Finally, Total Mayhem Hits Six Flags Great Adventure!

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For the first time in a long time, there's something to get excited about at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey.  One of the busiest and most profitable parks in the Six Flags family hasn't really added any truly exciting attractions since the openings of Kingda Ka in 2005 and El Toro in 2006.  Now, a long wait is over as Total Mayhem is about to be unleashed.

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Total Mayhem is being dubbed as a 4D Free-Fly Coaster, a wicked wicked type of ride where riders spin forward and backwards perched along the sides of the track, occasionally catching glimpses of the terrified faces of fellow riders.  Oh, just watching the video is enough to whet ones appetite at the prospect.    

The new ride is set to open next spring.  I can't wait...

Dollywood Announces Lightning Rod, The World's Fastest Wood Coaster

There's a new trend in the theme park industry and their ongoing coaster wars that generate mega bucks at the gates, and I'm not sure if I like it, but it does get me excited nonetheless.  Whereas in recent years, amusement parks have been saving their big coaster announcements for the dreary, inactive winter months, new ride press releases have been coming out in the summer months, sometimes up to a couple of years in advance of the newest, baddest roller coaster.  With Cedar Point's teasing of a big announcement on August 18th, Tennessee's biggest theme park attraction, Dollywood, has already made a big one.  Lightning Rod will strike in March 2016.

 

Lightning Rod is a huge announcement for Dollywood, The new record-breaking coaster stands as the park's largest investment ever, coming in at a cool $22 million.  That signifies a seriousness in the parks desire to become one of the beacons of coaster coolness, adding to their already respectable line-up of great roller coasters.

Here's what the theme park has to say about the new Lightning Rod coaster on their website:

Themed after a tricked out 1950s-era hot rod, Lightning Rod launches riders from zero to 45 mph more than 20 stories up its lift hill to one of the ride’s first airtime moments. At the crest of the hill, riders face twin summit airtime hills before tackling the daring first drop. Lightning Rod races down the 165-foot drop and propels guests along its 3,800-ft. track to a top speed of 73 mph, the fastest speed for a wood coaster in the world. 

Located in Dollywood's Jukebox Junction, Lightning Rod rockets riders around its massive wooden structure on an adrenaline-charged lap through the trees in the hills and valleys surrounding Dollywood. During the ride, guests experience nearly 20 seconds of airtime. The coaster train is comprised of 12 cars, carrying two passengers each, for a total of 24 people per train.

Sounds pretty exciting, no?  2016 is already sounding ike it's already going to be a great year! Check out a video simulation of the new ride and stay tuned for more...

Something Wicked This Way Comes: Six Flags New England's Wicked Cyclone

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It looks like I'll be traipsing on up again to Agawam, Massachusetts this summer.  Last year was my first time visiting Six Flags New England and I found it to be one helluva park,  With such awesome coasters such as the mind-blowing Goliath to the twisting, turning Mind Eraser and the absolutely thrilling Bizarro, this park's got enough steel monsters to whet any coaster lover's appetite, and now they've added a new thrilling wonder.

Wicked Cyclone is a brand new spin on an old favorite.  In June of 1983, the Riverside Cyclone, a woodie inspired by Coney Island's famous landmark, opened at what was then known as Riverside Amusement Park.  The ride operated for more than thirty years, serving over 15 million riders, and closed for good last June, and in the months since, the ride has undergone a major transformation and this weekend the new coaster opens to the public.

Wicked Cyclone is a hybrid coaster, mixing steel track with wood construction.  It is the first of its kind on the East Coast and it looks like a doozie.   With 3,200 feet of track, this hybrid falls from 10 stories high and moves at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour, careening through two zero G rolls and a 200 degree stall as it makes its way through the track.  Take a look below at the park's animated preview of the ride, and if you're in the vicinity of Six Flags New England this summer, you're gonna want to get there...

Holiday World's New Thunderbird Coaster Takes Off This Saturday

Ah spring!  There are a lot of things to love about spring...the flowers, the warmer air, spring cleaning, and...roller coasters!  Yes, it's been a long, cold winter and it seems like months since I last brought up the subject of coasters on this blog, but this Saturday, Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana will be debuting its newest thrill ride, Thunderbird, and if that doesn't get this roller coaster enthusiast's juices flowing, nothing will...

I first visited Holiday World, a long awaited visit at that, last year and though the park overall was a bit smaller than I had expected, I loved its stable of coasters, especially the fantabulous The Legend in the Thanksgiving section of the park.  At the time, the three coasters at Holiday World were all of the wooden variety, so when the park announced Thunderbird back in July, I was excited to see it was of the steel variety.  In fact, not only is the new coaster an out and out steel ride, but it's a record breaking monster.

