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Showing posts with label great coasters international. Show all posts
Showing posts with label great coasters international. Show all posts

Monday, September 01, 2008

Worlds of Fun to Unleash Prowler in 2009

New GCI Woodie to Prowl Worlds of Fun's Terrain in Prowler - Worlds of Fun New Coaster2009
NewsPlusNotes was first to report that Worlds of Fun has released details on their highly anticipated 2009 Great Coasters International wooden coaster. Prowler will kick off with an 85-foot drop into a ravine. The rest of the ride will closely hug the terrain as it reaches speeds in excess of 50 mph. For more, check out Worlds of Fun's Prowler site.

GCI is departing from their twister layout seen on such successful coasters as Dollywood's Thunderhead and Six Flags St. Louis' Evel Kneivel. While those are great rides, I applaud the departure as it will help the park offer something unique. With the site's tag line of "A beast of a coaster" and the terrain layout, one can't help but think of the legendary Beast at Kings Island. Prowler looks much smaller than the Beast and less intense, but any coaster with an interesting terrain layout is a winner in my book. I'd much rather see more of these custom installations than cookie-cutter twisters like Roar and Hersheypark's Wildcat.

Check out this fly-over video of Prowler at Worlds of Fun:
After viewing the videos, I think the layout could use a tunnel or two and it wouldn't hurt to see a helix thrown in. But on the positive side, the ride looks fast and looks to have great moments of change of direction. What do you think of Worlds of Fun's Prowler? Are you excited? Leave a comment below.

Posted by The Coaster Critic at 9/01/2008 0 comments

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Worlds of Fun Teases 2009 Wooden Coaster

Another Caged Beast Appears | Worlds of Fun's 2009 Coaster
Cedar Fair continues the onslaught of boxed beasts. First there was the Diamondback teaser, then the new Carowinds coaster, and now a box has been delivered to Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, MO). This time the park has produced several YouTube videos allowing fans to watch the drama unfold. What drama? Well, the unnamed beast has an insatiable appetite. According to the Worlds of Fun blog, they're "losing interns left and right." Here's a video of a faux-press conference with the International Wildlife Organization:


Word on the Web is that this will be a new Great Coasters International wooden coaster. GCI is responsible for such popular coasters as Dollywood's Thunderhead, SF St. Louis' Evel Kneivel, and Hersheypark's Lightning Racer. ScreamScape has already received a hint from the park that the new name will be that of a 'powerful cat'. In the video, the signal goes out just as they mention what type of animal is in the crate. But from its habit of eating interns we know that it's 'man eating'. The only other hint that came out of the press conference is that the animal is 'very rare'. I just hope that the name is somewhat original. Obviously lions and tigers come to mind, but by themselves neither of them sound like a great name for a roller coaster.

Prowler - Worlds of Fun Roller CoasterUPDATE 8/18 - During Coaster Mayhem on August 16th, Worlds of Fun announced that the name of the new coaster will be 'Prowler'. They didn't give any further details on the specs of the ride or even what type of coaster it will be. Most think it will be a GCI wooden coaster. The official announcement will be on September 1st. Stay tuned. Thanks to the anonymous reader who scooped this. Photo Credit: CoasterCommunity

What type of roller coaster do you think Prowler at Worlds of Fun will be? Leave a comment below.

Posted by The Coaster Critic at 8/14/2008 3 comments

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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Evel Knievel @ Six Flags St. Louis Opens

Daring New GCI Woodie Debuts at Six Flags St. Louis
Today, Six Flags St. Louis' opened its ninth roller coaster with the debut of Evel Knievel. The Great Coaster International woodie was my #4 pick for the Top New Roller Coasters of 2008. Knievel's a clone, but in this case that's a good thing.

It's based on Thunderbird at PowerPark in Finland, which came ranked 10th on the 2007 Internet Coaster Poll. If this design was a success once, it should be again. Six Flags could have another world-class wooden coaster. For more, check out the propaganda, I mean press release.

Until there's an onride video of Evel Knievel, (probably being uploaded to YouTube as you're reading this) check out this press video of Evel Knievel coaster:

Have you ridden Evel Knievel at SF St. Louis? What did you think? Leave a comment below.

Posted by The Coaster Critic at 6/19/2008 1 comments

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