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World News:
Australia - (10/30/09) A new $35 million water park project in Cairns called Adventure Waters has been given approval from the local council. According to Theme Park News Direct, who also has the concept art on display, the park will begin construction of Phase 1 by May 2010 with the goal of opening up about 11 months later.
(10/1/09) Coming in as a big disappointment to many, Village Roadshow has scrapped plans to invest $70 million to add a Wet ‘n’ Wild waterpark on the site of Aussie World. The park will remain as is, for now.
(5/16/09) Theme Park News Direct reports that Australia’s Jamberoo park is preparing to submit plans to build a large waterpark project called Kangaroo Island that will feature a number of high capacity, high-thrill ProSlide creations.
 Canada - (2/4/10) For anyone wondering, a local source has confirmed that the pieces of the former Thunder Eagle wooden coaster are still laying covered up in the parking lot at the Cascades d'eau de Piedmond waterpark in Quebec, Canada. So far no word has come from anyone about future plans for the coaster, though the Ski Resort company that owns it and the waterpark did just open an Alpine Coaster last year, so it sounds like they are still interested in the amusement sector.
China - (2/4/10) The Water Cube, a frequent location of the television coverage from the last Olympic Games in China will reopen this July as a new indoor waterpark attraction following a 9 month rehab. Check out the details here.
(12/21/09) A chocolate theme park experience is currently planned for China that will include eatable replicas of Terracotta Army figures and the Great Wall. Opening in early 2010, the park is being called, “World Chocolate Dream Park”.
(12/1/09) According to this news article China will build a new park called Guangang Ecological Amusement Park that will feature “the world’s largest and longest roller coaster” in the Tianjin area. According to my source the ‘new’ park will actuall be built on the site of the now closed Tianjin Amusement Park which closed down about 2 months ago.
(6/22/09) A picture gallery showing off a new park in China called Beijing Carnival has been posted by Coaster Touring. The new attraction was built next to the Olympic Bird Nest stadium and has a couple of small coasters along with a collection of various flat rides.
(8/18/08) In a unique twist, China has announced some interesting plans for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. They will transform the old Nanshi Power Plant building into a building that will house the displays about generating clean electricity from wind, solar and tidal energy sources. The plant’s old 165 meter smoke stack will be transformed into the World Expo Harmony Tower, a 201 meter tall observation tower. Take a close look at the artwork and you’ll see lots of spiral track covering the exterior of the tower which will be used to shuttle cars full of guests up to the top of the tower.
Germany - (10/15/09) A couple of great Guide to Oktoberfest videos have been posted to YouTube (Part 1 & Part 2) that give a great breakdown on what new visitors to Germany’s big Oktoberfest celebrations can expect. There is information about how to get there, what to do, beer tent etiquette and more. Of course there is a lot of information about the rides as well, so enjoy!
Hungary - (2/11/10) For those wanting to see more of Vidam Park, which is unlikely to open for the 2010 season, check out this new video about the park added here.
(1/29/10) Screamscape has heard that Vidampark in Hungary is very unlikely to open for the 2010 season due to bankruptcy problems. You can enjoy a POV video of the park’s side friction woodie, Hullámvasút, if you click here, complete with Brake Man and all.
Italy - (11/23/09) A new theme park project has been announced for the area South of Rome called Cinecitta World. While a small first phase may be ready as early as 2011, the entire park isn’t expected to finished until at least 2014. The park’s theme will focus around attractions and rides based around the classic films shot at Cinecitta Studios such as Ben-Hur and the Federico Fellini films. Phase 1 will include some thrilling coasters, aquatic shows and movie special effects attractions. A company called Cinecitta Parks, has been set up to operate the park, with an 80% ownership by Cinecittà Entertainment and 20% by Generali Properties. An official teaser website has already launched, but you’ll find most of the important information you may want to know posted to Parksmania and TheParks.it.
(11/11/09) Not far from Milan a new indoor / outdoor waterpark project is under construction called Acquaworld. A great animated video showing off the large park can be seen at YouTube.
Japan - (1/20/10) A lengthy article (in German) along with a ton of great pictures showing off Dodonpa has been added to Coasters And More this week. I’m also not quite sure when they did it, but trains have also been repainted. The strange “faces” are now gone and replaced with some new odd patterns... like a giant pink train with white polka-dots. Wow. Of course until RingRacer opens later this year, I believe Dodonpa still has the record for featuring the most powerful coaster launch in the world, slamming riders back into the seats at 4.3 G’s to hit a top speed of 106.9mph in just 1.8 seconds.
