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US News:
 California - (5/9/12) The local news reports that the city of Temecula will vote on a deal to sell property to allow for the construction of Wild Rivers Temecula if the group can get their permits in order and start construction by this October and have the park ready to open by Summer 2013.
(3/19/12) While it seems that some of Wild Rivers management has been pursuing a new 32 acre site in Temecula to build an all new Wild Rivers waterpark, the OCRegister reports that a second Wild Rivers project is on track to reopen in Irvine on land next to the planned “Great Park” project. They say that the county and Wild Rivers Irvine LLC are close to a final agreement for a new property lease for a 17 acre site just East of I-5 between the 133 Toll Road and Alton Parkway. This group says that their financing is already lines up to build the new park for an estimated $30-35 million. If all goes ahead as planned, construction could begin in May 2013 and the park will be ready to open in May 2014. (Note: The original Wild Rivers was only 14 acres.)
(3/5/12) While there legal fighting over the water attractions at Belmont Park have taken center stage for some time, I’m happy to report that The Plunge indoor pool did reopen on March 1st.
(2/15/12) The local news reports that the former management of Irvine’s Wild Rivers waterpark is in talks with the city of Temecula over a deal to build a new waterpark on 32 acres of city owned property at the NW corner of Diaz Road and Dendy Parkway. This group is not connected with the former Splash Canyon proposal group, but they do intend to revive the old Wild Rivers brand name for the new park if approved.
(1/4/12) Anyone want to build a water park? The city of Temecula is hoping to lure in a developer to take over the site they set aside for the Splash Canyon Temecula waterpark that died out in 2010 due to lack of financing. The city is apparently willing to re-approve the expired planning approvals for the project in order to lure a new developer to leap in and get the project moving. Good timing too as the SoCal area now has one less waterpark with the destruction of Wild Rivers in Irvine.
(12/27/11) Now this is just depressing… check out this collection of photos showing off a half-demolished Wild Rivers waterpark in Irvine. So sad, as I had quite a few fun trips to that park while growing up in SoCal.
(12/22/11) Tom Lochtefeld is now suing the city of San Diego for $25 million over the dispute of Belmont Park. Check in about the latest legal moves and what has happened so far here.
(10/31/11) What I believe to be the first portable S&S Screamin’ Swing attraction has been installed at Scandia. You can find pictures of it posted to WestCoastThrills.
Colorado - (3/1/12) Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, a small amusement park in Colorado has confirmed that they will add a new coaster called Cliffhanger. Cliffhanger is actually the former Thunderbolt (S&MC Hurricane) from from Celebration City (Branson, MO). The park will also add a smaller kiddie coaster called Wild West Express Coaster, as well as a new mining themed Ferris Wheel. It’s worth mentioning that Glenwood Caverns is also home to one of the new Soaring Eagle Zip Rides from Stan Checkettes. They also have one of the most frightening S&S Screamin’ Swings ever built… stuck on the edge of a cliff! Check out this page to see photos and even a video of it in action. Why have I never heard about this ride before?! Wow… what a location.
Florida - (3/23/12) According to the local news the new coaster on the way to Daytona Beach isn’t going to open as soon as they had hoped. According to the owners they are still waiting for parts to arrive but still hope to have it open before the end of Summer. There is also interest in reopening the Space Needle, so proposals will be looked at to reopen the spinning observation tower ride. A third mystery attraction is also said to be under consideration for the area.
(2/24/12) All American Thrills has posted a few pictures of Miracle Strip Pier Park… who is trying to keep the idea of Miracle Strip alive, along with a few old rides from the park, and some new ones. Check it out.
(2/22/12) The rebirth of Miracle Strip continues in Panama City continues as the mini park has now opened their Sea Dragon (Swing Ship) ride, a replica of the old version. Now, has anyone seen any pieces of the old Starliner around Panama City lately? They apparently were moved away from where they were laid out near the former Cypress Gardens park.
