Aquatica Orlando- Ihu's Breakaway Falls Complete

Image from Orlando Sentinel

 Aquatica Orlando- Ihu's Breakaway Falls Completed.

 Yesterday at Aquatica Orlando, the final slide section of Ihu's Breakaway Falls, the newest ride opening soon at the water park, was put into place.

 As you can see from the image, the last slide section after your "drop" has been put into place. The other two slides of Ihu's are already complete and in place. This new waterslide attraction is set to open on May 9th to the general public.

2013 Golden Ticket Award Winners

 Amusement Today announced their 2013 Golden Ticket Award Winners last night. We got all the details you want to know about who won and for what along with some randomly peppered sarcasm for a few things that probably shouldn't have won! Oh Boy, we're going to have some fun with that!

 Alright Carrie, Get to it already..

Without further ado..

2013 Golden Ticket Award Winners

Seaworld Orlando's 'Aquatica' Announcing Today? UPDATED

Rumor has it that Aquatica, Seaworld Orlando's waterpark will be making a massive expansion announcement at some point today.

Image from Screamscape

According to the spy network over on Screamscape, this new expansion will be called "Taruka Rush".  This may or may not begin a ten year expansion plan, adding many new attractions to the park. Beginning with "Taruka Rush" which is a new duel slide, which may be a fusion of two attractions already found at the San Antonio Aquatica.

Screamscape guesses this may be a mixture of a Stingray Falls and Wahalla Wave. This means a mixture of a 'Tornado' style ride and a family raft ride. This may also incorporate some form of animal viewing which Aquatica is famous for with it's attractions.

UPDATE:

Well, whatever this new slide or attraction coming to Aquatic may be it seems it's going to be 105 feet tall. Seaworld's Twitter account released this image, now I'm not sure but I can't seem to find a slide in what we suspect is this style that quite this tall. However, I will keep looking so we have the most accurate information!


InSanity lurks Inside will update as news becomes available about this expansion and when the announcement is made!

Buccaneer Bay Water Park to Re-Open Fully this Summer!

Time for some 'Feel Good New' which we all enjoy hearing!

 

Image from SunHerald.com

This summer, after a long recovery and fighting with FEMA, The Buccaneer Bay Water Park in Waveland, Mississippi will finally complete stage three construction this spring. The park was a complete loss after taking a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, since then they've been slowly re-opening in stages as money from FEMA trickled in.  Now, if we could just kick FEMA in the ass a little harder to get people back into homes and clean up the mess, we'd be in good shape again!

Image from BayouBuzz.Com

Buccaneer State Park is happy to announce that the construction will be over and the final area which contains the wave pool, water slide, wadding pool and concussion area will finally open to the public. This good news also helps out the state park which will finally complete construction on support facilities for the campers and those who travel with RV's.  Buccaneer State Park once had the largest number of daily visitors in the state and with the help of the water park, they hope those numbers will return with it's re-opening.

Info From SunHerald.com

It's always good to hear of a small, local water park coming back after such a devastating hit like Hurricane Katrina.

For more information on Buccaneer State Park and Buccaneer Bay Water Park please visit the Mississippi State Parks website or simply click on the link! 

Universal Orlando- The Third Gate/Water Park Rumor

Rumor: Universal Orlando to build a Waterpark and a Third Gate Theme Park.

Oh man, here we go again.

Looks like the good folks over at Orlando Theme Park News (OTPN) have managed to scrounge up another rumor surrounding Universal Orlando Resort. Apparently over on WDWMagic someone has been prodding the shit pot in regards to the long rumored third gate and waterpark. 

Copy of the original post, Check out OrlandoParkNews.Com to see it yourself!

Wow. Okay, were do I begin with ripping this to tiny pieces?

Let's begin with the most probable of these rumors, the Waterpark.

Now, it's been rumored for years Universal Orlando Resort has wanted a waterpark. This has been a rumor...  forever. As far as I can remember it's been sitting on the back burner since Universal Studios first began making money which was about the same time they managed to get all of their rides really working and people coming in the gates around 1994/1995.  If your not 'in-the-know' of what this really means, this was the gossip from five years before Islands of Adventure opened.  This all started up because Disney World announced their (then) 3rd waterpark, Blizzard Beach.  

Making the jump, everyone just assumed that Universal would also build a waterpark to keep people on the property the way Disney World does. However, you HAVE to keep in mind this is before CityWalk Orlando was built. This is before the Wet'N'Wild Deal. This is before the Parking Garages. This is 1994/1995!

