Mother's Day Brunch - Lakewood, Colorado

To contact us Click HERE
Have plans for Mothers Day? Join us for brunch:
Holiday Inn Denver-LakewoodMother's Day BrunchMay 10, 2009 10am - 3pm Buffet will include:
Fruit and Juices
Assortment of Salad
Breakfast meats
Wild Rice Blend
Breakfast Potatoes mixed w/ peppers
Mashed Potatoes
Scrambled Egges
Mushroom chicken
Omelet and Waffle Stations
Pork Loin
Breakfast Burritos with green chili
Baked Halibut
Peel and Eat Shrimp
Carving Station with Ham and Beef
A combination of cakes, cheesecake and pie$24.95For Mothers Day Brunch Reservations at the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood call:303-985-4882 So treat your mom to a wonderful treat on Mothers DayJoin us for a Brunch near Denver, COwww.hilakewood.com/dining

Denver New Year's Eve Package

To contact us Click HERE
Join the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood to celebrate New Year's Eve 2009!

Exclusive package is only $99 and includes:

• Accommodations for 2 in a beautifully renovated guest room
• Bottle of Champagne to share
• Breakfast and Mimosas in the Sporting News Grill Restaurant in the morning
• 1pm Late Check-out on New Year's Day... or
• Extend your stay for only $59 (our Friends and Family Rate)

Denver New Year's Eve Hotel Package

www.hilakewood.com

Denver Broncos' Fans Unite!

To contact us Click HERE
Are you ready for some football??

We sure are at the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood.  We are celebrating football season and our favorite team, The Denver Broncos, with our Denver Broncos' Fan Special! 

This $94 deal includes:

• Accommodations for 2
• 2 Drinks at the Sporting News Grill
• 1 Appetizer to share

Come take advantage of our 16 flatscreen TV's in the Sporting News Grill, enjoy an evening out... and if you're lucky enough to have Denver Bronco's tix, it's an easy Lightrail ride into Downtown Denver!

Book your Denver Broncos Fans Special Now!

We're Back, and We're Stuffed

To contact us Click HERE
Well, after a Holiday Hiatus, we're back! First thing I want to do before getting to some editorials is to catch up on some of the bigger news.

So, the Transformers ride is opening. This is considered big news, so here's a recap. It's basically a new version of the Spiderman ride in my viewpoint, but I suppose this is a good backup plan for Universal if and when they ever lose their Marvel license to Disney. Slashfilm reported recently that the attraction vehicle is an actual transformer. Your car is a character. My good friends over at Topless Robot had this to say:

Transformers: The Movie: the Ride is just about ready to open in Universal Studios Singapore, and one of the local news stations did this report on what getting to the ride will be like. I feel like it's notable for two reasons:
1) That it could take up to 1.5 hours of waiting in line to actually get on Transformers: The Ride. The idea that anyone would wait up to 90 minutes for a ride based on Bayformers -- unless they were some sort of war criminal, and this was their court-mandated punishment -- depresses me to no end.
2) On the other hand, as the newslady is happy to point out, the walls surrounding the queue will be full of buttons to press and switches to flip, so that people can "entertain" themselves while waiting. By pressing buttons and hitting switches. Like developing infants do with toys.

As harsh as that sounds, I can't disagree. However, I'm sure I'll be amazed with the technology once it opens. You can make up your own mind by viewing this video.


In other news:

-I should point out that we have seen a new type of ticketing system put into use that could possibly eliminate turnstiles.

-Coney Island is celebrating its roots with some new construction work.

-Kennywood sold Pitfall, so could a new ride be on the way?

-TDS celebrates its 10 birthday just in time for the holidays.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! And if you didn't, it could be worse. The Pilgrims had to catch their own turkey. I'll leave you with a look at what that might have looked like, courtesy of Sally Dark Rides.

...we're back?

To contact us Click HERE
Hello readers!

