uvegotmale2000 wrote:any news on other rides in southport veing demolished or removed and where they are going??
Lightwater Valley have bought the Chaos, Flying Camels and two or three other "family" rides (maybe the Desert Cars and Log Flume?)
Another "party" has bought Space Shot (likely to be Camelot as they announced pretty quickly after Southport was closing that they had a new "thrill ride" for 2007).
I doubt anything will happen with King Solomon's Mines. The move from Morecambe cost Southport an absolute fortune as most of the rides structure had to be replaced. It's never really run reliably while at Southport either. It's also not all that old. It may be one of three remaining wooden Wild Mouse rides in the country, but they're all just 50 years old. It's not somethnig that can really be saved. As with a lot of things, you have to ask "why has nobody made a Wooden Wild Mouse coasater in the last 50 years?"
There are certainly fashions in the industry, but whereas Wooden coasters have have a resurgance as they are superb fun, Wooden Mice just haven't. The metal versions must, for some reason, be classed as a better option. If parks wanted Wooden Wild Mice coasters, there would be companies out there that would make them. Parks just don't seem to want them. So it's a difficult one really. It's really a type that was made, bettered pretty quickly and didn't have enough of an effect to influence the future that much. I like them, and think they're good rides, but historically (at the moment), they're not old enough or significant enough
Oddly, some coasters are making a comeback though. Knoebels in the US are making a "Flying Turns" coaster for 2007. It's a wooden bobsleigh type of ride like the Avalanche at Blackpool. They seem to understand that sometimes, the old designs were the best!