Image from Google Earth 1995. Bad Paintbrush from Yours Truly.

With some help from Google Earth you can clearly see that when this rumor began, Universal Orlando had PLENTY of room. Which leads into the really BIG DAMN PROBLEM with this rumor about the third gate. They had plenty of room for a waterpark, they had land coming out their ears before the new I-4 interchange and before International Drive, Kirkman Road and Major Blvd/Universal Blvd were built up. Today, that really isn't the case. Universal Orlando has really become a resort destination compared to it's 1995 counterpart.  Islands of Adventure and the first Parking Garage opened in 1999. CityWalk in 2000 and then they starting building hotels!

Today Universal Orlando Resort has one very big, very obvious problem...

Universal Orlando is out of SPACE

Image from Google Earth 2012. Bad Paintbush Skills from Yours Truly.

Seriously, they have NO ROOM to build. Maybe they could shoe-horn a smallish water park in someplace.. somehow? I'll grant you that much. Perhaps they'll attach it to the new Cabana Bay resort? Perhaps they could move Human Resources, Employee parking and stuff in the backlot area but it won't be something massive. This mystery space simply doesn't exist and surely not enough to manage a third gate theme park!

The only way I can see Universal Orlando Resort managing a third gate is, to be honest, one hell of a stretch on the imagination and a public relations nightmare. They'd have to buy up the homes and apartments located on Turkey Lake Road or Vineland Road and move whichever road so that it isn't cutting threw the resort. That would really be the only option, their not going to remove the resort hotels. Their not going to remove the parking garages. They are completely OUT of retention ponds to drain away then fill. Kirkman Road can't be diverted. The state of Florida would rather sink into the ocean then move the I-4 corridor, so that's not an option.

The whole concept of trying to squeeze in a mysterious third gate is a complete logistical nightmare. If they tried to move homes, the uproar would cause national media attention. The public outcry would be a serious buzzkill for UOR's current momentum. Simply, I can't see them buying out and demolishing houses for addition space then re-shaping a road. Unless you can find some mysterious space that only exists in Universal own special space-time dimension...

 On the whole, I don't think we have to worry about this mysterious 3rd gate rumor as ever becoming an issue or a reality.  The Waterpark idea, I'll grant you, could happen but I don't think we're looking at something massive. So relax and don't take much stock in those rumors running wild with the start of the theme park and tourist seasons. While they might be fun to speculate on, rumors are just rumors until the theme parks make an announcement!

Universal Resorts and Waterparks?!

!RUMOR ALERT!

Well, I can't say I'm surprised with this one.

There has been a rumor for years, that Universal Resorts wanted to add in themed waterpark's to their already growing full service resorts. Universal Orlando has had this rumor following in around since early 2001 and it looks like there is some form of truth to the matter.

Universal apparently holds Patents on some new "Water Park" technologies, as another website Park Rumors as brought to the light with good explanations of how each would work. I have to admit, it's a bit crazy but it looks to be a pretty awesome ride when it comes down to it. I'll attempt to summarize it for you but naturally, all credit to them for finding these gems!

The frist one and most impressive being an "Articulated Water Slide" meaning multiple and movable tracks. The general idea is it would allow a guest or rider to pick what style they want, such as "Mild" or "Wild" then moving the track that fits that dialed request into place. 

That Slide does WHAT?! Patent Info Here! 

All pictures from ParkRumors.Com

You have to admit, it looks scary but it's that kind of scary that screams "You know you want to ride me! Do it! Dooo IT!".  Now I freely admit I'm not the biggest fan of Water Parks but this being implemented would be enough to get even me into a bathing suit and paying admission. The other two images are a more detailed explaination of the main picture, gives you a slightly better idea what on earth their thinking!

Now, The other two new pieces of technology aren't as impressive as a waterslide that will change it's colors depending on the rider but still seem pretty interesting. The first is a multi-directional wave pool, which is pretty easy to figure out. It would allow different waves to go to different areas of a wave pool, even allow for a circular wave pool. ParkRumors.Com found the full patent and even directions on how it would work online, so I'm not even going to try and translate that much and will simply tell you to go look at the pretty pictures!

 Pretty Pictures and Patent: This Way!

The last one honestly seems pretty cool, it would allow visual effects to be created within the water/beach area. Projected somehow onto a surface allowing a better illusion of whatever themeing or idea the park is attempting to go with at the moment. 

More Cool Explainations: This Way! 

A Special Thanks to ParkRumors.Com for finding all this info!