New to Hong Kong Disneyland: Big Grizzly Mountain

by Alison Brick on

The Wild West is going farther west. So far west that it’s the far east.

The newest roller coaster announced for Hong Kong Disneyland is Big Grizzly Mountain. Set to open in 2012, it will be the main attraction in Grizzly Trail — Hong Kong’s version of the original park’s Frontierland.

The ride follows a runaway mine train through the mining town of Grizzly Gulch, which comes decked out with a stagecoach, a jailhouse, and the world’s largest nugget of gold — plus the ubiquitous audio-animatronic bears, of course. Disney legend has it that Grizzly Gulch was founded by gold prospectors on August 8, 1888 — all of the eights make it the luckiest day, month, and year in Chinese culture.

Big Grizzly Mountain will be part roller coaster, part water ride — with geysers, leaking buildings, and a splashdown finale.

These are big days at the theme park. This ride is just part of a $500 million expansion that will add on three new theme lands — Grizzly Trail, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land — to increase the size of the park by 23%.

[Thanks, LATimes.com]

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.

Universal Studios Orlando unveils Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

by Grant Martin on

Universal Studios in Orlando just released plans and animations of their new ride, the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, a state of the art roller coaster ride with all sorts of new features.

The experience starts before you even get in the ride vehicle. People movers have been integrated into the launchpad to streamline vehicle loading and unloading, meaning more launches and faster lines. Once you get into the vehicle (pictured) you have a personal bucket seat and Guest Interface Panel, where you can select a soundtrack for your journey that plays through integrated speakers.

Vehicles are staged in stadium style seating, meaning everyone gets a front row seat — which is important, because 14 cameras along the ride will be filming you. At the end of the journey, clips from each camera will be beamed to the video desk on the way out, so you can purchase a custom tailored video of you screaming your head off.

The Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit represents the newest, most cutting edge technology in roller coaster design. We can’t wait to get onboard.

New Cedar Point Roller Coaster Opens In May

by Jonathon Morgan on

I grew up in Ohio, about an hour’s drive from Cedar Point, the amusement park often ranked as the best in the world. I can remember fearing for my life, and trying not to puke, as I flew hundreds of feet into the air on the park’s 17 coasters.

This year there’s a new addition to the park: Maverick. The coaster will take riders 105 feet into the air at a 20 degree angle, just before sending them racing downward at a 95 degree angle — reaching a top speed of 70 mph.

The track is finished, and workers are now focused on the $21 million ride’s electrical and underground utilities systems. Awesome!

Sounds like I need to plan a trip to Sandusky this summer.