A rare wooden roller coaster in Florida, White Lightning should be a welcomed good old-fashioned, addition to the state packed with heavily-themed steel thrill rides. Here’s a video of White Lightning at Fun Spot America:
Note – For safety reasons, please DO NOT take a camera on a roller coaster without permission from the park.

There’s no sense in going for intense thrills when you’ve got Universal down the street. Freedom Flyer should fit right in with the park’s focus on family rides. For the coaster geeks, this Vekoma model is a less common variation of the coasters found at Kings Island, Legoland, Carowinds and other parks. Here’s a video of Freedom Flyer:
Note – For safety reasons, please DO NOT take a camera on a roller coaster without permission from the park.

As you might be able to tell from the videos, there’s some work to be done as Freedom Flyer’s station wasn’t even complete when the video was filmed. I love how White Lightning’s trains look with their train-theming (pictured right).

According to Fun Spot’s Facebook page, the rides are now open although the grand opening is scheduled for June 8th.

At Fun Spot, you can pay-per-ride or pay one price to ride everything. As I’ve said, I’ll definitely check out these coasters the next time I’m in Orlando (hopefully for IAAPA).

More of my thoughts on White Lightning.
Also, for more on these rides and the park’s expansion visit Fun Spot’s website.

What’s Your Take?
Have you ridden either of these new roller coasters or been out to the park to see the new expansion? What’d you think? Leave a comment below. Images courtesy of Fun Spot’s Facebook page.

The Best Backyard Roller Coasters

Since it’s been a few years, I thought I’d share them again and ask what would you build. As far as I know, Jeremy Reid’s wooden coaster Oklahoma Land Run and  John Iver’s looping coaster Blue Flash are the best of the best in do-it-yourself backyard roller coasters. Check out the videos below:

What I’d Build

If money weren’t an object, I’d build a large looping B&M coaster with airtime hills on a vast sprawling terrain. But, to stick with the premise of using my actual backyard, my options would be pretty limited. I live on a less than a quarter of an acre. A boomerang coaster wouldn’t even fit. I guess I’d opt for a small wild mouse coaster that the kids would love. Or on the more intense end of things, a Jeremy Reid-like woodie that could take advantage of my back hill’s steep 12-foot grade would be fun.

What’s Your Take?
If you could have any roller coaster in you backyard, what would you build? Do you know of any more impressive backyard roller coasters? Which of these coasters looks the best to you? Leave a comment below.

For people who love roller coasters (that’d be me, and since you are reading my review, I’d imagine that’d be you as well), intense in a good way is a good thing, and Iron Rattler is loaded with intense, very good things. …. There is no shudder, no shimmying, no screeching, no herky-jerky, bruising body blows. No nothing but a wonderful (if intense in a good way) ride.- Arthur Levine (About Theme Parks)

“Wow, that was a quick action packed coaster. I definitely have to say that my butt spent more time up in the air than it did in the seat, and that’s a good thing.” – Robb Alvey (ThemeParkReview Video)

I definitely feel like New Texas Giant has more little pops of airtime, but Iron Rattler’s airtime is a lot more sustained. I love the barrel roll (never even touched my seat) and the dive into the tunnel. I do wish that Iron Rattler was a bit longer, but I think the same can be said for most great coasters. – narkitty (ThemeParkReview)

I loved the little effects! The water bombs at the bottom of the cliff drop were awesome and the lights were really fun in the tunnel. It was like a mini rave in there and you could see the tunnel walls flying right by you! Really helps the speed as you fly up like 50 feet inside the tunnel! – Jakizle

Here’s an on-ride video of Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and commentary from Robb Alvey of Theme Park Review:

What do you think of Iron Rattler? Leave a comment or rate it below.

Here’s a video of GateKeeper at Cedar Point via Robb Alvey of Theme Park Review:

Cedar Point Goes BIG with GateKeeper

My take on the footage, isn’t really all that profound, but GateKeeper definitely comes across as BIG. In typical Cedar Point fashion, they ordered the big one when they sat down with B&M to design this ride. Six Flags Great America’s X-Flight has a small footprint and stays close to the ground. Dollywood’s Wild Eagle flies higher, but isn’t as long.

