The Coaster Critic's Blog

Relocated Boomerang Coaster Coming to Carowinds in 2009
ScreamScape has pretty much confirmed the rumors that Carowinds will be getting a relocated Vekoma Boomerng next year. The coaster is shuttle coaster that was formerly Head Spin at Geauga Lake. As with several other Geauga coasters, Head Spin will find a new home at another Cedar Fair park. Someone came across a construction company's job site plans online. The plans show the coaster in the place of the Flying Super Saturator. So rumors of that ride being removed were true. Of course, Carowinds could just move it to another section of the park.

Now that I'm in the Charlotte, NC area, Carowinds is my new home park. After looking at the park's lineup, this isn't an inspired choice. They've got a number of steel loopers already. I'd much rather see the park add a launch coaster of any type or a hyper coaster, but I guess Cedar Fair's got to get some use out of their pre-owned rides. Also, I doubt that Carowinds' attendance warrants a large, expensive new attraction. I wonder what kind of press they'll do for this if any as it's not really a coaster that you can hype up. I won't expect to be going to any type of big media day.

Geauga's Orphaned Rides
Over the last year and a half, Cedar Fair has moved Dominator to Kings Dominion, X-Flight to Kings Island to become Firehawk, Steel Venom to Dorney to become Voodoo, and Thunderhawk to Michigan's Adventure. I think there's still a family coaster floating around out there that was rumored for Cedar Point. The ACE classic Big Dipper was sold at an auction for $5,000 recently to a private owner that won't operate it, but wants it as a "nostalgia piece" (?). As far as I know the rest of the coasters were scrapped.

What do you think of this new coaster coming to Carowinds in 2009? Leave a comment below.

T.P.S. Report | Theme Park News Headlines from the Theme Park Syndicate

Defunct Geauga Lake Park Auctioning Coasters, Rides, & More
On June 17th and 18th, Geauga Lake will be auctioning off roller coasters, adult & kiddie rides, paddle boats, memorabilia and more. So if you're in the market for a nice CCI woodie with not a lot of miles (Villain), or an older woodie with a new lease on life thanks to re-tracking (Raging Wolf Bobs) get on down to Geauga Lake and make a bid. Most of the other major coasters have been reborn at other Cedar Fair Parks. X-Flight became Firehawk, Steel Venom became Voodoo, Thunderhawk moved to Michigan's Adventure and Dominator moved to Kings Dominion. Hopefully these two woodies will find a new home that's not a scrap yard. For more on the Geauga Saga..>>>

Six Flags New England's Dark Knight Will Not Open in 2008
Six Flags New England announced that due to a series of unforeseen delays, The Dark Knight Coaster will not open in 2008.

Daredevil 'Kaptain' Robbie Knievel to Attempt Motorcycle Jump at Kings Island
'Kaptain' Robbie Knievel is going to jump 24 Coke Zero trucks on May 24th. Evel Knievel, father to Robbie Knievel, jumped 14 Greyhound buses in 1975. I wonder if this is a warm up for the same jump at Six Flags St. Louis were the new Evel Knievel coaster will be opening.

Hard Rock Park to Have Nightly Fireworks Set to Bohemian Rhapsody
Hard Rock Park is incorporating rock into every facet of the park. Check out this video of the night laser show and fireworks set to Bohemian Rhapsody. Click here to watch the video.

Theme Park Syndicate is a site where people can submit links to theme park news, videos, and more. Then they can vote on and discuss the news stories. This site's all about you. So join and start adding links and voting today!

What do you think of this news? Leave a comment below.

Two Possible Fates for Geauga Lake's Future
NewsPlusNotes has posted an ad showing the parcels of land for sale in and around Geauga Lake. The blue area in the center of the map labeled "Not Available" is for Wild Water Kingdom. If things continue as planned it will be the only thing left of the park.

Meanwhile, the American Coaster Enthusiasts are trying to save the Big Dipper and the other wooden coasters that are being sold by Cedar Fair. ACE hopes to either save the Big Dipper and reincarnate it in some type of mix use development or even redevelop Geauga Lake into the new home of the National Roller Coaster Museum. Thrillnetwork has the full story.

For on the Geauga saga see my Geauga Lake posts.

Kings Dominion Adds Dominator for 2008
Another Geauga Lake orphan has found a new home. Today, the official announcement was made that the B&M floorless coaster Dominator will dominate the Kings Dominion skyline next year.

