Cedar Point delays opening of new water coaster Shoot the Rapids

by Leigh Caldwell on

Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, has delayed the opening of its big splash this year, a water ride called Shoot the Rapids.

Cedar Point opens for the season on Saturday.

The ride was scheduled to open for a media preview on Friday, but that event has been canceled, and Cedar Point now says Shoot the Rapids will open on May 29.

Engineering problems are behind the delay. The ride cars (in this case, boats) for the ride were too long and did not fit the ride. Crews are having to alter them on-site.

“The manufacturer made the flume, and he contracted out the boats. When the boats came together, the boats didn’t fit the flumes,” Cedar Fair president Dick Kinzel told the Sandusky (Ohio) Register.

Shoot the Rapids is the park’s third water ride and its biggest investment in one, with a price tag of $10.5 million. It uses a steel track and has two lift hills. The tallest is 85 feet.

Nation’s oldest amusement park to give ‘deserving’ family private access

by Leigh Caldwell on

To celebrate its 165th anniversary, Lake Compounce is “giving away the keys” to the amusement park to one family for 165 minutes.

Nominate a “deserving” family online by April 20 to enter the Win the Keys to Lake Compounce contest. Park officials say economic troubles, personal hardships and sacrificing yourself to serve others are examples of things they would consider deserving. You can nominate your own family if you would like.

Lake Compounce officials will judge the merits of each entry and announce a winner on the park’s 2010 opening day, May 15.

The prize will be awarded on the evening of May 28, when the winning family will receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the amusement park, private access to the park’s rides and attractions and an overnight stay at a nearby Clarion Hotel in Bristol, Conn. The winners will also be given $100 to spend on souvenirs at Lake Compounce.

Theme park news roundup: Harry Potter, robot rides and cheesy grub(s!)

by Gadling Staff on

Here’s what’s happening in theme park news this week.

Robot Land announced (Incheon, South Korea)
South Korea will be home to the world’s first robot theme park when Robot Land opens in Incheon in 2012. Robot Land will have a robotic arm ride, tributes to robot-themed movies such as “Matrix” and “Minority Report,” and robot employees and performers. A national robotics lab and office complexes will also be built on the 110-acre site.

The park will cost $562 million, with 87 percent coming from private investors and the remainder from the government, according to English-language newspaper The Korea Herald. Incheon, South Korea’s third largest city, is home to many high-tech businesses. Not surprisingly, Robot Land sounds like it’s trying to attract a different crowd than nearby Love Land.

Chessington World of Adventures tries new, gross snacks (London, England)
When the urge for a theme-park snack strikes this summer, you may be able to pass up the ice cream bars and funnel cake in favor of bacon-flavored crickets, cheesy grubs and chocolate ants. Chessington World of Adventures tested the unusual menu on February 18. The theme park just outside London is considering making the snacks part of the regular menu in its new Wild Asia section when it opens for the season on March 27.

Wild Asia will include a new spinning disc ride, the KOBRA, and a walk-through Lorikeet aviary. The Yorkshire Post reports that the insect snacks got rave reviews from testers. And lest you worry about exactly where those ants you eat are coming from, the newspaper reports that all the insects are “ethically sourced” (unlike these “8 great bug-eating videos from around the world”).
Wizarding World of Harry Potter details emerge (Orlando, FL, USA)
It looks like that promised spring opening for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will happen in May. Universal Orlando Resort has started selling vacation packages themed to the opening of the new “park within a park” at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. The packages, which include hotel, park tickets and souvenirs and a breakfast, can be booked for travel beginning May 28. Pricing starts at $1,548 for a family of four (read more about the package here).

Universal Orlando is quick to say that May 28 is not the official opening date for the park, but the release of these packages is the first definitive sign as to when Harry Potter fans will be able to visit the village of Hogsmeade in Orlando. When the Wizarding World is complete, it will have three rides, a new restaurant (“Three Broomsticks”) and shops.

Adventureland burns (Altoona, IA, USA)
A toy store, arcade, restaurant and bingo parlor burned at Adventureland amusement park on February 20. The Altoona, Iowa, park known for its Tornado roller coaster was closed for the season and empty when the fire broke out, but an adjacent hotel was evacuated as a precaution.

The Des Moines Register reports that the burned buildings on Adventureland’s Main Street were built in 1974 and were not equipped with sprinkler systems. Park officials say that Adventureland will reopen for the season in April as previously planned.

“Captain EO” returns (Anaheim, CA, USA)
The Michael Jackson 3-D film “Captain EO” returns to the Magic Eye Theater at Disneyland on Feb. 23. The 17-minute sci-fi movie first debuted at the Anaheim, Calif., theme park in October 1986, the same week the National Enquirer printed a famous photo of Jackson sleeping in a futuristic hyperbaric sleeping chamber.

