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SMALL PARKS & ATTRACTIONS
ADVENTURE CITY (Buena Park, CA)
 Park News - (5/15/12) The OC Register reports that a small fire broke out at an Adventure City snack stand on Sunday morning just before the park was to open. The f
ire was put out and contained to just the one structure. While we are talking about Adventure City, a reader sent in some pictures showing off some new paint and cleaning up that the park has done to their coasters.
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time. If you have something to share, send it in.
ADVENTURELAND (Altoona, Iowa)
Park News - (12/19/11) Adventureland in Iowa had another fire this past week that managed to destroyed the park’s corn dog restaurant building, with the fire reported by a security guard at 3:30am when the flames were spotted. No word on what may have caused the fire yet.
(7/27/11) Pictures of the newly rebuilt Main Street at Adventureland and early construction shots for the new wave pool have been posted by MidWestInfoGuide.
(12/16/10) A fun set of photos from Adventureland (Iowa) has been posted to Westcoaster, giving us a nice look at a park that doesn’t get too much attention on the net.
2012 - Breaker Beach / New Wave Pool - Confirmed - (1/18/12) MidWestInfoGuide has posted a new construction update from Adventureland featuring the wave pool, some new buildings and new wood going onto the Tornado.
(8/18/11) Adventure Park (Iowa) will add Breaker Beach to Adventure Bay next year, a new 25,000 sqft wave pool. Also look for more cabanas, food options, retail, locker space, showers and another kiddie pool area that will even feature a kid sized version of swim up bar.
(6/6/11) According to this video report, Adventureland (Altoona) has started early construction on a new wavepool to their waterpark area that will have a mild and a wild side, in addition to other smaller improvements (ie: cabanas, splash areas, etc...) to the 10 acre site.
ADVENTURELAND (Long Island, NY)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time. If you have something to share, send it in.
BAY BEACH (Green Bay, WI)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
BEECH BEND PARK (Bowling Green, Kentucky)
2012 - New Attractions - (5/9/12) Beech Bend will add several small attractions this season. The list includes the Zero-G drop tower (140 ft), Lily Pad Challenge at the waterpark, the Wild Bill Huccup’s Wild West Show (daily shows starting May 23) and the new Tiki Grill food court and Hydration Station.
CAMDEN PARK (WV)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
CASTLE PARK (California)
Park News - (5/2/12) A fun photo trip report from Castle Park has been posted to Theme Park Review this week, showing off this small California park that doesn’t get a lot of airtime.
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
CLEMENTON PARK (New Jersey)
(Purchased by Kieran Burke / Gary Story in Nov. 2011)
Park News - (11/23/11) The big news item today was the official sale of Clementon Park and Splash World to an investor group led by former Six Flags Execs, Kieran Burke and Gary Story. This will be the pair’s third park purchase in the past three years (starting with Nashville Shores in 2009 and Ocean Breeze in 2010) The duo also signed a deal to manage the Frontier City theme park for CNL in early 2011 as well under their management company, Premier Attractions Management.
They say that new improvements are on the way to the park for the 2012 season, but the details of which will be released at a later date.
(8/15/11) Amusement Today reports that Adrenaline Family Entertainment is seeking to sell off the two parks (Clementon Park and Alabama Adventure) they oversee for PE Partner, a private equity funds manager.
2012 - Big Wave Bay / Wave Pool - (5/16/12) A few construction pictures from Clementon Park have been posted to GadvOutpost.com this week.
(3/28/12) A report about everything in the works for Clementon Park and Splash World can be found here. Construction pictures can also be found on Facebook.
(3/1/12) Clementon Park & Splash World have finally named the new wave pool project as Big Wave Bay.
(1/16/12) Clementon Park and Splash World will add a new wave pool for the 2012 season. The park is said to have already moved the Samba Tower and Kite Flyer rides to make room.
CLIFF’S AMUSEMENT PARK (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Park News - (1/24/12) Cliff’s Amusement Park has launched an all new modified logo for the park this season. Check it out.
2012 - Cliff’s Water Mania - (12/27/11) According to Cliff’s website the park has removed their Water Monkey play area and relocated the drop tower and swinging ship in order to build a larger water park area for 2012 called Cliff’s Water Mania. You can find construction pictures on their Facebook page.
While I’m talking about Cliff’s… I had heard a rumor awhile back that Cliff’s was considering adding some Rocky Mountain Topper Track to sections of the New Mexico Rattler. So far, nothing has been confirmed if a deal was struck or not, so if your local, keep your eyes on the Rattler to see if they start work on it or not this winter.