First of all, I definitely need to apologize for the lack of updates. I've been ridiculously busy with other things over the past several months, and I regret not updating this sooner. Sadly, I simply haven't had time. Thank you to those who have continued to visit and check on the site - I appreciate it greatly.

On that note, I'm hoping to get the site going again with news, Impressions, photos, and other possible new features. What better day to pick back up than on our one year anniversary! That's right, we've been up for one year today (even if we have been gone for several months), and that's an achievement I'm quite proud of. Thanks once again for your readership.

So, what have we been doing? Spring break this year included stops at Thorpe Park and Disneyland Paris, so expect to see reviews for those up sometime in the near future. On top of that, I still have one to finish off from last year; again, oops. Right now, I've just uploaded 100 photos from Thorpe to our Facebook page, including lots of pictures of The Swarm. Head on over and check it out, and maybe go ahead and like our page while you're at it ;)

I'll be sure to post as often as possible, but I can't guarantee daily updates right now. As always I'll do my best. For now, enjoy the Thorpe Park photos, and thanks for sticking with us!

-Wynn

Mother's Day Brunch - Lakewood, Colorado

To contact us Click HERE
Have plans for Mothers Day? Join us for brunch:
Holiday Inn Denver-LakewoodMother's Day BrunchMay 10, 2009 10am - 3pm Buffet will include:
Fruit and Juices
Assortment of Salad
Breakfast meats
Wild Rice Blend
Breakfast Potatoes mixed w/ peppers
Mashed Potatoes
Scrambled Egges
Mushroom chicken
Omelet and Waffle Stations
Pork Loin
Breakfast Burritos with green chili
Baked Halibut
Peel and Eat Shrimp
Carving Station with Ham and Beef
A combination of cakes, cheesecake and pie$24.95For Mothers Day Brunch Reservations at the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood call:303-985-4882 So treat your mom to a wonderful treat on Mothers DayJoin us for a Brunch near Denver, COwww.hilakewood.com/dining

Denver New Year's Eve Package

To contact us Click HERE
Join the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood to celebrate New Year's Eve 2009!

Exclusive package is only $99 and includes:

• Accommodations for 2 in a beautifully renovated guest room
• Bottle of Champagne to share
• Breakfast and Mimosas in the Sporting News Grill Restaurant in the morning
• 1pm Late Check-out on New Year's Day... or
• Extend your stay for only $59 (our Friends and Family Rate)

Denver New Year's Eve Hotel Package

www.hilakewood.com

Denver Broncos' Fans Unite!

To contact us Click HERE
Are you ready for some football??

We sure are at the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood.  We are celebrating football season and our favorite team, The Denver Broncos, with our Denver Broncos' Fan Special! 

This $94 deal includes:

• Accommodations for 2
• 2 Drinks at the Sporting News Grill
• 1 Appetizer to share

Come take advantage of our 16 flatscreen TV's in the Sporting News Grill, enjoy an evening out... and if you're lucky enough to have Denver Bronco's tix, it's an easy Lightrail ride into Downtown Denver!

Book your Denver Broncos Fans Special Now!

We're Back, and We're Stuffed

To contact us Click HERE
Well, after a Holiday Hiatus, we're back! First thing I want to do before getting to some editorials is to catch up on some of the bigger news.

So, the Transformers ride is opening. This is considered big news, so here's a recap. It's basically a new version of the Spiderman ride in my viewpoint, but I suppose this is a good backup plan for Universal if and when they ever lose their Marvel license to Disney. Slashfilm reported recently that the attraction vehicle is an actual transformer. Your car is a character. My good friends over at Topless Robot had this to say:

Transformers: The Movie: the Ride is just about ready to open in Universal Studios Singapore, and one of the local news stations did this report on what getting to the ride will be like. I feel like it's notable for two reasons:
1) That it could take up to 1.5 hours of waiting in line to actually get on Transformers: The Ride. The idea that anyone would wait up to 90 minutes for a ride based on Bayformers -- unless they were some sort of war criminal, and this was their court-mandated punishment -- depresses me to no end.
2) On the other hand, as the newslady is happy to point out, the walls surrounding the queue will be full of buttons to press and switches to flip, so that people can "entertain" themselves while waiting. By pressing buttons and hitting switches. Like developing infants do with toys.

