Hershey Park Announces Laff Trakk - First Indoor Spinning Glow Coaster!

Looks like our earlier hunch of an indoor spinning coaster was correct. After weeks of teasing, Hersheypark finally announced that the world's first indoor spinning glow coaster, Laff Trakk, will be coming to the park in 2015!

Built by German coaster manufacturer, Maurer & Söhne, the ride will honor the long and storied fun house history at Hersheypark. The ride cars will hold four riders in a back to back configuration and will be a true 360 degree experience as they spin their way through the madness.

The coaster itself will reach speeds of up to 45mph on the first drop and is being touted as a great family coaster by Maurer & Söhne. How so? The spinning motion is being described as "gentle" and not to severe like other spinning coasters out there.

Laff Trakk will be the 13th coaster for Hersheypark and is set to open in May of 2015 in the park's Midway America section.

Curious of what it'll look like? Here's the animation POV straight from Hersheypark!


For those curious of what it could actually feel like to ride Laff Trakk, check out Maurer & Söhne's Winjas at Phantasialand below!


Stay tuned for more details as the information comes out and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and Facebook for all the news out of Hersheypark and everyone else that's building in 2015!

S&S Worldwide building a 4D, Free-Spinning Coaster.. for an "Unknown" North American Theme Park!

 Now, while I normally don't follow S&S Worldwide very closely, this news is highly interesting.

We've been seeing several plans North American Theme Parks which involve tight or very limited spaces. Spaces which you wouldn't be able to put a full-size traditional roller coaster into. Plus these rumors have been getting plenty of controversy over the idea of putting coasters into those small spaces, with some park fans nearly ready to riot over the idea. With the news that S&S Worldwide has come up with their own version of a 4D-Free Spin coaster, this opens up some possibilities for different parks.

S&S Worldwide is billing their version of the 4D, Free Spinning coaster as more 'family friendly' and as 'a different experience each time you ride'.  Considering what the builders have said about their new ride, gives us some idea of where this could be going. Although we have no idea of height, size or much else of this new style.. it could easily go in many small spaces. 

So far, we've got several parks which are building currently unknown or unconfirmed attractions for the 2015 season: Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Hershey Park, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Six Flags Over Texas and Silver Dollar City.  Which leaves a LOT of speculation over who might be getting this new version of a 4D roller coaster.

S&S Worldwide expects to install this new coaster by April of 2015. They also state it will be at a "Theme Park" but this depends on the original writers idea what a 'theme park' is. It looks like we'll be waiting for more clues to drop until we find out exactly where this new coaster is going to appear.

Gardaland Dive Coaster Hype at Full Throttle

Construction of Gardaland's newest coaster, what is heavily believed to be a B&M dive machine, is underway and they're not wasting any time getting the word out there that something is coming. Not only is there a whole teaser website set up for the new coaster, but they've been tying it into displays in the park as well.

The display, pictured left, was empty for a while but that didn't last long. Once the teaser site went up, there was a strange orange glowing crater inside the structure as well as two uniformed staff standing outside of it. Weird, huh?

Now, this does make a lot of sense given what was shown in the video on the site in the form of a fake news report talking about some kind of otherworldly disturbance appearing over the park.

There's actually three videos, one of them going back to the beginning of the park's construction and the weird crater showing up then. Then, in the newer newscast, some kind of giant rift in the sky can be seen, taken from a "German tourist's cell phone". You can catch the videos here, if you don't understand Italian, there's a slider at the top for English subtitles.

Since then, another video has surfaced on the site as well. This one interviewing people who spotted yet another sighting of the strange vortex in the sky with hints that this happened back in the '70s as well and reports of seeing the beams of light coming from it as well.

Since we know it's a B&M coaster, the hints being given are a bit obvious at this point but it's still fun to follow along with the clues and all that. Then again, we have no idea what the ride will be called or it's theme and size either really. So, that's still a good mystery to try and solve. Stay tuned for more updates out of Gardaland and their new coaster for 2015!

Busch Gardens Williamsburg- Site Plans for Festa Italia Expansion

Busch Gardens Williamsburg- Site Plans and Specs for Festa Italia Expansion.

 Well, the folks at BGW Fans have done it again. Finding the decoding the plans for the 2015 Busch Gardens Williamsburg expansion to the Festa Italia area. 

 It's pretty obvious that the fears of a stock Premier Rides coaster had come to pass, with nothing original about it. A stock ride which is often found in Six Flags Parks will soon be raising into the sky for the Festa Italia expansion. While myself and many others have been attempting to deny this, it's getting harder and harder to stand when so many plans are being found then released. 

