The Coaster Critic's Blog

New RSS Feed Address

2009-01-17T20:43:00.004-05:00

New RSS Feed Address
Now that the new site has been launched, if you're still subscribed to my blogger feed address you won't be getting any of my new posts.

Make sure you're subscribed to:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thecoastercritic

And check out the new site at: www.thecoastercritic.com

Welcome to the New Coaster Critic's Blog

2008-12-31T21:20:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! Welcome to The Coaster Critic's Blog v3.0

It's been a pretty large undertaking, but today I'm unveiling the new site. Importing the posts from Blogger to WordPress was easy, but many of my posts still need to be re-formated. The site will be in beta for a few weeks as I update, reformat, and link check the over 400 posts.

The latest version has a ton of new capabilities and better organized content. Thanks to WordPress, the most powerful blogging platform on the Web. I'd also like to thank the creators of these useful WordPress plugins and widgets: YARP, Social Homes, Bookmarkify, wp-Table, & Simple Tags. If you have any general blogging questions about doing your own blog, feel free to drop me a line. Last, but not least thanks to my wife for supporting me during the redesign process.

Here's a list of the new features on The Coaster Critic's Blog v3.0:

>Color Customization
Have it your way! Pick your favorite look for the blog by choosing from five different colors. As with the old blog, the header images were all taken by me.

>New Coaster Reviews Table
I'm still working out a few kinks, but now you can see all of the coaster reviews in a sortable table on the Theme Park & Roller Coaster Reviews page.You can also click on 'Coaster Reviews' in the white category menu and see all coaster review posts.

>Featured Post
I'll be highlighting featured posts in the main feature area on the home page.

>Featured Video
Featured videos will be in the sidebar. The current video is a pov video of Worlds of Fun's new Prowler.

>Related Posts
At the end of each post you'll find three related posts.

>Better Content Organization
All posts fall into six major categories and four subcategories under Exclusive Features! allowing for easier navigating.

>My Social Homes

Connect with me on other social sites like Facebook and MySpace via the icons in the sidebar.

>Contact Form
Got a suggestion or question? As always you can leave a comment, but now you can also drop me a line via the new contact forms.

It will be a few days to a week before the posts are cleaned up, categorized and tagged correctly, but let me know what
you think of the new blog. Got any suggestions or feedback? Leave a comment below.

Best Wooden Roller Coasters in the World Announced

2008-12-23T16:03:00.003-05:00

Everland's T Express Takes Top Spot Intamin Dominates Top 10
This year's Internet Coaster Poll had a big shake up at the top of the wooden poll as two-time champ The Voyage (Holiday World, Indiana) was unseated by newcomer T Express (Everland, South Korea).

Intamin Pre-fabs For the Win!
Last winter, I covered the T Express construction. I had particular interest because it's an Intamin pre-fabricated woodie. Pre-fabs are similar to steel coasters in that they are assembled like puzzle pieces on-site. Another major difference has been their ultra-smooth, unwooden-like ride. Wooden purists can hate these faux-woodies all they want, but the poll speaks for itself. This year, all four Intamin prefabricated coasters are in the top ten. The only one in America is Six Flags Great Adventures' El Toro. It offers an amazingly smooth and thrilling ride with more airtime than you'd think would be possible. For that reason it's at number 2 in my Top Ten Coasters and number 3 in the Internet Coaster Poll. I've heard great things about Balder at Liseberg (Sweden) which came in at 5th again this year. And Colossus (Heide-Park, Germany) moved up 7 spots to 10th. If that wasn't enough, a traditional woodie from Intamin moved into the top 10 as Aska (Japan) came in tied for 7th place even though its been 'standing, but not operating' for 2 years. I don't think most would have forseen Intamin's sudden wooden dominance.

2007 Top Ten Best Wooden Roller Coasters
1 T Express at Everland (Korea) Intamin (New in '08)
2 The Voyage at Holiday World (Indiana) Gravity Group (1st '07)
3 El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) Intamin (2nd '07)
4 Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce (Connecticut) CCI (6th '07)
5 Balder at Liseberg (Sweden) Intamin (5th '07)
6 Phoenix at Knoebels (Pennsylvania) Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (7th '07)
7 Troy at Toverland (Netherlands) GCI (4th in '07)
7 Aska at Nara Dreamland (Japan) Intamin (11th in '07)
9 Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer (Pennsylvania) Gravity Group (New in '08)
10 Colossos at Heide Park (Germany) Intamin (17th '07)
Complete 2008 wooden roller coaster poll results with all 178 coasters.

Check out this on-ride video of T Express at Everland. It's a massive wooden coaster at 183' feet tall and over 5,300 feet long it's the 3rd tallest and 6th longest in the world!
Other Notable Rankings - The Winners
In all, America now has only 5 of the top ten wooden coasters as one of my all-time favorites Hades (Mt. Olympus, Wisconsin) and Tremors (Silverwood, Idaho) have been bumped out of the top 10. Meanwhile, Ravine Flyer II debuted at an impressive 9th in its first year. Six Flags St. Louis' brand new Evel Knievel debuted at 15th.

