bert425 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 so late last year, the Circuit of the Americas F1 racetrack in Austin, out of the blue announced a new addition: COTAland - a kiddie carnival area, with a bunch of kiddie rides and a kiddie coaster: https://www.facebook.com/CircuitofTheAmericas/videos/216323643344037 it made sense, as they have a go-kart track there, and several other more adult things (Concert Venue, with bars, and the COtA tower, you can buy a ticket to go up and overlook the F1 track).. . . but really not much for the kids to do (other than the kiddie track, or a ride along with an adult in the two seater carts on the adult track) but there have been a lot of queries as to if they are going to be getting any "adult" rides. . and the answer is "yes" as several things have been getting teased (on local pages, and by the manager of the COTAland site) - yes, mainly carnival type flats, but that's still SOMETHING permanent in the Austin area. (as opposed to the Carnival that comes with the annual rodeo). well, just about an hour ago, it was revealed that COTAland is getting a ride that is coming from a UK park, and they are going to refurbish it and give it a new name. And after a "word scramble" guessing game, it has been revealed that it will apparently be "Raptor Attack" from Lightwater Valley that they just shut down in 2020. the actual unscramble was: Anton Schwarzkopf Wildcat so yes, it's going to be a traveling carnival coaster, but so what? Austin is getting a Schwarzkopf Wildcat. how cool is that? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 So ... it's Austin for the Blues ~ the BBQ ~ and now the BIG coaster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 ^ well, biggest in the area. . . only other things closer are family spinners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 ^ Noted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigboy Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 The guy that's running the park used to be the Ops manager at SFOT. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaykethekid Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Hope this plays out well for that park! Anytime a closed Schwarzkopf gets a new lease on life, it's a win in my book. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur_Seaton Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 I grew up close to Lightwater Valley and rode that coaster a lot when it first opened as The Rat. Now I live in Austin, so it's kind of funny that it'll be down the street from me once more. Granted, what made The Rat stand out was the subterranean queue and whatnot. But still, nostalgia . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 took them a while, but the coaster is on site, and almost complete (saw it last night when we went to Circuit of the Americas for KISS ) it's missing some track still, but was told (by the ADA driver who drove us from the main gates to the Amphitheater) that the coaster would be up and running by Friday for a big motocross event at the track on 10/1. LOL. . I mentioned to him how odd I hadn't seen any advertising that the Coaster was standing already. . and he pointed out to me that there's quite a big section of track still missing (you can only ride once as it stands at the moment, but it's a hell of a drop :P) Looks great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 some of the other rides at "COTA-land" . . . (the other coaster (big apple kiddie), nor the kiddie rides were up and running (I guess they figured no reason to staff with an older crowd for the concert), but the more adult rides on the other side of the main gates were running and had lines) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 Who else was playing with KISS? I saw them about 6 years ago when I took my father for his 60th birthday (he was a huge KISS fan back in the day) and my opener was Def Leppard (more my speed haha). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 3 minutes ago, Mike240SX said: Who else was playing with KISS? I saw them about 6 years ago when I took my father for his 60th birthday (he was a huge KISS fan back in the day) and my opener was Def Leppard (more my speed haha). ugh. . . no one. David Lee Roth had been on the "Farewell" tour with them pre-Covid shut down. he was supposed to be with them when they started it back up, but didn't happen. Not their fault, but what IS their fault? putting this Painter "Garibaldi" as their opening act. i get it. . Paul likes to paint these days, and I'm sure he's thrilled to have someone to talk painting with while on tour. . but what a let down to the fans for the "final" tour, and they don't even have a band opening? instead it's this AGT painter who paints to music and then flips the canvas upside-down to "reveal" the subject? lame. . . most folks completely ignored him and just talked about KISS with the neighbors while waiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 oh, and Def Leppard sounded AMAZING on that tour. vocally they were so much better than KISS. . but as usual, the KISS stage show blew them away easily. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 update from the COTA-Land Sr. Mgr. (I guess the ADA driver is the COTA version of Dippin Dots employee. . LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 and just announced at IAPPA? COTALand is getting that unnamed Gerstlauer Infinity Shuttle coaster (1st in the USA). . .opening in late 2022. tho it's not "Unnamed" any more. . gonna be called "Palindrome" WOW. . so we're getting TWO coasters in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas, COTAland. https://www.facebook.com/RideEntertainment/videos/1570862509920887 and they've already uploaded the POV video to YouTube. . Palindrome! looks amazing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swfan1988 Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Great News for you Bert, celebrate away! Looks like everyone can finally (truly) justify a pitstop in between Over Texas and Fiesta Texas! (Oh, and SeaWorld too...) The unique layout looks great, I hope this is a sign of things to come for this park! Unfortunately, it also looks like the "awesome looking rides with dumb names" theme continues this year...ArieForce One...Palindrome...what's next, Hotwheel's Coaster? Also looking forward to that big new Gerstlauer coming to Cedar Point that (almost) every theme park youtuber confirmed... