The nation’s first launched wing coaster hits a milestone today, as the highest piece of track is lifted into place by a 165-foot-tall crane.
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Monthly Archives: October 2014
Trip Report: Kings Dominion
Greetings Loopies, Braedon here with a park report. I made my first trip over to the east coast this past weekend to join Clint at a few parks. We visited Busch Gardens Williamsburg, as well as Kings Dominion. We did visit while haunt/hall o scream was going on but I will just focus on the parks their self.
MANTIS TO REMAIN OPEN DURING HALLOWEEKENDS
The original plans for Cedar Point’s Mantis roller coaster was to close is down on October 19th as they start its transition to the new floorless coaster Rougarou, but those plans have changed. Cedar Point officials say the stand-up coaster will remain open for the remainder of HalloWeekends. The coaster has already started its Rougarou transformation. Some sections of the coaster have been painted.
EDIT: According to Cedar Points Facebook Page the coaster will still close on the 19th. It will however be open on Fridays before the 19th.
EDIT: The News station removed the story and Cedar Point told us the coaster will close on the 19th
BREAKING NEWS! Mickey’s Fun Wheel Stalled with Riders On Ride
Disneyland is now in the middle of a PR nightmare today as riders on the Mickey’s Fun Wheel were stranded on the ride for more then 2 hours. Multiple LA stations are reporting that everyone is okay after being stuck in 90 degree weather. One stranded riders reported being a little hot, and his kids slept most of the time.
The wheel was manually moved so passengers could be removed from the ride. They were given wet towels, water, ice cream, and free tickets.
In other Disneyland news riders on the Its a Small World reported they were on the ride for what seemed like 2 hours. No wet towels, water, ice cream, or tickets were waiting when they exited the ride.
Press Release: KNOTT’S CAMP SNOOPY TRANSFORMS INTO CAMP SPOOKY
Weekends in October and on Halloween Day, Knott’s Berry Farm invites you and your family to join in on the Halloween fun in Camp Spooky. This daytime, non-scare celebration, of cheer rather than fear, is the social event of the season with shows, activities, costume contest all geared for kids ages 3-11.
Teen Injured In Six Flags Fight Was Banned From Park
A 15-year-old teen remains in the hospital and is still in a coma while he recovers from brain surgery after a fight at Six Flags America. The surgery involved removing part of the teens skull to reduce swelling of his brain. Not 
much information has come out about why the fight broke out or how big it was, but someone not authorized to speak publicly from Six Flags told WTOP that the boy was banned from all Six Flags parks on July 26th. Its unclear why he was banned but possible reasons for the ban include violence or theft. The mother and teen both signed a trespass notice in July. These means the teen was trespassing when at the park last weekend.
VIDEO: Walk Through 4 Scare Zones at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horor Nights 2014
This year at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 24 Scare Zones are back!! After a couple years off with either roaming hordes or The Walking Dead everywhere, the park has gone back to traditional scare zones. This year there are four new scare zones including two based of intellectual properties: The Purge Anarchy & Face Off: In The Flesh and then two original ideas MASKerade unstitched and Bayou Of Blood
Kings Dominion Reveals More Water Works Details
2015 is going to be a great year for Water Works as they continue to grow and expand the water park at Kings Dominion. We will see new bathrooms, bath houses, cabanas, food options, sand volleyball court, kids play area, and a 65-foot tall slide complex called Paradise Plunge. An overview of the area was recently posted showing us where all the changes will be taking place.
Let’s start with New Splash Island, the entrance to the water park. From the overview we can see the Shoot the Curl slides are missing. These three slides are fairly old, and were rumored to be on the chopping block. This clears the way for a path that would take you around the back side of the lazy river. This is a great idea, because on really busy days the bridges going to the now called Splash Island created a bottle neck and made it hard to maneuver the front part of the water park. The biggest addition to this area of the park is the new kids play area. It looks like from the over view the area will include a cover, but from the artwork, it does not include one. With the addition of Splash Island, these will double the amount of options the kids currently have at Water Works. Before we move on to the back side, it also appears the bath house will be expanded at the entrance of the water park.
As we move to the other side of Rebel Yell we see more additions to the water park, including 2 new bathrooms, and a new bath house. I never thought there was a shortage of bathrooms in this area of the park, but I guess you can never have too many when it comes to a water park. More is better than the alternative. Biggest surprise is the sand volleyball court going in. I am now super excited about this as I love to play volleyball. 
As we look at the over view by the Tidal Wave Bay we can see they are going to expand the Cabanas. With the expansion it looks like there may be another area that I hope is being used for adult beverages. There is nothing better than laying around the wave pool and sipping a frozen girly drink. Best part of the whole expansion is the new water slide complex. 3 drop slides, and 3 crazy tube rides. Dorney park received something similar to this last year and it was simply amazing.
The biggest surprise of all is if you look closely at the upper right hand corner you can see what looks to be a theater. I have heard some rumors that KD would be getting another theater in the Safari area of the park in the location where there used to be a stage. This would be an outdoor stage that would replace a groove of picnic tables in front of Backlot Stunt Coaster. I have mixed feelings about this. I am all for more options of entertainment at the park, but I really feel the park should work on the options they have. They currently have 6 stages that produce around 11 shows in the summer season. I think most people would agree with me that half of those shows are not worth keeping. I am a tech guy, but I am not a theater guy so I don’t know if what they are missing is a good producer, talent, or both. All I know is All Wheel Sports plays to packed crowds and it’s hard to keep me away from that show, and when sitting in the back of KD40 you can watch crowds of people leave before the Signing Mushrooms leave the show to perform their own show. I know Cedar Fair has the tools to produce great shows, and I really have high hopes that we will get high quality entertainment back to Kings Dominion. I just wish we could work on that before building another stage.
Overall I am truly excited about this expansion. I don’t spend enough time in the water park, but I really enjoy the time I do.
New Show to Air on Great American Country; All American Amusement Parks
While searching the internet, there is no shortage of television shows about roller coasters and amusement parks. Often times these shows are catered to the general public, while the enthusiast community tend to roll their eyes at the supposed popular rides and attractions. Great American Country (GAC), a sister channel of the travel channel, took a different approach with their newest show. 
All-American Amusement Parks, starring JD Scott, shows parks through the eyes of the enthusiast. Scott is the host of the show and a self-proclaimed amusement park enthusiast. He is led around the various parks by one or more “Super Fan(s)” to get the inside look at some of America’s most popular parks. On the show, Scott and The Super Fan discuss the park’s atmosphere, food and, of course, the rides. The first episode will take a look at some of the best parks that the Midwest has to offer. The show will premier tonight at 8:00 PM on the Great American Country channel.
Pink’s Hot Dogs Closes at Knott’s Berry Farm
Pink’s Hot Dogs closed up shop at Knott’s Berry Farm on Monday to make way for a new sandwich shop called Cable Car Kitchen. The gourmet hot dog stand served up their legendary hot dogs for five years at the park. Russ Knibbs, Vice President of food and beverage for the park, stated that it was a mutual agreement to end the partnership. 
The new sandwich shop will open this Friday and will feature sandwiches piled high with meats sliced-to-order. It is unclear if this will affect Pink’s Hot Dogs at Cedar Point.
News Source: OC Register
