CoasterGlobe: News

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Archived News: Fall 2002

Coaster News

Large Donation Kicks Off Fundraising for Coaster Museum

The American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) announced a gift of $250,000 to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives (NRCMA) during the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions trade show. The NRCMA board of directors accepted the gift during a morning presentation at ACE’s trade show booth.
The proposed roller coaster museum will be dedicated to house ACE’s growing collection of roller coaster cars, models, photographs, artwork, history, and other artifacts related to the king of the park—the roller coaster. The facility will also include a library center for roller coaster research.
In development since 1992, the museum is now one step closer to reality. Ms. Sanderson stated, "this substantial gift recognizes the efforts of ACE to achieve this goal and kicks off a three-year fundraising campaign, wherein donations for the future facility will be actively solicited." Accomplishing this purpose will require financial support from individual contributors, organizations, and corporations.
The NRCMA seeks to operate the museum for the education and benefit of the public and amusement industry; to maintain archives of roller coaster-related material; and to provide technical, academic and historical research facilities.
Established in 1978, ACE is a worldwide organization of over 8,500 members dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of roller coasters.
Posted: 03/12/02 News item: 109

Disneyland Park Plans Biggest Fireworks Show Ever

The amazing "Believe… In Holiday Magic" show at DISNEYLAND is a special Yuletide version of the park's popular fireworks presentation, and is being performed nightly during the holiday season. The biggest fireworks show ever presented at DISNEYLAND Resort, this aerial production combines an enchanting holiday story and music with a shimmering array of pyrotechnics. In the show's wintry finale, snowflakes actually fall upon guests along Main Street, U.S.A., Small World Mall and New Orleans Square.
The hit of last year's season, "Haunted Mansion Holiday" has returned with new surprises for a fun-filled celebration where Halloween and Christmas collide. The ghoulish but well-meaning Jack Skellington from the film Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas has come to the "Haunted Mansion" attraction to transform it with his skewed vision of the holidays.
Posted: 12/11/02 News item: 108

S&S Buys Arrow, Plans Their Tallest Tower Yet

S&S Power, the company responsible for hundreds of tower rides all over the world, has acquired Arrow Dynamics. Arrow, a major developer and manufacturer of roller coaters, was forced into bankruptcy earlier this year. S&S plans to continue to produce Arrow's existing product line. They also hope to combine technological experience of both companies in order to produce new rides. The Arrow name will be kept for at least the immediate future.
S&S has also just announced their tallest tower ride yet. Although exact specifications have not been released, they are saying that the new ride will be the largest ever built by the company. Currently, the largest S&S ride in the world is Supreme Scream at Knott’s Berry Farm, which is 325 feet tall and drops 254 feet.
Posted: 02/11/02 News item: 107

Study Concludes G-Forces Do Not Cause Brain Damage

A study condusted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania concludes that g-forces generated by roller coasters are not severe enough to cause damage to the brain. The study used G-force data from three roller coasters: Speed The Ride in Las Vegas, Face/Off at Paramount King's Island, and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney World. These three coasters are among the most intense in the United States. "The amount of rotational acceleration known to create injury in the white matter of the brain are roughly 18 times higher than the maximum accelerations calculated on the roller coasters", says Douglas Smith of the Department of Neurosurgery and the Head Injury Center at the Penn School of Medicine. The three roller coasters each pull a maximum of approximately five Gs.
Posted: 23/10/02 News item: 106

Heide Park's Plan For 2003 Teracoaster Derailed

Heide Park (Saltau, Germany) has been forced to abandon their plans to built an Intamin Teracoaster. They were unable to obtain planning permission for the coaster. The ride they had planned to build would have broken the record for tallest and fastest roller coaster, towering 126m (412') over the park. The park is still looking into other options for building a large steel coaster at the park.
Posted: 10/10/02 News item: 105

Cedar Point Poised To Take Back Height And Speed Records

Much of the track for Intamin's latest record-breaker has arrived at Cedar Point Park, in Sandusky, Ohio. Though the park has yet to make an official announcement, we do know a fair amount about the ride. The coaster will be an Intamin "Rocket Coaster" and the second of it's kind, the first Rocket Coaster being Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm (Buena Park, California). It will use the same hydraulic launch mechanism as the Knott's ride also. This coaster will also set a new world record for tallest and fastest roller coaster. The ride, which is set to open in 2003, will be 100m (330') tall, and will have a top speed of 193kph (120mph). This will be Cedar Point's fourth roller coaster to hold the record for the world's tallest and fastest complete-circuit roller coaster. The others are Gemini in 1978, Magnum XL-200 in 1989, and Millennium Force in 2000. This will be the third roller coaster Intamin has designed and built for the park in as many years.
Posted: 06/10/02 News item: 104

