Two years ago, at the IAAPA Expo, it was announced that the world’s tallest roller coaster would be coming to Florida. Last year, it was announced to be coming to Orlando. Today (December 1st, 2015), it was finally approved!
Skyplex is a large retail, dining, and entertainment complex proposed for north International Drive in Orlando. The proposed attraction is set to feature a US Thrill Rides Polercoaster, which is a large roller coaster wrapped around an observation tower, the world’s tallest drop tower, a “Unicoaster” flat ride, a zip-line, and more.
In recent months, the debate over the project became very intense. It began with the FAA approving the massive height of the polercoaster and became heated when one of the recommendation boards in the approval process recommended not to approve the project. This was largely due to the lobbying of a nearby attraction, the Universal Orlando Resort.
In the last few weeks, petitions have gone out for both sides of the argument, pamphlets against the project were sent to Orlando area residents, and the theme park community exploded with supporters and those against the project.
Today, the long anticipated project for several theme park and roller coaster fans was officially heard by the Orange County Commissioners Board.
Several Orlando residents, local businessmen, theme park bloggers, and representatives of Skyplex and Universal spoke. The vast majority of these people were in favor of the project.
Strangely enough, Universal did not seem to do nearly as much lobbying against the project as they recently have, although there was some.
After several hours of listening to speakers, the board members motioned to vote on the project with some limitations which were agreed upon by Skyplex. The most notable of these limitations was a 600 foot height limit.
Eventually, the commissioners voted on the project. The results were unanimous, Skyplex was approved!
Hopefully, the project will break ground soon! Joshua Wallack has said to expect Skyplex to open in 2018, with the Skyscraper rollr coaster and drop tower completed first. The nearby Mango’s nightclub and restaurant, also owned by Wallack, is likely to open sooner. Until then, we’ve got something awesome to look at from the Orlando Eye!
Personally, I couldn’t be more excited for this! The world’s tallest roller coaster is coming to a place I regularly visit, and it’s going to be an Intamin! Almost nothing sounds better!
What do you think of the officially approved Skyplex Orlando project? You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
Last week, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions held their annual expo in Orlando. At the convention, ride manufacturers showed off their latest creations and parks revealed even more details of their new attractions!
Here’s some links to some of the news that we covered in other articles:
The first news we’re going to talk about is out of the RMC booth. Our friend Brent from Pixels at the Parks sent us pictures of the booth.
The two models the company offered until recently are the I-Box steel track and the topper track. They are pictured in the above image with I-Box on the left and Topper Track on the right.
I-Box track is used on roller coasters like Twisted Colossus and Wicked Cyclone. Instead of a wood layer underneath a thin steel top, it uses a purely steel track. This steel track requires minimal maintenance compared to the wooden track featured on the original versions of these rides.
On the right is the RMC topper track. With layers of wood and a piece of steel on top of the track, this is what allows rides like Outlaw Run to be called wooden coasters. It uses a system that allows for smooth, versatile, and fun rides!
In addition to their two track types that revolutionized the wooden coaster, it appears that Rocky Mountain construction is venturing into the steel coaster market with their latest two offerings.
The first of the two new offerings is this wild looking track, the T-Rex track! On a first impression, it looks as if it’s just a giant steel table, but this is a one-rail steel track!
This is a video of the new concept, which has been a hot topic in the community since preliminary images were released. The ride looks like another wacky and incredible Rocky Mountain Construction design!
Although it seemed to be a “sleeper” announcement at the conference, Rocky Mountain Construction also revealed a new family roller coaster track. The green track looks very similar to that of the I-Box track, but it is of a larger size. From the looks of it, I think it is for another one rail coaster. It will definitely be interesting to see what a Rocky Mountain Construction family coaster will be like.
With a launch, a backwards section, and a drop on it, the new Zamperla Family Coaster will be one of the company’s most unique and innovative attractions to date. Similar to Verbolten (although Verbolten was a Zierer coaster), this will be another product from the company suitable for guests of all ages.
