The Coaster Critic / August 22, 2011
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 two similar high altitude swings
The Coaster Critic / July 31, 2010
UPDATE – See my Top 10 Picks for the Best New 2011 Roller Coasters: Part 1 & Part 2 Also, for a recap of previous year’s new roller coasters, check out my New for 2009 | New Roller Coasters for 2010 page. It’s the time of the year when theme park fans turn into detectives. We scour the Web for
The Coaster Critic / July 26, 2010
MSNBC.com’s 10 Gut-Churning Attractions – Amusement Park Rides For the Emetically Immune Recently, I was interviewed by MSNBC.com for an article about extreme thrill rides and roller coasters. I came up with a list, but the writer only chose a few of them. He also chose a few rides from Robb Alvey of Theme Park Review and Robert Niles of Theme
The Coaster Critic / April 30, 2010
Straight from the headlines of Theme Park Syndicate, here are some of the biggest news stories. Busch Gardens to Add a Drop Tower Much like during the creation of Griffon, Busch Garden’s future plans are revealed by a height waiver submitted to the local government. This time the waiver mentions a “thrill attraction of a single tower not to exceed
The Coaster Critic / December 13, 2009
Most Overrated Roller Coasters: Which Roller Coasters Can’t Live Up to the Hype? There are roller coasters that are very highly regarded. Some of these rides deserve their status, while others are way over hyped or overrated in my opinion. “Overrated” lists will always be controversial as everyone has their own take on which rides are good and even which
The Coaster Critic / September 19, 2009
Xcelerator Accident @ Knotts Berry Farm In a pretty scary accident, a cable on the Xcelerator at Knotts Berry Farm snapped injuring two riders. Making the incident even worse for the Los Angeles area park, a video of the accident was posted on YouTube and it’s “gone viral”. Xcelerator is a launch coaster sending riders from 0 to 82 mph
The Coaster Critic / June 28, 2009
BrainRush: Game Show on a Roller Coaster This Summer on Cartoon Network you can watch unsuspecting park guests get thrown into an impromptu game show while riding a roller coaster. The concept is a lot like Discovery Channel’s Cash Cab, only instead of being driven around the busy streets of New York City, contestants are being flipped upside-down, launched from
The Coaster Critic / January 10, 2009
I figured I’d recap my 2008 theme park trips all in one post including my favorite and worst rides of the year. Thanks to reader Daniel for the idea after he recapped his year. If you have trip reports you’d like to share for last year or in the future feel free to send them in and I’ll post them.
The Coaster Critic / October 10, 2008
California Theme Park Trip Report – Part 2 The Conclusion of the SoCal Theme Park Blitz featuring A Night at Knott’s BerryIt was getting late and I figured if I was going to squeeze in Knott’s it was time to head to X2 (4:40) and face my long wait fate. Luckily, the wait was drastically reduced. Instead of over 2
The Coaster Critic / March 31, 2008
Both Coasts Get Zamperla MotoCoasters in 2008Zamperla will be bringing their motocoasters to the U.S. in two different installations. MotoCoaster at Darien Lake, near Buffalo, NY will be a stock installation with bikes that riders will mount. Staying in step with Knotts Berry Farm’s western theme, the Pony Express will feature horses. ScreamScape has a real picture of the horse
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