Hello, it's April, which means we've all survived April Fool’s day - or did we? More on that later.
But first up, COTALAND is building North America’s first ever tilt coaster - you heard that right,
another tilt coaster. The Circuit of the Americas race track, located in Texas,
already plan to open a new roller coaster in 2022. However, one isn’t enough. They confirmed
that they’ll be constructing ‘Circuit Breaker’ an all new Vekoma tilt coaster,
set to debut in 2023. Fortunately for us, images of the layout have already been revealed. The
pictures show a relatively compact ride, with what looks to be a 90 degree tilting drop. From there,
guests will plummet straight into a tunnel, before undergoing a mixture of inversions and turns.
More roller coaster news now. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, you know that one coaster
that never seems to open, is finally opening! The ride has a confirmed official opening date, and
that date is… the 27th of May! So you’ll be able to experience this next-generation Vekoma indoor
spinning launch coaster, at EPCOT, in just less than two month’s time. Coincidentally, Guardians
of Galaxy Mission Breakout, the Tower of Terror refurb over at Disneyland, opened on the 27th
of May 2017 - obviously there’s something about the 27th of May and Gaurdians of the Galaxy huh.
Now from a roller coaster that never opens to a theme park that never opens. The London Resort,
you know that Disney-level theme park being built in the UK, is withdrawing its planning
application. I’m not sure that’s how building things works? Well, CEO of the whole endeavour PY
Gerbeau said “In the best interests of the London Resort, we are withdrawing the
current application.” They stated changes to the classification of ferry terminals,
and the designation of the proposed construction site as a ‘site of special scientific interest’,
as problems they need to overcome. But, the London Resort isn’t giving up.
They plan to go away and refine their application, with the intention of submitting a new application
before the end of the year. Will they manage it? *shakes head* Time will tell!
In other news, it was April Fool’s day recently. One of the best theme park related jokes this year
came out of the French theme park, Fraispertuis. On the 1st of April, they quickly announced a
brand new project, one that they called “Project Storky”. On their website, they announced their
plans for a new major project, a new major roller coaster to be specific. Images show what
looks to be a RMC raptor roller coaster, with its signature in-line train design. A quick sketch of
a single rail roller coaster could also be found on the site, further hinting at it being an RMC.
As you can imagine, a lot of French enthusiasts got very excited, very quickly. Alas,
it was all a ruse. The park don’t plan to build an RMC raptor, which is very very sad.
A real theme park headline this week comes from Kings Island. The Beast, the park’s famous roller
coaster, is taking the record of the world’s longest wooden roller coaster… from itself. Yes,
in 2022 the Beast, which is already the world’s longest wooden coaster, has become longer. During
renovation work, the track’s length has been extended, resulting in the addition of two feet,
less than a metre. I’m not sure that’s much to go on about, but I guess a record is a record.
And finally, some interesting news coming out of Texas now.
SeaWorld San Antonio allegedly has plans to build a next-generation log flume ride.
A site plan, showcasing the yet to be announced ride, has been leaked. These show a log
flume-esque attraction, with multiple drops, an elevator lift, and maybe multiple airtime hills.
According to the leakers, the ride could be set to debut in 2023 - but we don’t know for sure.
Overall, the log flume seems quite similar to the style offered by Intamin - an example being
Chiapas at Phantasialand. I’m sure that many would deem this to be a very welcomed addition!
So there we go, that's all of the theme park news for this week. The story about the fake
RMC makes me wonder though, is the London Resort just a big April Fool’s Day ploy?
Next year will they turn around and go - it's a joke, it was never going to happen.
You should have seen the look on your face for the past decade. What a fool you've been…