originally posted on 12/6/2019
POSTED DECEMBER 6
New B&M Dive Coaster at SeaWorld San Diego Gets Updated Name
SeaWorld San Diego (California) has selected a new name for its new-for-2020 Bolliger & Mabillard dive coaster. To be called Emperor, the handle highlights and is a tribute to SeaWorld San Diego’s colony/enclosure/exhibit of Emperor penguins (the only one in North America). The coaster’s moniker is inspired by the aquatic bird’s ability to dive 1,800 feet in the ocean. Emperor the coaster will offer such Penguin-like thrills as a steep (90-degree) high dive (down 143 feet) and plunges into loops and flips (an Immelmann, barrel roll and corkscrew), all at up to 60 mph over its 2,500-foot-long course. When originally announced, the coaster was to be called Mako.
SeaWorld added that Emperor will be linked to a new animal conservation effort undertaken in partnership with Penguins International. The theme park is making a commitment to donate a portion of the proceeds from sales of penguin merchandise to Penguins International to support its education and research efforts.
As Emperor will be the tallest and fastest dive coaster on the West Coast (and the first floorless), SeaWorld San Diego President Marilyn Hannes has boasted that “There will be no other coaster experience like this in California. Emperor will both thrill our coaster enthusiasts and also serve as an attraction that educates guests about the importance of animal and conservation issues.”
View a quick look and promo:
Video: Courtesy SeaWorld San Diego.
Photo: Nicholas Laschkewitsch. View full-sized image.
Troy Retracked
Troy at Toverland (Sevenum, the Netherlands) is receiving some love and care and benefiting from substantial retracking during the off-season. The park remarks: “During the hibernation of wooden roller coaster Troy, we are not silent. During the annual retrack, join us backstage at this intensive process in the toverblog.” In the meantime, if you’d like to take a quick virtual look at the coaster:
Video: Courtesy Toverland.
Presumably this extensive retracking and intensive off-season maintenance means the coaster will stay in tip-top condition for years to come. The gorgeous twister, built by Great Coasters International, Inc. and designed by Jeff Pike in 2007, is touted by the park as the fastest (54 mph), highest (105 feet) and longest (3,534 feet) wooden roller coaster in the Benelux countries. Toverland currently operates five coasters. Its newest, Fēnix, a Bolliger & Mabillard steel wing coaster, opened in 2018.
Of note, the Benelux region (comprised of the relatively small countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg) is home to an impressive 94 coasters (including four woodies) within its equally impressive count of 39 parks.
Photo: Cheri Armstrong. View full-sized image.
England’s Flamingo Land Getting 10-Inversion Intamin
Flamingo Land (Malton, England) has started sitework for the footings and further construction of its newest coaster, set to open in 2020. But actually, it’s not a new coaster. The Intamin Amusement Rides multi-inverting steelie was originally slated to open at Hopi Hari in São Paulo, Brazil, some years ago. But as reported by Screamscape, the Brazilian park fell on hard times after the death of a teen from its drop tower and never really fully recovered. The unassembled coaster sat on site for years. Apparently, Movie Animation Park Studios (Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia) took an interest in the ride but never erected it either. Finally, Flamingo Land purchased the orphaned coaster (at a projected cost of £20,385,000 for the whole project, including assembly).
The as-yet-unnamed ride will top out at 108 feet tall, speed along at 53 mph, and offer 10 inversions, including a loop, cobra roll, double corkscrew, quadruple heartline roll and a final heartline roll before completing its 2,780-foot-long course. The layout will be familiar to those who have ridden Colossus at Thorpe Park (Chertsey, England).
The new 10-inversion coaster will be similar to Colossus at Thorpe Park pictured here
Photo: John Fidyk. View full-sized image.
Luna Park at Coney Island Adding a Coaster in 2020
Luna Park (Brooklyn, New York) will be celebrating its 10th birthday during the 2020 season. In honor of the occasion, the park will add four new attractions, including the Super Flume and the Big WaveZ, an interactive water ride.
To coaster fans, the best news is the addition of a new Zamperla figure-eight spinning cars family junior-sized steel coaster. The ride has yet to be given a name.
Luna Park is already home to six coasters, including the legendary 1927 Cyclone wooden roller coaster.