The movie follows Captain EO (Jackson) and his crew as they travel to a distant planet to deliver a gift to a wicked alien queen, played by Anjelica Huston. George Lucas produced the film, which reportedly cost more than $1 milliion per minute to make. On the Disney Parks blog, Disneyland PR manager Heather Hurst Rivera said the movie will be shown from a new 70mm print and that acoustic improvements to the theater since the original run will make “Captain EO” “sound better than ever.” The movie’s original Disneyland run ended quietly in 1997. Disney officials have been mum on how long the movie’s revival will last or whether “EO” will also return to Walt Disney World’s EPCOT, where it played from 1986-1994.

Waldameer going cashless (Erie, PA, USA)
Waldameer patrons won’t need a dime to visit the Erie, Penn., amusement park this year, but they will need Wally Points. Waldameer has announced that the park is going completely cashless.

Instead of the green stuff, park guests will load a plastic card or wristband with Wally Points, which are named after the park mascot Wally Bear. The points will cost $1 each. Waldameer owner Paul Nelson told the Erie Times-News that the move will save money by giving the business tighter control over its cash.

Wild Adventures rocks (Valdosta, GA, USA)
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wynonna and Steven Curtis Chapman will headline concerts at the Wild Adventures theme park this season. The Valdosta, Ga., water and theme park announced that it will open for the year on March 6.

Three new rides will debut next month, and the park’s beloved wooden coaster, The Cheetah, will trot out its new, smoother ride thanks to a $1 million refurbishment. Wild Adventures concerts are free with park admission, but (better) reserved seats are available for $10.

Darien Lake Theme Park expands (Darien Center, NY, USA)
The Darien Lake Theme Park Resort has filed plans to build a new $7 million water park area called Pirates Cove. New attractions at the Darien Center, N.Y., resort would include a Lazy River, a 50-foot-high water slide and a FlowRider, which produces waves that riders can surf in a contained environment. The Genesee County Planning Board has given the Pirates Cove site plan a preliminary approval, according to the Batavia (N.Y.) Daily News.

[Lead photo courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/bistrosavage/ / CC BY 2.0]

Detroit’s Boblo Boat is back!

by Katie Hammel on

As a child growing up in Detroit, one of my favorite summer activities was riding the “Boblo Boat” down the Detroit River to Boblo Island. An amusement park created in 1898, it closed for good in 1993. The island is now a residential community and any hope of resurrecting the old-time amusement park is gone, but thanks to a local doctor, nostalgia-seekers may soon be able to take a ride on one of the official Boblo Boats, the Ste. Claire.

After over 80 years in use along the route and a decade spent docked south of the city, the boat was in serious disrepair. For three years, crews have been working on restoring the boat to its former glory. They started by hauling out over “40 dumpsters worth of trash and debris,” according to the Detroit Free Press. Work continues today as they remove paint and rust and take out rotted walls and decking. Crews plan to continue work throughout the winter and hope to have the boat ready for dock-side tours as early as next summer. A few years later, having installed new plumbing and electricity, they hope to offer cruises and special-event sailings on the Detroit River.

Ste. Claire and her running mate, the Colombia, are the “last two remaining classic excursion steamers” in the country. The Colombia is the oldest passenger steamer in the US (not including ferries) and together, the boats are believed to hold the record for the longest amount of time (81 years) spent on a single route. A New York investor plans to restore the Colombia as well, but so far work has not begun.

It’s Halloweekends time at Cedar Point!

by Katie Hammel on

As a child growing up in the Midwest, Autumn always meant the same traditions. Sundays spent raking the leaves from the yard, visits to cider mills, and an annual October trip to Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio.

Cedar Point. . .in October? Yes! If you live in the Midwest, you probably know that Cedar Point stays open on weekends through November 1. If you didn’t know, you’ll want to plan a trip now because, while night can be cold, hours are limited, and not all the rides are open (including, of course, the water rides and the Soak City park), the lack of crowds makes this the perfect time to get your roller coaster fix.

For the whole month, the park is open from 6pm to midnight on Fridays, noon to midnight on Saturdays, and 11am to 8pm on Sundays (except for October 11 when it’s open 10am-10pm). And with those reduced hours come reduced prices on Friday nights and Saturdays after 4pm. Daily admission is normally $44.99, but during those times it drops to $29.99 per adult.

During Halloweekends most of the park’s major coasters like Millennium Force, Raptor, Magnum, and Blue Streak are all open, though some of the smaller attractions are closed. The park is decked out for Halloween with zombies, crypts, monsters, and pumpkins scattered around, and there are haunted houses of varying scare factors, a Halloween parade, and costume contests for kids.

But the best part is that, rather than waiting up to 2 hours for your favorite coaster like you will in the peak of summer, you’ll rarely wait more than 30 minutes to move through the line during Halloweekends. At many times, especially when it gets a bit chillier late in the season, you’ll zip through in just a few minutes. You get more coaster time for less money.

Cedar Point is one hour from the Cleveland airport and Sandusky, where the park is located, is serviced by Amtrak and Greyhound. There are several hotels located just outside the park gates and in the town of Sandusky ranging from around $70 to $200 per night.