Gutterflower

Recently a new ride was added to the RCDB called Actpo Kometa (Astra Comet) which is at a park called Maviland in Samara, Russia. The ride drew my attention because it appears to be a clone of the Togo stand-ups that can be found in America and Japan. However I have no evidence either way that it is a Togo or a knock off. It runs a sit down train which while odd is not unique as the Star Jet at Washuzan Highland also runs one (albeit backwards). The fact this ride has flown under the radar for so long is in itself interesting. And it appears to have a bit of history as the rides control booth caught fire in February 2012. The ride has since been fixed and is running again and both On and Offride videos of the ride can be found and . Below is a collection of picture I have dug up of the ride. The question is is it really a Togo? and if so was it relocated? I suspect it is a Togo since if it looks like a Togo and has the layout of a Togo it probably is a Togo. But I can't be sure, anyone have any ideas? Sources: VHCoasters via Samara KP & Travel Drom

I know. Just wondered why people keep talking about Dubai Giant and the rest of the old stuff as if its for this park?

Is this not a completely new park? All the art work was for the old park by the Tatweer company that when bust. While this one is an entirely new venture with Meraas? And if it really is just Six Flags sticking branding on someone else's park wouldn't all the old plans and artwork be irrelevant now? or is there a connection between the 2 parks I'm not aware of?

Surf Coaster at Sea Paradise in Japan is undergoing a transformation into Surf Coaster Leviathan. The ride will feature new "Blade" trains, special effects and night lighting. Most interestingly the new trains are lap bar only replacing the old Togo OTSR's which can only be a good thing. And they look pretty funky too The ride is due to reopen next Saturday. Source: http://www.seaparadise.co.jp/news/002410.php via http://vhcoasters.com/2014/03/06/surf-coaster-gets-new-trains-and-name-change/

I hope that picture shows up again soon, cause I really want to see it! No problem fixed it.

The rest of the layout for the Mack. There's that 50m loop which will take the largest loop record from Full Throttle. (until Wanda Heifei takes it the next year)

The Wanda Groups planned parks keep getting more interesting. Their recent document outlining 10 planned coasters mentions that their park in Hefei, China is planned to included a 75mph launched coaster with a loop of 55m. Wanda group have also created this model for the Hefei park suggesting the ride will similar to Full Throttle at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Which of course was built by Premier. Interestingly the planned Lewa World park in Xi'an will include a Mack coaster with a loop of 50m. Both of these top Full Throttle's record loop so it will be interesting to see who opens theirs first. Source: http://www.wanda-cti.com/2014/ghxs_0108/454.html

Although i know this is a different Wanda Park I don't see the need to make a whole new topic We have another new Wanda ride to add to the list. An Intamin launched coaster is set to join GCI's "Viper" at the Nanchang park. The ride has been described as the "Ultra-High Coaster Project" and Wanda recently conducted a meeting with Intamin discussing the projects details." An article on the Wanda news site mentions they were discussing details such as the the electrical interface and the construction process suggesting the projects fairly far along. Another article mentions the planned ride will be 74m (243ft) tall, launch at 136km/h (84mph) and be over 1500m long. Other rides mentioned as in planning on the Wanda site are a Maurer Skyloop for Heifei and a Mack Blue Fire ride for Harbin. Source: http://www.wanda-cti.com/2014/newscenter_0221/506.html via http://vhcoasters.com/2014/02/24/wanda-city-nanchang-to-add-intamin-launched-coaster/

Ah yes. So i see. I was fooled by the imagery 2014 copy write at the bottom. Thanks very much. I'm staying at a friends in Vegas next month for a bit. So might go take a look at the Speed track and feel sorry for a bit. Then go ride El Loco to feel better.

I may have missed something but is the ride still stored in the same place near Mandalay Bay and behind that Mcdonalds? Couldn't spot it on Google Maps or Bing. Its on the zoomed out Google Maps but not the zoomed in one. suggesting its gone? Although that zoomed in one looks older? I'm afraid I'm not well versed enough in Vegas to tell.