(2/1/12) According to this news article the Blue Diamond Streak coaster (Pinfari Zyklon) in Delaware (at Blue Diamond Park) has been sold. The coaster is being taken down and shipped off to Dayton Beach, Florida where it will be installed later this summer at Daytona Lagoon near the Ferris Wheel.
(1/16/12) Bad news for Southern Florida residents as I’ve heard it said that the local kiddie amusement park, Kidstar, is preparing to close down in the near future. Anyone know more?
(12/29/11) The new mini Miracle Strip at Pier Park attraction will expand to add a few more attractions once again. The original Sea Dragon will return with the Sock Hop Jumping Pillow and an old-fashioned “Crank Cars”. The Sock Hop is already open and they are hoping to get Sea Dragon up and running in time for New Years Eve.
The owner even mentioned that they still hope to eventually rebuild the old Starliner wooden coaster someday.
(12/27/11) The Miami Seaquarium just opened a new ropes course attraction called Sharky’s Sky Trail. This is a three story tall ropes course with “18 challenges” to face. Click here for details.
(12/9/11) It’s been awhile since we’ve heard even a peep about the old Dania Beach Hurricane coaster, it looks like the possible plan to relocate the coaster over near ZooMiami is still being discussed and run through feasibility and cost studies.
(8/20/10) A new waterpark is under consideration for South Florida in a parking lot next to the Miami Dolphins stadium. If all goes as planned, it could open as early as 2012. Click here to read the full report.
(6/17/10) The new Schlitterbahn project for Fort Lauderdale took a big step forward today when the city commissioners endorsed the Schlitterbahn proposal to build a new waterpark there needed no city or county funding. From the description the proposed park sounds a lot like the South Padre Island park that is based around the Transportainment concept of having every major attraction tied into a massive lazy river that makes it’s way around the park, along with a large AquaVeyer lift system. The Broward County Sports Hall of Fame would be given a home on the property as well as new attractions for Virtual Golf, Baseball/Softball Simulators and more. You can also read through Schlitterbahn’s proposal yourself here which includes Master Blasters and a Tidal Wave River.
Georgia - (3/29/12) The latest Legoland Discovery Center has opened this past week in Atlanta’s Phipps Plaza on the third level. For more information visit the official site.
(5/16/11) The Savannah area now may become home to two new waterparks as plans more forward to finally build Pirate’s Cove while a second unknown project was just gien approval to move ahead as well, with construction set to begin later this year and open next April on the yet to be named park project.
(3/25/11) According to this news report the new Pirate’s Cove Waterpark that was set to open in Savannah this year ran into money problems and never got much further than clearing the 10 acre site. According to a top project official, they lost a major investor and now hope to attempt to open it again next year.
Indiana - (11/17/10) US Thrillrides has announced the sale of a SkyQuest attraction to the Indianapolis Zoo for the 20 12 season at the IAAPA show. SkyQuest is the new concept from Bill Kitchen, which will be the “crown” of the zoo’s new Orangutan habitat, giving each rider a very up close experience and birds eye view of the animals. The 15-20 minute long adventure will load four passengers into gondolas, similar to a hot-air balloon basket, and move a mild 1mph through the attraction. The artwork sent out was a little raw, but it reminds me of a mini Skyride style system. You can see some other odd artwork for the ride system at the official US Thrillrides website, where they show off a more thrilling version that has riders strapped into a Skycoaster style harness, as well as options to hook up promotional “banners” to make their way around the track as well.
Louisiana - (3/9/12) The city of New Orleans gave the green light to a developer this week to turn the old Six Flags New Orleans site into the Jazzland Mall. The mall is expected to feature 400,000 sqft of retail and restaurant space, and where possible, they hope to restore and revive a few of the old rides as well.
