Amusement Park Rides That Could Be Movies–Kind of

by Jamie Rhein on

With Pirates of the Caribbean’s popularity, perhaps the think-tank at Disney is wondering what other amusement park rides can spin-off into a blockbuster movie. With this in mind, at Blogzarro: “the blog of comics, movies, television and bizarre thoughts,” James A. wrote a clever post with such possibilities. Most of his ideas are horror film or action thriller varieties involving rides like The Cyclone roller coaster of Coney Island fame, bumper cars and the Tilt-A-Whirl.

In “The Cyclone: The Movie,” the plot has something to do with Bruce Willis working as a roller coaster operator. Things go haywire when an actual cyclone shows up and Willis has to save the day.

In another, Ashton Kutcher and Johnny Knoxville are illegal bumper car drag racers. James A has even made Disney World and Disneyland’s “It’s small world ” ride into a horror movie where everyone was shrunk by an evil giant and the soundtrack of “It’s a small world” has been switched to a song performed by Marilyn Manson.

If you want to go on one of these rides to see if blockbuster movie ideas come your way here are a couple recommendations:

At ThemeParkCritic.com the bumper car ride, Skooters at Knobels in Elysville, Pennsylvania is number three on the top rides list. It also names the Twirly Turtle at Storyland in Glen, New Hampshire as one of the best. In case you want to make your Tilt -a-Whirl ride experience even more whirly, here are some tips from RandomTerrain.

New Roller Coaster in Dollywood: “Mystery Mine”

by Jamie Rhein on

The Mystery Mine at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is a ride I’m just going to have to go on one of these days. Not only is it a roller coaster, it has some sort of light show as a feature. The theme of this 2 ½ minute ride is an abandoned mine that takes you on a journey of a vertical climb followed by 55 mph of straight down tracks-think 95 degrees. Then there’s a feature called the “heart-line roll” and another called a “roll-over loop.”

This is the first such roller coaster in the United States. According to the description of it, this is a Gerstlauer’s Euro-fighter ride which adds a twist to the interactive experience. If you spend some time on the Mystery Mine Web site, you can watch a series of videos of a man telling a story of the mine to two children in the tradition of a campfire ghost story. There’s also a cool mine animation video complete with mood music, screaming, and roller coaster wheels clickety-clackiting against the track noises.

In pure ghost story spirit, the ride opened on Friday, April 13 (Friday the 13th). The first 56 people who road the rollercoaster paid $625 each for the experience as a way to raise money for charity.

Roller Coasters, Theme Parks, Cultures & More

by Adrienne Wilson on

Call me out of touch with the whole
amusement park business, but "Dude! Where’s My
Passport?! 2005" doesn’t strike me as a likely film title for theme park reviews. Am I alone on this one?
The new DVD by Don Garrison and Monica Jack showcases 15 parks across Europe like Thrope Park in England, Vidampark in
Hungary and Alpine Coasters out of Austria. Thrill Network does an amazing job
describing each segment of the DVD
and as a whole offers this for any interested other, um, coaster ‘tools’ out there:

"These DVD’s
include amazing footage of not just roller coasters, but cities around Europe. From Thrope Park to Parc Asterix and
back again, these tools are in for a world of fun. From being crazy "gangsta" to touring Europe, Don has a
few run-ins with a certain trampoline that will have you laughing when the trampoline actually beats him!"

Wait  – crazy gangsta? Since when did ‘crazy gangsta’ and theme parks become almost one-in-one? Last time I
went to Disney World or Knotts
Berry Farm I don’t remember Mickey or Snoopy being crazy gangsta. Perhaps I was at the wrong park? If you’re a lover
of coasters worldwide I suggest checking out the DVD.
Furthermore, I welcome you to come back and make some sense of all this for me. I may not know which ride your passport
flew off on, but Dude, I’m sure feeling like I need to trade mine for a lesson in Roller Coaster Cool 101.

To
order the DVD or find out more visit Theme Park Review.