---- INTERNATIONAL SMALL PARK NEWS ----

(9/12/20) Nigloland May Be Adding Mack Rides Water Coaster (MORE...)

(9/10/20) Bakken To Close Racing Coaster For Good (MORE...)

(8/31/20) Sare Farewell To Japan's Toshimaen Park (MORE....)

(8/15/20) Scotland's M&Ds To Reopen (MORE...)

(8/5/20) Yas Waterworld Reopened This Week

(7/22/20) Dream Island Opens Launched Ninja Turtle Themed Coaster (MORE...)

ADLABS IMAGICA (India)

Park News - (8/15/19) According to this article the Adlabs Imagica Theme Park & Resort property isn’t doing too well and the park’s creditors are now taking actions to attempt to recover their investments.



2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2014

ADVENTURE WORLD (Australia)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

ALPEN PARK (Brazil)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

AUSSIE WORLD (Sunshine Coast, Australia)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

BAGATELLE (France)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2015

BAKKEN (Denmark)

Park News - (9/10/20) Sad news from Bakken came out over the weekend. After 48 years the park has announced that they will retire Racing, the park’s Flitzer coaster. They’ll keep it running through this weekend, but at the end of Sept. 13th, Racing will be closed for good.



2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2014

BAYERN PARK (Germany)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

BELANTIS (Germany)

Parque Reunidos

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2016 either.

BELLEWAERDE PARK (Belgium)

Compagnie des Alpes (CDA)

Park News - (4/18/20) Interpark reports that Bellewaerde has listed a number of new proceedures that will be put into place when the park eventually reopens. The park will put a daily attendance cap in place to limit the number of guests in the park, and have face masks available in the park for guests. Markers will also be placed on the ground in the park’s attraction queues to help guests keep their distance from each other. Employees will also wear masks, with the park having put in an order for over 100,000 masks for the staff to use. Currently they do not know when they will be able to reopen, but the park says they want to be ready.

2020 - Wakala - (5/30/20 A fantastic video shot by Drone-Cam shows off the new Wakala family coaster (Gerstlauer) at Bellewaerde making a test run.



BETO CARRERO WORLD (Brazil)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

BON BON LAND (Denmark)

The park was owned by the Bon Bon candy company but was purchased by Parques Reunidos.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

CAVALLINO MATTO (Italy)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... Flying Swinger and Jurassic River were added in 2019.

CHANGSHA WINDOW OF THE WORLD (China)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

CHIMELONG PARADISE (Guangzhou, China)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... last known addition was a Rocket Roller Coaster in 2017.

CHIMELONG OCEAN KINGDOM (HengQin Island, Guangdong, China) - Official Website

Park News - (5/18/20) Many of the indoor attraction areas of Chimelong Ocean Kingdom and Willdlife World are said to have reopened over the weekend. This includes the park’s undersea restaurant, Shake, Penguin and Beluga Whale exhibit areas.



(4/28/20) The Chimelong Resort attractions (Chimelong Wildlife World, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom and their hotels) have announced they will partially reopen on April 30th. This will be a slow reopening, with the parks set to limit attendance to 30% at first along with all the standard health/temperature checks, masks and distancing requirements we’ve see in effect elsewhere in China. Tickets to visit the parks must also be booked online ahead of time. The article also says that indoor attractions and stadiums will remain closed for the time being.

2020 - (3/25/20) The park has been busy building the “Chimelong Marine Science Park” next to the theme park, a massive indoor structure that looks like a giant space cruise ship parked on the ground. I’m not sure what all is planned to be inside this structure, but based on photos posted to ThemeparX, it looks like a section of it will have a bunch of flat rides, and I believe the plan is to open it sometime later this year.

Anyone know more?

CINECITTA WORLD (Italy)

Park News - (6/8/20) Italy’s Cinecitta World theme park is now set to reopen on June 25, 2020.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

CONNY LAND (Switzerland)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2016 either.

DENNLYS PARC (France)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

DIDILAND (France)

2020 – Duck Family and The Magic Tree – (2/21/20) Two new additions for children are being added this season, a small kiddie ride with ride vehicles themed as ducks and what appears to be an talking tree that could possibly be interactive.

DREAMLAND (Margate, UK)

Park News - (5/7/20) Sad news for Dreamland Margate as the park has now let a number of their staff members go and revealed that they no longer plan to reopen this Summer due to the impact of COVID-19. This is especially sad, as the park was set to celebrate its 100th Anniversary on July 3rd.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

DREAM ISLAND (Moscow, Russia)

2020 - New Park - NOW OPEN - (7/22/20) According to a post on Twitter the new “Flying in the Tunnel” launched coaster themed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is now open at Moscow’s Dream Island. The new coaster is an Intamin creation and while the Russian to English translation names it Flying in the Tunnel, the tweet from VHCoasters calls it “Shred The Sewers”, so perhaps something has been lost in translation.