As harsh as that sounds, I can't disagree. However, I'm sure I'll be amazed with the technology once it opens. You can make up your own mind by viewing this video.


In other news:

-I should point out that we have seen a new type of ticketing system put into use that could possibly eliminate turnstiles.

-Coney Island is celebrating its roots with some new construction work.

-Kennywood sold Pitfall, so could a new ride be on the way?

-TDS celebrates its 10 birthday just in time for the holidays.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! And if you didn't, it could be worse. The Pilgrims had to catch their own turkey. I'll leave you with a look at what that might have looked like, courtesy of Sally Dark Rides.

...we're back?

To contact us Click HERE
Hello readers!

First of all, I definitely need to apologize for the lack of updates. I've been ridiculously busy with other things over the past several months, and I regret not updating this sooner. Sadly, I simply haven't had time. Thank you to those who have continued to visit and check on the site - I appreciate it greatly.

On that note, I'm hoping to get the site going again with news, Impressions, photos, and other possible new features. What better day to pick back up than on our one year anniversary! That's right, we've been up for one year today (even if we have been gone for several months), and that's an achievement I'm quite proud of. Thanks once again for your readership.

So, what have we been doing? Spring break this year included stops at Thorpe Park and Disneyland Paris, so expect to see reviews for those up sometime in the near future. On top of that, I still have one to finish off from last year; again, oops. Right now, I've just uploaded 100 photos from Thorpe to our Facebook page, including lots of pictures of The Swarm. Head on over and check it out, and maybe go ahead and like our page while you're at it ;)

I'll be sure to post as often as possible, but I can't guarantee daily updates right now. As always I'll do my best. For now, enjoy the Thorpe Park photos, and thanks for sticking with us!

-Wynn

Hersheypark Names New CEO and Talks Future Plans

To contact us Click HERE

Pennsylvania's Patriot News has a feature on Hersheypark's new leader and CEO, William F Simpson, Jr, who will replace Ted Kleisner, who is retiring at the end of the year.  Mr Simpson's new role will include presiding over the entire Hershey resort destination, including the park, hotels, restaurants and other recreational facilities.

With a new leader always comes new changes, a few of which are already being spoken of.  Two restaurants, both at Hershey branded hotels, will be renovated into new concepts starting next year.

As for Hersheypark, of which we are all very interested, the article mentions that park visitors always request more coasters and water rides - and with Skyrush just having opened that means we can probably bank on a water park expansion sooner than later.

Speaking of Skyrush, it sounds like it did not give the park quite the banner year they expected, but that's probably more a reflection of the economy more than anything else.  The article states the park did around 2.5 million guests in 2012.

While the park has denied so thus far, rumor has it that Roller Soaker will make an exit from Hersheypark at some point soon - so that'll make some nice new space for a water park expansion.  Only my theory, of course.

---

Denver New Year's Eve Package

To contact us Click HERE
Join the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood to celebrate New Year's Eve 2009!

Exclusive package is only $99 and includes:

• Accommodations for 2 in a beautifully renovated guest room
• Bottle of Champagne to share
• Breakfast and Mimosas in the Sporting News Grill Restaurant in the morning
• 1pm Late Check-out on New Year's Day... or
• Extend your stay for only $59 (our Friends and Family Rate)

Denver New Year's Eve Hotel Package

www.hilakewood.com

Denver Broncos' Fans Unite!

To contact us Click HERE
Are you ready for some football??

We sure are at the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood.  We are celebrating football season and our favorite team, The Denver Broncos, with our Denver Broncos' Fan Special! 

