I’m super eager for Tigris to open in Spring next year and Busch Gardens Tampa have shared some exciting photos of the first parts of the track 😍 lets have a look..
***UPDATE*** 16/01/2019 Busch Gardens have released some new, very arty photos to show how the track is really beginning to take place, check them out…
The below photos were released on the 4th December.
A few days ago they shared images of the track arriving and as you can see the colour orange is dominant throughout – as expected 🙈
Even the containers were orange!
These are the first track pieces of Tigris to be installed 👍
It was only September when Tigris was announced and parts of the track have already arrived at the site!
Seeing the bright orange track has got us a whole new level of excited for Florida’s tallest launch coaster. Tigris will catapult riders through an exhilarating array of looping twists with forward and backward motion, breath-taking drops, a 150-foot skyward surge, and an inverted heartline roll, all at more than 60 miles per hour. Tigris will race riders along more than 1,800 feet of steel track designed to mimic the awe-inspiring agility of the world’s largest and most powerful cat –the tiger.
I can’t wait to see more updates and see the track really start to take place! 😍
YES, DOUBLE YES AND YES AGAIN! Busch Gardens Tampa have announced a brand, spanking new coaster coming to their park in the spring of 2019 (which now can’t come quick enough!) We love coasters here at OAT and Busch Gardens is one of our fave parks so this is just fabulous news all around.
Get ready to take on Tigris.. It will be Florida’s tallest launch coaster and will feature a TRIPLE LAUNCH with both forward and backward motions. You will be catapulted through twists and drops, a 150ft skyward surge and not to mention a heartline roll! (think barrel rolls) Oh yeah.. did i forget to say that you’ll be experiencing all of this at over 60mph!
Riders on Tigris will travel more than 1,800 feet as they race along steel track designed to mimic the awe-inspiring agility of the world’s most powerful cat – the tiger.
Complete with orange track and black framework we can see the layout of the track in some images below:
I not only love the fact we are getting yet another coaster but I love the theme. If you’ve been to Busch Gardens you will know that lots of their coasters are based on animals (think Falcons Fury, Cheetah Hunt and Cobras Curse) and I think a tiger themed coaster is a perfect addition.
Due to this image we think it is going to be a bit like Tempesto at Busch Gardens Williamsburg where riders start off by launching straight up and then rolling backwards through the loading area to then be launched forward again.. Take a look for yourself:
Pretty coooool huh?
Above is an image of the heartline roll – it looks as though you’ll be ‘rolling’ all the way up, along and then back down!
Here’s a concept of the ride cars complete with tiger stripes. In the above images it looks as though there is going to be 3 cars of 6 seats on each train meaning 18 riders will be able to ride each train.
Where do we think the new coaster is going to go?
Well we reckon one of those 3 places.. 1 & 2 obviously because there is space there and 3 because that water ride has been closed since 2016 ♀️ Where do you think it will go?
Either way we are super excited for Tigris to open!
The highly anticipated new VR attraction at LEGOLAND Florida now has an opening date! On the 23rd March 2018 you will be able to experience the thrills of a coaster with virtual reality technology as you race against all your favourite minifigures.
The Great LEGO Race is the first VR coaster aimed solely at kids and is also the first time LEGO brand and minifugures have been integrated with VR technology (in a theme park attraction)
The ‘wild and wacky’ race pits guests against a pirate, wizard, surfer and pharaoh as they steer LEGO-built vehicles like a rocket-powered windsurfing rig, a stylish scooter fuelled by espresso and an ornately canopied bed (called a “litter”) carried by mummy servants.
Wearing optional VR headsets, riders will experience the action from every direction while riding the roller coaster — up, down, forward, backward and all points in between — in a dazzling environment where everything is made of LEGO bricks.
And there’s more….
After crossing the finish line on The Great LEGO Race, guests can then switch gears and enjoy an all-new treat at Funnel Cake Factory, which will open this spring just steps away from the roller coaster in the LEGO Technic area. The highly themed pit stop will offer freshly made-to-order funnel cakes with toppings including fresh fruit, powdered sugar and soft-serve ice cream. YUMMMMM
On the 13th December The Alligator capital of the world celebrated the official opening of the Stompin’ Gator Off-Road Adventure ride and Gator Joe’s Adventure Outpost as part of their $2.2 million park expansion.
