2008 preview: U.S. amusement & theme parks

Fifth in a series: 2008 amusement and theme park preview

Outside the theme park hubs of Southern California and central Florida, the major regional amusement parks in the United States will be pouring their millions into just one thing in 2008: thrills.

Leading the pack is the Six Flags chain, which will add six new coasters across the country:
* St. Louis — The $7-million Evel Knievel wooden roller coaster. Length: 2,700 feet.

* Over Texas (Arlington) — The $6.5-million Tony Hawk’s Big Spin rotating coaster. Height: 50 feet.

* Fiesta Texas (San Antonio) — The $15-million Goliath suspended inverted coaster, from the currently shuttered Six Flags New Orleans. Top speed: 50 mph.

* Great Adventure (New Jersey), New England (Massachusetts) and Great America (Chicago) — The $7.5-million indoor Dark Knight special effects coaster. Length: 1,200 feet.

Other highlights nationwide:
* Hersheypark (Pennsylvania) — The $12-million vertical lift, inverted loop Fahrenheit coaster. Height: 120 feet.

* Dollywood (Tennessee) — The $5-million River Battle pits boat crews armed with soaker guns against one another. Play the online game.

* King’s Dominion (Virginia) — The floorless Dominator coaster from Geauga Lake, the 100-year-old Ohio theme park that closed in 2007. Loop height: 135 feet.

* Michigan’s Adventure — The $10-million inverted Thunderhawk coaster, another former Geauga Lake coaster. Inversions: five.

* Cedar Point (Ohio) — The “roller coaster capital of the world” adds a seven-ride children’s area called Planet Snoopy, according to Screamscape.

You can find all the blog entries in the 2008 Preview Series on the theme park page.

What’s the best new U.S. coaster in 2008?

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Image: Dollywood]

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 2:08 am by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Cedar Point, East Coast, Family & Kids, Midwestern States, Southern States, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.