China seems to get all the fun stuff, first a new 4D Coaster, and now a huge GCI terrain coaster.  Yes, GCI made the big reveal today after playing mind games with the coaster enthusiast world.  Opening this season at Knight Valley in Shenzen, China will be an incredibly huge, terrain following wooden coaster.  Topping off at about 147 feet and reaching speeds just shy of 62 mph, the unnamed wooden coaster will easily be on the biggest creations that company has ever pumped out.   The track extends over 4,100 feet and the biggest drop will be a 131 foot plummet towards the earth below.  The new Chinese giant will be Great Coasters International largest creation to date.  While, the mammoth is the largest, it will of course feature some of the company’s signature elements: the station fly-by, the twisting layout, and the airtime inducing hills.  One of the best parts about this ride, is similar to Prowler, another GCI creation that opened in 2009, the coaster will be in a dense forest, meaning riders will have no idea which way the track twist next.

I have to say I am becoming quite jealous of China.  Are you?  Leave a comment with your Park Thoguhts below!

In Memorial Day Weekend of 2009, I took a family trip to Reno, Nevada.  Like every other coaster enthusiast on this planet, I scrambled all the attraction-related brochures as I could during my visit.  Reno, is a beautiful, Casino town, almost a mini-Vegas, however there was no theme parks in the area.  While grabbing some brochures I got one called Wild Island Family Adventure Park, I thought it was just your typical, hometown Mini Golf Course.  Well I recently discovered that Wild Island Family Adventure Park is actually a decent sized water park, indoor and outdoor mini golf, go-karts, and a Bowling Alley.  It is much larger then I previously anticipated.  Lets take a tour of this great family fun center!

Below we have a collection of pictures highlighting the various events at the park.  Bowling, Mini Golf, Go Karting, as well as the water park attractions.  Also below are the satellite images from Bing Maps! Click on any of the pictures below to view them full size!

And here we have a few bird’s eye images of the park.  The water park seems to feature a few drop slides, as well as a Body Bowl Slide, a Family Rafting tower, and a quite large wave pool.  I think this is a great hang out spot for the local.

These images also has an okay Go-Kart track and some nicely themed outdoor Mini-Golf.  I do not know how old these pictures are, but the website lists there being a new Indoor MiniGolf area opened, and I would assume that the warehouse in the corner is where the glow in the dark Mini Golf is located.  Of course the park may have built a new building as well.  Is that a coaster I see?  I believe it is either defunct or left over from a carnival because the park overview does not list any roller coasters at all.

So I really do like these little spots to go and hang out for a few hours with some family and friends!  Do you?  Tell me what you think, by leaving a comment with your Park Thought below!

S&S Worldwide has unveiled plans to debut a new 4th Dimension coaster in China.  The one of a kind coaster style will open in Changzhou, China as part of the upcoming, Dinosaur Park.  This will be only the third time a 4th Dimension coaster has opened up in the world, with the other two being X2 in Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Eejanaika in Fuji-Q Highlands.

The 4th Dimension coaster is a experience that is unmatched by anything in nature.  Each train has 2 couplets of seats that extend over the track and hover over the air.  When in the upright position, the trains face backwards.  However, these vehicles have the ability to rotate 360 degrees vertically, meaning you are in for an awesome experience.  As an example, when the car is going straight down, the cars can rotate so your face is pointing directly towards the ground.

I do not know much about Dinosaur Park in China, but considering the fact that they are investing in a S&S Worldwide 4D coaster, the park has clearly been put on the map for many roller coaster enthusiast.  We recently did an article that described one of the parks other roller coasters, a Dinosaur themed motor bike.  From the looks of it, this park appears to be taking as many unique concepts as possible and putting them in one park.

My thoughts on this?  I personally loved X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain and it is by far the most intense, frightening, and extreme coaster experience I have ever had.  However, I have met several people who would completely disagree with my opinion and think it is one of the most hurtful rides in the world. It is going to be interesting to see how the Chinese audience responds to this and how it compares to the American and Japanese views.

Another big question is what will the layout of this ride be?  Will it clone one of the previous 4th Dimension coaster’s layouts.  Or has S&S designed a completely new map for this ride.  Considering that X2 and Eejanaika share quite similar layouts, I can tell you that many coaster fans are hoping for something totally unique.

So, what are your thoughts on this!  Leave a comment with your Park Thoughts!

Waldameer will be introducing a unique cashless system in this upcoming 2010 season.  “Wally Points” will be the parks own currency, so paying for each ride will be completely different.  This new system will revolutionize how you pay for food, drinks, games, souvenirs, and rides.

At a cost of approximately $500,000 (thats a whole lot of Wally Points), the park manager...

With lots of attention focused on the upcoming Legoland Florida. I think now is a good time to look back at Legoland California in Carlsbad, California (just north of San Diego). Here we have a brochure and park map directly from the park in 2008.

During this time, and even today, Legoland’s main campaign is “Heroes Wanted”.  A very fitting marketing...

Tis the season of horror as several theme parks have had some terrifying news lately.  And 2010 is already starting to feature some scary attractions.  Thorpe Park is opening a new year round horror house called Saw: Alive and Knott’s Scary Farm has already released information on their Halloween event.

In 2009, Thorpe Park unleased, Saw: the Ride.  But now they...

If you don’t know, tomorrow, February 14th, is Chinese New Year.  And in Hong Kong Disneyland, the celebration has just begun to honor Disney’s most recognizable tiger, Tigger!  The park is filled with luck as decorations flourish throughout the park. From now through February 28th, park goers will be immersed with a decorated Main Street, symbols of good luck around...