Recently, I was asked about the highlights of my 5 years of blogging. Getting to talk to the people behind our favorite theme parks and roller coasters has to be one of the biggest thrills of this adventure. Back in 2009, I had the opportunity to speak with Louis Alfieri who was one of the designers behind Rip Ride Rockit.
Happy New Year! It’s time once again to recap the biggest theme park news stories of 2009. The Roller Coaster Class of 2009 The two huge roller coasters that opened in Orlando had very different fates. SeaWorld’s Manta opened early to rave reviews while Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit opened several months late with mixed reviews. To be fair, Rockit is
A Look at Silly Roller Coaster Records and Weak Distinctions To wrap up “Record Breaking Roller Coasters Week”, I wanted to discuss marketing hype with regards to records. Theme Parks looking to make a splash with a new attraction love to tout that their new ride has a distinction tied to some record. For example, over the past few years
2009 Golden Ticket Awards: Best Roller Coasters of 2009 Once again, Amusement Today has announced the winners of their annual Golden Ticket Awards. Here are the lists of the top wooden and steel coasters based on the votes received by the industry publication. Golden Ticket Awards – Top Wooden Coasters of 2009 There’s not usually a whole lot of movement
Today, the roller coaster speed crown passes from New Jersey to Nürburg as Ring°Racer is set to officially open at Nürburgring, Germany. The former record holder Six Flags Great Adventure’s Kingda Ka, tops out at a blistering 128 mph. Ring°Racer will push the envelope even further with a top speed of 134 mph (217 km/h). The world’s new fastest coaster
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit’s bright red track has changed the skyline of the Universal Studios Orlando with it’s 167 foot vertical lift and one-of-a-kind non-inverting loop. Aside from the roller coaster’s unique layout, riders will be able to choose their own soundtrack for their ride, and afterwards, cut their own personalized music video of their ride. Today, Universal Studios Orlando released the song list
Mountain Coaster Reopens With A New Look & New Train Ghost Town in the Sky is a western-themed amusement park on the top of a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. The park just reopened their steel looper now dubbed Cliff Hanger. It has been renovated, repainted, and best of all given an all new train that
I’ve been nervous to even write about the new Bizarro at Six Flags New England. Obviously, the revamped Intamin hyper coaster isn’t really new. It’s another in a line of renovated roller coasters in Six Flags’ new era of roller coaster makeovers. Why would I be nervous? Superman Ride of Steel is my #1 ranked roller coaster and I consider it
From Medusa to Bizarro at Six Flags Great Adventure: The World’s First Floorless Roller Coaster Takes a Bizarre Twist Back when new CEO Mark Shapiro took over Six Flags he was interviewed at Six Flags Over Georgia. He pointed at the brand new 20-story hyper coaster Goliath and stated “No more of those.” Now, after 2008′s X2 at Magic Mountainand
After the eight hour drive down to Orlando for the Manta Grand Opening and Media Day, I was hoping to not be disappointed and thankfully I wasn’t. It was my first time to SeaWorld
Theme Park Hype’s Latest Submitted Links
The Coaster Critic's Blog is your source for opinionated roller coaster reviews, theme park reviews and a coaster enthusiast's take on all the latest theme park news. Read more...
RSS Feed
Email
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Kindle
Recent Comments