Other Notable Rankings - The Not-Winners
Kings Island's de-looped Son of Beast moved up (if you can believe that) to 174th out of 176. Other well-known woodies at the bottom, include Cedar Point's Mean Streak at 166th, and Darien Lake's Predator at 173rd. California's Great America's Grizzly once again retains the title of world's worst wooden coaster.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), Son of Beast was closed during my trip to Kings Island. Since it's lost its loop and distinction as the world's only wooden looping coaster, the ride does look a lot less eventful with just a number of huge helixes. I re-rode Darien Lake's Predator this summer and while they'd removed that unforgivable gum monument in the queue, the ride was still much rougher than it should be. I did notice that they were in the process of working on it. Even if it's improved, it may take years for its reputation to improve. Mean Streak isn't by any means a horrible ride, it's just about as dull as possible. And with its size, potential and location at the Coaster Capital, Mean Streak is quite a dissapointment. I've never been to Great America's, but it's Grizzly has the same 'Coney Island Wildcat' design as the Grizzly at my old home park Kings Dominion. I could definitely imagine it super-rough and rickity. I'm surprised Cedar Fair hasn't done a major overhaul and brought in a wrecking ball at this point.

What's Your Take?
What do you think of the 2008 Internet Coaster Poll's Wood Results? Where does your favorite woodie place? Do you agree with the results? Leave a comment below.

How Roller Coasters Are Made

2008-12-17T18:56:00.002-05:00

Mommy, Where Do B&M's Come From? | How Roller Coasters Are Made
Ever wonder where and how roller coasters are made? NewsPlusNo tes has an excellent behind-the-scenes look at a manufacturing plant in Ohio that churns out Bolliger & Mabillard's great roller coasters for the U.S.

The NewsPlusNotes staff were taken through the process that just produced the track for SeaWorld Orlando's Manta along with many other top-notch rides over the years. It's a real in-depth post. Check out the Scott and Carol Present: Getting on Track with B&M, it's some great stuff.

Now on Facebook

2008-12-15T21:21:00.006-05:00

Now on Facebook | Become a Fan!
I now have a "Coaster Critic" Facebook page. I tried this well over a year ago, but I couldn't figure out how to make a page versus a profile. For some reason Facebook just didn't believe that "The Coaster Critic" was my real name. So finally, I took the time to figure it out and set up a page. It wasn't hard, just not very high on my priorities. I've got some of my favorite pictures from my 2008 Theme Park Trips, a short Led Zeppelin video I took, and slots for friends to share their pics and images. Visit The Coaster Critic on Facebook

On MySpace Roller Coasters Are People Too?
I also updated my MySpace page which I hadn't touched in many months. Those of you new to MySpace coaster geekdom might be surprised to find that many of my friends are inanimate objects, but its par for the course on MySpace. The site's littered with roller coasters that have their own profiles, like this Loch Ness Monster profile. Apparently, Loch Ness Monster is a straight married Aries that unfortunately doesn't want kids. It's a shame too, because a "Son of Loch Ness Monster" coaster would probably be pretty sick. Visit The Coaster Critic on MySpace

MySpace vs. Facebook - The Traffic
I'm a web analyst by day, so I couldn't help but share this Alexa chart showing the emergence of Facebook. As many of you may already know Facebook is taking over the social network scene from once king MySpace. This chart which shows the traffic of users with Alexa toolbars illustrates the point. Back in April of 2008, Facebook surpassed MySpace in terms of reach for these Alexa users.Do you frequent Facebook or MySpace? Which do you prefer and why? Leave a comment below.

Ring°Racer Video | World's Fastest Coaster

2008-12-08T20:33:00.003-05:00

New Ring°Racer Video Shows the World's Fastest Coaster in Action
Finally, more images and a video has been posted on the S&S web site of the Ring°Racer coaster coming to Nürburgring in Germany. It's called 'F1 Coaster' on their web site, but there's little doubt that this an animated video of Ring°Racer. When it opens in June 2009, it will surpass Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka which tops out at a blistering 128 mph. Ring°Racer will push the envelope even further with a top speed of 134 mph (217 km/h).

The world's new fastest coaster will have an appropriate home. According to wikipedia, Nürburgring, known as simply "The Ring" by enthusiasts, is a motorsport race track in Nürburg, Germany. Like the infamous Autobahn it includes public acceess roads where anyone with a registered car can drive as fast as they want.

Ring°Racer Takes the Crown
This will be the first time that I can remember the Germans holding a major roller coaster world record. Unlike, the 1990's, I doubt this will kick off another coaster arms race due to the state of the economy, but you never know. Kingda Ka will still hold the height record and is so insanely fast that I doubt Six Flags will blink. Besides, the general public that makes up the majority of the park's patrons will have never heard of Ring°Racer.

Check out this pov video of the ring°racer at Nurburgring:
Ring°Racer's Unbelievable Launch
The ride looks pretty short, but so are Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka. Obviously, the real draw here is going to be that insane launch of 0 to 134 mph in only 2.5 seconds. Kingda Ka doesn't reach its top speed until 3.5 seconds. The video can't possibly to the launch justice, but it will likel become legendary. Well, at least until it's surpassed by another record breaking roller coaster.

What's Your Take?
What do you think of this future top speed champ? Is it enough for you to hop on a plane to Germany? Any Germans out there excited for Ring°Racer? Leave a comment below.

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Video

2008-12-06T07:47:00.005-05:00

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit - Model & Video
More details are starting to emerge on Universal Studios' Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit. We already new about the main distinction of the ride. Riders will be able to download a video of their ride and post it on the Web. Details on the layout were a bit sketchy, but the picture's becoming more clear. Now, ScreamScape has posted photos of models from a recent amusement industry convention. Click here for more photos.In lieu of an official video released by Universal, DjJavi5x has created a ride simulation video of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit using NoLimits. Hopefully, the park

What's Your Take?
Are you excited about Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit? What do you think of the video? Leave a comment below.