Shred The Sewers: Launch Coaster the new indoor Intamin Launched coaster at Dream Island in Moscow has now opened.



A short video of the rides visible section can be seen herehttps://t.co/2u74fAtfGJ



Photos of the park can be seen here https://t.co/pE2yVvSIlf pic.twitter.com/3G162V2MoH — VHCoasters (@VHCoasters) July 20, 2020

Construction of the new Dream Island indoor park in Moscow, Russia is coming along nicely with the first signs of the roof now appearing.https://t.co/jkdqzS4PPL pic.twitter.com/BjvNntlhZc — VHCoasters (@VHCoasters) September 23, 2018

Dream Island the huge new indoor park in Moscow is coming along nicely. pic.twitter.com/BDGC5Sdh0W — VHCoasters (@VHCoasters) May 10, 2018

DRIEVLIET (The Netherlands)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

DUINRELL (The Netherlands)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

ESSELWORLD (India)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added in 2015 or 2016 either.

ETNALAND (Italy)

Park News - (6/2/20) According to a post on Facebook, Etnaland (Italy) has announced that they have decided not to open the theme park at all in 2020. Look for the park to reopen in 2021.



2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2013

EURO PARK (Penglai, China)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2018

FANTASILANDIA (Santiago, Chile)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2016.

FANTASIANA (Strasswalchen, Austria)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2016

FANTASY ISLAND (Skegness, United Kingdom)

2020 - Turbulence - (1/17/20) Fantasy Island in the UK will open a new flat ride this season to be called Turbulence. The flat ride may look similar to a Mondial Top Scan, but this is actually a Star Shape from Zierer. Other than the section of the ride with the rotating seats that the riders sit in, the similarities to the Top Scan end there, as the motion of the Star Shape actually swings back and forth and loops upside-down along the way, with a ride sequence that has more in common with an Evolution than a Top Scan.

According to ThemeParks-UK the new ride actually ran as Bling at Blackpool Pleasure Beach from 2004 to 2011, and then a Sky Jet at Skyline Park in Germany from 2012 to 2019, before traveling back to the UK.



FIABILANDIA (Italy)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2019

FORT FUN (Germany)

Looping Group

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

FRAISPERTUIS CITY Park (France)

2020 – Three New Attractions - (2/21/20) The park will add three new kiddie rides in 2020: Les Corb’Hauts, Les P’tits Moussaillons and Post Office.

FREIZEITPARK PLOHN (Germany)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

FREIZEIT-LAND GEISELWIND (Germany)

2020 – Tuki’s Crazy Farm – (2/21/20) A new themed area is coming to the park for families with small children.

FREIZEITPARK RUHPOLDING (Germany)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

FUNFIELDS (Australia)

2020 - Mystic Kingdom - (2/19/20) According to this report from ThemeParks-AU, the new Mystic Kingdom kids zone at Funfields (Australia) is now open with a new medieval theme and two new rides: Dragon’s Revenge and Pegasus Sky Bounce.

FURUVIK (Sweden)

Parks and Resorts Scandinavia

2020 - Draken - (11/22/19) Furuvik, a small park in Sweden, will open a new attraction in 2020 called Draken (Dragon) when they open for the season on May 16th. Draken will be a new family roller coaster from Zierer.

GOLD REEF CITY (South Africa)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

GREAT YARMOUTH PLEASURE BEACH (UK)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

GUANGZHOU SUNAC LAND (CHINA)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, but park just opened in mid 2019.

GULLIVER’S VALLEY RESORT (South Yorkshire, UK)

2020 - New Park / Resort - (7/14/20) According to the local news the new Gulliver’s Valley theme park opened to guests for the very first time on Saturday after postponing the previously planned grand opening earlier this year due to the Coronavirus.



(5/13/20) While construction workers are returning to finish the new Gulliver’s Valley theme park, the park has confirmed that it will have to postpone the previously planned June grand opening. A new date has not yet been determined.



(4/23/20) A new video posted here shows off Gully Mouse taking a tour of the new Gulliver’s Valley theme park and expiring some of the rides. While the new park appears to still be planning for a June 6th opening, the decision about opening will be made closed to them after being able to determine the state of the virus at the time.



(4/1/20) An aerial flyover of the new Gulliver’s Valley theme park can was found posted to The Star’s newsite. Currently construction to finish up the new park is on hold due to the Coronavirus threat.



