Free Coldplay album...

My cousin Sharyn let me know about this cool free Coldplay album available. It's a live album called LeftRightLeftRightLeft.

For those going to the Coldplay concert at Darien Lake tomorrow night, you'll get this album free there. For all others, you can download it free on their website.

Live versions of Viva La Vida, Clocks, and Fix You are some of the highlights of this nine-track album.

Why free? Chris Martin explains that on Coldplay.com.

There's really no catch here - it's truly free. You'll just need to unzip the file after you download it (free unzip programs can be found through Google if you don't already have one).

So go get it!

Solitary 4.0 Casting Call!

VAL is planning a torturous summer for you. Here's your chance to be a part of it.

Get the application for Solitary 4.0 at RealityWanted.com.

There's also casting tips there from Solitary casting directors and tips from one of last season's contestants (#4 - the ultimate fan).

Don't take too much time thinking about this - the application needs to be in by June 24th with filming for a lucky few taking place in late July!

I was also hoping to find some info for this on the official Fox Reality Channel website. But so far - nothing. I guess this is how they're going to go about finding contestants this year. And it seems all the other website mentions for this casting call all lead back to the same place.

So good luck! I know I won't be any competition for you as I already used some of my vacation time for the year, which means no chance at Solitary for me this time. I just couldn't wait for something that I wasn't even sure would be happening.

If you make it on though, let me know how it goes!

Pushing Daisies & Mr. Belvedere...

It's good news and even more good news for both shows.

For Pushing Daisies, the final three episodes of season 2 (and the series) will air Saturday nights at 10pm starting tomorrow night on ABC. Then the season 2 DVD with the final thirteen episodes will come out July 21st.

For Mr. Belvedere, it's even better news. The seasons 1 & 2 DVD set was a success! So Shout Factory will be releasing the 22 episodes from season 3 on September 8th. Thanks tvshowsondvd.com for the info!

Now if only The Charmings could be released on DVD, everything in the world would be perfect. But that might be asking too much.

Aqua returns!!!

I know you remember the brilliant 90's group Aqua and their big hit Barbie Girl.

Well, they're back! And with the ultimate retro song. It's called Back To The 80's and the lyrics are awesome with references to Bananarama, Michael Jackson, shoulder pads, Mr. T, Miami Vice, Cherry Coke, and more.

The song was first played on Danish radio a few days ago. When it will make it to the US is a good question, but I'll be watching for it.

This unfortunately doesn't mean an all new Aqua album is on the way. Instead, it'll be featured on Aqua's upcoming Greatest Hits collection.

I know what you're thinking - what other hits did Aqua have? In the US, they only had one other minor hit with Lollipop (Candyman). But around the world, they had a bunch, Around The World actually being the title of one of my favorites.

And I loved Cartoon Heroes, especially the video with the aliens and the otherworldly giant eyeball with five tentacles! I can't wait to see what they'll do for the Back To The 80's video.

The ultimate in retro - Mr. T singing!

He may not know how to sing (and I'm pretty sure he didn't in the 80's either), but he sure is entertaining.

It's Mr. T singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Wrigley Field on Memorial Day!

Enjoy...

Mood changing music...

So I have to tell you, I was in a mood today at work. You probably couldn't tell when I was on-air, but I was Grumpy (yes, with a capital G). But a song I heard on the way home managed to put me back in a good mood - the miracle of music.

It was our computers at work that put me in a bad mood. Everything's on computer. I had to delete Star 102.5's Friday stuff and re-import it because of some adjustments we made late in the day. After deleting it, I couldn't get the day to go back in. And our engineers were all out of the building working on some other important issues (really - I'm not being facetious, because we have awesome engineers).

So I had to put Friday back in the computer manually. The full 24 hours. Every jingle, sweeper (the things between the songs), legal ID, news / traffic / weather beds, and other stuff. It took forever. And that was in addition to all the other stuff I was already backed up on. Great.

So that ticked me off. Now I'm wandering down the hall and I see Shy Guy Shawn with a plate of meatballs and he tells me there's some leftover food from an event in the kitchen. That's always exciting. And I love meatballs, so I head to the kitchen to get some. I carefully put them on the plate and somehow managed to get sauce on my shirt - a cool new shirt I was wearing for the first time. So now I'm in an even worse mood.

