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NewsParcs will do a full coverage of the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2013 in Orlando to have a look at the latest trends and developments of the global theme park industry.
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Last May, we were reporting that the Sahara Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip was closing down due to financial issues. The hotel featured the Nascar Cafe, a restaurant that also included racing simulators, arcade games and one of the most impressive attraction in Las Vegas: Speed - The Ride, a Premier Rides launch coaster.
Speed - The Ride opened in 2000 and was custom built to fit around the casino buildings and entrance. The 415 meters (about 1362 feet) long ride featured an underground dive, two linear induction motors (LIM) launches, a vertical loop inversion and a 68 meters (223 feet) tall vertical spike near the casino entrance. The 6 cars train reached 110 kph (about 69 mph) as it went forward and then fell backward on the spike to return to the station, going through the whole ride again in reverse. The whole experience took around 40 seconds.
Initially, the ride was to be destroyed along with the hotel but a local real estate businessman decided to buy the roller coaster and move it to a new mall in construction at the other end of the strip. That mall is located in front of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. The track layout will be adapted to its new home with Premier Rides reprofiling part of the ride, keeping the loop inversion and vertical spike. Speed-The Ride disassembly started a few days ago and the planned reopening is summer 2013.
Also, the owner of the Sahara Hotel & Casino decided to renovate the complex and it will reopen in 2014, with no attractions announced right now.
NewsParcs will do a full coverage of the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2013 in Orlando to have a look at the latest trends and developments of the global theme park industry.
