Traveling the Globe for the Best Coasters and Theme Parks
As we discussed in the last article on the Whizzer the Marriott’s Great America parks were bold designs that applied many lessons learned at other regional parks. Part of this was a plan and specific plots designated for expansion. In 1977, a year after its opening, the Santa Clara park was the first to receive a major coaster addition, the Tidal Wave.
Continue reading “Lost Coasters of California – Part 3: Tidal Wave”
Today we’re starting a new series about Spanish Theme Park History. This eight part series will be released bi-weekly. Come back every other week for another article! We’ll be covering the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks. Some of them no longer exist and others are still operating and receiving guests. In this series, we’ll travel through 168 years of theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. Today we’ll focus on Camps Elisis, the first Spanish amusement park.
Continue reading “Spanish Theme Park History – Part 1: Camps Elisis”
We’ve made several trips to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay this year already, and we’re back again to check out the park’s seasonal Food & Wine event! We’ll take a look at some of the food offerings we’ve tried, drinks, ambience, and of course we’ve got Iron Gwazi pictures for our coaster nerds out there!
Continue reading “A Look at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Food & Wine 2021!”
New Event Safely Brings the Thrill of the Renaissance Era Back to Northern California.
Continue reading “Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Announces Renaissance Days”
Here in the UK we are lucky to have a great selection of rollercoasters dotted all over the country. We wanted to get a list together of our favourites and also yours too. We asked you our readers to suggest your favourites and why and combined it with my personal favourites to make this article. A special thanks to Alex from the Coaster Kings for his help with this article.
Cruis’n the Park Car Show
World’s first drive-thru auto show inside Six Flags Magic Mountain, presented by West Coast Customs.
Continue reading ““Cruis’n the Park Car Show” Coming to Six Flags Magic Mountain”
We’re all so used to exploring different theme parks around the world and riding loads of different rollercoasters and rides beyond our imagination. We often forget to appreciate how advanced and state-of-the-art a lot of the modern technology which allows rollercoasters to be manufactured, built and operated really is. So I thought to myself, let’s go back to the roots of the amusement park industry. What was the inspiration for theme parks in general and what were the first designs for rollercoasters, the materials used and the elements and experiences created by these historic and revolutionary ideas. We’re taking you over 100 years back and some of the oldest rollercoasters in Europe are still operating today. So join us as we take an exciting and historical adventure across Europe!
Continue reading “A Look at the Oldest Rollercoasters in Europe”
In Part 1 of this series we explored Corkscrew which left Knott’s Berry farm in 1989 but lives on at Silverwood. Today we look at another steel classic that left the state a year earlier in 1988 and also lives on, albeit in spirit, at a different park.
Continue reading “Lost Coasters of California – Part 2: Whizzer”
I’ve had the distinct privilege of traveling around the world and riding all three of the large Arrow/S&S 4D Coasters. Having lived next to Magic Mountain for many years, I’m very familiar with X2‘s distinct last Raven Turn, but how do the other two compare? Eejanaika and Dinoconda look similar but deliver vastly different ride experiences. Join me as I take a look at all three 4D Coasters, their differences, ride experiences, and learn which one is my favorite.
Continue reading “X2 vs. Eejanaika vs. Dinoconda”
We were invited out by Legoland Florida to check out their brand new Brickbeard’s Watersports Stunt Show, which takes off this weekend as part of the Pirate Fest Weekends. Of course we couldn’t go to Legoland without checking out some of our favorite rides there as well!
Continue reading “Legoland Florida Opens Brickbeard’s Watersports Stunt Show – Trip Report”
The Golden State has long had the reputation as one of the recreation capitals of the world. Beautiful weather combined with a diverse landscape created an environment where leisure became a serious business. It is no surprise that California is home to some of the world’s most famous roller coasters. Unfortunately many great rides are no longer part of the California coaster landscape. In these series we will be exploring some of California’s great coasters that are no more!