(2/8/12) NOLA reports that the plan to redevelop the former Six Flags New Orleans site as a new theme park has been rejected by the committee overseeing the various proposals. The only proposal still under consideration for the former park site is to turn it into a new upscale outlet mall. (Of course, I’m not sure how many upscale malls want to deal with idea of building on a site that could flood once again, especially in light of how many problems the OpryMills Mall has been having with their insurance claims and extensive damage after the 2010 floods devastated that mall.
Massachusetts - (5/10/12) The Comet wooden coaster, at the now closed Lincoln Park (Dartmouth, Massachusetts) will be demolished within the next month according to the local news. The coaster has actually been SBNO since it last ran in late 1987 and the structure has been slowly deteriorating ever since. Accoriding to RCDB, the life hill actually collapsed in on itself back in 2005. The entire site is being cleared to make way for new housing developments.
Michigan - (4/8/11) According to the local area news a new indoor waterpark has broken ground in Michigan. The Soaring Eagle Water Park and Hotel will have 244 rooms and a 45,000 sqft. indoor waterpark.
New Jersey - (4/10/12) Progress on the American Dream Meadowlands project is stalled, pending a final signoff required federal signoff on their plans to add a waterpark and amusement park to the property.
(3/26/12) I’m told that the Crystal Springs Resort company (who also owns the Mountain Creek Ski Resort) purchased the Mountain Creek Waterpark from Palace Entertainment last month. From the sound of things, they will also try to add a Mountain Coaster and Screaming Eagle Zipline to the park this year as well.
(11/16/11) The new owners / developers of the American Dream Meadowlands project (aka: Xanadu) are asking for permission to develop 5 acres of wetlands to finish up their concept of what is needed to make the destination mall a success, which would include an indoor amusement park and waterpark inside a glass dome, the indoor ski slope and more.
(9/22/11) A new indoor attraction called iPlay America is set to open in Freehold, New Jersey on November 11, 2011, at 11:11am. iPlay America will offer attractions like indoor go-karts, a 4D motion theater, Cosmic Battle, a 2 level laser tag arena, Spin Zone bumper cars, midway games, mini bowling lanes and over 200 modern and classic video games in the center’s huge arcade. There will also be a number of small family friendly rides to choose from as well. There will also be a soft play area for the little kids and plenty of food options ranging from salads to pizza to frozen yogurt to midway fair like fried Oreos and funnel cakes. Visit the official website to learn more here.
(9/1/11) A lengthy and detailed report on the status of things at the former Xanadu project in New Jersey can be read here.
New York - (10/12/11) It seems the team behind Blackout NYC put on a special May performance event for 20 unlucky volunteers to hone their skillset for this year’s event. You can find a review of this even more shocking Spring event as well as a spoiler-free review of this year’s Blackout haunt.
(9/27/11) A detailed breakdown, scene by scene, about the Blackout style extreme haunted house that was run in New York last year can be found here, known as the Vortex Theater’s NYC Halloween Haunted House.
(9/26/11) One of the creepiest looking haunted house experiences I’ve ever heard of is returning to New York. It’s called Blackout… and the rules are simple. You have to be at least 18 years old… and you must go through it all ALONE. If any readers are local and decide to give it a try, I’ve got to hear your thoughts about this one. Sounds ultra intense.
North Carolina - (9/26/11) I had previously mentioned the graveyard built inside the grounds of the small Tweetsie theme park in North Carolina, but now we have pictures as well of the site. You can find some pictures of it posted to this Flickr photo stream, starting with a great shot of it as seen from the park’s Ferris Wheel. Really ads a little punch to the warning on the back of the car in front of you reminding you to “DO NOT ROCK SEAT!” Made me wonder if that’s what the pool souls buried below were guilty of at the time. Here is another good picture from the opposite point of view… so at least the dead get a nice view.
Ohio - (3/19/12) The local news has posted a fun throw-back video shot at Geauga Lake back in 1996, featuring a then 85-year old woman who was also a coaster fanatic. Seems like the love of a good coaster ride will go a long way to keeping you young, as she apparently just turned 101 years-old this past December.
