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Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Full tilt: Cedar Point's new Siren's Curse roller coaster is not for the faint of heart 🎢
The wait is over. And now the real wait is about to begin. Cedar Point's newest roller coaster made its debut June 26 for the media and a select group of coaster enthusiasts. The Siren's Curse is slated to make its public debut on June 28 after previews for season passholders on June 27. Long lines are expected on June 28 to ride what is being billed as the tallest, fastest and longest 'tilt' roller coaster in America. Anticipating the excitement for the new coaster, Dave Evans, construction manager for Cedar Point's parent company Six Flags, said they have constructed one of the largest queue lines ever at the park. See it in action 🎢: Watch Beacon Journal reporter ride Siren's Curse and question life decisions The ride has a capacity of anywhere from 900 to 1,000 guests an hour. Evans said they have built the lines to accommodate a one and a half to two-hour wait. Unlike other queue lines in the park, he said, this one will not have any in-park TVs that will distract from the theming of an abandoned Lake Erie shipyard. And guests for this coaster will wait within feet of the coaster as it screams overhead. "You are always in the ride," he said. "This is what is cool about it." With 19 roller coasters now in its lineup from big to small, Cedar Point is home to one of the largest collections of such thrill machines in the world. This one might be most unique with its tilt feature. And this dangling of passengers over the Midway, said Park Manager Colleen Murphy-Brady, is what makes this one particularly exciting for riders and those not brave enough to venture on. "This ride has a lot of spectator value," she said. "Guests are going to want to stop and watch that tilt." Akron coaster enthusiast gives coaster two hands up Akron resident Michael Burkes has been riding coasters for as long as he was tall enough to climb aboard. He's been a member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts for some 38 years and first visited Cedar Point in 1973. Burkes, 60, recently rode his milestone 500th coaster in Wisconsin. He thought he had seen and ridden just about everything. But this latest coaster at Cedar Point is certainly one of the most unique and thrilling he's ever encountered. "I am just amazed," Burkes said. He was surprised by its speed and variety of elements − particularly the number of instances of airtime or sense of floating out of your seat. "It is fun and furious," he said. "This is an excellent addition to the park." What is the theme of the Siren's Curse? The Siren's Curse is themed after a collection of mythical sirens who reside under the water in Lake Erie and use their voices in song to lure sailors. The Siren's mournful cries along with equally eerie music play inside of the coaster cars as riders climb the hill to the fateful tilt feature of the coaster. The lift hill of the coaster − designed by the Netherlands firm Vekoma − is supposed to resemble an old 160-foot-tall Lake Erie shipping crane tower What makes the Siren's Curse special? The coaster's signature feature is a 160-foot-tall lift hill where the coaster train precariously tilts riders to the ground below. At the top, riders will encounter a broken track that trails off to nowhere. The tower's platform tilts 90 degrees straight down as the track connects to a twisted track below. The coaster train will then plunge down along 2,966 feet of twisting track at a top speed of 58 mph. In all, riders will experience 13 instances of weightless or so-called airtime moments along with two 360-degree, zero-gravity barrel rolls and a high-speed 'triple-down' element with twisted and overbanked track − all in the span of about two minutes. The coaster trains, that will hold 24 passengers, have integrated audio and LED lighting − both a first for Cedar Point. And the coaster is the first at the park to take riders underground. What to know before you ride the Siren's Curse? The new thrill machine – with its compact vertical design – is situated by the Iron Dragon coaster just off the park's Main Midway. Like any new attraction at Cedar Point, expect long lines from the time the park opens to closing time. You have to be at least 48 inches tall to ride. And riders are not allowed to bring any personal items like water bottles, wallets, keys and cell phones onto the new coaster and will be required to pass through metal detectors. Free short-term small lockers will be available for riders near the entrance to the coaster. Parkgoers with larger items like purses and backpacks will still be required to rent a locker to ride these coasters. If the ride's line is too long, you can always hang around and ride the other coasters and return shortly before closing time when the crowds have thinned out. The park's policy is to let all guests ride an attraction as long as they are in line by closing time. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Siren's Curse debuts to roller coaster enthusiasts at Cedar Point Solve the daily Crossword
CTV News
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Newest Canada's Wonderland coaster, Alpen Fury, opens to the public this weekend
The AlpenFury is being billed as Canada's longest, tallest, and fastest launch coaster. (Canada's Wonderland) Canada's Wonderland's newest rollercoaster officially opens to the public this weekend. Visitors can ride AlpenFury—which spans across the park—for the first time on Saturday. The park's 18th rollercoaster is being billed as the country's longest, tallest, and fastest launch coaster—a style of ride that propels the train rapidly from a standstill rather than using a lift hill. AlpenFury The newest rollercoaster at Canada's Wonderland spans across the park and features nine inversions. (Canada's Wonderland) Canada's Wonderland says the AlpenFury experience begins by 'blasting riders into Wonder Mountain' followed by an immediate second launch that sends the coaster 50 metres vertically out of the mountain. 'AlpenFury will deliver an epic, record-breaking thrill,' said Heather Hill, park manager and vice president of operations, in a release on Thursday. 'With the combination of the two launches, that straight vertical climb and nine wild inversions, it will provide an action-packed, unforgettable experience.' The coaster reaches speed of 115 km/h and Canada's Wonderland says its nine inversions are the most of any launch coaster in the world.
