For about a month now I’ve been seeing billboards in the Charlotte area that simply read “FURY”. The billboards have nothing but the four giant letters with a kind of steel-texturing to them. I figured that this had to be some type of viral marketing campaign as the sign didn’t mention any other details. No [...]

Carowinds Announces WindSeeker Yesterday, Carowinds made their 2012 announcement as they unveiled WindSeeker. It will basically be a super-sized version of the old school amusement park swing rides. With a height of 301 feet, Carowinds has dubbed it “The Tallest Ride at Carowinds”. Park vice president, Bart Kinzel noted how cool it will be to be [...]

Just before 2 PM today a surprise earthquake shook the East coast. The quake’s epicenter was in Central Virginia near the town of Mineral.  That’s only about 30 miles from Kings Dominion and about 100 miles from Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The 5.8 magnitude rumbler was felt at both parks and as a safety precaution rides [...]

Tower Rides Rule the Skies in the Summer of 2011 This year, a number of towering swing rides debuted at theme parks across the continent. WindSeekers debuted at four Cedar Fair parks: Canada’s Wonderland, Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Knott’s Berry Farm. They’re identical (I think) 301′ tall swing rides that spin riders at 30 mph. And, Six Flags installed [...]

Holiday World Announces World’s Longest Water Coaster for 2012 As Some Coaster Fans Groan Today, Holiday World announced Mammoth their largest single ride investment with a price tag of $9 million. Like the park’s Wildebeest, Mammoth will feature both down hill and up hill sections made possible via linear induction motors that will propel the [...]

Today Screamscape reported a survey marker sighting at Carowinds for a rumored 2012 ride near Intimidator, but no one had photos. So I went down to the park after work and saw a number of markers in the grassy field next to Intimidator. They have “HUSS GF” written on them which likely means the park [...]

There was sad news out of the Buffalo, New York area yesterday as an Iraq war veteran died while riding Darien Lake’s Ride of Steel roller coaster. Apparently, the man, Sgt. James Hackemer, was a double amputee as he lost both legs in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Ride of Steel (formerly Superman – Ride of [...]

Takabisha is a new Euro-Fighter opening at Fuji-Q Highland in Yamanashi, Japan. This is the largest Gerstlauer coaster ever. It features a 121 degree drop that is so steep that it counts as another inversion! The ride includes a launch, a vertical lift, 7 inversions, plus more! This looks like it may be the best [...]

As I reported today on Gadling, Six Flags America (near Washington D.C.) is removing their unique Intamin water ride known as Skull Mountain. I remember it as the Typhoon Sea Coaster when the park was in its Adventure World days. The ride’s like many water flume rides, but it also incorporates roller coaster-like elements. In [...]

I remember landing for a connecting flight at the Ft. Lauderdale airport once. I looked out of the window and I swore I saw a roller coaster in the distance. I thought my hobby was finally getting out of hand and that I was seeing coaster mirages. At the time I hadn’t mapped out Southern [...]