jedimaster1227

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando/2010/01/aquatica-pictures-of-new-omaka-rocka-water-slide-under-construction.html

After much quiet, Universal has finally released some news regarding their South Korea project. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business ... 8270.story It is definitely good to hear that Korea's Studios is still an active project, considering the silence surrounding the project. After seeing the incredible amount of quality and detail put into the Singapore resort, I'm definitely excited to see Korea's resort built from the ground up. It is very interesting to see the leaders of Lotte get involved; something which I think will only benefit the resort, especially in its first few years of operation.

"Paging Barry Hom... Mr. Barry Hom. Your show's revival has arrived!" In all seriousness, thanks for sharing this with us Erik! I never got to see The Making of Me during my visits to the Wonders of Life pavilion, so this is an interesting experience for me. That being said, I still prefer Martin Short when in Canada.

^The announcement came out back in August... I guess it was just overlooked in the wake of bigger news.

_____________________________________________________ Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has sent us a series of announcements and updates regarding their latest project, the Sesame Street Safari of Fun. This new family section of the park is similar in basic concept of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Forest of Fun. The original press release reads: A second, more recent press release was also sent out regarding details of the new area: And to finish with the written information, Busch Gardens has given us a "Fun Facts" sheet with information about all of the different aspects of the Safari of Fun. This is definitely an exciting addition for Busch Gardens, and a fitting replacement for the aged Land of the Dragons. Mark Ross shows off Air Grover to the guests of the hard hat tour... Vice President of Design & Engineering Mark Rose with Bif, the construction worker from Sesame Street The final Safari of Fun logo A rendering of the entire area as it will be divided... A final rendering of Air Grover ole0.bmp The early Safari of Fun logo

Carowinds has sent us a press release about their latest charity activity in conjuction with the Dale Earnhardt Foundation: Carowinds has also uploaded some great photos of their progress, including the arrival of the ride's trains on their website: http://www.intimidator.carowinds.com/public/latest/gallery/index.cfm

^I would consider them the predecessor, but they are different in several ways. The Coaster Footage series still has music and features several POVs in each segment. The RAW series has no audio besides what is recorded with the footage you see and focuses on the rides as individual segments.

I was expecting Fright Deck.

^^That information was posted on the previous page. Please make sure to check the thread before you post information that could already be present. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2010/01/merlin-entertainments-buys-cypress-gardens.html

Screamscape has been tipped off about some new property ownership documentation indicating the sale of the troubled Cypress Gardens Adventure Park to Merlin Entertainment (the owners of Legoland, SeaLife and the Tussaud's group which includes Alton Towers and Thorpe Park). http://www.screamscape.com/html/cypress_gardens.htm As mentioned above, when you search "Land South Adventures" (the previous owner of Cypress Gardens), four of the five most recently updated documents list Land South Adventures as the "grantors" and Merlin Entertainments Group Florida as the "grantees." http://ori2.polk-county.net/wb_or1/or_sch_1.asp Considering that Merlin had expressed interest in the location not too long ago, I can't say I'm entirely surprised, but the concept of a high-quality attraction in the plot still worries me. Cypress Gardens' greatest weakness has always been its location, and I'm not exactly sure that even a brand as strong as Legoland could convince crowds to drive through the residential mess that leads to the park. That being said, I can also say that I am absolutely excited for the prospect of a Merlin park in Orlando, especially if it ends up being a Legoland. Considering the amount of existing infrastructure within the park (especially the water park), I can't imagine it being too difficult to overlay the Lego theme onto some existing attractions to save some money, while spending the real money to transform this aged attraction into a destination for tourists and locals alike.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/01/chocolate_world_to_add_create.html

http://discovermyrtlebeach.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2765

Hersheypark has sent us a new press release about their latest involvement with the Children's Miracle Network. It is always great to see parks getting involved in causes like this, so I'm always happy to see news on the topic making its way into our inbox...

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/michael-jackson-them-6224/

Screamscape has summed up what seems t be another interesting (yet lengthy) chapter in the Six Flags story. PARC Management, the company that bought several of the former Six Flags parks seems to have missed its payment window, neglected to pay the late fees and has completely ignored its required annual payment. Six Flags has now filed a claim that, if approved, could return control of those properties back to Six Flags. http://www.screamscape.com/html/industry_news.htm#SixFlags The entire claim can be found online here: http://www.kccllc.net/documents/8812019/8812019100108000000000008.pdf

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10013/1027880-100.stm

It seems to be a busy day in the news for Cedar Fair and the many issues it seems to be facing with this potential sale... http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/cedar_fair_executives_to_keep.html http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2010/01/12/front/1857053.txt http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/cedar_fairs_swift_tumble_pendi.html

I had too many ideas to keep to one entry, so here are all three of them. He just wanted to taste perfection... And he did. I have a feeling this will be a wet kiss... Delicious and refreshing.

^While it is purely my opinion, I would hardly call Time Machine miserable. Andrew and I had a few pretty decent rides on it, and there were some nice pops of air here and there. Sure it had a little bit of B&M rattle, but I've experienced the same thing on the Hulk at Islands of Adventure as well. For what the ride is (an icon for the park) and what it does (serves as the most popular attraction in the park), it does well. The guests eat every ounce of it up, and I doubt there are many in the general public that pick away at the rattle, simplicity or lack of commodity in it like we would here. I guess the way I always try to look at things is from the two-sided perspective... As enthusiasts, we tend to look further into things that the general public does, and considering that they are the majority while we are the minority, their words matter more. As I said before, I doubt an average guest really looks at a coaster like Time Machine and says "It shook too much and I think that made it miserable." Considering parks of this size (and smaller) still have vintage Arrow coasters (and Vekoma SLC's--which I happen to like, but I am among the few) that do far more damage than a little B&M rattle, and yet they are still successful. I just think we are at times too critical of the concept of success vs. failure in attractions like this because we take things from our perspective, as opposed to the mass perspective.

^In regards to Disney using a "street-view" type system, they haven't yet. But, they were the ones to take advantage of Google Earth's 3-D view in which major portions of the park (buildings and attractions) can be seen in 3-D view within the Google Earth program.

The Tempest by Pendulum

Danny Rogers has provided another "oh-so-insightful" update on why Southern Star Amusements isn't already in the park working to get it reopened for a new season... And apparently money isn't the issue... Mayor Ray Nagin is. http://unofficialjazzlandinfo.yuku.com/topic/1918/t/Please-keep-out-of-the-park.html?page=2

Hersheypark has released some early information regarding their Springtime in the Park event: Hersheypark has also sent out a press release regarding their inclusion the growing list of parks utilizing Google Maps' Street View to tour their park and hotel virtually. A screenshot of the system at work...

Quassy has provided us with a press release announcing their latest addition for the 2010 season: "Free Fall ‘N”

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/