This $94 deal includes:

• Accommodations for 2
• 2 Drinks at the Sporting News Grill
• 1 Appetizer to share

Come take advantage of our 16 flatscreen TV's in the Sporting News Grill, enjoy an evening out... and if you're lucky enough to have Denver Bronco's tix, it's an easy Lightrail ride into Downtown Denver!

Book your Denver Broncos Fans Special Now!

We're Back, and We're Stuffed

To contact us Click HERE
Well, after a Holiday Hiatus, we're back! First thing I want to do before getting to some editorials is to catch up on some of the bigger news.

So, the Transformers ride is opening. This is considered big news, so here's a recap. It's basically a new version of the Spiderman ride in my viewpoint, but I suppose this is a good backup plan for Universal if and when they ever lose their Marvel license to Disney. Slashfilm reported recently that the attraction vehicle is an actual transformer. Your car is a character. My good friends over at Topless Robot had this to say:

Transformers: The Movie: the Ride is just about ready to open in Universal Studios Singapore, and one of the local news stations did this report on what getting to the ride will be like. I feel like it's notable for two reasons:
1) That it could take up to 1.5 hours of waiting in line to actually get on Transformers: The Ride. The idea that anyone would wait up to 90 minutes for a ride based on Bayformers -- unless they were some sort of war criminal, and this was their court-mandated punishment -- depresses me to no end.
2) On the other hand, as the newslady is happy to point out, the walls surrounding the queue will be full of buttons to press and switches to flip, so that people can "entertain" themselves while waiting. By pressing buttons and hitting switches. Like developing infants do with toys.

As harsh as that sounds, I can't disagree. However, I'm sure I'll be amazed with the technology once it opens. You can make up your own mind by viewing this video.


In other news:

-I should point out that we have seen a new type of ticketing system put into use that could possibly eliminate turnstiles.

-Coney Island is celebrating its roots with some new construction work.

-Kennywood sold Pitfall, so could a new ride be on the way?

-TDS celebrates its 10 birthday just in time for the holidays.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! And if you didn't, it could be worse. The Pilgrims had to catch their own turkey. I'll leave you with a look at what that might have looked like, courtesy of Sally Dark Rides.

...we're back?

To contact us Click HERE
Hello readers!

First of all, I definitely need to apologize for the lack of updates. I've been ridiculously busy with other things over the past several months, and I regret not updating this sooner. Sadly, I simply haven't had time. Thank you to those who have continued to visit and check on the site - I appreciate it greatly.

On that note, I'm hoping to get the site going again with news, Impressions, photos, and other possible new features. What better day to pick back up than on our one year anniversary! That's right, we've been up for one year today (even if we have been gone for several months), and that's an achievement I'm quite proud of. Thanks once again for your readership.

So, what have we been doing? Spring break this year included stops at Thorpe Park and Disneyland Paris, so expect to see reviews for those up sometime in the near future. On top of that, I still have one to finish off from last year; again, oops. Right now, I've just uploaded 100 photos from Thorpe to our Facebook page, including lots of pictures of The Swarm. Head on over and check it out, and maybe go ahead and like our page while you're at it ;)

I'll be sure to post as often as possible, but I can't guarantee daily updates right now. As always I'll do my best. For now, enjoy the Thorpe Park photos, and thanks for sticking with us!

-Wynn

Scott And Carol Present - The Unveiling of Outlaw Run's Coach at IAAPA

To contact us Click HERE

Welcome to News Plus Notes' same day coverage of IAAPA 2012. For all you Northerners, yesterday it was 82 degrees late in the afternoon, and snow was an Internet only memory. The trade floor is open for business and all the doors were crowded as attendees stormed the floor.

Silver Dollar City unveiled the first almost completed car for Outlaw Run and she is a beauty. Brad Thomas of Silver Dollar City and Fred Grubb of Rocky Mountain Construction did the honors, after a short countdown and shouts of “Pull that drape.”

