S. Samek
Dorney Park is getting a new roller coaster in 2024 Iron Menace. It’s a B@M Dive coaster. It will be their first new coaster in two decades. I have been on one of these models and it’s a lot of fun. The public loves these and they usually have pretty good compacity. I think this is a great addition that is long overdue to Dorney Park.
S. Samek
Holiday World is the second park to announce a new coaster for 2024. Good Gravy! a family boomerang coaster is coming soon. This name is fantastic. It’s silly, but on brand for the Thanksgiving section of the park. I like how it will launch through a can of cranberries on the way through the track. This looks to be a really fun ride.
S. Samek
Big news coming for Cedar Point. Top Thrill Dragster is set to become Top Thrill 2. Zamperla is going to be the company behind the project which will now feature two towers and a triple launch.
This looks quite exciting. I missed going on the original, but I would for sure take a ride on this.
S. Samek
We have other three new announcements for rides in 2020. This time from SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Tampa.
Speaking of BGT they are getting RMC Gwazi, called Iron Gwazi. This looks like a good ride. I think its going to take a rough ride and turn it into something great, like Mean Streak into Steel Vengeance. really excited to see how this turns out. May have to put Busch Gardens Tampa on y list of parks to get to asap.
SeaWorld Orlando is getting Ice Breaker. This is a launch coaster with a deep vertical spike. Its looking pretty cool, though the name might be confused with the Ice Breakers mints. Yet overall its a launched coaster and I typically enjoy those so I’m saying this is a great addition.
SeaWorld San Antonio is getting Texas Stingray, a wooden coaster. This looks like a solid edition as well, as something they were missing in their lineup with only having steel coasters.
Overall I think they did a good job adding quality attarctions to the remaining parks in the Sea World and Busch Gardens chain of parks. 2020 should be a great year for them thanks to these addions.
So last year I wrote about the removal of the Log Jammer at Kennywood Park. In the post I addressed what I would like to see replace the Log Jammer.
Well the announcement has been made and we now know what it will be.
It’ a steel looping coaster named Steel Curtain.
Yes, that’s its actually name. The same one as the former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive unit.
In fact that’s the theme of the coaster as well. It’s becoming the anchor attraction of a brand new Steelers themed area.
I hate it.
Yes I love Kennywood, roller coasters and Steelers football. Yet I don’t think it’s a needed theme. Like I’m ok with a black and gold paint job on the coaster, but I think a themed Steeler ride is just stupid. As is the whole area. It’s overkill and just screams sponsored content. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if the Steelers brand makes more money than Kennywood does from this.
Will it make money for the park? You bet it will. Yet I just feel like it’s a missed opportunity.
This is absolutely a good for the local crowed move. It isn’t good for getting Kennywood on the map of must visit amusement parks.
Though it claims to have a couple new records for North America. Mostly for the number of inversions with nine. It’s nice to have, but it’s not really a valid record people care about, it’s mostly just for marketing purposes.
At first when I saw the ride I though Sky Rocket part two. It just seems too similar to the prior newest roller coaster there. It just really doesn’t seem like it adds a new ride experience to the parks lineup.
Maybe I am just so mad they didn’t go with an RMC hybrid looping coaster. The rumor was that RMC would be the next addition and I was hoping this rumor was true.
However no RMC is to be found.
I just think an RMC would blend in with the even mix of steel and wood coasters. It would also add a new ride experience that Kennywood, let alone many other parks have.
It would give out of state riders a reason to visit the park as most RMC coasters have been ranking highly in coaster polls and become must rides. This S&S mess doesn’t scream must ride. Heck I doubt it wins best new ride of the year.
Just a bit disappointed in the new ride, yet a ride is a ride so why not see if it rides better than it looks.
So far 2018 looks like a great year to be a coaster fan. However, it has been a couple months of next to no new announcements. However, we got a big one recently.
Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee is getting a new tower ride dubbed Mountain Monster. It looks to be about 200 feet tall and over look the Smoky mountains. It seems to be an attraction added to a shopping area.
This looks so cool. Plus, it adds something new to an area dominated by mountain coasters. It adds something more to keep you in the area after visiting Dollywood.
Then next announcement is a new coaster going to a park in Germany. Schwaben Park is getting a new family coaster from a company called Ride Engineers. The type is something called a roller ball. It looks kind of like an Intiman Zac spin. or S&S free fly coaster.
This one is themed to a chicken coop. It looks pretty good. The only thing that gets me is that it only seats four people with three ride vehicles. It may be an issue with compacity and led to crazy wait times. Maybe it won’t be too bad at a smaller park, but if it catches on and moves to bigger parks it could be.