 While it's still impossible to say if the ride builder is Premier Rides, it's seeming more obvious due to past relationships with other ride builders and the parks. So it's very likely an announcement will be coming soon from Busch Gardens, which will either confirm or deny the facts we've uncovered for ourselves. 

 If the plans are accurate and all guesses to the ride manufacturer are correct, we can easily know the stats for this new coaster.  While some folks who've ridden this style of ride assure me it's more fun then it appears, I think it's likely a mistake. You don't get people coming back to the park for a stock ride, that privileged is often reserved for new, original design coasters. People will come but I doubt they'll get the turn-out they seem to be hoping for with this move. 

  Either way, the stats are as follows for this style coaster from premier rides:
150 Feet Tall
863 Feet Long
1 Inversion
62 MPH Launch Speed  
50 Seconds Ride Time
 






All images are from BGW Fans

Seaworld Orlando- 'Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island' to Close

Seaworld Orlando- 'Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island' to Close.

  Well, after many years of making folks laugh, "Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island' will close on August 10th.

 The well loved Sealion show is the longest running show in Seaworld Orlando history but fans shouldn't worry to much. Every show which closes means that something new is coming! While Seaworld hasn't yet released details about what will be taking it's place, the park has stated that fans should stay turned to find out what the next adventure will be.

 In the past, the  Sealion shows have rotated between parks although this hasn't been the case in recent years. While that may still be possible, we will likely be seeing a completely new show coming to the Sealion and Otter Stadium in 2015.

New Details Emerge About Holiday World's 2015 Project

With the end of Holiday World's "66 Days at Sea" campaign, teasing their newest attraction, coming to an end, a little bit more info has come out regarding their 2015 project.

There's been a ton of speculation around this one over the past couple of months. Everything from a B&M Wing Coaster or Dive Machine to steel/wood hybrid coasters that contain loops, over banked turns and other elements not possible with just wood. It's really anyone's guess but with a $22million dollar price tag on the expansion, it could be just about anything.

However, with that number floating around out there, it's unlikely to be a wing coaster or giga coaster from B&M since they tend to run a wee bit north of that. It does, however, leave the door open for pretty much anything else from any manufacturer though. However, I'm doubtful on the steel/wood hybrid coaster idea here as well, even if something from Gravity Group or Rocky Mountain Coasters would be cool. Why? Simply because they already have one with Voyage and while it doesn't do any of the nifty tricks the newer ones do, it's something I don't see them revisiting with this new project. Additionally, neither would be very "family friendly" at all and cost way under the amount we've been given.

The only clues we have are the vague ones from the 66 Days campaign and possibly a recent blog post from Leah Koch, daughter of Holiday World's Founder, Will Koch. In it she reminisced about a ride that never came to be and her father saying that they'd never build a steel coaster due to it not being "family friendly". In the end though, she said that the new project would see her father's dream become reality but that he'd moved on from the technology in his first idea presented. So, take that however you want to as it could mean just about anything yet again.

Other clues from the past couple of months have included; ‘Upside Down’, ‘One.Big.Thing’, ‘When you find out, you’re gonna flip’, ’truly unique’ and ‘The first of its kind’. Certainly sounds like it's going to be something that's gonna upside down at least, so there is that.

Again, we only now know the price tag of $22million and that it's a "first of it's kind" ride. Holiday World will be making their official announcement on Thursday night, at least we're getting closer to an answer!

Follow us on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and Facebook for all the news as it happens from Santa Claus, Indiana this week!

Solving the B&M Track at Clermont Steel Fabricators - Where's it Headed and What's it to be?

For those that don't know, Clermont Steel Fabricators is the location where Bollinger & Mabillard (aka B&M) manufactures all of their track for coasters around the world. B&M is responsible for some of the best steel coasters in our opinion as well. Rides such as, Leviathan, Manta, Kumba, Griffon, and the newly opened Banshee.

In the past few months there has been an uptick in activity around the facility and several different colored track segments have been spotted laying outside. This has gotten the rumor mill all abuzz in the coaster enthusiast world and we're here to help try and decipher the madness of it all, or at least try to.

Image via ThemePark.nl

While we know that the white track is headed to Italy for Gardaland's new Dive Machine Coaster that's set to open in 2014, the other sections aren't so clear. In addition to the track headed overseas to Italy, there's also been yellow, orange, red and a blueish/teal colored track spotted in recent weeks as well.