Also new in 2020 will be a public space called Stillwell Avenue, located between Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk, featuring green spaces, shaded seating and art — all offering a place for relaxation and enjoying the sights and sounds of Coney Island and Luna Park.
It’s no coincidence that the park’s new coaster will be by Zamperla, as the Italian company designed and developed (under the name Central Amusement International, a subsidiary) and took over operation of the iconic Coney Island amusement area in 2010 (parts of which were previously known as Astroland, Dreamland and even the centuries-back originally named Luna Park [1903-1944]. Zamperla built 19 new mechanical rides for the new Luna debut in 2010 to go along with the existing Cyclone and Astro Tower. Now it’s 10 years later, and the park is still expanding and adding, happily, one more coaster.
Photo: Courtesy Zamperla. View full-sized image.
Photo: Courtesy Zamperla. View full-sized image.
New Luna Farm Park in Italy Contains Farm-Themed Coaster and a Bull in Love With a Chicken
Earlier this year, Zamperla announced its first farm-themed amusement park, slated to open in very late 2019. Luna Farm is an indoor, 70,000-square-foot family entertainment center (FEC) that will be placed inside the world’s largest agri-food park: FICO Eataly World, Bologna, Italy. The FICO World complex features tours to explore crops, animals and factories, and offers classes and restaurants, all to explore and enjoy the culture, traditions, and craftsmanship “that make Italian food the most famous in the world.” Luna Farm will include 15 Zamperla attractions, all in a farm setting and with farm-related theming. One of those rides will be a Zamperla steel family coaster, as yet unnamed.
Luna Farm is the Zamperla Group's most important project on home soil, costing €11 million. The group already manages, among others, Luna Park at Coney Island (see story, this issue) and Victorian Gardens in Central Park.
Based on an original concept designed for FICO Eataly World, Luna Farm will offer, among its attractions, a hen-shaped suspended monorail, a panoramic mill wheel and bull corral bumper cars — ACE has not learned yet what the precise theming will be for the coaster.
Andrea Caldonazzi, CEO of Team Park Project and Luna Farm, remarked, “We designed and followed the creation of this park, taking care of every detail, with only one goal: to make children have fun. Challenge, wonder, cheerfulness are the emotions that accompany kids along their growth. At Luna Farm, children will experience all of this together with their parents and grandparents by riding 13 rides or attending shows. And if they want to visit us again, every time they will discover something new in the story of this extraordinary world which starts with a farmer who invents bizarre machines, continues with a bull that is in love with a chicken, and we really do not know what comes next…”
Photo: Courtesy Zamperla. View full-sized image.
Photo: Courtesy Zamperla. View full-sized image.
Real Farm in Wisconsin Fields a Little Dipper Coaster and Other Rides
A Wisconsin farmer has his own vintage amusement park standing in his fields amid the corn, soybeans, hay and some heifers. As reported by Channel 15 (WMTV) out of Madison, 61-year-old Wade Wittenwyler collects stuff, as many folks do. But Whittenwyler collects “Tons of Fun,” among other amusement rides, all of them originals from the middle 1940s up through the middle ‘60s era.
Says Wittenwyler, “A person has to have a hobby; I don’t have a motorcycle or a boat. You can’t do everything so you have to specialize a little bit!” NBC15 first met Wittenwyler for a story in 2012. Seven years later, his nine rides are still in operation. But he hasn’t added to his collection. “No, there aren’t many of these ground direct rides [for which you have to hook up your own electrical power] anymore so they are harder and harder to come by and we kind of ran out of room here too.”
The roller coaster is believed to be a vintage Miler Little Dipper oval kiddie coaster, which Wittenwyler bought in Waupun.
His pride and joy, however, is the train and railroad track that he calls the Badger Northern Railroad. The railroad runs all around his 40-acre property.
The Wittenwyler family-friendly farm began (pre-amusement park) back in 1923. Almost 100 years later, the fun doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The “park” is not open to the public, however. Wittenwyler runs the rides when family and friends come to visit, or maybe to make the heifers smile.
Video: Courtesy NBC 15.