(1/20/20) Some all new details about the new Gulliver’s Valley Resort park set to open in Spring 2020 have been released. The park was designed to primarily appeal to children between 2 and 13, and will feature five themed lands: Western World, Lost World, Smugglers Wharf, Toy Land and Lilliput Land. Follow the link to read more details about this new theme park over at BlooLoop.



(8/20/19) A detailed look at the construction progress on the new Gulliver’s Valley Theme Park Resort can be found over at BlooLoop, along with a nice video taking you up close and into the project site ahead of the opening in Summer 2020.



(3/30/18) BlooLoop reports that work will begin on Gulliver's Valley Resort in South Yorkshire on a 250-acre site that will include a new theme park aimed at children 2-13 years of age. The new park will also feature a mix of indoor and outdoor attractions and will include a pirate ship, river rapids, log flume and a wooden roller coaster when it opens in 2020. The site will also include on-site lodging (camping and the Lilliput Castle Hotel) as well as Gully's Dream Village, "where children with life-threatening illnesses can be given the chance to enjoy a cost-free respite." Follow the link to see all the details and artwork about how it will be laid out.

GULLIVER’S WORLD (UK)

Park News - (1/30/19) According to BlooLoop, Gulliver’s World has filed plans to build a 71 room hotel to be themed as a giant pirate ship. The plan is part of an even bigger development called Wilderness Wharf that will include a second hotel themed as a fairytale castle and more.



Plans have been submitted for a 15,500 sq ft, 71-bedroom pirate ship themed #hotel at Gullivers World in #Warrington .https://t.co/YgxDE6qv9d pic.twitter.com/mqhUTYfwNE — Blooloop (@Blooloop) January 28, 2019

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

GYEONGJU WORLD (South Korea)

Park News - (2/8/20) One of our readers was fortunate enough to go on a trip to South Korea and sent in a video report showing off his day at the Gyeongju World theme park. The park is home to two B&M coasters: Draken (Dive Machine clone of Griffin) and Phaethon (Custom B&M Inverted) and an assortment of other fun themed rides.



2020 - Nothing is known at this time

HAINAN OCEAN PARADISE (China)

2020?? - New Park - (2/21/20) A recient set of construction photos from the park can be found at ThemeparX.

HELLENDOORN (The Netherlands)

Looping Group

New Owners - (10/29/19) I missed this earlier this month, but it seems Hellendoorn now has a new owner. Hellendoorn along with 14 other attractions into Europe that were part of the “Looping Group” brand owned by Belgian and French investment funds have been sold to an investment fund owned by Abu Dhabi’s royal family called Mubadala.

The list of attractions includes:

Amusement parks - Hellendoorn, Parc Bagatelle, Pleasurewood Hills, Mini-Chateaux, La Mer de Sable, Island Magica, Cobac Pac and Fort Fun

Water Parks - Aquaparc, Agua Magica, Aqua’Fun Park, Parque Aquatico de Amarante

Aquariums - Grand Aquarium de Saint-Malo and Grand Aquarium de Touraine

Animal Parks - Planete Sauvage, Zoo de la Fleche and West Midland Safari Park

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2013

HOT GO PARK - Happy Jungle World &

HOT GO PARK - Dreamworld

(Fushun, China)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

HUIS TEN BOSCH (Japan)

Park News - (3/17/20) The Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan reopened to guests on Monday after being closed since the end of February. The park says they have resumed “limited operations” that includes parks, outdoor attractions and restaurants. Staff are also checking the body temperatures of all guests and asking them to sanitize their hands with alcohol.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

ISLA MAGICA (Spain)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2015

JANFUSUN FANCYWORLD (Taiwan)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

JARDIN d’ACCLIMATATION (France)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

JEJU SHINWHA WORLD (South Korea)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

JOURNEY TO THE WEST (China)

Opening Late 2020 - (1/17/20) While I had heard rumors about the “Journey To the West“ theme park under construction in China over the years, those tales went cold awhile back. With nothing new said in quite some time I had feared the project ran out of the steam and died, but apparently not, as Journey To the West will finally be ready to open by late 2020. According to the report at Interpark the 560 acre park will feature eight themed areas, 25 attractions, eight of which will be indoor.

KARLS ERLEBNISDORF (Germany)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time

KINGOLAND (France)

2020 – Gold Rush – (2/21/20) The park is currently building Gold Rush, a new compact roller coaster from Pinfari. The coaster actually previously ran as Python at Gulliver’s Milton Keynes.