Telegraph
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Jurassic World Rebirth: Easily the best film in the series since Jurassic Park
Jurassic World Rebirth is a giddy resurrection for a franchise many had feared extinct. While technically the seventh in the series about cloned dinosaurs running amok, it feels like a brand new thrill-ride. Indeed, you could have skipped films two to six, and it won't matter one jot. What's in this sequel's wing-mirror as it rattles along is, simply, Jurassic Park. The pleasure centres that Steven Spielberg first activated in 1993 are tickled and teased again with winking finesse by a new director, Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One), who understands them down to the ground. He aces the assignment – not an easy one at all – which is to lure back absolutely everybody the 12A certificate will permit. Forget Jurassic World (2015) and its two eminently disposable sequels. Know only that dinosaurs have been captive all over the world since the events of the last film, Dominion, in 2022. They aren't even an attraction any more in this jaded parallel universe, reduced to being sad, fast-expiring exhibits in zoo enclosures no one bothers to visit. Back on one of the islands, used as an experimental lab for genetic tomfoolery, a few particularly rare species still exist in dwindling numbers. It's these that become the target for a snatch-and-grab mercenary mission, funded by a pharmaceutical company, to extract priceless haemoglobin that could be a game-changer in medical research. Zora Bennett (a fighting fit Scarlett Johansson) is the covert-ops specialist who's head-hunted for the job. She is wooed at the start by Rupert Friend's Martin Krebs, a big pharma exec whose shifty manner and way of dangling giant pay cheques make him look like an increasingly suitable candidate to wind up in something's maw. They are joined on this fraught transatlantic quest by a wildly attractive palaeontologist (Jonathan Bailey, having the time of his life); the ship's captain (a hardly less-appealing Mahershala Ali), and a half-dozen other characters who ought to be casting very nervous glances at the undergrowth. But first they have to reach dry land. Crew are flung overboard in the island's shallows, while aquatic dinos show no mercy. Once ashore, we trek from one elegantly established, tightly edited and remarkably satisfying scene of mortal peril to the next. The film is a set-piece bonanza which balances the requisite Spielberg homage with just as many debts to the logistical genius of James Cameron (notably Aliens and Avatar). Cinema audiences, if mine was anything to go by, will coo, gasp, spot the callbacks to earlier films, and burst into spontaneous applause on a regular basis. The characters, sketched by returning screenwriter David Koepp, fit familiar templates: it's the casting that lifts them. Johansson, Bailey and Ali are almost impossible to dislike, serving megawatt charisma that's well worth however many millions they were paid. Flirtatiously getting to know each other in the best, breeziest way, they ensure our emotional investment in their survival. Perhaps above all, this has been the ingredient missing from the franchise for 30-odd years – people to root for! It's such a crucial fix and they nail it. While the composing reins have been handed over to Alexandre Desplat, with no gripes from me, you won't miss the two soaring themes John Williams gave Jurassic Park, because they are served up on a platter, like crowd-pleasing hors d'oeuvres. What I'm calling the 'awe and wonder' cue won't leave a dry eye for anyone with childhood memories of when they first heard it. Edwards has lined up all of this with the enthusiasm of an exceptionally attentive tour guide. Time and again, we hop to the next spot on his itinerary and realise it's exactly where we need to be. Nothing insults your intelligence, even as the film light-heartedly mocks its own. The craft is exemplary – it's easily the best-looking, best-sounding film since the first. But it takes a deep, personal love of the medium for a director to deliver such crunchy impact, thrills, spills and euphoric highs while treading anew in footsteps as craterous (and muddy) as they come. If it's not the blockbuster of the summer, I'll be amazed.
