Sweden's Wickedly Cool Wildfire

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I want to go to Sweden!  Leave it to Instagram, of all places, to allow me to find this wooden monster.  Oh, I subscribe to a few roller coaster and amusement world sites on there, and most of the photos I see are of coasters that I at least knew existed.  Not so with this one...

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Wildfire, the ride pictured, opened up at Sweden's Kolmârden Wildlife Park back in June of this year, and it looks like a doozy!  The coaster represents Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction's first foray into Europe and they have come up with one heck of a ride.  This woodie is the fastest in Europe, traversing more than 4,200 feet of track at speeds of about 70 miles per hour.  It is also the second tallest on the continent, with a 187-foot lift hill.

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Not only is Wildfire's structure impressive, it packs a punch on par with its look.  With a very steep 83 degree drop, this one moves through three inversions and some pretty wild twists and turns to boot.  Unfortunately, it is far away from where I sit on Long Island, NY, but luckily you and I can both take a virtual ride on Wildfire... 

Kewl!

Six Flags New Rides and Attractions for 2017

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Once again, even before the coaster season ends, we're being tantalizingly teased for next year.  In one sweeping announcement, Six Flags shared news of new coasters and attractions across its 13-park empire for the 2017 season.  Here's the lowdown:

Magic Mountain, Valencia, Ca / Great Adventure, Jackson, NJ / Six Flags Over Georgia, Austell, GA - Justice League

Three of Six Flags parks, Magic Mountain, Great Adventure and Six Flags Over Georgia will be advancing their causes potential with an all new interactive dark ride.  Justice League: Battle for Metropolis - Ride, Play, Triumph will be an indoor thrill ride enabling riders to help Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Cyborg and Green Lantern save Metropolis from perennial evildoers the Joker, Lex Luthor and Harley Quinn. Participants, wearing 3D high definition goggles, will be given the opportunity to shoot at targets to earn points and help the superheroes in their mission.  Special effects will be interspersed throughout the ride and is sure to be loads of fun.

Great America, Gurnee, IL / Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, TX / Six Flags New England, Agawam, MA - The Joker

With each coming year, Six Flags has made their parks similar to one another in adding the same rides to parks near and far.  In that vein, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, and Six Flags New England will be adding The Joker, which debuted to great reviews by riders at Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ.  The addition of the ride will surely bring excitement to those who live in the area, for sure!

Fiesta Texas, San Antonio, TX - Thunder Falls

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Fiesta Texas, in San Antonio, will be adding the most unique of all the new rides for 2017.  In an unusual move, the park will be unveiling Thunder Falls, an all-new water coaster, and it will undoubtedly be an instant favorite!  This state of the art water coaster will feature five gravity-defying uphill blasts, four spiraling flying saucer turns, a breathtaking enclosed dive turn, all in a massive, 942 foot long, 3 story tall structure.  (sixflags)

Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, CA - Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth


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One year after upgrading its Roar coaster into the all-new wood/steel hybrid dubbed The Joker, Discovery Kingdom, in Vallejo, CA, looks to add a non-coaster, tamer ride for the upcoming year. Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth is one of those Frisbee-like thing-a-ma-jigs that combine spinning, height and lots of butterflies in the stomach.  Not my type of ride!

Six Flags Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico - The New Revolution

In what is fast becoming the newest transformation in roller coaster technology, Six Flags Mexico will be enhancing Medusa: Steel Coaster into a virtual reality ride dubbed The New Revolution.  The ride will offer participants the opportunity to wear Samsung Gear Virtual Reality Headsets, which will bring them into a fighter jet taking down aliens in a city being destroyed.  Seems like fun, no?

Six Flags St. Louis, Eureka, MO - Spinsanity


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Six Flags St. Louis is another park that won't be adding a new coaster for 2017.  Instead, the park will introduce Spinsanity, a new ride that's sure to get ya dizzy, spinning round and round both clockwise and counter-clockwise as it traverses a five story pike back and forth!

Six Flags America, Marlboro, MD - Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth


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Unlike the other new Wonder Woman ride opening up in Discovery Kingdom, this one is a new take on a classic ride.  At a whopping 242 feet, this swing ride will give riders a great view of the entire park and beyond.  I think I'll stay on the ground.

Le Ronde, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - Titan

Now like the new Wonder Woman ride at Discovery Kingdom, Six Flags only Canadian park's newest addition will be the very same Frisbee ride.  The naming of all three rides is kind of curious, no?  Maybe Titan means Wonder Woman in French?

The Great Escape, Lake George, NY - Bonzai Pipelines




Finally, the smallest of the Six Flags parks in upstate New York will be adding Bonzai Pipelines to the waterpark section of the property.  The new attraction will feature two slides with more than 300 feet of twisting and turning, starting from about 30 feet above the ground.

So there you have it...one massive announcement from Six Flags.  Should be cool for those in the area of parks getting new rides.  In the meantime, there's still some coastering left for the season, so go on out and enjoy!