Goliath @ Six Flags Over Georgia | Coaster Reviews

2008-12-05T12:22:00.007-05:00

Take A Spin Goliath - The Jewel of the SouthEast
Goliath is a towering hyper coaster built at Six Flags Over Georgia in 2006. It may mark the end of an era for Six Flags. Newly appointed CEO Mark Shapiro pointed at the $20 million roller coaster in an interview and said "No more of those." The year it was built Dan Snyder and Mark Shapiro assumed control of Six Flags. They planned to steer the large theme park chain to more family friendly rides and attractions. Goliath towers over Austell, Georgia at 200 feet (roughly 20 stories). Like other Bolliger & Mabillard hyper coasters it offers large camel back hills, a buttery smooth ride, and speed.

Goliath's station had some type of neo-50's theme. The roller coaster's name speaks to the chains continued uncreativity. A la, it's big, we'll name it Goliath. Not to mention the name is used at several other parks. Anyway, I got to the park on Wednesday morning, June 4th. I bought my season pass (that I'd be using later for my trip to Magic Mountain) and headed straight for Goliath. It was a walk-on and I was able to by-pass the now mandatory lockers for storing bags & other loose items. The small crowd that had gathered in the station was quickly dispatched thanks to Goliath's 32 passenger, 4 across, ultra-comfortable trains.

Politics in a Theme Park?
The ride op sounded like he aspired to be a club D.J. He had the station hyped up with and screaming 'yeah' on cue. I appreciated the active and fun ride op until he gave an inappropriate shout out Barrack Obama for clinching the Democratic nomination. There was a weak smattering of applause in response likely from the Georgia Tech and University of Georgia students. I think most, like me, were wondering why this guy brought politics into a theme park. He was young like most ride ops and obviously didn't know any better.

Goliath - The Trip Out
After boarding the comfortable trains, Goliath makes its twenty story climb right over the pathways in 50'sville. There's a great view of the surrounding area and then the first 170 foot drop. As usual, the drop was much better in the back of the train as it makes the relatively (compared to other hypers) short drop feel much longer. The second drop is actually 5 feet longer and then the 3rd offers some excellent floater air time. At the bottom, the train flies close to a pond below and you can really feel the ride's speed. The train climbs up once again to set up a great downward helix. The unorthodox helix has a 'down the drain' feeling and pulls some great g-forces. It trumps sister coaster Nitro's upward helix by a mile.
Goliath - The Trip Back
The next hill drops the train by some trees that the park was smart to keep and next is the highlight of the ride. The train rises back up and does a quick overbanked turn to the right. It a much short overbanked turn than Nitro's hammerhead, but it's very effective. You feel as if you're going to be dumped into the pond below. After, the train traverses a number of bunny hills with decent amounts of air. The final bunny hill drops the train right into the station brakes. Goliath is a solid hyper coaster. It's not only the park's best roller coaster, but arguably the best coaster in the South East (south of Virginia). We're lucky that it was built before the Snyder-Shapiro rule. Final Rating 9.0 (Excellent)

Check out this onride video of Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia: What's Your Take?
What do you think of Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia? How do you think it matches up to other hyper coasters? Leave a comment below.

2008 Theme Park Year In Review

2008-11-26T13:40:00.015-05:00

Class of 2008 - Roller Coasters That Debuted This Year
As predicted in my Top 10 New Roller Coasters for 2008, my top pick Ravine Flyer 2 opened to many positive reviews and it landed at 8 on my Top 10. Read my full review. I'm looking forward to seeing how it fairs in Mitch's '08 Coaster Poll next month. Canada's Wonderland's Behemoth also received a lot of props on the Web and some even hailed it as the best B&M hyper coaster to date. Fahrenheit's reception was mostly positive, but its opening wasn't the smoothest including a session where it valleyed back in May.

Also, a couple of family launch coasters opened. I rode both the Pony Express at Knott's Berry Farm and OCC MotoCoaster at Darien Lake and they were pretty fun. Here's my review of the MotoCoaster. X2 was reborn, but I can't really compare it to its former self. Supposedly, it was smoother. The schizophrenic music was more weird and annoying and done much better on Led Zeppelin. The only special effect that I remember was the super hot flame which was okay. Here's my X2 review.

Dark Knight Movie = A+, Dark Knight Coasters.....
On the far other end of the spectrum, the Dark Knight coasters at Great America (Chicago) and Great Adventure (New Jersey) were slammed with bad reviews and comments. Like this 40 comment post where angry readers left reviews that included words like: 'lame', 'terrible', 'wack', and 'horrible.' Even though they were based on a run-of-the-mill wild mouse, I thought these coasters had potential. Allegedly, I was wrong. SF New England lost their Dark Knight clone due to planning mishaps. They may have actually dodged a bullet. The Dark Knight coaster that was coming to New England is now being built at Six Flag Mexico.

Theme Park Accidents
Like 2007, we saw another high profile, gruesome theme park accident in June. Last year there was a teen girl whose feet were severed while on a drop ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. This year, a teen was beheaded by one of Batman: The Ride's trains. Read the full story including a video of CNN coverage. Since the incident, Six Flags has increased the presence of warning "Do Not Enter" signs around their coasters. Aside from signs and the 6-foot fences there isn't a whole lot Six Flags can really do with incident like this and another one at Magic Mountain where a man was hit by Ninja. For more, read all of my roller coaster accident posts from this year and years past.

