Still Kickin'

Hey guys!

As you've probably noticed, things here have slowed down a bit after the Holiday World announcement.  As it often does, life tends to get in the way and priorities have to be shuffled around, and that's why the blog has been put on the back burner for now.

But fear not!  I have a lot of things planned for your off-season reading such as 2015 attraction previews, plenty of news, and maybe even a trip report or two that I never got around to posting.  If you have any topics you'd like be to write about, feel free to leave a comment here or send an email to amusementparksblog@gmail.com.  Don't forget to follow us on Twitter as well @ParksBlog.

Thanks for reading!

Thunderbird: My Thoughts

On the night of July 24, 2014, Holiday World announced their first major steel coaster Thunderbird for the 2015 season.  I'll give my thoughts about the build up to the announcement, the announcement itself, and then finally the ride.

The Build Up
Holiday World has a tradition of under-promising and over-delivering when it comes their announcements, so when news of the 66 Days At Sea teaser campaign emerged, I knew we were in store for something special.  If a 66 day long journey building up to the big announcement was their idea of under-promising, then I could only imagine what the final outcome would be.

The Announcement
A few technical difficulties at the beginning of the online broadcast had me worried for a second, but all of the issues were worked out just in time.  The host of the broadcast did a great job of working the crowd and keeping everyone entertained until it was time for the big reveal.  President Matt Eckert and the Koch sisters, Leah and Lauren, then took the stage to setup the introduction and give us one last moment of hype before finally revealing the wonderfully produced ride announcement video.  The entire announcement was fantastic, and I especially enjoyed the playful rapport between Leah and her sister.  A lot of parks can learn a thing or two from Holiday World, and how to announce a big time attraction is certainly one of them.

The Ride
Thunderbird looks fantastic.  The launch, the layout, the theme - it all looks like a ton of fun.  You can't go wrong with anything from B&M in my opinion, and the wingriders are a thrilling option without being overtly intimidating.  As long as the vests are "unlocked" like they are on Gatekeeper, Thunderbird will be very re-rideable.  I love the launch straight into the immelmann, followed by the large vertical loop, but I have a hunch that by favorite element will be the barrel roll coming out of the keyhole element towards the end of the ride. The tribute to the late Will Koch is also a wonderful touch with referring to the flywheel technology used for the launch as Will Power.  I'm sure Will would have loved it being the electrical engineer that he was.  Overall, this will be an amazing addition to the park and I can't wait to try it out.

Holiday World 2015: Thunderbird

As I'm sure you know by now, last night Holiday World concluded their 66 Days At Sea campaign by announcing the nation's first launched wingrider coaster Thunderbird!

I'll post my thoughts about the ride at a later time, but I will say that I'm very excited about it!  You can learn all about Thunderbird here, and in case you missed it, here's the animation that was played during the announcement:

As a side note, did anyone else see the pre-announcement quotes from various websites and forums during the webcast?  It was so incredibly cool to see them include a quote from our analysis of Day 46.  I almost felt like a real blogger at that point!

Holiday World 2015: 66 Days At Sea - Day 66

On May 19, 2014, Holiday World began releasing information about their 2015 expansion plans. They launched the teaser site 66DaysAtSea.com to give clues over the course of 66 days as to what the big announcement may be.  You can read more about the site here. We'll be highlighting each day's entry as well as providing our analysis of what we think the clues may be hinting at.

Day 66

Analysis

Well, we made it.  Day 66, or as I'm calling it, the calm before The Storm. It's been a long journey, but I hope you've had as much fun following along as I have. Whatever it is that Holiday World decides to add for the 2015 season, I'm sure it will be something great. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I really do appreciate it. I'll be posting recaps of the journey in the days following tomorrow's announcement, so make sure to stop by and see how closely my analysis stacked up against the actual clues, as well as my thoughts on the new attraction.  But seeing as this is the day before the big announcement, I think it's only right that I make my final predictions.  So without further ado, here's what I think Holiday World will be adding in 2015:

• Ride type:  Steel roller coaster
• Manufacturer:  B&M
• Type of coaster:  Wingflyer (wingrider with seats in the flying position)
• Name:  The Storm
• Speed:  66 mph
• Length:  5500 ft.
• Other elements:  Tunnels, inversions, launch section, splashdown feature, on board audio

It will be a miracle if anything I've said over the past 66 days turns out to be true, but we'll know for sure tomorrow night.

Thank you again for reading and following along.

Previous entries:

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, Day 35, Day 36, Day 37, Day 38, Day 39, Day 40, Day 41,Day 42, Day 43, Day 44, Day 45, Day 46, Day 47, Day 48, Day 49, Day 50, Day 51, Day 52,Day 53, Day 54, Day 55, Day 56, Day 57, Day 58, Day 59, Day 60, Day 61, Day 62, Day 63,Day 64, Day 65

Holiday World 2015: 66 Days At Sea - Day 65

On May 19, 2014, Holiday World began releasing information about their 2015 expansion plans. They launched the teaser site 66DaysAtSea.com to give clues over the course of 66 days as to what the big announcement may be.  You can read more about the site here. We'll be highlighting each day's entry as well as providing our analysis of what we think the clues may be hinting at.

