Airtime&Gravity

Legoland is looking to build a park in Illinois again, still by St. Louis, and a tax incentive bill for the park is being discussed in the state legislature. At $200 million, it should be a good park, and at least they have a realistic attendance goal for when it opens. Link

^I think the 15-20 years was for the toxic waste island being used and not for the park's expansion. Unless the locals are like those who live by Alton Towers, that would be unnecessarily early to get permission from the city to build a coaster.

Again, sorry to throw Great America stuff in a KBF thread, but on another forum we were having a discussion about this. All anyone remembers is that the ride was in the boneyard and was carted off in pieces one day. I have to believe they sold off the parts to CF or some other 1st gen operator. I think I remember reading that CGA's Edge was sold to Beto Carrero World, but I'm not 100% sure.

I'm not sure what coaster yet, but it will probably be either Raging Bull or Viper on closing day. Not a great year, but not a bad one, as I got to visit three new parks and ride twelve new coasters. Although, considering I didn't take any major trips this year, it was pretty good.

^ Nice trip report. I haven't gotten to Fright Fest yet this year, but how does it compare to previous seasons? I don't think there are any new mazes or areas, but is the overall festival better, worse, or about the same?

I also don't see the reasoning behind this. If Demon Drop had been relocated to Michigan's Adventure or sold to a park without a drop tower, then it would make sense. However, relocating a first generation free fall ride to a park with a modern free fall ride doesn't make any sense. Then again, La Ronde is getting an SLC, so anything is possible. I know Demon Drop looks different than Supreme Scream, but I still can't see how this will work from a gp perspective. Although, if I go to Knott's, I'll still ride it, so no complaints from me, but I'm just trying to figure out the logic behind this decision.

Also If Any - Scott Murphy I'm listening to it from the music video on Youtube since it isn't available on iTunes.

In either 2008, I was going to go to Great America on a day when it was supposed to rain. The forecast wasn't bad, and I figured the park would be dead. As I'm turning into the road that leads to the parking lot, it begins to pour, and the person at the parking lot booth says the park is going to close for the day. In 2008, I was in Gurnee, and I decide to make a quick stop at Great America. Immediately after I get to home town square, a huge gust of wind comes, and it begins to storm. Other than that, I haven't been to a park in extreme weather. I've been to parks when it has been very hot and humid, and I've been to parks when it has been cold and rainy. Riding coasters in the cold isn't that bad, but riding them when it is humid is. The worst this year was when I visited Indiana Beach and Michigan's Adventure when it was in the 90s.

Elissa's evil twin is at it again. Link

My list: Six Flags Great America (13x, plus a few more before the end of the season) Kiddieland Indiana Beach Michigan's Adventure In all, I got 12 new coaster credits, so not great, but for a season where I didn't travel far, it was a good season.

Thunder Eagle, which has been sitting in a field up in Canada for sale since being bought from Bell Island also fits the stats closely. After the reviews of Dania Beach Hurricane, I hope it's this coaster. http://www.rcdb.com/606.htm Good news for the park, and hopefully I find the time to go up to southern Canada to ride it when it opens.

18/20 - It should be 19/20, but I was rushing and made a stupid mistake

G-trains?...ouch Although, how are they on Legend or Falken? I know they are bad on Boss, from experience, but I haven't heard much about them on those two coasters. The plans for the coaster sound great though, and hopefully Texas Giant becomes the coaster it was back when it opened. I'm not sure how the fog and fire effects will be worked in, but I'm interested to see what Six Flags comes up with.

^Just like with Riverview, the owners probably figured they could make more money in the short term by just selling the land. In the short term, selling the land now, if possible, would still bring in more money than if they kept the park operation. People want more money now, not to bring in a smaller amount over several years. (even if it will result in more money over time) Greed is what killed the park, not a lack of attendance. As for the relocation, I hope it happens. Also, as I mentioned earlier, Utica is where people are trying to rebuild Santa's Village. Hopefully the projects merge, with the rides coming from Kiddieland, and the buildings from Santa's Village.