Troubled Economy Strikes Amusement Park Industry
One of the biggest stories of the year was the opening, and premature closing, of the brand new $400 million Hard Rock Park. The park sited insufficient marketing funds and Myrtle Beach guests taking shorter trips. As I've said before, I wonder how the park would have done if its first year would have been in a better economy. Read about all things Hard Rock Park including my park and coaster reviews.

Herschend closed Celebration City and canceled Adventure Montain at Dollywood. Cypress Gardens will no longer be a theme park and is selling its theme park rides. And somehow, after talks of being de-listed from the stock exchange, Six Flags faired relatively well according to their latest earnings release. They definitely took noticeable action to combat the down economy with the "everyone pays kids price promotion"
running for much of the summer.

Amusement Industry Continues to Consolidate
PARC Management who also acquired seven former Six Flags parks in 2007, bought Arkansas park Magic Springs, several Family Entertainment Centers and NASCAR Speed Parks. InBev bought American brewing stalwart Anheuser Busch which has major implications for the Busch Entertainment Group which runs the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Discovery Cove parks. Still no word yet on the fate of the parks, but all signs are pointing to the new owners selling off the amusement park arm of the business as InBev likes to stick to their core competencies. I for one think beer and theme parks co-exist beautifully. Well, not really, I just don't want anything to happen to my favorite park chain.

Dubai Explodes with Future Theme Parks Planned
Suddenly Dubai, a city that's literally rising from the desert overnight, is the place to be for the amusement industry. Everyone's looking to or already has planted their flags there. A large Busch multi-park on an island shaped like Shamu was just the beginning. There will be a Universal Studios Dubai, a Six Flags Dubailand (2011), Legoland Dubailand (2011), a Marvel Theme Park (2012), and a Dreamworks Dubailand (2012). I'm sure there are more as well. I might have to find myself a plane ticket to the United Arab Emirates in 5 years or so.

In Memorium
This year, we said goodbye to a few roller coasters. One of the most missed will be Dorney's Schwarzkopf designed looper the Laser. I never heard any official word on why it was sold, but I would assume low ridership or to make room for something new. Super Saturator's gone from Carowinds to make room for the Carolina Cobra. Thankfully, Hypersonic XLC was removed from my old home park, Kings Dominion. I can't say that I'm sad to see it go. Read my Hypersonic XLC review to see why. Six Flags America is selling Two Face after many breakdowns leaving riders stranded. A landmark coaster in the UK was recently removed from Alton Towers. The Corkscrew, was one of the first double-looping coasters in Europe.

What's Your Take on 2008?
Did I miss anything? What do you think was the biggest story of the year? Did you have a favorite ride or really memorable trip to a park? Leave a comment below.

Volcano's Powerful Rolling Launch | Coaster Moments

2008-11-25T10:20:00.004-05:00

Volcano's Blast Off - Memorable Coaster Moments

Volcano: The Blast Coaster's a pretty memorable coaster for a number of reasons. It's an inverted launch coaster built in a themed mountain at Kings Dominion. The majority of launch coasters catapult their trains from a dead stop, Volcano's launch happens on the move. To me, the rolling launch added to the intense level of suspense as you wait to be hurled to warp speed.

On Volcano, riders board the train and get buckled in. The train is slowly dispatched and takes an immediate left. As they finish the left turn a long tunnel lies ahead. The train just creeps along as the riders wonder when they'll be launched. You see the LIMs overhead and know that it'll happen any second and then it happens. The acceleration is so raw and powerful. It's like there's an angry machine gradually pushing you faster and faster. The launch is nowhere near as immediate as Hypersonic XLC's was. It's a bit more gradual, but still very exhilirating.

Check out this onride video of Volcano: The Blast Coaster at Kings Dominion:

Read my full Volcano review and see why I gave it an 8.5 out of 10.
Relive more memorable coaster moments on rides like Hades, Voyage, and Montu.

What do you think of Volcano The Blast Coaster? Is Volcano's launch one of your favorites? Leave a comment below. Image courtesy of CoasterImage.

Vote in Coasterdom's 2008 Coaster Web Awards

2008-11-24T10:02:00.001-05:00

Vote in the 2008 Coaster Web Awards
The award and polling season continues as voting is now open for Coasterdom's 2008 Coaster Web Awards. Last year, The Coaster Critic's Blog recieved the Best Theme Park Blog award. It would be great to repeat, but as you can see from my blog roll there are some great theme park blogs out there. Also, my other web site Coaster Portal is up for Best New Site.

Vote for your favorite sites in categories like: best design, best forums, most interactive, best photography, best knowledge, best overall, best parks specific site and favorite podcast. Vote in Coasterdom's 2008 Coaster Web Awards>>>

See last years results.

Lex Luthor Coaster Coming to Six Flags New England

2008-11-20T20:41:00.010-05:00

Six Flags New England's Superman Takes a Villainous Turn
I'm going to 'go out on a limb' and unofficially announce Six Flags New England's newest roller coaster: Lex Luthor. From the hints being dropped on the viral marketing site, Clawshun Industries, and the ride's new purple paint job it's pretty obvious that Superman Ride of Steel will be re-themed as a Lex Luthor coaster. The purple paint job had me scratching my head until I saw the viral marketing site Six Flags created to promote Sup's redesign. Clawshun Industries is the fictional company whose web site has been hinting at ties to none other than the shady and corrupt LexCorp.

