Small News From The Theme Park Industry

[Lori Marie Loud]

Meanwhile in Santa Clara
https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/12f6a5a
HIGHLIGHTS:

• What appears to be a somewhat costly overhaul is occurring to the Grizzly area of the park
• The land cleared for Windstarz is too much for just that - somebody mentioned a Nebulaz could fit there too
• After this Action Zone is next in line for a refresh
• A few cryptic clues suggested the Santa Clara/CF beef was still on and the park might not get sold to Prologis after all
• But if it does, apparently the plan is not as bleak as we thought. Seems like it's gonna involve the construction of a work tower (or two) on one of the corners of the parking lot, a new food hall and conversion of the main park into a lifestyle center/mega FEC that, by the looks of it, will likely keep everything CF hasn't taken yet (which given CF is going to be taking basically everything not bolted down, might not be much). Certainly far from an Amazon Fulfillment Center....

 

[Eyebrows]

RMC and Larson have formed a partnership!

RMC on Instagram: "surprise! 🩵"

886 Likes, 26 Comments - RMC (@rockymtnconstruction) on Instagram: "surprise! 🩵"

www.instagram.com

There will be no changes in management, and the companies will continue to offer their products separately, as well as presenting separately at IAAPA. They will, however, be combining their R&D efforts and streamlining their back-offices.

Exciting stuff!

 

[cookie]

According to Chessington Buzz, Rattlesnake at Chessington is currently operating in “safe mode”, which means that a car must complete the entire circuit before they can send the next one:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1645065925782061059

As per TowersStreet, this is resulting in a low throughput of around 100pph.

Hopefully they can get this issue sorted before too long.

That explains why it was running horrendously this past Sunday (and was closed all the way to like 2:30 P.M).

Speaking of Merlin, SAW at Thorpe was running at ”reduced capacity” this past Monday, even though it was still running at least four cars(?). Anything up with that?

 

[JoshC.]

Speaking of Merlin, SAW at Thorpe was running at ”reduced capacity” this past Monday, even though it was still running at least four cars(?). Anything up with that?

The minimum number of cars it can run is 5, the maximum it can run (these days) is 7. I believe it's currently on 5.

Why, I do not know, but it does make it painful to wait. Even moreso when Colossus is currently closed, meaning it's just that and Samurai in that area.

 

[Niles]

Lake Compounce shared a pic of the new Titan Track drop for Boulder Dash.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1646187494151532544

 

[Christian]

Lake Compounce shared a pic of the new Titan Track drop for Boulder Dash.
View attachment 24183

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1646187494151532544

I love it when parks advertise improved coasters together with improved potatoes

 

[lom.lom.lom]

Anyone hear anything about what's happening at Clementon Park for 2023? I saw a new purple ride in the parking lot for a while, and last week I saw a ton of cars for what looked like some sort of spinning ride. I drive by it almost every week but don't ever have time to scope it out.

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

Anyone hear anything about what's happening at Clementon Park for 2023? I saw a new purple ride in the parking lot for a while, and last week I saw a ton of cars for what looked like some sort of spinning ride. I drive by it almost every week but don't ever have time to scope it out.

Have heard absolutely nothing about a new ride this season, although I do know that their fairground drop tower (which is also purple) will no longer be at the park and has instead been sold to the fair circuit. Wondering if maybe you were seeing the tower ride, no idea whether its been removed from the site yet or not. As for the spinning cars, no clue whether that would be for an existing ride or something new. If you manage to get a pic sometime that would probably determine it.

 

[Lori Marie Loud]

Meanwhile in Brazil:
https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/1294epd

 

[lom.lom.lom]

Have heard absolutely nothing about a new ride this season, although I do know that their fairground drop tower (which is also purple) will no longer be at the park and has instead been sold to the fair circuit. Wondering if maybe you were seeing the tower ride, no idea whether its been removed from the site yet or not. As for the spinning cars, no clue whether that would be for an existing ride or something new. If you manage to get a pic sometime that would probably determine it.

Terrible pic from my car stopped at the intersection just outside the park but what are these things? Also the other purple ride disappeared off of the back of whatever truck brought it in, it looked like big curved rounded frame pieces, unless it's refurbed pieces of their old flying flat ride but it didn't look like that

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

Terrible pic from my car stopped at the intersection just outside the park but what are these things? Also the other purple ride disappeared off of the back of whatever truck brought it in, it looked like big curved rounded frame pieces, unless it's refurbed pieces of their old flying flat ride but it didn't look like that

Park doesn't have a huge ride collection so really easy to conclude that these pieces are new. To my eye they look like they could be from a Matterhorn (see Indiana Beach's original Flying Bobs pictured below for reference) but the park did previously have one under the name Thunderbolt (closed in 2010). Park hasn't announced anything yet. Thanks for the pic!

