SeaWorld Orlando has unveiled renderings of its newest roller coaster, Manta, set to open next summer. The ride will include live rays, flying upside-down and speeds of up to 60 mph.
It starts with a ray-filled aquarium that also showcases other marine life. Once through the line, you'll be strapped into a 12-person car, face-down. Along the 3,300 feet of track, you'll come so close to the water that your manta ray-shaped carriage will "skim the waves."
World famous coaster firm Bolliger & Mabillard designed Manta, which will tower 140 feet above SeaWorld. If you can't stand the wait, you can try another of their brand new rides in South Carolina: B&M put together Led Zeppelin: The Ride at the Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach.
Though Florida pretends to be a mecca for theme park lovers, California is really where ride junkies should get their fix this summer. In addition to The Simpsons Ride, this year brings a lot of new goodies to the table.
First up is Six Flags Magic Mountain, which just finished a major $10 million renovation of the famous coaster X. Now known as X2, the ride features updated trains and fresh audio and visual effects. Riders spin 360 degrees in their seats while making the journey along a 36,000-foot track. This one should clearly be done early in the day, before the hot dogs and cotton candy.
For smooth-jazz lovers, it's a "Highway to Hell": South Carolina's Hard Rock Park promises all the thrills of your local theme park with a much better soundtrack.
While the tourist attraction doesn't have its official grand opening till June 2, a "sound check" is letting ride aficionados get their first look at Hard Rock's first theme park.
The coasters in this $400 million park are designed to be extra quiet so riders will be able to hear the corresponding songs--even over all the screaming.
Besides the "Life In The Fast Lane" and "Nights In White Satin" rides, the park boasts a memorial to dead musicians, a Mount Rockmore and a "Bohemian Rhapsody"-themed fireworks show. Alas, there will be no "Love Roller Coaster."
In a week, Australia's Gold Coast will host an "After Dark Park" night at one of the biggest amusement parks there, Dreamworld. That's the place we know as home to the Tower of Terror roller coaster, although it's also got a new big thrill ride called Motocoaster, a nearly 45-mile-per-hour roller coaster where you're strapped in to a replica 500 cc motor bike.
But next week, on March 28, the attention will be centered on the Zero to Hero contest, the annual FlowBoarding competition. That takes place on the FlowRide attraction, a mix of surfing, skateboarding and bodysurfing which is definitely exciting to watch.
Entry to the After Dark special opening is by reserved ticket, and the final of the FlowBoarding takes place at 9:30 pm. Some attractions will be closed but all the big scary rides will be open. We're holding out to see if anyone will cross the Motocoaster with the FlowRide to get some kind of swimming motorbike experience.
Remember Led Zeppelin's one time reunion gig set for London next month? Well just in case you can't pay scalper's prices or get yourself to London the Hard Rock has you covered, if you can make it down to Myrtle Beach next May.
The Hard Rock Park, a.k.a the world's first rock 'n' roll theme park will open next spring and will feature "Led Zeppelin -- the Ride," a 155-foot-tall steel roller coaster. Apparently, Jimmy Page named the ride himself and picked the song "Whole Lotta Love" to be played as riders try to stomach six loop rolls at 65 miles per hour.
The 140-acre park will have more than 40 attractions, including, three other roller coasters, a hip-hop-themed ride, and a "Pinball Wizard" arcade. Sweet, but there better be some sort of KISS ride in this park.
Looks like we're not the only ones who enjoy a little roller coaster action. That's Leonardo DiCaprio and his girlfriend, model Bar Rafaeli, on the Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm in California.
The star couple may be pleased to know the Xcelerator hasn't made our list of the world's scariest coasters, although it does take lucky riders from 0 to 82 in 2.3 seconds when it launches. Leo could probably afford his own -- the coaster, which opened in 2002, cost Knott's "just" $13 million.
No, we are not talking about the Disney ride. That's the Twilight Zone Tower Terror, and shut up right now if you think that's scarier than Dreamworld's Tower of Terror in Australia. Sure, both rides have some serious free-falling action - but Australia's Tower of Terror has you do it backwards. At 90 degrees.
Oh, and it's the fastest roller coaster in the Southern Hemisphere. So, let's just look at the big picture here: when you ride the Tower of Terror, you climb 38 stories high at 100 mph, then you free-fall backwards, hurtling rapidly towards the ground. Yeah, that certainly sounds terrifying to us.
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