Extreme Engineering Zipline Coaster:
One of the strangest and most interesting new attractions offered at the expo was the Extreme Engineering zipline Coaster. Although some may not be excited by this, I certainly am. I heard good things about it from a couple of riders and I’d love to see
A few months ago, Playland Castaway Cove revealed details on their next roller coaster, Gale Force. As the first S&S Launched El Loco, the company revealed the above new trains for the new product at the expo! They look like very nice trains similar to those on Cannibal at Lagoon.
Quassy Announces New Ride:
The SBF Visa Group and Quassy Amusement Park announced their newest attraction, Reverse Time, at the IAAPA Expo. It will be the first installation of this flat ride in the United States.
Yes, that’s right, the Philadelphia Toboggan Company still exists, and they now offer roller coaster trains that can go upside-down! They revealed their brand new “PTCI 360” trains with the interesting design shown above. I’m not sure what to think about them.
The company also revealed a new device to help those who are handicapped to enter roller coaster cars. The lift will hopefully make roller coasters more accessible to those who have a hard time riding.
Fun Spot – Crazy Couch and VR Testing:
Very early in the IAAPA conference, it was rumored that Fun Spot bought a Skyline Attractions Crazy Couch. Shortly thereafter, the park confirmed this, and as of Wednesday, November 25th, the attraction is operating at the park!
In addition to this, the park’s Freedom Flyer coaster was also used to showcase virtual reality technology on roller coasters. According to those who rode, the technology brought a fantastic new element to the ride and was perfectly synchronized to the actual ride.
Phobia Phear Coaster Trains Revealed:
Premier Rides and Lake Compounce showcased the trains for the latest Sky Rocket II clone coming to the park this year. Luckily, these will not have the dreaded “comfort” collars found on Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Tempesto.
Maurer Sohne revealed their newest products at the IAAPA Expo, which included a wing coaster and a bike coaster! It’s interesting to see more manufacturers offering these relatively new ride concepts.
New Skyplex Renderings:
Finally, in addition to all of the above news, the developers of Skyplex and Intamin released the latest renderings for the wild polercoaster! The ride is going to break even more world records as it will feature the world’s tallest vertical launch, which will take riders from 24 feet below the ground and up to over 500 feet in the air, straight into the world’s highest inversion!
Also, with this new rendering, images of the world’s tallest drop tower, Skyfall, were shown for the first time. Another notable feature is an example of a US Thrill Rides “Unicoaster,” which appears to be a modern version of Knoebels’s Looper flat ride, is located near the final inversion of the roller coaster.
What do you think of these IAAPA announcements? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
At the IAAPA Expo in Orlando today, Walibi Rhone-Alps revealed new details for their brand new family roller coaster. The Gravity Group manufactured wooden roller coaster will open early next year at the French park.
The ride will use the Gravity Group Timberliner trains to provide a smooth and comfortable experience. Much like the trains on the company’s latest roller coaster, Switchback at ZDT’s Amusement Park, this attraction will feature beautiful themed trains. Based on the video I saw, the saw on the front will even spin!
What do you think of this new Gravity Group roller coaster? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
Today, at the IAAPA Expo, Dollywood unveiled a new way to preview their next roller coaster, Lightning Rod! On their YouTube channel, the park uploaded two new videos of the world’s first launched wooden roller coaster, which will debut in March 2016.
Here, I have the videos of the new attraction. The 2D POV located above is viewable anywhere, but the 3D POV below is not compatible in some browsers such as Safari and is compatible with virtual reality goggles for those who have them.
Lightning Rod is 30% complete with 70% of the footers installed for the attraction according to the park. The Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) roller coaster will be one of the tallest and fastest wooden coasters the world upon opening. It will also feature a number of interesting elements including a quadruple down. It will definitely have the RMC touch.
What do you think about Lightning Rod? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
Today, Kings Dominion began the demolition of their stand-up roller coaster, Shockwave. Shockwave closed last August in order to make way for a brand new “frisbee” flat ride, Delirium.
The park posted a video to their Facebook page of the first track piece being removed today. Based on the video, the roller coaster will most likely not operate at another park, even though Kings Dominion recently listed it on a ride selling website. It seems that the removed track segment has been destroyed to a point where it could not be used again on another ride.