KNIGHT VALLEY

Shenzhen, China

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

KOLMARDEN (Sweden)

Park News - (4/25/20) BlooLoop reports that Kolmarden has indeed reopened the park over the past few weekends to a limited number of guests: annual passholders and hotel guests. They have used these dates to establish the new guest experience procedures for the park to keep everyone safe and healthy. After much success, they are ready to now begin opening daily once again starting on May 1st. There will be a very limited number of tickets sold each day, and you must book your visit to the park in advance online through their website. Once inside, guests must follow all distancing markers in place at the attractions, queues and kiosks.

This will be a limited park experience however, as the rides at the Marine World section of the park will remain closed, and all rides in the Bamses World area are also closed, along with major park shows at the Dolphinarium and Birds of Prey exhibit. The good news is that the park’s famous Wildfire coaster will be open, but to allow for social distancing, only 50 people will be allowed in the attraction’s area at any time and distancing must be used while in the queue.



(4/13/20) According to BlooLoop, Kolmarden in Sweden was set to re-open the zoo park on weekends, starting on April 10. The plan was to limit the number to the park every day with distancing rules to be enforced, along with new cleaning procedures. Tickets must be purchased online in advance in order to limit the number of guests per day to just 1,500 guests in the park at once, to be spread out over the 150 hectare property.

However, the park’s website now says that those plans went astray at the last second and they made the decision to postpone the opening of the park once again to a future date. When the time is right, they believe they will be able to open safely, so keep an eye on the official site for new details when they are released.

2020 – HOPE – (2/21/20) A new dolphin show will premier at Kolmarden this year with a message of hope for our planet’s wildlife. The park has posted a teaser video for the new show that you can see below.



LA RECRE DES 3 CURES (France)

2020 - Vertika - (6/13/20) I’m happy to report the discovery of a new roller coaster I had not known about previously. Check out the video below to see a POV video of Vertika, a new Gerstlauer Eurofighter style coaster that opened on June 6 at “La Recre des 3 Cures” in France. From what I can tell this is the park’s first big coaster with inversions. The only other coaster in the park is a mine train style coaster from Soquet. Vertika stands just 88.6 feet tall and has two inversions, but seems to provide a short by intense ride experience.



THE LAND OF LEGENDS (Turkey)

Park News - (1/17/19) A detailed report about the creation and offerings of Land of Legends, a new theme park and resort destination that opened in Turkey in 2016 has been posted by our friends at BlooLoop this week. They describe the destination as being a sort of “mini-Orlando” that already has built both a waterpark and tradition dry theme park attractions and is planning another large expansion of the dry-park experience that will begin in 2020.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

LE PAL (France)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...



2021 – New Water Ride - (2/21/20) According to reports from Screamscape sources the park is planning on adding a new themed Mack SuperSplash boat ride for the 2021 season. Anyone know more?

LEOLANDIA (Italy)

Park News - (6/8/20) According to the park’s official website Leolandia is now slated to reopen on June 20, 2020.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

LEWA ADVENTURES (Xi'an, China)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

LIGHTWATER VALLEY (UK)

Livingstone Leisure

Park News - (2/2/20) Screamscape sources tell us that Lightwater Valley will only be closing Twister and that they will keep the Apollo ride open for now.



(2/1/20) While I haven’t heard about anything new coming to Lightwater in 2020, RideRater reports that the park will remove the Twister coaster involved in the accident last year as well as the Apollo (a mini Star Flyer style ride from AK Rides) before the park opens for the 2020 season.



(6/1/19) A quick update on the boy who fell from the coaster at the Lightwater Valley theme park. They are now saying that he is 7 and not 6, and his current medical condition is listed as being “critical but stable”. The Twister coaster will remain closed indefinitely while the accident is under investigation.



(5/31/19) According to local news reports a six-year-old boy fell from the Twister coaster (Reverchon Spinning Coaster) at Lightwater Valley. He was airlifted for medical treatment and his condition is not believed to be life threatening. While we don’t know what happened, a few witness reports claim to have seen the boy rising up from his seat and coming out the back of the car as it was moving along the track, while seated next to his mother. They think he may have fell about 15 feet while the car was diving towards the ride’s photo camera system.

While I’ve never been on the Twister itself, typically the Reverchon Spinning coasters use a large lapbar restraint that comes down from overhead, holding in the riders in pairs. There is already some question about if the child was tall enough, or if this could have been a combination of a small child sitting next to a large adult, leaving too much of a gap in the shared lapbar restraint.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

LIONSGATE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD (China)

Park News - (6/5/20) According to a press release from Lionsgate, the Lionsgate Entertainment World indoor “vertical theme park” in China that was home to attractions themed to Hunger Games, Twilight and more will reopen on June 24, 2020.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... but attraction just opened in mid 2019.

