Many theme park attractions feature a combination of immersive storytelling and physical thrills. The Universal parks, especially, aren’t shy about amping up the thrills on their headlining rides. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Coaster, which debuted…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Devilish thrills on the way to Six Flags
What’s coming to Six Flags parks for the 2020 season? Perhaps the biggest news is the Jersey Devil, a huge, single-rail, Rocky Mountain Construction thrill machine at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. And…
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Six Flags takes a stand for preservation
I love this story! When it was time to retire the historic Iron Wolf, Six Flags sent one of its lead cars back to Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), the company that created it, and another…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Hersheypark raises the bar for new coaster
Candymonium (great name!), the coaster that is coming to the Pennsylvania park (AKA “The Sweetest Place on Earth”) in 2020 will break all kinds of records (okay, all of the records will be Hersheypark’s own…
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