If you visit the message from the president page you scrub away the president's hair to reveal his bald Luthor-like head. Also, when you scroll over certain text there are other references to Superman's maniacal foe. Thanks to my comic geeky brother for reminding me of Lex's war suit that's purple and green (pictured above). So should we expect the track supports to be painted green too? We'll see.I've been pretty critical of the Superman Ride of Steel renovations, fearing that Six Flags is messing with perfection. But if the ride's getting a new name and theme at least that's a positive. It's annoying to have to preface any praise for the ride with, "The S:ROS in New England." Since it's the best ride on the planet it should definitely have its own identity. So far, I'm liking the creativity. It will be neat to see what kind of story they tell with the theming and all of the new special effects. Read more about the Superman Transformation. Also, check out my full review of Superman @ Six Flags New England.This isn't the first time a roller coaster will be named after a comic book villain. Six Flags New England already has a fun family roller coaster themed after Poison Ivy. Riddler's Revenge is a record-holding stand-up looper at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Mr. Freeze is a launched shuttle coaster at Six Flags St. Louis. And Joker's Jinx is a launched-looper at Six Flags America.

Visit the Lex Luthor-affiliated sites:
Clawshun Industries
Metropolis Stock Exchange

What do you think of the re-theming of Superman: Ride of Steel? Do you like the idea of a Lex Luthor coaster? Leave a comment below. Image courtesy of SFNEOnline.com.

Coaster Critic's Blog to be Redesigned for '09

2008-11-19T17:13:00.002-05:00

Coming Soon: CCB Version 3.0
While the current design is only 9 months old, I'm going to completely overhaul the blog over the next month. The redesign will include a migration from Blogger to Wordpress. Blogger's been good to me, but I need some of the advantages of a full-fledged web site while still having the ability to do blog posts. I hope to launch the new site on New Year's Day. I'm hoping to do more than just migrate the site over. The new site will be a complete redesign with new features and capabilities.

The rest of this month, I'll be in the planning phase. If you have any suggestions for the new site please leave a comment below.

2009 Construction Updates - Diamondback, Terminator & More

2008-11-17T20:43:00.013-05:00

Coaster Construction Updates - Diamondback, Prowler, & More
Carowind's relocated boomerang coaster, Carolina Cobra is coming along nicely. The park's mini site for the new attraction has tons of photos and even a live web cam, likely perched from the park's observation tower. As Carowinds is my home park I'm looking forward to reporting on whether or not the coaster's new trains will improve the ride. Check out the official Carolina Cobra site for more.

Kings Island's Diamondback is Going Up
One of the most anticipated roller coasters opening in 2009 is the new B&M hyper coaster being built at Kings Island. Diamondback's site also has a web cam, a huge photo gallery, as well as some goodies to download. Hopefully, they're sparing as many trees as they can. Part of the ride's appeal will be its trip into the wilderness behind the park like its legendary neighbor Beast. See the Diamondback site for more. Also, head over NewPlusNotes and enter a contest to ride it on opening day.

Prowler - Worlds of Fun's Woodie is Taking Shape
After a lot of land clearing, Prowler is starting to go vertical. Prowler will kick off with an 85-foot drop into a ravine. The rest of the ride will closely hug the terrain as it reaches speeds in excess of 50 mph. For more, check out W orlds of Fun's Prowler site.

Ground Prep for Magic Mountain's Terminator Coaster
While it doesn't looked to have gone vertical yet, WestCoaster.net has some photos of the construction site for the new Terminator coaster that's coming to Magic Mountain. The GCI woodie will be 100' feet tall (10 stories), over 2,800 feet long, and reach speeds of 55 mph. Californians will enjoy quite an upgrade as its replacing the horrible, worst-rated, Pysclone that was demolished in 2007. The funny thing is that on my recent trip to Magic Mountain, as I rode Deja Vu, I didn't realize I was near the former site of Pysclone much less the site of a new coaster for '09. See WestCoaster.net's photos.

Stay tuned for more construction updates on coasters like Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Manta, Ring°Racer and more. Which of these 2009 coasters are you most excited about? Leave a comment below.

Hard Rock Park For Sale, Future Uncertain

2008-11-11T14:05:00.001-05:00

Hard Rock Park for Sale, Several Companies Interested
According to MytleBeachOnline, Hard Rock Park is up for sale in hopes of finding a new owner. In addition, ScreamScape recently reported that there are: "no less than three other qualified operators are taking a serious look at buying Hard Rock Park."

Even with all of the venom on the 'Net for this park and experts out there with their "I told you so's" I still think Hard Rock Park was a strong theme park for its first year in existence. Though it was on a much smaller scale than a Disney or Universal park, it was full of some really cool and unique ideas. Many people were expecting WAY too much. People forget that theme parks don't spring up overnight with as many rides and roller coasters as parks that have been around for years. I do fault the park for the high ($50) ticket price, especially with the state of the economy. I wonder how it would have done with a free entry/pay per ride type of system like a Knoebels.

Hard Rock Park's managment just may not have planned well for the economic downturn with people staying in Myrlte Beach shorter than usual. Maybe they could have changed their strategy drastically during the summer to bring in more people and cut costs, but it might have been too late. I wonder if the park would have met the same fate in a better economic climate. Maybe they would've lost some money, but not had to close.