Two things changed that bad mood. First, the person who won the Coasters Ice Cream gift certificate was so cool and fun on-air. That always makes the day better when someone's excited about winning something. Plus, just doing that Retro Show is always fun each night.

And then I heard an incredible song on my way home (something I had bought the night before on iTunes but hadn't listened to completely then). It's called Crazy Loop (Mm-Ma-Ma) by Crazy Loop. What an awesome song! Just listening to it full blast on the way home instantly dissolved my bad mood. It's so cool how a great song can do that.

I gotta warn you, the video is kind of strange (and a little suggestive at times). But the song is great! And Crazy Loop also has another song I found called Johanna that I love (the lyrics on that one are strange, but after seeing the video they make more sense).

Crazy Loop is Dan Balan who previously was in a group called O-Zone. They had a big hit a few years ago called Dragostea Din Tei (aka The Numa Numa Song). It was a huge viral video and a catchy song that you couldn't get out of your head.

Both Crazy Loop songs are about a year or so old, but the one song was recently released in the US. I can't wait until a full CD comes out. Check it out. It's a new favorite of mine, especially since it decimated my bad mood.

What's cancelled & what's coming back...

It's kind of like Survivor for TV shows this week. Were you favorites renewed or cancelled for the 2009 - 2010 season?

The Futon Critic website has the best graph listing every show on the major network and their fate.

Some of the biggest surprises for next season...

• Without A Trace on CBS was cancelled. It ran seven seasons and I'm really surprised it's not going more. I didn't think it was doing that bad.
  
  
• My Name Is Earl on NBC was cancelled. I'm one of the few people who's never seen the show, but that seemed like one that would keep lingering on.
  
  
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX was cancelled. A lot of people online are very unhappy about this.
  
  
• Worst Week on CBS was cancelled. I thought it was just on a temporary break. I loved this show and the promos for it kept saying it was the #1 new comedy of the year. Guess that wasn't enough to save it.
  
  
• Deal Or No Deal and Howie Do It on NBC were both cancelled. Apparently, NBC has grown tired of Howie.
  
  
• Samantha Who? on ABC was cancelled. Actually, this wasn't a big surprise. But I'm sad to see it go.
  

Enough with the bad news. Here's some of the surprise renewals...

• Better Off Ted on ABC was renewed. I am stunned. Shows this clever (not to mention shows I like) usually don't have this happen to them. Especially shows that freeze one of their major characters (that first episode was a riot).
  
  
• Heroes on NBC was renewed. After this past season's ratings, I was sure it was toast.
  
  
• Ugly Betty on ABC was renewed. There were some reports on its possible cancellation about two months ago when the show was pulled from the schedule for a few weeks. And now it's renewed. Lucky producers.
  
  
• 'Til Death on FOX was renewed. Seriously, is there anyone that actually watches this show? It keeps getting pulled from the schedule because of low ratings and then keeps getting renewed. All I have to say on this is blech.
  
  
• Chuck on NBC was renewed. This was one of those on-the-bubble shows (it was last season too), but it managed to get saved again. Unlike 'Til Death, this one deserved to be saved.
  
  
• Scrubs on ABC was renewed. But there's a catch - Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke will only be in six episodes each next season.
  
  
• Parks & Recreation on NBC was renewed. It's good, but I didn't think it would ever last.
  

That's just a brief highlight of some of the stuff for next season. See the complete graph for all of the major networks and all of their shows at The Futon Critic.

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus...

Today is a very important day in the history of this planet. Today is the day that Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus was released on DVD!

Deborah Gibson (yes, the same person who sang Only In My Dreams and Electric Youth) stars in this epic battle between a mega shark and a giant octopus.

I don't think there's anything else that can be said about this. See the movie trailer here.

Trip Report: Hersheypark & Knoebels

I started off my trip on Thursday. I wanted to give myself a full day to get down to Hershey and just relax before three full days of amusement parks.

On the way down, I visited the Indian Echo Caverns. It's a cool place about five minutes from Hersheypark. The cavern tour lasted about an hour. It's a typical cavern and the tour was fun.

I also stopped at the Quiksilver store in the Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland. Shopping for clothes is definitely the most boring thing to do ever. But I'm obsessed with Quiksilver stuff, so going an extra 90 minutes out of my way to go there wasn't a problem for me.

