Six Flags

The once-famed Steel Pier on the long-faded Atlantic City Boardwalk will invest more than $100 million on new amusement rides and entertainment venues after scrapping plans to revive its centerpiece diving horse act amid an outcry by animal rights activists. PHOTOS: New rides at Steel Pier in Atlantic City Located across from Donald Trump's Taj Mahal casino on the New Jersey shore, the 1,000-foot-long amusement pier will add 11 rides, an arcade, nightclub, museum and ballroom during a four-year expansion project.

Imagine chowing down on pizza and washing it down with a Slurpee, followed by a deep-fried Snickers and some funnel cake covered in crispy bacon and maple cream. Now imagine finishing up the day by jumping on more than a dozen high-speed roller coasters. For teenagers, this may sound like the makings of a great day. For most adults, it's a recipe for extreme nausea. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia is launching into this year's peak spring and summer seasons with several new menu items for guests, including Slurpees, the blended ice drinks that -- until now -- were sold exclusively at 7-Eleven convenient stores.

The X-Flight coaster coming in May to Six Flags Great America will take riders seated in a winged formation through a near-miss keyhole fly-through that serves as the new ride's signature element. PHOTOS: X-Flight wing coaster at Six Flags Great America Themed to look like a stealth fighter jet, the new wing coaster at the Chicago-area amusement park will feature trains with seats that straddle the track, giving riders the sensation of having nothing above or below them.

The latest expansion of Disney's California Adventure, the new Cars Land attraction, is set to open June 15, Disney officials said Friday, as the park offered a peek at one of the biggest attractions featured in the $1-billion expansion. The 12-acre Cars Land, featuring the characters from the Disney-Pixar film "Cars," will open with several new restaurants and three rides, including Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi's Flying Tires and Radiator Springs Racers. The most elaborate and anticipated attraction is Radiator Springs Racers, in which small, convertible cars carry passengers around realistic-looking buttes and canyons.

Real Madrid plans to open a $1 billion soccer-centric theme park on a United Arab Emirates man-made island in January 2015 that celebrates the history, triumphs and hubris of the richest football club in the world. PHOTOS: Real Madrid Resort Island in the Middle East The 100-acre Real Madrid Resort Island  will feature a roller coaster that extends out over the water, a SeaWorld-style dolphin show and a hologram soccer movie inside a climate-controlled theme park.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is expected to add a terrain hugging launched roller coaster in 2013 featuring the world's tallest loop, according to an employee who wasn't authorized to speak on behalf of the amusement park. A Magic Mountain mechanic inadvertently revealed closely guarded facts about the record-setting 2013 attraction while casually talking with a group of coaster enthusiasts during the recent West Coast Bash event at the Valencia amusement park. Details of the conversation quickly appeared on the Theme Park Review website and rapidly spread through the online coaster community.

A tiny Orlando, Fla., family entertainment center plans to add seven attractions over the next few years in a bid to become a small amusement park with a collection of new rides that rivals its better-known neighbors. Any of the new additions - from a pair of roller coasters to a trio of towering thrill rides to a quartet of water park slides - would be the envy of any regional theme park. PHOTOS: New rides coming to Fun Spot Orlando The $20-million investment will expand the Fun Spot Action Park located along Orlando's International Drive corridor from 5 to 15 acres in three stages: The first stage will add a wooden roller coaster, a Screamin' Swing thrill ride and a double-decker carousel by February 2013.

As part of a multiattraction expansion this spring, Legoland California plans to update the Star Wars Miniland area that debuted last summer, add a pirate-themed shoot-the-chutes water ride and install a crab exhibit at the adjacent SeaLife Aquarium. Set to open March 29, the Star Wars Gallery will include 3-foot-tall Lego models of a dozen characters from the epic film saga, including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, R2D2, Yoda and Darth Vader.  At the same time, model builders will install new characters, weapons and spacecraft to existing Star Wars Miniland scenes rendered in 1:20 scale using Lego bricks.

The new Black Widow pendulum swing coming to Kennywood in 2012 will fling riders through the air like pint-size passengers on an enormous spinning Frisbee. > Photos: Black Widow thrill ride at Kennywood The 90-foot-tall thrill ride is set to debut May 17 with opening of the West Mifflin, Pa., theme park for the summer season. Riders will sit in 40 outward facing coaster-style seats as a counterclockwise-spinning circular gondola swings back and forth in a pendulum motion.