Thunderbird is the world's first launched wing coaster. For those of you new to coasters, a winged coaster is one in which riders are seated on the sides of the track, giving them a feeling of flying. There are several winged coasters out there, including Wild Eagle at Dollywood, X-Flight at Six Flags Great America, Gatekeeper at Cedar Point and others. None of those coasters, though, use magnetic launch technology as this one does.


Here are the stats for the new Thunderbird, as posted on the Holiday World website:

Description: Thunderbird is the nation’s first launched wing coaster. It is Holiday World’s first major steel roller coaster, with a 0-60mph launch in 3.5 seconds, followed by multiple inversions – including a 14-story Immelmann loop, Zero-g roll, barrel roll, and loop. Continuing Holiday World’s tradition of sending roller coasters through thickly wooded and hilly terrain, Thunderbird at first soars and loops high in the air and then hugs the ground, surprising riders with rapid-fire “near misses” such as keyholes, themed elements, other rides, trees, and even the ground.

Track length: 3,035 feet

Height: 140 feet at Immelman loop's peak

Speed: 60 mph

Ride Time: 1 minute, 18 seconds

Designer: Bolliger & Mabiliard

Legend: In 1620, as the Mayflower neared the end of its 66 days at sea, a mighty storm nearly capsized the ship, taking it hundreds of miles off course. As passengers and crew feared all was lost, an immense bird appeared in the sky. The thunderbird, whose wings created the thunder and eyes flashed the lightning of the powerful storm, rescued the ship by launching it to the New World.

Well, I won't be riding Thunderbird this summer, at least I don't anticipate it, but judging from the video below, I think maybe I'd like to make another visit to Santa Claus, Indiana sometime in the near future...

The New World's Tallest Roller Coaster, Skyscraper, Unveiled

Yesterday, new video footage of what will soon be the world's tallest roller coaster was released and it's just enough to whet a coaster enthusiast's appetite so soon into the dormant winter months.  It was just about a year ago that Skyscraper was first introduced to the world as the newest record-breaker in the ever evolving coaster wars.  The new coaster is set to open in 2017 and will break the record long held by Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka as the world's tallest roller coaster.

When the original plans were unveiled, this coaster enthusiast was a skeptic.  It didn't hurt my pessimism either that Kingda Ka resides at my home amusement park, but from the original sketches and description of the coaster, it didn't look like it wouldn't be as thrilling as the King of Coasters. Now that I've seen the video, I'm still skeptical that it is a true thrill-seeking competitor for its predecessor, but it does look pretty cool nonetheless and will certainly induce butterflies within the stomachs of impending riders.

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Skyscraper, known as an all new prototype, Polarcoaster, will stand at a whopping 570 feet above the ground along Orlando's strip at the future site of the all new Skyplex Entertainment Center.  That's more than 100 feet taller than Ka.  Though it's not the thrill em fast and high that the current record holder is, it does have a few elements that make it its own unique experience, including almost four minutes of high-flying twists, turns and inversions.  I tell ya, I hadn;t planned on going back to Orlando anytime in the near future, but after checking out this video, Skyscraper has got me rethinking that notion...

  

Holiday World is Getting a New Coaster

It always seems that whenever my attention turns towards something, other things concerning that thing invariably pop up.  Case in point: our Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014.  Both before and ever since that trip, I've been coming across a lot of things that have to do with Kentucky, Nashville and the parks we visited.  Now, just a few short days after I review the wooden roller coasters at Holiday World, the park makes a huge announcement.

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On Thursday evening, Holiday World held a press conference to announce a brand new roller coaster set to open in the spring of 2015.  Thunderbird will be the park's first steel coaster and will more than double the amount of money they've ever spent on a ride, with a price tag coming in at around $22 million.  It's very cool that they'll be adding a steel ride to their slow, but steady growing arsenal.

indystar

Thunderbird will be the world's first launched wing-design coaster and it will be located in the park's Thanksgiving section, crossing through The Voyage not once, but twice.  The ride will go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds as it immediately goes into the first of its four inversions.  Thunderbird features 3,035 feet of track and includes a 140 foot Immelmann loop, a 125 foot standard loop, a Horseshoe, an elevated spiral, a zero-G roll, and other cool features.  Wing coasters are great, and with this announcement, I may just have to visit this park sometime again in the near future to give Thunderbird a whirl.  Check out an animation of the new ride below...