Theme park news: Cedar Point water ride, Fantasmic dragon debuts, Rihanna at Magic Mountain

A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:

* Cedar Point in Ohio unveils the $10.5-million Shoot the Rapids water ride for 2010 set amid an illegal moonshine still.

* Report: Shanghai Disneyland to open in 2013 on a site four times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland.

* Video: New fire-breathing Fantasmic dragon at Disneyland looks stunning and pleases crowd in debut but seems a bit stiff and fails to “breath” fire.

* Online auction to decide last 24 riders on Big Bad Wolf coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia. Top bidder so far: $27,300.

* Lost Island water park in Iowa announces hydromagnetic slide with linear induction motors for the 2010. (Screamscape)

* Waldameer Park in Pennsylvania planning to add the Yo-Yo chair swing ride for 2010.  (Coaster Critic)

* Scandia fun center in Ontario counts “wusses” who pay but chicken out of haunted house — 745 in 2008, 6,249 since 1994.

* Hyperactive & ADD kids get line-jumping wristbands at Thorpe Park in United Kingdom to prevent tantrums.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland. Follow Funland on Twitter and Facebook.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Photo: Pop singer Rihanna rides the Tatsu roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Credit: Six Flags Magic Mountain

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 7:16 am by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Asia, California, Cedar Point, Celebrity, China, Disneyland, Family & Kids, Florida, Great Britain, Hong Kong Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Midwestern States, Orange County, Southern States, Theme Parks, Water 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.