Oklahoma - (2/22/12) A new amusement park has been proposed for Tulsa near Turkey Mountain, dubbed Tulsa Harbor. Unfortunately the site is designated as an “urban wilderness area” in the local Master Plan and the local officials were not keen on the concept and are not going to support it, or at least not on that site. The plan would have called for an amusement park, water park and race car museum.
(9/26/11) Bell’s is making a comeback… though in miniature form. According to the local news Robby Bell announced that he will be bringing back three or four of the park’s old kiddie rides outside the Saturday Flea Market. “My grandfather started with six rides in 1951 at the fairgrounds. They were all kiddie rides that he bought, and we're gonna start all over again 60 years later at Mr. Schwickerath's property”.
Pennsylvania - (4/30/12) Our friends at the ScareHouse (one of the best haunts in the country) have sent us a link to their first 2012 “teaser” video about latest haunt addition… Creepo’s Christmas in 3-D. Very strange indeed!
(2/27/12) Ever wonder just what ever happened to Bushkill Park in Pennsylvania? I know last I heard the park was devastated by a series of floods that began in 2004, and I never really heard much after that other than a team of volunteers was assembled to try and repair the park after the floods. Seems there was an effort that saw the park reopen in 2006 briefly, but it was unable to survive and closed once again.
However, it seems the way things went down following the 2004 flood wasn’t quite as cut and dry as you may have thought. There is quite an interesting story waiting to be told about what took place posted to BushkillPark.org.
(9/22/11) Keeping with the unofficial theme of the week, it seems there is an onsite grave at Lakemont Park. Unlike the others we’ve seen this week, this grave site was created while the park was in operation to mark the final resting place of “Duke”. Apparently “Duke” was the pet dog of one of the head maintenance men at the park, and would actually take morning test rides on the park’s Skyliner coaster with him. When Duke passed away, he was laid to rest somewhere near the turn out of the station.
South Carolina - (4/2/12) According to this article the Ocean Drive Amusement Park in North Myrtle Beach is expanding this summer. They’ll add more parking, a small 160 ft long coaster, a zipline and more.
(3/26/12) Got some news bits this week from our friends over at Discover Myrtle Beach. They’ve got some pictures of the new Zipline attraction going in on the site of the former Pavilion Amusement Park as well as an interview with the illusionist formerly hired to work at the Pat Boone Family Theater, which has still failed to open nearly a year after it was expected to open. http://www.discovermyrtlebeach.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4089
(12/9/11) The local news has posted a story about a possible new attraction being discussed to be built on the site of the old Myrtle Beach Pavilion park site. A private group is said to have worked out a lease deal to build a Zipline attraction on the site with Burroughs & Chapin. Hmmm… I can’t say this sits well with me, that after sitting empty for five years, the Pavilion will be replaced by a simple zipline? Kind of disappointing… especially when they’ve already got a great over the water zipline attraction over at Broadway at the Beach.
Tennessee - (4/19/12) Dolly’s new proposed Water / Snow park for Nashville has been approved for a 60% property tax break over the next 12 years. Things should start moving ahead quickly now as they finalize the design and prepare to open the park by Spring 2014.
(4/5/12) Dolly’s new Water & Snow park project for Nashville is close to getting a great tax break deal, which could include up to a 60% property tax break over the first several years.
(3/20/12) According to a reader work is moving along quickly on the new Hollywood Wax Museum coming to Pigeon Forge. Behind the Was Museum will also be the Castle of Chaos… an interactive 5D shoot-em-up experience attraction. You can see photo report posted to Destination South.
(2/2/12) In a possible related bit of news, a church sitting on property bordering the new Dollywood / Gaylord Water/Snow park project area has announced their intention to sell their property and will use the money generated by any possible sale to build new locations. While the land has not sold, and the church says they have not spoken to Gaylord officials about it yet, it would seen a sure bet that someone would want to buy this property up ASAP just for the location.
