Coastermob are proud to announce the very first in a line-up of new features to the site – the Developer’s Blog! The DevBlog will essentially commentate the site’s upkeep and running, and give followers an insight as to what’s to come to Coastermob in the near future. Check the new blog out, found under the ‘Menu’ [...]]]>
Coastermob are proud to announce the very first in a line-up of new features to the site – the Developer’s Blog!
The DevBlog will essentially commentate the site’s upkeep and running, and give followers an insight as to what’s to come to Coastermob in the near future. Check the new blog out, found under the ‘Menu’ bar, and expect updates on a monthly basis.
Feel free to leave comments on the Developer’s Blog about all the news from the site’s ‘behind the scenes’; it’s your opinion that counts!
Thank you for all of your support so far, and expect a whole load of features to be added to the site throughout 2010.
American theme park Busch Gardens Tampa, in Tampa Bay Florida – an hour’s drive from central Orlando – has kicked off construction for its brand new thrill coaster, set to open in 2011. Project 2011, as it is commonly codenamed, will be the park’s first major rollercoaster since B&M Dive Machine SheiKra, which opened in [...]]]>
American theme park Busch Gardens Tampa, in Tampa Bay Florida – an hour’s drive from central Orlando – has kicked off construction for its brand new thrill coaster, set to open in 2011. Project 2011, as it is commonly codenamed, will be the park’s first major rollercoaster since B&M Dive Machine SheiKra, which opened in early 2005.
February 2010 brought initial speculation of the ride’s revelation when numerous survey markers were spotted around a vast area of the park; around the Edge of Africa attraction and near the Nairobi-themed section. Early rumours suggested the ride’s theme will be that of a cheetah’s speed and instinct, as justified by the new cheetah enclosure being built on-park currently.
Plans for P-2011 were then released at the end of March, showing a colossally sized ride footprint, and indicated the coaster will have three launch sections and will run close to the ground – further hinting the ride’s theme will be speed. It is also thought universally-raved Maverick at Cedar Point, Ohio, is Project 2011’s inspiration, and that the ride will perfectly add to the park’s already incredible coaster lineup.
Construction for the ride is said to have started in the past week, so watch this space for updates on BGT’s exciting 2011 development!
An Intamin Family/Mine Train rollercoaster, often labelled a ‘family model’, enthusiasts will agree TH13TEEN is certainly more of a thrill ride than family. The ride opened today at the Alton Towers Resort in the all new Dark [...]]]>
An Intamin Family/Mine Train rollercoaster, often labelled a ‘family model’, enthusiasts will agree TH13TEEN is certainly more of a thrill ride than family. The ride opened today at the Alton Towers Resort in the all new Dark Forest area, which is a re-themed replacement of Ug Land. The ride is situated on the site of the old Corkscrew ride and sits next to re-themed Rita (Alton Towers’ Intamin Rocket Rollercoaster).
The awesome world-first element inside the building of TH13TEEN, which everyone has speculated about for well over a year, makes this family ride into a thrill ride; although we don’t want to give the game away, we can confirm that the ride has a drop sequence in the dark followed by a backwards element, but is perfectly suitable for the younger audience.
However the dark queue, theming and scary sound effects may put off younger children from riding. The main ‘rollercoaster’ section of the ride provides a smooth and exhilarating journey through the trees, the swooping turns and air-time hills make the ride more exciting. The station is extensively themed and in some parts of the queue is in virtual darkness with excellent ‘spooky’ sound effects adding to the build up before you take a ride. The ride on the whole provides a real adventure and is definitely not one to miss this tri-decade season at Alton Towers!
Today, the 9th of March 2010, marks a special day in London’s history; the decade birthday of the London Eye!
Originally intended to open for the new milleneum on New Year’s Eve 1999, the London Eye (or ‘The Eye’, as it is commonly referred to), was actually properly opened on the 9th of March to the public following a technical blip, and has since spent the last decade at the top of the city raved by critical acclaim.
A half-hour ‘flight’ around the huge 135-metre observation wheel quite simply takes visitors’ breath away; viewing some of London’s most famous landmarks from a fascinating point of view. The ‘Eiffel Tower of London’ offers an incredible view of the busy metropolis below and is situated near Big Ben and parallel to the Thames River.