Let Go - Midtown

A repainted Sky Treck Tower will look nice , and hopefully more rides and buildings are repainted during the off season. I assume the repainted tower will look similar to CGA's, which looks pretty nice. As for what's coming in 2009, it should be pretty good for the park. I've heard good things about the parade at other parks, and the public seems to really like them. I'm fine with 2010 being an off year, but I wonder why Six Flags keeps putting a "Future Site of New Attraction" sign in front of Space Shuttle America if nothing goes there the next season.

While it is unusual that it will be at a park that already has an invert, it should still be a hit with the crowds. Remember, Great America had three inverted coasters (including two shuttle coasters) at one point. All three were popular, and hopefully this can achieve the success that Vampire has. As for the ride itself, I'm not a fan of the colors, but I do like the location. I wonder if the ride will be similar to Infusion and X2 and have fire and water effects, as that would certainly differentiate the ride from Vampire.

Actually, I'd rather have Chang go to Great Adventure, although I'd like to see the park receive several flats before a new coaster. It is just that all the information at the time have it coming up here. I'd much rather have Greezed Lightning come back to its first home. The ride other ride that I'd like to see come up to Great America, in addition to Greezed Lightning, is the ferris wheel like I mentioned in my first post.

Yeah, I doubt Kentucky Kingdom will be around much longer. Twisted Twins - torn down Chang - SFGAM Greezed Lightning - probably scrapped T2 - Great Escape Thunder Run - Probably torn down, but it could be relocated, so let's say SFA Roller Skater - Could go anywhere Road Runner Express - Could go to several parks: SFA, SFoG, SFSTL...pretty much any park except SFMM, SFGADV, SFGAM I don't recall there being too many non kiddie rides, but SFGADV, SFA, and SFMM could probably use the flats the most. Great America could use the ferris wheel. These aren't based on anything, just where I think the rides could go. It will be sad to see Kentucky Kingdom close, but having it turn into a water park will probably be best for its survival.

If Kentucky Kingdom closes, I say Great America takes Greezed Lightning back. While the future doesn't look bright for Kentucky Kingdom as a ride park doesn't look bright, it could do really well as a water park. There is just so much competition from Holiday World and Kings Island that Kentucky Kingdom seems to be forgotten. I have family down there, and they've never been to Kentucky Kingdom, but they go to Kings Island instead. Plus, even with all the changes, and especially with the horrible Superman accident, the park doesn't have the best reputation. I like Kentucky Kingdom, and while I'd be sad to see it close, I think a conversion into a water park would be great. Plus, they could probably keep some of the rides on the larger side of the park, and they could probably keep everything on the smaller side of the park if they wanted to too.

While I'll gladly take Chang over Iron Wolf, I still have my doubts that it'll end up at Great America. I think Great Adventure would be a much better home for it. They have the room, and they don't have a stand-up coaster (although they used to). Also, Great Adventure sounds a lot like Great America, so maybe whoever claimed it is going to Great America got the parks mixed up. Then again, with La Ronde getting a SLC to go along with the Batman clone, anything is possible. Airtime - who didn't believe Chang would leave SFKK - &Gravity

^Only in the sense that B&M mega coasters are floorless. While your feet don't touch the floor, a floor still exists. I was looking at the stats of this coaster on the Vekoma website, and this thing makes the Intamin half pipes loo like kiddie coasters. This will be Vekoma's tallest and fastest coaster, standing 197ft tall with a top speed of 67mph.

From my understanding of the ride, the cars rotate 180* at the top of the towers. This looks like a lot of fun, and I'm amazed that it was actually built, since I was sure it never would. If this works well, hopefully more will be built in the coming years. That being said, I expect this ride to experiene a lot of downtime during the first year it's open.

While it may have been the result of maintenance, is it possible that an earlier rider's cell phone fell into the launch track like with Kingda Ka back in 2005/06? Either way, hopefully those injured make a full recovery. As for the effects this will have on the media and general public, of course it will be blown out of proportion like amusement park accidents are. Then again, the general public says rides that have never had an accident have had deadly accidents, so there will probably be no long term effect.

Bump The park might not be dead after all. While it will no longer operate in its current location, the owners are looking to move to Utica. Utica also happens to be where Grand Bear Lodge is, an indoor water park with a small indoor amusement park, and the owners there are trying to rebuild Santa's Village. Starved Rock State Park, the most visited state park in Illinois, is also located there, so there should be no problem bringing guests in. Link The news on the relocation is towards the bottom.