(1/30/12) Look for a few new attractions will be added to the Pigeon Forge area in 2012. The most visible of which is a plan to add Wonders of Flight, a large tethered hot air balloon ride to WonderWorks. The balloon will be from Aerophile, which I believe is the same company Disney has used in Paris and Walt Disney World, and will be able to lift 30 passengers 500 feet into the air for a view of the Smokey Mountains.
The Tomb – a interactive Egyptian tomb attraction at Walden’s Landing (home of Firehouse Golf). Getting in to the tomb is easy… getting out? Not so much…
The Smokey Mountain Opry Theater will open in March, replacing the former Miracle Theater. This new production comes from the same group behind the Hatfield & McCoy, Comedy Barn and Country Jamboree Breakfast shows.
The Titanic Museum will upgrade a few things this year to mark the passing of the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15th, 2012. A new exhibit about the making of James Cameron’s Titanic film will be added.
Look for the new Hollywood Wax Museum to open sometime in 2012. Admission will include access to two other nearby attractions: Castle of Chaos and Hannah’s Maze of Mirrors.
(1/26/12) For those wondering, I’ve been told that Snow portion of the new Dolly Parton / Gaylord Entertainment venture next to the Opryland Hotel will utilize a separate section of the park from the waterpark portion. You can see the two separate areas on the map posted with the announcement last week, which will allow the summer and winter attractions to share vital areas like the parking lot, front gate and food / merchandise locations, while keeping the snow fun to a pair of sloped hills along the backside of the park. So sadly, no rides down ice-covered waterslides I’m afraid… as cool as the idea seems to be.
(1/20/12) Dollywood and Gaylord Entertainment have announced a 50/50 partnership to develop a 114-acre “entertainment zone” next to the Gaylord
Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN. The first phase ($50 million) will be to build the nations first “water and snow park” which will break ground in Fall 2012 and be ready to open by Summer 2014.
Plenty of room will be left over for future expansion, and the park will feature incredible modern waterpark thrills for the summer season, and designated snow activites (like snow tubing) for winter fun. For the moment, a final name has not been chosen for the park, but if Dolly is involved, I’m sure her name will fit in there somewhere, and the Dollywood Company will serve as the operating partner for the park, which is projected to bring in 500,000 guests a year. 35 acres of the site are being saved for future expansion projects as well as “complimentary regional attractions”. Fantastic news… and I can’t wait to see just what they have in store for the snow park. It’s about time someone has figured out how to extend the waterpark season beyond the “summer” by adding some snow tubing fun to keep it open in the winter months as well.
Check out a video of the big announcement with Dolly Parton embedded below.
(11/23/11) The local news reports that LeConte Village LLC paid $10 million to purchase a section of the Belle Island property with a plan to build a new attraction that will be anchored by a 200 foot tall Giant Wheel. If all goes as planned, the new attraction should be ready to open by Spring 2013.
(10/19/11) The local news reports that the former Belle Island project in Pigeon Forge is being sold to a new developer this week, Darby Campbell. The once nearly finished project will be renamed Riverwalk Village, but the final product will end up fairly similar to what was planned under the Belle Island name. There will be entertainment, a carnival area for the kids and a four star hotel, but the NASCAR attraction is out and they are considering removing the river boat building that was once to hold a Debby Reynolds Hollywood Museum. They hope to complete the construction and open Riverwalk Village by Summer 2012.
(9/14/11) According to a Screamscape reader, there is still no sign of construction work having started for the Water Magic attraction announced to be built across from the Titanic attraction. The empty theaters that were to be demolished to make way for it are still just sitting there… closed and dead.
(9/12/11) The site of the former Fun Mountain amusement park in Gatlinburg (which has been closed for years) was approved to be rezoned to a new type of commercial property that would allow for structures to be 24 feet taller than what was previously allowed.