LUNA PARK (Sydney, Australia)

2017 to 2020 - New Rides and Improvements - (3/8/17) Luna Park will be getting $20 million in improvements over the next four years according to a local news article. The expansion plans include six new rides and some refreshing of the food offerings in the park. While the complete line-up of new rides wont be announced right now, they did say that the first new ride will be called "Flying Carousel" and serve as the centerpiece of a new "family zone" that will focus on family groups with small children. After that they said to expect new rides aimed at thrill seekers as well as some that may use virtual reality and other new technologies to enhance the ride experience.

M&D’s (near Glasgow, Scotland)

Park News - (8/15/20) According to Themeparks-UK, Scotland’s M&D’s is set to reopen the park on August 24th with some changes, including the addition of seven new rides. The exact details of the new rides has not been released yet.



(6/23/20) According to this article, the M&D’s theme park in Scotland has been reported as being “bought of out administration” and is now under the control of a new company called Lochview Theme Park. The three directors of Lochview were actually previously directors of M&D’s Amusement Ltd.



(5/20/20) According to this report the former staff of M&D’s are quite upset this week after being laid off several weeks ago, only to discover a cafe at the closed theme park has reopened for business. One interesting item mentioned in the report was that it looked as if three directors of M&D’s had possibly set up a new company a few weeks before shutting the park down called “Lochview Theme Park (Scotland) Ltd” which seems poised to buy up the assets of the current “M&D’s Leisure” company.



(4/25/20) According to Themeparks-UK, the owners of M&D’s in Scotland have “gone into administration” after years of financial difficulties. As I understand it, this is the UK’s version of when a US company files for bankruptcy protection. At the moment, it also appears that M&D’s has also let their entire staff go.



(12/9/19) You may recall the accident that took place at M&D’s in Scottland back in 2016, when the park’s Tsunami inverted coaster train derailed from the track and caused injury to the 8 children and 2 adults that were riding it. According to this news report the victims of the accident were awarded a total of £1.2 million in damages. As you might expect, the Tsunami coaster was retired following the accident and never run again.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

???? - Future Expansion - Planned - (9/16/18) According to the local news M&D's in Scotland has been given approval for a £3 million expansion plan that will include a new roller coaster, a pirate themed play area, a small expansion to the Alona Hotel (37 rooms) and a large enclosed space that can host special events year-round like (car rallies, Highland Games, etc...)

MAGICLAND (Rome, Italy)

Park News - (6/8/20) Rainbow Magicland (Italy), which is actually now called just MagicLand, is now set to reopen on June 19, 2020.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

MAJALAND KOWNATY (Poland)

Plopsa Group

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

MIRAGICA (Molfetta, Italy)

Formerly Called: La Terra Die Giganti

Park Closed in 2019

MOOMIN VALLEY PARK (Japan)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

NAGASHIMA SPALAND (Japan)

Park News - (5/18/20) According to this news report Nagashima Spaland in Japan reopened the amusement park and outdoor attractions on Sunday. While the park has been closed since April 9th, the park is now open and checking guest temperatures upon entry, but is also asking that guests from other prefectures to not visit at this time. Indoor attractions are closed, and rides have reduced capacity seating to help with social distancing. Ride vehicles are also being sanitized after every ride cycle.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

NICKELODEON CULTURAL RESORT (China)

2020 - New Park - (1/7/17) According to this news report, Viacom International Media Networks has teamed up with Sanshui New Town Management Committee and Hong Kong Elite Global Group to build the first Nickelodeon theme park in China. The new Nickelodeon themed park, expected to open by 2020, will be part of a larger 750-acre tourism project planned for the Foshan area. The ceremonial groundbreaking event took place at the site this week with representatives from each company taking part. For now the project is being called the "Nickelodeon Cultural Resort".

NIGLOLAND (France)

2020 - Noisette Express - (6/20/20) Nigloland (France) will reopen the park on July 11, 2020. When the park opens they will also premier their new roller coaster, Noisette Express. This is actually a new children’s coaster from ART Engineering GmbH who also built the DUPLO Dino Coaster at Legoland Windsor that opened earlier this year. Apparently Noisette is actually French for Hazelnut, so this would be the Hazelnut Express and explain the squirrel theme.

2021 - New Coaster / Water Coaster - (9/12/20) Some interesting pictures on Twitter were sent my way showing off a section of Mack Rides water coaster track on the back of a truck in Herbolzheim, Germany. Apparently Mack Rides has a facility there and if the Tweeter is correct, they believe Nigloland’s 2021 attraction could very well be a Mack Rides Water Coaster. Anyone know more?