Although it now appears to be going under a different name, The Sun Group posted this planned image for a park 2 years back. I imagine its the same park. http://vnre.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/sun-group-will-build-son-tra-ocean-park.html I think that's a misprint with the roller coaster too This article actually suggests they plan on building a 2 park resort. http://www.vn-tourism.com/news/lastest-news/two-international-standard-amusement-parks-da-nang

Going to see this in London next week Cannot wait. Reckon they will let me in in my Lego costume?

Posted to parc passions FB site https://www.facebook.com/parcspassion/photos_stream

So me and Duane dug in to some of the other parks. Chavi Park also has a knock off spinning mouse for the world to enjoy. And Hawler Land is in fact now called Majidi Park and has 4 coasters due to open this year. These include a Big Apple, Wild Mouse and Weird Super Big Apple? . Some pics of that last one below. Source: http://vhcoasters.com/2014/02/06/majidi-park-construction/ via http://www.hewa.com/en/investment/majidi-park-arbil Sinbad Land Another new park although this time down south. Currently under construction in Baghdad this seems to have been on hold for a while but its possible life is starting to appear on site. Zamperla mention selling some rides to this park including a Twister Coaster, Disk'O Coaster, Air Race and Vertical Swing. Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1469146&page=4

Iraq is a country many of us wouldn't really associate with theme parks but in recent years the area has seen a bit of a theme park boom. Especially in the South Kurdistan area towards the North of the country. I was digging up some info for the RCDB on a picture I found of a looper in Kurdistan. During this I came across a few more missing off the site and decided to dig deeper I found that there have been several new coasters which have opened in the last few years. I thought people on the forums might like to take a look. Although I can't imagine a TPR trip there any time soon Below is a short run down of the main new coasters and some of the other parks. (there are a few more pics but in the interest of not having the longest post ever I collated at http://vhcoasters.com/2014/02/04/theme-parks-in-iraq/ But i have included all the coasters themselves in this post) Dream City- Duhok Perhaps the leader for parks in the country and one thats been reported on here before, Dream City recently built a huge Ferris wheel as their center piece and in 2010 installed a clone of Drayton Manor’s X-Car coaster G-Force. Poor them. Sources: Kurdistanskyscrapers and Skyscraperpage Chavi Land - Sulaymaniyah The amusingly named (For the British anyway) Chavi Land is a more recent park which has opened up in South Kurdistan and features a new quad looping coaster with an impressive after dark light scheme. Guessing by the design I'm going to say its a Chinese built ride. Sources: Kurdistanskyscrapers and Shafaqq Hawler Land - Erbil Another new theme park in South Kurdistan this park has built a triple looping coaster. The park also has a large Ferris wheel and I don’t believe it is actually open yet. There’s a few names floating around for this park including Lona Park. Sources: Kurdistanskyscrapers Family Fun – Erbil Another park in Erbil bought a custom Vekoma roller skater from the Tatilya in Turkey. The ride used to be an indoor park coaster hence its high stretched out layout. The park has also added a single inversion coaster and a small big apple style ride to go with it. Sources: Panoramio and Panoramio Family Fun – Duhok Currently under construction and due to open 2015 in Duhok the latest Family Fun park is set to open a Boomerang coaster moved from Karolinelund in Denmark. It appears the coaster is already on site and constructed. Sources: Kurdistanskyscrapers Fun City – Kirkuk Another small park this one is home to a small galaxi style coaster. Its possible this coaster was relocated from Baghdad as Its tough to find mention of the one that used to reside there. However it is Iraq so it’s possible its a different coaster entirely. Sources: Skyscrapercity & Ataleoftwocities Azadi Parki - Silêmanî Yet another small city park with a coaster. This one appears to be a small pinfari style looper. It is know a park in Tikrit had a ride similar to this and it seems to be MIA so it could be this one. Source: Flickr Pank Resort - Rawanduz Featured in the British motoring show Top Gear, the Pank Resort isn’t home to any traditional roller coaster but does feature a stunning Alpine Coaster which traverses the side of a mountain down to a massive canyon. Watch the youtube video below for an on-ride. Sources: Arthur In Iraq & Panoramio This is certainly not the end of coasters in Iraq. Al Zawra’a Dream Park in Baghdad is currently expected to add a Vekoma SLC this year which will be the tallest and fastest ride in the country as well as featuring the most number of inversions. I've tried to make the info in this post as accurate as possible but if you know that there are inaccuracies then please let me know.