2013/2014 - Greezed Lightnin’ - (5/7/12) Amusement Today reports that Joyland (Lubbock, Texas) has reached an agreement with Cliff’s Amusement Park in New Mexico to trade the former Greezed Lightnin’ coaster from Astroworld (Schwarzlopf Shuttle Loop) in exchange for Cliff’s old water just removed to make way for a bigger version to open this year.
Joyland will begin construction on the water fortress for their 2013 season once the summer is over. No word on the exact timetable for Cliff’s to install Greezed Lightnin’ but they will have the coaster rehabbed and repainted at Larson’s text facility before they putting it up in New Mexico.
DELGROSSO’S AMUSEMENT PARK (Pennsylvania)
Park News - (2/29/12) Local area readers have confirmed that the Space Odyssey ride and it’s entire domed building have been torn down.
(2/27/12) According to a reader who drove past DelGrosso’s over the weekend, they claimed it looked as if the park’s Space Odyssey ride was missing. Can anyone else confirm this? I’m hoping this was just a mistake.
(2/2/12) A reader sent in a few inte
resting pictures showing off the empty dirt lot where there used to be a house sitting just behind the Crazy Mouse. Is the park making room for a major new addition?
(1/10/12) According to a reader who went by Delgrosso’s, the park has demolition equipment on site, ready to start the removal of “the old apartment building behind the Crazy Mouse”. No word on if this area will be used to expand the park or add new employee parking.
The park’s Super Spiral ride is now also said to be in pieces, which seems to indicate that it’s on the way out as well as the now-removed Flying Bobs.
(12/19/11) Delgrosso’s Facebook page has confirmed the removal of the Flying Bobs ride. A photo posted says that “Buddy Bear has asked Santa for a new ride this year!” So hopefully we’ll have a new ride announcement sometime after Christmas.
(12/7/11) The latest rumor from our DelGrossos area spies claim that the park’s Flying Bobs ride is now being packed up, and is now listed on Ital has being available immediately. No word on what may replace it yet.
(9/19/11) The latest updates on Ital show that Delgrosso’s has put their Super Spiral (Round-Up) and Flying Bobs (Chance) rides up for sale. The Super Spiral is listed as being available immediately, while the Flying Bobs looks like they may be willing to wait until they get a good offer before they take it out.
2012 - Swing Buggy - (12/29/11) DelGrosso’s has posted a few pictures of the pieces of their new ride and named it “Swing Buggy” which I believe is a variants of a Bertazzon Matterhorn ride, which is a perfect replacement for the Flying Bobs.
(8/12/11) According to a reader who just visited DelGrosso’s, it looked like pieces from a Ferris Wheel (possibly the park’s old Ferris Wheel) were laying out in the parking lot the other day. Could be that they are planning on putting this ride back into the park for 2012 as part of the rumored larger expansion.
(8/1/11) While the coaster pieces of the old Revolution are said to have been hauled away at last, the rumor inside the park is that a big expansion may be on the way to DelGrosso’s for the 2012 season. The exact nature of the expansion doesn’t seem to be locked down, but I’ve heard everything from a flat ride package to a possible new coaster being on the way. I hope to know more soon.
2013/2014 - New Coaster - Rumor - (2/3/12) A couple of interesting rumors have come in regarding the future of Delgrosso’s Amusement Park. For starters, I’m hearing that the demolition of the house behind the Crazy Mouse will be to build a second pedistrian bridge to cross over the street on this side of the park. Which leads to our second rumor… claiming that the park has plans to install a new coaster that will go in front of the sauce factory building, so the new bridge will be needed to access it and allow for more park growth over there. If that wasn’t enough, it is also being said that the park may have already purchased the new coaster and has it in storage somewhere. Lets hope this plan goes better than what happened with The Revolution.
???? - Future Expansion - Rumor - (8/26/11) Screamscape sources tell us that DelGrosso’s is also working on long term plans for a water park expansion, but not to expect to see this come to light for another 3 to 5 years.
DIXIE LANDIN’ & BLUE BAYOU (Baton Rouge, LA)
Park News - (11/11/11) The local news reports that Blue Bayou / Dixie Landin’ applied to get a 65 acre parcel of land next to the park rezoned for heavy commercial use but was denied. The intention was to use the new site for storage, parking and a small expansion to the park. Instead they want Dixie to resubmit a more detailed “planned unit development” which they have refused to do so far, due to the possible adverse impact on financial and future approval requirements from going that route. Dixie’s lawyer said they will likely file a suit against the city-parish.
2012 - The Aqua Loop - (12/12/11) An e-mail s
ent out by Blue Bayou / Dixie Landin’ has confirmed that they will indeed add The Aqua Loop to the waterpark for 2012… billed as “the largest quadruple looping waterslide in the world”. Which really means four separate side-by-side Aqua Loop slides… not one slide that loops you four times.