Delirium will be a Mondial Revolution ride, similar to that of a HUSS Frisbee or Zamperla Giant Discovery. It will bring a new flat ride to Kings Dominion, which will fill a hole in the lineup of the park.
Personally, I am excited to see Delirium making its way into the park, but I am sad that we did not get a chance to take any construction photos while we were at the park last month (but that’s just for selfish reasons).
What do you think about Delirium? Will you miss Shockwave? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
In 2016, Busch Gardens Tampa will add yet another incredible roller coaster to their lineup, Cobra’s Curse. Now, we have even more details of the ride!
Today, at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo (IAAPA) in Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa and the manufacturer Mack Rides revealed a model of the attraction along with some new concept art. Lucky enough, we’ve got pictures of both for you to enjoy!
For the first time, we were given a look at the full layout of the ride. With a large elevator lift, a giant king cobra, and a curving layout that will interact with plants and themed buildings, this attraction is set to become a great new family ride for the thrill heavy park. Two more noteworthy features are the awesome looking outward banked turn early in the ride, and a second lift hill!
Cobra’s Curse construction has rapidly increased in pace recently. Although we can’t provide construction updates from Busch Gardens Tampa, our friends over at Pixels at the Parks certainly can! They’ve got some great updates for this project and others including SeaWorld Orlando’s Mako! You can view their Cobra’s Curse updates here!
What do you think about the Cobra’s Curse layout? Let us know by commenting below! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Last, but not least, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
You may love the attraction, or you may hate it, but Captain EO is leaving Walt Disney World very soon. On December 6th, the attraction, which returned to the park after the death of the attraction’s star, Michael Jackson, and has stayed since then will close for good.
Image via Disney Parks Blog
In recent months, the Golden Eye Theater has largely been used to display previews for new Disney and Pixar movies. Both Inside Out and Tomorrowland had preview films playing there. Now, it seems Disney is turning this into a more permanent event.
Replacing Captain EO in the Golden Eye Theater will be a brand new movie experience. Inside, guests will soon be able to view Disney and Pixar animated shorts!
As part of the changes to the theater, it will be converted to a 4D theater from its current 3D state. Opening this December, this renovation definitely sounds like it will be an interesting and fast way to improve an existing attraction! I’m glad it will be open by the Holidays so I can experience it!
What do you think about this new twist on the Golden Eye theater? Let us know by commenting below! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Finally, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
After a third quarter performance that underwhelmed investors (although there were several positives in the report), SeaWorld announced major changes for the philosophy of the company in an entirely new presentation. In the presentation, they highlighted a new focus for the company, announced new attractions, and announced major changes in the San Diego park.
The following images are slides from the presentation:
These first two slides give a nice overview of information about the company’s parks. All of the parks are great experiences worth visiting if you’ve never been!
The new strategy for Sea World’s parks is to create “experiences that matter.” Essentially, this is using thrills to show guests more about the natural world. Major changes will involve “turning the parks inside out,” or as I would say, allowing the guests to see more of the park’s behind the scenes operations in caring for animals. Another change is renaming the park’s employee titles from team member to ambassador. In addition to these changes to the park’s mission, they will also have a renewed focus on bringing popular characters to the parks and incredible new attractions.
SeaWorld Orlando will be getting some major investments in the coming years. With Mako coming in 2016 already, the company confirmed even more will come to the park in the coming years! For the next five years, the park will get major investments. There will also be an emphasis on the park’s events and further use of the park’s indoor facilities.
Perhaps the most interesting development at the park is that they will attempt to buy surrounding land for further expansion. The company expressed interest in creating on-site hotels at all of their parks, and Orlando is definitely a candidate for it. With already owned land, and more opening up nearby, it will be interesting to see what SeaWorld Orlando creates in the coming years.
The most interesting announcement from SeaWorld came from the San Diego park, they announced that they will phase out shows with their killer whales in 2016. It is expected to bring more guests from the region into the park, which has experienced major attendance drops recently due to a general public that does not agree with the use of killer whales in shows. Although several news outlets reported otherwise, this only affects the San Diego park and at this time no changes will be made in the chain’s other parks.