Continue reading “Lost Coasters of California – Part 1: Corkscrew”
Over the last weekend many enthusiast noticed some changes on the Lightwater valley website in regards to this season’s rides. There has been a lot of speculation around this park over the past year. The park updated us all a few days ago with some information on the rides they plan on closing and opening this year. Here we will discuss those changes and the potential future of The Ultimate.
Continue reading “Lightwater Valley – A Park Update for the 2021 season”
While I wasn’t planning on visiting SeaWorld Orlando today, I swung by about 90 minutes prior to park closure to see if we could catch a glimpse of the new Premier Rides launch coaster testing. While Ice Breaker went through lots of different types of testing, it only navigated the full layout once during my trip. Luckily, I’ve got a couple of fun photos to share with you!
Continue reading “Ice Breaker – Sunset Testing Photos”
Walibi Belgium has been working on their new Intamin Mega Coaster, which has been confirmed to be named Kondaa, during the whole winter season. So, it was long overdue for us to take another visit and show their progress to the world. We mainly got some shots of the new area around Kondaa which will be heavily themed and we got some looks at the station area.
Continue reading “Kondaa Construction Update – February 2021”
With the theme park season drawing to a close in many countries and people forced to stay home again, we thought we’d bring you a brand new article series. Expect regular updates from myself as we explore one of the most beautiful, cultural and historical regions of Europe: Scandinavia!
We’ll be taking you from Norway across to Finland, through Sweden and then down to Denmark. We’ll be providing you with detailed insights and top tips into the theme parks each of these countries has to offer. We will also be diving into which rollercoasters and attractions you aren’t going to want to miss out on. So grab a cup of coffee, a slice of cake and enjoy!
Continue reading “Scandinavia Series- Part 11: Tivoli Gardens, Denmark”
One of our awesome team members, Ian, spotted some B&M track at the Clermont Steel Fabricators Inc. plant in Ohio. Based on our recent findings of the corrections made to the SeaWorld Orlando “Project Penguin” permits, we have reason to believe some of this track may be for the new Surf Coaster coming to Orlando. Let’s take a look at the track!
Continue reading “Possible SeaWorld Orlando “Project Penguin” Track Spotted at Ohio Manufacturing Plant”
We’ve got a few exciting new things to share with you since our update last weekend! While we welcomed new raptors to the entrance plaza last week, we’ve now got a ride marquee (entrance/sign) as well as active water features. In this update we’ll also look at changes added to Wizarding World of Harry Potter to hide the new Jurassic World coaster.
Continue reading “VelociCoaster Marquee, Water Features and More! – Late January, 2021 Update”
Like many, we got quite surprised after hearing the name of Plopsa’s coaster for 2021: The Ride To Happiness by Tomorrowland. Although a music festival might seem weird to theme a ride and area, the aesthetic of the Tomorrowland brand does actually fit. It did get us thinking, what other brands or franchises haven’t we seen in theme parks yet and could be interesting to see? Let’s talk about 10 themes not yet seen!
Continue reading “Major Brands and Franchises Not Yet In Theme Parks”
With the theme park season drawing to a close in many countries and people forced to stay home again, we thought we’d bring you a brand new article series. Expect regular updates from myself as we explore one of the most beautiful, cultural and historical regions of Europe: Scandinavia!
We’ll be taking you from Norway across to Finland, through Sweden and then down to Denmark. We’ll be providing you with detailed insights and top tips into the theme parks each of these countries has to offer. We will also be diving into which rollercoasters and attractions you aren’t going to want to miss out on. So grab a cup of coffee, a slice of cake and enjoy!
Continue reading “Scandinavia Series- Part 10: Bakken, Denmark”
We’re very excited for this new VelociCoaster update as we saw Universal Orlando Resort lift into place several new raptors! We’ve got lots of changes to infrastructure as the ride rapidly gets prepared for an on-time opening. Also featured in this update are a collection of can’t-miss long exposure night time testing pictures!
Continue reading “New Raptors and Long Exposure Shots – VelociCoaster Update”