originally posted on 6/19/2020
POSTED JUNE 19
Joyland Park Hit by Sand Storm
Photo: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
Joyland Park (Lubbock, Texas) was allowed to reopen for the 2020 season on June 12. With the park’s season back in full swing, the latest addition can now be enjoyed by families. Called Sand Storm, the small compact coaster returns the park’s complement to three.
Manufactured by a little-known company called Cavazzo Diego, the portable ride had previous homes in Poland and the United Kingdom. Referred to as a Blizzard model, Sand Storm is the only such ride of its type in the United States.
Standing 24.6 feet tall and running on a track just over 721 feet long, the ride is geared toward the tamer crowd but still has a fun kick in the back on the main drop and a highly banked spiral.
Although the ride officially debuted on the final weekend of the 2019 season, Sand Storm can now answer roll call each day in the renewed 2020 season.
One of the ride’s interesting features is a short tunnel above the loading station.
Photos: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
Kingdom Coaster Receives Royal Makeover
Photo: Courtesy Baynum Painting. View full-sized image.
While it is disheartening that ACE members are not enjoying ERT on Dutch Wonderland’s Kingdom Coaster, owing to the postponement of Coaster Con 43 until 2021, those who are able to visit the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, park this year will see a vibrant new look for Kingdom Coaster.
Baynum Painting was brought in to drape the woodie in brand-new colors. The wooden track now sports an electric Byzantine Purple, and the structure is an eye-popping Clearwater Blue.
Kingdom Coaster was the first project for Custom Coasters, Inc. in 1992. At the time of its opening, it was called Sky Princess.
Photos: Courtesy Baynum Painting. View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
Frontier City’s Diamond Back Slithers Into the Shade
Photo: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
Home to one half of Six Flags Great Adventure’s original Lightning Loops, Frontier City installed Diamond Back in 1993. For more than two decades the loading station has been exposed to the full effects of the summer sun.
For this season, shade has now been installed over the loading platform. This is a welcome addition for guests, but certainly more so for the ride attendants.
Photo: Michael Horwood. View full-sized image.
Boomers Family Entertainment Centers Close in California
Photo: Scottie Pfiefer. View full-sized image.
As part of the vast sweep of closures from Apex Parks, three Boomers facilities in California have locked their doors.
All three locations — El Cajon, Fountain Valley and Upland — featured a small children’s coaster of some type. The future of these coasters is uncertain at present.
Wicksteed Park Grinds to a Halt After 99 Years
Photo: John Fidyk. View full-sized image.
Just one year shy of its 100th anniversary, Wicksteed Park (Keetering, Northants) is one of the oldest amusement parks in the United Kingdom. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed yet another casualty. The park has filed for bankruptcy. “Months of uncertainty and difficulty” were said to be the cause.
The Wicksteed Charitable Trust is not giving up. While keeping the free playgrounds and parkland open, it is focused on raising funds to reopen the park for its centenary. A new, smaller company has been set up to try to raise the needed funds. Local residents have also set up fundraisers.
The park has struggled financially in recent years. The COVID-19 shutdown has been a crushing blow. Without the income from the pay-per-ride amusements, the park is strapped.
Among the amusement rides are three roller coasters, the largest of which is a 36-foot-tall, Pinfari RC 40. The rare water chute is also a notable feature of Wicksteed Park.
Photo: John Fidyk. View full-sized image.
Photo: Martin Valt. View full-sized image.
Photo: John Fidyk. View full-sized image.
Photo: Martin Valt. View full-sized image.
— Written and Compiled by Tim Baldwin, ACE News Editor
POSTED MAY 17
Legoland New York delays its opening to 2021
Photo: David Lipnicky. View full-sized image.
Originally scheduled to open on July 4, the Legoland New York resort has postponed the park’s debut until 2021.
Stephanie Johnson, Legoland New York Resort’s divisional director, said nothing was more important to the company than the health, safety and security of everyone involved.
“We are in an unprecedented situation that has affected businesses worldwide,” she said. “By opening in 2021, we are building an attraction that not only meets our high standards, it also gives our guests the best possible experience.”
Arnolds Park Adds Beautiful New Boardwalk
Photo: Courtesy Arnolds Park. View full-sized image.
Even though parks are closed owing to the ongoing pandemic, Arnolds Park (Iowa) has installed a beautiful new boardwalk to welcome guests when they are able to return. The boardwalk stretches alongside the return leg of the park’s Legend wooden roller coaster. The new boardwalk will be attached to a new 5,500-square-foot pier, which will feature new LED lights that will colorfully light up new sail sculptures and new path archway lights. New garden areas and new benches, along with a map of the Iowa Great Lakes, will also be featured on the pedestrian pier.
Photo: Courtesy Arnolds Park. View full-sized image.