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 21 minutes ago, swfan1988 said: Great News for you Bert, celebrate away! Looks like everyone can finally (truly) justify a pitstop in between Over Texas and Fiesta Texas! (Oh, and SeaWorld too...) ah. . you're forgetting ZDT's "Switchback Railway" tho, in Seguin. that wooden shuttle coaster is absolutely worth a stop on that trip from Arlington to San Antonio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 I actually like the name Palindrome and that stall over the roadway looks incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Congrats to Austin on having the world's first coaster made entirely out of sluts... Also, I've never heard of this place makes sense since they apparently opened last fall and haven't updated their website since before they opened or any of their social media pages since February. I would have assumed that they were out of business. This whole thing is weird... 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 24 minutes ago, coasterbill said: Congrats to Austin on having the world's first coaster made entirely out of sluts... Also, I've never heard of this place makes sense since they apparently opened last fall and haven't updated their website since before they opened or any of their social media pages since February. I would have assumed that they were out of business. This whole thing is weird... it's the F1 track just outside of Austin, Bill. they've been adding stuff all the time, but the reason not much activity on "COTAland" is they seem to be still trying to get the name to stick. . LOL (sorry, but it's a TERRIBLE name). the Circuit of the Americas Track website is the main site tho. . . and they update that pretty frequently, especially since adding the go kart tracks a few years ago, and the site is VERY popular for large concerts (not to mention F1 & NASCAR races): http://circuitoftheamericas.com/ (tho note on the main site, "COTAland" is still referred to as a "kiddie amusement park". I fully expect once the 1st big coaster opens, and they start building the 2nd big coaster, there will be a big push towards adults/teens to get them out to COTA to spend time there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 23 minutes ago, coasterbill said: Congrats to Austin on having the world's first coaster made entirely out of sluts... Also, I've never heard of this place makes sense since they apparently opened last fall and haven't updated their website since before they opened or any of their social media pages since February. I would have assumed that they were out of business. This whole thing is weird... Doesn’t Goliath at Over Georgia cross over a road?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 ^ Goliath jumps the entrance to the Parking Lot. . so not really a "road" (tho from that animation, it looks like this is going onto space currently occupied by Parking Lot B - so really that "road" is still basically a parking lot drive that connects most of the lots on COTA property). but hey. . something they can use to advertise it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales2 Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 COTAland is a weird place apparently, but this is definitely a star attraction and they'll now have two "big" coasters, so it's a stop for sure. I like the concept a lot and hope this becomes another popular choice for smaller parks. Did the schwartzkopf wildcat ever open? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 13 minutes ago, Animal said: Doesn’t Goliath at Over Georgia cross over a road?? Yup, as does Magnum and Manhattan Express and many others but those are steel coasters, this is a “streel” coaster and the title is first “streel coaster” to cross a road. Pease try to follow along… 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 it really is strange that all the adult rides seem to be getting crammed together near the "entrance" for the concert venue. . . . while the kiddie rides are all crammed together on the other side behind the other grandstands. but I'm guessing that with this being created (and if my "read" of the animation is correct and parking lot "B" is going to be either gone, or really cut down size wise, they then have just created quite a bit of space to put all the rides together in one area. . and perhaps set up a "pay one price" vs "pay per ride". . guess we'll see. But I'm excited to see how this goes. and those not familiar? COTA is really close to the Austin Airport. . so an easy stop to make if flying in/out of town! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 27 minutes ago, coasterbill said: Also, I've never heard of this place makes sense since they apparently opened last fall and haven't updated their website since before they opened or any of their social media pages since February. I would have assumed that they were out of business. This whole thing is weird... Yeah I didn't realize there was any kind of amusement park on site here but the Circuit of the America's is pretty massive place that does fairly well as far as I know. The race track there has some huge races, and there's an amphitheater on site that has some pretty big concerts throughout the year (I'm pretty sure the Rolling Stones have a tour date there this weekend). There's also kart racing on site, like the fast kind on a real out door track, a big observation tower, I think there's some ziplines maybe? Adding a coaster like this is kind of random but seems like this place has a lot of potential in a rapidly growing market so why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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