Then Friday and Saturday, it was all about Hersheypark! I haven't been to this park in about ten years, so there was a lot of new stuff for me to see. It's another perfect family park - I was really surprised at how many rides they now have.

My favorite was definitely Lightning Racer, two wooden coasters intermeshed with each other. And the park actually lets them race too! The Thunder side usually wins, but Lightning (my favorite of the two) finally came in first a few times on Saturday.

There's also two other great wooden coasters there - Wildcat and Comet. I'll never forget the Friday night rides on Comet as we were able to hear Bruce Springsteen playing in the nearby arena. We kept listening carefully to which song Bruce was playing hoping it wasn't his last one as we all wanted to escape the parking lot before the sold out concert crowd did. When we heard Born To Run and then Thunder Run shortly after, I thought for sure we weren't going to make it. But luckily, he kept going. They closed the coaster at 11pm (and yeah, I had to stay right until the end) - Bruce ended about 5 minutes later. As I left the parking lot, I heard him playing Bobby Jean - close call as that was the last song!

There's a lot more than just wooden coasters at Hershey. Some of the other rides...

• Great Bear - a very cool inverted coaster, especially at night.
• Fahrenheit - a steel coaster with a 97-degree first drop.
• Sooperdooperlooper - a classic 70's roller coaster.
• Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge - a cool indoor ride where you shoot at targets and compete against other cars. This is one of the best of this kind of ride as the laser guns worked perfectly.
• Frontier Flyers - I love this kind of ride. Especially since I figured out how to fly this one very quickly. The poor nearby tree branches weren't so happy.
• Flying Falcon - the same as the Sky Hawk ride at Marineland. I mention this because it was running a fun and fast ride cycle - something I wish Marineland would do with theirs (hint, hint).
• Hershey's Chocolate World - This is actually outside the amusement park. They've got a cool tour there explaining how Hershey's chocolate is made. And yes, they were giving out a small chocolate bar after getting off the ride. There's also a giant chocolate store there and an awesome food court with lots of chocolate options (I love the new Heath bar frozen yogurt).

After an incredible time at Hersheypark, we all headed to Knoebels to spend the next 24 hours there. Naturally on my way, I had to take the route that brought me through Centralia, Pennsylvania. It's been a little while since I've been there. I noticed they've taken down some of the warning signs, making it easy to just drive by and not realize what you're passing. It looks like some more of the deserted houses and structures are gone too. And I didn't see any smoke coming out of the ground this time. But it was still strange going through there, seeing all the aging neighborhood roads, driveways, and signs without any buildings. I did get out of the car for a bit and looked down the deserted portion of route 61. I didn't venture too far though. Be very careful if you do as portions are still extremely hot (the fire continues underground) and the ground could potentially collapse at any time. As Knoebels was waiting, I decided it was time to escape Centralia.

Knoebels is the home to the greatest wooden roller coaster on the planet - The Phoenix. I was raving about The Beast at Kings Island a week ago and that is an awesome ride. But The Phoenix is the best of its kind. Crazy airtime, no trim breaks, and a crew that keeps the line moving as fast as the ride does (okay, that's an exaggeration obviously, but they are the fastest and best there is).

I've talked about Knoebels before - the park is 100% perfect. Free admission, free parking, very reasonable food prices, a perfect setting, employees that love their job, and owners that care. When visiting, you'll constantly see the Knoebels family wandering through the park making sure everything is going well (Dick Knoebel can sometimes be seen driving around in a bumper car or flyer car that's been turned into a golf cart - so cool).

There was a strange storm that happened shortly after we all got there. It was beautiful outside and then literally five seconds later, a nightmare of rain. It was almost flash flood crazy - I've never seen anything like that start so fast and without any warning at all. But after about 20 minutes, it became nice again. The rain changed Phoenix from an already perfect ride to a completely berserk ride. It was a great night.

For day two there, me and my friends mostly just relaxed and lazily wandered the park. We rode the Skooter Bumper Cars (considered the best anywhere and I agree), Haunted House, Frontier Train, the Sky Slide (which is definitely not just for kiddies), and a bunch of the other rides. The Flyer was my last ride of the day (always gotta save the best for last). It was a perfect day and a great weekend.