An Inviting Concrete Setting
In true Kings Dominion fashion the ride will be located on top of the existing park instead of in the acres and acres of untouched wilderness surrounding the park. It had a cool setting in a marshy area on the edge of the lake at Geauga. In its new home it will sit in the parking lot next to the swinging inverter ship Berserker. Similar to G.A.S.M.'s setting at Great Adventure. The general public won't care but this kind of thing irks me. At least that other Virginia park knows a thing or two about theming, atmosphere, and integrating roller coasters into a park.

A Strong Addition to the Lineup
On the bright side, Dominator is a great ride. It's easily one of my favorite floorless coasters and also one of my top 10 or 15 seated looping coasters. There' not a real need for this type of coaster, but it will satisfy the general public, especially those who haven't ridden a B&M coaster. Aside from a smooth, twisted ride and great capacity that'll keep the line moving, it features:

148' drop (14 stories)
Record setting 135' tall vertical loop
Cobra Roll (2 inversions)
2 Corkscrews
Floorless trains
For more information see King's Dominion's press release.

Check out this onride video of the Dominator:


**UPDATE - 05/20** Dominator's open! Check out photos and a video from media day in this post.

**UPDATE** I have posted a new photo from March 9th that I took showing the progress of Dominator. View the picture here.

Anyone looking forward to Kings Dominion's newest addition? Leave a comment below.

Cedar Point Rumored to Add its 436th Coaster in 2008
Okay. We get it already Cedar Point, you have a ton of roller coasters! But they just can't seem to control themselves. There's nothing confirmed yet, but according to a few different sources Cedar Point's blog OnPoint! has hinted at a new attraction for 2008. With the closing of Geauga Lake, and subsequent homeless coasters, enthusiasts are speculating that the massive park will get the Beaver Land Mine Ride. This quote in particular from their October 18th post raised a few eyebrows:

"We apologize for our absence. We've been busy as beavers preparing for the 2008 season (yes, we are preparing this early, if you can believe it)."

I guess OnPoint! is known for dropping hints this way. Anyway, Beaver Land Mine Ride is a compact Zierer family coaster, just a step above a little kiddie coaster. I rode it at Geauga, and it's a lot of fun. Especially for kids, families, and those who like tamer attractions. Some of its most notable clones are Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train at Six Flags Great Adventure, and Catwoman's Whip (Formerly Poison Ivy's Tangled Train) at Six Flags New England. These family coasters have a small footprint and should easily fit into the park's kids section.

Any CP fans excited for what will potentially be the park's 908,214th coaster? Image courtesy of CoasterImage

Cedar Fair Moves Thunderhawk to Michigan's Adventure
Another roller coaster is on its way out of the soon-to-be coasterless Geauga Lake. The Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster Thunderhawk is going to be sent to another Cedar Fair park in Muskegon, MI known as Michigan's Adventure. It's a compact inverted coaster with five loops. They're are dozens of Vekoma SLCs around the world, here's a list of all of the clones.

Any Michiganders excited about the Great Lake State's first inverted coaster?

Geauga Lake to be Changed into a Water Park
Cedar Fair announced today that Geauga Lake, an amusement park in Eastern Ohio, will be transformed into a water park. The proverbial writing was on the wall. As I reported in "Geauga Lake Loses More Coasters", rumors of Cedar Fair moving Dominator and Thunderhawk to other parks have been making the rounds on the 'Net.

Roller Coasters on the Move
Today, Cedar Fair made it official with a press release. Obviously, this is bad news for coaster enthusiasts and Geauga Lake fans in the area (sorry Judy), but their loss could be your gain. If you live near another Cedar Fair park be on the lookout for a new-ish coaster. The wooden roller coasters on their roster like Villain, Raging Wolf Bobs, and the 80 year old Big Dipper will be harder to relocate. But steel coasters, Double Loop, Beaver Land Mine Ride, and Head Spin should find their way to a Cedar Fair park near you. It's a good thing I made it to the park a few years ago.

Check out the full announcement here. Anyone upset about the Geauga's transformation? Any rumors or leads on where the moved coasters will re-appear?

