First and foremost, I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. It was a long one for me. My apartment still has a half-decorated Christmas Tree and wrapping paper sitting around. I was able to finally get into the "Christmas Spirit" on Christmas Eve, even though I had to work 8 hours that day. Hey, a half-day is a half-day. Christmas morning came and I celebrated with some family for a little while before falling asleep shortly before the last Aunt and Uncle arrived. I woke up long enough to eat before falling back to sleep for the day. But were back to the real world now and back with another View From The Back. Check out this week's random ramblings for some news about the future of the View, but before then...
Top Ten Best Additions for 2001
The following is a list compiled as part of an informal survey of coaster enthusiasts and general amusement park goers, and amusement industry representatives. The best new attraction of this year is not necessarily determined by what ride delivers the biggest thrill, or most fun, but is determined by what it added to the park it was installed in. In some cases, ride quality was the biggest influence in its placement. In other cases, the rating is based on other more mundane factors. This is not purely the opinion of Coaster 3:16, but is sure to differ from yours anyway.
10. Rhino Rally, Busch Gardens Tampa. It may not have set the world on its ears, but it was the one new attraction of 2001 that truly was new and different. There were some problems that arose, but that is to be expected with any prototype attraction. The different here, though, is that the Rally is not likely to be overshadowed by a similar attraction anywhere anytime soon.
9. Rugrats Runaway Reptar, Wild Thornberrys River Adventure (tie), Paramount's Kings Island. What? Neither of these additions broke any records or are one-of-a-kind billion dollar additions. Yet, after several years of adding such rides, PKI turned to the children and won itself a Golden Ticket for Best Kids' Area from Amusement Today. Maybe this says something to those parks looking for those record breakers and headline stealing attractions. Don't fret the headlines...just deliver.
8. Talon, Dorney Park. The ride itself received mixed reviews. Personally, the more I rode it the more I liked it and it eventually became one of my favorite inverted coasters. But much more than simple ride quality, Talon may have been a perfect fit for Dorney. It brings the growing park a ride that provides excellent capacity and is located on the far end of the park's other premier attraction, Steel Force. No longer is everybody hovered in one corner of the park and perhaps people found out that Hang Time actually was at the park.
7. Titan, Six Flags Over Texas. Giovanola rocked California in 2000 with Goliath. The ride received great reviews for the company's first hypercoaster. Titan was not as successful, perhaps because it had to follow last year's blockbuster hit Superman: Krypton Coaster. Perhaps an early "accident" that saw riders stuck near the top of the lift hill and made it to many national media outlets kept the ride from getting its just reward. Either way, it is hard to argue the quality of this ride and its fit into the park.
6. Phantom's Revenge, Kennywood Park. It just may have been the most controversial new addition of 2001. Kennywood's Steel Phantom was a coaster people seemed to either love or hate. The decision to remove the loops and add to the ride met a similar reaction. The final result, though, was a better quality ride that fit the typical clientele of the park far better than the Phantom could have. The addition of a second train in 2002 should add to the impact this ride has on this historic park.
5. Disney's California Adventure. Ask just about anybody who has been to the Disneyland complex in California and they'll tell you that the park was just fine. But one way to improve upon what was already there was to add an entire new park. DCA could best be called a park in progress, but it has expanded the potential for this complex more than could be imagined by anyone on the outside right now. It allows Disney to take the complex in a different direction than the Magic Kingdom itself could. It may not be a better direction, but that isn't the point. Disneyland took a giant step forward in 2001.
4. Lap Bars, Paramount's Kings Dominion & Paramount's Kings Island. The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear coasters and PKD and PKI were met with luke warm reviews in when they opened in 1996. While most loved the rides themselves, the violent headbanging prevented most from enjoying what the ride delivered. That problem was solved by the addition of lap bars to the newly name "Flight of Fear" at both parks. Not only did this attention have a wonderful effect on PKD and PKI, but also riders of other Premier Rides launched coasters will enjoy its influence across America in the not-too-distant future.
3. Nitro, Six Flags Great Adventure. This was my personal favorite new attraction for the year. Nitro took the other B&M speedcoasters and seem to do them one better. Airtime, speed, and yes some intensity helped to make Nitro a world-class ride. Throw it in a park that had one too many looping coasters and you have a wonderful ride. Terrific capacity (enhanced by a wonderful crew), only add to the list of qualities Nitro provided SFGrAdv in 2001.
2. Wildfire, Silver Dollar City. Silver Dollar City is one of the most beautiful parks in the country. The park attracts families and adults from around the world for its music, food, and atmosphere. The rides at SDC range from family to adult, but the park was missing that one thrill ride that truly delivered an unquestionably wonderful ride. What the park got was that thrill ride that adapted to the surroundings of SDC in a remarkable way. It is very difficult putting Wildfire at number 2, but only one new addition could be number 1...
1. Cornball Express, Indiana Beach. The best way to tell if a park is happy with the addition of a new ride is to see how long it takes for the park to go back to the manufacturer for another ride. In the case of Cornball Express, it took less than a year. This wooden coaster from Custom Coasters, Inc. brought Indiana Beach unprecedented attention from the coaster enthusiast community. This coaster brought the park curious, and ultimately satisfied, area locals. This coaster brought CCI another project at the park in the form of rehab to the Lost Mountain attraction. It was a win-win-win situation in 2001. The park won. CCI won. And visitors won. For this, Cornball Express is Number One.
Random Ramblings
Effective immediately, View From The Back will be published once every other week. In essence, there isn't going to be much of a change to what has been happening anyway. But it will allow me to take more time with each issue to enhance the quality of the column. Gone, hopefully, are the days of wrapping up a column at 3:00 am to get it to Tony the next day. Back are the days when I can sit back and put the proper effort into the column. The next issue of the View will be scheduled for publication on January 17.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg saw attendance rise 17 percent this season according to published reports. The addition of Ireland surely didn't bring in this many new people. The park offered free admission to fire fighters, policeman and military personnel in September and October. I doubt the combination of these two factors was enough to account for such a dramatic increase. The weaker economy saw many families canceling their vacations in favor of one- or two-day trips. BGW has a way of attracting families on weekend getaways and saw a great benefit from the downturn of Disney and Universal.
So, for until two weeks from now when I'm back with more thoughts and a new and improved Random Ramblings section, please take a back seat ride once for me...
Coaster 3:16
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