Although San Diego has very little land to develop, SeaWorld expressed interest in expansion for the park with new rides and possibly a hotel. Unfortunately, any further developments would have to go through the California Coastal Commission, who recently banned the breeding of orcas in their park if they expand through the Blue World Project. The CEO of SeaWorld Joel Manby told investors that the company plans to challenge the CCC’s decision, but they still may not go through with the expansion at the park. Instead, they may create a smaller version of the expansion and focus more on attractions in the park.
With Discovery Point coming next year, SeaWorld will take advantage of their Texas market and expand SeaWorld San Antonio in the next few years. In 2017, the park will bring new attractions for the entire family to enjoy!
Although they did not say which park it will be coming to, SeaWorld did announce that a new family roller coaster themed to the SeaWorld rescue team would be coming to a SeaWorld park soon! It is expected that it will come to either SeaWorld San Antonio or SeaWorld San Diego. The ride will start with a queue featuring clips of the SeaWorld rescue team’s television show. Afterwards, the guests will board the wave runner themed cars and enter a journey through twists and turns, eventually finding out which animal they rescued. The manufacturer was not announced, but I expect it to be Intamin. Intamin has build a wave-runner themed roller coaster similar to this before, although it could be someone else such as Vekoma or Zamperla.
In addition to the roller coaster, SeaWorld also displayed concept art for other attractions intended to combine actual marine life with a ride experience. The Submarine and Jeep rides both look like interesting dark ride concepts that could bring guests up close to marine life.
Not much was announced for the Busch Gardens parks. They did release this image of possibly expansion for Busch Gardens Tampa, but nothing was announced for the Williamsburg park. I expect them to continue building an attraction every couple of years to maintain the success of these two parks. I would like to note, although it was not shown in the presentation, Busch Gardens Williamsburg has vast amounts of land surrounding it just waiting to be developed.
The presentation also featured this awesome Cobra’s Curse artwork:
Another focus for the SeaWorld parks will be events. In recent years, the SeaWorld parks have added new festivals including Food and Wine festivals at the Busch Gardens Parks, and they are going to continue expanding these successful events. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer will become the headline character at the park’s Christmas events next year (this is interesting, because Dollywood already features this character) and the company is going to continue expanding their popular Halloween events.
To drive more guests into the parks, SeaWorld is going to emphasize the value of their parks. With the Orlando park’s admission being $21 less than the competitor’s averages, this should help bring more local visitors to the theme park. A re-designed website will also feature more deals (including an early buyers discount) and easier navigation to make it easier for guests to get online tickets to the parks.
Above is the new focuses for the business. Although it was expected, the international partnerships for the company that were recently announced were not discussed in the call. They are currently not as big of a priority for the company as solving the domestic issues.
The company also announced a new technology partnership with Panasonic today.
I have to say, I like this new focus for SeaWorld. An emphasis on the rides rather than the shows is a smart decision for the parks. I am definitely interested in how similar this new strategy is to the CEO’s previous company, Herschend Family Entertainment. They built incredible thrills at Dollywood and Silver Dollar City, focused also on the guest’s experience, built hotels, and partnered with the owners of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The good news is that this strategy worked well for them, and I see it working for SeaWorld too. SeaWorld’s future is definitely exciting after today’s announcements!
What do you think about SeaWorld’s new investment strategy? Let us know by commenting below! Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr!
We’ve got some awesome news out of Dollywood this week! They announced details for their Christmas celebration and sent out a construction video of their awesome upcoming roller coaster, Lightning Rod!
Let’s start with the video. It depicts the construction of the latched lift hill and parts of the station for the roller coaster. Just watching it made me even more excited for the new ride!
In addition to the video, here are the details for the park’s Christmas event:
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (November 4, 2015) — Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer leads Santa’s sleigh back to Pigeon Forge for Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas presented by Humana (Nov. 7 – Jan. 3). Rudolph and his special friends enjoyed visiting Dollywood guests so much they’ve decided to pack up all of the fun from the North Pole and bring it to Dollywood for this year’s festival!