(12/2/11) The Blue Bayou waterpark has confirmed that they will add an Aqualoop waterslide for the 2012 season.
DUTCH WONDERLAND (Pennsylvania)
Owned by Parque Reunidos
Park News - (9/12/11) Dutch Wonderland also suffered some flood damage and you can see some pictures of the park posted to their Facebook page.
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
ENCHANTED FOREST (Oregon)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
FUNTOWN USA / SPLASHTOWN USA (Saco, Maine)
Park News - (9/19/11) In a really odd bit of news, Funtown / Splashtown apparently has had a 150 year old cemetery right in the middle of the park next to some of the water slides. There has been a long running dispute over just how close the park was going to come to the grave sites, so the parties involved have all agreed that the best thing to do is to move the remains from the tiny cemetery to a new proper location.
This will certainly help Funtown as well, as they are set to begin work on a 2012 expansion project that will add six new waterslides to this general area. As odd as it seems to have an actual cemetery on site in an amusement park, I can say that this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this. I saw another cemetery site first hand in place on the hillside near the Ferris Wheel at the small Tweetsie park in North Carolina as well.
2012 - Six New Waterslides - Confirmed - (10/21/11) Funtown / Splashtown has posted some pictures of their new waterslide construction project on Facebook, and I’ve been told that the old graveyard that was located near here is now gone.
(7/29/11) Funtown Splashtown has announced plans to add a new 60 foot slide tower with six new slides for the 2012 season, some of which will be AquaLoop slides.
IDLEWILD (Pennsylvania)
Parques Reunidos
2012 - New Entertainment - (4/13/12) Idlewild’s announcement for the 2012 season was to add a number of new show and entertainment options to the park. You can find the list here.
(3/14/12) Idlewild and Soak Zone had posted to their Facebook page that they would have an announcement on Wednesday at noon about something new on the way for 2012.
JOYLAND AMUSEMENT PARK (Lubbock, TX)
Park News - (4/12/11) A fun trip report from Joyland in Texas has been posted to Theme Park Review this week, showing off not only the park but the sad remains of Astroworld’s old Greezed Lightning coaster still sitting out in a field in pieces.
(1/24/11) The former Greezed Lightning coaster from Astroworld remains up for sale on Rides-4-U, though the price has dropped to just $299,999 now. Anyone want to great classic Schwarzkopf coaster? I wonder if they’ve got room for this at Luna Park…
2013 - W
ater Fortress - Confirmed - (5/7/12) Amusement Today reports that Joyland (Lubbock, Texas) has reached an agreement with Cliff’s Amusement Park in New Mexico to trade the former Greezed Lightnin’ coaster from Astroworld (Schwarzlopf Shuttle Loop) in exchange for Cliff’s old water just removed to make way for a bigger version to open this year.
Joyland will begin construction on the water fortress for their 2013 season once the summer is over. No word on the exact timetable for Cliff’s to install Greezed Lightnin’ but they will have the coaster rehabbed and repainted at Larson’s text facility before they putting it up in New Mexico.
(1/26/12) Joyland in Lubbock is planning on building a new water play area for the 2012 season, which will feature two slides and a water dump bucket. This will be a $7 upcharge attraction for all guests. According to this article, Joyland is buying the attraction secondhand from Cliff’s Amusement Park in New Mexico where it was known as the Water Monkey’s Adventure. You can see a picture of how Water Monkey’s Adventure looked while at Cliff’s over at LoneStarThrills.
(11/14/11) A reader went by Joyland over the weekend and discovered what appears to be pieces of a new Water Fortress (the giant bucket kind of gives it away) laying out on site at the park.
KEMAH BOARDWALK (near Houston, Texas)
Landry’s Restaurants (SAT MAP)
Park News - (3/19/12) I’m not really sure about the details, but a pending lawsuit involving five youths injured on the Boardwalk Bullet at Kemah Boardwalk 15 months ago was settled out of court. You can read the details and see a video all about it over at the local ABC news site.
2013 - Log Flume - Rumor - (11/15/11) According to Screamscape sources, Kemah Boardwalk is said to be expected a new log ride… but not until the 2013 season, where it will be added as part of a large multi-million dollar refurbishment project.
(11/14/11) While I had posted a little bit of speculation on my part that a new log flume may be on the way to the new Galveston Pleasure Pier park project in 2012, I’ve heard from another source that the log flume in question just might be for the Kemah Boardwalk. Anyone know more?
