Cedar Point opens WindSeeker in the year of the tower ride

by Joel Bullock on

Cedar Point opened their new tower ride WindSeeker last week. The 301 foot tall ride spins riders in two-person swings at speeds of 25 to 30 mph. At 30 stories above the park, guests are treated to a great view of Lake Erie, the beach, and Cedar Point’s massive collection of roller coasters and theme park rides.

Here’s a video covering the Cedar Point’s WindSeeker as it opens. At about 4 minutes into the video you can see the ride operate with its impressive lighting system. It looks pretty incredible at night.




Like Hollywood’s summer of sequels a number of theme parks are all inexplicably opening tower rides this year. There are WindSeeker clones that will be popping up at sister Cedar Fair parks Kings Island (near Cincinatti), Knotts Berry Farm (near Los Angeles), and Canada’s Wonderland (near Toronto). Add to that Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Mach Tower and Six Flags’ SkyScreamers at Six Flags St. Louis and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (near San Francisco) and you’ve got quite an unusual trend.

Six Flags America closes Skull Mountain

by Joel Bullock on



Six Flags America, located in Bowie, Maryland, has announced that they will be closing Skull Mountain. The unique water flume ride with roller coaster-like elements has been in operation since 1997 when it was originally opened as Typhoon Sea Coaster. The first-of-its-kind ride has underwent changes since it opened, but I remember one unique feature being its turning mechanism that spun the boats. At one point in the ride, the boats were turned around and then the riders traveled backwards.

To give the unique ride a proper send off, Six Flags America is having a two-day pirate festival on July 9th and 10th. Also, starting next week, one of Skull Mountain’s boats will be placed in the midway allowing guests the ability to take photos. The park is also holding a last rider auction and a boat from Skull Mountain will be donated to the National Roller Coaster Museum. Make sure you get another ride in before July 10th. Hopefully, the park has a new attraction in the works to take the place of this fun ride. Read the full press release here. [Photo Credit – Flickr user Milst1]

747 lands in Oregon water park, just for fun

by Chris Owen on

What has ten water slides, a wave pool and a children’s museum dedicated to teaching students about the power of water? Its Evergreen Wings and Waves, the nations newest water park at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon and that 747 is there to stay.

Called “the only water park that comes with an aviation and space museum” Wings and Waves opened this week with rides like the Nose Dive inner tube ride and the Mach 1 slide that descends 60 vertical feet.

That Boeing 747 mounted on the roof of that 60 foot-tall building? Four different water slides start inside including the Sonic Boom offering an “outdoor water park” feel with a view of most of the park. Above the roof, the top section of the slide is transparent to allow glimpses of the shape of the plane and building. Inside the park the top section of the slide is removed and the top is open.

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“To get kids’ attention these days you need to more interactive. It’s all ‘Been there; done that; got the T-shirt.’ So we built an aviation and water museum with slides it in,” explained Evergreen Aviation museum’s executive director Larry Wood to StuckAtTheAirport.

Unlike other water parks, this one has a museum attached. The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum is best known for housing the original Spruce Goose but is also the is home to over 200 aircraft and exhibits including military aircraft, helicopters, commercial and private aircraft with an entire building dedicated to space flight.

Add in an IMAX theater, restaurants, cafes and shops and this water park looks to be flying high for summer fun…the kind of summer fun we might find when Traveling the American Road, a project running right now and you can keep up with us here on Gadling, at travelingtheamericanroad.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Gowalla.

Untitled from Evergreen on Vimeo.

Mach Tower to open at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

by Joel Bullock on

Virginia’s Busch Gardens Williamsburg is to open Mach Tower, a new tower ride for the 2011 season. Guest will find the twenty-four story tall drop ride in the German Oktoberfest section. The ride will begin with a spiraling lift to a lofty 240 feet above the park. At the top, riders will be treated to one of the best views in the theme park industry as Busch Gardens Williamsburg has been rated the World’s most beautiful theme park for 21 straight years by the National Amusement Park Historical Association. After a pause, the 30 riders will be sent plummeting at 60 mph back to the ground.

Mach Tower is part of a two year upgrade to the Oktoberfest section. The plans also include a new multiple-launch roller coaster that is scheduled to open in 2012. The coaster will be built on the former site of the Big Bad Wolf. Learn more about Mach Tower at Busch Gardens’ website.


Triple-launch roller coaster Cheetah Hunt opens at Busch Gardens Tampa

by Joel Bullock on

Thousands were treated to Busch Gardens Tampa‘s new roller coaster Cheetah Hunt this past weekend. The new roller coaster is a lengthy 4,400 feet long and it boasts not one, but three separate launches. Cheetah Hunt speeds along the park’s African-themed back drop along the ground, above it, and also below it in a watery canyon. Like some of Busch Gardens Tampa’s other attractions, the ride incorporates its namesake in cheetah viewing area called Cheetah Run. It’s designed to give guests a close encounter with the cheetahs as they show off their legendary speed.

Some early reviews of Cheetah Hunt describe it as a fun family roller coaster that’s a step between the park’s smaller coasters like Scorpion and the park’s signature thrillers like Montu and SheiKra. If that’s an accurate depiction, then it’s likely a wise addition for Busch Gardens Tampa as they’re always competing with Orlando’s many family-oriented theme parks. Central Florida’s only going to get more competitive later this year when the new Legoland Florida opens. Cheetah Hunt was my most anticipated roller coaster opening in 2011 and these videos make me even more eager to get down to Florida. Learn more at CheetahHunt.com.