New gen. Mack Water Coaster track just passed us by at Herbolzheim (Mack have a 2nd facility here). Its believed Nigloland are getting a new Mack Water Coaster for 2021.???? pic.twitter.com/GtyEyiVq37 — Christopher Kenny (@cslkenny) August 28, 2020

PARAMOUNT PARK CHINA -

New Park Plans - (5/30/20) Would you believe that yet another Paramount Studios themed park project has been announced? So far, none of them have ever been built after being announced at various locations over the globe, and now ThemeparX has posted some concept art for a new fifth Paramount Park themed concept, this one planned for Kunming, China. According to the post, the plan is to begin construction in 2021 and open by June 2024.

The concept art sure is pretty though, with six themed lands:

Paramount Boulevard - This serves as the entrance zone for the new park with stores and restaurants.

Adventure City - A Hollywood themed looking zone with a Tower Records looking building at the center and home to thrill rides themed to MIssion: Impossible and The Italian Job.

Peanuts Township - A kids land themed around the Peanuts gang characters.

Lost Kingdom - A beautiful looking landscape of jungle ruins, home to a “Montagua River” ride a coaster called ‘Escape from Emerald Mountain”.

Dinosaur Empire - Themed around the Dinotopia book series where humans live with intelligent dinosaurs. The concept art shows off a large flume ride that gives off some Mack Rides inspired vibes, not unlike SeaWorld’s Journey To Atlantis.

Final Frontier - A land themed around the world of Star Trek that is sure to thrill.

PARC DU BOCASSE (France)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2019

PARC DU PETIT PRINCE (France)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

PARC SPIROU (France)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

PARC SAINT PAUL (France)

Park News - (7/5/20) Sad news this weekend, as news agencies report that a 32 year old woman fell from a roller coaster at Parc Saint-Paul in France and died. According to the reports she fell from the Formula 1 coaster from PAX, which is the Russian company’s version of a WIld Mouse style coaster, with this one featuring racer themed cars, which was built at the park in 2005. It says that her husband was riding next to her and tried to grab onto her foot as she went over the lap bar. Rescuers tried to resuscitate her after she fell, but were unsuccessful.

The report also mentions that another woman also died after falling from the same coaster back in 2009, but in that case it was thought that she deliberately wiggled free from the lap bar, and was involved in some kind of “inappropriate behaviour” and the park was cleared of any fault in that accident in 2010.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

PARKO PALIATSO (Cypress)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

PARQUE DE ATRACCIONES (Madrid)

Parques Reunidos

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

PARQUE de DIVERSIONES (Costa Rica)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2015

PARQUE de la COSTA (Argentina)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2016

PARQUE ESPANA (Japan)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

PARQUE NACIONAL del CAFE (Columbia)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2018

PLEASUREWOOD HILLS (UK)

Looping / H.I.G. Capital France

2020 - Nothing is known at this time...

POWERPARK (Finland)

2020 - New Coaster - (6/13/20) PowerPark in Finland is getting close to opening a new Infinity style coaster from Gerstlauer. The coaster was seen testing earlier this week and you can see the video of it in action below… but be warned, the video is a little ‘annoying’ as due to the music track sounds like someone let a 5 year old crank the volume knob up and down while you listen, and poor editing that drag out what is probably about 60-90 seconds of roller coaster action into a 9+ minute long video where your patience will be tested. I’d love to see this thing edited down to show off properly what the coaster’s layout and pacing is really like. The elements involved sure look like fun, and the train has some fun looking rocket theming. Oddly, with the park now open once again to guests, they have not yet announced the name for this new coaster or when it is expected to open to guests.

Strangely, this new coaster also features the same color green track as the nearby Junker coaster (also from Gerstlauer) that opened in 2015 so I’m not sure why they didn’t opt for a different look.



PUY DU FOU (France)

2020 - New Show / New Hotel - (5/24/20) Officials from Puy du Fou have confirmed that they are now planning on reopening the park on June 11th, once all their new safety measures are in place. Staff will be on hand to direct guest flow inside the park, as well as during parking, to ensure social distancing is enforced. All park staff will be equipped with face masks, gloves and visors and overall park capacity will be limited.

Puy du Fou will also premier a brand new night show called Les Noces du Feu (The Wedding of Fire) on June 11th that will feature 30 actors, underwater stunt doubles, fire and water effects and 80 ‘electroluminescent costumes”. Another new feature this season will be the new Le Grand Siecle, a new €20 Euro hotel themed as a royal French residence.