(6/16/11) According to one local source, the Water Magic attraction to go in across the street from the Titanic attraction has so far not only failed to begun construction this year, but hasn’t even started the demolition of the three small theaters (Magic Beyond Belief, Kick’n Country and Memories Theater) to make room for it yet. Construction was originally said to begin in early 2011, so they’re about six months behind schedule by now. So will it still open in 2013, get pushed back… or have they been hit with financing problems like so many other projects have in the past few years? While the timeline was not updated for this article, I did come across a nice piece of concept artwork showing off the themed building here. Anyone know more about the status of Water Magic?
(3/29/11) An interesting new dinner show will be opening on Pigeon Forge this June called the Lumberjack Feud, which will feature a 1000-seat arena. The show “will follow the fictional story of two families that worked together in felling the trees of the Smokies until tragedy strikes and a wedge is driven between them. The climax of the show will be a contest between the two sides to determine who gets to stay on in the mountains and who must leave.” The show also has their own Facebook page.
(3/1/11) According to this article the company behind the former Hollywood Wax Museum in Gatlinburg is now making plans to open a new wax museum attraction in Pigeon Forge at the site of the former Dinosaur Walk Museum. (This is near the Zorb ride I believe…) The new 30,000 sqft attraction will be the largest of its kind when it opens in 2012.
(2/4/11) Good news for Pigeon Forge, a pair of business men are signing up to take over and finish the former Belle Island Village development just off the main strip. They will rename the bankrupt project “Riverwalk Village” and have begun talking with possible tenants, including many of the former projects who were on board for Belle Island, including Debbie Reynolds and Darrell Waltrip. Construction is expect to begin again sometime this summer and the first phases could reopen by 2012. The site will also get another boost in the form of the newly announced $44.9 million LeConte Events Center to be built next door and ready to open in 2013.
(11/24/10) A new water based attraction is on the way to Pigeon Forge from the creator of the Titanic attraction. The details here are light, but it will be called Water Magic, but it is not a “water park”, but instead will feature a number of water attractions like a “100 ft kinetic energy sculpture” and something called “The Wizard” in Emporium Square. “The attraction aims to live up to its motto of ‘Get Me Wet.’” You will find a lot more descriptions of what will be inside here, where they describe the attraction as what Disney might build in Epcot as a pavilion themed to the concept of playing with water.
The $40 million project hopes to start construction in early 2011 and open by 2013. According to this article, the land purchased for it is across the street from Titanic, but a little bit to the south. To make way for Water Magic three small theater attraction will be demolished, Magic Beyond Belief, Kick’n Country and Memories Theater. While the jobs lost here are never a good thing, in the end it’s probably a good move for Pigeon Forge who has a glut of small theaters.
Texas - (5/14/12) The new Hurricane Alley water park in Corpus Christi, Texas opened for the first time on Sunday. They had originally planned on opening on Saturday, but nasty storms that hit the area later in the week pushed back the opening date to Sunday.
(3/19/12) A three year old climbed out of her restraint and was thrown from a TechnoJump ride running at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo over the weekend. According to the news report she was set to ride with her mother and 8-year old brother, when the mother decided she was ‘too big’ to fit and left the two kids to ride alone.
Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem, as both children did meet the 42” height requirement… though technically to ride without alone supervision a child has to be 48”. It’s not clear if the rules allow for the older brother to act as a guardian in this case or not, but seconds into the start of the ride cycle the 3-year old freaked out, wiggled out of whatever restraints were in use, and ended up being thrown from the ride… an event caught on video which you can see here.
Fortunately, it seems that she walked away unharmed except for the pain from the landing. I’m sure we’ll see headlines going forward about a lawsuit from the parent about this, but in the end, the rules appear to have been obeyed and it was the parent who loaded the child into the ride and then walked away. As a parent of three kids myself, (my youngest being 2) I can only say that as a parent, you have to take some responsibility to know if your child is ‘ready’ for a certain ride experience or not and not just let them ride because they are tall enough.
