I run down the 2019 holiday happenings at theme parks, including Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags, Silver Dollar City Attractions, Dollywood, and more in my USA Today Travel article. If all you want for Christmas are…
Read MoreCategory: Other Parks
Nickelodeon Universe brings the thrills indoors at NJ’s American Dream
I visited Nickelodeon Universe, the largest indoor theme park in North America at the new American Dream mega-complex in New Jersey and was impressed by its headlining attraction, the TMNT Shellraiser coaster. Read my review…
Read More
Putting a face on technology
There are some talented techies designing park attractions and chronicling the amusement industry. Folks such as Anya Tyler and Dustin Sloane, engineers at Skyline Attractions; Anne Irvine and Brian Ondrey of IOE, which specializes in programmable…
Read More
Unsung heroes
Whiz-bang visual effects and kick-ass thrills may get all the glory when it comes to theme park attractions. But let’s hear it for the composers, sound designers, and other creatives that develop the music and…
Read More
Parks offer chills to go with the thrills
Just about every park offers a Halloween event. Let’s run down some of the highlights for 2019, including the granddaddy of gore, Knott’s Scary Farm, Cedar Point’s Haunt at HalloWeekends, Six Flags’ Fright Fest, and…
Read More
This could be the best roller coaster in Florida—and beyond
SeaWorld Parks has announced two major roller coasters coming to its Florida parks in 2020. One of them, Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa, has the potential to be the best coaster in the theme…
Read More
Take a ride back in time at Kennywood
Amusement parks have long been a curious blend of the latest, greatest, cutting-edge attractions and sepia-toned rides from a long time ago. We come for the new thrills, but we adore basking in the nostalgic…
Read More
I had a ball tackling Steel Curtain
You might think that tackling nine inversions—more than any other coaster in North America—might be at least a tad uncomfortable. But, in the case of Steel Curtain, the new Pittsburgh Steelers-themed roller coaster at Kennywood…
Read More
Canada’s Wonderland marathon: I rode (nearly) every coaster—and discovered one of the best in the world
This spring, Canada’s Wonderland opened its 17th coaster, Yukon Striker, which ties the park with Cedar Point for the silver medal as the home of the second-biggest collection of roller coasters on the planet. Such an overloaded arsenal…
Read More
These log flume rides make quite a splash
They have not been around as long as roller coasters and carousels, but log flume rides have been thrilling—and dousing—visitors for decades. Let’s log on and check out some of parkdom’s more intriguing flume rides…
Read More