Universal Hollywood Confirms Removals to make way for Harry Potter

 Some of us in the theme park world have known for a while that when Universal Studios Hollywood announced they too were getting a "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" area that something would have to give. It seems today that Universal has confirmed what areas have made the chopping block in order to give the boy wizard his new Hollywood home.

 Not giving fans much time, these areas closed TODAY with news only really breaking on August 27th, many of us didn't spot it quickly enough.

 In the list of "GONE" we've got the rather famous but now waning "Gibson Amphitheater" which has held a place of glory inside the park. It opened in 1972 and is still the 3rd largest Amphitheater in Hollywood today.  According to Wiki (I know, not the best) the venue has events listed through October but Universal has decided it closed today.  We knew the Gibson closure was coming, it will make room for the Hogwarts Express and the key attraction, Forbidden Journey.

 Up next is the Flintstones Carnival Games area, which rumor has it will be relocated to the new 'Despicable Me- Super Silly Fun Land" area.  Inside Universal reports these are being removed to make way for the parks new "gathering area" which will include a box office, water feature and shopping/dining.

 Also disappearing, possibly being moved into the new "Super Silly Fun Land" area is the water/play area "Adventures of Curious George".  This isn't surprising as many of us suspected it would either be removed soon or re-themed. It sits directly next to Gibson Amphitheater, so it seems to be falling under the axe also. 

 Last on the list is a part of the "Studio Tour" called "The Mummys Tomb".  I honestly don't know much information about this part of the tour, so I can't really comment on it but a rumor found over on Screamscape states that the tunnel effect of the attraction hasn't been working well over the summer.

Line many not be exact, working in a rather cramped area.

 I've outlined the areas being removed in red, so you have an understanding of how drastic a change this will be for the small but historic park.  When WWoHP was added into Islands of Adventure at the Orlando resort, it wasn't removing anything as large as this nor was it taking out a classic theater (The London/Diagon Alley area is still a sore spot which we won't talk about here).  I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this yet.

Six Flags Great Adventure- Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom for 2014

 Well, Six Flags Great Adventure located in Jackson, New Jersey has gone completely batty. It seems today all of the 2014 projects for all the Six Flags amusement parks have gone live and Great Adventure isn't to be left out.

Coming in 2014, they are sticking not one but THREE drop tower cars to the Kingda Ka track. Sitting at 415 feet tall with a top speed of 90 miles per hour, 'Zumanjaro' will plummet riders straight down the structure of the Kingda Ka Coaster.

At which point they claim "Kingda Ka will zoom around you as you drop". I assume that means they expect the giant lawn-ornament to run more in the 2014 season. Although I admit, I'm wondering a lot of this new and massive addition to the structure will also be subject to random closures during windy periods of time? This is often what close's down Kingda Ka.

Image from Coaster-net.com

Sadly, this new drop ride is coming with a very steep price. The classic wooden coaster "Rolling Thunder" (often called 'Rotting Lumber' as Six Flags has willfully neglected this ride for years now) will be removed to make room for this addition.  Honestly, I'd rather they put the money into fixing Rolling Thunder then put a Drop Tower onto the lawn ornament.  Rolling Thunder was and is a great ride, it has just always need a lot more love and affection then Six Flags has ever shown it.

The last day of operations for the classic wooden coaster will be September 8th, not giving fans much time to say their goodbyes. So I suggest you head over there quickly and get your last rides in now.

Kings Island: Son of Beast Demolition UPDATE

Howdy Folks, 

 I'm sorry that Insanity Lurks Inside has been quiet for so long lately. However we've been massively busy with that annoying reality type thing but never fear! We've got a ton of updates and stories which we've been following lately but haven't gotten written up yet, so please keep your eyes open for them.

UPDATE: Son of Beast Demolition

 A friend of mine was recently at Kings Island, knowing that Son of Beast is scheduled for demolition very shortly he was kind enough to snap several pictures of the soon to be lost coaster for us. So far it doesn't look as if the work has yet begun on removal, at least in what is visible from the show side of the park. 

All Picture Credit to Robert Graham

So far even Google Maps still shows the coaster as a complete piece. However it's hard to say when these where last updated or when they will be updated again.  However we will do our very best to keep everyone posted and updated with information as it comes to us about the destruction of a Roller Coaster Legend.

If you have updates, information or picture you'd like to share with Insanity Lurks Inside please feel free to email us anytime!  InsanityLurksInside@Gmail.Com