New Mexico's First Large Roller Coaster Opens

The New Mexico Rattler was opened to the public on September 28th. The coaster is New Mexico's first major roller coaster. The coaster's opening, whish was originally scheduled for June, was pushed back because of financial problems that eventually forced the company building the ride, Custom Coasters International, into bankruptcy. Owners of Cliff's Amusement Park, Gary and Linda Hays, took over the project themselves, moving CCI's workers to the park's own payroll. The New Mexico Rattler is wood tracked, and uses steel supports, and rolling stock supplied by the Phillidelphia Toboggan Company. Cliff's Amusement Park will be open weekends through the end of October.
Posted: 06/10/02 News item: 103

New Jersey Sets Legal Limit For G-Forces

The state of New Jersey has passed legislation that will limit the forces that amusement rides can apply to riders. The law prohibits amusement park from accelerating their guests at more than 5.6 Gs for a period of time longer than one second. The limit applies both to forces experienced during the acceleration of a train (such as a launch) and to centrifugal forces (such as those experienced during an inversion). No previously existing rides in New Jersey are in violation of the new law, which goes into effect this month.
Posted: 04/10/02 News item: 101

Delirium Opens in 2003 at King’s Island

Delirium, the ride set to open in 2003 at Paramount King's Island, will be Frisbee ride from Huss Rides of Germany. The frisbee is a powerful ride that spins riders seated on a continuous ring, while swinging the ring back and forth about 120-degrees. Riders legs dangle freely in the air while they swing up to 137 feet in the air. Delirium will be painted blue, yellow and silver, and will be the largest of its kind in the world. The ride will reside in the "Paramount Action Zone" section of the park.
Posted: 28/09/02 News item: 100

Fire Destroys Bumper Car Ride At Wyandot Lake

A fire destroyed a bumper card ride and an adjacent souvenir shop at Wyandot Lake park on Sunday. The fire started at about one o’clock in the afternoon in the bumper cars ride. Straw, which was being stored in the building, caused the fire to grow and spread very rapidly. Fire had completely engulfed the ride before firefighters arrived on the scene. They tried to protect the buildings surrounding the ride; however, they were unable to save a adjacent gift shop. The park, which is currently closed for the off-season, sustained an estimated $500,000 worth of damage.
Posted: 24/09/02 News item: 99

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Offers First Rain Guarantee

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announced the first-ever Rain Guarantee program for Florida theme park day guests. This unprecedented offer allows guests a free return visit to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay should the weather affect their park experience.
Although many park shows and attractions can be enjoyed regardless of weather conditions, the Rain Guarantee is designed to attract guests to Busch Gardens and eliminate any concern they may have regarding Florida’s unpredictable weather. Guests affected by inclement weather can redeem this ticket to return to the park again within the next seven days.
Posted: 18/09/02 News item: 98

Universal Gives Halloween Horror a New Home

For the first time, Universal’s Islands of Adventure® theme park is having a Halloween Horror Night.
The four terrifying islands will be filled with new haunted houses, new shows, and a host of horrifying new creatures. Universal is promising it to be unlike anything you’ve ever imagined, "Halloween Horror Nights® at Islands of Adventure® takes terror to an all new level".
Along with being busy trademarking the expressions and names, they are planning a totally different and unpredictable event, with scares coming where you least expect them.
They promise: "From the moment you enter the park until the moment you leave, you’ll be immersed in a blanket of fear with nowhere to escape." Scary, very scary.
All rides are open.
The terror starts at 7:00 pm on October 4, 5, 10-13, 16-20, 23-27, 29-31 and November 1, 2.
Posted: 10/09/02 News item: 97

Cedar Point Voted No. 1

For the fifth consecutive year, the Cedar Point amusement park/resort was rated the "Best Amusement Park in the World" and Millennium Force was voted the "Best Steel Roller Coaster in the World" in the recently announced Golden Ticket Awards, a prestigious annual poll conducted by Amusement Today newspaper.
Cedar Point’s 310-foot-tall, 93-mph Millennium Force "giga-coaster," which made its worldwide debut in 2000, received top honors in the Golden Tickets Awards. The stratospheric scream machine is also the tallest and fastest roller coaster in North America and was the first coaster ever to break the 300-foot-tall barrier. The park’s Magnum XL-200, built in 1989 and standing 205 feet high with a top speed of 72 mph, ranked an impressive No. 3 in the world on this year’s steel coaster list.
The Golden Ticket Awards are presented to the "best of the best" in the amusement industry by Amusement Today, the Arlington, Texas-based publication that covers international amusement and water park news and trends. Surveys were sent to a database of experienced park fans around the world, asking them to rate the "bests" in 18 categories, such as "amusement parks," "roller coasters," "food," "games," and "capacity." This is the fifth annual year for Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards, which are considered the "Super Bowl" or "Academy Awards" of the amusement industry.
Click here to visit CoasterGlobe's Cedar Point page.
Posted: 01/09/02 News item: 96