversion competition and this seemed different because it didn’t turn people upside down at all. They interviewed an ACE member and he raved about how fast and smooth the ride was, and said it was one of the best roller coasters he had ridden. I kept thinking about this for our whole trip because I didn’t like the over-the-shoulder restraints (OTSR,) required for inversions.
”

“When I got back home, I did some checking and found out the tallest coaster was in Six Flags Great America. It was 170 feet tall. Since it had inversions, it required over the shoulder restraints that I so dislike. I wanted a ride with only a lapbar, because that is how I feel coasters should be ridden.” So Cedar Point stepped away from counting how many times they could turn people over and led the way into a different type of ride. “I called Randy Geisler, then the President of ACE and his full-time job was in the Minneapolis Post Office. He said he was on that Japanese tour. I asked him if he thought the public would like a down and back coaster similar to wood coasters with lots of negative gs, only smoother. I wanted it high and fast with lots of thrills. Randy thought it would be well received by the public. I consider the guests in the park to be my library; I like to talk to them to find out what they are thinking.”

Kinzel continues, “At our next planning committee meeting we discussed the idea and formed a consensus that it was at least worth requesting proposals from manufacturers. We asked for proposals from four of them; TOGO, maker of Bandit, Dinn Corporation, who wanted to build a wooden coaster, Intamin, and Arrow. The dollar was relatively weak at the time, making the overseas producers a higher price, and we had already decided we wanted a steel coaster, so we were basically left with Arrow. We limited them so they couldn’t do helices or 360 degree turns to avoid the OTSRs. We specified a minimum capacity of 1,500 to 2,000 people per hour. The rest was left up to the manufacturers.”Arrow had returned a proposal for a coaster 187 feet tall. Kinzel talks about the board meeting, “As the board was considering the proposal, Dick Sheetz asked how much it would cost to break the 200 foot barrier. What a surprising question from a Board of Directors.” The answer to that question remains somewhat elusive. Ron Toomer mentioned “around $25,000” and Dick Kinzel said “$150,000 to $200,000. It was a 7.5 million coaster so that wasn’t much change in the price. You don’t get much from an engineer for only $25,000.” What ever the cost, it has to be one of the best decisions made in the history of the amusement park business. The publicity gained from being the first, and for a while only coaster above 200 feet, was immeasurable. It gave Cedar Point a lead in the coaster wars that has never been relinquished.

The contract was written for a coaster over 200 feet tall and the original press release distributed in December of 1988 touted a coaster 201 foot tall. When Magnum XL-200 was finished, it was 205 foot tall giving rise to the legend that a mistake had been made while pouring the footers. Dick Kinzel says, “We wanted a coaster over 200 feet, we didn’t care how much over 200 it was.” Ron also said the height wasn’t changed because of any problems; it just worked out that high with the curve of the hill. Ron said “I told Dick I thought we could also have the steepest drop by steepening it to 60 degrees.” Magnum opened as the tallest and fastest coaster built to date, with the longest drop ever of 190 feet. It was also the fastest, reaching seventy-two mph.

Lee Jewett, then Director of Planning and Development offers his remembrances, “Architects usually made their statements with buildings, which is why so many roller coasters have there stations along the midway. We had concerns about space, so we wanted to have the new coaster go above the midway, exit the park and then return inside. That location was selected because of the coastline was available and we thought that would be a plus for the ride. The forces involved would be relatively easy to control so basic floating footers were used to support the towers. R. E. Warner & Associates designed the 250 different footers that are thirty feet wide, fifteen feet long, and four feet deep.”

Lee also helped with the naming of ride. “I added the XL-200 for extra long and I wanted to make the height part of the ride. Kinzel says, “Everything back then was about Magnum. Magnum PI was popular on TV, Magnum Force in the movies. We wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the name. Lee added the little touch that made it special.” A legend was born and to this day, coaster enthusiasts over 48’ tall measure themselves against the Magnum XL-200 yardstick: you will either ride it or not. Steady streams of giddy first-time riders still lead their parents through the on-ride camera booth to get a souvenir of their first big coaster.

Well... this seems like a goodplace to stop for this week, stay tuned for the next part of our Magnum tribute.

An AquaDuck On The Disney Dream

NewsPlusNotes@yahoo.com (Mike) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Today Disney announced the details of their new cruise ship, the Disney Dream, and what a ship it's going to be. The new ship will debut in 2011 and will be 40% larger than Disney's existing ships, carrying a total of 4,000 passengers.