What's Next for Hard Rock Park?
For now we can speculate as to who may buy the park. The interesting part now is that we might get the answer to what really hurt the park. If another company swoops in and makes it successful we'll know what was wrong the first time. So far, rumors have included Merlin Entertainment Group and Cedar Point operators Cedar Fair. Of course, no one has anything concrete yet. The likely bidders would have to be in a stable to strong financial position so I think we can rule out a Six Flags Myrtle Beach. PARC Management is a smaller player that owns a hanful of former Six Flags parks like Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens. Maybe they are in position to step in. Too bad Busch Entertainment isn't likely to acquire it as they are about to be sold by new owners InBev as it is. I've always wanted see a Busch Gardens Asia! Hopefully, we'll find out soon.

Read all of my Hard Rock Park posts including its planning, construction, my trip, and ride reviews.

What do you think will become of Hard Rock Park? Leave a comment below.

The Kevin & Nate Show Returns

2008-11-10T20:43:00.005-05:00

Coasterdom's Podcast Returns & Brings the Funny
The Kevin & Nate Show is one of my favorite podcasts. Kevin Toth and Nate Nagele from the long-running theme park blog Coasterdom recap the biggest stories in the amusement industry. They hadn't had a show since May so it was great to hear the guys again. During the 58 minute show straight man Kevin and jokester Nate basically do a 2008 wrap up show along with a nod to next year's coming attractions.

News of Six Flags Magic Mountain's Terminator: The Coaster, brought out Nate's hilarious Schwarzenegger impression. The more the guys let their personalities, likes, and dislikes come through in the show, the better the show is. Take a listen through their podcast player here. You can also, download the show at their podcast page. Parents, this episode is PG.

Do you listen to any theme park podcasts? Leave a comment below.

Time to Vote in the Internet Coaster Poll

2008-11-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

A Non-biased Coaster Poll, Not for the Faint-Hearted Fan Boy
Time to vote in Mitch Hawker's renowned Internet Coaster Poll again. During the off-season every year, die hard coaster fans fill out Mitch Hawker's Roller Coaster Polls. The polls are lengthy and complicated enough that Robb Alvey from ThemeParkReview.com created an Idiot's Guide. Hopefully, the amount of time and effort it takes will weed out the blind homers and fan boys that just want to vote for their home park's coasters. If you haven't traveled much that's fine, but it's those 'seasoned' enthusiasts that can't admit that there are any flaws in their home park (cough cedar point cough). To each his own, right? Anyway, Mitch's Poll usually 'gets it right' in my opinion it's the suspiciously never-changing Golden Ticket Awards that are likely more of a victim of fanboyism.

All ballots for the Wooden and Steel Coaster Polls must be in by December 5th. This year I'm going to fill out both polls. As I have for years now I'll report on the results and compare to them to the Golden Ticket Awards when they are announced. Also, this year I'll do a prediction post. I don't fancy myself a prognosticator, but it's fun to guess. It'll be interesting to see where 2009 coasters like Ravine Flyer 2, X2, Evel Kneivel, Fahrenheit and others place. Stay tuned!

Go to Mitch Hawker's Roller Coaster Polls
See the last couple year's results and read about the Eagle Fortress controversy in my Mitch's Coaster Poll posts.

Are you going to participate in this year's polls? After this post do I need a 'for coaster geeks' tag? Leave a comment below.

The Next Generation of Wooden Roller Coasters

2008-11-07T22:03:00.002-05:00

The Next Generation of Wooden Roller Coasters - Part I
Not Your Father's Wooden Roller Coasters
From my early riding experiences at Kings Dominion on wooden staples like the old-school racing coaster Rebel Yell, I would use two words to describe wooden roller coasters. Rough and boring. Of course some woodies were more enjoyable than others, but I think overall I didn't appreciate wooden coasters. And who could blame me? Compared to their steel counterparts that were breaking world records for height and speed and throwing riders into awe-inspiring loops and inversions, wooden coasters seemed about as run of the mill as can be.

I'd heard about legends like the popular woodies out in Ohio like the Beast and Mean Streak. Also, Texas Giant, Megafobia in England, and the preeminent woodie, The Cyclone at Astroland, But these seemed like exceptions to the rule. The wooden coasters in my neck of the woods, the Mid Atlantic area of the Eastern U.S. were nothing to write home about. So, my status as a steelie fan was solidified early on in my coaster enthusiastness.

However, this all changed a few years ago. Both Great Coasters International, Gravity Group, and even steel stalwarts Intamin are changing the game by delivering wooden coasters that I would never describe as boring or even all that rough. My new found respect for wooden coasters both new and some old all began with Boulder Dash in 2005.

Boulder Dash - A Fast & Furious Ride on a Mountain
Boulder Dash is a terrain coaster located on the side of a mountain behind Lake Compounce. The large Custom Coasters International woodie likely helped to put the small Connecticut park on the map. After an unforgettable climb through the dense forest on the mountainside, the train takes a swooping dive to the right and the rest is an intense ride packed with lots of speed and several moments of airtime. Boulder Dash's unique setting brought me to the park and thankfully its ride was as impressive as its location.

Thunderhead – World-Class Woodie with a Smooth & Twisted Ride
Dollywood received critical acclaim for their GCI designed Thunderhead. The coaster promised a beautifully twisted layout and it more than delivered. Aside from the ride's twists and turns, Thunderhead features a one-of-a-kind station fly-through. About midway through its course Thunderhead sends riders tearing through an upper area of the station. I enjoyed the fly-through, but was really most impressed by the coaster's buttery smooth ride. Using GCI's millennium flyer trains that were lightly themed and more open than PTC's, the ride was surprisingly smooth. The smoothness encouraged re-rides, something unusual for most woodies.