Visitors to Gatorland can now hop on one of three 12 foot tall off road monstor vehicles which are custom made just for Gatorland (i’m now realising it may be pretty difficult to ‘hop’ on one) to embark on a ’15 minute rugged and hilarious adventure like no other theme park ride anywhere. Gatorland have said that “this exciting ride is chocked full of wacky new Gatorland characters, singing tour guides, swampy adventure, and, of course, lots of alligators. Each vehicle is specially branded and named after iconic real alligators and crocodiles at Gatorland, including Bone crusher, Cannibal Jake, and Swamp Ghost. (My fave is definitely Bone crusher)”
With every great ride comes a story line. The story line for Stompin’ Gator Off-Road Adventure is a journey in to the world of ‘gator gardens’ which is a fictional rival park that has taken over a swamp buggy business from a new Gatorland character called ‘Swampy Sal’ who you’ll be attempting to find. Guests will be taken on an adventure like no other through unexpected twists and turns, through a alligator graveyard and a pond of hungry gators (probably a good thing you’ll be 12 feet in the air at this point) . Gatorland are confident that guests will be laughing the whole way through with a comedic plot, monser vehicle drivers and on board personal guides. The cost for a child/adult ticket will be $10.00 and guests will need to be a minimum of 36 inches to ride. You can purchase tickets from the parks admission gate or from Gator Joes Adventure Outpost.
The vehicles for the Stompin’ Gator Off Road Adventure will depart from Gatorlands brand new ‘Gator Joe’s Adventure Outpost’ which is now the home for all Gatorlands add-on’s such as the Screamin’ Gator Zip Line, Adventure Hour, Trainer for the Day and Gator Night Shine.
Gator Joe’s Adventure Outpost is named after Ernest “Gator Joe”Brown, who was hired by Owen Godwin Sr. – Gatorland’s founder, to work at the park. Brown was known all over Central Florida, especially throughout Kissimmee and Osceola County, as Gator Joe because of his great love and expertise with alligators. Gator Joe raised thousands and thousands of baby gators at Gatorland. He had a special knack for getting them to eat and grown quickly. When he hollered “GATOR! GATOR BOY!” across the lakes, every gator would swim as fast as they could to meet him. Gator Joe worked at Gatorland from 1958 until shortly before he passed away in 2013.For lmost 60 years, Gator Joe and his family’s influence on Gatorland has run long and deep, with some of his family still working at Gatorland today.
This looks like an absolute BLAST and I would love to do this, it’s definitely on my list of things to do on my next trip to Orlando! Don’t forget, you’ll need your Gatorland admission ticket too!
I’m extremely excited about Ray Rush which is opening in the Spring of 2018 and yesterday Aquatica uploaded some construction pics, lets take a look..
As we can all see, the primary colours of the slide are blues and greens – sticking with the ocean animal theme of rays.
Lots of parts ready and waiting to become a piece of Ray Rush!
I can see parts that look like pizza slices in the right side of this photo, I wonder what part of the slide they will be home too… I’m not sure if the guy on the right is taking the photo or scratching his head as to say ‘I’ve left the instructions at home Dave’
Here we can see that Hooroo Run is no more so that we can make way for Ray Rush which will now be next to Walhalla Wave on the left hand side of the photo and is closed until Ray Rush opens in Spring.
Who’s excited for this to open?! If you can’t remember what Ray Rush is going to look like then see below..
Triple your fun with the three-in-one thrills of Ray Rush, new at Aquatica Orlando. Ray Rush is the fully-loaded water adventure with three ways to slide, splash and soar like never before. First, water jets launch your raft from zero to awesome in just seconds. Your adventure takes a twisting turn as you spin inside a colossal water sphere. Finally, dive into the giant manta wings, swooping up and down a different path each time. Fill your raft with family and friends for three times the thrills on the exciting Ray Rush at Aquatica, SeaWorld’s waterpark.
Back in October it was confirmed that the Guardians of the Galaxy ride will be a coaster – the first in EPCOT‘s history. WOOHOOOO! ( if you didn’t know, we love a coaster here at OAT) There was rumours back in October of the coaster being a ‘first of its kind’ ride system and will launch guests through a tunnel into a 10-story tall show building but today we have more rumours…
Over the last few days there has been a few rumours flying around regarding who is going to be making the coaster which will give us more clues and room to speculate on what type of coaster it will be. There is 2 manufacturer names that have been floating around the GOTG coaster – Mack Rides and Vekoma.
I’m going to start with what we DO know about the GOTG coaster.. We know that there will be a very cool queuing experience, guests will enter through a doorway that will take them into the Welcome Gallery consisting of ramps leading up through the line – it appears to be on multiple levels and will see guests climbing upwards as the queue progresses to reach the elevated load platform, the second queue room is Xander Gallery which then leads to a ‘merge point’ and the first pre-show. The second pre-show (see image below) will see guests undergo some sort of transformation with projections of Rocket, Groot and the Milano Ship. From there the guests will make way to the load area, the coaster will feature a dual – load and unload meaning 2 trains at a time (less waiting woohoo!) Each train can hold 20 guests. The train will then head to the launch tunnel where they will be shot straight into the building behind the old Universal of Energy which is 133ft tall.
