Update: Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom

© Kentucky Kingdom

Within the last few days Kentucky Kingdom has shared a few pictures of their new coaster going up. Lighting Run; manufactured by Chance rides looks to be flying up! Seen in this picture is supports and track already in place, though later than other projects at other parks, this coaster shouldn't take too long to construct. The upwards curve seen here takes place just after the 100ft drop and in the background another banked turn can be seen, that takes place towards the end of the rides circuit before the camel backs.

© Kentucky Kingdom

As seen above, another picture shared by Kentucky Kingdom. This shows the Coasters tall supports in place, this picture seems to be the same supports as in the picture above but before track was put in place. Check back for more pictures as construction flies along. 

Falcons Fury opening date revealed

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa have confirmed the opening date of their new Intamin Drop tower 'Falcons Fury' as May 1st 2014. The ride will take riders up a 335ft tower before plunging them back to earth at 60mph. Falcons Fury contains an element that allows the gondola which contains the seats to tilt forwards so riders are facing the ground. The ride is the centerpiece of the area 'Pantopia' which contains rides, places to eat and many shops. The area is a re theme of the area named 'Timbuktu'. 

Project Updates

                        

                                                                                     © Worlds of Fun

Steel hawk has started to arise from within Worlds of fun this week. Previously standing at Knotts Berry Farm as Windseeker it was removed at the end of last season and transported to Worlds Of fun now known as Steel hawk. While this is only the base piece i'm sure the ride will be at full height in no time. Unless you already know, Steel hawk was originally painted in brighter colors and has been painted to match the existing Windseekers. 

© Six Flags Mexico

Six flags mexico shared a picture of there 'new' steel coaster Medusa Steel Coaster. The Coaster is a transformation of the old wooden version of Medusa, using Rocky Mountain Construction's I box track they are creating a hybrid. How fantastic does it look? Those banked turns look fantastic and that inverted drop!

                     

This track is of Lightning Run, the new roller coaster for Kentucky Kingdom. Manufactured by Chance rides it is the first of their new Hyper GT-x model. How great does that light blue track look? very good. Standing at 100ft with an 80 degree drop, it is sure to provide thrills! 

                        

And down in Germany Holiday Park has finished vertical construction of their Premier Rides coaster. Standing tall above the trees, the launch coaster is a clone of the ride of the same model in Six Flags Discovery Kingdom named Superman ultimate flight. 

Named Sky Scream, it will launch riders forwards and backwards out of the station in order to reach the top height of 150ft where riders negotiate an in line twist before plummeting back down. 

New Gerstlauer family shuttle coaster set to open at Adventure City

© Adventure City

This season California's Adventure City have announced they will open a Gerstlauer Family shuttle coaster to be named Rewind Racers. The coaster looks full of family fun, even though the concept art suggests the ride would be built by Vekoma and be one of their Junior boomerangs. At a cost of just over $2 million the ride comes on the cheap side for what it provides and is the largest investment in the parks history. A shuttle coaster does not need a lot of space to be built and features forwards and backwards sections. Firstly climbing the lift hill backwards from the station before plummeting back down, travelling around multiple banked turns and then heading up another hill, before doing everything backwards again. 

While from the concept art it does not at all look like a Gerstlauer creation, it is set to be. The family ride will have huge success at this small family park i have no doubt, it is fantastic to see family parks investing in these coasters. 

Today's Random Coaster

  

Today's random coaster is a daily post we shall do on most days per week, we will provide facts and images of a Roller coaster at random. 

Today's random coaster: Backlot Stunt Coaster

There are three Backlot Stunt Coasters in existence, all located at Cedar fair parks. These locations are Kings Island, Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland;all three opening in 2005 and 6. The coasters at Canada's Wonderland and Kings Island were originally named Italian Job:Stunt track although the one operating at Kings dominion was named Italian Job turbo coaster. All three were built by Premier Rides, have a top speed of 40mph and height of 45ft, good stats for a family launch coaster. Backlot Stunt Coaster is a family launch coaster so does not consist of any inversions, it has 3 launch sections on all the coasters. 

Six Flags Great America release final design of Goliath

That's right, were back after two years here at Theme Park Mad. Here to bring you all the latest theme park news. 

To start us off today in this article we are discussing Goliath, the Rocky Mountain Construction hybrid opening at Six Flags Great America this year. Originally Goliath was designed to have a full wooden structure for the lifthill and zero g stall, however in this newly released design this has changed to an impressive steel structure. Comparisons below. 

© Six Flags Great America

The new style of Lift is built up using steel rather than the wood, most likely to save space and material. It certainly does have an Intimidator 305 style about it with its own unique look. Now underneath the lift hill is a new inversion, named the Zero G Stall; which looks alike an upside down airtime hill. This is smartly supported by a bridge like structure which incorporates into the lift structure. 

© Six Flags Great America

Above is the most impressive view of the new coaster. Something about that towering lift hill is very impressive, many people will ask how such a thrilling Rollercoaster can fit into the small space it occupies. Well that's the genius of Rocky mountain. Goliath sports a 165ft tall lift hill and a drop of 180ft at an angle of 85 degrees(that's almost vertical!) speeding upto a top of 72mph! If this isn't impressive enough, here's another image to gear you up. Are you ready for Goliath? 

© Six Flags Great America

THRILLING THURSDAY !

Ok, so here it is, today we are going to showcase the thrilling coaster's debuting in 2012, here is out top 2.

1-Leviathan Canada's wonderland 
In 2012 Canada's wonderland will debut the world's first b&m giga coaster.                                                                            

Leviathan logo

When the coaster open's with the park in April 2012, it will stand an incredible 306ft tall above the park's main entrance.  Recently the park finished the coaster's track work and installed all of the coaster's track The latest update from the coaster can be found on either the park's Facebook page or Canada's wonderland mania here.
http://www.cwmania.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=242&page=1&sort=dd



2-Skyrush Hershey park

Add caption

Also debuting this year is another unique attraction, Skyrush. Standing at a spectacular height of 200ft it towers above Hershey park and even Hershey. The coaster is almost finished track wise, and looks Phenomenal right now. When it opens this summer, it will feature unique trains, that wing out over the sides of the track. The latest update can be found at Keystone thrills here,
http://keystonethrills.megabb.com/t367-hersheypark-skyrush-construction-update-88-2-15-12


Next in the editions of THRILLING THURSDAY we will have Shambhala and The swarm.
All the links posted are with credit to the websites the links are linked to.