Latest news with #rides
The Independent
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
First Universal theme park in UK hopes to build the tallest rides in Europe
The new Universal Studios theme park that will be built in the UK could have some of the tallest rides in Europe, planning documents show. Visitors to the theme park in Bedford are likely to see rides based on the studio's most famous film franchises, including Minions, Jaws and Jurassic Park. The American film production and distribution company has sought planning permission through a special development order, which would allow the government to approve the plans rather than through the local council. Universal Studios said it could build structures in the theme park reaching up to 377ft (115m), including rides, the new planning documents show. "The reason for proposing structures up to this maximum height is to allow the proposed theme park to compete with other attractions in Europe," the proposal said. "Although the Universal Orlando Resort does not currently have attractions up to this height, taller attractions are more common in Europe, where rides need to be taller to create the experience, as space is more constrained,' it added. Currently, Thorpe Park 's Hyperia is the tallest and fastest theme park ride in Britain, exceeding speeds of 80mph and ascending to heights of 72 metres along nearly a kilometre of track. Red Force, a 367-foot (112m) rollercoaster at PortAventura World in Spain, is the largest in Europe. According to the plans, the majority of the park's structures will be between 20 and 30m tall, with some larger ones adding "visual interest" to the skyline. "Building attractions that are higher, rather than over greater areas, also makes the best use of land which is in line with planning policy,' they added. The amusement park hopes to receive 8.5 million visitors each year, with 55,000 expected to attend during peak times such as the school summer holidays. A minimum of 7,106 parking spaces will be available, 100 coach spaces and 250 cycle spaces, with several travel routes running throughout the site. As part of the planning proposals, Universal is hoping to build the necessary infrastructure to support visiting traffic by creating a new A421 junction and a dual carriageway access road, as well as expanding the Wixams rail station and providing a shuttle bus service from the Thameslink line. The park is hoping to secure planning permission in time to open for 2031, with the aim of employing 8,500 staff which will hopefully rise to 10,000 by 2051. 'We anticipate that approximately 80 per cent of those working at the theme park and resort once operational will come from the local area – specifically from the local authority areas of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes,' the documents read. Surrounding roads would also be improved, while the documents explain that some houses have been purchased close to the site, and the firm is considering buying a further 17 residential properties. For visitors, there will also be a minimum of 500 hotel rooms on the site, as well as easy access to both London and Luton airports. These planning documents submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have been made public as part of the consultation process. Consultation ends on 31 August, at which point the MHCLG will review comments and make a decision.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Today's NYT Strands Puzzle: Hints, Spangram And Answers For Tuesday, July 1st
Today's NYT Strands hints and answers Looking for Monday's Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here: It's July! The month that Octavian — Augustus Caesar — named for his uncle, Julius Caesar. Augustus gave himself the next month, August, and ever since we've had a 12-month calendar celebrating two of history's most powerful rulers. Roman Empire aside, we have words to uncover. Let's solve this Strands! Strands is the newest game in the New York Times' stable of puzzle games. It's a fun twist on classic word search games. Every day we're given a new theme and then tasked with uncovering all the words on the grid that fit that theme, including a spangram that spans two sides of the board. One of these words is the spangram which crosses from one side of the grid to another and reveals even more about the day's theme. Spoilers ahead. Today's Strands Hints Read on for today's theme and some hints to help you uncover today's words. Instead of giving you the first two letters of each word, today I'm giving out three hints instead of two. Today's Theme: Center of attraction FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Hint: County Fair Clue: Rides Here are the first two letters of each word: Remember, spoilers ahead! What Are Today's Strands Answers? Today's spangram is: AMUSEMENTPARK Here's the full list of words: Here's the completed Strands grid: Today's Strands This was a moderately difficult Strands. Some words like SLIDE and TRAIN and even FUNHOUSE were pretty easy to find. I had more trouble with CAROUSEL. I kept seeing ORACLE and couldn't shake it for the longest time. I also found PARK and new it had to be something like THEMEPARK but didn't find AMUSEMENTPARK until I'd gotten most of the words. SCRAMBLER was last. I'm not a huge roller-coaster guy, I must admit. Anything that whips my neck around just hurts too much. How did you do on your Strands today? Let me know on Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to check out my blog for my daily Wordle guides as well as all my other writing about TV shows, streaming guides, movie reviews, video game coverage and much more. Thanks for stopping by!
