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.

Holiday World ‘auctions’ staff members for charity

by Leigh Caldwell on

You can learn what it takes to maintain a roller coaster or make perfect cotton candy if you place the winning bid in one of 15 auctions to benefit flood relief efforts in Nashville. Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari theme park in Southern Indiana has launched the auction packages, with bids open through Monday, May 17.

Each of the packages gets you four (and in some cases, more) tickets to the Southern Indiana theme park, $20 in “Holibucks” to spend in the park and two hours with a park executive, along with activities related to the executive’s job. The auctions include:

  • Two hours with Director of Entertainment Sandi Fortune, who promises audition coaching for aspiring performers, including feedback over Skype from producers in Nashville and New York City.
  • Two hours with Director of Training and Development Samantha Ramsey, who is offering a behind-the-scenes look at the coaster maintenance routines at the theme park.
  • Two hours with Director of Values Pat Koch, the matriarch of the family-owned park, who promises lunch and a personal tour.
  • Two hours with Director of Food and Beverage Jason Martin, who is offering a behind-the-scenes tour and a cotton-candy making lesson.

You can bid on the auctions online now through May 17. Holiday World says all of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross for Nashville flood relief.

Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari will be open daily for the season starting May 14.

Universal Orlando announces summer concert series

by Leigh Caldwell on

Train (“Drops of Jupiter”), Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20) and Counting Crows (“Round Here”) will perform on Saturday nights this summer at Universal Orlando Resort.

It’s the second year for the Summer Concert Series, with seven concerts planned on Saturday nights between June 12 and July 17.

The concerts happen inside the Universal Studios Florida theme park, and they are free with theme park admission.

There’s some great balance in the list of artists performing. Several decades of stardom are represented, which should draw in folks of all ages. (This 30-something will definitely be there on July 17!) Here is the full lineup:

  • June 12, Train
  • June 19, Pitbull
  • June 26, Earth, Wind and Fire
  • July 3, Pat Benatar and REO Speewagon
  • July 10, Rob Thomas
  • July 17, Counting Crows

Universal Orlando has one of the best outdoor concert venues at any theme park, anywhere. Music Plaza opened last year right in front of the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster.

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.


Alton Towers theme park offers free mullets and perms for employees

by Leigh Caldwell on

British theme park Alton Towers – the site of the 2009 Speedo ban that delighted women worldwide – is bravely trying to bring back the mullet.

The park is headed back to the 1980s to celebrate its 30th anniversary later this month.

So to give Alton Towers a more authentic 1980s feel, officials are offering employee makeovers – complete with mullet haircuts for the guys and perms for the gals.

The “business in the front, party in the back” look had its heyday around the time of the artists at a concert planned for May 23 at Alton Towers.

Rick Astley (“Never Gonna Give You Up”), Bananarama (“Cruel Summer”) and Kim Wilde (“Kids in America”) are scheduled to perform at the show, which is free with theme park admission.

Discounted early bird tickets are available online for about $38.