Fred, and his wife Suanne, stand next to the car which features lap bar restraints only, and some very fancy handlebars on each side. If you look closely, their are slight cutouts on each side of the front base plate, which are required for the 3 degree roll necessary in the barrel roll element.

Here is a side view of the train. Look at the detailed pin striping! Only at Silver Dollar City in spring 2013.

Alan Schilke designed the layout for Outlaw Run and he offered these comments. "I have included the 180 degree inversion many proposals but nobody was interested until it was incorporated into a turn. I try to make the layout look impossible, but I always maintain excellent safety standards for my designs. This was a very fun ride to design, and both Rocky Mountain Construction and Silver Dollar City are excellent partners to work with for this project."

---

Scott And Carol Present - Gravity Group Announces Mt. Olympus' Hades 360 for 2013

To contact us Click HERE

With a very well kept secret, Nick Laskaris presented an updating of Hades, the first wooden coaster to have a 90 degree turn and a bidirectional tunnel. He admits that "I always have to be different, and for me, too much is not enough." Nick also said "I didn't let Son of Beast deter me from fulfilling this passion of owning great wooden roller coasters."  Hades 360 will feature a fully upside down roll element along with a new 135 degree banked turn.

That is a very wide smile for someone about to spend $1.5 million to change what was already a very good roller coaster. The crew is hard at work in Wisconsin Dells taking the section of Hades in the parking lot down to the ground. There will also be a large amount of retracking on the rest of the layout and, of course, some new Timberliners on Hades 360.

The Laskaris family joins members of the Gravity Group behind the new nose cone for Hades 360. It would be interesting to hear the dinner conversation one night when Nick tells his wife, Eva, "I think I'm going to spend lots of money to redo Hades, and by the way, we're buying a new train for the ride also."

According to Nick, "I am a very lucky man because Eva supports me in everything I do." Eva is looking forward to the first ride next summer.

Kory Keipert explains how "We did have calculations left over from the previous Custom Coaster days, but we didn't use any of them. We have been constantly improving our design tools because we are curious about the limits of wooden roller coasters. We are using 12 layers of 1 x width wood because we can make tighter twists without splitting. That technique is another new tool we started using recently." What a fun job, sitting around thinking of ways to improve roller coasters.
Here is a link to a virtual ride:


Summer of 2013 is going to be epic, because this is just a couple of the exciting announcements so far.  Stay tuned for further details.

---

Disney's Hollywood Studios Previewing new Jack Sparrow Attraction

To contact us Click HERE

Disney's Hollywood Studios is now previewing their latest attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow, to guests of the park before it officially opens on December 6th.

I didn't follow the announcement of this attraction too closely, and honestly wasn't too sure what it was until videos of it started appearing online yesterday.  Orlando Attractions Magazine filmed the experience, so if you do not want to know just what takes place, then skip this video!

As you can see, the attraction mostly relies on audio, lighting, and video effects to entertain. I have to wonder if small kids might have a bit of a cry-fest in this one, the combination of loud and dark usually have that result.

The projection of Jack Sparrow is particularly nice, very similar to the characters in Universal's Forbidden Journey queue line.  While the attraction is by no means a big marketable addition, it's certainly nice filler for the Studios, which could use it. 

I love how it pokes fun of itself, too, as Jack departs with "come back in eight minutes and we'll do it all over again."

---

Iron Rattler's Curves

To contact us Click HERE

© Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Crazy!  That's the first thing I thought when I saw this photo that Six Flags Fiesta Texas released of the Iron Rattler under construction.  Crazy in a good way, of course.

The track is banked at what looks like 90 degrees, but take notice that it's not really during a curve, it's actually just banked that way on some straight track.  I'm a little behind on this one, as the park posted it a couple weeks ago, but it's worth the repost in my opinion.