So if you're going to be roadtripping through Pennsylvania this summer, stop by these parks. I guarantee you'll have an awesome time at either of them. But both is always better!

Trip Report: Kings Island

I spent all day Saturday and Sunday at what is easily Ohio's best amusement park - Kings Island.

I signed up for a special event that Kings Island held in honor of Diamondback, their new roller coaster. Wow, it's an amazing ride with incredible airtime on just about every hill regardless of what seat you're in.

But Diamondback wasn't the highlight of the park. A 30-year old ride remains the park's signature attraction - The Beast. Even after 30 years, it's still the longest wooden roller coaster in the world at 1-3/4 miles! And it's still a great ride. The first time I went on it was when I was 12 (and my brother was only 8) - it was a slightly different ride back then because of the way the braking system has changed over the years. Even so, it's still worth going on again and again. And it's one of the many reasons I keep going back to Kings Island.

Now a lot of western New Yorkers have a bad attitude when it comes to wooden roller coasters because of Darien Lake's Predator (a good ride, but definitely one that shakes everyone up a bit). The Beast is nothing at all like Predator. It does shake around a little as it is a wood coaster after all, but overall it's a very comfortable ride. (A little hint for The Beast: each train on the ride has six cars - if you sit in the middle row on any of the six cars your ride will be less shaky than on the other seats.)

But if you like wooden roller coasters that shake a lot, the park has one of those too. That would be Son Of Beast. It's another record holder as it's the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world. And it's another really long wooden roller coaster, made even longer I think because it seems to move more side to side than straight down the track. :) Still worth a ride though - I did just one. Try for the front seat if you don't mind waiting a little longer for it. I had to squint during my ride though as the wind was insane (at one point, you go 78 mph).

Flight Deck is another favorite of mine. It's a steel suspended coaster. I'll try to describe it - the entire train dangles from the track and your feet remain enclosed in the train along with the rest of your body. Get your hiking shoes ready to make your way through the long (and I always find empty) queue for this one. You can find the entrance to this one right next to Son Of Beast (it's easy to miss as it's kind of hidden).

Firehawk is a roller coaster you ride on your stomach (it used to be X-Flight at Geauga Lake). I love this kind of roller coaster and this was one of my favorites at Geauga Lake. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go on it this weekend. I put it off until close to the end of the weekend and then it went down for maintenance. I never should have waited - but I'll be going back, so I'll go on it next time.

Flight Of Fear is right next to Firehawk and I went on that a lot. It's an enclosed coaster and highly recommended. I'm not going to say anything else about this one as I don't want to ruin it for you.

I'm also not going to tell you exactly what The Crypt is. It's another enclosed ride and used to be called Tomb Raider: The Ride until Paramount sold the park. I went on this a lot this weekend too as this is my favorite kind of ride.

I couldn't help but laugh on my last ride on The Crypt. Me and some friends were near a family (kids, parents, and grandfather) going on the ride for the first time. No one in the family knew anything about the ride at all. The funniest thing was after the ride when the family was apologizing to the grandfather for even taking him on it. The poor guy was just totally stunned at what he'd just been through. Hysterical!

Overall, there's 15 roller coasters at Kings Island. And that doesn't count all the other great rides too. And they've got a really cool kiddie section, mostly based on Nickelodeon shows.

I've already mentioned how psyched I am about the new Disk'O ride this year at Fantasy Island and Waldameer Park. Well in the Nickelodeon Universe section, they had a Skater ride, which is a step down from a Disk'O in intensity. But it's a step up from a regular Skater ride because it was shaped more like a "W" than the usual "U". It's called Avatar: The Last Airbender. Even if you're not at the park with kids, you've got to go in that section and ride this. I was almost embarrassed to admit I wanted to ride this, but then a few others wanted to too - whew, not so embarrassing after all. Turns out there was almost always more adults on this ride than kids. Such a cool ride.

As for the rest of the park, there's tons of shops and food places, the waterpark is supposed to be really nice (I don't personally know as I usually don't bother with waterparks), there's a 1/3 size replica of the Eiffel Tower you can go up, and the park itself is incredibly clean. At one point on Sunday I saw some important looking manager chasing after a napkin so he could put it in the trash - yes, the park is that clean.

Kings Island is a little under seven hours away from Buffalo and is absolutely worth the visit. It's one of the few parks I highly recommend for the entire family.