The park already has an immense amount of charm and character with a nice mix of old school classics, throwback attractions and modern rides, and this new beautiful boardwalk will add even more traditional park ambience to the lakeside destination. ACE last visited Arnolds Park with a national event in 2017. It currently has three coasters. [See more on this park in RollerCoaster! #153.]
Casino Pier’s Hydrus Shiny Again
Photo: Courtesy Baynum Painting. View full-sized image.
Hydrus opened at Casino Pier (Seaside Heights, New Jersey) in 2017, giving the facility a high-profile coaster to attract more visitors. Although the Gerstlauer Eurofighter is only a mere three years old, Casino Pier brought in Baynum Painting to give it a shiny new refresh for 2020. As it seemed a rather short time, ACE News asked Baynum why the coaster needed some polish so quickly.
Baynum Painting did some investigating. As it turned out, the coaster was manufactured a few years before Casino Pier acquired it. As the contract fell through, the parts to the ride sat idle. In fact, they were even stored in the United States for a full year.
Photo: Courtesy Baynum Painting. View full-sized image.
Improvements Seen on Valleyfair’s High Roller
Photo: Courtesy Valleyfair. View full-sized image.
A multiyear project of preserving High Roller, Valleyfair’s (Shakopee, Minnesota) original woodie, is focusing on the back stretch of the coaster’s layout for this season. Wood replacement has been seen on the speed bumps on the final run. High Roller opened in 1976 with the park and was built by International Amusement Devices. The distinctive trains are one of the beloved traits of the ride.
In addition to cosmetic improvements within the park — refreshment stations and bathroom remodeling — workers are also giving love and attention to the ever-popular roasted corn. It is upgrading from a simple cart to its own building. “It’s a Minnesota crowd favorite,” confirms ACE North Central Regional Representative Tom Nickerson.
Photo: Courtesy Valleyfair. View full-sized image.
Shanghai Disneyland Reopens for 2020!
Photo: Alex Rigsby. View full-sized image.
The stirrings of parks getting ready to reopen is a welcome sign to coaster fans, although everyone admits the world should be careful. Even when United States parks begin opening their gates, it is clear that it will be an altered experience.
Shanghai Disneyland prepared to open on May 11 with a “cautious, sensible and deliberate approach.”
As expected, park operations will come in phases. With limits restricting attendance, advance reservations are required.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic has had an appreciable financial impact on a number of our businesses, we are confident in our ability to withstand this disruption and emerge from it in a strong position,” said Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Disney has repeatedly shown that it is exceptionally resilient.”
Shanghai Disneyland is home to TRON Lightcycle Run, an innovative Vekoma motorbike coaster, as well as the award-winning Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Chest. ACE members can read an in-depth article on the park in the latest issue of RollerCoaster! [issue 153] that has recently hit mailboxes.
Unfortunately, Funtown Splashtown USA Closes for 2020
Photo: Cheri Armstrong. View full-sized image.
While the above was good news for China, Funtown Splashtown USA (Saco, Maine) was among the first parks to cancel its 2020 season.
On April 30, the park’s website announced:
“To the loyal friends and fans of Funtown Splashtown USA,
Greetings from the park. In this unprecedented and incredibly difficult time in the world, we hope this message finds you and those you love and care about in good health and strong spirits. The COVID-19 global pandemic has altered everything we know and do in our daily lives and routines. Nothing is as we once knew it, and while we all wish and want some normalcy to return to society, it seems as though that time is still further off in the future. It is with this in the forefront of our minds and deep in our hearts that Funtown Splashtown USA has made the extremely difficult decision to not open the parks for the summer 2020 season.
As you might guess, this was an excruciatingly difficult and painful outcome to have to finalize. For close to six decades, Funtown Splashtown USA has had the pleasure of safely entertaining families, rec groups, camps and corporate outings both large and small, from all over not only the great State of Maine, but New England and the world over. It is an absolute privilege to operate a business that provides so many people — our incredible guests — with a day of carefree fun and enjoyment with those closest to you. It is an honor that so many of you have chosen, year after year, to ‘Create Memories That Will Last a Lifetime’ with us. This is what makes this announcement so painful.”
Attendees gathered inside Excalibur at the 2019 ACE Summer Conference.
Photo: May Reinert-Ubinas. View full-sized image.
Funtown Splashtown USA was a cohost last year at the 2019 ACE Summer Conference. Attendees had a wonderful time at the park, particularly enjoying rides on the woodie Excalibur and a walkback into the ride’s structure. ACE wishes the park a strong recovery next season.
And Not Just in the United States …
Photo: Justin Garvanovic. View full-sized image.
Dreamland in Margate, England, has also recently made the hard decision to close the park for the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This unfortunate impact is particularly sad as the park was preparing to have a 100th anniversary celebration this summer on July 3. Like the park itself, Scenic Railway was also celebrating a 100th milestone. [See Conservation Corner in the April 2020 issue of ACE News.]
Photo: Michael Horwood. View full-sized image.
— Written and Compiled by Tim Baldwin, ACE News Editor
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