LAKE WINNEPESAUKAH (Chattanooga, TN)
Park News - (9/8/11) Lake Winnie will hold their first ever Halloween event this year called Lake WinnepeSPOOKah. Every Friday and Saturday evening in October. Go to the official website for details.
2012 - Fireball - (3/29/12) According to a reader who dropped by the Lake Winnie area last week, they picked up a brochure for the park that had announced Fireball as a new ride for 2012. Fireball appeared to be a Larson Fireball. So far there is no mention of this new Fireball ride on the park’s website, Twitter or Facebook accounts.
LAKESIDE AMUSEMENT PARK (Denver, CO)
Park News - (8/31/11) A fun photo trip report frolm Lakeside park in Colorado has been posted to Theme Park Review. This was a nice treat as you usually don’t see too many pictures of this park, possibly because of a rumored and very odd policy about now allowing photography in the park for some reason, which is strange considering it’s classic old look and architecture.
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
LITTLE AMERRICKA (Marshall, WI)
2012 - (4/6/12) A reader who dropped by Little Amerricka reports that while no new ride appears to be under construction for this season, the park did look like they were building a couple of new ticket booths outside the entrance. The pieces of the former Kiddieland Log Flume are on site, but show no sign of construction, which is to be expected.
2014 to 2016 - Log Jammer - (8/29/11) A reader who contacted Little Amerricka about when they might get Log Jammer reopen was told that the ride wasn’t expected to be up and running again its new home for another 3-5 years.
(1/29/10) Little Amerricka has confirmed in their newsletter than they have purchased the Log Jammer from Chicago’s former Kiddieland park. While they wont be able to get it up and running in time for the 2010 season, they will take the time to restore it and add it to their own collection of rides in the near future.
MARTIN’S FANTASY ISLAND (Grand Island, New York - near Niagara Falls)
2012 - Dragster Drench - (3/30/12) Martin’s Fantasy Island will add Dragster Drench, a new mat racer waterslide, to the park for the 2012 season.
PHARAOH’S ADVENTURE PARK (California)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
PLAYLAND at the PNE (Vancouver, Canada)
Park News - (1/26/11) The Vancouver city council has given the green light to a plan to redevelop Hastings Park over the next 20 years, allowing for the expansion of both the PNE and Playland amusement park. The park itself would be “pulled back from Hastings Street” but expand to the north to become 30% larger. They plan is to spend about $36.5 million to transform the park from a minor local park into a more destination attraction.
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
SANTA’S VILLAGE AZOOSMENT PARK (Dundee, Illinois)
2012 - New Improvements - (4/30/12) According to the Facebook page, the Santa’s Village Azoosment Park in Dundee, Illinois is working on a few additions for the 2012 season. New additions will include a carousel, antique car ride, the return of the old fire truck ride. Other park improvements are also on the way including new ticket booths, renovations to the entrance/exit and gift shop, new games, renovation bathrooms, more food options and more.
SANTA’S VILLAGE (Jefferson, HN)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
SEABREEZE (New York)
2012 - Racing Waterslides - (11/8/11) Seabreeze has confirmed on their website that new Racing Waterslides will be added to the park for the 2012 season. To make room, I’ve been told that the park will remove the Bermuda Triangle body slides.
SESAME PLACE (Philadelphia)
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
Park News - (12/19/11) Starting January 1st, your beverage options at the 10 SeaWorld Entertainment parks across the country will take a sudden shift, as a new 10-year sponsor deal with Coca-Cola Co. will kick into effect, removing Pepsi products from the park. Coke and SeaWorld do have a long history together, as Coke was the official drink sponsor for the SeaWorld parks (or Sea World parks as they were spelled back then, long before they were purchased and merged with the Busch parks).
Coke was dropped in favor of Pepsi back on Jan. 1st, 1988 by SeaWorld’s then owners, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and the partnership was continued under the ownership of Anheuser-Busch. Pepsi was long rumored to have an edge over Coke under the Busch era because Pepsi was a major client of the Busch owned Metal Container Corporation who supplier Pepsi with a large percentage of their aluminum cans. So after a 24 year run… Coke will return at last.
(7/27/11) Sesame Place has announced A Very Furry Christmas for this winter, as the park will host a special Christmas holiday events, new themed shows, music, twinkle lights, over 300 Christmas trees and more. You can read all the details here.
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
STEEL PIER (Atlantic City, NJ)
2012 - (2/17/12) I figured this wouldn’t take long to happen. According to the ChicagoTribune the owner of Steel Pier has now decided to scrap the previously announced plans to bring a High Diving Horse act back due to the negative public outcry. The original Horse Dive act started on Steel Pier back in the 1920’s and shocked crowds for nearly 50 years as a horse and rider would take a 40 foot plunge into a 12 foot deep tank.