And for the day after visiting the park, eat at CiCi's Pizza before leaving Cincinnati. I keep hearing those commercials on Star and Kiss, even though there's no CiCi's anywhere in New York - but they sure have a bunch of CiCi's Pizza Buffets in Cincinnati! And it's not just pizza - there's also all-you-can-eat pasta, soup, salad, and breadsticks too. I was so psyched I just couldn't wait and ate there (and ate and ate and ate) the day before going to the park - good thing the rides don't make me sick or I would have been doomed.

Let me know if you end up going to Kings Island this year (or if you've been already) - I'd love to hear what you think about the park.

The KFC coupon nightmare...

If you haven't already heard, KFC has stopped honoring the free meal coupons from last week.

Marketing students will be studying this promotion as one of the biggest mess-up's in marketing history.

Read up on why things went wrong here.

Paula Abdul's new song...

It's called I'm Just Here For The Music and is produced by the same guy responsible for Paula's Forever You Girl (her best song ever I think).

You can hear it free on her website now. If you like it (which I do), you can buy it there for 99 cents.

Other amusement parks...

If you’re going on a long road trip this summer and run across one of these parks, it’s definitely worth stopping...

CANOBIE LAKE PARK
Location: Salem, NH
Distance: 7.5 hours
Opening date: Now open
New for 2009: MystiQue, The Magical World Of Illusion will be their big show this year.
Similar to: Fantasy Island. They've got a Frisbee, one of my absolute favorite rides right now. And they're still running it great! In addition to that, there's a bunch of other great rides and three arcades, one which features about 30 pinball machines. I highly recommend this park!


LAKE COMPOUNCE
Location: Bristol, CT
Distance: 6.5 hours
Opening date: May 9th
Similar to: Darien Lake.


SIX FLAGS NEW ENGLAND
Location: Agawam, MA
Distance: 6 hours
Opening date: Now open
New for 2009: A SlingShot upcharge ride, Joker's Wildcard (a Wipeout spin ride) will return to the park, and Superman: Ride Of Steel has been redesigned to include sound effects, new trains, and a name name - Bizarro. Sadly, the Nightwing ride (similar to Darien Lake's Silver Bullet, but you ride it on your stomach) has been removed.
Similar to: Darien Lake.


MOREY’S PIERS
Location: Wildwood, NJ
Distance: 8 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: The park itself reminds me of a gigantic Crystal Beach, except it’s all on three large piers overlooking the ocean. The boardwalk is super long and has all sorts of crazy shops.


KING’S DOMINION
Location: Doswell, VA
Distance: 9 hours
Opening Date: Now open
Similar to: Canada’s Wonderland


BUSCH GARDENS: EUROPE
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Distance: 10 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: It's Canada’s Wonderland with more extreme roller coasters, fewer rides, and a lot more shops & restaurants.


FREESTYLE MUSIC PARK
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Distance: 14 hours
Opening date: Memorial Day weekend
New for 2009: The park name for one - this used to be the Hard Rock Park last year. They've added a new "Kids In America" area with four new kiddie rides.
Similar to: Universal's Islands Of Adventure but all music themed.


CEDAR POINT
Location: Sandusky, OH
Distance: 4 hours
Opening date: May 16th
Similar to: Unique with 17 roller coasters.


KING’S ISLAND
Location: King's Island, OH
Distance: 6.5 hours
Opening date: Now open
New for 2009: Diamondback - a 5,282-foot long steel hyper roller coaster. It'll be a nice long ride, lasting over three minutes and going down ten drops! I'm already planning a trip to go ride this later this month.
Similar to: Canada’s Wonderland with bigger roller coasters.


BEECH BEND
Location: Bowling Green, KY
Distance: 10.5 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: Fantasy Island.


HOLIDAY WORLD
Location: Santa Claus, IN
Distance: 10 hours
Opening date: Now open
New for 2009: Pilgrims Plunge - at 165-feet, this will be the world's tallest water ride. Check out the animation for the ride here to see the very different lift. And don't expect this to be short - it'll go for over 2-1/2 minutes!
Similar to: Darien Lake, but geared more to young kids.