To celebrate The Eye’s tenth birthday, there will be celebrations taking place throughout the day aswell as an evening event of entertainment starting at 6:30pm. A light show will also be hosted, starting at 7pm, viewable from all over the city, and anyone who books a flight on The Eye at this time will receive a free complimentary glass of Pommery Champagne.
Don’t miss out on this great party (and if you do, you can virtually keep up-to-date on the latest festivities via The Eye’s official website, Twitter and Facebook pages, and a very happy tenth birthday to the London Eye!
With the opening date being hotly speculated by theme park fans everywhere, the hysteria of the ‘world’s first’ rollercoaster ride hosted within the huge scale Hogwarts castle, the final films in the franchise nearing completion and the intricate attention to detail justified by the many millions of photographs taken over its construction period, Islands Of [...]]]>
With the opening date being hotly speculated by theme park fans everywhere, the hysteria of the ‘world’s first’ rollercoaster ride hosted within the huge scale Hogwarts castle, the final films in the franchise nearing completion and the intricate attention to detail justified by the many millions of photographs taken over its construction period, Islands Of Adventure’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter looks set to stun the theme park universe when it opens as an area in late Spring 2010.
The first ‘real’ development taking place at the park since its opening some 10 years ago, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was announced in early 2007 when the Universal company obtained the Harry Potter franchise’s rights to create an astonishing ‘theme park within a park’.
Since groundbreaking later on in the same year, discussion to the area’s unveiling has simply grown and grown to a phenomenal scale, with hungry fans fed with media, official and unofficial, shining a magical light on the huge development kicking off IOA’s second decade.
Nearing completion, the area as shown by construction photos looks and feels fantastic, with the rethemeing and renaming of several of Islands of Adventure’s classic attractions. Name changes include raved thrill rollercoaster ‘Dueling Dragons’ conversion to ‘Dragon Challenge’, kiddies coaster ‘Flying Unicorn’ into ‘Flight of the Hippogriff’ and the majority of the Lost Continent area being switched to the Potter theme.
Several photos have recently been released showing off the area’s ‘Hogwarts Express’ train replica and the completed exteriors of ‘Hagrid’s Hut’ and ‘Hogsmeade Village’ sets.
Coastermob are proud to show off some original photographs showcasing the Wizarding World’s contents from the area’s perimeter, taken back in October 2009. This small collection of photos, although very out of date, really do give viewers a taste of what will happen when the Harry potter area opens and lets fans have a little wander around the Wizarding World!
Here’s to Spring 2010, let it be magic.
It has recently been reported that on yesterday afternoon; Wednesday 24th of February 2010, a tragic and somewhat shocking accident took place at the famous Shamu training stadium at popular tourist destination Seaworld Orlando.Experienced ‘Shamu’ trainer Dawn Brancheau was attacked and shortly killed by male Orca whale Tilikum at around 2pm after a noon ‘Believe’ show, where several of the killer-whales reportedly refused to perform certain behaviours of the show’s routine.
According to earliest stories, it is thought Brancheau was dragged underwater by the whale in front of many tourists and drowned to death before any help could arrive at the scene, although this is yet to be totally confirmed.
Tilikum, the whale involved in the incident has been at the park since 1992 and has also been in the stories of two other deaths while in captivity. It is highly likely the whale’s captive condition will be assessed.
Our deepest sincerities go out to the family and friends of Dawn Brancheau.
Photos Taken By Joe.
Coastermob was intrigued to learn that Merlin Entertainment had auctioned use of Warwick Castle on Christmas Day using eBay as a means of raising money for charity. We were shocked to learn today that the winning bidder had failed to pay up the sum of £27,000 for the use of the castle for thirty guests [...]]]>
Coastermob was intrigued to learn that Merlin Entertainment had auctioned use of Warwick Castle on Christmas Day using eBay as a means of raising money for charity. We were shocked to learn today that the winning bidder had failed to pay up the sum of £27,000 for the use of the castle for thirty guests for Christmas Day. We hope this unpleasant result does not deter Merlin from similar initiatives to raise money for Merlin’s Magic Wand Charity.
