8 new thrill rides opening in 2010

by Gadling Staff on

Whether you’re an avid thrill seeker or just looking to have a little fun, thrill rides and roller coasters offer riders endless good times and plenty of excitement. With the economy on the forefront of most American’s minds, many amusement parks have scaled back or delayed production of new rides. Luckily, not every park is afraid of the economic downturn, and these eight new rides opening this year offer entertainment that refuses to disappoint. Time to strap in and enjoy the ride!

Wildebeest
The longest water coaster in the world, the Wildebeest, is opening May 14, 2010 at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN. Riders splash through the 1,710 feet of yellow tubing at 36 feet per second in just 2 minutes, and 30 seconds on a four-person raft. The Wildebeest has a total of 7 drops, the tallest of which is 38 feet, and features 2 underground tunnels. With no access stairs, this family friendly ride is easily accessible to riders.

Shoot the Rapids
Cedar Point Theme Park in Sandusky, OH will show off this new log flume ride in 2010. Shoot the Rapids features an 85-foot first drop, and a 49-foot second drop. Unexpected special effects advance the playful backwoods, moonshine theme. With enough thrills to get the heart racing, but without the speeds that eliminate certain riders, Shoot the Rapids is a family thrill ride.

The Intimidator
Opening in the Spring of 2010 at Carowinds Theme Park in Charlotte, NC, the Intimidator boasts speeds in excess of 75 mph. The red track and checkerboard patterned landing are in honor of legendary Nascar driver Dale Earnhardt, who was the inspiration for the coaster. The tallest coaster in the Southeast, the Intimidator is 232 feet tall with a staggering first drop of 211 feet at a 74 degree angle. Open-air seating, modeled after Earnhardt’s famous Monte Carlo, allows the rider a clear view of the ride’s eight dips along its 5,316 feet of track for the duration of the 3 minute 33 second thrill ride.

Sky Rocket
Accelerating to 50 mph in only 3 seconds, the Sky Rocket is expected to open in May of 2010. The Sky Rocket is the seventh coaster to be erected at Kennywood Theme Park in West Mifflin, PA. The 2100-foot blue track features a 90 degree drop, two separate G-force pullouts, a traditional corkscrew, an inverted top hat, and a barrel roll. The orange flame accented cars reach the end of the track in 65 seconds.

Scorpion’s Tail
Noah Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, WI will set a new standard in water slides in 2010. The Scorpion’s Tail is 10 stories high, and 400 feet long. Shooting a single rider through a blue tube at more than 50 feet per second, this thrill ride “might sting a little.”

— The above was written by Chastity Goddard, Seed contributor.

Intimidator 305:
Kings Dominion in Doswell Virginia will introduce the new giant coaster uses Nascar legend Dale Earnhardt’s nickname Intimidator. The name suits the coaster that towers at the intimidating height of 305 feet at its tallest. The first drop is 300 feet down at a terrifying 85 degree angle (nearly straight down!). The roaring ride hits amazing speeds of 90+ mph and will leaving the rider gripping their seat for the entire three minute journey in the fast lane.

The Dragon Challenge:
New roller coaster ride in Universal Studio’s Island’s of Adventure in Orlando Florida. The ride is a part of the parks newest themed section, Wizarding World of Harry Potter and actually two separate coasters. Riders must choose a ‘Dragon’, the red ‘Chinese Fireball’ or the blue ‘Hungarian Horntail’, each ‘Dragon’ offers a unique riding experience. The coasters seem to battle each other with tracks laid closely to one another simulating near hits to thrill passengers along for the battle ride. The mean ‘Hungarian Horntail’ hits top speed at 55 mph while the wicked ‘Chinese Fireball’ reaches 60 mph.

Revolution 360:
Seabreeze theme park located in Rochester New York will open the revolutionary ride in the summer of 2010. Riders board a giant disk and sit on pedestal seats facing outward. The track is 123 feet long and u-shaped, the disk is shot up to a height of 5 stories and rotates the entire time it coasts up and down the half pipe track.

— The above was written by Rikki Dahl, Seed contributor.

Theme park news roundup: The word of the day is giga-coaster

by Leigh Caldwell on

The new Intimidator 305 roller coaster has opened at Kings Dominion theme park in Richmond, VA. The coaster, named in honor of the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, has ride cars that look like Earnhardt’s famous black Chevy. Earnhardt’s daughter Taylor visited the park last week to open the ride.


The Intimidator 305 screams along at 92 miles per hour, thanks to a 300-foot drop at the start.

Kings Dominion says that makes it part of a new class of giga-coasters – “complete-circuit coasters with a height of 300 feet or taller.” You can now check “add a word to my vocabulary” off today’s to-do list. You’re welcome.

Universal requires 4-night stay for Harry Potter packages (Orlando, FL, USA)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens June 18, and if you want to book Universal Orlando Resort’s vacation package to go see the wizard, you will be staying in Orlando until at least June 22.

Universal tells the Orlando Sentinel that the package was designed as a 4-night experience when it was introduced in February, but the minimum stay requirement was just set this week.

The Orlando vacation packages include a hotel stay, Universal Orlando tickets, breakfast at the new Three Broomsticks restaurant and early admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.Coney Island Cyclone opens for 83rd season (New York City, NY, USA)

The landmark Cyclone roller coaster has re-opened for its 83rd season on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.

