Six Flags Sells 7 Parks

Several months ago, Six Flags stated that they intended to sell several of their amusement parks in order to decrease debt. PARC 7F has decided to purchase Six Flags Darien Lake, Elitch Gardens, Frontier City and the White Water Bay water park, Enchanted Village, Splash Town (located in Houston, TX), and Waterworld USA (located in Concord, CA). The seven parks will be sold for a total $312 million. Six Flags also dismissed the speculation that they are planning to sell one of their flagship parks, Magic Mountain.

Tony Hawk Spins Into Six Flags Fiesta Texas

'Tony Hawk's Big Spin' was recently announced as the newest addition to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for the 2007 season. Big Spin will be a spinning coaster that holds passengers in 4 seat cars. The coaster will be themed as a skateboarding ride. It will have skateboarding elements throughout the ride. The coaster, designed by Gerstlauer, will be just over 1,300 feet long as it travels up to 52 feet from the ground. Fiesta Texas also plans to renovate it's boardwalk this winter with new plank for the boardwalk as well as a new fast food area.

Highly Themed Mystery Mine Drops into Dollywood

Next spring, Dollywood ( a park named after Dolly Parton, herself) will unleash a state of the art, highly themed coaster, Mystery Mine. Mystery Mine is a one-of-kind attraction that incorporates visual and audio effects with thrilling coaster elements such as a 95 degree drop, a first in the U.S. The coaster will reach speeds close to 50 mph and contain two inversions. The coaster will cost Dollywood $17.5 million, making it the largest off season expansion in Dollywood's history.

New Coaster Coming to Valley Fair

Next season, vistors of Valley Fair (located in Shakopee, Minnesota) will be in for a treat. The park recently announced that a new western themed wooden coaster, Renegade, will be opening in the spring. Renegade is being designed and built by Great Coaster International. The coaster will feature an original first drop that will twist the rides from right to left. The coaster will also feature several terrain-hugging turns and a fly-by over the ride's queue line. The coaster should max out at 52 mph and feature over 3,100 feet of track.

New Dive Coaster Opening At Busch Gardens Europe

Busch Gardens Europe has started construction on their fifth coaster, Griffon. Griffon, opening in Spring of 2007, will be the world's largest Dive Coaster. Dive coasters are coasters that start with a standard lift hill followed by a brief pause at the top of the hill, only to be followed by a 90 degree drop and an arsenal of other elements. Griffon will feature over 3,100 feet of track and will boast speeds reaching 71 mph. The unique trains on the coasters will be made up of three rows with ten seats per row. Busch Gardens Europe is known for their beautiful landscaping, detailed European theming, and world renowned coasters.

Cedar Point announces 17th Coaster for 2007

Cedar Point (located in Sandusky, OH) has announced their newest coaster opening next spring, "Maverick." Maverick will feature a 95 degree first drop! The ride will be over 4,400 feet long, including 2 launches, three inversions, and reaching speeds of up to 70 mph. Maverick will be Cedar Point's 17th coaster, which ties with Six Flags Magic Mountain for most coasters in a single park.

Six Flags Darien Lake Shortens Season

Six Flags announced that Darien Lake (located near Buffalo, NY) will not be opened this October. This announcement comes just a week after Darien Lake announced that the Batman Thrill Spectacular stunt show was shut down for the rest of the season. Darien Lake is one of several parks that Six Flags stated "could be up for sale." Some of the parks highlights include Superman: Ride of Steel (an Intamin hyper coaster) along with a water park and a large amphitheater that hosts concerts and events throughout the summer.

Sweet anniversary for Hershey Park

Next year Hershey Park, located in Hershey, PA, will be celebrating it's 100th anniversary with a completly new area of the park. The new area of the park is titled "The Boardwalk." The Boardwalk will be made up of waterslides, a wavepool, a childrens area, new games, new food stands, new shows, and much more. The area will be filled with truckloads of sand shipped to the park to create a more authentic beachfront location. Stay tuned, because Hershey Park should be releasing more details over the next few months.

Changes on Pirates

As many of you may know, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest came out in theatres this weekend. In conjunction with the film, Disney also overhauled their classic Pirates of the Carribean ride at Disneyland and Disneyworld. The new ride includes animatronic characters from the film as well as a new story and many new visual and audio effects. Although the reviews of the new ride have been positive, some diehard Disney fans are in uproar over the changes to the classic boat ride.

Link of the Month: Coasterradio.com

This months link is Coasterradio.com. Coaster Radio is a weekly podcast that discuss' almost all topics that are present in the amusement park industry. The show has an extremely high production value that rivals that of a professional radio show. This month, the coaster radio crew will be podcasting from four parks in Pennsylvania. You can be sure that the podcasts will include some great tips, reviews, and interviews along the way. The podcast's hosts aren't the most knowledgeable when it comes to coasters, however, their fun and entertaining personalities make up for it. The website also has a small forums section, and several reviews and articles.

Amusement Park Spotlight: Holiday World

Now that amusement park season is in full swing, it is only right to write about a park that has gotten a lot of attention from the enthusiasts over the last year or so. Holiday World, located in Santa Claus, IN, is home to three of the top wooden coaster in the world. The Raven, The Legend, and their newest coaster, The Voyage. The Voyage is one of the longest coasters in the world, marking in at 6442 feet! The Coaster reaches speeds of over 67 mph and contains several underground tunnels. The coaster, built by Gravity Group, is arguably the best wooden coaster in the world. What makes this independent park special, apart from the amazing coasters, is the friendly and helpful staff, the clean midways, and of course, the free soft drinks.

Link of the Month: Themeparkcritic.com

Themeparkcritic.com is June's link of the month! This is the go to site for user reviews of almost any amusement park ride. With thousands of reviews, you'll be sure to find this site informative and extremely useful when deciding on what rides to hit up next time you head out to a new park. The site also has a medium sized forum section, as well as a news section.

Cedar Fair Purchases Paramount Parks

Cedar Fair, owner of several large amusement parks across the country such as Cedar Point and Dorney Park, has purchased all Paramount Parks for $1.24 billion. There are four Paramount Parks in the United States and one in Canada. The purchase of these parks should come close to doubling Cedar Fair's annual revenue. Over the last year Cedar Fair has been cutting admission prices and lowering the cost of food at their parks. These price cuts have been welcomed by park goers, who are were hit with a barrage of admission and parking increases by Cedar Fairs competitor, Six Flags.

Tatsu Opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain

The worlds largest flying coaster is now up and running at Six Flags Magic Mountain! Tatsu (Japanese for "Flying Beast") was built by Bolliger & Mabillard, known for their smooth and reliable coasters. The coaster is over 3600 feet long, travels at speeds up to 62 mph, and contains 4 inversions. This will be one of SFMM's only rides that interacts with the terrain. The ride will fly past trees and other environmental structures as well as other rides at the park. This is Magic Mountain's 17th coaster, regaining the parks crown as coaster capital of the world (The park was formerly tied with Cedar Point, which has 16 coasters).

Link of the Month: ThrillNetwork.com

This month Link of the Month is ThrillNetwork.com. ThrillNetwork is one of the most popular and largest coaster-related sites on the web. It contains a news section that is updated very frequently along with a huge forum section with thousands of members. They even produce a podcast titled "In The Loop." ThrillNetwork is a great place to go if you are just getting into coasters or if you have been an enthusiasts for many years.