Is Cedar Fair Drying up the Lake?
I have to give the Coasterdom podcast credit. Their last two shows have been jam-packed with juicy tidbits. Geauga Lake is a medium-sized amusement park located in Eastern Ohio and owned by Cedar Fair. Cedar Fair also owns Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) and acquired Kings Island (Cincinnati, OH) last year. Maybe Cedar Fair thinks that Ohio's a bit too crowded. Last winter they removed Geauga's Steel Venom and X-Flight and shipped them to other parks within the chain.

And now according to the Coasterdom podcast, The Kevin and Nate Show, Geauga Lake will lose two more coasters. Allegedly the B&M floorless coaster Dominator will move to Kings Dominion and the Vekoma SLC Thunderhawk will go to Michigan's Adventure. If these rumors turn out to be true, could Cedar Fair be draining Geuga Lake dry with plans to close it permanently down the road? Maybe some enthusiasts out there who are into the financial side of the theme park industry have some insight into why Cedar Fair is doing this.

In my opinion, if Dominator really is moving to Kings Dominion I couldn't be more excited. That park sorely needs and B&M coaster. I just wonder where they'll squeeze it in.

What do you think of Geauga Lake's future? Do you think Cedar Fair is managing this re-shuffle correctly? Leave a comment below.

Steel Venom Roller Coaster Joins Dorney Park's Lineup in 2008
We've known for months that Steel Venom was being removed from Geauga Lake. They mystery was which Cedar Fair park it was going to be shipped to. Coasterdom has reported that Dorney Park will be the new home of the Intamin Impulse Coaster. Dorney Park was among the other rumored locations that included Canada's Wonderland (near Toronto) and Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, MO).

Steel Venom features a launch that propels riders 0 to 70 mph in a matter of seconds. It's a short 704' U-shaped roller coaster with a straight end and a twisted end. It will join Dorney's strong lineup that includes the floorless coaster Hydra, Morgan hyper coaster Steel Force and beloved B&M inverted coaster Talon.

Pictures of Steel Venom
More at Coasterdom & the Morning Call.

What do Pennsylvanians and Dorney fans think of this development? Is this the type of coaster Dorney needs? Leave a comment below.

Steel Venom: Missing in Action
Cedar Fair is reportedly moving Geauga Lake in a new direction. News about X-Flight moving across the state to Kings Island and becoming Firehawk has already surfaced. Steel Venom, an Intamin inverted launch coaster, has been removed as well. The question is where will Steel Venom be sent to.

An article on ThrillNetwork includes a quote from a Cedar Fair official mentioning that Steel Venom is "destined for storage at another park once it's dismantled." There were no hints as to which park would get the coaster, but the 'Net is buzzing with rumors and theories. Recently acquired Canada's Wonderland (near Toronto), Dorney Park (Allentown, PA), and Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, MO) seem to be popular guesses.

Where do you think Steel Venom will go? Leave a comment below.

X-Flight to be Reborn as Firehawk at Kings Island
I wanted to save my 100th post for my first theme park review, but some big news was confirmed this morning. Cedar Fair has wasted no time in making changes at its newly acquired parks. At Kings Island, they've removed Son of Beast's sole loop and now they're giving the former Cedar Point competitor a Vekoma flying coaster. Kings Island has gotten X-Flight from Geauga Lake (another Cedar Fair Park). X-Flight will be reborn as Firehawk. It will be painted gray and red and it will be positioned just behind Flight of Fear in the Coney Mall section of the park.

X-Flight's green track had been spotted at Kings Island weeks ago. No one was sure if the park could have the coaster up and running in 2007 or not. Most off-season construction projects start earlier in the winter. Firehawk is set to debut Memorial Day Weekend, just in time for the heavy traffic season for most parks. It will be Kings Island's 14th roller coaster.

I visited Geauga Lake in 2005 when X-Flight was there. My wife and I skipped it because we'd already ridden Batwing at Six Flags America; which is very similar. Aside from that, X-Flight didn't have an interesting location or exceptional theming. We'll see what Cedar Fair and Kings Island do with the relocated coaster. So far, I'm liking Cedar Fair's management style. Sounds like an idea for another post.

See Kings Island's site for a virtual coaster video of Firehawk. The video's pretty exaggerated as you fly over the Ohio countryside. And it features 80's metal?

****Update****
Fly over pictures of Kings Island have surfaced. You can see where the park has been clearing land for Firehawk. Thanks to PKICentral & Alton from the bell_Curve for the link.

Also, links to newer constructions photos can be found in this post:
Firehawk Construction Photos

What do you think of Firehawk? Leave a comment below.