Throw in the park’s four million dazzling lights, award-winning entertainment and delicious food options and it is easy to understand why Dollywood earned this year’s Amusement Today Golden Ticket Award for Best Christmas Event, its eighth consecutive honor. In fact, Dollywood is the only theme park in the world to ever win the award.
“I’m so proud of the work everyone puts in to making Christmas such a special time for families at my Dollywood,” said Dolly Parton. “They start putting up Christmas lights in July! It’s so beautiful and truly is the most special time of year to visit. Our entertainment team does an amazing job with all of the great shows they perform at Christmas. Why I hear they’re even going to bring back the hologram version of me one more time so you can see ‘the other Dolly’ remind ol’ Scrooge what Christmas is all about!”
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, the beloved Christmas television special, comes to life at Dollywood this season. Guests can meet Rudolph and his friends, including Clarice, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster and Yukon Cornelius in Rudolph’s Holly Jolly ™ Junction, a magical area where festive fun awaits. After meeting Rudolph and his friends, families can head to Clarice’s kitchen to decorate custom Christmas cookies or even take part in a few reindeer games!
With a number of family-favorite shows throughout Dollywood, entertainment certainly takes center stage during Smoky Mountain Christmas. The groundbreaking Dollywood’s A Christmas Carol returns to for its final season in 2015. The show uses holographic technology to bring Dolly Parton to the stage as the Ghost of Christmas Past. The lifelike appearance of Parton and the other holograms featured in the show leave amazed audiences mesmerized. This heartwarming tale about the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge features a 16-member cast, fully orchestrated musical tracks and period costuming.
Dollywood’s entertainment, which in 2015 earned its seventh consecutive Golden Ticket Award for Best Shows, features several other beloved shows this season, including Christmas in the Smokies, An Appalachian Christmas, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, O’ Holy Night, and Christmas with The Kingdom Heirs. Guests also can experience the nightly Parade of Lights, a festive procession of larger-than-life toys and characters, as well as Santa’s Workshop, where the smallest guests can share their wish list with Kris Kringle.
Families can finish their visit with a traditional Christmas meal as several of Dollywood’s menus feature holiday-themed items. Among the favorites are turkey and dressing, hot flavored drinks like hot chocolate and wassail, and much more. Holiday desserts available throughout the park include pumpkin pies, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin spice funnel cakes and a make-your-own s’mores pit.
Smoky Mountain Christmas guests can upgrade a paid one-day admission ticket to a regular 2016 season pass for as low as $28 (plus tax when buying four or more). Ticket purchasers receive credit for the value of a regular one-day ticket ($62) toward the purchase of a 2016 season pass. A season pass purchased during Smoky Mountain Christmas provides unlimited admission to this year’s Christmas festival along with Dollywood’s entire 2016 season. (A one-day ticket is valid for upgrade on the day of visit only.) Also, guests who purchase a Dollywood one-day ticket after 6 p.m. receive free admission to the park’s next operating day.
Are you excited for Dollywood’s Christmas celebration? What do you think of Lightning Rod? Let us know by commenting below! Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr!
Not very long ago, it was announced that the Motiongate Dubai theme park would build attractions themed to the popular movie and book franchise, The Hunger Games. Recently, the owners of the movie franchise, Lionsgate, announced yet another installation of this franchise in a theme park. The big difference was that this time it’s going to be in Atlanta.
Avatron Park is going to bring a Hunger Games land into their proposed park. Based on the concept art, this land will include a roller coaster and what appears to be two more attractions themed to the franchise.
According to the park’s website, it will feature revolutionary use of virtual reality in and beyond the park. It sounds like a revolutionary park that will take the experience from the park and home with guests. To hear more about this interesting park, you can visit their website here.
The development is set to open in 2019, but the chances of it opening aren’t the highest. The developers are responsible for raising over $600 million for the project in order to pay for the attraction. Several parks are announced and never happen. It’s sad, but true. I’m skeptical with this one, but I hope it works out. The rides sound so groundbreaking that it makes me particularly skeptical, like I was with DreamVision early in the year. Only time will tell us if the park will open.