Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare at Kings Island Wins 2026 Best New Family Attraction

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Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare at Kings Island won the 2026 Best New Family Attraction “Golden Ticket” awarded by Amusement Today. On the attraction riders travel in enchanted opera boxes and use flashlights to catch ghost musical notes (using projection mapping and haptic vibration feedback to show success).  The ride replaced Boo Blasters on Boo Hill and is in homage to the beloved Phantom Theater Omnimover-style dark ride that operated on the site from 1992–2002. In between it operated as Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle from 2003–2009 and then Boo Blasters on Boo Hill from 2010–2025. Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare is a huge upgrade to Boo Blasters with 33 animatronics across 26 scenes with special effects like wind, scent changes, and shifting temperatures.

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Fury 325 at Carowinds Wins Golden Ticket for “Best Steel Coaster” for a Record-Setting 10th Consecutive Year. What will Eventually Dethrone it?

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For the 10th year in a row, Fury 325 at Carowinds has won best steel roller coaster as awarded by the Amudement Today 2026 Golden Ticket Awards. This is a record for the B&M coaster which opened on March 28, 2015. The top 5 were rounded out by Jurassic World Velocicoaster, Steel Vengeance, Iron Gwazi and Ride to Happiness. ArieFore One, a coaster that’s gotten a lot of press recently, finished 11th and Carowinds is one of the rumored sites where the ride could be relocated. This could give the park a potent coaster combination. It’s hard to see anything in the near future that could end the run of Fury 325 at the top. Maybe Kumba’s Revenge if it is indeed a record breaking B&M Giga coaster? Maybe Bakuwana? It’s likely we’ll be out into 2028 or 2029 at the earliest as a new coaster has never won “Best New Coaster” and Overall #1 in the same year. Congrats to Fury 325, Carowinds and Six Flags for this great accomplishment for this great roller coaster.

Review of Great Chicken Tenders at Dee Jay’s Diner at Six Flags Over Georgia

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Dee Jay’s Diner (Courtesy of Six Flags Over Georgia)

Dee Jay’s Diner is one of the recently revamped dining options at Six Flags Over Georgia (SFOG). On the menu you’ll find All-American theme park classics like burgers and hand-breaded chicken tenders, but in addition to fries you’ll find upscale sides like mac & cheese and southwest corn. Like the other revamped options, the food here is all visible at the counter behind glass, so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. Prices are a tad high at just under $20 for a plate, but if you get a dining plan it becomes more affordable. The portions are good, but not overwhelming and the flavor of the tenders and fries was excellent with the perfect amount of crisp. These are just chicken tenders and fries at the end of the day, but they’re well executed with a good balance of breading to chicken and the spice blend worked well too.

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Galacticoaster at LEGOLAND Named Best New Theme Concept in Amusement Today 2026 Golden Ticket Awards

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Galacticoaster at LEGOLAND was awarded the Golden Ticket for the Best New Theme Concept for 2026. The Golden Ticket Awards, presented annually by Amusement Today, recognizes the best of the amusement and theme park industry based on voting from industry professionals and enthusiasts. Galacticoaster opened in early 2026 and represents Merlin Entertainment’s largest single in-park investment in the history of its U.S. attractions (Merlin Entertainment is the parent company of the LEGOLAND theme parks). Having ridden it personally, calling Galacticoaster and “ride” or a “roller coaster” really sells it short as this is a multi-part story driven experience. Seeing it get a “Best New Theme Concept” award perfectly encapsulates what this attraction is all about.

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Gravestones at Six Flags Over Georgia Fright Fest Memorialize Former Rides Like the Park’s First Launch Coaster Viper and First Intamin Z-Force

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Six Flags Over Georgia has its annual Fright Fest event going in full force. One of my favorite displays is located just inside the gate where they have tombstones that commemorate many of the former rides of the park. These grave markers have the name of the ride and the years they operated. Some of these had long lives at the park while others were short lived as they were part of the Six Flags ride rotation program. There are some Six Flags Over Georgia classics memorialized here including the park’s first launch coaster in Viper, its inverted boomerang in Deja Vu and the park’s first Intamin coaster Z-force. There are also some classic non-coaster rides Ike the Sky Buckets, the Wheelie a long with several more. It’s great to see theme parks and other businesses embrace their history and not try to erase it. I saw this in full force at the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Tour where they had a permanent flavor graveyard. Many of these rides were someone’s favorite and although they no longer exist, the memories remain. Be sure to catch a glimpse of these as you enter Six Flags Over Georgia this fall.