Cobra Reloads Its Venom With a New Train
The Cobra steel shuttle coaster at Conny-Land (Lipperswil, Switzerland) will be receiving new trains for 2020. The Pax Company coaster opened in 2010, is 138 feet tall and negotiates a couple of hills and a loop during its 705-foot course. Most interestingly, the ride ends with a unique “scorpion tail” maneuver at the far point, leaving passengers hanging upside down and high up as it stalls for the dead-end climax of its half run out before heading back through the whole course again backward.
Cobra’s new trains will be provided by Sunkid Heege GmbH (Bassenheim, Germany), a firm that has built 82 of its own coasters, in addition to providing replacement trains for other companies’ rides, such as Pax’s. The Moscow, Russia-based Pax Company (Cobra’s creators) ended its coaster production back in 2013 and now only makes Ferris wheels.
According to Roller Coaster Data Base, 22 of the highly unusual Pax coasters are currently operating (none in the United States; most in Russia, Europe and Saudi Arabia).
Conny-Land is home to only one other coaster, a Gerstlauer kiddie steelie.
Take a ride on Cobra:
Video: Courtesy CoasterForce.
Photo: Richard Bannister. View full-sized image.
Photo: Richard Bannister. View full-sized image.
Unique Roller Ball Coaster Will See Two Openings in 2020
In 2020, Wiener Prater (Vienna, Austria) is gaining a Roller Ball model coaster, a ride created by Ride Engineers Switzerland. The Prater version of the unusual steel coaster is expected to come in at 93 feet tall (other model versions of this ride can be shorter).
Vaguely reminiscent of the Space Diver coaster made years back by Intamin (introduced in 1988 as Z-Force at Six Flags Great America) or of S&S’s 4D Free Spin coaster, Roller Ball coasters don’t flip their riders upside down.
This Wiener Prater coaster, promoted by Ride Engineers Switzerland as a family ride, is owned and operated by Kern & Waldmann GmbH (Vienna). Many rides at Prater are brought in to the park and operated by independent vendors (“showmen”).
The Roller Ball coaster at Prater has yet to be given a name.
Two Roller Ball model coasters are already in existence. Wilde Hilde at Schwaben Park (Kaiserbach, Germany) opened in 2018, and Nid des Marsupilamis (Parc Spirou Provence, Montreux, France) got rolling in 2019.
As for new ones opening in the future, Wiener Prater is not the only park eye-roller-balling this coaster. A new park opening in 2020, Erlebniswelt Seibahnen Thale in Thale, Germany, will be going with a new (as yet unnamed) Roller Ball coaster as one of its two coasters.
Take a ride on the Roller Ball, the Wilde Hilde at Schwaben:
Video: Courtesy Schwaben Park.
Coasting on Over to Mars
Futuroscope (Parc du Futuroscope) is a French theme park in Chasseneuil-du-Poitou that celebrates futuristic multimedia, architectural, cinematographic and audio-visual experiences dedicated to technology, science and science fiction fantasy. It offers several 3-D and 4-D cinemas along with other one-of-a-kind attractions and shows. And now it will be building its first roller coaster.
Objectif Mars (Destination Mars) will take guests on a mission to the Red Planet, designed to simulate the daring adventures astronauts experience as they race through space enduring intense G-forces, solar eruptions and electromagnetic fields. Made by Intamin Amusement Rides, according to behindthethrills.com, the coaster will feature many special elements, such as spinning cars, a dark ride section, a vertical free-fall drop track and a tire-propelled launch.
Traveling at only 34 mph, the 2:50-minute experience is meant to be enjoyed by the whole family. Housed partially within the park’s former Pavillon de Solido structure, the steel coaster will journey both indoors and outdoors. The entire Destination Mars project will cost €22 million and is slated to open in March 2020.
Photo: Courtesy Futuroscope. View full-sized image.
Legoland Windsor, in a Brick-by-Brick Move, Adding Kiddie Duplo Coaster
Legoland Windsor Resort (Windsor, England) has been given permission to go ahead with a £95 million expansion over the next decade. The park recently announced plans to extend its Duplo Valley area, adding to its attractions something of particular interest to enthusiasts, namely the Duplo Dream Coaster — a “My First Coaster” — especially for preschoolers. The steel coaster, opening in March 2020, will take kids on a “journey, exploring their wildest dreams and igniting their imagination. Swooping through a topsy turvy wonderland full of color and a sprinkle of magic, they can be sure they will meet all sorts of cool creatures along the way.”