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Playland Park in Rye opens this weekend with free admission, but there's a catch
Playland Park in Rye opens for the 2025 season this weekend, but there's good news and bad news for visitors. Admission, parking and rides are free through Memorial Day, but only a handful of attractions will be operating. Playland Park will open in 2025 after contract dispute Even Zoltar couldn't predict Playland's future just a few weeks ago. The private firm operating Westchester County's amusement park for the last three years walked away, leaving the county scrambling to assemble a team to get it ready for the summer. County Legislator Katherine Parker said the Parks Department rose to the challenge. Eight of the 21 rides in Kiddieland will operate Memorial Day weekend, along with with the Carousel, Dragonator, Kite Flyer, and two other rides in the main park. The historic, wooden Dragon Coaster, Playland's premiere ride on every serious roller coaster fan's bucket list, is likely weeks away from being ready, officials said. "A little bit of Playland is much better than no Playland at all," Parker said. Free admission until more rides open The historic nature of many of the rides at Playland is complicating the opening preparations. "We have historic and much older rides that are wonderful [and] in great shape to operate, but their parts, the companies don't exist anymore. So we have to get the parts fabricated," Deputy Parks Commissioner Peter Tartaglia said. Leading a tour of the park, County Executive Ken Jenkins said admission to Playland will be free until later in the summer. "When we get to a critical mass of rides open, then we'll have the fees that'll be charged. But we haven't decided when that's going to be," Jenkins said. A limited number of food options will be available at Playland over Memorial Day weekend, the county said. All of the games and the arcade will be in "free play mode" through Monday. Click here for Playland Park's hours and more information.
CTV News
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Smash Mouth, TLC, Metric coming to Saskatoon Ex this summer
After its first weekend open since 2019, the Saskatoon Ex welcomed 75,657 people into Prairieland Park for rides, food and a good time.
Irish Times
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
My daughter drags us on to rollercoasters but is wary of the monkey bars. People are a mystery
Here are my earliest memories of funfairs: I remember being in a bumper car with my father, and my mother being unhappy because we were doing a little too much bumping. After that, I'm a teenager, during the October fair in Ballinasloe . The ride, which was popular, consisted of a large circular frame, divided up into sections for each person to stand upright. No one was strapped in. The only safety feature was a flimsy chain across each section. It would spin furiously, until the centrifugal force had pinned everyone into position. Then it would rise on one axis, giving the customers a queasily rotating view of the ground and the sky. But on this occasion, one of the customers had (presumably) spent some quality time in the pub beforehand. The combination of a few pints plus the physical sensation of being hurled around proved too much. What was ghoulishly fascinating was the trajectory of the puke. It erupted from the person, but because we were still locked in a thunderous spin, it didn't go anywhere. It hovered in the middle of the ring. Everyone watched it: knowing that as soon as the loop slowed down, the laws of physics would cause someone to be splattered with regurgitated Guinness. READ MORE All I can remember is that it didn't land on me. It may have been this experience, but at some stage I came to the conclusion that I really don't enjoy funfair rides. I avoid them when I can, though for a lot of my life that hasn't been possible. I blame the children. Because of them, I've been hurled around the place and spun through the air. I usually pass the time by trying to calculate where I will land when whatever contraption I'm strapped into snaps off. [ Seán Moncrieff: The word 'old' has become an insult. If you're old, it's all over Opens in new window ] Daughter Number Four is particularly keen on this kind of thing. Because of her, myself and Herself had to board a swinging, rotating monstrosity on St Patrick's Day that jangled our nerves so completely we had to sit on the pavement for a while afterwards. She is a veteran of Emerald Park and has badgered us into taking rides that combine not just physical dislocation, but a thorough soaking. The last time we took The Viking Voyage, the drying machine was out of order. I spent most of the day looking like I had wet myself. No, I hadn't. It's got to the stage where myself and Herself are simply refusing to board some of these rollercoasters, but Daughter Number Four is quite happy to get on alone. And afterwards, she'll be shining with joy, her system pumped with adrenaline and endorphins. The experience triggers her fight-or-flight response, but not, it seems, to an alarming degree: deep down, she doesn't believe anything can go wrong. [ Nothing pushes my BS detector into overdrive more than a hotel spa Opens in new window ] What's curious about all this is if you bring Daughter Number Four to a playground, she can be nervous about climbing monkey bars, even though she's much closer to the ground, she's not spinning and she has far more control over the situation. She is aware of this contradiction – because we keep pointing it out – but can't explain it. We once brought her to Disneyland Paris , where many of the rides were physical rollercoasters, but also had a virtual reality component. And even though the experience was pretty much the same, I found them far less disturbing. I can't explain that either. Similarly, I'm not at all scared of flying, even though planes do crash occasionally. I'm convinced that even if the plane does crash, I'll survive it intact. No reason for that. Understandably, science tries to find mechanistic explanations as to why people are scared of one thing but not scared of another. Past trauma. Anxiety. Lack of control. But such explanations are usually insufficient and often contradictory. Perhaps it's better to accept that people are often a mystery. Especially to themselves.