Here are some excerpts of reviews that I’ve found on GateKeeper:

The overall experience of the ride itself is mind boggling for those that haven’t ridden a B&M Wing Coaster yet, and will truly give Cedar Point another world star attraction that will please their park goers wondrously so. – Joe R of ThrillNetwork

Gatekeeper is the smoothest ride I have ever experienced and with the inverted drop and many head and foot choppers it’s not one to miss. … Overall a great ride and a home run for Cedar Point. – Jeremy (comment below)

The slow roll was pretty good, the right side is the best for it. The helix was intense, and i got a surprisingly high amount of airtime out of the last hill! …. The ride was great, overall rating 10 out of 10. New number 1. Blowing the old number 1, Alpengiest, out of the water. – Charlie (comment below)

One word: incredible. I haven’t ridden Wild Eagle, but I have ridden X-Flight. I gotta say, they don’t even compare. The whole ride is just a big smooth fun ride. – Nick (comment below)

What’s Your Take?
Have you ridden GateKeeper? What’d you think? How did it compare to X-Flight or Wild Eagle if you’ve ridden those as well? Leave a comment below.

The practice was uncovered by Dr. Wednesday Martin, a social anthropologist who was working on a book about the lives of the wealthy families of New York City’s Park Avenue.

“My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” crowed one mom, who hired a disabled guide through Dream Tours Florida. “You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge,’’ she sniffed. “This is how the 1 percent does Disney.” – New York Post

Via a black market network of sorts, the wealthy were hiring the disabled tour guides for $130 an hour or $1,040 for an 8-hour day. Considerably less than the $310 to $380 per hour for Disney’s VIP guide and fast passes.

Disney is reportedly vowing to take action according to a CNN article. In response to the story, Disney had this to say:

“It is unacceptable to abuse accommodations that were designed for guests with disabilities,” spokesman Bryan Malenius told CNN Wednesday. “We are thoroughly reviewing the situation and will take appropriate steps to deter this type of activity.”- CNN

Bad, Bad, Bad

This is one of the worst stories (that didn’t involve an injury) that I’ve covered on the site. This is a pretty sick practice and I’m interested to see how Disney will combat it. I’d imagine that the ride operators would eventually start seeing the same disabled guides returning to ride with different family members.

You’d think that doing this would be universally panned, but some are actually okay with this stating that the disabled are at least earning some income. I say, wrong is wrong. The parents who are hiring the disabled are wrong as are those who are hired as their using their disability to take advantage of courtesy that the park is offering. A tour company was implicated in the story and they may be at fault too. In summation, this is bad on all three fronts from my point of view.

Lines stink. I get it. They’re a part of visiting a theme park. If you want to avoid or minimize wait times, either plan to visit during a time when lines will be the shortest or pay for a fast pass or some other line skipping pass. Otherwise, face the wrath of the lines. At least you have smart phones these days as a way to help pass the time.

What’s Your Take?
That’s my take on this crazy story. What’s yours? Leave a comment below. Image via CC – Flickr user themissy

Here’s the interview:

“Injuries from smaller amusement rides located in malls, stores, restaurants and arcades are typically given less attention by legal and public health professionals than injuries from larger amusement park rides, yet our study showed that in the U.S. a child is treated in an emergency department, on average, every day for an injury from an amusement ride located in a mall, store, restaurant or arcade,” said Dr. Smith, who is also a professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “We need to raise awareness of this issue and determine the best way to prevent injuries from these types of rides.”

The study includes these steps to insure that your child is safer:

• Always follow all posted height, age, weight and health restrictions.
• Make sure to follow any special seating order and/or loading instructions.
• Always use safety equipment such as seat belts and safety bars.
• Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.
• Know your child. If you don’t think he/she will be able to follow the rules, keep him/her off the ride.
• Trust your instincts. If you are worried about the safety of the ride, choose a different activity.
• Avoid “mall rides” if they are over a hard, un-padded surface or if they don’t have a child restraint such as a seat belt.