PUY DU FOU Espana (Spain)

Park News - (9/2/19) The group behind France’s famous Puy-du-Fou historical theme park has now opened a new sister park in Spain near the city of Toledo. The new park is only 5-hectares, which is about one-third the size of the French park, and will pull from the history of Spain to create its own themed productions. The new park is simply called Puy-du-Fou Espana and you can already see lots of photos and video clips on their official Twitter account, or visit their website.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... but the park just opened in 2019.

RAINBOW’S END (New Zealand)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

SCHWABEN PARK (Germany)

2020 - Hummel Brummel - Under Construction - (4/27/20) Schwaben Park (Germany) is adding some kind of new suspended coaster experience. If you think it looks kind of like a zip-coaster, you would be right, as RCDB says it is from Alpine Coaster maker, Wiegand, and listed as a Wie-Flyer. The new powered suspended coaster ride will be called Hummel Brummel, which is German for Bumblebee.



SERENGETI PARK (Germany)

2020 - Two Coasters and Other - (3/25/20) A number of new improvements are coming to the park in 2020 when it reopens. The list includes a new Siberian Tiger exhibit, a Kangaroo Path and Big Foot Safari where guests can go on a safari ride in the back of a 250hp monster truck.

For the ride fans the park is adding two new coasters! Batukai-Racer, a small “family” sized coaster with a 270 meter track, and then Safari Blitz, which they are marketing as the “largest mobile indoor roller coaster in the world”. From the sound of things this coaster made an appearance at the park last year, and sure enough we found a POV video of the spinning coaster in action and posted it below.



SHANGHAI HAICHANG OCEAN PARK (China)

Park News - (3/19/20) Legancy Entertainment pointed out on Facebook that Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park has announced that they will resume “limited operations” on Friday. As they point out, this is great news and is it signals the start of a “slow return to normalcy” in China, as it and various other attractions begin to reopen and welcome guests.



2020 - Nothing is known at this time... but new park opened in Fall 2018

SKARA SOMMARLAND (Sweden)

Parks and Resorts Scandinavia

Park News - (6/21/20) Screamscape has been informed that Skara Sommerland will not open at all for the 2020 season. I’m told current regulations from Sweden prevent the park from hosting more than 50 guests at a time, and obviously that number is an unfeasible one for a theme park to try and run a viable business model with. Customers who have purchased a 2020 season pass or day tickets will instead be able to use them for the 2021 season. Unless there is a change in the government’s policy by June 22, the park will begin the process of shutting itself down for the winter.

2020 - Snake - (7/12/19) Skara Sommerland has confirmed they will open a new spinning ride called Snake in 2020. You can see a preview of it in action in the video below.



SKYLINE PARK (Germany)

Park News - (2/19/20) It was announced that Skyline Park in Germany is retiring the Sky Dragster coaster, which was the test/prototype of the Maurer Spike coaster concept.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2018

SLAGHAREN (Netherlands)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2018

SOCHI-PARK (Sochi, Russia)

Olympic Village and Park for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games (official website)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2016

Sommerland Sjælland (Denmarjk)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2018

SUNWAY LAGOON (Malaysia)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2018

TERRA MITICA (Spain)

Park News - (6/20/20) According to various news reports Terra Mitica in Spain has opted to not open the theme park at all this year and will instead plan on opening in 2021 due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Themeparks-EU points out that the other nearby attractions from the same owners, Super Aqualandia (waterparks) and Mundomar (animal park) will both open on July 3, 2020.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing added in 2018 or 2019 either.

TIBIDABO (Barcelona, Spain)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2012

TIVOLI FRIHEDEN (Arhus, Denmark)

2020 - SKIES - (3/25/20) The park’s website mentions a new pendulum style looking ride coming to the park for the 2020 season called SKIES. I’m not quite sure what it is, but you can see a picture of it here.

TOBU ZOOLOGICAL PARK (Japan)

Park News - (4/13/20) A reader sent in an interesting link this week to a page showing Regina, the closed wooden coaster from Tobo Zoo in Japan as being up for sale. The interesting thing is that the page also now lists Regina as having been sold to someone. It does make it wonder if someone bought it to rebuild it elsewhere, or if they simply made an offer just to get the ride’s set of PTC trains to use on another coaster. Regina ran at the Tobu Zoo until August 2019.

(8/7/19) Another Intamin wooden coaster will meet the wrecking ball, as Tobu Zoo in Japan announced on their social media that the park’s Regina coaster will close forever on August 9, 2019 (this Friday) after 19 years of operation.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2013

TOSHIMAEN (Tokyo, Japan)

Park News - (8/31/20) Say farewell to the Toshimaen theme park in Tokyo, Japan. The park’s 94 years of operation will come to an end today, with the site to be sold and redeveloped into a new Warner Bros. Studio Tour style attraction to be themed around the making of the Harry Potter films.