DOLLYWOOD
Location: Pigeon Forge, TN
Distance: 11 hours
Opening date: Now open
New for 2009: SkyZip - an hour-long, five-zipline experience (with ziplines ranging from 100 to almost 1000-feet). The upcharge attraction also includes a 100-foot long swinging bridge. This will be in place of the previously announced Adventure Mountain (which is fine with me - this sounds way more exciting)!
Similar to: Unique. Stores and restaurants outnumber rides here, but the rides are all good.


INDIANA BEACH
Location: Monticello, IN
Distance: 8.5 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: What Crystal Beach used to be.


MT. OLYMPUS
Location: Wisconsin Dells, WI
Distance: 12 hours
Opening date: Now open
New in 2009: The Almighty Hermes, a SkyCoaster ride.
Similar to: Unique. It’s an amusement park made up of nine long wooden go-cart tracks, seven roller coasters, and a gigantic indoor and outdoor waterpark. The entire town of Wisconsin Dells is a giant version of Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls. Nearby, the Timber Falls Adventure Park has an amazing wooden roller coaster called Hellcat (previously called Avalanche). There’s also a puzzle-like adventure down the road called Wizard’s Quest which is definitely worth checking out.

Other New York Amusement Parks...

SYLVAN BEACH AMUSEMENT PARK
Location: Sylvan Beach, NY
Distance: 3 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: A smaller version of what Crystal Beach was.


THE GREAT ESCAPE
Location: Lake George, NY
Distance: 5 hours
Opening date: May 9th
New for 2009: Sasquatch - a drop ride with two 19-story towers.
Similar to: Fantasy Island. This is where the Crystal Beach Comet now is. It’s been modified a little, but it’s still a good ride.


MAGIC FOREST
Location: Lake George, NY
Distance: 5 hours
Opening date: May 16th
Similar to: Fantasy Island with all kiddie rides.


NORTH POLE / SANTA’S WORKSHOP
Location: North Pole, NY (near Lake Placid)
Distance: 6.5 hours
Opening date: June 27th
Similar to: Unique. An amusement park for young kids themed to Santa Claus & his reindeer.


CONEY ISLAND CYCLONE
Location: Coney Island, NY
Distance: 7 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: Unique. The Astroland Park this was next to is now gone. The Cyclone is all that remains.


DENO’S WONDER WHEEL AMUSEMENT PARK
Location: Coney Island, NY
Distance: 7 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: A smaller Fantasy Island. It’s within walking distance of the Cyclone roller coaster and has the world famous Wonder Wheel, a giant ferris wheel with some cars that travel on tracks and swing into and out of the wheel structure!


LONG ISLAND’S ADVENTURELAND
Location: East Farmingdale, NY
Distance: 7.5 hours
Opening date: Now open
Similar to: Fantasy Island

Pennsylvania Amusement Parks...

Pennsylvania is home to a bunch of old fashioned, family owned amusement parks. I'll be spending a lot of time in Pennsylvania this summer!

KNOEBELS
Location: Elysburg, PA
Distance: 4.5 hours
Opening date: Now open
New for 2009: Flying Turns - the most anticipated ride of 2007 & 2008 has now become the most anticipated ride of 2009. It's a prototype and the park wants to make sure it's perfect before opening it. The park is hoping to open the ride sometime this summer, but can't guarantee that (see their explanation here). A new kiddie ride will also open this year - Goin' Buggy. Gone from the park is the kiddie High Speed Thrill Coaster, but it'll be replaced by a similar coaster this year.
Similar to: Unique and highly recommended for all ages! Free parking, free admission, very reasonable prices, some of the best wooden roller coasters in the country, and a gigantic variety of rides for kiddies & adults!


WALDAMEER PARK
Location: Erie, PA
Distance: 2 hours
Opening date: May 9th
New for 2009: Mega Disk'O. You know this is a good ride when two parks so close together get one! I can't wait to try both of them to see who runs theirs better (and by better I mean more insane - I want ludicrous speed)!
Similar to: A smaller Fantasy Island


CONNEAUT LAKE PARK
Location: Conneaut Lake, PA
Distance: 2.5 hours
Opening date: May 22nd. These are the rides scheduled to be open: Paratrooper, Flying Scooter, Tilt-A-Whirl, Tumblebug, Skydiver, the Carousel, and the Kiddieland rides. Other rides will open later in the season and the Blue Streak roller coaster will open again in 2010.
New for 2009: Skydiver.
Similar to: A smaller version of what Crystal Beach used to be.
Note: A few scenes in the upcoming movie The Road were filmed at this park.


