Classic Florida Starliner roller coaster rescued from storage

by Leigh Caldwell on

A 1960s-era, wooden roller coaster known as the Starliner will be pulled out of the mothballs and brought back to its original home: Panama City Beach, Florida.

Teddy and Jenny Meeks announced last week that they have bought the Starliner, which has been in storage in Tampa since 2008. The couple and two other partners are spending $2 million to acquire the coaster, refurbish it and relocate it to a site on Panama City Beach near Pier Park.

The Starliner was born in 1963 at the Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City Beach, where it was ridden by countless vacationing families for more than four decades, until the park closed in 2004.

The 70-foot-tall coaster was then relocated to Cypress Gardens near Winter Haven, Florida. But in 2008, Cypress Gardens shut down its rides and the Starliner was put in storage. Earlier this year, Legoland bought the Cypress Gardens property and announced that the Starliner would not be included in the plans for Legoland Florida.

Enter the Meeks, who had previously purchased a balloon ride and a biplane ride from the Miracle Strip and installed them at Pier Park. Teddy Meeks told the Panama City News Herald that the Starliner will keep its wooden structure, but will get a new magnetic braking structure and other safety improvements.

The ride is expected to open no later than the spring of 2012.

Theme park news roundup: New thrills on the way in 2011

by Leigh Caldwell on

Summer season is winding down, and that means it’s the time of year when theme parks start announcing their new attractions for the 2011 season. Here’s a look at the latest news and rumors about new attractions at U.S. theme parks:

Dollywood to open the Barnstormer

Dolly Parton’s theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, will add a $5.5 million ride called the Barnstormer. It’s designed to simulate stunt flying with the use of two pendulum arms. The ride will rise 81 feet in the air. Dollywood is also building a new barnyard-themed children’s play area around the Barnstormer.

The new ride will have a height requirement of 48 inches. It’s expected to open in March 2011.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay launches teaser Web site

Construction of a new attraction has been going on for months at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, but the park has made no official announcements as to what the new ride will be. It is widely believed that the new attraction will be a roller coaster. Park officials have only said that there will be thrils and animal encounters.The Tampa, Florida, theme park has launched a teaser web site, BuschGardens2011.com, with videos of park officials talking about their big secret. The latest video is with design and engineering VP Mark Rose, who does reveal that the 2011 project will have the largest footprint of any attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

Cedar Point releases new ride clues on Facebook

Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, is giving fans of its Facebook page clues about a new 2011 attraction. So far, pictures of a windmill and a dinosaur have been posted.

The windmill picture links instructions for a class project on windy weather, and the dino image links to a site on dinosaurs for kids.

The theme park is promising that all will be revealed next week, on Aug. 24.

Hersheypark looking ahead to 2012

Often the first place that news about new theme park attractions emerges is through city and county construction permits that have to be obtained, and hearings that have to be held, when theme parks plan to build anything.

That’s exactly what happened this week in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, where Hersheypark theme park is building a new attraction for 2012.

At a municipal zoning meeting, Hersheypark officials revealed that new “marquee” attraction will be built in the park’s Comet Hollow area, and it will open in 2012. No word on what it will be, but the theme park is seeking permission for the new ride to have a maximum height of more than 212 feet.

England’s naked roller coaster

by Annie Scott on


Only in England, right? The Green Scream (above) at Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, took an unexpected turn last week: a naked one.

In a stunt to raise money for Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation’s Bosom Pals Appeal, BBC News reports that 102 people showed up at Adventure Island ready to bare all and ride the Green Scream. The dabbling nudists, most of whom have been affected by cancer in some way, came from all over the UK to help the organization purchase new mammography machines and other additions to their breast care unit. The coaster had to go commando three times to accommodate all the naked Brits. Over £22,000 was raised.

“Takes of lot of nerve to take off all your clothes” said Barbara Warner of Bosom Pals, adding that she “would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who was brave enough to bare all and raise such a huge amount of cash — more than £22,000 — for our vitally important cause.”

We get why they took their tops off (breast cancer), but why the bottoms? Let’s all hope everyone carefully wiped the seat with a wet nap or something before sitting down — and after! People riding the coaster an hour later might have had no idea what just happened there. This all sounds like a good reason to travel with hand sanitizer to me.

[via BBC News]

Woman dies after falling out of roller coaster in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

by Leigh Caldwell on

A 21-year-old Lafayette, Louisiana, woman has died after an accident at Dixie Landin’ amusement park in Baton Rouge.

Witnesses said Lindsay Zeno fell about 30 feet from the Xtreme roller coaster at the park late Sunday afternoon.

State fire officials, who are charged with regulating the park, have said that there were no obvious mechanical failures on the ride. The ride passed its last state inspection, about a month ago.

State fire marshalls and the local sheriff’s office are continuing the accident investigation this morning.

Tadbatha Arnold, who says she witnessed the accident, told WAFB that the chest restraint on the ride was up and she saw Zeno trying to pull it down before Zeno fell from the coaster.

Xtreme is a steel roller coaster that was built in 2000. It was moved to Dixie Landin’ in 2007 from a theme park in the Netherlands. The coaster has a top speed of 37 miles per hour.

Riders stuck hanging upside down on U.K. coaster

by Leigh Caldwell on

Most roller coaster fans will tell you that the best part is the adrenaline rush you get when the ride ends. But what happens when a ride leaves you hanging?

That’s what happened to five people riding the Mumbo Jumbo coaster at Flamingo Land theme park in Yorkshire, England, on Tuesday.

London’s Daily Mail reports that the thrill seekers were riding the coaster when their ride car came to a stop, leaving them dangling upside down about 50 feet off the ground.

They were stuck there for about 20 minutes before being freed from the ride by theme park workers.

Flamingo Land officials say mechanical problems weren’t to blame for the incident. Apparently a rain poncho dropped by a park guests got stuck under the ride car, and that brought the fun to an end.

The Mumbo Jumbo opened in July 2009. Guinness says the coaster holds the world record for having the steepest drop.