The Voyage – An Intense Marathon of Thrills
Holiday World's The Voyage is a wonder to behold. It sports a traditional out-and-back layout, but riders encounter so many insane elements that The Voyage is far from traditional. This monster features eight underground traverses, two 90-degree banked turns, and a total ride time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds. An unassuming 154' drop generates the speed needed to push the standard PTC trains to warp speed for nearly the entire ride. Thanks to the Gravity Group's genius design The Voyage is still storming its way down the track all the way up to the final brakes.

The highlight on the journey is the 'triple down in the dark'. Leaving the mid-course brake run, the train enters yet another tunnel and then the bottom literally drops out from under you in pitch black darkness. The Voyage is far from boring, but a little rough. It's definitely a wooden coaster that's redefined its genre and has taken the Golden Ticket Award from the former winner, Thunderhead.

In Part 2 of Next Generation Woodies, I'll cover Intamin's revolutionary, pre-fabricated El Toro, Ravine Flyer 2, and the god of the underworld Hades. We'll also take a look into the future with wooden coasters set to open in 2009.

What's your favorite wooden roller coaster? Are you a fan of older woodies or today's woodies? Leave a comment below. Images courtesy of CoasterImage.

Vote Mark Shapiro For President?

2008-11-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Cheezonastick Supports Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro for President?
The guys over at Cheezonastick are asking you to vote today, for Mark Shapiro. To be honest I'm not really sure if the guys are spoofing Mark Shapiro's reign as Six Flags CEO or are in support of it. Check out the Shapiro-Snyder '08 campaign site and decide for yourself.

Either way, the ballot is pretty funny. You can vote for Shapiro, Richard Kinzel, CEO of Cedar Fair, or the independent candidate, Will Koch of Holiday World. I won't give them away, but the three proposals on the ballot are funny too. So after you do your civic duty today and vote in the real election have some fun with Cheezonastick's 2008 Amusement Industry Ballot.

Would you vote for Mark Shapiro for President? How do you think Six Flags has been run in the last couple of years? Leave a comment below.

SeaWorld's Manta Topped Off

2008-11-03T20:00:00.011-05:00

SeaWorld Orlando's Manta is Moving Along
JohnnyUpsideDown has a rack of construction photos of SeaWorld Orlando's 2009 flying coaster Manta. As you can see from the pics, the ride's been topped off and the station is coming together.

Check out JohnnyUpsideDown's latest Manta construction photos. Read all about the Manta coaster, also check out this construction video from SeaWorld of the coaster's topping off:Manta is easily one of the most anticipated roller coasters of 2009. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the complete layout and a virtual onride video. It will be interesting to see how the sting ray shaped trains interact with the water. What do you think of SeaWorld's Manta? Leave a comment below. Photos 2 and 3 courtesy of JohnnyUpsideDown.

Great Adventure's Medusa Gets an Upgrade

2008-10-28T20:36:00.005-04:00

Six Flags Great Adventure's Medusa Gets the X2 Treatment
Medusa opened in 1999 as the world's first floorless roller coaster. Read more about floorless coasters. Now, Six Flags Great Adventure has announced that it will get the makeover treatment in the off season. This is a growing trend with Six Flags these days after this year's X2 re-launch and next year's (risky) Superman: Ride of Steel renovations.

According to the press release:
"The Medusa redesign will deliver a multi-sensory ride experience with all-new thematics and innovative, state-of-the-art visual, audio and sensory effects launching it into another dimension of thrills and excitement."

"Six Flags Great Adventure continues to push the envelope -- going far beyond traditional coasters to offer thrill seekers the exhilaration of a roller coaster combined with unique storytelling and high tech elements incorporating fire, fog, water and precisely orchestrated audio production designed to assault the senses for a world class "show" on a roller coaster. "

Take a ride on Medusa 1.0 with the video below:

What do you think of the Medusa enhancements? Would you rather have a new ride? Leave a comment below. Image courtesy of CoasterImage.

Celebration City Closes For Good

2008-10-27T20:47:00.003-04:00

Branson's Celebration City Closes
Celebration City in Branson, Missouri closed its doors for good on Saturday. The park was purchased by the owners of the nearby Silver Dollar City. Celebration City was supposed to be the companion park to Silver Dollar City as guests were to visit SDC during the day and Celebration City during the night. Park owners, Herschend decided to close the park citing a shift in strategic direction. I'm sure the economy didn't help either.

Herschend also operates Dollywood which just canceled its 2009 attraction. The owners are exploring new ideas for the land that the park is on including an aquarium, re-theming the park, other family attractions, retail, and dinning.

The park was home to the Ozark Wildcat a GCI twister wooden coaster. There was also a S&MC Hurricane called Thunderbolt and a Miller family coaster called Jack Rabbit. No word yet on where these or the other rides from the park will end up.

What do you think of this news? Will you miss Celebration City? Leave a comment below.

Six Flags Announces Terminator Coaster @ Magic Mountain

2008-10-23T07:17:00.005-04:00

Magic Mountain Announces Details of Terminator: The Coaster
Terminator: The Coaster will be a Great Coasters International twister woodie. Twisters offer lots of banked turns and speed. The ride will also feature a station fly-through like the acclaimed Thunderhead at Dollywood. Also, like Thunderhead, Terminator will feature GCI's Millennium Flyer trains. That's about where the similarites end as the new coaster does not look like a complete clone of Thunderhead. And even if it were that would not necessarily be a bad thing. Thunderhead is very popular and has won the Golden Ticket Award for best wooden coaster. If that coaster's success is any indication, Terminator will be an excellent addition.