That's 4, maybe 5, coasters and while we know who is getting something shiny from B&M in 2015, we're just not sure which is going where just yet.

Many insiders and coaster enthusiasts believe that at least one of these is bound for Carowinds and their rumored B&M Giga coaster coming in 2015. So, that leaves the others for contention between various parks. Some believe that one is headed to somewhere in China and the other headed to The Netherland's Efteling for their "mini Dive Coaster" that's slated for a 2015 opening as well.

Gardaland 2015 Coaster Construction Update

Two weeks ago we reported on the possibility of a Bollinger and Mallibard Dive Machine coaster coming to Gardaland in 2015.

Well, new pictures have surfaced of the construction and it definitely appears that is indeed the case. The white track that appears in the photos is definitely B&M track and has recently been spotted at the Clermont Steel Fabricators plant in Ohio.

Just what elements, style or other details of this new coaster coming to Italy are unknown at this time.

Here's a look at just what I'm talking about in regards to the track that's shown up in the park over the past couple of weeks, courtesy of RollerCoasterRevolution.eu:

You can see more pictures of the site on RCR's website here.

With more track showing up at the park regularly and construction soon to start going vertical, it's only a matter of time before some kind of announcement comes out of the officials at Gardaland so stay tuned!

Hershey Park- New Teaser and More Info on 2015 Attraction

Hershey Park- New Teaser Image and More Info on the 2015 Expansion

 Well on Tuesday Hershey Park released another teaser image to go with the new attraction which will be coming to the park in 2015.

 Although I'm still leaning towards from of dark ride (simply based on the bright and neon colors) I have to admit, the theme is rather confusing at this point. The park has also launched a "Clue" webpage where they will post up all the hints for the attraction as their published. They are also giving away a 2015 season pass, which you can register for on the same webpage- Hershey Park 2015 Attraction Clues

  In other news from Hershey Park, a reader to Screamscape reports that they spoke to park management, expression concerns about the possible removal of both 'The Whip' and 'Music Express'. Management responded. They told the guest not to worry, the rides would either be relocated within the park or another site for the new attraction would be found.

Off the Rails Chat- Safety Announcements and You!

Off the Rails Chat- Safety Announcements and You!

In a new series of chats and rants, which I've decided to call "Off the Rails" we're going to discuses topics facing the theme park and amusement park worlds. As well as guests, special events and anything else which requires off-topic conversations and rants.

 Considering over the weekend some idiot decided to NOT follow those handy 'Safety Announcements' which we all hear while riding our favorite attractions and as a result lost the tips of two fingers while on Disney World's 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

 No really, it's completely true!

 Now, what do you want to bet this one tries to sue for his own stupidity? Let's throw all forms of common sense out the window and stick our hands in the water! While on the drop! Apparently forgetting the boats don't just 'free float' through these rides, there really ARE rails under the water. Plus really, have you smelled pirate water? It's not the best smell (but you learn to love it), why would you really have a need to stuff your fingers into it?

Nope, I don't know either.

Which brings us to the topic of "Safety Announcements and You". 

 Seriously, these things really shouldn't need to exist. Common sense should tell us 'let's not do anything really stupid because, you know, ouch'. Alas, this isn't the case. I've watched plenty of people do some highly stupid shit while on rides and at parks in general, normally followed by a look of 'are you kidding me?".

Nope, they really did just do that.

 Folks, just because your on vacation.. don't forget to think.

 Don't pack your brains in the truck of your rental car to keep them safe, you need them. These parks do the best they can to keep you safe but you need to do your own part in protecting yourself, because it's really not their job to keep you from doing incredibly stupid acts of stupidness. Follow the rules, use your brain. It's really not that difficult and plus it keeps all your body parts attached and makes for a much better environment for the rest of us.

 When someone tells you to "keep off the walls" or "keep your fingers out of the water" they probably have a very, very good reason for it. They aren't 'targeting' you or 'trying to embarrass you'.. their trying to keep you and yours safe.  You may think your kid is perfect safe climbing all over that wall but when they fall, who are you going to blame? Not yourself, blame the park.  Nevermind that sigh which said "keep off the walls" nor the person who told your kid to "please get down from the wall". At least these days that's what seems to happen, when I was growing up your parents would help you up and then you'd get a hardy "now what did you learn" speech. Well, that or you'd get plucked off the wall and a warning swat for not reading the signs on your own.

..but that's neither here nor there.

Listen to those safety announcements, if they say to keep your limbs inside- keep them inside (or in the air). Although I have to woner about the "keep your feet inside" part..because what would posses a person to stuff their foot out of a ride? That rather boggles my mind but somehow I'm sure someone did it along the way.

