Beyond CaliFlorida: Taking a leap of faith here

July 23, 2014, 10:50 AM · Cave of the Winds (Colorado Springs) – I have an idea. Why don’t we just dispense with the safety harnesses and the cables and all of that and just shoot people out of a canon and into a slightly dampened sponge at the bottom of the canyon? I chose this video because it was the only one I could find where they bleeped out the profanity. But I wonder how well the profanity echoes in that canyon. For a place that doesn’t even have an amusement park within an hour’s drive, TERROR-Dactyl is really letting the visitors have it in the teeth…



Tivoli Friheden (Denmark) – Okay, so after this experience, the swing in the canyon looks a little on the tame side. I admit it. Oh, and there is a wee bitty o swearing in this video, so turn the sound way down if yer ears be a sensitive.



Six Flags Magic Mountain – Good job watching your mouths this last week. Your reward? You get Ninja and Green Lantern back!

Carowinds – Construction is underway on your new 325ft tall B&M roller coaster.

Kings Dominion – While we reported last week that Cedar Point is going to get some water rides from Geauga Lake, it looks like survey crews are looking over Kings Dominion as well looking for a place to stash the surplus water rides. If all they’re doing is trying to find a place to stash some excess rides, I say y’all grab your pickup trucks and meet me out back behind Geauga Lake on Friday night after close. I’ve got a backyard just begging for one of those babies.

Holiday World – The park has decided to quit making everyone sea sick and bored and will finally get around to announcing its new 2015 attraction Thursday night. For a price tag of $22 million, it has got to be big and it has got to be steel. Just as a cost comparison: Intimidator 305 – cost $25 million. Smiler - $30 million. Banshee – $24 million. Lightning Run – $7 million. Thunderbolt – $10 million.

Cedar Point – Next year’s new attraction is aimed at teens and other hard-core thrill seekers, according to the park’s general manager. That kind of buries all of our previous thoughts on the matter, because now it sounds like they are going to install an Xbox One somewhere in the park.

Grand Texas Theme Park – This project is going to be pushed over the construction phase and out of wild rumor territory. They have set some opening dates: Memorial Day 2015 for the water park, and Memorial Day 2016 for the rest of the park, including five roller coasters. If this is anything like the last couple of big independent parks that have gone up, you might want to make plans now to visit this park in the first couple of months that it is open. Speaking of Hard Rock Park (and yes, I was referring to Hard Rock Park), it seems somewhat suspicious that Hard Rock Park has five roller coasters that are waiting to be dismantled, and Grand Texas claims that they will open in 2016 with five roller coasters. Hmmmmmm….

Universal Studios Korea – It looks like the park chain has pulled out of this project. It’s okay, I’m sure the Koreans can buy their Harry Potter merchandise somewhere else.

Six Flags New England – The Cyclone will run its last run this Sunday, so you better hurry if you are going to catch that coaster credit before it goes away.

Now Hiring – Kings Island is looking to fill positions for the fall season this Thursday. “Hundreds of job” are available, but apply online first before heading down to the park.

Now Hiring – Six Flags Great Adventure is looking to hire a dozen trained dancers for their Halloween shows and 150 scare actors. Auditions will be on Friday and Saturday. Don’t forget to fill out the application online before you go.

Replies (7)

July 23, 2014 at 11:02 AM · Being a former resident of Colorado I would like to warn everyone that is planning on visiting the Cave of the Winds to be on alert for ManBearPig. He's half Man, half Bear, and half Pig. I'm super cereal...
July 23, 2014 at 11:10 AM · Yep...that's the Cave of the Winds we are talking about.... I had forgotten about that reference...
July 23, 2014 at 4:59 PM · Has there been any info leaked letting people know the Carowinds Coaster will be 325 feet? I know it's suppose to be a giga but have this may be the first I've read about 325 feet. Is that a record breaker?
July 23, 2014 at 6:46 PM · I'll ride just about any coaster with a track... But those two things on the videos ..... No way, no how! I think I'll have nightmares about falling now ....
July 23, 2014 at 10:56 PM · Well the best part of South Park is if you're actually from Colorado and you can pick up on the stuff around the state they make fun of. The Casa Bonita episode is probably the one thing they don't over exaggerate sadly.

Jeff if I'm not mistaken you've been to both Elitch's and Lakeside?

July 23, 2014 at 11:05 PM · Well the best part of South Park is if you're actually from Colorado and you can pick up on the stuff around the state they make fun of. The Casa Bonita episode is probably the one thing they don't over exaggerate sadly.

Jeff if I'm not mistaken you've been to both Elitch's and Lakeside?

July 24, 2014 at 2:19 PM · The Carowinds 325ft coaster is based off of a trademark that Cedar Fair filed for: Fury 325. It looks like they have since backed away from that name in favor of Centurion...but everything is a guess until it is announced.

...and a little tidbit about me...If I had gone to college directly out of high school instead of going into the Marine Corps, I would have gone to CU Boulder, and would have gone directly into the film making program. At the time I was a huge fan of Primus, was writing my own screenplays, could sing and act, and was heavily into comedy...right at the same time Matt & Trey were at CU Boulder working on Cannibal the Musical. I think there is a chance that I would have been the third creator of Southpark. In fact I have a friend from high school who wrote for Southpark for a season (and then later won an Emmy for writing for 30 Rock)...and my wife was a coworker of the guy that Chef was based on (he had the royalty check to prove it).

And yes, I took Jim Koehl to Lakeside, Elitches, and several other parks when he was here last summer....you can find the reviews that Jim posted in the TPI archive. All of them were places that I had been before...

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