I have two small children and by nature I pretty much hover over them and always help them in and out of rides, but I could see how some parents might not be as attentive when it comes to these smaller rides. Also, there’s no ride attendant or operator for these rides like there are at amusement parks and carnivals.

The study’s other major finding is that fixed amusement parks and mobile rides are regulated differently and it calls for more consistent regulation.

Read more highlights from the study: Amusement Parks Injure 4,400+ Kids A Year

What’s Your Take?
What do you think about the study? Leave a comment below.

Awe, No They Didn’t!

I still remember sitting there, awe-struck staring at the first image of the double barrel roll as it was under construction. I remember bugging my wife as I tried to explain the gravity of what I was looking at. The unique wooden looper, Son of Beast had its loop removed and (at that point) its days were numbered. Could it be done better? And who were Rocky Mountain and Silver Dollar City to think that they could pull it off? I’d ridden and loved Rocky Mountain’s New Texas Giant, but it had no loops and its track was entirely steel where Outlaw Run’s wouldn’t be. I had to get down to Branson to find out.

Early Praise

Right out of the gate, Outlaw Run was well-received. A reader even sent in a great review. Read: Early Reviews of Outlaw Run. So, I was as excited as ever when I arrived at Silver Dollar City on a Sunday in late April. I met readers Daryl and Kendra at the park and we quickly made our way to the ride. It was about twenty minutes after the park had opened and there was already a decent line. Not much of the ride is visible from the park’s paths or station, but the double-looping finale is. It was surreal seeing, first-hand now, a wooden coaster doing something so uncharacteristic and odd as back-to-back tight, twisting inversions.

Outlaw Run’s Theme

I was pleasantly surprised by how sister park Dollywood gave Wild Eagle, a kind of inspirational uplifting theme. In a somewhat similar fashion, Outlaw Run was given a theme where: “The Good Guys Always Win”. Building on Silver Dollar City’s 1880′s mining town theme, the ride’s story is centered around a stage coach that’s being chased by outlaws. A wild ride ensues, but in the end the fine, upstanding citizens get away to safety. As Herschend CEO Joel Manby shared (Must-See Outlaw Run Documentary) they wanted to make sure that the good guys were the focus, not the villains. There were certain choices made about the logo and even a monument to law enforcement near the ride. I know that many may not notice these theming touches, but being a parent I can really appreciate the effort. There were also special Outlaw Run-themed treats like chocolates and slushies custom-made for the ride. Lastly, the station includes an authentic Stagecoach Depot with a real stagecoach, luggage and period furnishings.

Boarding the Stage Coaches

Excitement was really building, until it was muted. After a few minutes in line, the ride was down. It was the typical scene when a ride goes down: the maintenance crew was on-hand right away, some people left the queue, and trains were run empty for a while. We decided to stay and got a few laughs from the ride op that was keeping the crowd amused with old-fashioned, family-friendly jokes. After about twenty minutes or so a ride op successfully rode and returned to the station and the ride was running again. Considering this is the debut of Rocky Mountain’s trains and restraint systems, I wasn’t too surprised that they were still working out the kinks. While they’re an inconvenience, these kinds of things don’t worry me as they’re usually caused by the ride’s safety system. So the park is erring on the side of caution.

Rocky Mountain’s trains had a unique look to them. They’re open and more akin to wooden coaster trains. There’s no handle bars or really anything to hold on to. Similar to the cars on some Intamin hyper coasters like Bizarro at Six Flags New England, there’s a lap bar and another bar that goes across your lower-legs/shins. The ride ops make sure that you are fully secured and snug. This doesn’t take away from the ride experience at all. Just keep in mind that they’re doing some one-of-a-kind elements on Outlaw Run and it makes sense that they’d again, be extra cautious.