Case in point… when my son Hunter was 42 inches tall and able to ride just about about everything Disney World could dish out (other than Rock ‘n Roller Coaster) we took him on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Test Track, Star Tours… but not Twilight Zone. My wife and I agreed he just wasn’t ready for that particular experience just yet and kept him off it for a couple more years. Parents are the best judge of character for your child and will have the best idea if they are ready or not, as well as a clue about if they will go into utter panic attack and try to escape the moving ride no matter the consequences. Another good article of feedback on this very same matter can be found over at BlooLoop.
(8/9/11) A new waterpark has broken ground in the Corpus Christi area of Texas and will be called Hurricane Alley. They plan to open it by Spring 2012 if possible, and you can catch a short news video about it here.
Vermont - (2/27/12) The new Pumphouse indoor waterpark at Jay Peak Resort in Vermont made waves over the winter when they opened, though the park’s top slide, Le Chute (an AquaLoop style slide, had an interesting incident this past week. According to the local news an 8-year old boy somehow stopped himself in the middle of the slide experience. When the sensor at the bottom did not trigger that the boy had exited the slide, the attendant at the bottom apparently assumed it was a glitch and that they too must have just not seen the boy climb out and overrode the sensor to allow for another slider to come down.
The next slider came down, partially collided with the boy on the way, but managed to slip past and trip the sensor at the bottom, clearing the way for a third rider to come down who also collided with the boy before they could shut the slide down. One of the later sliders suffered a broken ankle, but the other man and boy managed to exit with only minor injuries.
Virginia - (3/5/12) Good news this week for Virginia theme park fans, as the local news reports that the plan to overturn the Kings Dominion law was shot down this week.
(2/8/12) Virginia theme park fans… be warned that your Governor and many local aspiring political types are trying to shorten your summer fun by putting an end to what they call the “Kings Dominion Law”, a long standard (and smart) request that the start of the school year be kept after Labor Day Weekend. Schools districts wanting to start earlier can and do get waivers signed to do so, but they are mainly located to the Western end of the state, away from the popular tourist corridor that runs along the East coast.
Starting the school year earlier in August would make things quite a bit more difficult for your favorite attractions, as many of them rely on being able to hire staff from the local youth markets during the busy summer months. Six Flags over Georgia is a great example of a park that suffers greatly because the local school year starts in early August. This only allows for 2 months (June & July) of daily operation, and despite the fact that many families are still on vacation through to the end of the month the theme park is forced to sit closed on most weekdays in August. If the parks want to maintain their operational status, they would be forced to hire in more international workers on temporary work visas, and in this economy where every local job is important, I don’t think this is good news for anyone.
And here I thought Virginia was supposed to be for “Coaster Lovers”. Nay Nay it seems... at least if certain nefarious government forces have their way.
Washington - (5/7/12) Seattle’s new Giant Wheel is going vertical. You can see the huge support pieces being put into place here.
(2/27/12) Thanks to earlier reports, the new Giant Wheel in Seattle is said to be a Chance Morgan attraction, and from the size and style, it sounds like it will be a R60 model. If so, this should be t
he same model as the fantastic looking wheel that was added to Myrtle Beach last Spring, which included one very special unique cabin that featured a see-through floor. That would certainly be an incredible experience to have from the end of the pier if included there as well.
(2/24/12) Thanks to one of our readers who sent in a picture of the new Giant Wheel construction at the end of Seattle’s Pier 57, as well as a shot of the construction notice.
(2/20/12) I had not heard about it getting this far, but the giant wheel planned for Seattle’s Pier 57 was given final approved late last year. I don’t have any pictures, but I’m told from a local reader that construction crews are working full-tilt in order to get the wheel up and running between May-June 2012.
(12/15/10) A new giant wheel is planned for Seattle Center, near the base of the Space Needle, that hopes to open in 2012 as part of the site’s 50th anniversary. This news did not go over well with the people planning the other giant wheel at Pier 57 however. Click here to read more.
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