Also, did you all hear that the industry-famous Jeffrey Siebert is returning to the ride side of things from the word of Schlitterbahn by becoming the Marketing Director at Six Flags Fiesta Texas?  Mr. Siebert really became a loved industry professional when he worked at Kings Island, and with Fiesta Texas debuting a massive new coaster this year I have a feeling we will see some interesting things from him.

---

Aerial Antics: Lake Winnepesaukah

To contact us Click HERE

With more and more new Google 45 degree images appearing, suddenly I have plenty of new parks to feature here in Aerial Antics.  A prime example of this is Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park, or just Lake Winnie as it is commonly referred.


And there's the lake that gives the park its name!  Lake Winnie is built around the water, with rides lining midways that extend on three sides of it.  The park first opened back in 1925 or so, so there has been a lot of development over a long period of time - traditional amusement park by design you could say.


The park offers an impressive collection of flat rides, a large portion of which can be seen above.  There's the classics like a tilt-a-whirl, sea dragon, and mat slide aside plenty of others - big and small rides mixed together.


The park takes advantage of its lakeside location to the fullest, with some rides and attractions over the water.  The Wacky Factory is in the center of the photo, which Scott & Carol covered and visited when it opened in 2011.  There's a Wacky Worm hiding among the trees behind the Wacky Factory, if you look close.  This park is too wacky!


One of Lake Winnie's oldest rides is the Boat Chute, an original mill chute water ride and the oldest operating one in the U.S.  The boats plunge down toward the lake and then skim across the surface, before moving back to their leisurely pace. 


The Cannon Ball is Lake Winnie's big ride, a John Allen designed wooden coaster that opened in 1967.  The ride is about as a traditional out and back as they come, filled with plenty of air-time hills along the way out... and back, of course!

The area adjacent to the Cannon Ball, which looks like it is currently used for parking, was recently announced to become a water park next Summer.  By my guesses, it'll look a lot like this: 


Pretty nice looking, right?  I have a feeling that the water park addition is going to be a huge success for Lake Winnie.

Here is a link to Google's aerials of Lake Winnie if you'd like to look around.

---

Denver Broncos' Fans Unite!

To contact us Click HERE
Are you ready for some football??

We sure are at the Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood.  We are celebrating football season and our favorite team, The Denver Broncos, with our Denver Broncos' Fan Special! 

This $94 deal includes:

• Accommodations for 2
• 2 Drinks at the Sporting News Grill
• 1 Appetizer to share

Come take advantage of our 16 flatscreen TV's in the Sporting News Grill, enjoy an evening out... and if you're lucky enough to have Denver Bronco's tix, it's an easy Lightrail ride into Downtown Denver!

Book your Denver Broncos Fans Special Now!

Scott And Carol Present - The Unveiling of Outlaw Run's Coach at IAAPA

To contact us Click HERE

Welcome to News Plus Notes' same day coverage of IAAPA 2012. For all you Northerners, yesterday it was 82 degrees late in the afternoon, and snow was an Internet only memory. The trade floor is open for business and all the doors were crowded as attendees stormed the floor.

Silver Dollar City unveiled the first almost completed car for Outlaw Run and she is a beauty. Brad Thomas of Silver Dollar City and Fred Grubb of Rocky Mountain Construction did the honors, after a short countdown and shouts of “Pull that drape.”

Fred, and his wife Suanne, stand next to the car which features lap bar restraints only, and some very fancy handlebars on each side. If you look closely, their are slight cutouts on each side of the front base plate, which are required for the 3 degree roll necessary in the barrel roll element.

Here is a side view of the train. Look at the detailed pin striping! Only at Silver Dollar City in spring 2013.

Alan Schilke designed the layout for Outlaw Run and he offered these comments. "I have included the 180 degree inversion many proposals but nobody was interested until it was incorporated into a turn. I try to make the layout look impossible, but I always maintain excellent safety standards for my designs. This was a very fun ride to design, and both Rocky Mountain Construction and Silver Dollar City are excellent partners to work with for this project."