(8/19/20) BlooLoop has confirmed that the new Harry Potter themed attraction coming to Tokyo will indeed be “Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo - The Making of Harry Potter”. Look for the new attraction to open in the first half of 2023 on the site of the former Toshimaen theme park. Follow the link to see more details about what you can expect to find inside this new attraction and how it will differ from the London original.



(6/13/20) According to this report Japan’s old Toshimaen amusement park will close forever at the end of August. According to the owner it will be transformed into a new Harry Potter themed park attraction which is now planned to open in 2023. Part of the property will be sold to the local Tokyo government to be used as a municipal park and emergency shelter, while the rest is being leased to an ‘Itochu Corp’ and Warner Bros. Entertainment to create the new Harry Potter attraction.

While no details were given about what the future plans are, given that there is a very successful Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios Japan, I would think it more likely that whatever attraction appears on the Toshimaen site would likely be more similar to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour attraction in London.



(3/29/20) According to this article many local department stores, movie theaters and the Toshimaen amusement park that we previously listed as open, are closed once again this weekend.

(3/26/20) According to the park website, Toshimaen reopened after being closed from Feb. 29 through to Mar. 20. All guests must be in good health and free from fever when visiting. Not all attractions are open however, as the list of closed attractions includes the ASOBRAVO playground, Jungle House, Mystery Zone, Mirror House, Haunted House, and several kids attractions in Carnival Town.

2020 - Closing For Good In August 2020

VIALAND (Istanbul, Turkey)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2015

WALYGATOR PARC (France)

Formerly known as Walibi Lorraine and Walibi Schtroumpf (Walibi Smurf)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing known to be added since 2015

WANDA CULTURAL TOURISM CITY - NANCHANG (Opened 2016)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing added in 2018 or 2019 either.

WEST MIDLAND SAFARI PARK (UK)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

WILD-UND FREIZEITPARK KLOTTEN (Germany)

2020 - Kunibert’s Abenteuer - (3/25/20) A new interactive family ride is coming to the park this season where guests will enter the haunted castle of the knight Kunibert. Use your “laser batons” to score points and take on the ghosts.

WILDLANDS EMMEN (Netherlands)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2019 either.

WONDERLAND EURASIA (Ankara, Turkey)

Park News - (2/19/20) The local news reports that Turkey’s Wonderland Eurasia (formerly called Ankapark) is now closed for good after failing to attract enough business. The ambitious project had attempted to open with 17 roller coasters, but as I understand it, by the time the last coasters were finished and opened, several of the initial coasters had already been shut down and had issues, so I don’t know if they ever were able to get all 17 up and running at the same time or not. Many of the coasters were very small and compact, but the park did have a few standouts like Lightspeed (a 10 inversion Intamin) or Oksoko Ofkesi (a Chinese built copy of the Maurer Skyloop concept).

I’d imagine that most of the park’s rides have already hit the used-ride market, as there should be plenty of interest in buying rides that were only run for one season.



(5/13/19) Previously announced under the name “Ankapark”, the park was promoted as being Europe’s biggest theme park, and while the plan was to open with 17 roller coasters, they were a bit behind on that item (they opened with 7), along with a laundry-list of other incomplete items that apparently includes incomplete pathways, several buildings still under construction, and even some areas with open manhole covers. The park is quite nice to look at so far, and does have some charm to it, so it should be fascinating to watch as they finish up the initial development.

2020 - PARK CLOSED

WORLD JOYLAND (Changzhou, Jiangsu, China)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing reported to have been added since 2013.

XISHUANGBANNA THEME PARK (China)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing reported to have been added since 2016.

YOMIURILAND (Japan)

2021 - Space Factory - (3/11/20) Some pictures of the new Space Factory ride going up at Yomiuiri Land have been posted on Twitter, along with their own guess that the ride system may be from Intamin based on the look of the supports and track on site. Can anyone verify who is making the ride?



A look at Space Factory a new indoor suspended coaster at Yomiuiri Land in Japan. The ride appears to be an Intamin design. https://t.co/Kre8BvpnRC — VHCoasters (@VHCoasters) March 11, 2020

YAS WATERWORLD (Abu Dhabi, UAE) http://www.yaswaterworld.com/

Park News - (8/5/20) It has been reported that the Yas Waterworld waterpark in Abu Dhabi reopened to the public on August 4, 2020, following a special day for passholders on Aug. 3rd. Follow the link to learn more about the new safety measures the waterpark has put in place.

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing added in 2018 either.

ZOOSAFARI FASANOLANDIA (Italy)

2020 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing reported to have been added since 2013.