WoodVengeance

I know this image from the article is AI generated, but I find the thought of Dollywood expanding into Gatlinburg pretty amusing. (I assume it's supposed to be Gatlinburg since the space needle is there)

The Vortex and Son of Beast plots aren't really flat areas at all, so I can't really see a flat ride going there. A coaster could work in those areas, but for this discussion I want to primarily focus on flat rides. The Skyflyer plot in Action Zone would probably be the safest option for a flat ride. The last time Action Zone added anything notable (besides a Coke stand) was in 2014 with Banshee, so over a decade ago. Once Skyflyer gets removed, there will be a nice, large, flat plot of land to work with that most types of flat rides could fit in. Another area I would like to give attention to is in Rivertown. As of right now, Rivertown does not have any flat rides and the last time that area has added anything was Mystic Timbers eight years ago. It could go either in the area behind the Eiffel Tower or the park could remove the Crypt building to make room there. Personally, I think it would be better for Rivertown to add a new water attraction like what Carowinds is adding next year.

Swingshot and Black Widow at Kennywood are pretty close to each other, so it could work for Action Zone.

It's definitely possible. I could see the Skyflyer plot being used for whatever that 2026 family thrill attraction is. I think something like a S&S Screamin' Swing would fit there well there as a fitting replacement for a Skyflyer attraction. That's just mainly an idea though, so we'll have to see what happens with that plot of land come this season.

Doesn't look like the restaurant will be ready by opening week. I'm going to be there in three weeks, so I'll see for myself what's open by then.

It's possible they may just keep them there SBNO until another park buys them like what happened to T3. Either that or they haven't gotten around to removing them yet. From what I've seen online, the park is currently working on taking out Deluge.

Currently my amusement park trips for this year are looking like: March: Dollywood June: Indiana Beach (haven't been before) August: Cedar Point As well as having season passes for both Kings Island and Kentucky Kingdom Try to get on Good Gravy first thing if you can. It only runs one train, so the line can get pretty backed up. Thankfully the park does hand out time cards if the line does get bad, so you can do other things in the park and come back when it's your time to get on. Also keep in-mind Holiday World is on central time, so it's an hour behind if you're coming from the east.

I'm not sure when you rode it, but I rode it last year and it was running smooth and whippy for me.

I don't think anyone who rode both of those is arguing with that. I'd even say Afterburn and Batman at SFGAm are better than Banshee for the same reasons.

The new area looks great. Not sure how I feel about the name "Wind Chaser" though. It seems the park wanted to keep part of the original Storm Chaser name, but I think they should've just went with a completely different name instead. The coaster is supposed to be themed to an Owl, so something like "Nightowl" would've fit a lot better in my opinion than Wind Chaser.

Given what's been happening at other parks, I don't think Mike would be the one to make that decision.

Not entirely, but they're repainting it to fit in with the Jungle Xpedition area.

If FoF gets removed, don't expect that land to be used anytime soon. Vortex was removed over half a decade ago and that land is still sitting mostly vacant.

This is the one park where I can safely say that its closure is completely justified. It does hurt that we're going to lose another classic Arrow coaster, but one coaster isn't worth the amount of neglect and abuse the animals there have to endure. Hopefully the animals there get the help they desperately need.

Best you'll probably get is a Mack Stryker at Cedar Point I'm afraid.

I believe that's a big part as to why we haven't seen many other Gerstlauers open up in the chain. Under Cedar Fair, the chain really emphasized wanting to prioritize capacity and reliability when it came to their big new additions. I feel the main reason Knotts even went with Gerstlauer was primarily due to the amount of land they had to work with. If Knotts had more space for Hangtime, it would've absolutely have been a B&M Dive Coaster instead. Under the new Six Flags chain, it seems capacity isn't as much of a concern when you look at coasters like Siren's Curse and Alpenfury only operating with two trains at two of the biggest parks in the chain. That could make a Gerstlauer more probable for Kings Island, but it's still something I have to see to believe given the park seems to be heavily prioritizing family additions at the moment.

Personally I think the privately traded companies do better in regards to providing quality services to their guests, as they don't have to cater to shareholders. Look at the Herschend parks like Dollywood and SDC for example.

Personally I don't see Kings Island dropping their Winterfest event anytime soon when the event still draws in crowds like this.

It's just giving people in the Virginia area all the more reason to buy season passes for BGW instead.

Using the Wayback machine, I found that Kings Dominion did include "Unlimited Winterfest visits in 2024 AND 2025" when they started selling their 2025 season passes. However, there is a disclaimer at the bottom that states "Season Pass benefits subject to change without notice."

Glad to see more wooden coasters in the chain getting GG's pre-fab track. I'm wondering if they're going to work on Wilde Beast at some point in the future.

All the more reason to go to Cedar Point more often.

New teaser from Kentucky Kingdom hinting at where the new expansion will take place. You can see that they deliberately covered up the rapids ride and Eye of the Storm from the map. However, you can still see Cyclos near Lightning Run.

The rapids makes sense for removal as that ride takes up a significant portion of land (about as much as T3) and I always felt Eye of the Storm was in a really weird spot. It's a shame to see rides like these get removed, but hopefully Herschend makes up for those removals with something well-themed, but we'll see.

I agree. Although some might argue SSBR has the better layout, I think Good Gravy was better executed when you factor in the theming around the area and the near-miss with the cranberry can.