The ship will be filled to the brim with bells and whistles, including virtual port holes on inside cabins, themed restaurants, plenty of Disney caliber entertainment, and enough activities to fill any family's day.

Perhaps of special interest to our readers will be the ship's master blaster water coaster that will sit four stories above the deck, the AquaDuck. The 765 ft. long ride will actually take passengers out over the edge of the ship in a clear tube, giving them truly unparalleled views of the water, some 150 ft. below them. The ride also passes through the forward funnel of the ship in the middle of one of the boat's children's area.

The Disney Dream will sail 3, 4, and 5 night trips leaving from Port Canaveral, Florida to Disney's private island Castaway Cay in the Bahamas.

Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Family Kingdom 2008

sabrina@newsplusnotes.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:03:00 +0000

This week we head to Family Kingdom to find out exactly what it takes to survive the seemingly constant turmoil in Myrtle Beach's amusement landscape. The year 2008 was likely a bit nerve-racking for this park. Let's see how their marketing gurus responded!

"Nothing Rocks Like Family"? Oh SNAP! Wait, I get it--because you're Family Kingdom, right? Of course. What was I thinking? I'm sure that new-for-2008 tag line had nothing whatsoever to do with a certain rock 'n roll theme park that opened down the street that same year. Now that's what I call good old-fashioned clever marketing with a side of contempt.

And that contempt just continues to roll on! I love it. Don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect toward Family Kingdom or the target of its jabs. There's just something inspirational about David trying to out-market Goliath, and in this case I daresay David won by a landslide.

But it's not just about witty tag lines. If you read the fine print, you'll see that Family Kingdom really does have a lot to offer, and that "lot" is very affordable. They're also quite proud of the high ranking they received from TripAdvisor. Could we debate the validity of such "rankings" till the cows come home? Sure we could. But the bottom line is, if you've got it, flaunt it. There are a lot of parks in this world that do not have such claims to fame, so obviously Family Kingdom is doing something right.

One thing Family Kingdom has that its key competitor does not is a water park. And an oceanfront one, at that. Talk about ambiance! I just want to know one thing: Does the kid wearing the makeshift towel cape sign autographs? Because he is my hero. I've said it once, twice...Oh heck, let's make it a nice round three times. Nothing spells fun like a cape!!

A major selling point for Family Kingdom is that, as we've seen, it is truly "seaside". And let's not forget the fact that this park is home to Myrtle Beach's only surviving wooden coaster, the Swamp Fox. As long as we're talking "est" [even though we're not--humor me and pretend that "only" ends in "est"], Family Kingdom also has the largest Ferris wheel in the state of South Carolina. So let's see: A wooden coaster, a Ferris wheel, a drop tower, a flume...Sounds to me like this park has a lot of family favorites that you can't find at "the other guy", and they really did a great job of emphasizing that in this brochure.

Now let's talk value. Despite having over 30 rides, Family Kingdom charges no general admission. And although you can pay for your rides piecemeal, the all day and combo passes listed here are a heck of a good deal. This park knows exactly who it is and how it needs to position itself in the market. And unlike "the other guy", it didn't experience an identity crisis after the 2008 season either!

Scott And Carol Present - A Scary Visit to Scarowinds

carol@newsplusnotes.com (Scott and Carol) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:41:00 +0000

With the season winding down we wanted to present one last haunting story and we saved one of the best for last!

The stage is set for a hauntingly good time at Scarowinds

For ten years now guests having been dying to get in!

And Scarowinds wants YOU to join the Army of Darkness!

Guests are greeted with a fountain gushing blood.

Arachnophobics need not enlist

Enlistees face stiff competition

Some go as far as losing there heads.

The dead become restless

Park management is commemoratived in a ghastly way

Familiar children's toys take on a surreal appearance

Hey Y'all, are pumpkins a native species of the Carolinas?

This screamster haunted those enjoying the the Pre-scare meal.

And.....he wasn't alone!

The Asylum offers a less than positive view of the state of mental institutions.

Camp Killauee is not known for having many (if any) annual campers!

The Playground isn't a place for the nice kids play unsupervised.

And the Carolina Skytower watches over the evenings festivities!

The Haunt at Scarowinds was a spooktacular event, one that had many ghoulies and ghosties lurking behind evey corner and in every crevis of the park. Truelly a marvelous evening of entertainment.