Bite sized news…
Intamin currently has three 10-inversion rollercoasters on order, one due for imminent unveiling at Hopi Hari in São Paulo, Brazil, plus a second and third opening in 2013 at unidentified parks in Europe and Asia. According to the company’s Sascha Czilbulka, a fourth ride may follow if the contract can be finalised. Existing 10 inversion rides by Intamin can be found at Thorpe Park near London and China’s Chimelong Paradise .
The Big Sheep a farm park in Devon, south west England, is to add its first rollercoaster in 2013. The 400-metre long (1,131ft) Zierer Tivoli ride formerly operated at Metro Land near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which closed in 2008.
North California’s Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will introduce Undertow, a new $5.5 million (€4m) spinning rollercoaster from Maurer Söhne for 2013. Scheduled to open next summer, the ride will take over the location currently occupied by the Hurricane rollercoaster, which was due to cease operation on September 3 and has now been sold to Western Playland Amusement Park, New Mexico.
Morey’s Piers, Wildwood, New Jersey, will present another season of Morey’s Fears for nine nights this October. As well as the chance to ride many of the piers’ regular attractions after dark, visitors will be able to enjoy a spooked up Ghost Ship experience and two new Halloween-only attractions, The Other Side and Terror Trench. Pumpkin-flavoured food, Halloween snacks and seasonal craft beers will also be on sale.
Great Wolf Resorts, North America’s largest operator of indoor waterpark resorts, has announced James Anderson as general manager of its original Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Anderson boasts 13 years’ experience as a “pack member” with Great Wolf Resorts, starting as a lifeguard.
Legoland Windsor is hosting a Brick-or-Treat Hallowe’en season from October 13 to November 5, featuring a haunted treasure trail, Little Monsters Ball and Lego Monster Fighter Fireworks, where special 3D glasses will reveal thousands of exploding Lego bricks lighting up the sky. Look carefully and you’ll also see Lego Monster Fighter mini figures lurking inside Miniland.
Former Severn-Lamb project engineering manager Greg Squires has joined the board as operations and engineering director. The British leisure transport specialist has also appointed a new sales engineer in the shape of Gary Hardy.
Paradise Island Waterpark, in Chengdu, China, is to offer the country’s first Sky Trail ropes course in a waterpark. The installation from Prime Play, which is set for completion in December, will feature three levels and eight poles, providing an ideal space for 150 guests per hour to challenge themselves with multiple activities.
Accesso, a provider of e-commerce and mobile ticketing products for theme parks and entertainment venues, recently completed the rollout of its Shopland 4.0 online ticketing and eCommerce platform across 16 of the largest Palace Entertainment (Parques Reunidos) amusement parks and waterparks in the United States.
For the 2013 season, R&R Creative Amusement Designs is hard at work on a number of new waterpark projects including designs for the Los Angeles County Fair and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
England’s Blackpool Pleasure Beach invited an urban street artist to decorate part of the park’s Ocean Boulevard façade last month. Rocket01 began working with graffiti in the 1980s on abandoned buildings in his home city of Sheffield, and more recently has attracted the attention of corporate clients including Converse, UGG and Channel 4. His work at the Pleasure Beach, one of several murals completed in Blackpool, is among his largest canvases to date.