Here's the official site http://www.xsbnholiday.com/ Its mostly in Chinese but it is possible to navigate (I HATE sites which play music) Took me a little while to dig out the actual park but if you can click through to the main page with a menu along the bottom its the third from the right. Areas appear to be Butterfly Kingdom (B&M Flyer Here) Jungle Adventure Tea Horse Road Fisherman's Wharf (Intamin Water Coaster Here) and a water park. I've taken screens of the concept art for people who can't be bothered to navigate a Chinese site. Here's the concept art for the Intamin Water Coaster The flyer appears here Jungle area. Butterflies Entrance Breaking Ground There's a couple more here but nothing groundbreaking http://vhcoasters.com/2014/02/04/wanda-xishuangbanna-international-resort-concept-art-2/

Great as always Shane. I love the park map on the back of one of those just showing a very simple polygon style map with the names of the rides I know of one thats still operating in Japan at Wonder Rakutenchi. But I don't think its actually an Intamin, Anyone know more? Source: http://87-nikki.jugem.jp/?eid=81 The last one i can think of off the top of my head was at Entertainment City in Kuwait but thats gone now too.

Golden Horse also offer this Anyway on the topic of the Shanghai ride. It does seem a little odd B&M are essentially building a clone of a Vekoma ride. Maybe the park really wanted that layout? but it just seems weird to me. Maybe Happy Valley and Vekoma fell out. The first 3 parks in Shenzhen, Chengdu and Beijing all have Vekoma rides. But none of the latest three do Shanghai, Wuhan and Tianjin. Just speculation but you never know.

Just to clear up any confusion this is actually a different park. Viper is going to Wanda City in Nanchang. Wanda is currently building at least 3 new parks in China. The third one is planned for Harbin in the north. They to be the third big park group along with Happy Valley and Fantawild. Certainly nice to see another company going for Western manufacturers though.

I'm certainly Dorky... Its pretty similar. The same up until after the turn through the pretzel then its a bit different. But not different enough that I expect it to offer a radically different experience.

Been doing a bit of digging this week and on my travels through the Chinese web have found that the Wanda Group (who recently announced that awesome looking GCI, Viper) have announced they have purchased a B&M flyer for their new Xishuangbanna International Resort. There are a few news articles about it on their official site below. I'm afraid they are in Chinese so google translate will need an outing. http://www.wanda-cti.com/2013/newscenter_1017/251.html http://www.wanda.cn/2013/latest_0903/24754.html http://www.wanda.cn/2013/2013_1128/25903.html I decided to dig a little deeper and uncovered this image on the Qiguang Group website under a link for the Xishuangbanna International Resort project. The Qiguang Group have been responsible for the construction of several rides in China including last years Intamin fly rider at Victory Kingdom and the S&S 4D at China Dinosaur Park so its not a stretch to think they may be involved here (if only in ride construction). Look closely and you can see the Wanda logo in the background. If this indeed the proper layout then it looks like a fairly small ride but with a fairly varied layout. Sources: http://vhcoasters.com/ & http://www.qiguanggroup.com/ProductClass-1-1.html

I visited the park last month. Battlestar isn't even listed on the park map anymore. Walking around underneath it is pretty impressive though. It's huge. Great park but it could do with one or two more attractions in my opinion.

I like the new shade of blue. My guess for the red track would be either the launched coaster at IMG World in Dubai or at a stretch Wanda Lewa world in China. (The park getting the GCI Viper) as the park posted pics of a contract signing with Mack a while back.

Looks like this park has run into a couple of legal issues. http://www.kfw001.com/news/html/kfkx/xiangmu/2013/1011/116991.html or here http://finance.sina.com.cn/china/dfjj/20131011/012516951328.shtml Sounds like the park hasn't sorted out its land zoning issues and permits and the local authorities have now opened an Investigation. although hopefully someone who's Chinese is better than mine can translate that page well enough to get a better idea.

Just booked my flights to Perth for Mid December so following this with a keen eye. thanks for the updates.