It costs $8 to ride the combination wooden and steel structure that cost $175,000 to build in 1927. Although the thrill ride is on the National Register of Historic Places, it is still listed among coaster enthusiasts as one of the best current roller coasters in the country – both for its great views of the Manahattan skyline and its 60 mph hairpin turns.

Nearby, the new Luna Park is set to open its 19 rides on the Coney Island shore on May 29.

Great Wolf Lodge tries for water-slide world record (USA)

3,651 miles. That’s the distance that bathing-suit clad visitors slid at 11 Great Wolf Lodge indoor water parks last weekend, in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record.

The Great Wolf Lodges each kept one water slide open for 24 hours and asked sliders to donate to the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. The charity event/publicity stunt resulted in 47,660 trips down the designated water slides.

Guinness is still verifying the information before making the world record – which will be in the category longest distance water sliding in 24 hours in multiple venues – official. Oddly enough, there’s no previous record-holder for this very specific, new category in the company’s record books.

SeaWorld’s Aquatic water park opens new water slide (Orlando, FL, USA)

Orlando water park Aquatica has opened its new slide, the Omaka Rocka. The tube slide deposits riders in funnels designed to mimic the sensation that skateboarders feel in the half-pipe.

This is the third year for Aquatica, SeaWorld’s venture into the water park scene. Omaka Rocka is the first addition to the park since it opened.

Future questioned at Freestyle Music Park (Myrtle Beach, SC, USA)

The troubled Freestyle Music Park is facing foreclosure. The Myrtle Beach, S.C., park – which opened as Hard Rock Park in 2008 then underwent a brand change for the 2009 season – missed a debt payment deadline last week.

The Sun News reports that the theme park’s owners have not been able to find new investors and are facing bankruptcy or foreclosure. Owners are saying it is “unlikely” that the park will open for the 2010 season.

Six Flags releases iPhone app (USA)

The Six Flags Fun Finder, a free app, is now available in the App Store. Beyond the usual park maps and event listings, that app integrates with Facebook to help you find the exact location of your friends within any Six Flags theme park. The app is free.

Kings Island’s Son of Beast roller coaster will remain closed this spring

by Leigh Caldwell on

When it opened 10 years ago, Son of Beast was the world’s tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster. Today, it has an infamous reputation for causing injury and requiring costly repairs.

Kings Island has poured a reported $30 million into Son of Beast, but the theme park’s General Manager Greg Scheid says the wooden coaster will not be operating when the park opens for the season on April 17.

In July 2006, 28 people were injured on Son of Beast when a car on the coaster hit a “bump” caused by a broken wooden timber. The accident led to a yearlong closure of the ride, and renovations that included lighter ride trains and the removal of the coaster’s famous inverted loop.

Then last June, Son of Beast was closed yet again, after a woman told the state she suffered a head injury while riding. A Cincinnati Enquirer report last summer showed that since the wooden coaster opened in 2000, it has had more injury investigations than any other ride in the state of Ohio.

“We have smoothed out the ride. Most people will say they enjoy the ride right now. I am not comfortable with the ride,” Scheid told the Business Courier of Cincinnati.

Scheid says the massive Son of Beast may reopen someday, but he was not specific about what improvements would need to be made before it rolls again.%Gallery-14657%

Be sure to check out Episode 5 of Travel Talk TV, which features a Santa Cruz beach adventure; explains why Scottish money is no good; shows how to cook brats the German way; and offers international dating tips!

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk 005: Khmer Rouge Tourism, Scottish banknote woes, China on dog meat, and fun in the Californian sun

by Stephen Greenwood on


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Spring is here! The sun is out! GadlingTV’s Travel Talk heads to Santa Cruz, California for an action-packed episode.

This week we discuss Cambodia’s efforts to turn the Khmer Rouge legacy into tourist attractions, why traveling the UK with Scottish banknotes could be problematic, China’s unrelated plans for a new London-Beijing connection and a ban on the sale of cat & dog meat.

We’ll show you how to brew a special tea from Argentina; Sheila recounts tales from England and dating around the world, Melanie from Germany shows Aaron how to cook bratwurst and we go on a massive beach adventure.

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Poll of the Week!

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Last week’s results:
Should a pilot that flew illegally for 13 years be given a chance to get licensed?

Yes – he’s adequately proven that he can fly! (54.4%)

No – he’s a criminal and should be put in jail. (35.1%)
Only if we can monitor his conversations in the cockpit! (1.8%)
Only if he has the looks and charm of Leonardo DiCaprio. (8.8%)

U.K. theme park offers roller coaster tickets that include health insurance

by Leigh Caldwell on

Alton Towers Resort is billing the new thrill ride Thirteen as the world’s first “psychoaster.” And for some, this ticket to ride could include medical attention.

The theme park has spent more than $22 million on the roller coaster, which is being billed as a combination of the “ultimate elements of physical and psychological fear.” So much fear, in fact, that apparently some riders will need to see a doctor when it’s over.

At least that’s what Alton Towers officials want you to believe, so that you’ll pony up an extra $1.50 per ticket for health insurance before riding through the theme park’s Dark Forest area and over an alleged “unearthed ancient burial site.”

The Sunday Mercury reports that the health insurance gets you treatment for physical and psychological trauma, should you need it after riding Thirteen. The treatment will be administered by a staff doctor, conveniently stationed right at the roller coaster.

That’s all well and good, but who’s going to come hold my hand when I have nightmares next week or next month? Exactly how much “scary” is still fun?

For me, the fun ends when I’m told that I might need medical attention at the end of a ride, but maybe I’m in the minority here.

Thirteen opens March 20.