The poll results are in for our latest site poll. What coaster were you most looking forward to in 2008? Well here are the numbers:

 The big winner is Led Zeppelin at Hard Rock Park. I'm not too surprised it's a B&M looper at a brand new theme park, it is sure to draw a lot of attention. Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland came in at second. Yet another B&M, this time a huge hyper coaster. The shocker for me was Pony Express coming to Knott's Berry Farm. This small, family launch coaster looks pretty average, perhaps it's just the large SoCal population voting for it!

 Coasters which I am really looking forward to are The Dark Knight rides, coming to Six Flags New England, Great Adventure, and Great America. These heavily themed, indoor wild mouse coasters should help these parks move forward with more family friendly rides.  Next up is Tony Hawk's Big Spin going in at Six Flags over Texas and Discovery Kingdom. These spinning coasters should be solid additions to both parks.

 The next most votes went to....Other! Drop by the message boards and let us know what coaster you would of voted for if it was on this list. Spongebob at Nickelodoen Universe came in near the bottom. I was somewhat shocked by that, it looks like a great Euro-Fighter coaster, but it isn't at a very well known theme park. And finally, at the very bottom was Fahrenheit! This new Intamin coaster going into Hershey Park doesn't look all that bad, but I guess it just isn't looking good enough yet. Hopefully it will gain some more popularity once it opens up.

 A new poll is coming soon, and this time let's get more people to vote!

 Photo Copyright Hard Rock Park

With the soft opening of Hard Rock Park  just a few short months away, the Myrtle Beach, SC theme park has announced their new General Manager and Senior Vice President. Dale Kaetzel was formerly the GM at Canada's Wonderland and has also worked in senior management positions at four of the five former Paramount theme parks.

 Read the full Press Release here or visit Hard Rock Park's website.

Here's another set of before and after images. Universal Studios Hollywood is home to the War of the Worlds backlot, visitors to the park get to drive through on the backlot tour:

Before...

 ...after. You can also see a tram traveling through and the Psycho House near the top.

And here is a photo from the ground level. 

Discuss the News 

This Microsoft Virtual Earth is pretty addictive. It's interesting to see different amusement parks since the images are a few years old. Take Magic Mountain for instance, in one image there is no Tatsu, then it's under construction in the next.

One minute there is no Tatsu.

Then you scroll down a bit, a new image loads and Tatsu appears. Also note the new paint job on Sky Tower. 

I was just taking a look at a few parks with Microsoft's Live Maps and I ended up at California's Great America. Last time I visited the park, I really noticed the large patch of land where the wooden coaster is supposed to be built in 2009. Well here's an arial look, it's the large brown area. Check out a better look at the site at our Message Boards.