Geek Tyrant
15-06-2025
- Automotive
- Geek Tyrant
Universal Studios Hollywood Goes Full Throttle with 72 MPH Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift Coaster — GeekTyrant
Universal Studios Hollywood is throwing the brakes out the window with its wildest thrill ride yet, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. Officially set to open in 2026, this coaster its a massive leap forward for the park in both speed and scale. This will be Universal's fastest roller coaster ever, hitting a top speed of 72 mph. It's also the biggest coaster the Hollywood park has ever built, and it. Rather than fight the park's famously tricky terrain, the design team leaned into it. The track snakes down the hills, accelerating as it goes, like a controlled freefall with Dom Toretto-level attitude. 'Watching the progress of this incredible roller coaster come to life is truly spectacular,' said Scott Strobl, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Universal Studios Hollywood. '2026 is just around the corner and we are equally as excited as our guests to introduce such an inspiring new ride to our theme park portfolio. 'Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift' will be a powerful game changer for Universal Studios Hollywood that will not only transform the topography of our destination but will infuse an entirely new level of adrenaline to our already dynamic theme park. We look forward to riding it ourselves and to welcoming guests to experience it in the very near future.' The ride will launch from the Upper Lot, right across from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, on the former site of the special effects and animal stunt shows. Guests will start their adrenaline journey in a shady warehouse-style queue designed to mimic the film franchise's underground garage vibes. One of the most eye-catching features is the coaster's ride vehicles that fully rotate 360 degrees. This innovation simulates the iconic drift action from the Fast & Furious movies, spinning riders mid-air in sync with the chaotic energy of the franchise. It's not just fast—it feels fast. The 4,100 feet of track includes elevated segments and plunging drops, leading to a major loop situated near the revamped Jurassic World r ide. It's an aggressive use of space and speed that's clearly designed to keep the blood pumping from start to finish. Universal also unveiled one of the four cars that will be used in the ride vehicles, Toretto's legendary 1970 Dodge Charger. That car is now on display at the park, and yes, it looks ready to explode out of the gates. Universal Studios Hollywood is kicking its theme park game into high gear. Whether you're a thrill junkie or a Fast franchise lifer, Hollywood Drift sounds like it's going to demand repeat rides.
Thrill Geek
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Thrill Geek
Universal Studios Hollywood Unveils 'Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift'
Universal Studios Hollywood has officially announced its next major thrill ride: 'Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift,' a groundbreaking, high-speed outdoor roller coaster set to debut in 2026. This all-new attraction will become the fastest coaster ever built across the Universal Destinations & Experiences portfolio, reaching an exhilarating top speed of 72 miles per hour. Accompanying the announcement is a first-look rendering and dynamic animatic video, offering fans an early glimpse at the scale and intensity of this upcoming addition to the park's Upper Lot. Universal Studios Hollywood reveals a first look rendering of 'Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift,' the destination's first high-speed outdoor roller coaster opening in 2026 Currently under construction, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will feature a state-of-the-art ride system designed to fully immerse guests in the pulse-pounding world of Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious franchise. At the heart of this innovation is a 360-degree rotational ride vehicle, allowing guests to experience the sensation of high-speed drifting while soaring along a 4,100-foot track engineered with sound reduction technology to enhance both thrill and immersion. The attraction will race across elevated sections of the park, including over the iconic multi-level escalator that links the Upper and Lower Lots. This innovative ride experience aims to blur the lines between adrenaline-pumping thrills and cinematic storytelling. 'Watching the progress of this incredible roller coaster come to life is truly spectacular,' said Scott Strobl, Executive Vice President & General Manager of Universal Studios Hollywood. '2026 is just around the corner, and we are as excited as our guests to introduce such an inspiring new ride to our portfolio. Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will be a game changer—reshaping our destination's landscape and delivering a whole new level of adrenaline to the park.' Guests will enter the attraction through a garage-inspired queue, setting the stage for a high-octane adventure. Four custom ride vehicles, themed after the Fast & Furious films, will bring the action to life, including a model based on Dominic Toretto's iconic 1970 Dodge Charger, currently on display at Universal Studios Hollywood. Backed by Universal Destinations & Experiences' decades-long expertise in pushing the boundaries of coaster innovation, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift represents the next evolution in immersive, high-speed attractions. Stay tuned for more updates as the countdown to 2026 begins. Clint Gamache is the owner of ThrillGeek. He started ThrillGeek to share his love of theme/amusement parks and pop culture with the world. You can find him at Halloween Horror Nights. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter/X, Instagram @iamcg83