 By following the basic rules which generally tell you to NOT be an idiot, everyone has a much better time. Who would want that kind of memory on a vacation? How would you like to explain that to your kids or loved ones?

"Sorry baby, the not-so-smart man had to put his hands in the water and the pirates ate his fingers"

Cause that sounds great.

 So really folks, enjoy your trips and vacations. Ride the rides and have a blast.. but don't forget to use your heads, pay attention and keep yourselves (and as a result those around you) safe this summer!

Holiday World- New Construction Camera ahead of Announcement

Holiday World Adds New 'Construction Camera' just ahead of New Attraction Announcement.

 Well, it looks like Holiday  World is getting ready for their big announcement on what's coming in the 2015 season.

 A new 'Construction Camera' has gone live on the HoliBlog this weekend. This comes just ten days ahead of their big announcement and the end of their '66 Days at Sea' teaser campaign. The new construction is part of the 'Thanksgiving' day area of the park, which is getting the new attraction after the removal of Pilgrim's Plunge.

 For those following the '66 Days at Sea' teaser, we've been going 55 days so far. Facing all manner of unpleasant situations such as storms, darkness and rough seas. Just ten days away from land-fall and the big reveal, which has lead to a ton of speculation that this could be another water ride. Perhaps a water-coaster or some other form of a wet attraction, other rumors seem more far-flung but with the current 'sea travel' theme I'd expect something water related.

 More news when we come across it!

Hershey Park- New Dark Ride for 2015?

Image from All-American Thrills, User ShinyBloo

 Hershey Park Building a Dark Ride for 2015?!

 Something fishy is going on at Hershey Park and it involves blueprints!

 Spotted in the area of the park known as Midway America, where folks pointing at some of the kiddie-land rides and tents. The rumor mill has gone bonks since the images where posted by a user of All-American Thrills.

 Word on the ground right now is that this could be a large building, which may house either a dark ride or possibly some form of an indoor coaster. Which would mean removing and relocating several rides including the parks Music Express and Whip.

 On the parks Facebook page, they are also running a new teaser campaign for this new 2015 attraction. They will be posting up a new clue every Tuesday until August 12th.

 Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here and take a guess. From the teaser poster and the knowledge this is going to be a large, indoor attraction.. I'm going to bet we're looking at a shooter style dark-ride. Think about it, Neon Colors. Indoors and Darkride rumors all put together? Seems to scream 'indoor, shooter style dark ride' to me!

 Never fear, we'll keep on top of the rumors and let you know what's coming!

Gardaland Building a B&M Dive Coaster for 2015?

Italy's Gardaland Resort is definitely building a new coaster for 2015 and from all accounts out there, it looks to be a B&M Dive Machine coaster. This would be the park's second coaster from B&M as they already have a wing coaster, Raptor, in the park.

While nothing has been formally announced from the park other than a cryptic question mark that appears on the park map, the folks over at Themepark.it have uncovered permits for the new ride. The biggest news about them? The plans are labeled as “Attrazione “Dive Coaster”". If anything, that's pretty convincing stuff. That and the teaser image looks and feels like a Dive Coaster as well.

Interestingly enough, this one would be going right behind where their other B&M, Raptor, sits. According some rumors, this could even have a similar look and style that of Alton Towers' "The Smiler" at that. I'm a little skeptical there as there's not much known in that department as of yet.

Regardless, construction has begun on the new ride with land being cleared and we expect an official announcement to be made soon in regards to just what this new B&M Dive Coaster will be like. For those unfamiliar, check out Sheikra at Busch Gardens Tampa and Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg...or the original, Oblivion. at Alton Towers. If it truly is the case (and it looks like it) coaster fans in Italy are in for a treat!

Here's all we have to go on, let the speculation commence!

Disneyland Paris- Ratatouille Open with POV

Disneyland Paris- Ratatouille Open and POV

 Disneyland Paris has finally opened their newest attraction- Ratatouille.
 Working of the trackless system, this new ride has been in production for years and added a large themed area to the struggling park. Overall, from the POV video the ride looks to be highly detailed and fun! More of what we've come to expect from the Disney brand.

Rumor Alert- New Darkride at Knott's Berry Farm?

Rumor Alert- New Darkride at Knott's Berry Farm?

 Interesting new rumor coming from Knott's Berry Farm this week, could they be planning to add a new darkride in the park for 2015/2016?