(1/14/10) Theme Park Photography has posted a collection of pictures from the Tokyo Dome. Look carefully… not only can you see Thunder Dolphin, but check out the masked rider on the flume ride. Classic!
(1/11/10) According to CNN, the famous Obake-yashiki haunted house attraction at Hanayashiki, Japan’s oldest amusement park, will close down forever tomorrow after running for the past 30 years.
(9/22/09) An official indoor Thomas Town attraction will open this weekend in Shinmisato, Japan.
(7/31/09) A fun photo trip report from Yokohama Cosmoworld has been posted to Westcoaster this week.
(6/18/09) A quite interesting update was added to Westcoaster today. These are more pictures from Japan… taken during a trip “where your manhood goes to die”. Yes… they went to Sanrio Puroland, the Hello Kitty theme park, to keep the wife happy.
Mexico - (1/12/10) I’ve been told that CIE has sold their ownership of La Feria de Chapultepec (Mexico City), Selva Mágica (Guadalajara, Jalisco) and Water Park Cici (Acapulco, Guerrero) to a yet to be announced new owner for 280 million Pesos.
(7/15/09) The previously announced Mayan Adventures theme park project for Cozumel has abandoned plans to build on the popular vacation and cruise ship port island and will instead look at building the park on Mexico’s west coast, at Los Cabos instead, which I believe is near the south tip of Baja.
Netherlands - (2/25/10) I’ve been told that DippieDoe has backed out of the deal to buy Swamp Thing from Cypress Gardens and instead has bought the former Slangen coaster (Zierer) from Tivoli Gardens.
(8/31/09) DippieDoe (Netherlands) has not only confirmed the purchase of the Swamp Thing coaster from Cypress Gardens, but also confirmed to the local news that they are also adding a Pirate Ship and small Ferris Wheel to the park as well.
South Korea - (2/15/10) Somehow I have doubts we’ll see this shape up quite the way it sounds but a new theme park experience called Robot Land is apparently being designed to open in 2012/2013 in Incheon, South Korea. It will have a Robot Water Park, Robot Battle Stadium and more. At the center of the park will be a massive replica of a Taekwon V (giant robot) that is said be twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Check out even more concept artwork posted to Gizmondo.
(1/22/10) I’ve been told that Gyeongju World (South Korea) will be adding Wizard Garden, a new children’s play area for the 2010 season. However we’ve also been told that currently the park has removed their Merry-Go-Round. It isn’t clear if they are getting rid of it, or moving it to a new location within the park.
(12/9/09) TheThemeParkGuy found the site for the long in development, MGM Studios Park Korea during his trip to the region. Unfortunately the park is still not under construction yet on the site, but it looks as if the site has been cleared. There is an official website for the park now live, but it also says the park is planned to open by Late 2011. Better get cracking!
(11/20/09) We’ve got an update today on the long proposed MGM theme park in South Korea, which has been quite the elusive project to find much at all about ever since it was first announced a few years back. According to this article the park is planning to open by 2013 on South Korea’s Jeju Island. The current name for the park is MGM Hollywood Way and will cost an estimated $880 million, which will be paid by a consortium of Korean companies who will control the park. The park is one piece of a larger $6.55 billion plan for the island to turn it into a resort area, complete with other hotels, an airport, casinos and more.
(7/11/08) A new theme park based on the myths and legends of South Korea is being planned for the resort island of Jeju and hopes to open in 2011. This is just one of four major new theme parks currently in development for South Korea that includes the Daewoo owned Paramount Pictures themed park set to open near Seoul in 2010, the long in development MGM Studio themed park opening in 2012 and a new Universal Studios park and resort project near Seoul (in Hwaseong) also shooting for a 2012 opening date.
Spain - (12/11/09) While they haven’t even finished the first Ferrari World theme park just yet, it seems there is talk about building a second one in Valencia, Spain.
(10/16/09) Loro Parque in Tenerife has opened Katandra Treetops, a massive new aviary attraction, where guests can see over 100 species of birds.