The Ride Begins

With everyone fully-secured and ready to go, we were off. The train exited the station, passed under the exit ramp and we immediately started our climb. As with a lot of the Silver Dollar City’s rides you get an excellent view of the park’s wooded terrain. Spring had just sprung so there was a sea of light green foliage all around us, but no clear view of the layout or exactly what was ahead. As we crested the top, the train took a short dip fooling some who that we’d roll right over into the big drop. This is likely done so that the train’s completely off of the lift hill. Then, we began the first drop and Outlaw Run’s controlled insanity began.

The Insanely Fun Outside-Turn

The first drop, at a record setting 81-degrees, was exhilarating. Using the park’s terrain, Outlaw Run dove down 162-feet after climbing only 102-feet. The steepness was very apparent and some good airtime was offered. Now down close to the ground, Outlaw Run returns to the sky for a very memorable element. The 153-degree Outside-Turn caused a bunch of “Is it an inversion?” buzz last year when it was being built. I’d argue the fact that it doesn’t completely invert, actually makes it more fun and disorienting. The train rose up flipped upside-down for a moment as it passed through a support structure and then flipped out the other direction. There’s both the head chopper effect with the supports and a bit of orientation confusion as it feels much stranger than it looks on video. I loved this element!

Twisting & Turning + The Wave Turn

Next, close to the ground again, we experienced some good airtime hills via the double-down and double-up. The airtime is definitely on the stronger end of the scale as I was pulled upward rather than just floating out of my seat a little. The next element, known as the Twist & Turn, is another stand out. The train climbed up and turned side-ways as it passed through the lift hill before dumping us into a short steep drop. Again, like the Outside Turn, it was another element that really took me by surprise.

The Wave Turn not only put the train completely on its side, almost like we were riding along side a wall, but was also performed during a terrain-based hill. It was a pretty cool sensation and you feel pretty vulnerable riding at that angle for so long. In rapid-fire succession Outlaw Run has kept the thrills going to this point. For the moment, the World is turned right-side-up again and the layout sneaks in a good little airtime hill, before the showstopping finale.

Double Barrel Roll Goodness

Immediately after the pop of airtime produced by a short hill, the train charged right into the first barrel roll. Outlaw Run completely inverted us in a smooth and quick motion. The second barrel roll was taken a bit slower. As a result, I experienced more hang time and really felt that I was upside-down. After exiting the last loop the train flipped out into a turn that put it straight into the station brakes. The riders applauded as we returned to the station having successfully outran the outlaws.

Does it Work as a Looping Woodie?

It was interesting when Robb Alvey stated that the loops seemed like they were “supposed to be there”. I can see what he meant now. Rather than being some intense element added to an otherwise different kind of ride (Son of Beast), the barrel rolls really do fit. They work and feel right because of the incredibly fun and wild elements that preclude them.

Final Thoughts

The press releases touted 9 moments of those sought after joyous moments we call “airtime” and that’s not just marketing buzz, they’re all there. On Outlaw Run, every element delivers and there’s not a wasted foot of track on the entire ride. I have to give Silver Dollar City credit for going out on a limb to bring us a new, one-of-a-kind roller coaster. Sure, the ride’s related to Rocky Mountain’s other projects, but it still takes some guts to not stick to the tried and true, completely proven formula of a more traditional ride. The gamble paid off as the park can now boast a world-class, record-setting, and extremely enjoyable new roller coaster. For me, Outlaw Run is a Top 10 Roller Coaster and a Top 5 Wooden Roller Coaster.

Here’s a complete POV video for Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City:

One More Thing – Wood, Steel, or Hybrid? Who Cares?

I feel the need to address the controversy among some in the enthusiast community. Some consider Outlaw Run a wooden roller coaster and others prefer to call it a steel coaster. Its track is unusual in that it has a mostly wooden structure, but instead of a relatively small strip of steel on top of the stacks of wood that make the track, there’s a considerably large wide portion of steel that the trains ride on.

Even for a long-time roller coaster enthusiast, and someone who likes to categorize things in general, I’m not going to join the battle on either side. I’ll put it in the wooden category, but it’s something so new and different that I can see why people who say steel as well. If you’re curious, I consider New Texas Giant steel because the rail is entirely made of steel. Again, I’m not going to correct anyone or challenge anyone to a duel at high noon over it. I have been and will be referring to this genre-bending ride as a wooden coaster.