A prickly rumour at the Alton Towers resort. Could we also be seeing a Spinball Whizzer re-theme on top of the new TH13TEEN world first roller coaster edition next year? News has come from the park that the supports of the Maure Sohne spinning roller coaster are being repainted purple, this suggests that the ride [...]]]>
A prickly rumour at the Alton Towers resort. Could we also be seeing a Spinball Whizzer re-theme on top of the new TH13TEEN world first roller coaster edition next year? News has come from the park that the supports of the Maure Sohne spinning roller coaster are being repainted purple, this suggests that the ride is receiving a re-theme over the closed season. The most likely re-theme for the ride will be based on the Sega® video game character Sonic the Hedgehog, as there have been various rumours regarding a Spinball re-theme beforehand. Could Sonic be the next face of Spinball? Or is it just a prickly rumour?
Blue Fire, a huge leap in rollercoaster innovation and Europa Park’s latest roller coaster edition! Along with this incredible new ride is the new Iceland Area, which can be found next to Scandinavia in Europa Park. The huge success of Blue Fire has lead to another addition to the Icelandic area; this will be a [...]]]>
Blue Fire, a huge leap in rollercoaster innovation and Europa Park’s latest roller coaster edition! Along with this incredible new ride is the new Iceland Area, which can be found next to Scandinavia in Europa Park. The huge success of Blue Fire has lead to another addition to the Icelandic area; this will be a Mack Splash Battle. This will arrive in the 2010 season and will no doubt be pulled off with pure Europa Park perfection.
Blue Fire is the first ever roller coaster from Mack to perform an inversion (up-side down element), it is also a first for Europa Park as they have never installed an inverting roller coaster… until now! Just like every ride at Europa Park, Blue Fire has superb theming and a wonderful atmosphere with the inclusion of mechanical, siren and many other sound effects and an on ride sound track. The queue line weaves around the rides many elements and provides riders with excellent views of what they are about to face. The station is one Europa Park have to be proud of, with excellent attention to detail and incredibly efficient staff to reduce queue times.
When you take your seat, you will find they are comfortable and secure. You then pull the lap bar down and are firmly locked into place. On the lap bar you will find a heart rate monitor, this will measure your pulse and heart rate as you go around the ride. Anton Schwarzkopf had it right from the start, as nearly all the Schwarzkopf rides that invert have lap bars and Blue Fire would be a very different ride if it had the more widely used over the shoulder restraints used on inverting roller coasters.
As you leave the station, you enter a noisy and activity filled underground testing lab. With various animatronics, sirens going off and shots of steam coming from various machinery. You then reach the launch area, which is still inside. People can look into the dark launch area through a small window. As you sit, in anticipation waiting to launch, the launch area fills with steam. A siren goes off. Then the powerful LSM’s (Liner Synchronous Motors) burst into life and then you zoom out of the inside section and into daylight. Whilst the launch is not as powerful as the Intamin rockets you still go from 0 – 62mph in only a few seconds! However the launch is not what makes Blue Fire one of the best roller coasters in the world.
You then begin to climb a huge stall turn and you feel a slight bit of air time which is unusual for this kind of element. You then plummet into a tunnel, which provides an awesome header chopper effect. You then enter a massive 105ft loop. At a fast pace you enter an over banked turn causing you to fly out of your seat, however it’s never uncomfortable due to the fabulous lap bars Mack have designed! You then enter the break run with a pop of air time. After a few seconds to catch you breath, you exit the brake run and enter a Horse Shoe Roll, the turn in between the two ‘rolls’ provides another awesome head chopper effect, as well as the fact when you invert you get the feeling that you are going to crash into the rocks as they are placed very near the track when you invert. This really adds to the fear factor of the ride.
You then perform an air time hill and a turn, and then you enter, what seems to have become Blue Fire’s signature element, its inline twist. This is one of the most insane roller coaster elements in existence and is heavily raved about by enthusiasts. The speed that Mack has dared to allow the train to go through the element makes for an incredible sensation. You are literally catapulted out of your seat, not hang time, as you don’t feel uncomfortable at all, it’s like experiencing air time except the world is upside down! You can’t describe this amazing element in words; you just have to go and ride it!
You then do a final turn and then enter the break run. It is incredibly hard to fault this ride; it is fun and exciting all the way through. Not to mention how incredibly smooth the ride is. The trains are perfection; the restraints are so good, you are not even aware they are there during the ride. Blue Fire is very re-rideable and is one cracking roller coaster experience. An absolute ‘must ride’ for any enthusiast!