I’ve got to admit that I’m kind of glad it worked out this way, and I think the president of the Humane Society put it best, “This is a merciful end to a colossally stupid idea”. This aspect of Atlantic City’s past is best left to eyeballing the shocking black and white photos in the history books and aging film clips on YouTube.
(2/8/12) According to the local news, Steel Pier in Atlantic City will undergo a $100 million makeover that will see new amusement rides added to the pier as well as bring back a legendary classic performance act to the pier… The Diving Horse. Yes, you read that right… guests to the pier this summer will get to see a horse dive from a 30 to 40 foot platform into a 12 foot tank of water. (Just wait until PETA gets word about this…)
$20 million in new improvements will also come to the pier this year, which will include a few new attractions as well as a lot of clean up, new lighting and a general refreshing of the look of the pier.
(8/9/11) Good news for fans of Steel Pier, the amusement pier has been sold by Trump Entertainment to Steel Pier Associates LLC, the group who has been leasing and pier and running the amusements on it for the past 20 years. Click here to read more.
2013 - New Coaster and Star Flyer - (2/8/12) In 2013 Steel Pier will add something new for thrill seekers… a new roller coaster and a 385 foot Star Flyer ride, making it the largest Star Flyer in the world. A new building that will contain a new food court and arcade area will also open in 2013, allowing them to remain open year-round. A new nightclub will also open in the skybridge above the Boardwalk.
2014 - Giant Wheel - (2/8/12) In 2014 the promise we will see the complex start to become more enclosed in an effort to become a more year-round attraction. This will include new museum and retail space as well as a 250 foot giant wheel with enclosed climate-controlled cars.
2015 - Marine Ballroom - (2/8/12) Phase 3 will open in 2015 and see the famous Marine Ballroom recreated. The new Ballroom will be able to seat 2000 people in addition to having a stage area, allowing the facility to transform as needed from a dance hall into a concert arena, wedding chapel or special events center.
STONE MOUNTAIN (Atlanta, GA)
Managed by Herschend Family Entertainment
2012 - Geyser Towers - (10/12/11) Stone Mountain has new teaser posters up for a new 2012 attraction on the way called Geyser Towers. From the look of the concept artwork, this will be a mixture of a splash pad style play area and a massive net climb fortress… all built around a central geyser that will explode at random and in different ways.
STORY LAND (Glen, NH)
Parques Reunidos
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
TWEETSIE RAILROAD (North Carolina)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
WESTERN PLAYLAND (Sunland Park, New Mexico)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
 WILD WAVES (Seattle-Tacoma, WA)
Owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties
Managed by NorPoint Entertainment
Park News - (1/30/12) According to a reader the Falling Star at Wild Waves may have already been taken down. As reported last June the ride suffered a serious breakdown which may have been the final straw, and was rumored to be seriously considering removing it back then.
(1/24/12) New pictures of Wild Waves covered in a fresh layer of snow can be found on Facebook this week.
(12/7/11) The big announcement from Wild Waves last Friday was apparently to announce the return of the park’s Holiday with Lights winter event. Holiday with Lights will return in 2012 for the first time since it was last held back in 2004, extending the park’s season. The event came to an end once Six Flags management took control of the park.
(7/18/11) A fun photo trip report from Wild Waves has been posted to Theme Park Review this week.
(6/24/11) I’ve been told that the Falling Star ride at Wild Waves suffered a major malfunction about a week ago or so, causing it to stop in place and the riders had to be evacuated. Apparently the ride has had more than it’s share of downtime issues over the past few years and after this last incident, the park may simply be ready to pull the plug on it for good.
2012 - New Attractions - (3/30/12) Wild Waves has announced their new attractions for the season at last, but unfortunately one is an upcharge attraction. The park will add a Soaring Eagle zipline ($10 to ride) and Downhill Tube’n… the thrill of snow tubing… but without snow or water. I believe the later attraction will be included with admission.
(3/20/12) Wild Waves has announced on Facebook that they will reveal two new rides coming to the park on March 29th at 4:00pm (PST) along with a Live Chat. It was also mentioned that t he park would bring in a new Sea Lion Show this season.
(10/12/11) The early rumor from Wild Waves is that the park may be planning on adding two new attractions for the 2012 season, one of which may be a zip line upcharge attraction. Anyone know more?
WONDERLAND PARK (Amarillo, TX)
Park News - (4/16/11) A trip report from Wonderland (Texas) has been posted to Theme Park Review, giving off a nice look at a park we rarely get to see.
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
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