What’s Your Take?
Have you ridden Outlaw Run? What’d you think? Leave a comment and rate it below. Images courtesy of Silver Dollar City.

While I received a complimentary media pass when I visited this park, the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Don’t let this Prowler’s modest stats fool you. This mean cat has a chip on its shoulder. Packed with airtime (moments of weightlessness where you float out of your seat) and lateral g-forces (where you’re thrown to the side), this Great Coasters International woodie is among the best I’ve ridden.

I knew that I was probably going to ride my 250th roller coaster during my trip to Worlds of Fun. I met up with readers Steve and Jeff and after talking with them Prowler was chosen to be 250. We picked a good one. I enjoyed Patriot, Mamba, and Timber Wolf, but one lap on Prowler and I knew that I had encountered a world-class roller coaster on a different level than those rides.

Built in 2009, Prowler is a wooden terrain roller coaster with an interesting layout. After you board the ride’s Millennium Flyer trains, the ride op releases you with one of a number of rhyming sayings like:

“Hide your tracks, watch your back, cause the big black cat’s about to attack!” – “MEOW!”.

Sure, they were a bit cheesy, but I’m all for my stations having some personality.
The train dips out of the station and picks up a little speed as it takes a left turn before charging right into the lift hill. You don’t have much time to take in the view of the twisted layout around you. Before you know it, you’re taking a spiraling dive that sends you back the way you came. The train accelerates and from here to the brakes, Prowler is pure insanity.

One of the ride’s strengths is that it’s tough to see what’s going to happen next. There’s a wild pass-through of the lift hill’s structure. The third hill fooled me pretty good. I was confusing that appeared to be ahead for the moment as the way the train was heading. But Prowler yanked me unexpectedly to the left. The ride continues to toss you around as it transitions between banked turns and short little dips.

The finale comes quickly, but it is quite impressive. Prowler still has tons of speed as it traverses a series of straight, low to the ground, but airtime-packed hills that are likely to surprise as the hills to that point have been curved and banked. There’s another few turns and then the train hits the brakes where riders can finally catch their breath. I rode once in the front and twice in the back. In the back, Prowler seemed to dash a little more angrily, but I can’t imagine that there’s a bad seat on this whole ride.

Prowler is a perfect representation of the out of the control, throw-you-around (but not beat you up) experience that wooden roller coasters should provide. I’d put it right on-par with Dollywood’s Thunderhead, although in at least one way it’s better. Prowler has those traditional straight drops thrown into the twisted, banked, barrage of thrills. Meanwhile, Thunderhead has an entirely twister layout.

Video does not do Prowler justice. It feels much faster and wilder when you’re riding it. I did find some good HD off-ride footage. Here’s a video of Prowler at Worlds of Fun:

What’s Your Take?
What do you think of Prowler at Worlds of Fun? Leave a comment and rate it below.

While I received a complimentary media pass when I visited this park, the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

The teaser has the following text:

Due to the increasing occurance of mysterious and bone-chilling screams, it has become necessary to close this section of the park until the cause of this evil phenomenon can be identified.

I’m in the multi-launch looper camp (like Cedar Point’s Maverick) in terms of what I’d like to see. What kind of roller coaster do you think Kings Island is going to add for 2014? Leave your guess and vote in the poll below. Image courtesy of Screamscape.

For now though, I thought I’d share this awesome documentary on Outlaw Run. It gives a great background on the park, the project itself, and of course the finished product.

In my opinion, it’s on par with something you’d see on Discovery or The Travel Channel. In fact, it may be one of the best roller coaster documentaries I’ve ever seen; probably because it was made by “one of us”. Devin Olson, the creator of the video, was the founder of one of the longest-running theme park fan sites in Coaster-Net.

Watch Outlaw Run – From Dreams to Screams by Devin Olson –

What’s Your Take?
What do you think of the video? Leave a comment below.