Terminator: The Coaster will be 100' feet tall (10 stories), over 2,800 feet long, and reach speeds of 55 mph. There's also mentions of a "state-of-the-art sound package" and "on-board entertainment" in the official press release. If this means on-board speakers like on the Led Zeppelin Coaster, it would be the first I can remember seeing such technology on a wooden coaster. The total cost of the project will be $10 million.

An Important Coaster for Magic Mountain & California
Not only will Terminator add a much needed woodie to Magic Mountain's huge collection, it will be the park's 16th coaster, it will bring something to the entire state. While California is both the most populous state and also has the most roller coasters, it's collection is not among the best. The state particularly falls short on quality wooden roller coasters. To illustrate this point, Terminator will take the place of the much maligned Psyclone. Psyclone and Great America's Grizzly placed at the very bottom of Mitch Hawker's Internet Poll basically ranking as the World's Worst Wooden Coasters.

Knott's Berry Farm's Ghostrider is popular, but by most accounts has seen better days. The Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was the best ranked wooden coaster in the state at 39th. And I also hear some buzz from time to time about the Giant Dipper at Belmont Park. See the entire 2007 wooden coaster poll results. Regardless, Cali's woodies couldn't hold a candle to many other state's and Terminator will help with this shortcoming.

Questionable Theming?
Lastly, I think the theming is a bit of a mismatch. A wooden coaster tied to a movie about evil machines that take over the world? Maybe the riders, as members of the resistance prefer good old-fashioned, natural wood because they don't trust steel anymore. But, as I said in a previous post, Six Flags is likely looking for that fun, family friendly ride that will have wider appeal. Under the Dan Snyder-Mark Shapiro regime, going after the families and away from the massive, expensive thrill rides has been the company's m.o. So all-in-all, this should be a great and much needed addition to the coaster landscape out West.

Get a preview, check out the Terminator coaster video below:

Terminator: The Ride is set to open Spring 2009 as it will coincide with the release of the Terminator: Salvation movie starring Christian Bale and directed by McG (from Charlie's Angels!?!) What do you think of the new Terminator coaster coming to Six Flags Magic Mountain? Leave a comment below.

New Transformers Ride, Terminator Coaster & More

2008-10-21T22:17:00.013-04:00

Recent Theme Park News Stories - Transformers, Terminator, & More
Since I've been busy working on Coaster Portal, I've missed a few news stories. Here's a recap of the biggest stories from the past month or so:

Gravity Group Launches Blog & Podcast - Gravitycast
The Gravity Group, acclaimed wooden roller coaster designers, recently launched their blog and podcast known as Gravitycast. If you're not familiar with their coasters check out my reviews of The Voyage, Hades, and Ravine Flyer II. They're all amazing and all three are in my Top Ten. Gravitycast looks to be more than just a place for the designers to post updates (which would be enough for coaster geeks out there like myself), they've essentially opened up a conversation with the fans. Read more at: Coaster Portal

Magic Mountain to Announce Details of the Terminator Coaster
UPDATE 10/23 - Six Flags Announces Details of the Terminator Coaster.

The LA Times Funland Blog has information on the new GCI Terminator wooden coaster coming to Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2009. Six Flags is expected to make an official announcement later this week. I still think it's a little odd that a Terminator-themed coaster wouldn't be a steel coaster, but Six Flags is likely looking for that fun, family friendly ride that will have wider appeal. Plus, Magic Mountain could use another woodie as they only have the old racing coaster, Colossus. Read more at the LA Times Funland Blog.

Universal Announces Transformers Ride for 2011
Also on the LA Times Funland Blog, are a few details confirming the rumored Transformers ride. Universal will build a dark ride that sounds similar to the Spider-Man ride at Islands of Adventure and Curse of Darkastle at Busch Gardens Europe. Read more about those rides on my Top 3 Dark Rides post. One major difference with the Transformers ride will be that this ride will built many years lafter those rides and will benefit from enhancement in high definition 3D technology. Not only that, but it will feature two-story tall robots going at it all around you. Universal will build the ride at the Universal Hollywood park as well as the Universal Singapore park. Sorry East Coasters. Read more at The LA Times Funland Blog.

Dollywood Cancels 2009 Attraction - Adventure Mountain
We may have one of the first 2009 projects to fall victim to the struggling economy. Recently, Dollywood had to unannounce their 2009 attraction known as Adventure Mountain. They sight the economic downturn as the reason for putting the ride on hold. I give them credit for coming out with a statement rather than just sweeping the project under the rug. Read the full announcement.

What do you think of this news? Leave a comment below.

Saw: The Ride Coming to Thorpe Park

2008-10-18T08:19:00.014-04:00

Thorpe Park Announces Saw: The Ride for 2009
Thorpe Park recently announced the name and theme of its 2009 Gerstlauer Eurofighter. It will be themed after the popular horror movie series, Saw. The ride will feature a 100' climb and a beyond vertical drop of 100 degrees. Saw may be in the same vein as Dollywood's Mystery Mine which was also a custom Eurofighter.

I didn't know that the Saw series was so popular in the UK, but apparently it is. If you're a fan of the movies, the you'll really appreciate the site.

**Warning this site is not appropriate for children.** Check out the official web site for Saw: The Ride.

As you can see from the photos above, the ride's already pretty far along and should easily make its Spring 2009 target opening date. Any British coaster enthusiasts excited about Saw? Leave a comment below. Images courtesy of Thorpe Park.