KENNYWOOD
Location: West Mifflin, PA
Distance: 4 hours
Opening date: May 2nd
Returning for 2009: Bayern Kurve. After leaving the park in 2004, guests have been asking for it to be returned. Kennywood listened and brought it back this year! It's kind of like a tilted roller coaster that just goes around a very tight circle at a very fast speed.
Similar to: Canada’s Wonderland
Note: Even though the recent Adventureland movie is loosely based on Long Island's Adventureland, it was filmed mostly at Kennywood.


DELGROSSO’S PARK
Location: Tipton, PA
Distance: 4 hours
Opening date: May 9th
New for 2009: Pharaoh's Fury (a Pirate ride), Yo-Yo, and kiddie ride Dizzy Dragons.
Similar to: A small Fantasy Island.

LAKEMONT PARK
Location: Altoona, PA
Distance: 4.5 hours
Opening date: May 16th
Similar to: Fantasy Island. Remember Roseland in Canandaigua? This is where the Roseland Skyliner wooden roller coaster now is. This is also the home of the world's oldest roller coaster, Leap-The-Dips.


IDLEWILD PARK
Location: Ligonier, PA
Distance: 4.5 hours
Opening date: May 21st
Similar to: Fantasy Island. A unique feature of this park - it features Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make Believe, a life-size trolley ride through Mr. Rogers' world.


HERSHEYPARK
Location: Hershey, PA
Distance: 5.5 hours
Opening date: Now open
New for 2009: The Boardwalk - The SEAquel will include The Shore (a wave pool) & Intercoastal Waterway Boardwalk (a 1300 foot long lazy river). Both are scheduled to open May 23rd. The picture is from March 27th. Click on the image to see an update.
Similar to: Canada’s Wonderland


DORNEY PARK
Location: Allentown, PA
Distance: 5.5 hours
Opening date: May 2nd
New for 2009: A new name for their 2008 coaster - VooDoo will be renamed Possessed. The Laser roller coaster has been removed.
Similar to: Darien Lake


SESAME PLACE
Location: Langhorne, PA
Distance: 6.5 hours
Opening date: May 2nd
New for 2009: The Count's Splash Castle - a multi-level waterplay castle (see the website for pictures).
Similar to: Unique. It’s an entire amusement park for kids based on Sesame Street!

Buffalo Area Amusement Parks...

My favorite time of year is here - the amusement parks are opening!!!

I've put together a list of the best parks to visit with the official park links and what new rides they're getting this year.

This is not a definitive list of all amusement parks - just the bigger ones or the ones I feel are worth visiting. If you think I missed something or you find a broken link, please e-mail me.

In the upcoming days I'll post the Pennsylvania parks, the eastern New York ones, and some others further off.

Always check the park’s calendar before visiting, as each one starts and ends their daily schedules in a different way. All distances listed are from Buffalo...

DARIEN LAKE
Location: Darien Center, NY
Distance: 45 minutes
Opening date: May 9th
New for 2009: Survivor Live - a new show based on the TV series Survivor which audiences members participate in. Scheduled to begin May 23rd.


FANTASY ISLAND
Location: Grand Island, NY
Distance: 15 minutes
Opening date: May 9th
New for 2009: Mega Disk'O, the ultimate cross between a roller coaster and a spin ride. To make way for it, Patriot and Nitro have been removed.


MARINELAND
Location: Niagara Falls, ON
Distance: 30 minutes
Opening date: May 16th


CANADA’S WONDERLAND
Location: Just north of Toronto, ON
Distance: 2 hours
Opening date: May 3rd


MIDWAY PARK
Location: Bemus Point, NY
Distance: 90 minutes
Opening date: May 23rd
Similar to: A smaller Fantasy Island with all kiddie rides.


ONTARIO PLACE
Location: Toronto, ON
Distance: 2 hours
Opening date: May 16th
New for 2009: Wild World of Weather - an interactive attraction simulating earthquakes, twisters, and more. See the website for more info.
Similar to: A smaller Fantasy Island with mainly kiddie rides.


SEABREEZE
Location: Rochester, NY
Distance: 90 minutes
Opening date: May 16th
Similar to: Fantasy Island