Speed: The Ride Coming Back To Life?

I’ve never been much of a fan of Sahara. By the time I made it there, it was a shell of itself and a filthy mess. That said, I know a lot of people have a soft spot in there heart for Sahara. Listening to the last two episodes of Five Hundy By Midnight podcast they mentioned that Speed: The Ride is moving.

Speed: The Ride was the roller coaster in front of the casino by the Las Vegas strip. People seemed to enjoy the ride. I don’t do roller coasters and never did that one. Well, it’s coming back to life in a different place – not a casino.

Speed: The Ride is moving to the south end of the strip, across the street from Mandalay Bay to the Akita Retail and Events Center. Here are the details:

Breslin Builders is working with Chetak Development to move the existing Speed the Ride Roller Coaster from the Sahara Hotel and Casino to the south end of the Strip at the existing Akita Retail Center, 3999 Las Vegas Boulevard South, across from Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Working with Premiere Rides (the original coaster designer and installer), the existing coaster will be relocated and reused as much as possible, with the mid-section being redesigned to work within and over the existing site and parking lot conditions, and allow for new and exciting curves and bends to be added to the ride. The signature 224 foot vertical tower will be relocated and provide the turning point for the out-and-back style roller coaster. The coaster uses a LIM (linear induction magnets) system to launch and further propel the coaster to speeds up to 70MPH. Breslin Builders is provide design and associated engineering services for the site and launch building.

In addition to the roller coaster, Breslin Builders has designed a new night club/concert venue as part of the overall project. The new 26,000+ square foot multi-story and multi-use building will provide needed concert, promotion, and nightclub space for the existing on-site radio station (KVEG 97.5 – which Breslin Builders provided design and construction services for in 2001). In addition to the roller coaster and nightclub, a two-story 6,000 square foot restaurant space is being developed.

Overall, this project sounds like a hodge podge of ideas that will never get built. Here’s what people aren’t going to do when they visit Vegas.

Go to Restaurants > Ride roller coaster > Visit nightclub

For the people that are have great Sahara memories I hope this works out, but the concept sounds very flawed. I don’t see this happening but time will tell.

Check Five Hundy & Breslin Builders for more info.