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September 25th (9/25) is “Dolly Working 9 to 5“ Day in Honor of Dolly Parton

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September 25 (9/25) is now known as “Dolly 9 to 5 Day” (or Dolly Parton Day) to honor the legendary singe and her iconic hit song. For years it has been been an informal thing, but following her passing several states, cities, and organizations nationwide officially proclaimed the September 25th date to celebrate her life. It also serves to promote the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library literacy program, and more broadly encourage community service. My son’s elementary school is actually celebrating it by encouraging students and staff to show their Dolly spirit by dressing in pink, denim, rhinestones, sparkles, cowboy boots, big hair, fringe, sequins, or Dolly-themed gear. On September 25th have a Dolly good time while we’re learning, laughing, and loving every minute!

Six Flags Over Georgia Monster Mansion is Full of “Easter Eggs” and New Additions Like a Bathtub in the Ceiling!

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Monster Mansion wad an opening day attraction at Six Flags Over Georgia in 1967. On opening day it was known as Tales Of The Okefenokee (1967–1980), then Monster Plantation (1981–2008) and now Monster Mansion. The ride is widely considered to be the best dark ride in the Six Flags chain and possibly the best one outside of Universal and Disney. The park isn’t being complacent though, they’re making the ride better all the time. Six Flags Over Georgia has been great about putting out behind the scenes videos about their work on Monster Mansion on social media. The park calls these “Easter Eggs” and they frequently try to incorporate the history of the ride or the park.

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Dolly Parton Gave Dollywood Leadership the “Gift of Time” by Letting them Prepare for her Passing and the Impact it Potentially had on the Opening of NightFlight

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Many of us hoped Dolly Parton was immortal and would live forever, but apparently Dolly herself recognized this wasn’t the case and worked with Dollywood park leadership to prepare for the time she would no longer be with us. Park President Eugen Naughton was quoted in an interview with WVLT saying, “She gave us the gift of time to prepare for what was going to eventually happen here. We have plans until 2036 that she laid emphasis on us as a leadership team that I am confident in.” It also appears that Dolly had input and gave approval for the memorials in the park that will honor her including a new guitar sculpture to be placed in the Dollywood fountain near the park’s chapel and a special reflection area for visitors to write about how she impacted them through her music and philanthropy. If you wondered how the park came out with these tributes so rapidly following Dolly’s death, this is the reason. The park was also very quick with posts on social media that the park would be open the day after her death as it was what she wanted and with reassurance that Dolly’s vision for the park would be retained.. it also gives reassurance to the thousands of employees as Dollywood is the engine to the economy of this area.

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The Dollywood Refillable Mug Beverage Program is a Great Value

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Dollywood has a very guest friendly refillable mug program. You hear these refillable beverages called souvenir cups, bottles and sports bottles in some places, but at Dollywood they’re mugs. On top of competitive pricing, one of the things that makes Dollywood’s program great is that it’s all automated with QR codes at easily accessible drink stations. This means you’ll very rarely have to wait in a line to get a refill on your drink.

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Several Rides From Fun Spot Atlanta Moving to Orlando and Kissimmee with Perhaps a New RMC Coming Soon?

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Fun Spot put a new video out on social media as part of their podcast series where they interview Fun Spot America CEO, John Arie Jr. In this video we learned about some of the rides moving from Atlanta to Florida, a new ride opening in Orlando around Thanksgiving and the possibility of Fun Spot getting another RMC! The park has been very transparent these last few months about the company and it appears they are firmly focused on the future. I’d imagine this became much easier recently too with the future and legacy of ArieForce One appearing secure after the sale to Six Flags.

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