Day 65

(insert screenshot here)

Analysis

Let's take a look at today's entry:

• Since today's entry hasn't been posted yet I'll go ahead and throw out a few ideas as to what ground breaking, first of its kind, coaster this may be.  There seems to be a lot of speculation that the ride will be built by B&M based upon the shape of the footers that have already been poured, so for the sake of discussion I'll assume that is correct.  That leaves me with the question of what type of coaster or technology has B&M, or anyone else for that matter, not built?  Here's a few thoughts:
• Even though I think this ride will feature a launched section, I don't think that's the groundbreaking technology here since Leah Koch mentioned that this coaster will have moved past technology that was available in 2009, and launches have been around prior to that.  Even though B&M has not featured LIM or LSM technology, The Incredible Hulk does have a launch so I wouldn't count a new launched B&M coaster to be the first of its kind.
• That leaves me wondering about possible train configurations. The 66 Days journal has featured hints about flying, but also about being below deck. To me, the flying coaster, inverted coaster, and wingrider coaster are the three most likely candidates based on these clues, but to do something truly unique, I'm guessing it will be some combination of these configurations merged together in a single train. How about a wingrider with seats that rotate into the flying position? Or how about a coaster that starts out as an inverted coaster then lifts the riders into a flying position at the mid-course break run to finish the course as a flying coaster? Whatever it is, I'm expecting the ground breaking technology of this ride to be in the train configuration.     

That's it for today.  Check back tomorrow for our analysis of Day 66.

Previous entries:

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, Day 35, Day 36, Day 37, Day 38, Day 39, Day 40, Day 41,Day 42, Day 43, Day 44, Day 45, Day 46, Day 47, Day 48, Day 49, Day 50, Day 51, Day 52,Day 53, Day 54, Day 55, Day 56, Day 57, Day 58, Day 59, Day 60, Day 61, Day 62, Day 63, Day 64

Holiday World 2015: 66 Days At Sea - Day 64

On May 19, 2014, Holiday World began releasing information about their 2015 expansion plans. They launched the teaser site 66DaysAtSea.com to give clues over the course of 66 days as to what the big announcement may be.  You can read more about the site here. We'll be highlighting each day's entry as well as providing our analysis of what we think the clues may be hinting at.

Day 64

Analysis

Let's take a look at today's entry:

• "Fearing the worst was near, the children and I crept onto deck for a last look at the sky.  We clung to each other, yet through our fear marveled at the strength and power of the storm, which has carried us so far astray."
• We're getting close to the big announcement, and I think today's entry may have revealed the ride's name.  I'm calling it right now.  I think it will be "The Storm".  It will be a long coaster that will carry the passengers "so far astray."  I think it will have a launch of some sort (i.e. "strength and power") and inversions (i.e. "a last look at the sky").  The name fits with multiple journal entries and mimics the Pilgrim's journal perfectly.

That's it for today.  Check back tomorrow for our analysis of Day 65.

Previous entries:

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, Day 35, Day 36, Day 37, Day 38, Day 39, Day 40, Day 41,Day 42, Day 43, Day 44, Day 45, Day 46, Day 47, Day 48, Day 49, Day 50, Day 51, Day 52,Day 53, Day 54, Day 55, Day 56, Day 57, Day 58, Day 59, Day 60, Day 61, Day 62, Day 63

Holiday World 2015: 66 Days At Sea - Day 63

On May 19, 2014, Holiday World began releasing information about their 2015 expansion plans. They launched the teaser site 66DaysAtSea.com to give clues over the course of 66 days as to what the big announcement may be.  You can read more about the site here. We'll be highlighting each day's entry as well as providing our analysis of what we think the clues may be hinting at.

Day 63

(insert screenshot here)

Analysis

Let's take a look at today's entry:

• Sorry guys, but I don't have time to wait for today's journal entry to be posted. That's okay though, since the information just keeps on coming from other sources. The park revealed the new ride comes with a price tag of $22 million, which is significantly higher than the $12-15 million range I was expecting. Depending on the manufacturer and ride type, this could be one significant ride.  

That's it for today.  Check back tomorrow for our analysis of Day 64.

Previous entries:

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, Day 35, Day 36, Day 37, Day 38, Day 39, Day 40, Day 41,Day 42, Day 43, Day 44, Day 45, Day 46, Day 47, Day 48, Day 49, Day 50, Day 51, Day 52,Day 53, Day 54, Day 55, Day 56, Day 57, Day 58, Day 59, Day 60, Day 61, Day 62