The track looks as though it will consist of many tight turns and long straights with projection effects along the way. It does appear to be family friendly and there will be no inversions (boooo) There isn’t a huge amount of information about the story-line so I guess we will just have to patiently wait for that..
So from what we know (or think we know), it looks as though it will be a launch coaster experience and there has recently been some rumours that it would be a Mack Spinning Coaster. (like Cobras Curse at Busch Gardens which is a Mack ride) Disney chose Mack for Slinky Dog Dash so it kind of made sense to opt for them to make the GOTG coaster too however some sources have revealed that it is apparently going to actually be a new Vekoma coaster.
There has been no confirmation on what style of ride it will be but from my research (well, a browse on Wikipedia) Vekoma have never built a spinning coaster. Some of the Vekoma coasters built in Orlando are; Rock ‘n Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios which is a LSM Coaster (launched coaster) Barnstormer in Magic Kingdom, Flight of the Hippogriff in IOA, Flying School in LEGOLAND (suspended family coaster) Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom and Freedom Flyer in Funspot which is also a suspended family coaster, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom and they are making Tron which is coming to Magic Kingdom in 2021. This has led me to thinking what type of coaster we could be getting for GOTG…
Vekoma manufacture a lot of Boomerang coasters which we have not seen in a Disney park as of yet. A Boomerang coaster uses the same track multiple times. For example, the coaster may start by travelling backwards up a slope, it will then hurtle forwards, maybe do a few twists and turns and then you could find yourself travelling backwards again, maybe this time down a slope. Now it looks as though the GOTG coaster is going to be family orientated and family or ‘junior’ boomerang coasters look pretty awesome! Take a look at this family boomerang coaster in Paultons Park which was manufactured by Vekoma:
Vekoma have also made many ‘motorbike roller coasters’ which are.. well the title kind of speaks for itself. 😉 Now I don’t think it the GOTG coaster will be a motorbike style coaster due to TRON: Lightcycle Power Run coming to Magic Kingdom in 2021 (which is also manufactured by Vekoma) as the one in Shanghai is already a motorbike style coaster we can assume that the Magic Kingdom one will be too.
As it appears that the GOTG coaster is going to be a family coaster, the only other Vekoma coaster style I can think of is a Suspended Family Coaster like the Flight of the Hippogriff at Islands of Adventure or Flying School at LEGOLAND Florida:
There is loads of different models of coaster that GOTG could be and it has not yet been confirmed if Vekoma are going to be the ones manufacturing it but I’ve got a hunch and sometimes, just sometimes they’re right. :p
There is still no exact date for when the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction will open but Disney have promised that it will be open in time for the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World which is in 2021.
I am SUPER buzzing about Fast & Furious – Supercharged which is coming to Universal Studios Florida next spring and Universal have just revealed some new details. Woohooo!
When I was in Orlando back in September I could see this new attraction starting to take shape.. at least I know where to head first now when it’s open! The ride is going to be very immersive and will throw guests straight in to the story where you will become part of the Fast family. If you’re as much of a fan of the Fast and Furious films like myself or if you’ve seen the films you will know how action packed and adrenaline filled they are which is being bought to life in this spectacular ride. Universal have said that ‘there are four specific details exclusive to Universal Orlando’s Fast & Furious – Supercharged that make it the ultimate Fast & Furious experience:’ These are:
Supercharged Cars (duhhhhhh)
New Characters
New Story
Virtual Line
Check out this Video:
Universal have also revealed a ‘front row look inside the high-energy adventure’
The Family’s All Here
‘You’ll encounter Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and more of your favoirite Fast & Furious characters during your action-packed experience. But it’s not all good guys that you’ll come face-to-face with either. Luke Evans (Owen Shaw) and his criminal cartel are back with a vengeance.
Ludacris (Tej Parker) and Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto) will join the all-star cast of this attraction.’
Cars from the Fast & Furious Film Franchise
Universal have stated that they worked very closely with Dennis McCarthy who is the man behind the cars in the films to create 15 authentic cars which are one of a kind for the attraction – pretty cool ay!!
An Original Fast & Furious Story
Before you even step inside the attraction, you’re immersed in the story. You’ll first encounter Dom’s iconic car parked outside.
The Fast & Furious – Supercharged building has become the all-new home base of operations. You’ll get to explore familiar scenes inspired by the films, including Tej’s high-tech War Room and the Family Room—complete with photos of the Fast family.
Dom invites you to attend a race after-party that you won’t want to miss. The best part is Tej hooks you up with customized party busses to get you there.
As you make your way to the party, Dom calls with an urgent message: Criminal mastermind Owen Shaw has tracked you down. Now, a high-speed chase is on as the Fast& Furious crew strives to keep you safe from the clutches of Shaw. But will you make it?