 Well, According to Screamscape that's exactly what the rumor mill is saying. With the work nearly complete on Calico Mine Ride and the restoration of the Log Ride last season, they seem to be focusing on building the parks flat rides and dark rides back up. Not a bad thing considering many parks are missing the classic 'dark ride' style attractions in recent years.

  Rumor has it that workers have been seen in the area of the old "Kingdom of the Dinosaurs" building doing clean-up. During our recent visit to Knott's we didn't notice anything going on as they where still highly focused on Calico Mine Ride at the time, so this rumor must be very recent.

 However, it's still just a rumor until some more confirmation comes around!

Rumor Alert- Seven Dwarfs Mine Trian Soft Opened Today.

Rumor Alert- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Soft Opened Today.

 Hey Folks, rumor has reached me direction from Walt Disney World that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train has quietly soft-opened today to limited entry.

 The ride has been in "cast member only" testing for several days now. 

 Rumor is also going around that the ride will be in 'soft open' again tomorrow. All this before the official opening of the ride which is coming on May 28th. There is NO confirmation on this yet being true but we have a friend of the blog, +Mark Fowle down at Disney World Resort right now who's going to check it out!


 More information and pictures as news comes in! 

Islands of Adventure- King Kong Construction Update

Image from Touring Plans on Twitter

Islands of Adventure makes Progress of new "King Kong" attraction.

 While it may not look like much now, the area which will become "Skull Island" is making progress.

 This is the area which will hold the new "King Kong" themed attraction in Islands of Adventure.

 It's located to the far side of the 'Jurassic Park' themed land and will cut deep into the old backlot area. This attraction is also believed to be a clone of the "King Kong 360 3D" attraction which is in Universal Studios Hollywood.  However, many are saying it's not going to be the same, that Islands of Adventure will be getting something unique and very different from it's sister park.

Image from Amusement Buzz

Holiday World- New 2015 Attraction..A Coaster?

Holiday World- New Attraction in 2015 is a Coaster?

 Holiday World is expanding, only their keeping their newest addition completely secret.

 Launching today on the HoliBlog, the park has stated "Loose Lips Sink Ships" and talked about secrets. They have a secret alright and the guessing game has begun today with the park launching a new micro-website to reveal clues.

 Holiday World Microsite

 May of us already suspect this is a roller coaster coming to the "Thanksgiving" area of the park. Why? Because of the little hint dropped by Leach Koch on the website: "And as 2015 rolls closer? Oh no, have I said to much?".

 The microsite seems to be giving away daily hints and it set to last exactly 66 days until some form of reveal. The same 66 days it took the pilgrims to land in what would become the United States, very fitting for a new attraction going into the "thanksgiving" area of the park.

 More news and rumors about this 2015 attraction when we find out!

Disney World- "Eat with the Beat" Food and Wine Concerts

 Well Folks,
It's that time of the year again, when preparations for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival announcements begin!

 While this is one of our favorite events to happen at Disney World over the year, it also happens to be one of the largest and most popular. Drawing in hundreds of thousands, between the established pavilions, the 'country' stands and the concerts, Food and Wine Festival has a winning combination.

 Disney has announced the "Eat with the Beat" concert series artists, which is another one of the large draws to the Food and Wine Festival. Needless to say, we've got the complete list for all your possible planning needs!

Busch Gardens Tampa- Falcon's Fury Still Having Issues

 Busch Gardens Tampa- Falcon's Fury Still Having Technical Issues.

 The opening of the newest attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa, Falcon's Fury, is still delayed and currently doesn't have a projected "opening date".

 The problems, with any such a complex and original ride generally tend to be many. They also do take some time to sort out and correct. Things that work great on paper don't always prove to be excellent in testing, so parks make adjustments all the time. This isn't unusual, it's much more common than you think!

 Falcon's Fury is the first of it's kind when it comes to drop towers, with those rotating seats it was bound to encounter some issues in testing. Again, not really unusual for any new ride.

 It seems the park is having issues with the hydraulics of the attraction. These are the parks which control the seat movement and rotation, which it's the rides key element and the park which makes it unique among drop towers. They seem to be coming loose and shearing off, likely do to the forces and speed which they have to work under. This is the item which is likely causing the ride delay as the park works to correct the issue and replace the broken items.

 Again, not entirely unusual. However, we found some great video which shows the problem that Falcon's Fury is currently having from Journey though Coasters. You can clearly see the hydraulic actuators which control the seat rotation coming loose from the ride.  Don't worry though, Busch Gardens has an excellent safety record and great mechanics, they'll get the problem solved soon!