Mirabilandia's 2001 Changes

The Vekoma Roller skater originally planned for opening in 2000 has been delayed until 2001. "Family Coaster" will be located in a corner of the park near the entrance to Sierra Tonante, and will replace the park's "Studio #2". At left is the ride as it will appear on the park's 2001 park map. The park will also be removing their wild mouse, Pakal. - 25/10/00

Big Wood for Europe

Until a few years ago, Europe was pretty shabby in the woodie department. For many years the tallest and fastest woodie in Europe was Mirabilandia's Sierra Tonante. But recently Europe has seen an influx of woodies: Port Aventura's Stampida, and Terra Mitica's Magnus Colossus just to name a couple. Germany recently got its first woodie in many many years, Movie World's Wild Wild West. Well Germany is about to get it's second wood coaster: The Werner Stengel designed Colossos. The coaster, which Intamin is currently constructing at Heide Park, will boast some very impressive specs.

The ride will have a lift height of 60m (196.8') making it the world's second tallest wood coaster. Its trains will cover its 1500m (4921') track in 2 minutes and 25 seconds, and will reach top speeds of 120kph (74.6mph). It will run two trains, each holding 30 people. 3000 cubic meters (106000 cubic feet) of wood and 2800 cubic meters (99000 cubic feet) of concrete will be used in the construction of this coaster. The ride, which is already under construction, is slated to open on Easter of 2001. - 18/10/00

Inversion Record to be Shattered

It's finally official. Thorpe Park has recently confirmed that they are building a roller coaster in 2002 that will feature a world record 10 inversions. The previous record, held by Dragon Khan and Monte Makaya stands at eight. This will be the first time the inversion record has been broken by more than one. The coaster, devised by ride consultant John Wardley, will be similar to Monte Makaya, but will feature four Zero-G-Heart Rolls in a row where Monte Makaya has three, and will also include a fifth instance of that element after the turnaround into the station. The helix on this turnaround will also be omitted. This coaster will also join Germany's travelling Olympia Looping as the second coaster to feature five of the same inversion element. - 07/10/00

First Fabbri Mistrals Open

The first installations of Fabbri's new line of hanging roller coasters have now opened. The small Mistral28 was delivered to British showman George Hanley, under the name Miami Dolphins. The coaster features swinging trains of 20 people, and a total height of 6.7 meters (22 feet). The second, pictured at left, is the larger Mistral 63, was installed at Zoo Safari Park. It appears to be the world's first non-looping inverted coaster. It features trains of nine people. - 24/09/00

Odyssey Officially A Go

On August 9th Fantasy Island Park (Ingoldmells, England) signed a deal with Vekoma for what will surely be an incredible coaster. It will be the first inverted coaster from Vekoma to deviate greatly from the standard model. It will also be the world's tallest inverted coaster, at 81m (265'). No information on its layout has been released yet, except that it will have a 61m (200') tall vertical loop. This inversion beats Batman Knight Flight's 48.8m (160') loop to become the world's tallest inversion. It will also be the most expensive ride in UK history, at £28 million ($40 million US). - 03/09/00

Dorney Park's "Talon"

On August 30, Dorney Park (Allentown, Pennsylvania) released information on their new B&M inverted coaster, "Talon". It will have four inversions, and a total track length of 948m (3110'). Construction is scheduled to start labour day for the opening in 2001. - 30/08/00

Paramount Canada's Wonderland Announces "Silver Streak"

Paramount Canada's Wonderland (Vaughn, Ontario) will be receiving a flyer next year, dubbed "Silver Streak". Although it is a family coaster, it looks to be more intense than most flyers. This will be Wonderland's third hanging coaster (with Vortex, and Top Gun). Wonderland will be only the third park to have three hanging coasters, joining Universal Islands of Adventure (Orlando, Florida) and Paramount King's Island (King's Mill, Ohio). - 29/08/00

Phantom Gets A Face-lift

When Kennywood Park (West Mifflin, Pennsylvania) announced earlier this year that they would be removing the steel phantom after the 2000 season, many people organized preservation efforts. Well, it seems that they will be at least partially satisfied with the plan Kennywood announced recently. The Phantom is getting a complete makeover. It's inversions will be removed and its largest drop will be extended 1.5m (5 feet), making it a 70m (230') drop. DH Morgan Manufacturing will fabricate the new track. There are also new trains, which will feature lap bar restraints. - 20/08/00

Paramount Kings Dominion to receive first "Thrust Air"

Paramount King's Dominion has announced their new coaster for 2001. It will be the first of S&S's new "Thrust Air" designs. The coaster will use compressed air, much like a space shot, to launch the train from 0 to 129 kph (80 mph) in 1.8 seconds. This ride will be similar to the prototype but will include an extra bunny hop and a highly banked elevated fan curve. This will be Paramount King's Dominion's third launched coaster (the other two are the first LIM coaster, Outer Limits: Flight of Fear; and the first launched inverted coaster, Volcano: The Blast Coaster). - 15/08/00

Notes

According to Premier rides, the LIM powered version of their pipeline coaster is now ready. This concept was announced at recent IAAPA shows. The ride was made possible when Premier, a leader in LIM technology, became the North American distributor for TOGO rides of Japan, who already have a successful pipeline coaster design. No buyers have been announced yet. - 25/10/00

El Pastil Loco, a Vekoma roller skater recently installed at Crealy Adventure Park, is the first roller coaster ever to be purchased over the internet. The ride is also the park's first roller coaster. - 18/09/00

Giovanola has unveiled a new name for their "tilt" design. It has been dubbed as the "Terror Tilter". After the coaster's chain lift, the train is stopped on a brake section. Then that section tilts forward until it faces 90º straight down. The train is released, plunges down a vertical section of track, and runs the rest of its layout. The Terror Tilter also uses three across, sideless, frontless cars. - 31/08/00

Drayton Manor park has been presented with the "Best Visitor Attraction Award" by the England Tourist Board. The park was awarded this accolade for consistently introducing excellent new attractions. - 31/08/00