---

Scott And Carol Present - Gravity Group Announces Mt. Olympus' Hades 360 for 2013

To contact us Click HERE

With a very well kept secret, Nick Laskaris presented an updating of Hades, the first wooden coaster to have a 90 degree turn and a bidirectional tunnel. He admits that "I always have to be different, and for me, too much is not enough." Nick also said "I didn't let Son of Beast deter me from fulfilling this passion of owning great wooden roller coasters."  Hades 360 will feature a fully upside down roll element along with a new 135 degree banked turn.

That is a very wide smile for someone about to spend $1.5 million to change what was already a very good roller coaster. The crew is hard at work in Wisconsin Dells taking the section of Hades in the parking lot down to the ground. There will also be a large amount of retracking on the rest of the layout and, of course, some new Timberliners on Hades 360.

The Laskaris family joins members of the Gravity Group behind the new nose cone for Hades 360. It would be interesting to hear the dinner conversation one night when Nick tells his wife, Eva, "I think I'm going to spend lots of money to redo Hades, and by the way, we're buying a new train for the ride also."

According to Nick, "I am a very lucky man because Eva supports me in everything I do." Eva is looking forward to the first ride next summer.

Kory Keipert explains how "We did have calculations left over from the previous Custom Coaster days, but we didn't use any of them. We have been constantly improving our design tools because we are curious about the limits of wooden roller coasters. We are using 12 layers of 1 x width wood because we can make tighter twists without splitting. That technique is another new tool we started using recently." What a fun job, sitting around thinking of ways to improve roller coasters.
Here is a link to a virtual ride:


Summer of 2013 is going to be epic, because this is just a couple of the exciting announcements so far.  Stay tuned for further details.

---

Disney's Hollywood Studios Previewing new Jack Sparrow Attraction

To contact us Click HERE

Disney's Hollywood Studios is now previewing their latest attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow, to guests of the park before it officially opens on December 6th.

I didn't follow the announcement of this attraction too closely, and honestly wasn't too sure what it was until videos of it started appearing online yesterday.  Orlando Attractions Magazine filmed the experience, so if you do not want to know just what takes place, then skip this video!

As you can see, the attraction mostly relies on audio, lighting, and video effects to entertain. I have to wonder if small kids might have a bit of a cry-fest in this one, the combination of loud and dark usually have that result.

The projection of Jack Sparrow is particularly nice, very similar to the characters in Universal's Forbidden Journey queue line.  While the attraction is by no means a big marketable addition, it's certainly nice filler for the Studios, which could use it. 

I love how it pokes fun of itself, too, as Jack departs with "come back in eight minutes and we'll do it all over again."

---

From The Vault: SeaWorld Ohio 1998 Trip Planner

To contact us Click HERE

As promised from last week's Vault, here is the SeaWorld Ohio trip planning booklet from 1998.  The park is now known as Wildwater Kingdom, and besides perhaps some fish no animals call this place home anymore.


SeaWorld Ohio first opened in 1970, directly across the lake from then Geauga Lake.  A part of the Busch properties, it thrived for some time, eventually being sold to Six Flags, and then to Cedar Fair - which marked the end of animals at the park.  Instead it was cleared out and water attractions were moved or built, and today it still operates as Wildwater Kingdom.  That's the park history in one minute or less.

Here we see the cover of the booklet, advertising plenty of New Sensations to experience at the park.  What was new?  Let's see!


There really was plenty new in 1998 for guests to check out, the biggest of which was the new Shamu Advenutre show, presented by Jack Hanna and featuring the park's killer whales, Shamu and Namu.  A popular part of SeaWorld Ohio was the water ski show, and there was a new one this year named Intensity Games.  I wonder if it was anything like Hunger Games?

The park also celebrated each night like it was the 4th of July with the Red, Bright and Blue laser and fireworks spectacular.  The show utilized a huge water screen in the center of the lake that had lasers displayed on it.

