Beyond CaliFlorida: Setting sail for adventure

May 22, 2014, 8:53 AM · Holiday World – The wait is over. We now have exactly what we wanted from the park! A campaign! To be specific, an advertising campaign. Here’s what we know. On the walkthrough of The Voyage, they found a box that pointed everyone to the website 66DaysAtSea.com. It was noted (by the staff and visitors) several things: 1. There were two types of gravy. 2. The new attraction will be “on wood” 3. The new expansion will be the most expensive one in the history of the park (so at least $15 million), and 4. The Giraffica (formerly Pilgrim’s Plunge) station and splashdown pool are sitting untouched for the moment even though the rest of the ride has been removed, and 5. The new attraction will be on wheels. What we also know about the park is that: 1. They love their wooden roller coasters, 2. They are out in the middle of nowhere, so they need to pull their market from a bit of a distance, and 3. It takes something pretty splashy to pull people from a distance, particularly with Kentucky Kingdom opening this weekend. While I would have put money on the Twisted Twins being the first Rocky Mountain Coaster project in the area at Kentucky Kingdom in 2016, I have to think that Holiday World would make a huge splash with a RMC from scratch coaster that intertwined and raced against The Voyage. Or you can just do like I did and view the source code of the webpage for hints, then do a lookup of who bought and owns that webpage, and then figure out what other webpages they have purchased lately. I don’t want to give anything away here…

66DaysAtSea.com

Warner Brothers Movie World (Australia) – I get the feeling that whenever there is an off season where no major rides are being built at a park, someone in the marketing department hyperventilates until the managers throw something together before the entire marketing department passes. And then, usually, a character meet-and-greet or a parade is announced, with all of the pomp and circumstance that a major record breaking attraction would normally get. This year, WB Movie World, has announced their new parade event, Carnivale. It is going try to hit that middle ground between the New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro parades. What they forgot is that audience participation before, during, and after the event is what makes it so cool. And the incredible amount of alcohol consumption, don’t forget about the alcohol. And earning beads. And don’t forget drinking… But the parade that WB Movie World is putting on is “family friendly”, so I would naturally assume that all of the things that make Carnivale a not-to-be-missed bucket list item will all be stripped out so that little Johnny’s eyeballs are not seared open and little Susie’s self-esteem is not dashed to pieces.

Jazzland / Six Flags New Orleans – The development board is (again) looking for people do develop the plot of land formerly housing a major theme park. Here is a hint: If you expect someone to have completely built their idea on the actual site before you approve it, expect to be disappointed. How hard is it to work with someone? Tell them that they have conditional approval that expires after a certain amount of time in order to solidify plans and get investors. If someone already had enough money to do the project in their back pocket, then they have enough money to tell you to go piddle on yourself.

ValleyFair! – And I quote, “From a brand-new ride that sends guests soaring 42 feet up in the sky to a new food truck that serves gourmet hotdogs, Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee is revealing new summer features”. And then my questions are: Can you get up to the food truck without going on the ride? Like steps or something? Or is that an exclusive food choice to the attraction? Or maybe someone left out a crucial comma?

Schlitterbahn Kansas City – Verruckt is opening has been delayed until June 5th for more testing. Apparently the sand bags and plastic dummies are too scared to ride the thing. Or it is a heck of a lot of work to carry the sandbags up to the top of the ride…

Kentucky Kingdom – The park opens on May 24th. It is not clear if Lightning Racer will be ready in time, but soon. Soon. We know that people have already been on it as a preview…



Walt Disney Studios (Paris) – The Ratatouille ride press event is scheduled for June 22. The theory is that the ride should open soon thereafter, but you never know these days. If it was Universal, the ride would have opened two years ago.

Six Flags Great Adventure – Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom has been a bit delayed which is keeping Kingda Ka from opening until the drop tower is ready to roll. If that disappoints you, Top Thrill Dragster is open and ready for your business.

Star Wars Weekends – I couldn’t pass up the following videos.







Star Wars Episode VII – Ever want to be in a Star Wars movie? Here is your chance. As a fund-raising effort in conjunction with UNICEF, LucasFilm is raising money for charity in a tiered reward system. This means that the more money you give, the more stuff they are going to give you, up to being invited to a private screening of Episode VII.

Replies (8)

May 22, 2014 at 8:56 AM · Re: Carnivale

The drunken debauchery of New Orleans and Rio just before the start of Lent cannot match the destruction created by a theme park filled with children jacked up on sugar and character appearances. Be careful what you wish for, advocates of "family friendly" entertainment! ;^)

May 22, 2014 at 9:11 AM · Worth noting Carnivale at Warner Bros Movie World is an out of hours ticketed event not just a "new parade".
May 22, 2014 at 9:37 AM · Ah, noted and fixed. Thanks.
May 22, 2014 at 10:36 AM · It looks like 2014 will be the year of delayed openings. Falcon's Fury, Verruckt, and Zumanjaro are all rides facing technical problems which keep opening dates sliding. Here at SF Great America, Goliath only just finished the track less than a week ago and with an opening scheduled next Sat. for the world's tallest and fastest wooden coaster, I fear this will be another ride missing it's opening.
May 22, 2014 at 11:53 AM · An out of hours ticketed "family" event?

I think I like the idea even less now.

May 22, 2014 at 1:53 PM · "Setting sail"??? I thought you will tell us about the new Disney cruises beyond California. Disney Wonder will go to Hawaii and Mexico and a trip to nowhere from San Diego.
May 24, 2014 at 7:36 AM · “From a brand-new ride that sends guests soaring 42 feet up in the sky to a new food truck that serves gourmet hotdogs, Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee is revealing new summer features”.

Actually, Jeff, what bothers me more about that sentence than the missing comma is seeing "food truck" and "hotdog" in the same clause as "gourmet". Food trucks and hotdogs are a natural pairing, but gourmet? That's like looking for the "haute couture" department in WalMart.

May 24, 2014 at 7:56 AM · As far as Jazzland/Six Flags New Orleans goes, the actions of the planning board is not in the least surprising.

You might think that "Sin City" and casino gambling are a match made in... er, somewhere, but due to the greed, corruption, and incompetence of the New Orleans and Louisiana politicians, the gaming industry went largely to the Mississippi Gulf Coast where it has spawned an economic revival of a moribund local economy.

The politicians in New Orleans and Baton Rouge have gotten so lousy in the past few decades, they're not worth even bribing anymore. At least they keep the US Attorney's office in business. :^/

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