Z Roller Coaster

Dollywood
700 Dollywood Lane
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
United States

Thunderhead, located in Thunderhead Gap at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN, is a monster twister built by Great Coasters International. From the first twisting dive, it delivers strong laterals, a healthy dose of airtime, and enough high banked turns to make any coaster green with envy. With turns banked so high that the railings become headchoppers, Thunderhead doesn’t stop until the final and only brake. This is definitely, one of the highest regarded wooden coasters in the world.

Knoebels
Route 487
Elysburg, Pennsylvania
United States

In 1985, Knoebels was looking to add a coaster to it’s arsenal of great rides and found one. The only problem was that it was sitting abandoned in the closed Playland Park in Texas.

Instead of purchasing a new coaster, Dick Knoebel took the initiative to move this Schmeck gem to Knoebels and save half the costs of building a similar coaster from scratch. Needless to say this was a popular move in the eyes of coaster enthusiasts who have always supported the preservation of these classic rides.

Everyone was a winner, and it seemed that the ride improved as a result of it’s move. It is now the most popular coaster in the park, and provides more airtime than almost anything out there.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. says it plans to eliminate the dividend it has paid out to investors every year since 1987.

It’s something Chairman and Chief Executive Dick Kinzel once said he would never think of doing. But times are tough for Sandusky-based Cedar Fair, which says it saw 1.2 million fewer visitors at its 11 amusement parks and seven water parks across North America during the first three quarters of 2009. Those include Cedar Point in Sandusky, King’s Island near Cincinnati and Geauga Lake’s Wildwater Kingdom in Aurora.

The company is also $1.6 billion in debt, and much of it must be refinanced in 2012. The debt is largely a result of Cedar Fair’s $1.24 billion purchase of five Paramount parks in 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

Cedar Point
1 Cedar Point Rd
Sandusky, Ohio
United States

At a cost of $25,000,000, Cedar Point broke another precedent with the construction of Millenium Force. The first complete circuit coaster to break the 300 ft. mark.

From it’s elevator style lift, to the overbanked turns that litter the course, Millenium Force became a crowd favorite and quickly placed itself at the top of Industry lists.

After a quick ascent up the lifthill, the car drops at a stunning 80 degrees to the ground and begins a course that will keep you close to the ground through much of the ride. During it’s fast pace trip you will encounter two camel back hills that will float you in your seat no matter what part of the train you are in. – Ted Cromwell

One of New England’s most beloved roller coasters was the Giant Coaster at Paragon Park. When the Nantasket Beach park closed its gates in 1985, most folks probably presumed that the wooden behemoth was reduced to a pile of rubble. Good news! The coaster was moved piece by piece to Six Flags America near Washington, D.C. where it is now known as The Wild One. Celebrating its 90th birthday in 2007, the old woodie still more than holds its own. It’s been said that you can’t go home again, but, for a few minutes anyway, The Wild One takes you back to New England’s Golden Era of roller coasters.

Six Flags Great Adventure
Route 537
Jackson, New Jersey
United States

El Toro’s unique design, inspired by the agility and strength of the brave Matadors, features a hybrid design including a classic “out and back” track with four fast-charging drops, multiple highly-banked turns and a beastly “twister” finale. El Toro will also deliver nine “airtime” opportunities, giving riders the highly-sought thrill ride sensation of weightlessness.

Kings Dominion announced today the addition of the United States’ 2nd giga coaster.  This ride will be 305 feet tall and travel more than 90 mph.  Some fans have been disappointed that it isn’t exactly what their imaginations had expected, but at $25 million we can hardly complain in this economy.  It should be a great ride and as some people have said, it looks to be a “Maverick on steroids.”  If this is true, it will make for one truly awesome ride.  More to follow, but get the full details

Confirmed Roller Coasters & Rumors for 2009
Kings Island will be getting a B&M hyper coaster for 2009. Construction has been pretty apparent even though no official announcement has been made. The layout which first appeared in First Drop magazine last November looks great. It will ride off into the woods behind the Tomb Raider ride, much the way The Beast does.

There’s an area being cleared that looks like where the station and a water splash section will be built. The water splash will act to slow the trains down at the end of the ride like on Griffon and SheiKra. So far this new unnamed project is tied for my favorite ‘09 coaster with Manta. More at ScreamScape. Image courtesy of ScreamScape. Read the rest of this entry »

With the popularity of hybrid wooden coasters, those constructed with a steel structure instead of wood or the newest variation built with a pre-fabricated wood track, many roller coaster fans have been wondering if those constructed entirely of wood are going to be a thing of the past.

It’s not that fans don’t enjoy the new variations, some of which have recieved rave reviews and won awards like The Voyage at Holiday World or El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure. What concerns them is the possible loss of the past. Are we losing, some part of Americana? Is the true wood roller coaster fading away to be replaced by the newer variation?

Well “woodie fans” you need not worry, the designers of all wood roller coasters have not disappeared. Instead they’ve been hard at work in Sunbury, Pennsylvania designing a new thrilling attraction for Kentucky’s Beech Bend Park. Read the rest of this entry »

BUENA PARK, Calif. — An amusement park in Southern California says a cable snapped on a roller coaster, sending a 12-year-old boy and a man to hospitals with injuries.

Knott’s Berry Farm spokeswoman Jennifer Blazey says the accident on the Xcelerator roller coaster happened shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Orange County amusement park.

Blazey says the cable caused a laceration to the boy’s leg and back pain in the man.

Both were taken to hospitals but there was no word on their conditions Friday. Blazey says hospital officials declined to provide information because of patient privacy laws.

She says the ride, which is inspected daily, has been shut down. The state is investigating.

Blazey says it’s the first problem since the ride opened in 2002.