And we must not forget the pooches, they were the main draw of the all new, All-Star Mutts show.


As a marine life park, most of the shows featured animals as the stars.  Such was true of both the park's bird show and sea lion show, who was home to Clyde and Seamore.  To keep guests busy into the evening hours, the park presented the Rockin' Summer Nights show, a special evening killer whale show at Shamu Stadium.

As with other Busch parks at the time, Jack Hanna often visited for special events, and the tie (which has grown considerably stronger since then) with Sesame Street can be felt.


If I remember correctly, the SeaWorld Parks added the word "adventure" to their name around this time, and that was the start of more traditional amusement rides being added to the properties.  SeaWorld Ohio had a 4-D theater that was showing Pirates! 4-D Hi-tech Adventure at the time.

An aquarium and outdoor sea lion pool were also highlights, and I believe a dolphin area was transformed into a water activity area, and part of the lazy river, when the water features took over.


Shark!  The amount of different animal exhibits was pretty neat, and much like those at the other SeaWorld parks.  Many remember SeaWorld Ohio as a small park, and lesser than its siblings, but its atmosphere and selection of attractions made up for that, I think.  The locations was pretty nice, too.  I remember sitting in Shamu stadium watching the Big Dipper rolling across the lake and thinking why, oh why, did my family pick this over Geauga Lake?!  Now I'm just happy I visited at all.


Here the information part of the booklet, which features the park's schedule - May through September - direction, hours and the like.  There's also the park map, which is pretty fun to take a look at, and consider what resides there now.  In fact, here's a pretty good comparison of just that:


Things are quite different these days.  Both of the park's large stadium theaters are gone, one has turned into a wave pool.  The water ski stadium is now home to lounge chairs, and the Eagle Reserve is home to a really rather tall tower of water slides. 

Not all of the former SeaWorld Ohio park is used, though, on the right side where the 4-D theater, shark encounter, and Shamu's Happy Harbor play area once were is now closed off and slowly rotting.  On the left part of the park everything above the former sea lion stadium is closed, including the former aquarium. 

I've always thought it was odd that the former bird show theater is still standing, if for no other reason than the value in the aluminum seats.  With a second phase originally planned for Wildwater Kingdom, then later canceled, perhaps more of the park will eventually be developed.  And perhaps not.

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Scott And Carol Present - Gravity Group Announces Mt. Olympus' Hades 360 for 2013

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With a very well kept secret, Nick Laskaris presented an updating of Hades, the first wooden coaster to have a 90 degree turn and a bidirectional tunnel. He admits that "I always have to be different, and for me, too much is not enough." Nick also said "I didn't let Son of Beast deter me from fulfilling this passion of owning great wooden roller coasters."  Hades 360 will feature a fully upside down roll element along with a new 135 degree banked turn.

That is a very wide smile for someone about to spend $1.5 million to change what was already a very good roller coaster. The crew is hard at work in Wisconsin Dells taking the section of Hades in the parking lot down to the ground. There will also be a large amount of retracking on the rest of the layout and, of course, some new Timberliners on Hades 360.

The Laskaris family joins members of the Gravity Group behind the new nose cone for Hades 360. It would be interesting to hear the dinner conversation one night when Nick tells his wife, Eva, "I think I'm going to spend lots of money to redo Hades, and by the way, we're buying a new train for the ride also."

According to Nick, "I am a very lucky man because Eva supports me in everything I do." Eva is looking forward to the first ride next summer.

Kory Keipert explains how "We did have calculations left over from the previous Custom Coaster days, but we didn't use any of them. We have been constantly improving our design tools because we are curious about the limits of wooden roller coasters. We are using 12 layers of 1 x width wood because we can make tighter twists without splitting. That technique is another new tool we started using recently." What a fun job, sitting around thinking of ways to improve roller coasters.
Here is a link to a virtual ride:


Summer of 2013 is going to be epic, because this is just a couple of the exciting announcements so far.  Stay tuned for further details.

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