No further word yet on Duplo Dream Coaster details.
Legoland Windsor is already home to two coasters, both designed for the whole family and, interestingly, both made by WGH Transportation (York, England), a firm acquired by Stage One in 2016 that began producing transport systems (mostly rails, monorails, funiculars) and then went on to tackle slightly more amusing projects, including several “small-scale” coaster completions in the United Kingdom. For example, in 2004, they called upon their coaster and funicular skills to produce the Green Dragon at Greenwood Park in Wales, using a funicular system to raise the coaster instead of a lift hill. Overall, WGH Transportation is responsible for six rides (coasters and powered coasters), all in the United Kingdom.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
— Written and Compiled by Randy Geisler
POSTED NOVEMBER 8
Australia’s Dreamworld Losing Tower of Terror II This Year, but Gaining a Mack Multilauncher for 2020
On October 25, Dreamworld (Coomera, Australia) announced that it will be closing its Tower of Terror II coaster, with last rides being given on November 3. The associated Giant Drop ride, which uses the same tower as the coaster, will continue to operate, with the Tower of Terror II track being removed from the Tower structure over time. As for the reason for the closure, Chief Operating Officer Greg Young told The Courier-Mail newspaper that Dreamworld is "focusing our investment on the future, and delivering new, world-class attractions to enjoy." Dreamworld confirmed that a new thrill ride would be announced sometime next year as the park continues forward with a previously announced $50 million investment plan and a slate of new attractions to be added over the next few years. New attractions already on the way include a revamp of the ABC Kids World area, a new waterslide complex and a $30 million roller coaster from Mack Rides.
The now-being-dismantled Intamin steel Tower of Terror opened in 1997 at Dreamworld as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world then, at 377 feet tall and 100 mph fast — it was revamped in 2010 so riders faced downwards (thus becoming Tower of Terror II).
The Mack Rides (as yet unnamed) $30 million steel coaster coming to Dreamworld in 2020 will be a 3,937-foot-long, 128-foot-tall linear synchronous motor, triple-launching, multi-inverting Blue Fire model, with the unique feature that the last car in the train will be a spinning one!
Dreamworld is Australia's largest theme park. Losing Tower of Terror II will bring its coaster count down to four but gaining the new Mack will restore its arsenal to five in 2020.
Take a ride on the planned new Dreamworld Mack coaster
Video: Courtesy Dreamworld.
Tower of Terror II
Photo: Richard Koppelman. View full-sized image.
Courtesy Mack Rides. View full-sized image.
Courtesy Mack Rides. View full-sized image.
Will Tulsa Hear the Bell’s Again?
Robert Bell started and operated a much-missed amusement park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bell’s Amusement Park operated from 1951 to 2006 and was home to four coasters, most notably, the well-regarded John Allen-designed Zingo woodie. The park was forced to close at the end of the 2006 season when the county didn’t renew its lease with the Tulsa State Fairgrounds where it had operated for more than 50 years.
The park announced plans to move elsewhere, but the rides remained in a warehouse. In 2010 Wagoner County negotiated a deal with the Bell family to place the park in Coweta, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa, but it never happened. Early in 2012, the Bell family installed a few rides at the Flea Market in West Tulsa. In 2013, additional kiddie attractions were added and Robby Bell III (Robert's grandson) planned to restore more of the rides.
But not much else happened until September 12, 2019, when the official Facebook account for "Bell’s Amusement Park" was reactivated. Seemingly out of the blue, it announced that there are now plans in place for the amusement park to be rebuilt, with a location to be announced this fall, generating considerable interest and chatter. "We are as excited as you are to bring the park back. Help us spread the word and keep checking for exciting updates!" the Facebook page proclaimed.
So, stay tuned. As of this writing, nothing further has been announced. While the public waits for further developments, Bell’s is hyping its promised return even more by launching a line of apparel with Zingo emblem T-shirts, for example, in the meantime.
Photo: David Lipnicky. View full-sized image.