Switzerland - (11/9/09) RCPro has posted an interesting photo update from Switzerland this week, showing off Herbstmesse 2009 and the world’s tallest traveling Ferris Wheel and freefall towers as well as Xenox, a brand new looping coaster creation from Pinfari.
Taiwan - (3/3/10) Taiwan has unveiled plans to build a new theme park in Kaohsiung said to be similar in concept to Universal Studios Hollywood in that the park will be placed next to a functioning film studio. For now it may be another 5 to 10 years before the park will be ready to open if they proceed.
Thailand - (1/27/10) According to this article about possible future plans under consideration for Siam Park, the park will also install a new flume ride from Mack for the 2010 season.
UAE News - (2/17/10) According to BuisnessWeek the Burj Khalifa has delayed their plans to reopening the observation deck because of “maintenance” issues. Currently they are declining on giving any new estimated date on when it might reopen.
(2/11/10) Dubai World is rumored to be looking to make some quick sales of select assets to generate some cashflow and pay off their growing debts. The short list of items rumored to be up for sale include their 20% ownership stake in Cirque du Soleil as well as the Queen Elizabeth 2 which was purchased for about $100 million back in 2007 with the intent of becoming a floating stationary hotel attraction.
Meanwhile the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, may have just opened in Dubai last month, but as of this past Sunday the building is now closed indefinitely. According to this report an elevator got stuck around the 124th floor with 15 passengers inside which had to be rescued. 60 more visitors were then stuck on the buildings observation deck when this happened, but they were taken down via the freight elevator. According to the article various simple reasons (like maintenance) are being given as the explanation for the closure, but they believe something is being hidden.
(9/21/09) The new indoor Stargate theme park in Dubai (no relation to the Film & TV series) is set open on the first day of Eid… an Islamic Holiday that falls on Sept. 20th this year.
(2/11/09) While a news article seemed to indicate that the Warner Bros. park was still on track, we’ve heard elsewhere that Thinkwell, who was said to have been doing the design work for the park, has had to let nearly 100 people go when the project was put on indefinite hold.
UK News - (3/3/10) The first Legoland Discovery Center in the UK will open at the Trafford Center on March 22nd. It will feature Kingdom Quest, a interactive Lego “laser ride”, a 4D Theater, it’s own mini Mini-Land and more. Click here to see all the details.
(3/1/10) According to CoasterMob the Creely Adventure Park is rethemeing their Vekoma Roller Skater coaster as Maximus: The Ride. They are giving it a Roman theme and adding a tunnel to cover the first drop.
(1/31/10) Flambards theme park in Cornwall, England has been given planning permission to build an SBF Drop N Twist tower ride 28 meters tall for the 2010 season.
(1/20/10) The London Dungeon has announced that during the “February half-term period” they will be adding Bloody Mary: Killer Queen to the attraction. The new addtion, “will give visitors an introduction to the story of Mary Tudor, also known as Bloody Mary, a queen described as 'one of Britain's most murderous monarchs'. Tourists will be able to enter Mary's chamber as she passes judgment on heretics who have offended her Catholic sensibilities. People with a taste for the macabre will also be able to experience the sights and sounds of a person being burnt alive, one of the queen's favoured methods of execution.”
(11/23/09) In the six year long fight to save Dreamland Margate, perhaps the most important announcement just too place this past week when the government has awarded £3.7 million grant to the project. The money comes from the Department for Culture Media and Sport as part of a program designed to inject new life to England’s seaside towns. The money will allow for the park’s Scenic Railway to be restored to it’s former glory, as well as allow the much needed funding to allow for the creation of a new park which promises to be comprised entirely of “historic rides” from the past. Dreamland’s Scenic Railway is currently the oldest surviving roller coaster in the UK and the fourth oldest in the entire world. The grand will allow for work to start on restoring the ride to begin next year. You can read more at the official Dreamland Margate site.
Vietnam - (2/19/08) An investment license has been granted so that work can move forward to build a $1.3 billion theme park resort project in Vietnam that will be called Vung Tau Wonderful World Theme Park in the Vung Tau Providence. In addition to the park it will include a 2,500 room 5-Star Hotel, four smaller hotels, a retail area, theaters and more when it opens in 2010. The park will also feature an 88-story Landmark Tower and a Wonder of the World area where they will feature replicas of the Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Pyramids and more.
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