Though it is cool to see a new manufacture enter the game. Best of luck to Ride Engineers and maybe one day I’ll take on one of your creations.
There you have it two very cool new rides to add to the list coming in 2018.
S.Samek
Disclosure only have 12 credits from Cedar Point as I am missing several coasters from there. I have full intentions of getting back to the point to score the remaining credits. which would for sure change the list. These are just my rankings from the ones I have ridden.
12. Wildcat
11. Cedar Creek Mine Ride
10. Mean streak
9. Disaster Transport
8. Corkscrew
7.Blue Streak
6. Iron Dragon
5. Gemini
4. Wicked Twister
3. Magnum-XL 200
2. Millennium Force
1. Maverick
S.Samek
Hershey Park is one of my favorite parks and it’s easy to see why. The park has some awesome rides and excellent food. Its a great recipe for success as a park.
They have one of the more impressive coaster collections in the country at 13. I have been there on multiple trips and only am missing one of the credits, the coco cruiser family/kiddie coaster. That and the no longer operating Roller Soaker.
Here today I present my rankings for all the Hershey Park coasters I have credits for.
#12. Wild Mouse
Pc Themeparkreview.com
#11 Trailblazer
Pc Themeparkreview.com
#10 Wildcat
#9 Comet
#8 Laff Trakk
pc coaster101.com
#7 Sooperdooperlooper
pc coasterbuzz
#6 Sidewinder
pc coasterbuzz
#5 Great Bear
#4 Fahrenheit
pc coasterbuzz
#3 Lightening Racer
#2 Storm Runner
#1 Skyrush
This is a post I haven’t already done. I have ranked my top roller coasters and must ride coasters. Yet I haven’t done the coasters at my home park Kennywood. So here are the ranks for Kennywood’s coasters.
7. Little Phantom. Never actually rode it, but adults can.
6. Exterminator. It’s an ok ride a standard mouse in the dark. I usually only ride one as it’s a bit rough and the line gets long at times.
5. Racer. While this one is just a lot of fun, it isn’t really big tall, or fast. I can reride it a good many time and it’s always fun. Plus, who does like challenging your friends to see who wins.
4. Jack Rabbit. Classic fun and love the double dip. Lots of fun, but not quite the number two entry on this list.
3. Sky Rocket. Very smooth and very fun. A bit underwhelming though against a lot of my other coaster conquests.
2. Thunderbolt. I love this ride a lot. It’s the best of the wooden coasters at Kennywood. It’s fast and fun. Also enjoy starting out the ride with a drop and a near miss point with Phantom’s Revenge.
1.Phantom’s Revenge. At first, I thought this ride was over rated. Most of the ride is spent going up the lift hill and it is fast, but not record breaking. It’s not really smooth either. I rode it recently and it was much smoother and a lot of fun. The hill still takes to long, but it was a lot of fun to ride.
LEGOLAND announced a new ride coming to their Florida park. It’s called the Great Lego Race. However, it isn’t a brand-new ride. It’s a new experience. It’s a VR addition to the ride. It gives you the feeling that you are racing a character maybe like it’s a video game.
This seems to be a recent trend in roller coasters to add VR experiences to rides. The thought process is it freshens up a ride giving you another element to the original ride without any major changes to the ride. All you do is strap on a headset and you can race Lego figures, or fight alongside Superman.
This however is a bed idea. You don’t go to amusement park for VR. I go for the coasters. When I ride the coasters, I like to see what’s in front of me. I like seeing the drop after going up the lift hill, or see the train going through the loop. Not being able to see what elements you’re going through maybe a scary thought, but it’s still something I would rather not do. Augmented reality which combines VR and real world looks to be coming, but should take time to develop.
My main problem with VR is that it adds time to the wait without really adding anything. That can be annoying if you want to add it to something high profile that already may have a long line as is. For example, Coaster studios studied the operations times at Six Flags America. He rode the Superman Ride of Steel with both VR and normal. Normal superman takes about a minute and 25 seconds to dispatch a train. With VR almost ten minutes to dispatch a train. That’s triple the wait time plus for a stupid headset. Not worth it.
Now it is admirable that parks want to add new experiences. It’s cool that people like video games and VR and this appeals to that fan base. Though I think that park visits should be times to experience life and thrills without a screen. It isn’t every day you get to loop around and go upside, or hit 95 mph legally. That’s what coasters offer. Taking that away by adding VR just isn’t a good idea. Save that for a separate ride.
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