Morey’s Piers Coaster Train Shopping
Morey’s Piers (Wildwood, New Jersey) co-owner Jack Morey and COO Geoff Rogers recently undertook a shopping excursion to Europe to consider candidates for new coaster trains potentially needed on the Great White woodie. First stop was Ireland’s Tayto Park and its Cú Chulainn wooden coaster, provided by The Gravity Group and featuring its Timberliner trains. In reporting on the trip, Morey’s personnel remarked, "the front wheels of the Cú Chulainn trains — arguably the most technologically advanced of their kind in the world — exist on a separate axle and steering mechanism, meaning less banging around at every turn and way less wear-and-tear on the tracks. … The measure of a thrilling ride used to be how much it beat you up. Today, that measure is how smooth the ride is."
In the trip report summary, the Morey’s blog post went on to say, "Jack and Geoff enjoyed their experience aboard the Cú Chulainn — they rode twice just to be sure. The next step will be a trip to the city of Wisconsin Dells for another test ride, to see how the trains perform on a coaster [Hades 360, with its Timberliner] with a more similar construction to ours. If all goes well, we may pull the trigger for a Great White upgrade in 2021."
To read more about Morey’s Piers and its 50-year history, please see RollerCoaster! Special Issue 150 and Mark Davidson’s article "Cheers to the Piers."
Great White
Photo: Curt Schimmel. View full-sized image.
Cú Chulainn
Photo: Alex Rigsby. View full-sized image.
Hi-Miler Coaster Coming to Kissimmee’s Fun Spot America
Fun Spot America (Kissimmee, Florida) will be adding a coaster to its line-up, with the addition of an E&F Miler Industries Hi-Miler steel roller coaster. "I scream, you scream we all scream for more roller coasters," said Fun Spot America CEO and owner John Arie Jr. "We are pleased to announce the construction of our fourth roller coaster in Kissimmee and newest scream machine that will be perfect for our thrill-seeking family audience."
Plus, this is a preserved/new-lease-on-life coaster move, in that the ride is one of the four versions of the famed Hi-Miler models out there in the world. This one began life in 2003 as the Jack Rabbit at the defunct Celebration City (Branson, Missouri), where it ran until 2008, when the 52-foot-tall, 1,300-foot-long steelie was moved and reopened in 2010 as Viking Voyage at Wild Adventures (Valdosta, Georgia) until 2018. Fun Spot purchased the coaster from Wild Adventures. It was dismantled and moved to Fun Spot Atlanta, where, according to the Orlando Sentinel, it was thought it would be part of the company’s extensive updates happening to that park. "But in a surprise to many," the coaster was moved to Kissimmee earlier this month.
Photo: Michael Horwood. View full-sized image.
Photo: Michael Horwood. View full-sized image.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
Frank ‘N Coaster Rising on a Niagara Falls Rooftop
A new coaster has been rising above the street in the Clifton Hill area (Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada) on the rooftop of the House of Frankenstein haunted attraction. Dubbed Frank ‘N Coaster, the 700-foot-long, 25-foot-high Wisdom Rides family coaster is being erected atop the monster house’s façade. It previously operated at the Sports Plus Entertainment Center (Lake Grove, New York) as the Thriller Coaster from 2004 to 2007.
Though the coaster’s installation appears all-but completed, as for the ride opening, it is uncertain when potential riders will be able to exclaim "It’s alive!" Owner Ian Paul says it’s awaiting approval from the province's Technical Standards and Safety Authority, which could be a lengthy process. While he's hoping to have it operating by Thanksgiving, Paul says March 2020 is more likely.
As reported by the St. Catherine Standard newspaper, Paul said his son, James, a co-owner, first raised the idea of a roller coaster on Clifton Hill a few years ago. They then purchased the decommissioned ride from New York, complete with casket-shaped cars, and started the long process of installing it atop their Clifton Hill property, which includes a Burger King restaurant and one of the street's most-recognizable figures, a large rooftop Frankenstein's monster eating a burger.
Frank ‘N Coaster will be two-and-a-half stories above street level and will rise up and over the monster’s head. It will be included with admission to the attraction. Paul said the coaster and its installation will cost about $1 million by the time it opens.
Courtesy Ian Paul. View full-sized image.
— Written and Compiled by Randy Geisler
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