Virtual Line
Fast & Furious – Supercharged is the second attraction (after Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon) to use a Virtual Line system. Again, like Jimmy Fallon there will be tonnes to do while you ‘queue’ such as memorabilia, songs from the soundtracks, photo opportunities and more. Also, when you exit the ride you’ll be able to take as many photos as you like of cars from this years The Fate of the Furious. No attraction is complete without a gift shop and of course there will be plenty of opportunity to grab as much merchandise as you want from the Fast & Furious gift shop.
Rumours have it, Shanghai Disneyland’s TRON Lightcycle Power Run roller coaster may soon be making its way overseas to the major U.S. Disney parks! According to sources, budget and preliminary design teams for Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts have been sent out to Shanghai to transform the idea into reality in the U.S.
The addition of a TRON ride to Disney’s U.S. theme parks would be a great addition to the new movie-themed coaster and attractions at Disneyland and Disney World. The Guardians of the Galaxy mission : BREAKOUT attraction is now under-construction at Disney’s California Adventure park, while the massive Pandora: The World of Avatar has recently opened in Animal Kingdom. Furthermore, Star Wars Land rides and attractions are currently being made ahead of their openings at Disney parks in both California and Florida. Therefore, it would make sense to announce another movie-themed coaster.
The Lightcycle ride momentarily places fans into the world of Tron in a lightening speed roller coaster. As seen in the video here, the experience is over in less than two minutes, but it still looks amazingly fun!
It is yet to be confirmed but with D23 just round the corner, we are left to ponder whether Disney will announce the coaster as soon as this weekend!
Let us know in the comments, what you think of this new coaster, which we could see in our parks within the next couple of years!
Universal have recently released some exciting news – especially exciting for me as Fast & Furious is my favourite film franchise EVER!!
The attraction is going to be called Fast & Furious – Supercharged and will open in spring next year.
You’ve seen the cars. You’ve seen the ction. And soon, you’ll be able to live it.
Back in 2015 Universal announced that a Fast & Furious attraction will be coming to Universal Studios in the future and we now have a exact-ish release time! Fast & Furious is one of the most successful film franchises of all time and this ride is going to be one of Universals most action packed experiences!
You’ll feel like part of the “Fast family” as you embark on a thrilling new Fast & Furious adventure that will put you right in the middle of the action.
The ride is set to fuse everything people love about the films with an original storyline and incredible ride technology. Universal have said that you will be able to check out some of the high-speed, supercharged cars you’ve seen in the films and that you’ll be immersed in the underground racing world made famous in the films. You will even get to explore the headquarters of Toretto and his team. “Then, you’ll board specially-designed vehicles for an adrenaline-pumping ride with your favourite stars from the films.”
This action-packed ride will take guests on a high-octane journey that fuses an original storyline, incredible ride technology, popular characters, exhilarating environments, nonstop action and, of course, high-speed cars. You’ll feel like part of the Fast & Furious family as they join Dom Toretto, Hobbs, Letty and Roman on a thrilling new Fast & Furious journey.
Fast & Furious – Supercharged will also feature the Virtual Line experience. If you haven’t heard of this before it allows you to select a time to ride in advance so you can wait in line, virtually, (not standing getting achy legs) and allows you to enjoy other experiences throughout the park while the app queues for you.
I, for one, am absolutely bursting with excitement for this one! What do you think?
We have spotted some exciting news today, a brand new wooden roller coaster is coming to the Kissimmee Fun Spot in the summer of 2017!
The Gravity Group are the guys and girls who have designed this new coaster and it sound like this ride is going to be pretty cool and definitely a thrill seekers dream.
This new coaster is Fun Spot Americas second wooden roller coaster. The original one called White Lightning is situated at Fun Spots Orlando park.
Some specifications for the coaster have been released and it sounds amazing! There is going to be a 360 degree barrel roll, 11 different air times and a top speed of 48.5mph!
John Arie Jr who is Fun Spot America’s CEO has said:
“This is HUGE news not just for us but the city of Kissimmee as this will be the only wooden roller coaster in the southeast United States that will feature a 360 degree barrel roll. This roller coaster will be completely unique and thrilling, we have worked tirelessly with the Gravity Group to design a ride that will be a must ride coaster for any thrill seeker and coaster enthusiast, definitely bucket list worthy. We are still working through the theming, naming rights and sponsorship opportunities but with over two million visitors to our parks each year we do expect to move forward quickly on these opportunities.”
The coaster isn’t going to be the only positive impact.. this $6 Million investment will see to over 50 new jobs during construction and over 20 full time jobs when it opens next summer.
Check out this cool VR video:
The length of the track is going to be 2256 feet with a first drop of 80.5 feet and a 115 degree bank angle which points towards a famil friendly but also very thrilling new coaster.
As a name for this coaster has not yet been released what do you think they should call it?
A few days ago they shared images of the track arriving and as you can see the colour orange is dominant throughout – as expected 🙈
Even the containers were orange!
