The Steamin’ Demon at Great Escape (formerly Six Flags and now Enchanted Parks) has quite a history. The ride actually began its life in New Orleans at Pontchartrain Beach as the Ragin’ Cajun in 1978. The coaster was built by Arrow and featured 3 inversions over a compact 1,565 feet of track. Ragin’ Cajun would close along with Pontchartrain Beach in 1983 and open as Steamin’ Demon one year later in 1984 at The Great Escape. The ride is quite prominent at the front of the park with great views of the Adirondack Mountains of New York in the distance. The ride has operated 42 years now at Great Escape essentially unchanged except for a brief stint in 2016 when it was outfitted with Oculus VR headsets. In 2028 Screamin’ Demon will celebrate its 50th anniversary!

Blizzard at Great Escape (formerly Six Flags and now Enchanted Parks) is a simple concept, a scrambler inside a building. However, this is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The scrambler itself is a pretty standard model by Eli Bridge Company in a beautiful light blue color. However, the magic comes with it being located in an igloo style building allowing for lighting effects, music and perhaps most important, air conditioning. It’s such a simple concept to put a classic flat ride inside a small building. It provides an indoor attraction on rainy, hot or cold days and allows for a unique audiovisual effects to mimic a snowstorm.

One of the largest announcements at IAAPA last year was the suspended dark ride SEAQuest: Legends of the Deep at SeaWorld Orlando. The ride is being manufactured by Vekoma is themed to a state-of-the-art submersible taking guests to discover dazzling ecosystems, legendary sea life, and breathtaking stories of resilience and wonder. The ride was originally announced for 2026 and that has not officially changed, however some of the 2026 verbiage has been removed from the SeaWorld website. There is a mention of “buy a 2026 season pass and be the first to ride” on the site, but when Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens (owned by the same company) slipped a year they let pass holders who did not renew a single day ticket to ride as promised.

Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa has closed and is now erased from the park map. The name “Kumba” was said to translates to “roar“ in an African Kongo (Congo) language, according to the Busch Gardens marketing material. The hollow track provided the distinctive roaring sound as the train traversed the track. However, there is still a ride named Kumba and it’s located at Serengeti Park Hodenhagen in Germany. It’s not a roller coaster, but a giant pendulum ride.