For Sale: Six Flags Elitch Gardens
And so it begins… On the heels of last week’s announcement that Six Flags is still in the red, comes news this week that Elitch Gardens is being sold for $170 million. Located in Denver, Elitch Gardens was acquired by Six Flags in 1999. From a coaster enthusiast’s stand point, the closing of this park isn’t that devastating. It’s not home to any monuments to coaster h...[Read More]
Six Flags Still in the Red
Redskins owner and shrewd businessman Daniel Snyder ceased control of Six Flags late last year. Snyder and his hand-picked CEO Mark Shapiro took over the reigns of the nation’s largest theme park chain with promises to turn the struggling company around. While guest spending is up, overall attendance is down. Shapiro blames bad weather, including floods and three-digit temperatures for the d...[Read More]
Coaster-Related Deaths & Accidents Continue
This summer has been a tough one for the theme park industry in terms of accidents and coaster-related deaths. After an already eventful season with several incidents, July ended with two more deaths. One incident invovled a rider who had just ridden Six Flags over Georgia’s brand new Goliath roller coaster. The other recent incident happened at Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, FL. A 52 year-o...[Read More]
Griffon to Soar Over Busch Gardens Europe
Details are starting to surface about Busch Gardens Europe’s (Williamsburg, VA) newest coaster in seven years. According to a trademark filed earlier this month, the new 200+ foot tall coaster could be named Griffon. According to Wikipedia, a Griffon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. This fits with the park’s tradition in naming their c...[Read More]
Backyard Coasters
DIY Movement in the Coaster WorldThe Blue Flash is quite an achivement. It’s not only a backyard, home-made steel coaster, but it has a loop. I don’t want to know how the testing went for that loop or how many times it didn’t work. The creator’s even working on Blue 2, his follow-up to the Blue Flash. Blue 2 will be a family coaster and it will seat four instead of just one...[Read More]
Cedar Fair Buys Paramount Parks
Breaking News…Paramount finally found a buyer for its five parks. Cedar Fair (current owner of Cedar Point, Knott’s Berry Farms, Dorney Park, Geauga Lake, Worlds of Fun, Valleyfair, & Michigan’s Adventures) has bought Paramount’s parks for $1.24 billion in cash. The five parks Cedar Fair will acquire are:Canada’s Wonderland, near Toronto; Kings Island, near Cinci...[Read More]
Hulk Saves Woman & Chances of Dying on a Roller Coaster
The Flipside of Roller Coaster Accidents There’s been a lot of news lately about coaster accidents. You’re still a lot safer on a roller coaster than pretty much all other moving vehicles. It’s the percieved danger that makes it fun. In a car chances of death are 1 in 18,000 and in a plane chances of death are 1 in 350,000. You even have a better chance of dying from parts fallin...[Read More]
Mr. Six Headed to Retirement Home
As the coaster season is already underway and theme parks begin their heavy marketing and promotions, don’t expect to see that creepy, old geezer dancing to techno. And, if you happen to live in New England, you may notice a coaster mysteriously change names. Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who recently took over control of Six Flags, has decided to axe the Mr. Six character and his po...[Read More]
Coaster Reviews & How I Rate Coasters
Okay, so I take ratings and reviews way too seriously. I admit it. I read reviews on Amazon.com, Rottentomatoes.com, Consumer Reports, Car and Driver and Richard Roeper. I can’t help it. Maybe I’m a review addict. Add that to the fact that I’ve always been into numbers and my love of coasters and with that you have: The Coaster Critic’s Coaster Review Scale10.0 – Supe...[Read More]