 

[Joelpagett]

https://www.facebook.com/Chessington/posts/621806379975315

Some rather interesting developments at Chessington WOA - as the engineering team are taking industrial action.

They will impact these dates;

• Friday April 28 to Monday May 1
• Friday May 5 to Monday May 8
• Friday May 12 to Monday May 15*
• Friday May 26 to Monday May 29*

* opening of World of Jumanji on Monday May 15 will go ahead as planned.

There is a dedicated page here: https://www.chessington.com/industrial-action/

On these days they will be limiting the capacity by 2/3rds. Dragon’s Fury, Croc Drop, KOBRA, Rattlesnake and Tiger Rock will be closed. There is an aim to open 40% of their rides, those that are "more suited to younger families".

I would be panicking if I were Merlin - as it could set off a group-wide problem if they don't get it under control.

 

[cookie]

https://www.facebook.com/Chessington/posts/621806379975315

Some rather interesting developments at Chessington WOA - as the engineering team are taking industrial action.

They will impact these dates;

• Friday April 28 to Monday May 1
• Friday May 5 to Monday May 8
• Friday May 12 to Monday May 15*
• Friday May 26 to Monday May 29*

* opening of World of Jumanji on Monday May 15 will go ahead as planned.

There is a dedicated page here: https://www.chessington.com/industrial-action/

On these days they will be limiting the capacity by 2/3rds. Dragon’s Fury, Croc Drop, KOBRA, Rattlesnake and Tiger Rock will be closed. There is an aim to open 40% of their rides, those that are "more suited to younger families".

I would be panicking if I were Merlin - as it could set off a group-wide problem if they don't get it under control.

Park hours have been reduced also and you can’t pre-book. Surely, they wouldn’t charge gate prices for whoever bothers to show up, though?

 

[davidm]

Bunch of Cedar Fair parks implementing a chaperone policy from this weekend.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1649065460149764097

Pesky kids.

 

[cookie]

A test train on Schwur des Kärnan valleyed this past Tuesday. The park blamed low temperatures and a strong gust of wind for the incident. Since the train stalled in the middle of the giant "heart" element, a crane had to be brought in to remove it.

The park got the coaster back up and running the next day, but there's talk of them maybe looking into solutions to prevent the stall from happening again.

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

Terrible pic from my car stopped at the intersection just outside the park but what are these things? Also the other purple ride disappeared off of the back of whatever truck brought it in, it looked like big curved rounded frame pieces, unless it's refurbed pieces of their old flying flat ride but it didn't look like that

Did some more digging and a friend has given me these photos - does this look like the ride you've been seeing, especially the third picture? Was removed from Fun Spot Kissimee sometime last year;

 

[ECG]

Playland's Castaway Cove in Ocean City on the New Jersey Shore has halted construction on the rebuilding of the Entrance building that was destroyed in the raging fire on Jan. 30, 2021. The owner has decided to not only rebuild the boardwalk entrance that housed the arcade and offices, but also the huge pirate ship and parrot on the building's main roof structure. Not only that, but the owner also wants to add a new roller coaster on the roof as well (see rendering below).
Construction was halted in order to obtain approval from the Ocean City Zoning Board, specifically for a height variance because it would be taller than what is currently allowed. The park management wants a third floor for a control room to handle the operations of the ride. The problem is that the third story would be 46 feet above the Boardwalk for a vestibule, stairs, an elevator and a roof deck. That height is a few inches above limitations for buildings located along the boardwalk. However, no height limitations apply to amusement rides. So the owner will go before the Zoning Board on Wednesday and is hopeful the plans will be approved. It is unlikely that the project will be completed this year since everything has been put on hold for the past two months and that time cannot be made up regardless if the new coaster is approved or not.



Source

 

[Joelpagett]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1651179902043815936

Good news, Chessington World of Adventures has reached a resolution and engineers have cancelled the strikes.

 

[Christian]

Liseberg has put their advertisement on the ferry bringing people to Gröna Lund. It's the latest act in the friendly feud between the two Swedish giants. Previously, among other things, it has involved Liseberg flying a hot air balloon with a Lisebeg bunny on over Gröna Lund and Gröna Lund giving away their t-shirts to Liseberg guests. The two parks see each other as "best friends", rather than enemies.




Edit: Here is the Liseberg hot air balloon from 2013

 

[Christian]

In other Liseberg news, Flumeride now has the writing on the wall. The attraction will soon be going with Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen saying "We are planning on replacing it". Flumeride has just turned 50 years old and will need a very substantial renovation, therefore the park prefers to replace it entirely with a new modern Flumeride.

I am hoping for something as good as Chiapas. Flumeride has started to feel tired and is pretty mild.

Source: https://www.gp.se/nyheter/göteborg/flumeride-hotas-kan-ersättas-efter-50-år-på-liseberg-1.97397127